The Chemical Re-Mark

It was an early, chilly spring morning.

The Sun's light soaked through the morning's gray sky such that its light dripped uniformly down into ponyville, leaving no shadows beneath the very, very few ponies outside this early.

In a small cafe, one only open this early because its owner prided herself in doing so, sat two wide-awake mares among the odd stirring form of a hard-working pony.

Starlight cluched a bag against her chest, a bag she valued far more than the bits threatning to spill out of it. Her horn flickered and fizzled intermitently, repeatedly adjusting a bandage hastly dressed around her head.

She stared intently at Cheerilee, sat across from her and closer to the door. She enjoyed a cup of Earl Gray, balancing her cup on a hoof as she sipped from it with her eyes closed, focusing intently on its flavor.

She wore a dark purple sweater, and sat straight on her chair as she drew the cup away from her lips and set it down on its saucer. She opened her eyes, and met Starlight's gaze with a small startle.

"Is something on my face, Starlight?"

"Mmh?" Starlight quickly brought the bag between them. "Oh, no, no, no! Haha, uhm. But, do you feel... weird, somehow?"

"Oh." Cheerilee brought a hoof down to cover her flank. "You're wondering about what it means, too."

"What?!" Starlight brought her shoulders up in mock confusion. "Nooo! It's just, uh- you seemed unfocused, just now?"

Cheerilee tentatively lifted the brim of her sweater, like peeling off a bandage. She took a quick peek at her mark, the fifth since she'd invited Starlight for breakfast as thanks.

The flowers in bloom that once dotted her flank were now closed, dried up and muted of color. Some of the petals had fallen off, and were now forzen drifting towards her back hooves. Their faces were hidden, but Cheerilee felt that they would be frowning.

She drew the brim back down, almost ripping the fabric in her eagerness to hide. "Well, it's a mystery to me! Do you have any idea of what it could mean?"

"...I do have a hunch. You said you got you mark shortly after seeing your sister's... ah..."

Cheerilee leaned in. "Yes, yes, what about it?!"

"Well, while you were getting read to go out earlier, I snooped around your house. And I found this under your bed"

She rummaged through her bag until she found an old, yellowed sheet of paper. She magically pulled it out, showed it to Cheerilee, and then quickly pulled it out of the way of her hooves.

"S-starlight!? We're in public, please put that away this instant!"

"Nah. Why was this under your bed?"

"L-look, I don't know either. I was sure I'd burnt it down years ago! "

"It wasn't far from these magazines," - she pulled an old Playcolt issue from the bag - "It was tucked behind a box of them, even"

"I-it must've falled down there! I- listen." She propped herself up on the table. "I had no idea that was there. I haven't so much as entretained the thought of using that in years."

"That's great!" Starlight pratically shoved the drawing into her face. "Does it make you feel anything, still?"

Cheerilee looked straight through the paper. She then slowly forced herself to admire the form of colt she'd scribbled herself years ago, thin pencil lines emphasizing his wiry frame and colthood.

She came to her senses and batted the paper away. "I- Dear Celestia, Starlight! I don't get why you-"

Her voice faltered. She'd noticed an abscence, somehow. Not of something, but rather a sensation. An abscence both alarming and wonderful.

"...Starlight. I don't feel a thing. I DON'T FEEL A THING! YOU DID IT!" She leapt forward, knocking her teacup away as she tried to pull Starlight into a hug.

Starlight teleported from one end to the table to the other in the blink of an eye, causing Cheerilee to headbutt a bag full of coins. "That's wonderful to hear, Miss Cheerilee."

Her horn blinked, setting the paper she still held in her magic ablaze. "I'm glad that we could find a way through-" She immediately looked away, "-oh you're leafing through the porn mags."

Cheerilee leafed through the magazine, less admiring every toned stallion and more trying to burn as many of them into her retinas as possible. Her brow was furrowed as she stuffed the first magazine back and pulled out a second, this one featuring a collection of female creatures.

Cheerilee spoke as she admired a toned pair of zebras. "Starlight, there's something wrong. These... aren't doing a thing for me."

Starlight inched forward, sneaked a peek over her shoulder, and snapped back fully flushed. "Ch-cheers, uhm, I, uh, maybe we should continue this in private?"

"I don't see what you mean. Like, this isn't sexy at all." She showed starlight a centerfold of a griffon that could make the frozen north itself boil.

Starlight took the magazine from her hooves and stuffed it back into the bag. "O-okay Cheerilee, very funny. What got into you?!"

"Starlight, I don't-" Cheerilee paused as her eyes widened. "...You don't think that has anything to do with this," She showed her new mark again, "do you?"

"...Oh dear Celestia, it might. Are you sure you didn't feel attracted to, um, anything you just saw?"

"I'm sure, yes. D-do you think it's a temporary thing or..?"

Starlight thought for a moment, then helped Cheerilee off the table. "...I'm so sorry, Cheerilee."

Cheerilee blinked, but then gave a huge grin and placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "Don't be! This is what I get for kidnapping you."

"Are you really alright, through? We could try enchanting you again! I'm free tomorrow, if you-"

"Starlight. It's fine. This is much, much better than what I had before, and I'm not going to risk having it come back by rolling the dice with you again. I'll... get used to this."

Starlight grabbed her in a hoof, and began walking around the table. "Well, if you change your mind, then you know where to find me. Goodbye!"

"Oh, wait, Starlight!" Cheerilee gestured towards the bag. "You forgot my magazines in the bag. Could you hoof them over?"

Starlight looked at her, then at the bag, and then tried to teleport herself along with the magic-proof fabric. She blinked away as the bag hit the cafe's tile flooring, then teleported back with a blush and an embarassed smile.

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "Starlight."

"You have no use for these anyway! They should go to somepony who can appreciate them!"

"...Fair point. But could you give me a few bits, then? I need to pay for my tea and I just realized I didn't bring my bit pouch."

Starlight stared her down, dragged a hoof on the ground like a bull, then threw a hoofful of bits at Cheerilee's hooves before running out the door and towards where Trixie's wagon was parked.