RC wandered out in the dark. She didn't have to fear being seen, which felt like a new and kinda nice thing. She was a human, like all the other humans. That world had so many of them, and she was just one of the countless many.

It had been exciting to be around Brad and Miguel and work on the ranch with them. She knew where Brad was, at least. She could feel his location through their bond. She wanted to go see him, but she also felt like she should keep some distance. No, it was more like she felt like she needed to be out there, to find something. Find what? She wasn't sure, but she kept wandering.

Something tugged at her and she walked over towards the barn. She stopped by a pile of wood near the door. RC peered up into the darkness for a moment before giving herself a hard nod. It was a lovely night. The stars were tinkling and the strange moon was shining. There was a rainbow even! Well, technically, a moonbow?

She found her gaze stuck on that moonbow a moment. "Aren't you a magical thing," she sighed out in a moment of romance. RC slid along a rail to get closer, keeping her feet moving, not stopping as she sought out something special. She slid off the end and sauntered on up to the bow, taking a slow moment to give it a good look.

Most people would have had little luck coming 'up' to a rainbow, but most people were not RC. She came right up to the rainbow in the dark and saw where it vanished into the ground. Following her instincts, and an intense curiosity, she began digging and pawing at the ground where the rainbow landed. It was tough going. She was unaccustomed to the human body. The limbs were too long, and not strong enough. Even if they were, she didn't know how to use them.

But with time, determination, and a few glances up at the rainbow to keep her encouraged, she ran into something, a little something. She drew it up into her hands, cool and smooth. It was a coin. "Humans do have bits!" Emboldened, she resumed digging, producing a small collection of coins from the earth, giggling all the while.

She inspected each of them carefully, as she pulled them free. "Bit. Bit. Bits." RC turned one of the last bit over in her hand, wondering at their source and meaning. "Why would humans bury their bits? Can't spend them in the dirt."

A deep chuckle drifted over her shoulders, a voice she recognized. "What are you doing out here so late, Rainbow?"

RC gave herself a solid jump. She spun in place, the coins clutched tightly in her hands, to see Miguel right behind her. "Oh hey!" Recognizing who it was, RC's thumping heart started to relax. "Maybe you can tell me." She presented one of the bits she had found. "Why would you hide these out in the dirt?"

Miguel spread his hands slowly. "That isn't mine. But it is yours now." He took a step closer, reaching for her hands. She eagerly presented the collection of coins. He looked them over with a little nod. "Wow, these ain't American coins, chica. You find them out here?"

RC bobbed her head eagerly. "They were in the ground. Why would anyone bury bits?"

Miguel leaned back, rocking his weight from foot to foot. "Well, these don't even look modern. You found real treasure. Old. Old old old." He waved as if the emphasize how old. "Hate to ask, but are you done?"

That had RC twirling back. "Nope!" She crouched down and got to digging. "There could be more. I have a collection going."

"Whatcha gonna do with it?" Miguel scratched at his beard. "Seems kinda silly to go digging around like this."

RC giggled up at him. "I'll trade them in for treats! How much is an old bit worth?"

"Got me." Miguel sank down near her and joined her in disturbing the ground. "You'd have to find out, but it might be worth it, or maybe it's nothing. We won't know until then."

RC tapped a finger against her lips. "Do you think anyone else knows about this?"

Miguel pointed to one of the coins briefly. "That's what might happen when you get them appraised. Now, if you want to dig, focus on that, si?"

"Si!" RC cheered. She returned to digging, trying to ignore the coins for the moment as she sought more buried treasure. "How do you know so much about bits? They're pony things."

"Chica, I have no idea what a bit is. Those are coins. You say there might be more." And he went quiet, focusing on the dig. The two tunneled until they hit the edge of something harder then the earth around it. "Curious." Miguel took the hint and stood up. He reached into his pocket, withdrew a large pocket knife, and clicked it open. It was far more knife than most would carry around, but it had some unique attachments. He began working at the object they found, trying to free it from the dirt around it.

RC jumped back and forth behind him as he worked, chirping happily. "Whoa! That's so cool!" She reached for the blade with a curious hand. "How did you get that thing?"

"I bought it," he said like that should be obvious. "And it's not a shovel." He tucked it back away and went for his hands. Slowly, it was emerging into the light of the moon. It was a statue of some kind, the metal was yellowish in the glow. He straightened up with it cradled carefully in his arms. "A golden horse?"

"No! That's a pony!" RC swept up next to him and got a good look at it. "Yeah, look!" She bounced on her feet without actually jumping. "I had a good feeling." Satisfied, she pocketed the coins she had found. "Let's get back. Brad's probably worried."

"I'll just call him." Miguel smirked at her, tapping at his phone.

RC blinked at the idea. "Call him? You can shout that loud?"

Miguel chuckled lightly. "Chica, phones can't shout. I'm calling him with this." He showed her the screen and tapped it a few times. He held the phone up to his ear, waiting patiently for the ringing to stop. After a moment, he started talking, "Hey, mi amigo! It's Miguel. Si, she's right here. Say hola."

"Hola?" RC inclined her head. "What's that mean?"

"See? She's fine. We're heading back, with a haul! Si. Adios!" Miguel tucked his phone away. "Alright, let's go find Brad." He looked at the statue in his hands a moment, then down at the dirt around them. "Where should I put this?"

"Where do humans put things they want to hold onto?" RC patted her coin-laden pockets. "I used these."

Miguel laughed warmly. "Sure. Good enough." He started for the road, RC walking beside him. As they walked, they talked. She did most of the talking, excitedly going on about all the exciting things she had learned and seen.

They got back to the ranch without trouble. Miguel led the way to their home. "Brad's just over there." He pointed to Brad's room. "Go show him what you found." He pressed the statue back into RC's hands. "Tell me when you find out how much they're worth. I'm curious now."

RC took the statue in both hands, holding it carefully. She ran off with a quick shout. "I will!"

Miguel waved to her as she dashed away. He paused at his door, turning to see RC burst into Brad's room with the artifact held up over her head like a trophy. The door shut, cutting off any sound. With a last shake of his head, he went inside to retire for the day.

In Brad's room, RC put down the statue on the bed. "Look what I found!"

Brad seemed more interested in RC than the statue. He lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers in greeting. "Hi. Glad you're safe."

RC tossed her head back. "We weren't going to get hurt. I was just following a rainbow."

"A rainbow? How?" Brad looked around. "There are rainbows at night?"

"That was a moonbow," RC responded in a matter of fact tone. "You know how things glow in the dark?" She pointed skywards. "The moon, shining? It can make rainbows too!"

Twilight was there, studying the statue curiously. "This looks very old. Brad, do you recognize it? Does it have cultural value?"

Brad shrugged at her. "Sorry, Twi. I'm not really up on the history of all these things. We could probably look it up online." He gestured to his computer.

"Online?" Twilight looked over at him. "Right, online!" That the two human worlds both had an Internet was somehow comforting to her and she sank in front of the computer, eager to try figuring out the differences and how to get anywhere.

Brad shook his head lightly, watching her poke at the keyboard with only mild success. "Let me help." He got up from his bed and put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know how they are in your world, but around here, the letters spell out the words you want."

She pouted at that. "I know that! I just don't know which words you need where just yet." With a huff, she let him slide in and take the lead. "I was getting there. Slowly."

He rubbed her back gently. "It's fine. Now, what should we be looking for?"

"Old pony statues." Twilight waved at the golden horse before them. "And other bits of pony culture, if you find any."

"I wouldn't be so sure it'll come up if you just look for 'pony'. Oh, RC, was that all you found? Not that it isn't a find." Brad hammered away at the keys, trying search queries as quickly as they came to mind.

RC got in close, watching him work. "Nope! I found a whole bunch of bits! The coins. Like this one." She presented a silver coin to him. "What are these things?"

Twilight got her hands on one first. "These also appear to be quite dated. Fascinating." But she had no context to say much more than that. She showed it to Brad. "Any ideas?"

"That looks like a Spanish colonial coin. We used to see them all the time at auctions or trade shows." Brad bobbed his head slowly as he continued to scan the results from his search. "We've got a museum in town. You find any gold ones? Those are even more valuable."

RC emptied out all her coins in a clatter on the floor. Some where silver, others were gold. She got to sorting them out into neat little piles. "That's good then, right? How many of those cloth bits is each of these metal bits worth then?"

Brad leaned over to look down at the coins. "One is probably about fifty dollars. Not a bad catch. That statue though, I'm having no luck finding info on it. We're really going to have to take this all in for someone way more skilled to figure out what it's all worth." He paused, noting RC next to him, looking quite expectant.

It took him a moment before he stood up and put a hand on her head, ruffling her hair gently. "You did a very good job, RC." He smiled warmly down at her, "Well done. You should be proud of your treasure hunt. It'll take us a little while to find out the full value, but it's almost certainly something."

RC squealed with joy, her hands close together and balled up. She got to her feet, beaming at him. "Twi? What about the statue? Is that something?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight was on the computer again, now that Brad was away from it. She made a face at the screen, frustrated. "Ugh! I know how to do this, and yet it is so different! So much information, but where do I start?!" She fumed at the machine, silently cursing it for not being a familiar library. "Let's get these things safely tucked away. Tomorrow we can go see an expert and find out for sure."

Brad bent over and scooped up the coins. "Alright, let's get these coins put away. And we'll put the statue right here." He slid it onto a high shelf, then he got back on his computer. "Do you want to use my computer? I don't mind. It must be hard to look things up when they're so different."

Twilight pushed away. "Sleep time." That was when she really looked Brad's bed over. "We're going to have to cuddle if we're sharing this little bed."

Brad blushed lightly. "I know, I didn't need much larger before I made some particular pony friends. It'll be a tight fit, but we'll make it work."

RC hopped into the bed, doing her best to sprawl across it all. "Weeeeeeee!"

Twilight casually brushed her aside to make room for herself as she kicked off her shoes. "If you can do it, so can I." She curled up, laying on her side with a pillow under her head.

Brad looked at the bed, at Twilight, then down at himself. "I can sleep here." He sank to the wood floor. "Give you two some space."

RC looked down at him, giggling softly. "If you wanna."

Twilight wiggled up against the wall. "Well, if you don't want to use your own bed..."

Brad was quiet a moment, at least until he was poked. "Fine." He got up, looking at the smirking RC. "If you want to be crowded that badly."

RC put out an arm. "It's not a crowd if you're with ponies you wanna get close to."

Brad got in the bed, doing his best to remain on the edge, only to be pulled into the center of the bed. It took a bit of scrunching, but the three fit. That they were willing to cross various limbs and snuggle in helped a lot. Brad rested a hand on RC's back as she pressed against him. He blinked in surprise as she reached up and patted him gently on the cheek.

"I'll see you in the morning," Brad said as he smiled softly at RC, "or I guess whenever you wake up."

Twilight tickled him gently on the back. "See you tomorrow. We could all use—" She yawned suddenly. "—some sleep."

RC squeezed Brad tight. "Good night!" She laid there quietly with her eyes closed. Soon enough, she was snoring gently, just like she did at home.

Twilight wasn't far behind, already drifting off to dreamland herself.

The room was quiet, but Brad was still awake, finding himself lost in thought. He couldn't help but think about how it felt to have two beautiful women in his bed, cuddling against him. They weren't just random people either. They were, for all intents, his girlfriends. Maybe even more than that?

He lay there, his arms wrapped around them both as he watched over them while they slept. As much as he wanted to go to sleep himself, he knew he wouldn't be able to. He wanted to enjoy every second of this moment. He could feel them, not just through his own body, but he could feel them, from them, pressing against him. They were connected in a loving unit.

He found himself wondering if this was what life would be like from now on. Would he always have them with him? Would they eventually leave him?

Would they want to stay with him forever? The thought terrified him as much as it thrilled him. It wasn't a bad thing, he quickly decided, but it was a new thing. Change was scary. He drew the girls closer and let out his breath. "Relax," he whispered to himself, willing his body to relax.

Author's Note

Bits! I could feel her joy at finding out that humans were lying and hiding their bits. Cloth month, really, who would do that?!

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own here at atreon!

Don't want to do an ongoing thing? You could

Join my discord to chat!