Dusk

Chapter contains sex

Shoving the last shirt into his saddlebags, Dusk looked down. The trunk at the foot of his bed was completely empty, except for the uniforms that weren’t technically his.

Miles walked up and looked at his crestfallen friend.

“Come on, you don’t have to do this.”

Dusk just shook his head. “One of us had to do something or we’d both be discharged. I just couldn’t let that happen to you.”

He felt a hoof on his shoulder. It must have been Soprano’s; it was too small and thin to be Miles’.

“Dusk, please. There has to be some way you can sort this all out with the higherups.”

“Oh, no,” he replied, laughing. “There is absolutely no way they’re ever gonna let me back in after that.”

“I'll say, the bananas were a pretty nice touch,” Miles admitted.

“Can I have my girdle back, now that this whole fiasco is done?” Soprano asked.

Dusk shook his head again. “Sorry, but that's long gone.”

She giggled again. “I have to hear this story someday.”

He emotionlessly levitated his saddlebags onto his back. “Let’s just go.”

“Remember, buddy. I’m always here for you,” Miles reminded his friend.

“Thanks, Miles. I’ve had some pretty good times with you.”

Dusk and Soprano walked out of the barracks, into the cool night. The new moon was nowhere to be found anywhere in the sky. Tiny stars barely illuminated the earth, making the night dark and ominous.

“Listen,” Soprano said after a few minutes, breaking the thick silence of the night. “If you want, you can come stay at my house. We’ve got some extra blankets and pillows, you could always stay in our cellar.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve only known you a year or so. I wouldn’t feel right living in your cellar, mooching off you and your family.”

“Come on!” she begged. “You have nowhere else to go! I’d be a pretty lousy girlfriend if I didn’t give you a roof over your head for the night.”

“Fine,” he said in submission. “But only for a few nights. Until I can get a job and a place of my own.”

She grinned widely. “Yay!”

***

Is this right? Dusk asked himself. I mean, she wants me to stay, but I just don’t feel right with this.

Too late. Soprano opened the door and walked in. Dusk followed her into the living room, where Soprano’s father and a mare he could only assume to be her mother were sitting at a table. They were both sitting and reading quietly.

“Evening, you two,” her father said.

“Evening, daddy,” she replied.

“What are you two doing this night?”

“We’re about to go out on the town. I just want to change first,” she said with a perfectly straight face. She was a pretty decent liar. “Why don’t you sit here with my parents for a minute?” After those words, she walked down the hallway.

Dusk slid into an unoccupied chair at the table. Her father put down the book he was reading and extended a hoof to Dusk.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever been formally introduced. My name is Carolus. Nice to meet you.”

Dusk grabbed his hoof and shook it. “I’m Dusk. Nice to meet you, too.”

The three ponies sat in awkward silence. After a few minutes, Soprano walked back in. Sure enough, she was wearing a completely different set of robes.

“Ready?” she asked.

He was shocked. She could find extra sheets, bring them to the cellar, and still have time to change, all in the short span of a few minutes? Impressive.

“Sure,” he replied. He got up, and they walked out.

“Tell me, what exactly is your plan?” he inquired.

“Well, I’ve got the extra sheets in the basement, all ready for you. I figured we’d go to The Walking Frog and see if there are any jobs available.” She grinned. “By the time we get back, they should be in bed. My parents aren’t exactly known to be night owls.”

“You really think this is going to work?”

She smiled again. “No idea. One way to find out, right?”

***

Dusk felt the covers Soprano had given to him to sleep in. They were soft, thick, and numerous. And these were the spare blankets. Not bad.

He climbed into the sheets. They were just as comfortable as he thought they’d be.

Right as he closed his eyes and felt sleep coming, the door to the cellar opened, then quickly shut again. He looked up and saw Soprano coming down, wearing a silk nightgown.

“What is it?” he sleepily asked.

Putting her hoof to his mouth, she hushed him. She began kissing his face lovingly.

He put his forelegs around her and joined in the kissing. He could feel his shirt being unbuttoned by magic.

I think I know where this is going…

He used his own magic to gently slip off Soprano’s nightgown; the only thing she was wearing, apparently. He felt his own pants follow soon.

They turned over in the sheets, placing Dusk on top. He ran his hooves up and down her body, feeling every small, subtle curve in her body. She was even more marvelous than anything he could ever have imagined in even his wildest wet dreams. Tiny beads of sweat began to form on his body, even though the cellar was cold and drafty.

Warmth and adrenaline suddenly surged through his body. He felt silly and was embarrassed, but Soprano seemed to enjoy it. Seven prior boyfriends, she must have had at least a little experience in this.

Ick. That last image didn't sit really well in his stomach. Perhaps he could have done without it.

***

All that could be heard in the cellar was the heavy breathing of Dusk and Soprano. Soprano was leaning on Dusk’s shoulders, her forelegs thrown around his stomach.

“Dusk, that was positively amazing!” she exclaimed.

“Forgive me, Soprano. That was my first time,” he spoke up, effectively killing the mood.

“It’s okay,” she replied, smiling. “It was…sort of my first too.” The mood started coming back slowly.

“Really?” he asked. He couldn’t believe it; seven ponies before him, and she didn’t have relations with any of them?

“Yeah, well…I always wanted to save myself for somepony special.” She sounded nervous.

He kissed her on the top of the head. “Amo te,” he whispered jokingly.

She giggled. “Noster amans manebit aeternaliter.”

“You know how I get when you speak Latin to me.”

Releasing him from the hug, she pulled a few covers over herself and lay down. “You’ll just have to wait until the morning, silly. Even fillies like me need their beauty sleep.”

He looked up at the closed door to the cellar. “Aren’t you scared your father will find out about this?”

“Nah,” she replied, much too confident. “I’m good at sneaking around. He won’t even realize I’m down here.”

Dusk accepted her statement and slid under some covers himself. Soprano was already breathing heavily in her sleep. The gentle rhythm of her breath (even when she was sleeping, she sounded musical) lulled him to sleep.

***

As the clock in The Walking Frog chimed ten times, Dusk walked into the back of the bar. As he threw on his thick overcoat and Pequot’s scarf, a short, stocky stallion walked up and pat him on the back.

“Headin’ out so soon, Dusk?” he jovially asked.

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Can’t do any overtime tonight.”

The owner of the bar laughed, his stomach jiggling. “Alright. See you tomorrow night?”

“Sure,” he agreed, opening the back door. Waiting for him right outside was Soprano, standing in the shower of thick, heavy snowflakes falling elegantly, like something right out of a storybook.

“Ready to go?” she seductively asked.

He smiled broadly. “You’re too good to me, Soprano. You’ve put up with me living in your basement for months, even though I’ve plenty of money to get my own apartment.”

She walked up and put her mouth to his ear. “It’s not like I don’t get anything out of it, you know,” she whispered.

“Hey,” he jokingly yelled. “Save it for the basement.”

As they started walking back to Soprano’s house, she moved in close to warm herself.

“How was your shift?” she asked.

“Oh, you know. Normal.” He pecked her on the cheek. “Boring since you weren’t there. What about you?”

“Great!” she excitedly replied. “I did some numbers, and with all the money I’ve made from playing and all yours from waiting at The Frog, we could move to the capitol together! This might just be the big opportunity I’ve always wanted!”

Dusk couldn’t believe his ears. “Really?” he exclaimed. “That’s amazing! We could have such a great life together!”

“I know!”

“Now that we’re going to start a life together,” he dropped down and knelt before Soprano. “We should make our love official. Will you marry me, Soprano?”

Her eyes suddenly were flooded.

“What do you say?” he asked. “Will you make me the happiest stallion under these stars?”

“Yes!” she yelled. “Of course I will!” She pulled him up and embraced him in a heavy hug. “I want us to be together for the rest of our lives!”

“Now, money’s sort of tight, so I can’t exactly afford rings, so we won’t be able to have a wedding soon,” he admitted. Seeing that Soprano was melancholy, he quickly perked up her head. “But, listen. We’ll make it work somehow. I mean, they’re just rings, you know? We’ll be able to afford them someday.”

Her mood suddenly lightened. “We could be wearing rags on the streets in the middle of winter with not a bit to our name, and as long as we would be together, I’d be happy.”

“Me too,” he replied.

Could anything in my life possibly go wrong?