Awry

I remember how weird I felt the next morning. Hacky and I fell asleep with me hugging her from behind, and by some miracle I wasn't tossing and turning during the night, so after waking up I could still enjoy the touch of her velvety fur and the warmth of her body. I couldn't resist the temptation to caress her side in her sleep, or to let my hooves wander a little on... other parts I could reach from there, but I was very careful not to accidentally disturb her. Sometimes she sighed softly when I caressed her in a slightly more sensitive part, which filled me with satisfaction and sadness at the same time. Every time the rhythm of her peaceful snoring changed, it only reminded me how quickly the minutes flew by. And once this marvelous pegasus girl wakes up in my hooves, it will only mean another painful goodbye. Then I'll be alone again...

Obviously, I couldn't expect her to leave Cloudsdale because of me. I couldn't even rightfully ask her to stay a few more days. If she wanted to spend a few hot nights like this with me, it would only make it more painful for me - and I hoped a little for her too - when we finally parted ways. This will be enough. It's enough to process everything that I was able to partake on the day of the Gala...

And I couldn't even delay the inevitable. At one point, somehow much, much earlier than I had hoped, the mare stretched out under the blanket with a low moan. I followed the movement of her body, instinctively holding on tighter as if I didn't want to let go. And Hacky giggled when she noticed where I was groping her, and she even let me continue for a while, sensually rubbing against me. Turning around, she even kissed me and lovingly caressed my face, but then gently informed me that she had to hoof over the key by ten in the morning.

While we showered and got dressed, I was able to graze my eyes on her for a little while, and she even let me hug her once or twice, but by then I could already feel her intention to leave, so I didn't force anything. When we got out of the hotel, we parted with a kiss - she initiated it, for which I was especially grateful - we looked deeply into each other's eyes for a few seconds, but we didn't exchange a single word. Maybe it was better this way. This whole situation... there was simply nothing to say. And to promise that we would look for each other would have been just a useless lie. Even if I hoped we'd meet in life, I had a feeling that one or both of us would have families by then...though I tried not to think about such things.

I wasn't in any hurry on the way home. After the big celebration, the city looked quite run down, it was bad to walk around alone, but I didn't want company. I wandered aimlessly through the streets, stepping over torn lanterns and other decorations, and trying to be grateful that I didn't run into too many ponies. I tried not to look at benches that I passed, so as not to accidentally bring up painful memories, but I spent a good half hour sitting on the cobblestones in a square and staring blankly at a covered statue that had recently been put on display and had not yet been inaugurated. I passed by a couple of pubs, for some stupid reason I climbed into one of the fountains and rolled around in the cool water - to the immense joy of the guards, although after they recognized me, they thankfully refrained from saying a word - then, after drying my clothes with magic, I walked to the Starswirl Dormitory. For a while, I just hung out on the other side of the street, watching my fellow students who were walking or talking in front of the building, but it never crossed my mind to go over to them, or even to visit my friends.

Finally, I started back based on the routine we followed with Jasper and Wish. I went to the intersection where Wish and I used to part ways, but this time I turned in the direction where she always went. I didn't even hope to find her house, after all, even if I had made it there, I wouldn't have recognized it unless she was there, waving at me from the window, or something... But that didn't bother me either, it merely gave me some vague purpose for some pointless hovering, which delayed me a little longer until I had to go home. Of course, regardless of this, it could not be postponed indefinitely either.

At home, after I finished my pointless tour, the first question my parents asked me was how I was feeling. The answer, however, would have been so devastating, I just replied with a simple "fine". With that, I considered the conversation finished and locked myself in my room. I didn't even come down for lunch or dinner, but I wasn't hungry either. Instead, I only engaged in seemingly endless, self-recurring internal dialogues with myself, sometimes rising to philosophical heights - or plunging into depths.

As soon as I felt capable of it, I tried to analyze my emotions as objectively as possible. If my emotional self handled my problems so clumsily, perhaps I'll be better off with the rational one... I even figured out pretty well what my problem with Ambrosia was. That she didn't allow what my pegasus friend did? Oh no! That she didn't plan it at all? Maybe... If at least the intention had been there, maybe I would have had a different approach. But I found that, overall, what hurt the most was that she found even that too much, how far we had come. As if I should have considered it a special honor that I could touch her at all.

Because I felt this way. But not because of her. I didn't want to feel privileged to be able to touch a female being in this way because it was expected of me. Maybe I'm very way-out - at least from a Saddle-Arabian perspective, if nothing else - but for me this kind of contact meant mutual trust and love beyond simple, physical pleasure. Obviously, the whole thing could not work without respect between the two parties. Even if all of this is surrounded by a kind of pejorative interpretation, this is essentially what it was all about, what should have been about. Just looking at what we did with Hacky last night, apart from some taboo details, it was about that too. We trusted each other and let each other get close. We could say we also rewarded each other for it. And I could get this from her? We haven't even seen each other for many, many years, yet she thought me worthy to share her... her own body with me?

So now I was selfish for expecting the same from my fillyfriend? It wasn't even that big of a deal... More like my own imagination made it so until I experienced it. And no tragedy happened. There was no need to fear any consequences. We were careful and gentle with each other, as I would of course have been with Ambrosia. I would have been very careful... of course, it's easy to think about what could have been... Not to mention that, considering my own, very modest experiences, I had only vague ideas about anything, even if I didn't encounter too many difficulties with Hacky.

However, no matter how much I quibbled, I always got to the same point. I understood how difficult it must have been for Ambrosia, but not why she couldn't be at least a bit more flexible. It was hard, of course, but I accepted that she couldn't stay in Equestria forever, but not that she didn't tell me anything about it. And I couldn't get over the fact that if Hack Filter and I ended up in bed so easily, how in Tartarus anypony could make such a big deal out of this... Why did I have to throw away half a year's worth of relationship, or where would this all have led us...?

* * *

The more I thought about it, the more uncertain I became. I couldn't decide what I should have done. What would have been right or ethical... I also had doubts about what I even wanted. I missed Ambrosia, I missed her closeness, her touch, but at the same time, I wouldn't give up my memories of the naughty pegasus girl either. It was a difficult matter, I realized that, and when my head started to hurt from thinking too much, I gave up on figuring it all out. The deed was done; there must have been a reason. However, I couldn't spend all my time locked in my room from now on.

In fact, as soon as I met my mother on the stairs, I realized that I didn't really want to stay at home either. I didn't want to talk to them, I didn't need their advice. I once had to sit through a short lecture about mares and stallions, and that was more than enough, thank you very much. They wouldn't have been able to help with Ambrosia anyway. In fact, nopony and nothing would. So, I did the only logical thing: I dressed in loose summer clothes and headed straight for the dormitory. I had a good tip on whom to visit if I wanted to forget all my worries.

It's true, I didn't know how successful I would be. There were still a good two weeks left in the semester, but that obviously didn't apply to us anymore - only in that regards that the residents farther away from Canterlot hadn't been kicked out of the dormitory yet. I mean, not even those who had nothing to do with the Academy for the summer. Well, this was partly the reason why I wasn't sure I'd find Lotus here. For us, it was already summer - even if technically it was only the end of spring - so it could easily be that he spent his free time somewhere with Stella, rather than being locked up between the four walls. Or it could also be that they continued their research in the lab, outside of class time, as enthusiastic students of the Department of Alchemy. By the way, since Lotus practically didn't have to move out - Stella already lived nearby - I was somewhat optimistic about the break. Even if Ambrosia left me, I won't be alone. With those who will not go home, we can still use the remaining time until the opening of the next year, which we will no longer experience as one class.

Hoping for the best, I climbed up to my friend's room. The door was closed, which surprised me a little, after all, except for very late at night, it was almost always kept open, but I knocked gently anyway. I didn't get any response for a few seconds, then the lock clicked softly. I found the situation strange, but I pushed the handle and entered.

I wanted to say hello, but when I saw the blue stallion holding his hoof to his mouth, I aborted the idea. He was wearing a pair of boxers, from which I suddenly concluded that he was alone, and given the heat, I wasn't surprised at the shut curtains either. But as I looked around a little, I saw Stella lying on the stallion's bed, and it didn't look like she was more dressed. Lotus, following my gaze, adjusted the blanket on the peacefully snoring mare with a quick spell.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt!" I whispered as it clicked.

"Would I have opened it if you were interrupting?" asked the blue stallion just as quietly. "We are just having a bit of rest."

Yeah, of course - I thought. It looked just like that. Or was my imagination too dirty due to what happened to me recently?

"So, what's up?"

"I was just thinking how nice it would be to bring the class together a little, if we're already over everything like this," I answered. "I could really use some relaxation. Maybe something more serious..."

"I see, so the Gala was too refined for the gentlecolt," nodded Lotus. "Then I understand why you're asking me to organize something truly grandiose."

I laughed softly to myself. Yes, Lotus is the perfect choice if I want something that slaps harder than the Grand Galloping Gala.

"When can you get it together?" I still asked in a choked voice. "I'd like to finally knock myself out a little."

"For eight ponies?" he grinned slyly. "Let's see... I already have something in mind that we have the ingredients for so Stella and I will have everything prepared by tomorrow evening."

I flinched as he said eight ponies. Although I wouldn't feel like trotting around searching for the others, it would have been even more embarrassing if Lotus had done it for me and called Ambrosia as well. I wasn't in the mood to tell him what happened between us, but when we all get together, at least there will be an opportunity for that, too. Or they'll surely ask me if I can't bring myself to say it...

"Don't worry, I'll bring the ponies," I waved with forced calmness. "I'll tell everypony to be here in front of the dorm by eight. Is that okay?"

"Oh yeah!" he winked. "Should go easy; Cavern, Scorch and I were already planning something like that. You can count on us! It will blow your mind!"

"Cool..." I put my hoof on his shoulder for a moment. "Well, I really should stop bothering you! Enjoy the well-deserved rest together!"

"Is something wrong, Thread?" Lotus suddenly asked with a surprisingly serious face.

"Nothing special... I'll go then. I'll tell Jasper and the others, but I'll leave Scorch to you if you're roommates anyway."

"Okay, then" the stallion shrugged. "Tomorrow night it is."

"Tomorrow," I echoed, and we parted with a hoofbump.

* * *

As I was looking for my friends I got that a couple of times that day that there must be something wrong with me. It seems that, despite my best efforts, other emotions than mere fatigue were still visible on me. Jasper was especially interested, although Wish probably would have been more relentless in her questioning if the stallion hadn't offered to tell her about the party himself. I still wasn't in the mood to tell them about the ugly breakup I'd been through, but while I visited Cavern, even a few relatively unknown students asked me in the corridors and on the street if I was okay, so I went home as soon as possible. And I didn't leave the room again until the next evening, except for lunch and stuff like that.

At least that was my plan. However, when I was mentally preparing for the party in the afternoon, my mother shouted for me to come down. She seemed quite impatient, so I grumbled and crawled out. She stood in the hall, looked up at me sternly and then nodded towards the entrance. I reluctantly rolled my eyes, but went down to her anyway. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the figure lingering in front of the door...

"Hi..." Ambrosia greeted me in a hoarse voice.

She looked terrible, that was the first thing I noticed. Her eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles under them, as if she hadn't slept in days. Her mane was also a sheer tousle. If everypony kept asking me if I was sick...

Suddenly I felt terribly guilty. After all, I was the one responsible for her current condition. And as I looked into her eyes, I just couldn't be mad at her anymore. She looked so miserable... And she never wanted to hurt me, never wanted to cause me pain. And I... selfishly, of course, only thought of myself. Typical...

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, uncertainty extending one of my legs towards her.

She nodded, but I got the feeling she only did it because she thought it would be impolite to complain...

"Look..." I began but she interrupted.

"I want... to say sorry..." she whispered shakily.

"But..."

This time my mom was the one who didn't let me finish as she shouted from the kitchen.

"If you don't want to come in, go out for a walk, but don't talk at the door!"

"Should we go somewhere?" I asked the girl.

She just nodded again.

"Bye!" I shouted above my shoulder and I was already outside the house.

We just walked side by side in silence for a while. I was torn between doubts, what I could say to her, but I was even more curious about what exactly she wanted from me. To apologize? What for? She is who she is. She follows the will of her parents and the traditions of her folks. She did what she felt was right. It was an unpleasant situation, and it did hurt when we parted, but there was nothing we could do about it. It wouldn't be fair to expect either of us to change for the sake of the other, right? So, an apology would have been rather unreasonable...

"Can we sit down?" she asked, pointing at a bench, when we were passing through a secluded little square.

An uneasy feeling came over me, but I didn't want to object. Be as she pleases. Anyway, I wanted to clear things up a bit with her. I did not wish in the least that we should part as enemies.

"I want to talk to you."

I knew she was going to say that. Predictable, but unnecessary. Why else would she have come to me in the first place? Why else would we have come here...? I couldn't really respond to her.

"So... I was thinking..." she said, and then sighed. However, she looked openly into my eyes, which surprised me. Although it was rather unreasonable as well... she has always been like this. "And I think you're right."

Her words froze midair. I couldn't even process them. I was totally shocked.

"Huh...?"

Yes, this was the only, well-formulated and exact question I was able to articulate. Although, on second thought, it did express my confusion perfectly.

"I want to stay with you," she looked at me with huge, but still pitifully bloodshot eyes. "And you're right, if I let ponies from home have a say in this, I can never be happy. I want more. I want you. If you don't hate me too much and accept the apology..."

"But... but... what about your country?" I barked in disbelief. "That you could not get married like that? Your rules..."

"I don't care," she answered firmly. "If I can no longer be a Saddle-Arabian, then I will become an equestrian. If that's the price to stay with you, I'll gladly pay it. It may be even better this way, because I like living here."

"But... because of me...?"

I was still at a loss for words. Had I misunderstood this mare that much? Would she really be willing to give up everything for me? This is bordering on insanity! I've heard the saying about how close love and madness are, but to see it live... it was terrifying.

"Not only because of you," Ambrosia smiled for a moment, then she slouched with her ears down and a sorrowful expression on her face. "Also because of myself. As I said, you were right. I also long for freedom. Almost as much as I long for you. Because I want you!" She suddenly raised her hoof and tapped it on my mouth for a moment before I could speak. "You don't know how hard it is for me to hold back. I can imagine what it must be like for you. So, my answer is this: I want it and I don't care what happens!"

"Are you serious now?" I asked when I was able to speak. I will not say when I came to my senses; that wouldn't do justice to how shocked I was.

She nodded and gently took one of my front legs by two hooves. "Say yes, Thread, and I'm yours!" she looked deeply, longingly into my eyes. "We could go up to my tower and you can do whatever you want with me!" She was silent for a moment and froze motionless, as if she had scared herself with what she said, then blushed faintly and continued caressing my hoof nervously. "Just... let's take it slowly, okay? I'm a little scared..."

An offer like this would have been impossible to refuse. Even if the mare was now a distorted shadow of herself. The fire of desire still burned in her eyes red from crying, although it was mixed with a good dose of desperation. Her beauty couldn't be overshadowed by her still slightly trembling, broken figure, or her almost sticky-looking fur. As I looked at her, I would have liked to have taken off her crumpled clothes and gently helped her into her bathtub in the tower for a nice hot bubble bath. Although by then I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to undress and climb in next to her... On second thought, that really would have been the best thing to do. It's just something very light and pleasant, with which we still cross the boundaries that have been stretched between us like impassable mountains until now.

I raised my free hoof and carefully caressed the girl's face, taking care not to get caught in her halter. She flinched for a moment at my touch, but then tears welled up in her dry, reddened eyes. I couldn't help myself either.

"I'm so sorry for all the mean things I've said," I sobbed softly. "And thank you... thank you for wanting to stay with me despite all this. I think I didn't realize what I had lost when... when..."

"I love you Thread!" she said suddenly, and kissed me. It wasn't even pleasant physically; her lips were parched, and she was pushing her tongue almost aggressively into my mouth, but it still meant the world to me. "Let's stay together forever!"

"I love you too, Ambrosia," I replied when she let go.

And I didn't do it out of compulsion. I really felt that way. I was finally able to say it for the first time. Completely honestly.

I got up and helped her up too. Walking slowly, entwining our necks, lovingly rubbing against each other, we set off towards her home.

* * *

Everything went exactly as I planned. As soon as we closed the gate behind us, we were already kissing so wildly, which I would not have expected from my fillyfriend. And after I freed her from her first piece of clothing in the heat of our embrace, as if incidentally, she unclasped the halter on her head with a soft click and let me take it off as well. And without it, she seemed so fragile and defenseless, which made me feel even more masculine, and at the same time awakened some completely animalistic instincts in me. Of course, I had it under control, but it really stirred my imagination. And Ambrosia somehow almost seemed to quail before me, as if from then on, she was not even my equal anymore...

But of course, I had no intention of abusing my situation. I was gentle with her and didn't push her in any way. I only approached her gently, and I also respected her intimate sphere, even though I no longer felt as if she expected me to do so. Of course, we have made some progress now, but only gradually, as she asked...

However, it did not escape my attention how empty the entire tower was. When I sometimes sneaked a look around, I noticed a few packed suitcases thrown in one corner. So, for Ambrosia, this was really just a last-ditch effort to win me back. If we had agreed otherwise, she would have gone home by the first train... Fortunately, it didn't turn out that way, and we gave each other another chance. I rather tried not to worry about what could have been, and soon I was lost in the embrace of my mare again.

I had no idea how long we had been together like this when there was a knock on the door. We had such a good time, I almost preferred to ignore it. Although the water was only lukewarm in the tub - that is, considering the dimensions, Ambrosia's could be called even a smaller pool - the foam had already run out from the top, but I still felt like I could stay forever, cuddling with my partner naked. But when I heard Jasper's voice, I immediately realized what was going on.

So, it was already evening... I didn't even think about it, and I forgot about everypony else. However, since I invited them, it would have been an absolute jerk move to send them away. Also... if they came here, it probably meant that they got bored waiting in front of the dormitory, and in fact, after looking for me, they most likely even stopped by my parents' place first, so there's a good chance that I successfully upset everypony with my rudeness. Hopefully they won't bite our heads off...

Apologizing profusely, I climbed out of the tub - which, of course, meant that as soon as I realized that I would step out onto the tiles wet, I crumbled to dust and shook most of the water off myself - then wrapped a towel around myself and trotted to the door. All of my friends were already there, and as I appeared, they all turned to me. It was unpleasant to feel their gaze on me while I was wearing almost nothing, but let's say it was still better to keep them busy with that than to let them realize that I forgot about the whole meeting completely.

"Oh, sorry guys, we missed the time a bit!" I apologised, trying not to show how embarrassed I was.

"Explainin' makes it worse, ya know?" Jasper raised his eyebrows. "Well, now that we've got the excuses out of the way, we can go!"

I took the opportunity to escape and quickly retreated back into the tower. It was more because my towel was only kept on by my magic...

"A moment and we'll join you!" I shouted out.

Ambrosia looked at me questioningly, so I tried to quickly explain the situation to her.

"So, the thing is, we wanted to go somewhere to relax a little with the guys..."

As I said it, it suddenly occurred to me that if we hadn't been together right now, this would have come out pretty weird. Of course… we broke up recently, she was about to move home, and I was about to go to a party... And in the places, we usually visited, it wasn't terribly hard to pick up a drunk mare or two. What can she think of me; would I already run after other girls? Or... how about finding out what happened on the night of the Gala after we parted ways...?

She smiled, even though she could definitely see on my face how tense I suddenly became. She slowly rose from the tub and fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously, but covered her rear with her tail.

"Missed me so much?" she asked cheerfully, with a mischievous undertone. "Okay, let's go wherever you want. But it would be nice if for once just the two of us went somewhere. We could rent a small room in one of the Equestrian towns, and nopony could bother us there!"

"That's a fantastic idea!" I said gratefully.

It was almost unbelievable that she was so understanding towards me. I felt really lucky again.

I quickly dried off and put on the clothes I was wearing earlier - I even thought about it that it would be worthwhile to bring a few of my things over to the mare's, and then I could sleep here without further ado - and then I stepped to the entrance. It took Ambrosia a little longer, but we were both ready to go within a reasonable amount of time. Soon I was already walking the streets with the seven ponies, and after everypony gave us a piece of their mind about how long they had to wait for us - and the nightclub chosen by Lotus was within reach - the atmosphere improved drastically.

I have to admit; my memories are a bit blurred from here on. The fact that I didn't drink out of sorrow, but out of joy, didn't particularly affect the mechanism of action of the alcohol, so it wasn't until a good hour or so after we sat down in the designated basement pub that I finally realised Ambrosia came with us without any objections. She didn't ask for a glass, it wasn't even possible to offer her a fizzy drink and she was busy hugging me the whole time anyway, but what's important is that she finally took part in our fun in her own way, and she didn't stand out - that much.

Anyway, the place was really great. Again, I have established that there is no better pony than Lotus to choose such. As he said, The Anchor was the most atmospheric pub in the area. Fortunately, Jasper's joke didn't suit it, because they didn't want to drag us down at all, and they offered high-quality drinks at a good price. Let's just say that it was so exceptionally cheap here in Canterlot, that I somewhat doubted the legal nature of the business - for example, receipts were only given to very suspiciously well-dressed ponies - but I tried not to think too much about such things.

Besides the staff and the assortment, I liked the design the most. The walls were made of rough, stringy boards, with fishing nets, oars, and similar accessories hanging on them as decorations, and the lighting was very modest, which gave the overall impression that we were inside a ship. If somepony spent enough time here, there would even be rocking, especially thanks to the punchy, unique recipe of rum, which was impossible not to try just because of its rarity around here. Well, except for Saddle Arabians...

There wasn't a big crowd, but we had to wait a few minutes until a fairly large table became available, at which we could all sit down. Until then, we were forced to occupy ourselves with other activities, for example I tried to teach Ambrosia and Wish the rules of darts with the help of Jasper. I have no idea what the others were doing, though. After that, as soon as we were comfortably seated, the drinking and story-telling began. There was much to tell each other; previously, we could not even properly discuss our experiences related to the exam. And of course, we got a lot of nostalgia as we recalled the years we spent at the Academy, our most characteristic teachers, our craziest schoolmates, who made it all worth remembering.

Then, we seemed to laugh more and more, whether we had reason to or not. It seemed that this rum really got into our heads quite well, but its "beneficial" effect only appeared long after drinking it. In the meantime, Lotus unloaded something similar to a dried plant on the table, and together with Stella they began to arrange it neatly. I thought they were pure idiots for bringing the work here with them, but then it slowly became clear what exactly they were up to. They shaped the weeds into eight roughly equal sticks, then wrapped them one by one in some dark paper.

"The buck is this?" Jasper asked, shaking his head slightly, as Lotus pressed one of the cylinders into his hoof.

"What do you think?" he shrugged. "Cigars."

"Stupid ass..." Scorch stated. From the sight of him his vision must have been a little blurry as well.

"Nah, these are made of special leaves..." said Lotus. "If you don't want it, throw it back! At least we have more left."

He extended his leg towards the red stallion, but he only shook his head and did not take the cigar from his mouth. "Gimme fire...!" he grumbled. "Don't tell me that you became alchemists only to get high?"

"You've got a horn, light it with that!" Lotus waved him off. "Anyway, don't worry, Mirthy, it's not the hard stuff..."

Scorch squinted hard, then with a heavily flickering horn he set the end of the cigar to smolder. After that, he turned back to the blue stallion. "You call me like that again, I'll hang you with your own intestines..."

"I wouldn't be happy about that," Stella stated, while she also took a stick in her mouth and began to chew the end of it at a leisurely pace.

"Eh, he's just venting again!" Lotus waved. "Lil' Mirthy always has a big mouth when he's wasted... Cantankerous, are we...?

Scorch reacted immediately. He slammed his hooves on the table and lifted it up, but he must have underestimated the weight of it all, because a moment later the legs of the furniture clattered loudly on the floor. "Oh fuck...!" cursed the red stallion, clutching his own hoof with a pained grimace. "Worst time for a cramp kicking in! Somepony threw this shit on him for me!"

"Heh!" laughed Lotus. "You're weaker than nightshade against hay fever!"

"You foal of a bitch..."

"Cool yourself off, or I'll get them to bring ice and I'll dip you both in it!" I tried to half-heartedly relieve the tension.

Since none of them responded immediately, I returned to studying the cigar from the outside. For several minutes I occupied myself quite well with this simple activity, while my classmates were again talking about something, although I barely listened. In the end, I concluded that we only live once, and if I had entrusted Lotus with our entertainment anyway, I could trust him that he would not wish us harm. It was a little tricky to concentrate my magic, but I managed to light the thing. I could already feel its effect after a few puffs. I was quite refreshed by it. Even my thoughts became a little clearer, but fortunately the pleasant effect of alcohol has not dulled anything. In addition, I wasn't so tired anymore, and I suddenly felt like doing something that required a lot of movement. For example, a gallop in the night. Anyway, it was quite pleasant, but I had to pay attention to restrain myself.

In the meantime, the whole group also noticeably woke up. Along with Lotus, Cavern and Jasper now joined in Scorch's teasing. I don't know what exactly I missed, but the topic was something like how the stallion will not be able to do anything by the side of our dean in the "Department of Clowns", because anything even remotely interesting is illegal.

"You can talk shit about them but they can do tougher things with two flasks and swills than you can with your full magic power," Cavern said. "At least that's useful."

"Just shuddup!" scorched Scorch. "You can't even do that much! I'm surprised that they accepted you for any major at all..."

"Yeah, but what can you do with illusions in the first place?" continued the stallion. "Nothing you create is real... Whatever you do is a big zero."

If I hadn't known that he was just fooling around, I would have intervened, but instead I had fun with the others at Scorch's reactions, who apparently took it all seriously. In fact, it was maybe because of the strange cigar, he got involved in the debate more and more.

"Whatever! Tell that to the illusionists who can transform into nykur! It's purely our technique, not the elementalists'!

"I admit, it's really something..." Cavern hummed. "But I'll wait until you get there, little sprout!"

"Yeah, it's lucky that we have ponies here with actual magical abilities, like Jasper or Thread," added Lotus.

"Buck you!" Scorch grumbled. "If I wanted to, I could project an entire dragon onto the sky of Canterlot, then everypony would panic."

"Ah, nonsense," Cavern fanned his hoof. "There wouldn't be a pony to eat it. Or if somepony do, I'd give your entire trick at most half a minute."

"And how about I make something disappear, asshole?" the stallion narrowed his eyes. "Would you still say it's nothing? I know very good cloaking spells as well! I could make an entire house vanish!"

"So very useful, wow!" the stallion kept teasing.

"Okay, but let's say I can also make myself invisible, and then I can sneak in anywhere. In fact, I could even take a cart with me, and nopony would notice."

"Even something that big?" Ambrosia chimed in with a surprised look.

"Mare, if I get into it even more, I could cloak an entire train even in front of the guard!" claimed the boy proudly.

"Of course, and we will believe it just like that!" Cavern laughed.

"No, you really couldn't do that," Stella remarked. She was already halfway through her cigar and didn't seem like she was considering lighting it as a realistic option. "They would easily notice. Even if you make it, the sounds will uncover you."

"Bullshit!" Scorch protested. "I could do it in my sleep!"

"They must be prepared against such things," said Wish, who sat quietly next to Jasper for most of the evening, and although she didn't turn down the rum, she didn't even touch the prepared dried herb crap. The only reason she could be so awake without it was that at least she didn't drink much. "It would be crazy if it could be done easily like this."

"Yeah, it's stupid to underestimate the vigilance of the guard," Jasper joined in as well.

"Oh, you don't know me!" waved the red stallion. "It's always easy to make fun of me, huh? But Thread is with me, right? Do you think I can do it?"

The question came to me unexpectedly. I didn't know what to say, especially since I had no more idea of Scorch's abilities than any of us.

"Dunno," I summarized my immediate opinion on the question.

"You don't trust my abilities either?" he asked in frustration.

I just shrugged hesitantly, but I wouldn't have had time to answer anyway; Cavern was faster than me again. "You're all talk and no action! Always boasting how great you are. Now's the time to prove it! None of us will believe it until we see it with our own eyes!

Scorch snarled with his ears down and his lips pulled up - which made it quite hard to take him seriously anyway - but Jasper immediately jumped at the chance. "Oh yeah! Just for this once, show us what ya can do! I'd really like to see ya steal an entire train!"

"He certainly doesn't dare" snapped Lotus.

"Bullshit!" Scorch slammed a hoof on the table.

"Come on then, prove it!" Cavern took the stage again. "Not just sometime, but now! Let's go to the station and steal a train!"

He shouted at the end so loudly that several ponies turned towards us. Of course, they only had a pitying smile on their faces - they surely thought that we were already irretrievably drunk, and it was completely unnecessary to take us seriously. I wasn't surprised; if I hadn't known how much of a troublemaker Cavern could be, especially when he put his head together with Lotus, I wouldn't have believed either that they could and would do it even half-drunk. The other members of our team also caught the clue and slowly began to pick up their stuff. Poor Scorch was scratching his head looking between us. He probably didn't expect that he would actually have to show what he could do.

After settling the bill, we started towards the exit, laughing softly and feeling a little woozy. The fresh air was especially nice on a moonlit night, but I was surprised at how sleepy I wasn't. It might have been midnight, but I was as alert as when I drank a liter of coffee in preparation for one of my exams a few years ago. Then, until the next evening, it was difficult for me to keep my eyes closed, even to blink, and my current state strongly resembled that, except for my ever-increasing cheerfulness. As time went by, I felt like giggling at anything...

It was only when we got to the station that we had to shut up, as Scorch rather nervously told us that if we didn't do so, he wasn't going to do anything. After that, a little more quietly - although I wouldn't exactly say stealthily - we retreated, all the way to the tracks where the trains that weren't running at the time were kept. We just watched from afar, during which Scorch declared that he can't drive a locomotive, so he only provides the magic, we have to take care of everything else. Cavern and Lotus, of course, immediately replied that they were game. I'm not saying that I minded the idea at all either, as it seemed fun enough, but the girls who were with us would have obviously objected to it. Nevertheless, they were all able to stop themselves from voicing their opinions. Stella just shook her head sometimes, but not with too much intensity, and Wish and Ambrosia looked around nervously sometimes, but they didn't say a word either. Scorch immediately assigned them the task of steering, saying that they had barely drunk, and it couldn't be that hard to keep a train on a perfectly straight pair of rails and move forward on them.

We just watched for a while, while the red stallion chose a nice train for himself, and then Scorch touched each of us with a faintly glowing horn and kept whispering, making us invisible. He could have done it a little more tactically, as we became unable to perceive each other, so we collided more than once, or even fell over a few times, until we reached the train. After that, however, the matter became significantly easier, as Scorch took off our disguise, then, snarling heavily, covered the locomotive and the first car belonging to it with his cloaking magic. He asked Jasper to unhook the ones behind it, then continued to mutter as he extended his spell to drown out the noises coming from inside as well.

For us, of course, the true trial came from here on. Together with the guys, I had to heat up the boiler carefully, while the girls tried to decipher the dashboard with the help of Jasper. We piled a bunch of logs on the ashes, then we were able to light it with a spell, and I was even able to improve the mixing of the air a little with magic, so I was very proud of myself. And soon the train took a big jolt when Ambrosia pulled a lever and started the vehicle. After playing around with the controls a bit, we were able to set a safely slow pace, and we glided out of the station gracefully.

We watched from the window to make sure we were keeping the route well, and the rails didn't want to throw us off their backs either. I had just realized how easily it all went, when suddenly a sharp whistle cut into my ears. Everypony was holding their heads with pained expressions, but Stella pulled the string of the train whistle one more time just for the sake of it.

"Stupid bitch!" shouted Scorch with his horn shining brighter and brighter. "What the buck are you doing?"

"I couldn't leave it out..." the girl explained with an impassive face. "I was never allowed in the front of a train."

"Did they hear us?" Wish asked nervously.

"What do you think?" raged the red stallion. "I can't hold back that much! Oh, what a bloody mess we're going to be in now! Stella, I'd so throw you out of here!"

"Chill, dude...!" Lotus placed his hoof on Scorch's back. "Don't even joke with such things!"

"There they come!" Ambrosia pointed out the window.

Indeed. Outside, a couple of ponies with lanterns trotted towards us, although they weren't aiming directly at us, so the illusion still worked. And this meant two things at the same time... One was that we still had a chance to disappear without being noticed. And the other is that since they can't see us, and we didn't keep the train under our control perfectly, if we're not careful, we could run over one of them. I wasn't really worried about it, nor about the possibility of being caught, but even in this state of mind I understood that this outcome would not be the best possible way to end our little adventure.

Driven by a sudden idea, I locked my eyes on a train a little further away from us, and dented its side with a well-aimed magical strike. All the arriving ponies immediately raised their heads at the metallic bang, and rushed to the scene of the crime. And we glided silently through the night.

"Nice job, Thread!" Jasper patted me on the back with such force that I almost collapsed. "It was a crazy idea, and fast too! Even faster than me for once."

"You're making me blush..." I grinned languidly.

"Is it possible to keep your mouths shut a little longer?" groaned Scorch. "It's darn hard to concentrate like this..."

At this pace, it took us a while to roll out of the station, but then we allowed ourselves a slightly higher speed. We continued to travel silently to the outside world, but inside we were laughing our rumps off, while Wish was constantly making sure that nopony stepped on the tracks in front of us. Scorch, on the other hoof, had to push himself until we crossed the city limits. Afterwards, however, he took off his disguise from the train with a sigh of relief. And when we got out of sight and ear-shot, Stella blew the train horn again for a long time, to everypony's boundless joy.

"Well, we got away with it!" blew Scorch. "So, did I pass your shitty test? It was something, wasn't it?"

"You did bro, you did!" Cavern grinned. "It looks like you are not the screw-up you appear from the outside, after all..."

I could see that the red stallion didn't take it very well, but he didn't have a chance to say anything about it as Wish interrupted. "How far do we want to go anyway?" she asked cautiously.

"Hopefully it won't be far, 'cause we're pretty cramped..." remarked Jasper.

"That's why we brought another wagon," Scorch replied. "I don't recommend that you try to use it while going, but half the team could sit there on the way back. Anyway, I don't care. Let me know if you get bored..."

"It's just like when we went to freshpony camp, isn't it?" I asked, turning to Ambrosia.

The girl just nodded with an uncertain smile, which suddenly reminded me that she wasn't even with us. And this is a humongous mistake; how could she stay out of this?!

"Oh, you can't even remember! What a shame that we couldn't get to know each other back then! Well, it was just like that; that's how we went to... the middle of nothing with the train. There was a campfire and everything... I don't even know if we told you about it at all."

"How about we make her a little supplemental freshpony camp?" Lotus asked. "Because it really began like this trip. Except that we didn't steal the train then. And we didn't have to drive it. And we had somewhere to sit down. And..."

"I think we've got the picture..." I waved off the stallion. "So... what do you say?"

"Well... now I don't really know what you mean..." remarked Wish, still looking out the window, keeping an eye on the direction.

"You know, that... stuff... umm..." I tried to find the words. "That it was so good, and it would be fun to recall it!"

"On a stolen train?" Wish raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, babe, don't be such a killjoy!" Jasper lightly slapped her flank. "If we're already runnin' a tour train like this, we could park somewhere to hang out in the shrubbery. That was something, alright!"

"Okay, but honestly... does anypony but me care that we're on a stolen train?" Wish asked, not even flinching at the stallion's touch. "No? Ok, just asking..."

* * *

I have no idea how long we were speeding through the night. Well, it wouldn't have bothered me if we ran off the edge of the world as well, because after a while it was uncomfortable to stand, as a result of which we relatively quickly decided to just lay down on each other in a messy pony-pile - with the exception of Wish and Stella of course, who controlled the locomotive together. Jasper was also buzzing around them quite a lot: heating the boiler and the like. And apparently Scorch also got up many times to see how we were doing, although I think he could hardly see anything in the darkness. In contrast to them, I just lay back lazily and enjoyed the trip. And Ambrosia snuggled up to me and hugged me so tightly that she couldn't be separated from me even by force. Besides the mare's hot touch and the intoxicating effect of the alcohol mixed with that herbal crap, I wasn't interested in anything. I didn't even have to think to occupy myself, yet I didn't feel sleepy at all.

Our destination was marked by Jasper suddenly yelling that we were going to stop. The road around us was bordered on either side by some kind of forest, but I wasn't good enough at geography to guess what was south of Canterlot. If I was even remembering correctly that we headed that way... Then we fumbled with the brakes for a while, since nopony, not even Wish, remembered how we started the whole machine. So, at first, we only held back our momentum with our unified magic, then Jasper used some tricky spell to reverse-engineer the mechanics of the brakes to a single lever.

So, we finally managed to stop, and after they put the locomotive in a more or less safe condition, we jumped off it. We didn't even bother to lock the train in some way; we headed straight for the dark forest. The weather was chilly, although I took it as a simple fact, and it didn't bother me in the least. Nor did the strange noises of the forest. The lack of fear left a kind of peculiar void in me, but then again, Lotus did tell me on the way that the experimental stuff he gave us was perfectly suitable to forget all our worries and concerns. According to his claim, due to its invigorating effect, he was very tempted to present it to us before the basic exam, but he didn't want us to lose that minimal anxiety that would essentially motivate us to study. Now, however, there were no such concerns stopping him.

We didn't wander too deep, so we wouldn't lose sight of the dull position indicator lights of our train and not find our way back when we were finished out here. We just looked for a part where the trees were sparser - we weren't so lucky to find an entire clearing - we collected a few twigs and larger branches, and after clearing the area a bit, so that the embers wouldn't set anything on fire, we lit a cozy little campfire. Even if the cold didn't bother me, the fire warmed me up nicely. We laid down comfortably on the almost strangely soft ground, and I rested my head on Ambrosia's neck.

"It really is just like that camp," Wish stated. She was lying on the other side of the fire, but it didn't escape my attention how suspiciously close she positioned herself to Jasper. "Maybe with a homelier atmosphere..."

"Yer not afraid of wild animals?" the stallion hugged her, as if only he was following the same line of thought. As I watched, while he continued talking, he didn't even take his hoof off her back... "The Everfree Forest is a very dangerous place, especially at night!"

"Wild animals?" giggled Wish. "Come on! If nothing else, I have some big, strong unicorns here with me; I sure do hope they will protect me!"

"But even we can't protect ya from everythin'," Jasper suddenly changed into a tone intended to be terrifying, which was definitely not his forte. "Such dark and mysterious creatures inhabit these accursed woods that cannot be fought; ya can't escape! Ya'd better be afraid, girl, because I've heard that in this very forest lives the most terrible monster in all of Equestria!"

"Oh, story time?" Cavern asked cheerfully.

"Can't have a campfire without it!" I said.

"It ain't no fairy tale!" Jasper raised his free hoof significantly. "Ya just listen quietly, 'cause the beast may be lurkin' at us from the shadows! It's called Human, and legends say that it hunts at night. In the moonlight, ya can sometimes even hear its howl! Its hut is here somewhere hidden among the trees, from where it goes raidin'. They say it can't run fast, so it sets traps to catch the unwary. Those who are luckier, just get cut down and eaten by it, but if ya find it in such a mood, it may prefer to take ya prisoner and torture ya, make ya work until ya die! Free will means nothin' to it; it's impossible to talk some sense into it. If ya don't follow its will, it will beat ya until ya learn obedience!"

"Life is worth nothing to it, yet it is constantly searchin' for new victims, new slaves. It needs to resupply often, because if anypony is injured under its rule, it quite simply shoots them and throws their body to the scavengers. It wouldn't even think of tending to a broken leg, it'd get somepony else to bend to its will anyway. Once it catches ya and doesn't kill ya right away, ya can count on it to humiliate ya in every way possible!"

"And I haven't even told ya what it looks like! Y'all can already recognize the Human from afar, because it's unlike anything ya have seen before. It has a hideous, naked body, which it often covers with flayed skins or wears thick armor to hide it from the world. Rockin' strangely, it uses its hind legs to walk and holds its weapons with its front legs. And even though it runs slower than us, it can kill even from outside the range of the bows! They say it can't really cast spells, but it's not affected by any kind of magic, in fact, if somepony stays near it for too long, even their own magic dwindles and then slowly even their consciousness leaves them, until they become a brainless zombie who tolerates without a word when the Human sits on their back and carries itself with them as its prey."

I have to admit, I wasn't very impressed with Jasper's short story. Not only did it seem like some kind of out-of-the-air nonsense - although it covered the topic in surprising detail - but it wasn't scary at all. I couldn't really decide whether the latter was just due to Lotus's stuff, or whether abstract horror stories like this didn't suit Jasper. Maybe both. However, it seemed I wasn't the only one, as others also voiced their displeasure.

"Where did you get this crap from?" Cavern snapped at him as soon as he was done with the little story. "Even I can think of something better than this!"

"Then do it, don't just cry stinkin' fish!" Jasper answered immediately.

"No, it's not that stupid," Scorch remarked before Cavern could answer. "Well, okay the story was terrible, but he didn't make up that human thing. Although you don't roleplay, I happen to have a twelfth level human character... Its racial bonuses can be very useful... Now what?"

We laughed so loudly, it rang through the whole forest. I imagined Scorch, the big cool dude, getting together with a couple of bespectacled little snotty nerds and discussing their game. Well, surely it was something that some ponies enjoyed, but our class collectively looked down on those, so... what about Scorch? I would never have guessed him being such an egghead, and the others must have had the same opinion. However, this at least explained where he used to go sometimes in the evenings, even skipping a party or two, and why he didn't tell anypony what he was doing at those times. Even now, it must have been only that strange cigar that lifted his inhibitions, because even when he was drunk, he never talked about such things.

"Awkwaaaard," Stella said when the laughter died down a bit.

"Go and die in a hole!" grumbled the red stallion. "Why do you always have to criticize what I do?"

"Then tell us your horror story!" I proposed. "Ambrosia never had the chance to hear it before, and it was really something."

Scorch seemed to be pleased with my suggestion. For greater effect, he even got up from the ground and began the same tale he had told years ago at freshpony camp about the Headless Horse and its victims. If my memory serves me correctly, this time he presented a few details a little differently than at that time, but the gist was the same. However, this time it didn't seem so scary at all, which was at least partly due to the fact that my friends were constantly interrupting. They got caught up in every minor logical flaw. In the end, Scorch got bored with the whole thing - and was annoyed by his inability to provide satisfactory explanations for many questions - so he abandoned the story halfway through.

"I know it happened like that..." he sulked. "It was my father who was there, not yours..."

"It's okay, Mirthy, nopony..."

Cavern couldn't even finish his sentence, Scorch angrily grabbed the entire campfire with his horn and threw the whole thing at the stallion. Cavern couldn't even react in time, he was saved only by Wish's presence of mind. The mare was on her hooves in a moment's notice, and with her magic she pushed aside the flaming and smoldering woods. At least most of it. A couple of burning pieces still hit the stallion and set his fur on fire in no time. Luckily, Wish was still quick to react and basically turned herself into a living water cannon and immediately tried to extinguish the fire. By that time, we also gathered our bearings, and while the mare focused on Cavern, we quickly put a stop to the beginning forest fire. It seemed it hadn't rained in this area for days, as the embers burned incredibly fast, but we were able to prevent it from spreading with our combined efforts.

"Are ya completely out of yer mind?" Jasper roared.

He wasn't idling around either: while we were dealing with the fire, my friend grabbed Scorch by the neck and slammed him against a tree with piercing eyes, lifting him from the ground.

"Let... go...!" moaned the red stallion heavily, his front legs clinging to Jasper's hooves, and his hind legs limping more and more weakly.

"Stupid bastard!" Jasper fumed. I've never seen him so upset... "What the heck were ya think yer doin'?"

"Stop, please!" Wish hurried to them and gently placed her hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "You'll strangle him!"

"Exactly, my dear, I'm right on it!" Jasper snarled. "Freakin' Tartarus...!"

"Pretty please!" the girl kept trying, clinging to the stallion's back. "Come to your senses! This is not you!"

Grunting loudly, Jasper lifted the suffocating stallion a little higher, then threw him to the ground with such force, he even slid a little. He was always able to shock me with how much physical strength he had for a unicorn, but he did work a lot on it, I'll give it to him.

Scorch pawed at his throat and coughed, trying to crawl away a little while we just followed him with our eyes.

"That's not me?" Jasper asked menacingly, probably mainly addressing the red stallion. "I always stand up for my friends and I won't let anypony hurt them!"

"At least apologize!" Lotus said to Scorch.

The stallion was still holding his neck and breathing hard, but he managed to whisper "sorry" with great pain. I'm not saying that everything was fine, but the mood has calmed down a bit. I also took a look at Cavern's injuries, but apart from the fact that his fur was slightly scorched in a few places, and his skin was red underneath, his condition did not seem dangerous. It didn't even look like something that the pony would take to the doctor. Of course, that wasn't the point... How did Scorch even have the audacity to attack any of us...?

There wasn't much desire left for camping. After our fire went out, we were forced to make our way back to the train by the light of our horns, as the sky became more and more cloudy, obscuring even the stars. There wasn't much left of the good mood either; until we got out of the forest, Jasper came along behind Scorch to keep an eye on him, and we also felt the hostile atmosphere.

"Would you mind if we were left alone for a while?" Ambrosia asked, whispering in my ear, when we were almost back to our vehicle.

"Of course not, but..."

"Just trust me!" she winked, then turned to the others. "You can relax in the car, and we'll drive you back! It's not that complicated, I remember how it works and Thread will take care of the heat."

If she only wanted to lighten the mood, she would have succeeded: the whole company, including Scorch, was laughing so hard, they almost toppled over.

"Alrighty, champs, but pay a little mind to the road as well!" Jasper giggled.

"Wow, way to go!" Lotus also joined.

"But we won't clean up after you..." added Wish with a mischievous grin.

I couldn't even speak, I just stood there blushing as I thought about whether we would have been better off if I had presented the idea to them instead. It would have still been clear what our intentions were - at least roughly, since I suspected that my friends could have believed that our relationship was much... further progressed - but I would not have rubbed it under their noses even in the form of such a clumsy innuendo.

"Well, let them have a fun time!" Lotus finally said. "Come on, guys, all aboard!"

The blue stallion gave a push with his forehooves to Stella, who was climbing the steps of the car, but the mare immediately raised her head from the unexpected movement and pegged down her legs in the door with her hind legs slightly spread. Lotus tried to push her one more time, but she was stubborn.

"Don't we wanna go?" asked the stallion, when he realized that his tactic wasn't working.

"I want you," Stella said without looking back, much louder than she would normally have intended, or would have been appropriate.

"Okay, okay, well, let's just go!" Lotus ushered her in, almost shouting, although this time, for the sake of safety, he didn't touch the girl.

His efforts were enough to finally get Stella to move, but he could no longer take back what she had said. However, it was definitely useful in that regard that everypony was laughing at them, instead of us. Giggling about, they climbed into the car one by one, we closed the door on them, and then headed towards the locomotive. We climbed onto it nicely, I heated up the engine, Ambrosia adjusted some things on the dashboard - it's strange that she seemed to have talent for this, especially being a mare. And when we set off with a powerful jolt, my fillyfriend was already there next to me, and in a matter of seconds she managed to make it extremely hard to watch the tracks even from the corner of my eye...

* * *

There was a light at the bottom of the sky by the time the effect of the alcohol and the cigars Lotus gave us began to wear off. However, this was not primarily manifested in the fact that I was nervous about what we would get when we returned home, if they found out that we had stolen an entire train as a joke, but only in the fact that I became more and more sleepy. Still, I really enjoyed the ride, and I was grateful to my friends for leaving us alone and not even trying to come over to the engine, thus saving me and Ambrosia a lot of awkward explaining. What can I say, I bless my luck that nopony saw us...

But when we rolled through the boundaries of Canterlot, I had to realize that Scorch's magic was no longer hiding us from prying eyes. Which didn't cause much trouble until we reached the station. There, however, - although I had already expected it subconsciously - to my surprise, a large group of golden-armored guards, fully armed, were waiting for us. Even as we tried to sneak "quietly" to the parking area of the train station, some invisible magic made the train stop before the end of the platform. And in order not to leave the appearance that we might still be able to escape, all the doors were flung open at the same time on the side facing the guards.

I carefully stuck my nose out of the locomotive, and immediately dozens of spears were pointed at my throat. I didn't feel threatened too much, after all, I could have easily outwitted them in a dispersed form, no matter how many tried to stop me, but considering that they were Princess Celestia's ponies, a faint fear-like feeling slowly crept back into my chest, even despite the dull fog sitting on my mind.

"I must ask you to leave the vehicle immediately and follow me!" said a boss-looking white pegasus harshly.

My movements were a bit uncertain, but I managed to jump out on all fours, even if I hit one of my hind hoofs in such a way that I was forced to limp a bit afterwards for a few minutes. I also helped Ambrosia to get off, and our whole group also compiled without objection. The soldiers assigned to receive us withdrew their lances, though I perceived that they were constantly kept ready, as if they had not received very definite instructions as to what they were to do with us. They just surrounded us tightly and led us straight towards the palace.

Although I couldn't talk with my friends under these circumstances, looking at them I thought that now we had all come to our senses enough to be afraid of what we were going to get...