Author's Note

Knowledge Available for Public Disclosure

Yin and Yang Energy

There exists two auras, one of masculine and one of feminine, the presence of these auras define whether someone is labeled as a man or a woman (with the exception of those who wish to identify as otherwise). Yang energy is masculine, meaning that it is life-giving, as it is the nature of men to spread their seed. Yin energy is life-receiving and producing, as it through women that life is nurtured and produced. While all life forms are born with Yin and Yang auras, there are those who can undergo a transformation from man to woman and vise versa, should they desire. There are also numerous night creatures that possess both Yin and Yang auras.

Chapter 4: Deals with Devils

Adorned in his light armor concealed by a cloak, Flash tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his expected contact. He double-checked the nearby clocktower to ensure that he didn’t get the time wrong; he was on time, his guest was late. After a while, he caught sight of the woman in question as a female cloaked figure approached him, a brown duffle bag by her side.

“You’re late.” Flash crossed his arms.

“Hey, you try sneaking out of the medical ward with four blood bags.” The voice of Redheart hissed at Flash as she gave him the duffel bag.

Flash set the duffle bag down and unzipped it, then he stuffed his damp swim trunks and swim shirt into the bag before zipping it back up.

“Not to make you feel inadequate, Flashy,” Redheart began, putting another one of her calming canes in-between her teeth, “but Shining and Sunburst already questioned the prisoners in Azkaban, and they didn’t know anything about the Blue Moon. Or, they were not being generous with their information.”

“No offense to Captian Armor,” Flash said, slinging the duffle bag strap on his shoulder, “but I know the residents of Azkaban, they respond better to a carrot over a stick. Specifically, the one who was probably around thousands of years ago.”

“Reeeeeeally?” Redheart smirked, “This has nothing to do with seeing that Minx I bet, huh?”

Flash rolled his eyes, “It’s for business and you know that.”

“Whatever you say, furry.” Redheart chuckled.

Flash didn’t give Redheart the satisfaction of a response, spreading his wings he took flight off into the city.

Redheart let out a sigh as she walked back towards the castle, “That kid’s gonna get me killed someday,” She muttered as she started gnawing on her calming cane.

The city of Canterlot was the most advanced human city in the world, apart from the Crystal Empire. Buildings were made out of solid concrete bricks and, on average, towered to be around five stories tall. However, the further buildings from Tintagel Keep were more rustic and cheaply build, with elements of wood and bricks. Flash flew down a paved road, street lights illuminating his path, making sure that he didn’t fly over the speed limit. Even though the flight roads were typically empty at night, one could never be too careful. Flash flew for a couple of minutes before descending to his location, a square building with a lit-up sign that read “Civilizer of Men”.

Even though scarlet red curtains blocked the windows, Flash could still make out silhouettes of fine bodies mingling around, giggles and laughs matching their cheerful movements. In between these windows was the heavily bolted door that lead into the building, a man and a woman dressed in all black and wearing black sunglasses stood guard at the door. Why they wore sunglasses at night, no one would ever know nor understand. Flash readied himself before walking up to the two bouncers, it wasn’t the first time he had been to the place and he knew by heart what they needed from him.

“Password?” The female bouncer asked.

“Shamhat,” Flash answered. Shamhat was a prostitute who wielded the Divine unknowingly, every man that Shamhat slept with was calmed and made civil through her sex. Some scholars claim that she prevented countless wars through her orgies alone.

“And is she with you?” The male bouncer questioned.

Flash raised an eyebrow, confused as to what he meant. The bouncer pointed to someone behind Flash, who turned around and froze in fear when his bug-eyed gaze fell on Twilight Sparkle. Twilight flashed him her best-selling grin at the sight of the horrified Avian. Collecting his thoughts, Flash snapped back to reality and rushed up to Twilight, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the side.

“Hmm, didn’t take you for the type to enjoy these kinds of places.” Twilight teased, enjoying how much Flash’s face started to resemble a strawberry.

“T-T-Twilight! What are you doing here.” The flustered man hissed, doing everything in his power to keep his tone down.

“I was bored,” Twilight answered, “went over to my balcony, saw you and that doctor talking, then teleported to you at this here brothel.”

Flash glanced at the club and then back to Twilight, “I can explain.”

“I would love to see you try.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Then what does it look like?”

Flash opened and closed his mouth, preventing himself from revealing the answer, as well as shifting the duffel bag to try to hide it behind his back. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a convincing lie to tell Twilight, but alas his brain failed him.

“Flaaaash~” Twilight teased, “You better tell me the truth now, I will know if you’re lying.”

“I…I’m here to visit a friend.” Flash answered, which wasn’t a lie.

“In a brothel,” Twilight mused.

“…It’s complicated.”

Twilight let out a hum, swinging her arms behind her back, “Well then, I think I’ll tag along to meet this, ‘friend’ of yours.”

Flash was about to protest, but then remembered the hierarchy between the two of them, releasing a defeated sigh, “There’s no way of stopping you, is there?”

“Nope,” Twilight answered.

“Okay…just, stay close to me please…and don’t touch anyone,” Flash stated, bringing emphasis to that last part. The two made their way back to the bouncers, who stopped them in their tracts.

“Password,” They requested.

“I literally just told it to you less than two minutes ago,” Flash said with irritation. Yet the bouncers refused to budge until he gave them what they wanted. “Shamhat,” Flash sighed, which satisfied the bouncers, the male one unlocking and opening the bolted door.

Twilight looked over to Flash with a curious look upon hearing his answer, “The Holy Whore?” She asked, knowing the history of Shamhat, Civilizer of Kings.

“Well, this placed was named after her,” Flash indicated to the Club’s name.

The two entered the establishment, being greeted with dance music being played by a local band on stage, the lead performer playing the saxophone. The music traveled throughout the entire building thanks to magical speakers containing sound crystals. Colored lights painted everything in a deep violet tint, giving the club an arousing atmosphere. The most arousing thing though was the topless dancer swinging around a pole on a separate stage, surrounded by cheering men and women throwing money into the air.

Far across from the stage were multiple semicircle booths filled with customers wearing masks to cover everything above their lips. One could identify the workers of the establishment based on their lack of clothing and an absence of a mask. The male workers would wear tight-fitting shorts and a bowtie around their neck while the female workers wore thinly dressed undergarments. Another and more important indicator of the workers were their attentive looks and bright smiles, showing that they were thoroughly enjoying their work. Twilight took in all the eye candy, receiving a couple of winks and whistles from a mix of both strippers and customers.

A woman approached Flash and Twilight with a steady saunter, her black stilettos clicking with each step. However, she took one wrong step and tripped on her own feet, falling forward. Flash reacted quickly, reaching out to grab the extended arms of the woman, who smiled cutely at Flash.

“Thanks, Flash,” The woman said.

Upon closer inspection, Twilight noticed that the woman had golden eyes that were not in the right orientation, her left eye looked forward while her right eye looked in another direction, akin to Brown’s Syndrome.

“Anytime, Ditzy,” Flash helped the woman back up to her feet, “is she here?”

The avian woman now known as Ditzy wobbled back to her feet, “Yep, she’s waiting for you in the back. Although,” She paused, glancing over to both Twilight and incidentally Flash, “she wasn’t expecting you to have company. Can she…”

“She’s fine,” Flash assured, “her brother knows about Azkaban and she has higher authority than him.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Ditzy swung around gracefully, “follow me then, I’ll take you to the Madam.”

Twilight and Flash followed Ditzy, taking them down a guarded hallway only available to VIPS. As they traversed down the hallway, they passed by open rooms where highly influential people were interacting with scantily dressed employees. Twilight took an interesting glance at who she recognized was Mayor Mare of Canterlot and was chasing around a topless man with a bra covering his face, Twilight make the association that the bra belonged to the smiling and nude Mayor Mare. In another room was a general of Tintagel’s military known as Spitfire, who was having a provocative discussion with two naked women. Another room housed one of the high merchants known as Filthy Rich who was receiving a massage from a shirtless man while another man wearing only briefs was feeding him grapes. Needless to say, it was certainly an eyeful.

“Hmmm,” Twilight hummed, turning to Flash who was unaffected by the high levels of nudity around him, “you have nice tastes, Flash.”

The Protector’s blush quickly returned. “I…this isn’t…I’m not…” Flash stuttered, quickly stopping when he saw the smug smile on Twilight. “You need to stop that, your grace,” Flash groaned.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, Ditzy opened a door which Flash and Twilight entered. The room’s floor, walls, and ceiling were scarlet red. The back wall was completely covered by a large bookcase, several trinkets and gadgets lay atop the assorted tables, with a round table in the center of the room that had a crystal ball in the middle.

“Make yourselves comfortable, the Madam will be with you momentarily,” Ditzy bowed, quickly making her way back to her designated booth, “Ooooh, I hope I didn’t make Turner wait too long,” She muttered before the door closed shut.

Twilight and Flash took a seat at the round table in the center of the room, Twilight kept an eye on the doorway they entered as it was the only means of entry for the room. However, she would be proven wrong as the sound of a mechanical system of gears and pulleys came from the bookshelf. There was a loud clank, and then the middle section of the bookshelf swung open like a door. A tall, voluptuous, woman emerged from the doorway, hips swaying seductively with each step, followed by a click from her black leather boot heels. Speaking of which, Twilight was intrigued to see that all this woman wore was those heels and black leather gloves which fit nicely around her thin fingers. Her eyes burned like aquamarine, her silky milk chocolate hair tied in a ponytail with not a strand out of place, and a smile that could charm the pants off of any man if she asked in just the right way.

“You’re bringing women here now, Flashy?” She asked teasingly, as she took a seat across from the two.

Flash opened his mouth to answer, but Twilight beat him to it, “I actually forced him to bring me along, Miss…”

“Cream Heart,” The woman answered, folding her arms under her rather large breasts, “fortune teller, Madam, and owner of this divine establishment, at your service.”

Twilight raised a brow, “Fortune telling?”

“Yes,” Cream Heart grinned, palming at the crystal ball on the table it began to glow softly, “first fortune’s are always free.”

Flash cleared his throat, getting the conversation back on topic, “I’m here to request a lift to Azkaban,” He requested.

“Do you have payment?” Cream Heart asked, moving her hand away from the crystal ball.

Flash dove into the duffel bag, rummaging around in it before pulling out a small black pouch which he tossed to Cream Heart. Upon catching it, she opened it up to inspect its contents, a satisfied smile growing on her face. “Do we have an accord?” Flash asked.

Cream Heart looked up from the back and back to Flash, letting out a sigh as she set the back aside and leaned in, “I’m not sure what you hope to gain down there. Shining and the cutie Sunburst already questioned the residents of Azkaban about the Blue Moon.”

“I’m aware, but I also know them both…chances are they weren’t asking the right questions.” Flash stated, “So do we have an accord, yes or no?”

Cream Heart got up from her seat and walked over to the bookcase, pulling down on a book it triggered the same mechanical sounds from before and the bookcase swung open like a door. “Follow me,” Cream Heart instructed. The three of them made their way down another hallway until they came to an elevator shaft, all three of them squeezed in and took the lift all the way down until they came to the bottom.

They were greeted to a lobby that one would see in a grand hotel, with a large desk where a young boy was playing on a small device in his swivel chair. “Button will show you to the rooms you want to visit,” Cream Heart said as she made her way towards one of the doors on the wall, “just don’t enter this one. Unless of course, you’d be invested in joining,” She winked at Twilight, who smiled in appreciation of the gesture. Flash approached the large desk, “Hey Button Mash,” He greeted the young kid.

“Hey Flash,” Button greeted back, not looking away from his handheld, “who ya here for?”

“Fancy Pants and Sunset Shimmer, please.” Flash requested.

Button, still not looking away from his handheld, pulled out two keys from the desk and gave them to Flash, “I put a hex on those keys, they’ll take you right to their doors.”

“Thank you,” Flash thanked, dropping in a couple of gold bits in the tip jar.

Flash and Twilight made their way up the stairs to the second floor, where one of the keys began glowing the closer they got to their destination. Upon arrival, Flash spun around to face Twilight, “Um…maybe it would be better if you waited outside?” He asked, almost pleadingly.

“Hmmm,” Twilight thought about it, “No,” She answered.

“Yeah…thought not,” Flash sighed in defeat, knocking on the door, “Just…don’t panic when you see him.”

“Come in!” A voice on the other side of the door responded, upon which both Flash and Twilight entered.

Flash opened the door and the two entered into a bedroom, the walls were painted a deep navy blue, a circular rug lay in the center of the room, and across from the bed was an assortment of cushioned chairs beside a lit fireplace. Sitting in one of the chairs was a dashing gentleman with a protruding chest, wavy navy blue gelled back hair, with a monocle resting on his left eye. He wore black dress pants, a collared shirt with a waistcoat over it, with his suit folded over the back of his chair. The gentleman gave a warm smile to Flash and Twilight, putting a bookmark in his novel before setting it aside, being careful to hide his wrists from the two guests.

“Ah, Flash Sentry,” The man spoke with an upper-class posh accent his gaze lingered on Twilight for a moment before returning to Flash, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Greetings, FancyPants,” Flash waved, “sorry to drop in unannounced, we just needed to…” Flash trailed off when he noticed Fancy shuffling with his shirt’s cuffs. Flash stormed up to Fancy before he could protest, pulling back the sleeves he revealed several newly formed scars on Fancy’s arm. “Fancy…” Flash gasped in horror, to which FancyPants put a finger to Flash’s mouth.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Fancy chuckled, pulling his sleeve back down, “may I interest you two in some tea?” Fancy offered, indicating to the teapot and teacups sitting on the tray next to him.

Twilight got closer to FancyPants and upon closer inspection, she realized why Flash had told her not to overreact when she met Fancy. Getting a good look at him, Twilight now sees his crimson red eyes and sharp fangs behind his gentle smile. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together and realize that Fancy wasn’t human.

“You’re a…a vampire,” Twilight said with astonishment.

Fancy looked to the Maiden with tired eyes, “Indeed I am, though you have nothing to worry about my dear, my days of being a bloodthirsty beast are long behind me.”

Flash dropped his duffel bag, opening it up he took out one of the blood bags and handed it to Fancy, “Here,” Flash offered.

“I couldn’t-“ Fancy protested at first.

“Please,” Flash pleaded, “she gave it to you so that you could stay healthy. Or would you like me to tell Rarity you’ve been refusing her donations?”

FancyPants let out a sigh in defeat as he took the blood bag and consumed its contents, leaving a dried-up plastic bag as the remains. His eyes glowed for a moment and his body thrummed as the scars on his arms sank into his body, making them appear good as new. “As always, her generosity is greatly appreciated.” FancyPants smiled warmly, “Though, she does need to stop donating so much,” He pointed to the other three blood bags in the duffel bag.

“Believe me, you are more than welcome to tell her that yourself.” Flash chuckled, now relaxed that Fancy had healed up, he took a seat in one of the chairs, Twilight did the same. “I know that this is short notice, but I was hoping that you could give me some info on the Blue Moon. Vampires and Lycans have always been night creatures that have had a strong tie to the moon, surely you must know something.”

FancyPants sighed, “Flash my boy, I wish there was more I could tell you. Alas, everything I know I already told to your captain and his Dominus when they visited. Those scars were to make sure I wasn’t withholding anything.”

“I’m sorry for how Shining treated you,” Twilight spoke up.

“No need,” FancyPants raised an arm in protest, “I know how dire the situation is, Captain Armor needed to ensure that he had all the facts.”

“Speaking of,” Flash said, “what can you tell us about the Blue Moon?”

“As you know,” FancyPants began, “I am currently two-hundred and fifty-nine years old, but us Vampires had stories told to us when we hibernated. One of them was a lullaby about the Sapphire Moon.” Fancy then began to tell the lullaby, as he knew it by heart.

“There were two, Terra and Luna
Separate forever until one Fortuna.
The two were never meant to be
As one was enslaved while the other was free.

But on one night they became one
Under new light not from the sun
They bathed in rays of sapphire glow
Between the two their numbers did grow

What was once enslaved was then free
What was once not now came to be
As Terra became Luna, new life came to be
And all danced with joy, under his symphony.”

All three were quiet, processing the meaning behind the poem, “Well…I suppose that already supports what we already know about the Blue Moon.” Flash sighed, understanding that the Blue Moon was means of fertility for Night Creatures and would make them aggressive. Still, he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was more to it than that. Then Flash realized something about the pronouns used in the poem.

“It’s a lovely poem,” Twilight said.

“Fancy,” Flash began his questioning, “why did the poem call Luna-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Flash vanished in a flash. One second he was there and the next he was gone, all that remained was his armor which hung in midair in Flash’s shape before clattering to the floor, which both FancyPants and Twilight jumped at. The duffel bag that Flash had brought also vanished.

“Oh dear,” FancyPants sighed after collecting his thoughts, “she knows he’s here.”

Twilight turned to Fancy with newfound interest, “Who does?”

“Flash’s nemesis, Sunset Shimmer,” FancyPants answered, picking up the tea kettle he poured himself another cup, which he offered to Twilight, “Tea, Twilight?”

Flash fell onto his rear, where he had now been teleported to, he didn’t recognize because of how dimly lit everything was. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust, when they did he was in a similar room to that of FancyPants, but this time the colors were different, with a mixture of orange and white in a manner that resembled a fox. Flash’s skin went cold when he realized where he had landed, and made a mental note to inform Cream Heart that Sunset had bypassed her anti-magic wards.

“Oh, Flash,” A soft voice moaned the young man’s name, “you give me the best presents.”

Flash turned to the source of the voice, his gaze falling on the bed where Sunset Shimmer lay dressed in only a loose-fitted blue yukata. Her red hair with yellow stripes splayed out on the mattress, four of her fox tails were swishing around with excitement as she held Flash’s swimwear over her face, breathing in the masculine aura it produced.

“Not only does it have your Yang,” She took another whiff, “But those four male teammates of yours too.”

As Sunset was enjoying her meal, blue energy wafted from trunks and into Sunset’s mouth as she happily devoured the masculine aura. Her body twitched with glee as it was nourished by the life-giving force. Flash slowly got up, checking his surroundings to see if there was anything he could use as an improvised tool while also keeping a close eye on Sunset.

Only to look away for a split second and have Sunset vanish completely. Before Flash could understand where she went, he felt a prominent pressure on his back. His wings fully extended in response, Flash bit his lip to stifle a moan from the sudden touch of a very sensitive area. Flash jumped and turned to face his assailant, his wings twitching softly and refusing to go down.

“Still ticklish right between your plates, hmmm?” Sunset bemused, a fifth tail now appearing behind her.

Flash eyed Sunset up and down to prepare himself for another attack, quickly regretting it as all he did was check out Sunset’s alluring body.

’ Why does every cute girl I meet do nothing but toy with me?’ He mentally groaned.

“Awww, you think I’m cute.” Sunset closed the distance between her and Flash, being so close their noses were practically touching. Sunset deeply inhaled, hoping to enrich herself with more of the masculine aura, only to go bug-eyed and reeled back in disgust.

“Gak!” She retched, “Ugh! That is a dirty move!” Sunset glared through slitted eyes brimming with tears while pinching her nose shut.

The smell Sunset was referring to was that of the special shirt Rarity had knitted Flash. Rarity had made it using dog fur, which was extremely helpful with repelling Huli Jing. It was a much preferable alternative to previous methods of repelling Huli Jing, which in the past was covering oneself in dog urine. Thankfully, Flash’s shirt didn’t reek of a dog and make his smell terrible, but when someone with super sinuses got close they would get a big whiff of dog odor.

“Serves you right,” Flash crossed his arms, “I was in the middle of a very important discussion with FancyPants.”

Flash tried to get back his lost train of thought, it had something to do with the pronoun for the moon, or was it the part about the joining of Terra and Luna. Alas, Flash couldn’t retrieve his train of thought as Sunset kept interrupting it.

“You honestly think that blood-sucker will tell you about the Blue Moon?” Sunset raised a brow, keeping her distance from Flash.

“He’d be more helpful than you,” Flash answered, stealing glances at the entryway in case he need a quick getaway.

“That hurts, Flashy,” Sunset cooed, taking a seat by the fireplace, she used her magic to move a chair across from her, “I’d be more than willing to give you what you want. Just ask and I’ll speak,” Sunset offered to the seat across from her.

Flash eyed the chair with caution, being careful of whatever tricks the conniving fox-girl was playing, as he took a seat next to it. The warmth of the fireplace grew as Sunset levitated another log onto the gentle fire. Flash and Sunset were having a staring contest, Sunset smirked at Flash with eyes that glared at prey while Flash analyzed every inch of Sunset to see what she was planning.

“What do you know about the Blue Moon?” Flash asked, “what does it do to Night Creatures?” He specified.

“Hmmm, while I can’t speak for all Night Creatures,” Sunset began, taking the steel poker to the fire to stoke the flames, “I do know that the Blue Moon has an…interesting ability on Huli Jing.”

“Interesting?” Flash echoed.

Sunset clapped her hands, “Let’s play a game, you ask me twenty questions and I’ll answer them with either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.”

“I don’t have time for games, Sunset,” Flash growled.

“Oh, come on!” Sunset groaned, “Shining and Sunburst didn’t want to play either and I get ever so lonely down here,” She shot Flash a threatening grin, “you wouldn’t want me to leave my cage again, Flashy, would you?”

Flash tightened his grip on his chair, he had no armor, weapons, tools, and there was no telling if Twilight was going to get him anytime soon. He had already accepted the risks of meeting with Sunset, there was no going back now. Like it or not, Flash had to play by Sunset’s rules if he was to get anything useful from her.

“Fine,” Flash begrudgingly complied, “what are the rules to your game?”

Sunset’s smile grew as she explained, “Rule 1: you have to ask questions that can only be answered with either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Rule 2: your questions have to be 1 sentence, if they’re any longer then they won’t count. Lastly, rule 3: you only have 10 questions.”

Flash thought about his first question carefully, knowing the tricks that Sunset was keen on playing, she would find ways to deceive Flash. The best course of action would be to get the important information out of the way first and build off of the information given.

“First question,” Flash began, “Do you only know what the Blue Moon does to Huli Jings?”

“Yes,” Sunset answered.

“Second, does the Blue Moon make Huli Jings more violent?”

“No.”

“Third, have you personally experienced the Blue Moon?”

“No.”

“Fourth, did you receive knowledge of the Blue Moon from a relative?”

“Yes.”

“Fifth, does the Blue Moon make Huli Jing more powerful”

“No.”

Flash took a moment to assess his information, the Blue Moon doesn’t make Huli Jings more violent nor does it make them stronger. The knowledge Sunset received about it was from a relative of her, which makes sense since the last Blue Moon was a thousand years ago. He still had five questions left, but due to the nature of the game, he wasn’t sure what other questions to ask. Then there two main questions that occurred to Flash,

“Sixth…, does the Blue Moon have an effect on magic, either Divine or Chaos?”

“No.”

“Seventh…, does the Blue Moon affect humans?”

“Yes.”

That caught Flash off guard, “What- how?!”

“Sorry, only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type questions, you just lost your eighth and ninth question,” Sunset leaned forward, poking at the fireplace again.

Flash adjusted his shirt, a sudden heat was growing around his chest. The moon had always been tied to Chaos magic and therefore had a connection to Night Creatures, while the sun had a strong connection to the Divine and therefore was tied to humans. Since the Blue Moon was going to affect humans, that troubled Flash and caused him to act irrationally, now he only had one question left. He needed to be wise about it, but only one question popped into his mind.

“Are the people of Canterlot in danger?”

Sunset’s wicked smile only grew as she gave her answer, “No.”

Sunset’s gaze looked to Flash, specifically to his chest, Flash had a moment of weakness and looked down to the same area. His eyes went wide as the reason why he had felt a sudden heat around his chest was because the center of his shirt was on fire. He quickly swatted the small flame in an attempt to put it out, but that somehow only caused the flame to spread. He took to the floor, stopped, dropped, and rolled to try and extinguish the fire but it was to no avail. With no other option, Flash reached for the collar of his shirt and ripped it off of him, throwing it to the side where it burst into flames.

Flash breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the end of the bed to catch his breath, leaning on his knees. When he looked back up, he was met with the triumphant smirk of Sunset who was very much in Flash’s personal space, seven tails swishing behind her.

It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together, Sunset had played Flash from the moment he sat down. Being close to the fireplace, Sunset easily flicked some embers onto Flash’s shirt and must’ve used her magic to make them grow into full-fledged fires. Now, without a means of repelling the Huli Jing, Flash was at the mercy of the fox spirit.

Putting a leg in-between Flash’s and a hand on his chest, Sunset pushed Flash onto the bed and pressed her body against his. Her, now, nine tails swayed as one like the waves of an ocean, brushing themselves against Flash’s feet. Her tails danced playfully against his feet, causing Flash to squirm from the tickle.

“*Ha-ha*, S-Sunset!…s-stop, *he-he*, p-pleas-*Ha-Ha*!” Flash giggled, his body betraying him as he smiled and laughed.

Sunset slowly lowered her head down onto Flash’s chest, keeping pressure on him with a mixture of her enhanced strength and magic to keep him still. Just to be sure, Sunset took another whiff of Flash’s sent and was pleased that he no longer smelled of dog. Having a beautiful woman such as Sunset atop Flash was causing Yang energy to surface onto the avian’s body.

“C-c-come ooooon *he-he-he*, ple-please just *gasp*!” The wind knocked right out of him as a new, wet, sensation met his chest.

Sunset closed her eyes and ran her tongue along Flash’s chest, her smooth tongue greedily lapping up the Yang aura oozing from Flash. As Sunset was enjoying her meal, she was equally enjoying the audible moans and cries from Flash. She worked her way upward, slowly crawling up Flash until she was perfectly level with him, her tails moving away from his feet. Flash’s giggle died down, breathing heavily, like he had just run a mile. Sunset craned her head and began nibbling on Flash’s ear, her other arm snaked under Flash and pressed that same spot she did before.

Flash’s eyes shot open as his wings unfurled, splaying out in all their glory. Sunset glided her free hand over his feathers, petting and stroking them caused shivers to tingle down Flash’s spine. Flash did his best to keep his head straight, but as his vitality was being drained his vision was starting to blur. He tried to find a way to move Sunset off of him. He searched around for something, anything, to help him with his dilemma. He scanned the room, looking to the assorted bookshelf, the nearby nightstands, the currently wrinkled sheets beneath him, alas it presented nothing to help.

Then he looked over to his left and, in his delusional state, could’ve sworn that he saw Twilight standing at the doorway. There was a sound of someone clearing their throat, which caused Sunset to freeze, pointy ears perked up and her tails curled as she glared to the doorway. As Flash’s vision started to clear, he saw that it was indeed Twilight that stood in front of the doorway, a confident smile on her face.

“Sorry to interrupt,” She spoke, “but I’ll be taking that back now.” With a snap of her fingers, Flash vanished from underneath Sunset and reappeared in a flash right beside Twilight, who helped him stand up.

Sunset, not happy with having her prey stolen, hopped off the bed and strode towards the two. Only to bounce off an invisible wall halfway there, a shimmer of runes appeared and vanished for a split second.

“You alright?” Twilight asked her protector once she was sure that the shield would hold the Huli Jing.

“Yeah…” Flash wheezed, slowly catching his breath. “Just…give me…a moment.”

Twilight looked over to the cross Huli Jing, who was eying Twilight up and down, “Like what you see?” She shot the woman a foxy grin.

Sunset held a finger to her chin, unable to help but admit that Twilight did in fact look quite tantalizing, “Say…why don’t you be a lamb and take this barrier down?” Sunset suggested, her eyes changed from teal to a dark yellow, “I bet we can have a lot of fun, just the three of us.”

“Hmmm,” Twilight hummed as she approached the barrier, tracing her finger along its surface, causing it to shimmer where she touched it, “tempting…but nice try, much like my protector here,” Twilight indicated to the Avian who had recovered, “I’m afraid your charms and spells aren’t enough to sway someone like me.”

Sunset accepted the challenge, “Oh really.” She sneered, her eyes glowed brighter, orange magic wisped from the edges of her eyes. “Look at me, surely a mage as powerful as yourself would be more than capable of handling someone as meek as me. Why not take down the barrier and let me prove it to you.”

Twilight’s eyes mirrored Sunset’s color…for about a second before returning to their normal purple shade. “Ooh!” Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hands with a giddy smile, “I actually felt that! I’m a big enough woman to admit when I’ve made a mistake,” Twilight said calmly, yet there was an undertone of anger. “You’re certainly stronger than I first assumed, I apologize for that,” She placed her open hand on the barrier. In one swift movement, her eyes changed, her sclera now a pale teal color akin to oxidized copper, with her irises changing from a deep velvet to a light purple, black magic wafted from the corners of her eyes. Sunset dropped to her knees as an immense force pushed her down, as though a boulder just dropped on her. “Now,” Twilight began, crouching down to be at eye level with Sunset, waving her finger at Sunset, “Don’t let this make you feel discouraged, it’s not that you’re weak, it’s just that I’m far stronger than you.” She said, a wicked grin growing on her triumphant face, her corkscrew horn began manifesting on her forehead.

“Twilight, wait!” Flash cried out, causing the Maiden to return to her normal state, the crushing weight on Sunset lifted, “I know she seems dangerous, but she still has useful information.”

Twilight kept her towering gaze on the fox spirit, “What exactly did she tell you?”

Flash began recalling everything Sunset had already told him, “In terms of Night Creatures, not too much, but she did say that the Blue Moon has an effect on humans.”

That statement caused Twilight to turn towards Flash with a surprised expression, “What…did she say anything else?”

“Erm…no,” Flash rubbed the back of his head, a hint of embarrassment in his tone at how ridiculous he must’ve looked to Twilight, “but…” He moved his gaze upward to meet Twilight’s concerned eyes, “I think she knows something important…if I can just ask her a bit more- “

Flash,” Twilight spoke with a soothing voice like silk, closing the distance between the two of them, “Think about this for a minute, she’s a Huli Jing, a trickster, she wasn’t giving you information, she was using you.”

There was that same throb in Flash’s head, but it dissipated as Flash walked through what Twilight had said. It wasn’t the first time he gave Sunset the benefit of the doubt only for her to trick him. It made sense in his mind that Sunset wasn’t giving him useful information and was instead just telling him what he wanted to keep him in place so that she could remove his last form of protection. Still, there were those nagging doubts he couldn’t quite shake.

“I…” Flash began in an attempt to protest, but when looked back in Twilight’s eyes all those doubts washed away, replaced with embarrassment and shame, “you’re right…” He admitted, “Goddess, I can’t believe that I did that.” He scolded himself.

“Hey now,” Twilight cooed, cupping Flash’s cheek in her open palm, “you meant well, and there’s no shame in that. Why don’t you and I go back to Tintagel? We can see if there is anything we can get from FancyPants’ poem.”

There was that throb again, but it was weaker this time, “Yeah…that’s a good idea.”

Just like that, Twilight snapped her fingers, and both she and Flash teleported out of the room. Leaving a frustrated Sunset behind.