In Which Two Stallions Make-out as the Day Breaks (Maybe)
This story contains heavy critical themes. The author of this fanfic is a homosexual sorta-Mormon himself and he is doing it with the purpose of making something that can be looked upon by Christian fans of My Little Pony to better articulate their virtuous didactic fics. If you are offended by constructive criticism I suggest you to find something else to read.
[the title]
Somewhere off the shore of Equestria was a ship that was totally, undeniably, shooting the shit with an iceberg. They were having a great time until the ship's occupants decided that their archaic beliefs regarding what objects can hang out with other objects dictated that icebergs and ships should never be together in a platonic relationship. The captain of the ship was privy to turn it away from the mass of ice, but he did so too late. The cruiser and the iceberg retaliated by grinding each other in a lighthearted--but steel-rending--parody of the sexual manner that the ship's pony holders were trying to prevent.
Many unicorns, skilled in the art of displacing themselves and surrounding objects through magical processes, rallied together to mass teleport ponies and themselves to the shore. Earth ponies and less gifted unicorns scrambled into the lifeboats, prioritizing mares and foals above all else when boarding the small crafts. The winged ponies, being the flightiest of the three denominations of equines, had absconded within moments of the impact. All but one, that is.
Midnight Emission wasn't a very strong winged pegasae and was sure that he could not make the flight from ship to shore in one go. Even if he could, he wouldn't consider leaving a disaster such as this without making sure everypony was at least in a stable situation. When the others took to the skies, he made his way through the halls of the ship waking up the heavy sleepers and helping the sick get to the lifeboats or teleportation groups. He was a little peeved when he woke up a unicorn that--upon learning of the ship's condition--immediately teleported away without even considering taking another pony or two along with him.
Hours into the crisis, it seemed that the ship had been mostly cleared. A good thing too, in Midnight's opinion, because there was just one lifeboat left. Beside the remaining boat were six ponies. One of them, a mare wearing staff garb, had been charged with maintaining order and making sure that the right ponies occupied the lifeboats instead of allowing the passengers to madly dash onto the things, no regard for rules of societal priorities for these rescue operations. The other five appeared to have been members of varying classes, with indicators of such distinctions ranging from designer clothes straight out of Canterlot to, well, nothing. A very well outfitted white stallion with lithe limbs was arguing with the staff member, who stood between the group and the lifeboat.
"Come now, that boat can surely hold myself and these other ponies!"
"Mister, this thing can only hold four ponies, and..."
"There's clearly room for five in there!" Shouted a pony from behind the stallion.
"... alright, maybe. We could conceivably fit five ponies into the boat, but... we have to leave somepony behind and..."
"And?" Said several of the ponies awaiting entry to the lifeboat.
"I... I know it's usually the staff that stays behind in these situations, but... I have my fiance waiting for me back home. I'm not willing to risk waiting for a rescue team to pick me up."
Midnight joined the group, standing beside a colt that looked to be just about his age. He had a yellow coat, bordering on orange, though one could not be certain in the grim shadow cast by the bulk-work of the ship. His mane was red, ginger really. He wore sunglasses, presumably because he was just cool like that. Midnight caught sight of his cutie mark--a sun--as he approached. His proximity didn't seem to matter to the other colt, but a black-coated stallion just ahead of them was prompted to mutter something about the ship being sabotaged. Of course, Midnight's appearance prompted a change in the conversation between the ponies at the helm, having to figure that another pony would have to be left behind. The high class pony, however, had this to say:
"What does it matter that he's here now? He's a pegasus, I'm surprised he hasn't flown off already."
Midnight raised his head and shifted his weight to make his stature a little less diminutive. He adjusted his glasses and said "Uhm, actually, sir, I can't make the flight. At least, not from the ship. If we made it halfway, I could fly on my own... but I don't think we can fit six or seven ponies together on the boat for half the trip. But... that doesn't matter. I can stay behind."
A mare stood forelegs upon the back of the black-coated pony and spoke up. "Alright then, we have one pony willing to wait for the rescue teams. Anypony else willing to suck it up and wait?"
The colt sporting the sunglasses replied in turn. "Dude's going to get cold without anything to wear. Why don't we have the ponies that are unclothed be our priority. Naked ponies willing to stay will be given clothing from by the ponies intent on getting out of here."
"That's fair." The black-coated pony said, un-phased by the mare now laying her front half atop his barrel. He was wearing a coat that, upon reflection, was hard to distinguish from his actual coat. The mare atop his back was not, and nodded her approval.
"Neigh!" the fancily clad stallion brayed. "I will not accept such a plan, coming from a pony it directly benefits."
"Well, actually, I-"
"Stop it!"
Everyone turned to the mare attending the lifeboat.
"We're going to sit down and figure this out. No deals, no sweeping generalizations about who is and isn't important... we're going to look at everypony and decide who takes the boat and who stays here..." The mare stepped away from the lifeboat and directed everypony through a hallway, into a banquet hall which was considerably warmer than the open air beside the bow. Everyone sat down and, at the directions of the mare, began introducing themselves. The fancy pony started.
"I, Gorgeous Filigree, of the Filigree bloodline, believe I deserve to be on the lifeboat because of my outstanding pedigree and-"
"We're introducing ourselves, not making our cases!" shouted the mare. "Next!"
"Bu-"
"Next!"
The petite mare, the one apt to invade other pony's personal spaces, stood. "I'm Jinx, and if you vote for me, I'll make sure the rescue team brings soft-serve and hay-fries-"
"No... just... no. Next?"
The black-coated stallion sat in place as he addressed the ponies present. "My name is Must Lind, and I believe this cruise was sabotaged. Stalliongrad--the city-state I'm sure you've all heard of--, has been sending it's 'knowledge general bureau' agents after me since independence was achieved for-"
"Stop. Seriously. Stop it. Nopony here is responsible for what happened to the ship, and-"
"But I need to get off of here before the KGB declares me missing in my home country and sets up agents to intercept me at the shores and-"
"Next."
The black pony sighed, his head sinking to the floor.
It was Midnight's turn. "Hello, everypony... uhm... I'm Midnight Emission-"
The yellow colt snickered.
"... A-and, I'm studying to be a meteorologist." He presented his flank briefly to the assembled ponies. Upon it was a vial, superimposed over a storm-cloud. "I came on this cruise as part of an assignment from my professor to, uhm, essentially... take a vacation in a climate dissimilar to my own." His utterances accelerando'd towards the end.
"Okay. Finally, somepony with some sense about their heads. Next?"
The yellow colt raised his hoof, to which the mare nodded.
"I'm Sunny Bottom. I'm on this cruise to catch up with my parents, and maybe learn a bit of magic from my father..."
Midnight was confused. The pony didn't appear to have a horn. At the sight of several pony's perplexed expressions, Sunny pulled back his mane to reveal a very, very small horn. Letting go of his bangs immediately hid the colt's magical apparatus.
"I would probably be out of here if my father and mother hadn't assumed I knew how to teleport. Well, to be honest, I'm assuming they teleported themselves out. There were scorch marks on the floor of their cabin. They probably wouldn't have stopped to help me out anyway, what with my... "lifestyle choices," but I digress.
"We've come full circle now, so, why don't you introduce yourself, lady?" He finished, pointing a hoof to the suited mare.
"Well, I'm Mahogany Spr-wait a second..."
She look at the circle of ponies. She seemed to count in her head for a moment before saying "Where's Gorgeous and that... other pony..."
"Shit! We've been had!"
Everypony got up and galloped to the lifeboat, or at least where it had been before it detached from the ship and met the sea. Inside were Gorgeous and another pony, though it was hard to tell whom it may have been from the height of the ship to the sea level. Mahogany made for the side of the boat in a rush.
"Mahogany, wait!" Jinx shouted.
"I can't!" Was the last thing anypony aboard the ship hear the remaining staff member say before she dived over the bow, hoping to land on the lifeboat. She did, which didn't work at as she had planned. The craft broke apart,
"Stupid!" Sunny said.
For a moment, everyone sat by the bow, despite the stronger, chillier winds and darkened sky. Eventually, Lind cantered away. A few minutes later, he returned, dragging a number of bed frames, planks, and tables, on top of a surprisingly sturdy rug. He set about mashing the pieces together such that they became a decidedly boat-like mass. It was mostly flat, with short ridges curving outwards. Lind believed that he could make do with a flat surface with higher buoyancy than the equine figure atop the sea, but that was just Midnight's guess. Surely, after the example presented by Mahogany, he wasn't considering dropping that thing down to the sea and jumping alongside it?
"Mister Bottom." Lind said.
"... Yes?"
"Lower this to the sea."
"Are you crazy?"
"A little. But don't worry. I'm going to dive into the ocean, surface, and then get atop the boards."
"I don't think that will work."
"If I stay, I am not sure the rescue team will held you three, but I know they will not be here to rescue me. If I don't escape on my own, I will be captured, or worse."
"I think you should stay. I think we should all stay. Really, guys. Stay. Please?" Midnight pleaded.
"I'm coming with you!" Jinx said, throwing herself at Lind's hooves.
Looking from the mare to Sunny, Lind asked "Can you levitate her down there?"
"Mah-maybe, but...."
"Guys-"
"Do it."
He wanted to protest further, but he felt like everyone would just ignore him if he continued. After a stressful minute of sustained telekinesis, Sunny had lowered Lind's handiwork into the sea. Midnight looked to Sunny, who shared his glance, and mouthed the words "please, don't."
Just after his muzzle closed and took on a frown, Lind took his dive. Everyone looked down to see if he would resurface and clamber aboard the boards. He did so, of course. The black pony came out on top, soaking wet.
Jinx nudged Sunny, prompting him to slowly levitate her off the deck, down to Lind. It took a while to get Jinx lowered anywhere near Lind, and Midnight could see the strain on Sunny's face. For a moment, Jinx was held just above Lind. Bemused, she called up to Sunny. "What's wrong?"
Gritting his teeth, he replied "Too... far."
"Then drop me! He can catch me."
Lind frowned. It had started raining. The skies were dark.
"Don't." Midnight said. "... Bring her back."
"I can't..." whispered Sunny.
"Just drop me already!"
A crack of thunder punctuated Jinx's cry. Sunny lost focus and the mare dropped on top of Lind. Midnight watched in horror as the makeshift 'boat' capsized and the two ponies on-board were lost to the sea. The cruiser lurched as the strengthened waves of the storm brushed against its damaged hull. The two remaining ponies ran from the deck and into the nearest cabin.
A light-switch was flicked by a black tail, as Midnight surveyed the cabin they'd holed up in. The room was messy; clearly the former occupants had left in a hurry, given the clothes and other non-essentials spread across the floor. Whimpering came from the yellow pony he'd layn on the bed. Sunny was weeping, probably inconsolable at this point.
The storm raged on outside. The ponies could see its effects through the cabin window, when the winds moved enough to give a brief reprieve from the water sloshing over the glass. The noise of the rain against the deck was unreal, supernatural retorts from machine guns just a few feet away. Midnight was having a hard time hearing his own thoughts.
It did, eventually, relent, and Midnight felt it was important to at least try to comfort his sullen companion. He could hear Sunny's hushed murmurs. He looked into his green eyes, his shades were lying on a mantle beside the bed.
"Sunny?"
"I killed them...." He whimpered.
"No, Sunny, you didn't kill them. It wasn't your fault. They asked you to do the impossible and-"
"Impossible? How can a unicorn transport living matter across massive distances in the blink of an eye, while I can't even lift an exceedingly small mare... I knew I couldn't have done it.
Midnight took up a somber expression, while tears continued to stream down Sunny's face.
"Sunny... if you knew you couldn't do it, why did you-"
"Because I wanted to impress... ! I wanted to... ohh."
He buried his face in his hooves. "I'm a stupid little colt with outrageous dreams and a horn so small that I couldn't even pass magical kindergarten. And... a-and... oh, Celestia. This was... this was their room." He'd taken his hooves off his face and begun staring across the bed, to a burnt patch of the cabin's carpet.
"Who's?"
"My parents... those bastards..."
"You shouldn't talk about them like that."
Sunny glared angrily at Midnight for a moment. "They left us here to die."
"They may not have suspected things would come to this. And... do you really want to die with that on your mind?"
He sniffed. "What?"
"Do you want to go... beyond, believing that your family doesn't care for you?"
"They don't."
"That can't be true. Why would a mother and father ever resent a son like you?"
"You don't know me. They don't know me. They've refused to 'know' me ever since...."
"Since what?"
"Ever since the night I came home with a coltfriend! My father disowned me on the spot! My mother locked up her mother's wedding band and told me I'd disappointed her to no end! I broke up with him, hoping reconcile with my parents... and then get back together after everything went back to normal... but....
"I'm just a stupid, stupid pony who hurts everypony he cares about. I should just fling myself off the balcony, right now!"
"No!" cried Midnight, but Sunny had already leapt from the bed and opened the door.
"Sunny, you can't!"
"I have no other choice!"
They raced towards the balcony. Midnight was too afraid of the wind to risk flight, and the tow of them had trouble staying upright on the slippery deck.
"You can't just... die!"
"I have no other options! Everypony else had somepony to come back to!"
The unicorn had reached the railing. He was ready to jump.
"That stupid, sexy, Gorgeous pony had fans, and a pedigree! The ultimate respect for one's ancestry!"
"But he was vain, and selfish..." Mumbled Midnight.
"Mahogany had a special somepony waiting for her!"
Midnight could only nod, as he contemplated how to stop--emotionally or physically--Sunny.
"Must Lind... that crazy bastard had his country, if he could be believed."
"He was nuts!"
"Yeah..."
"And Jinx?"
"She... she..."
Midnight focused on the intrepidation in Sunny's speech. If he could get the colt to think things through...
"She had nothing, just like me, and the world would have crushed her carefree attitude had she lived long enough to return!"
He jumped. Well, slipped over the balcony backwards. It was very pathetic looking, really. But Midnight wouldn't let another pony die before him. Not now, not after all that had happened in these few short hours. He pounced, too late to stop the unicorn before he'd gone over the lip, but with his wings he could, possibly, maybe, Celestia willing, catch up to the colt before they hit the water.
Midnight screamed "You have me!"
He hoped they'd cling to each ofher as the pegasus made an incredible bank and returned to the deck where he'd pass out from physical and emotional distress. Instead, they both took the plunge, and Midnight barely grabbed hold of the limp-limbed Sonny before realizing that he had gone under. It took all the effort he could muster, but he got himself and Sunny up and out of the dip. He could feel the water on his wings almost instantly begin frosting over his feathers. He knew there was no way they'd make up it back up to the deck. It took him all the time in the world, but after a very scary mid-air revolution, during which he'd almost dropped Sunny, he caught sight of it--the iceberg! It would be tough getting there, possibly even tougher surviving assuming he could make it there...
But that didn't matter. Midnight was granted a burst of energy by the feelings welling up inside his barrel. Everything felt... different. Whether that was because he was recklessly working to save a pony he hardly knew, or covered from mane to hoof in rapidly freezing sea water, he could care less. Before he knew it, they were in the relative safety of the solid iceberg. He lay Sunny on his back and checked for a heartbeat, but as he did so, water tribbled from the pony's mouth. No! He had virtually knowledge of medicine, but he knew at least one of the recent iterations of CPR. He pressed his hooves to Sonny's chest, eight times, then began performing the oral reseci-whatever it's called. Six times. Back to the compressions, another eight, and then-
"Mah-Midnight?"
"SUNNY!"
"You... where are we?"
Midnight held up a hoof in front of Sunny's visage. "How many hooves am I holding up?!"
Sunny, despite mouthing the correct answer, found himself spurting water out his muzzle.
"Oh... I was so... so... worried!"
Sunny wiped his muzzle with a hoof. "So... Uh. You saved me?"
He nodded, sheepishly.
"And... your wings are hyper-extended."
"What?" He looked over his withers and indeed, his wings were in a rather... compromising position. He could feel an unusual heat rising from his cheeks.
"You might wanna..."
Before Sunny could finish, Midnight proceeded to force his wings to his sides. He tried, that is. They wouldn't budge.
"May I help?"
At that, the feeling Midnight had in his heart, so lavishly displayed in the capillaries just below his eyes, was intensified. "Su-sure."
Sunny got up, slowly, and began manipulating Midnight's wings with deft hoofwork. Despite this, Midnight just couldn't seem to... feel his wings. He'd never flown as hard as he had just then, so maybe they were just, sore? He looked to Sunny with a small smile. Sunny returned the expression, before giving a push to the pegasus' right wing near the base.
Only Sunny was able to scream as he saw the entire wing snap off. Midnight simply passed out.
To be continued.
In Which There is No Sexual Tension Whatsoever
Sunny had managed to drag the black and blue pegasus from out of the open air and into a small enclosure in the icy banks. It wasn't going to provide the heat they'd need to survive, not without some very close quartering practices....
He was sobbing the entire time, hoping to Celestia that the entire situation was just a feverish dream; he and Midnight were back in the cabin, waiting out the storm. They would wake to the sound of the rescue team fluttering, teleporting onto, or boarding the ship. He knew none of it was true, but these thoughts --and Midnight's presence-- were all that kept him from tossing himself into the sea once more.
He should have just let me go, that stupid...
This line of thought continued for a great many hours as he sat nervously over the other colt's unconscious form. His horn shone through his mane as its dull yellow sparkles accompanied the weak 'warmth' spells he was casting. These spells made a world of difference for the pony for which Sunny stood vigil.
I'm so, so sorry...
Despite a lack of cognizance, Midnight was doing a hell of a lot more than just sitting around. His periodic breathing rhythms were constantly being interrupted by tremors, occasionally breaking out into spasms which Sunny found himself reflexively throwing himself onto the colt to stop. He knew little about medicine, but most ponies received a basic education covering conditions like hypothermia, and he was pretty sure that they'd both entered different stages therein.
It took a great many hours for anything resembling consciousness to return to the pegasus. The storm had passed, but Celestias's sun had left the sky and Luna's moon had taken its place by the time Midnight had begun to stir in a way that peaked Sunny's interest instead of worrying the unicorn over probable damage to the pegasus' brain. Of course, as Midnight's eyes opened, he remembered something about hypothermia. If he goes back to sleep, then... it's over.
"Su-Sunny? Are we still on the ice... ice... iceberg?"
He nodded.
Midnight looked about, craning his neck to survey their surrounding without disturbing the rest of his body.
"It's... 's cold."
The unicorn broke his stance to scoop up Midnight into a hug. "I thought you were lost!"
If the colt had any reaction beyond a "Wha?", it would have taken more energy than he had to spare. Regardless, the embrace embiggened the much needed heat between the two ponies.
"I think we have hypothermia... if either of us drifts off..."
"How long was I out?"
"Ow-hours..."
Midnight frowned. "Sunny, if we survive this, I need you to promise me something."
"What?" Renewed tears were welling up in the unicorn's eyes.
"Whatever happens, we're going to make sure the others make it out of here as well."
"... What?"
Sunny was nonplussed, but Midnight's visage had taken on an aura of seriousness that imparted... odd feelings in the unicorn.
"The others. We're going to save them."
"But... they're already dead!"
"I'm not talking about... I... I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say. We need to help the ponies they cared for, the ponies who cared for them."
"... Why?"
"It doesn't feel right, knowing what happened, and not doing our best to make everything..."
"Right?"
The other colt nodded.
"Okay...."
It took a great many more hours for help to arrive, and to keep each other from falling asleep, they spent much of that time chatting. In the dark, neither could see the other's face.
"So, you're a meteorologist?"
"Yep. It's not all that interesting really."
"... what is a meteorologist?"
"Somepony that studies weather... like, weather patterns and the forces in nature that cause certain events."
"Don't pegasae usually just make the weather?"
"Yes, usually. We look into 'natural' weather, and develop better ways for pegasae to control it. We also study how different cycles effect productivity, to produce the weather plans for most of Equestria."
"So when it rains on my birthday, I can blaim it on you instead of the local weather teams?"
"Nuh-no! We don't make decisions based on personal matters!"
"Alright, alright."
"..."
"Without your..."
Sunny stopped.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What do you do?"
"... I'm a cook. In Canterlot. I work at a diner."
"What does a sun have to do with cooking?"
"It's an egg. On fire."
"Oh..."
"... Before we 'save' those ponies, why don't we go to Canterlot? Maybe I can show you what I can do while we're there..."
"Why?"
"I have some words that I need to exchange with my parents."
"Of course. We can work on 'saving' you first!"
"What?"
"... Nothing."
It was about two A.M. when they heard the calls. Help had arrived, and apparently, it had figured that there might be survivors clinging to the hunk of ice that had felled the ship. Sunny threw up a luminous spell to alert their saviours. The colts couldn't see them, but they were soon swaddled in down blankets and carried away. Separated briefly, but the two weren't strong enough to complain, and frankly, only Sunny had any reservations with that.
Midnight was trying to fight off his persistent drowsiness while attempting to ask the rescue crew if they had any proper lists for the ponies that were still missing. They mostly brushed him off, but that was primarily out of respect for his condition. He did manage tell the crew that between the two of them, Sunny and Midnight had witnessed the deaths of five other ponies, but-
"But don't worry! We'll save them."
At this point, they began admnistering aesthesia, presuming that any possible complications that may arise from putting the colt under had probably already occurred.
A stallion trotting alongside the ones carrying Sunny had a few questions for the young unicorn. He had a mustache obscuring his green-coated muzzle, and heavier boarding than the ponies carrying Sunny and Midnight.
"Did the two of you swim out here?"
"No, no, sir. The pegasus, Midnight, flew me to the iceberg... when I fell over the railing. I slipped on the deck, ya' see...."
"How'd the poor colt lose his wing?"
"I... it snapped off."
The pony interrogating Sunny took on a quizzical expression. "Wings don't just snap off, boy."
"It froze over, and we tried to fold it in..."
The questioning was cut short when the two cloth-swaddled ponies were deposited on a dinghy, to be taken back to the mainland for medical attention and rest.
In the darkened sky above Equestria was the Earth's sole telestial body, wrought by a millennia of meteor impacts. Every night, citizens of the equine nation were treated to its sight. Unfortunately, few ponies were interested in that sort of thing, and found themselves staring at the thatched ceilings of their primitive huts instead of the moon princess's splendor. It was this disinterest that imparted a feeling of dissent and betrayal in princess Luna, prompting her to play the villain of the peace to regain the attention of Equestria's citizenry.
But Celestia, with her cunning use of the Elements of Harmony, saved her sister. It was this act that Midnight was becoming so enthused with. He had never understood it until now, and he still hadn't put together the words to convey the meaning to anyone else, but he had to extend this gesture to the ponies who helped him come to this revelation....
"Are you feeling alright?" Said a young unicorn mare. A nurse, judging by her getup.
Midnight was in a stout bed with coarse sheets. His head hurt, but not in a way that was painful, that's not how he'd describe. Something like the feeling one might associate with sore muscles, the kind of pain that tells the receiving entity that they've made progress and it's an appropriate time to settle down for a while.
"I said, are you alright?" The mare waved a hoof in the colt's face to get his attention.
"Sunny. I mean, just fine... peachy?"
The mare met his response with a look of incredulity.
"Uhm, alright. Do you need anything?"
"Could you get me some materials to draw with, miss?"
"That I can do, but, uhm, are you sure your... barrel doesn't feel strange? Like, something's missing?"
"I don't have any need to fear for my health, thank you."
The mare left to retrieve a box of colored pencils and sketch paper for the bedridden colt. Her face had taken on a sad composure as she did so.
Sunny was most certainly not feeling alright. He'd been trying to get out of his bed--a day sooner than prescribed, mind you--and failed miserably in all his attempts but the last. With a great heave, he was able to roll off the mattress. Unfortunately, he'd taken the sheets with him. He lay wrapped on the floor, the side of his muzzle pressed into the linoleum.
He'd been given orders to rest until the next day, but he couldn't wait until then. He had to apologize to Midnight, and he had to do so with the utmost sincerity. Being from Canterlot, Sunny's best interpretation of sincerity was speaking at least somewhat honestly while appearing to be a blubbering wreck. He could at least fulfill half of that in his current status.
Even with Sunny's meager experience with tumbling around in tight fabrics, he was able to unravel himself and stand up. Now, he just had to figure out where Midnight was in the hospital. He approached five or so nurses, asking variations of the question "Have you seen a blue pegasus with a black mane?" until one of them directed him to a room on the third story.
Inside was a Midnight, and a member of the Royal Guard standing over him. Midnight was asleep, but the guard was leafing through some papers at the colt's bedside. He looked up and had a double-take upon seeing sunny. His muzzle contorted into a frown.
"Are you Sunny Bottom? The other survivor?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to need you to come closer, mister Bottom. We need to talk."
Sunny reluctantly made his way to Midnight's bedside. He made a quick and muted salute to the guard once there, having learned to do so during his youth in Canterlot. The guard either didn't notice or didn't care, favoring a question over acknowledging the gesture.
"What did you do to my son?"
"What?"
The guard took his helmet off and held it fast to his side with a foreleg. Over the next fifteen seconds, his coat turned green, eyes changed from blue to violet, and puffy eyebrows and a mustache popped onto his square face. It was the stallion from the rescue team, and he looked pissed.
"What the buck did you do to my son, mister Bottom?"
"I... I didn't do anything to him, he saved me..."
"Yes, he told me that. Though, there were some particulars that you left out..."
Sunny gulped.
"... and, I want you to fill in the gaps. The gaps my son seems to be incapable of recalling."
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir."
"Why is my son talking like a grade-school foal? Why is he drawing these strange pictures of the princesses?"
He presented midnight with pictures in question. They depicted Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and a number of other ponies, wearing needlessly complex barding with the strangest of color schemes. Each drawing had twinkling stars in the background, implying that the figures were in the sky. Chicken scratch labels informed the viewer that they were looking at "Celestias Dias", "Lunai Hermatcom", or a distorted member of the "Elemnts of Harnony".
"He drew these?"
The guard had been breathing heavily as Sunny examined the pictures. He was evidently not... 'proud' of his son’s work.
“I really don’t know why Midnight would do any of this...”
“Well, perhaps you can explain why in Tartarus my son would draw you and him doing this?”
The stallion put down the other pictures and lifted just one. It was... Midnight and Sunny, spooning. Wait...
“... What.”
