Close Bonds: Chapter Nineteen

“Ivan? Can you come here a moment?”

You yawn, stretching your arms over your head before you rise from Lyra’s office chair and approach Sweetheart.

“Yeah?” you ask a little groggily.

She motions for you to lean in close, and you do so. She whispers into your ear, “Can you give Rainbow a bath today? She hasn’t taken one in days, and she’s starting to stink.”

Lately, ever since you were up and working again, Sweetheart, or whichever nurse is taking care of Rainbow, always asks you to do any task that requires touching Rainbow in any way that may seem intimate. You’re really not sure if they’re just uncomfortable with doing it, as it is part of their job, or if they’re conspiring to tease either of you in a strange way.

Upon hearing Sweetheart’s request, you smirk, choking back a laugh. “Alright. So which shower do I use?”

“The one you usually use for yourself. And also, make sure to get a covering for Rainbow’s cast. They’re in the supply cabinet next to my office, in case you didn’t know.”

“Mm-kay, gotcha,” you say, tucking that little piece of information away in your brain for later use. “You headin’ out now?”

“Yeah, in a few minutes,” she answers, glancing at the wall clock. “Gonna see if I can catch my kids before they go off to school today. We’re supposed to be doing a little family trip this weekend, just wanted to make sure they’d remember to come straight home.”

You shuffle your feet idly. “Ah, alright. Don’t wanna keep you any longer, so have fun this weekend.”

“Thank you, and you too.” She smiles, before trotting off towards the main office.

You watch her leave, then look around. Lyra isn’t here yet, which is surprising, as she’s usually about fifteen minutes early, even though you two have the same hours. You were never exactly an early riser, so the only reason you’re even up right now is because you’re used to having to account for the time it takes to walk here. Which is a problem that, as of recently, you haven’t had to face.

Yeah. You’ve been sleeping in the hospital bed with Rainbow for the whole week; apparently, your house is still an ‘evidence zone’ in the case against Scootaloo’s dad. As if they couldn’t, and haven’t already taken photo evidence of the whole damn place.

Which brings you back to the strange tale of your own case.

“And by doing so, I managed to prove that your actions fit the criteria of Ponyville’s Stand-Your-Ground law, saving you what could’ve been weeks of unneeded hassle that most likely would have produced the same results. The only thing you’re going to have to watch out for are civil suits, as the law here doesn’t specify on that. Though I think that if Mister I-Attacked-an-Element-of-Harmony-in-an-Alcohol-Induced-Rage did try to sue you, he wouldn’t have much luck getting the jury on his side.”

Your eyebrows remained raised in an unchanging expression of being impressed. “Wow, Derpy. I never realized that my mailmare was such an… intelligent lawyer.”

Rarity gives you a look that suggests you should’ve gone with a different choice of words, but Derpy doesn’t seem to mind. “Well, thanks. Yeah, I studied to be a private defense attorney, but I suppose that this,” she points at her lazy eye, “doesn’t exactly give off an aura of intelligence. Aside from Rarity, not many ponies wanted to hire me.” Immediately after saying this, her business-like gaze becomes a wide grin. “But hey, I’m happy with what I’m doing now, and that’s all that matters, right?”

Her optimism is infectious. “Heh, I would think so,” you chuckle, then turn to Rarity. “Thanks for hooking me up here, Rarity. I owe you one.”

She brushes it off with a wave of her hoof. “Don’t mention it, Ivan. It should only be expected from the Element of Generosity herself; besides, what are friends for? I’m just glad that I ran into Fluttershy on her way to see you at the hospital.” Her lips curve up slightly. “I’d know that worried look anywhere.”

You smirk. “Heh, Fluttershy. In spite of all that’s happened, she still took at least five pens and a towel from the hospital. Don’t even ask me how.”

You earn some chuckles for your joke. You finish your cup of tea, then rise to your feet. “I should probably go now. I want to get back to the hospital before the painkillers wear off, and I’ve been meaning to check the mail today.”

“I thought they wouldn’t give you painkillers?” Rarity questions.

“I bought my own. Pinkie seems to keep them around, for whatever reason.”

You shake your head, clearing your mind of the daydream. You remember that you were supposed to be doing something, but you can’t remember exactly what.

Oh, yeah. Rainbow needs a bath.

You open your brain’s file cabinets, shuffling around a bit before coming to the little bit of information that tells you what you need about bathing a little blue pegasus with a broken wing.

“Make sure to get a covering for Rainbow’s cast. They’re in the supply cabinet next to my office, in case you didn’t know.”

Right.

You’re off to the supply cabinet lickety-split. You pull out your key, using it to unlock the wooden double doors. Lo and behold, your prize, a box of plastic cast wraps, is just under eye level. You take it, then close the cabinet back up and lock it. A faint click sounds, leaving you satisfied that the door is shut and inaccessible to anyone but medical staff.

You meander back to Rainbow’s room, glancing at a certain door that’s seemed to have caused a lot of conflict over the past few days. You brush past it, soon coming upon your destination.

つશૂપ, or 405 as it translates to you.

You knock three times lightly, pushing open the door without even bothering to wait for a response. As you step inside, you’re (not) greeted by Rainbow Dash, who’s wearing a pair of earbuds and seems fixated on your iPod.

Of course.

You walk up and sit on the side of the bed. The pony notices you, as her eyes dart in your direction for a split second, but other than that she pays you no heed.

You set the box of plastic wrappings on the nightstand, before pulling one of the loosely-placed earbuds out of her ear and placing it in your own.

A familiar, soft tune plays itself out.

My girl, my girl, don’t lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night?

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

“Didn’t think you’d enjoy Nirvana,” you state plainly, nodding to the beat as the semi-scratchy, but nevertheless amazing voice of Kurt Cobain fills your head.

“Eh, I’m starting to get used to Earth music,” she says, swiping her hoof across the iPod screen. You look over her shoulder to see what she’s doing, and get the behind view of what looks like Indiana Jones jumping off the side of a platform.

“Temple Run? Really?” You shake your head.

“Dammit, Ivan, you made me die!” she socks you in the arm before turning back to the game. “You humans run weird.”

“A cheap flash animation isn’t exactly the best representation, but okay.”

“Whatever. I don’t even know what you just said.” She sets the iPod down to look at you. “Hey, you think you could help me find a song? I don’t know what it’s called, and I can’t really read any of these words.”

“Too bad you’re not smart like Applebloom,” you jab at Rainbow. “She knows English. She can probably read most of this.” You receive another light punch, and then pick up the small device.

“What song are you looking for?” you ask, scrolling through the music library.

“Uh,” she puts a hoof to her chin, “I think it goes something like…” It takes her a moment to recall. “‘…something unpredictable, but in the end is-’”

“Ah. Time of Your Life. Gotcha.” You quickly come to the T’s, and tap the screen. The song begins, the familiar finger-picking at the beginning with the not-sure-if-intentional ‘Fuck.’

“Just wondering,” you say as the intro nears its end, “how did you know that song?”

“You used to play it all the time before you had your little mental breakdown.” She gives you a look. “Don’t you remember me singing it with you? You know…”

You simply acknowledge it with an “Oh, yeah.” As the melody plays, you take a walk down memory lane; this song really has a lot of history with you.

You have to take a deep breath when it ends. You take out your earbud, and Rainbow’s as well, right as the next song starts. “Alright. We should probably be getting you ready.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Ready?”

Oh, that’s right. You forgot to tell her. “Oh, yeah. Sweetheart wanted you to take a bath today.”

She frowns. “How does she expect me to do that with my wing like this? It would get in the way when I’m trying to clean myself.” The realization dawns on her when she sees your grin. “No… You’re gonna give me a bath?”

“Yep. Why, is there a problem?”

Her frown deepens into a scowl. “Yeah. I don’t want you giving me a bath.”

You raise an eyebrow, smiling. “And why not? We take showers together all the time at home, what’s the difference?”

“Ivan,” she folds her forelegs across her chest, “there’s a fine line between giving somepony a bath, and taking it with them.”

“Okay. And can you tell me why you don’t want to cross that line?”

She turns her head away, and a low mutter comes from her. “You know why…”

You shake your head. “Sorry, don’t think I do.”

“Stop being an idiot,” she growls.

“No, seriously, I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“It’s because of all the jokes you play on me, alright!?”

You flinch back at her outburst. “Woah, woah, woah. Since when have I been playing jokes on you?”

“You want me to give an example?”

“It has to be recent.”

“Alright,” she says, a somewhat victorious tone in her voice, “How about yesterday, when you were helping me put on my shirt?”

“What happened then?” you question, honestly trying to remember.

“You kept making me put my head through the foreleg holes.”

You attempt to hide your face as you chuckle, recalling the memory. Rainbow was kind of cranky yesterday, so you decided that if you were going to have to put up with her attitude, you were going to deserve it.

Rainbow is unamused. You shake your head. “Sorry, Dashie. Won’t happen again.”

She looks at you skeptically. “How can I be sure of that?”

“I promise.”

“Pinkie promise.”

“Um,” you glance around the room, nervously. “Look, I don’t want Pinkie to suddenly pop up out of nowhere and try to sell me drugs, alright?”

“What?”

“Just- Never mind.” You dismiss it with a wave of your hand. “Okay, I promise I won’t play any pranks on you.”

“Still, how can I be sure?”

You sigh. “Because, when you’re not injured you’re pretty scary.”

She thinks about this for a moment. “Hmm… Alright.”

You turn the other way. “Otherwise, when you’re crippled you’re helpless and it’s cute in a funny kind of way.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.” You turn back to her. “Here, we should probably go do it now. You need any help getting off the bed?”

“No, I’m fine,” she refuses stubbornly. A few grunts, curses, a thud and a whimper later, and you ask again.

“Alright,” she groans, rubbing the exposed part of her wing. You grab her by the waist, hoisting her off the bed and setting her on her hooves on the tiled hospital floor.

You smile down on her. “See? Much easier, right?”

You get another bruise on your leg to add to your collection.

“Damn. How did you ever even get your cast in the wing slit?”

Rainbow grunts as you tug on her shirt, jolting her whole body slightly. “I don’t know. You’re the one who put it on, you tell me.”

A bit more pulling and the sliding of her hooves on the tiles, and the Chinese pegasus trap slips off. “There!”

“Finally,” Dash mutters. “Now, what about my cast? Sweetheart said not to get it wet.”

“That’s why the very same pony told me to bring these,” you proclaim, introducing the box of cast wraps. “We just cover your wing with one of these, and you’ll be all ready to take your bath.”

She sighs. “Alright. No point in waiting. Put it on.”

You pull one out, opening the mouth and bringing it over her cast. Once it’s all the way on, you gently tug on the string, tightening it until it’s snug on her wing.

While Rainbow tries out the new wrapping, waving it around in the air, you run the bath. “Okay,” you say after a few minutes, swishing your hand around in the warm water. “Bath’s ready.”

She trots up, again attempting to do the task of climbing into the slippery ceramic bowl by herself. Before she ends up breaking her teeth, however, you grab hold of her from behind and lift her over the rim.

She squirms a bit, scowling at you once she’s settled down on her flank. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know I didn’t. But I’ll let you run the water, since I don’t know how you like it.”

A minute passes while Rainbow tries to adjust the water temperature to her liking and you look at various types of shampoos. You really can’t tell the difference between Neightrogena and Alfalfaparf, aside from the fact that one smells like cherries and the other supposedly smells like cucumbers; but hey, you’re not a woman. Or mare.

You settle on just getting an armful and setting them down one-by-one on the side of the tub. Rainbow stops the water and leans forward in a prone position, watching you do this until you get to the last bottle. You pull up a small stool. “Here. I don’t know what you like, so just pick one.”

She brushes a stray lock of wet mane out of her eyes, then leans forward to scrutinize the small print on each bottle. “There’s no conditioner here. And they’re all mane shampoos.”

Celestia dammit… “Look, it’s just a bath. We’re not at a beauty salon.”

“I know that. But I can’t wash my coat with mane shampoo.”

You groan audibly. “You know, earlier you seemed perfectly fine with not even taking a bath.”

She shakes her head. “Not really; I actually felt kinda gross. I just never mentioned it because I didn’t think I’d get to clean myself.”

“Dammit, Rainbow, do you have to argue over every little thing?”

“Do you have to argue over every little thing?” She jabs a hoof at you. “Just get off your ass and grab a bottle of conditioner and coat soap. It’s not that hard.”

You roll your eyes, muttering to yourself under your breath. You open up the cabinet of soaps, and upon realizing there are various brands of each type, you call out, “What brands do you want? Will certain types burn your mane off?”

“Just pick any. I’m not that picky.”

“‘Not that picky…’ Good Lord…” You grab two bottles and a bar of soap, then walk back over to the tub. You set all three on the edge. “Good?”

She glances at them, then nods. “Good.”

You sigh, happy to finally have the complications out of the way. Rainbow seems to get by now that, like everything else, you’re going to do this for her. She dunks her head under the water, getting her mane all nice and wet, then lets you slather on the shampoo.

You run your hands through her polychrome mane, untangling every strand of hair you can until her whole head is nice and sudsy.

“Rinse,” you order. Again, she submerges herself, waiting some moments before breaking the surface of the water and tilting her head back so as to not let the droplets into her eyes.

The small display honestly reminds you of a dolphin, especially with the way her back is arched. You pour a glob of the conditioner onto your open palm, then repeat what you did with the shampoo. All the while, Rainbow quietly sits in her dolphin pose.

In short time, you move on to her body. Mixing the coat shampoo and bar soap together in your hands, you start with her neck and shoulders, gently rubbing the area and doing the same as you come down to the little matted tuft of fur on her chest. You smile when you feel her leaning into your touch, her lips curving up into a pleasured smile of her own.

You continue down, tracing your right hand down the curve of her spine while your left rubs her belly. She gives a happy moan, apparently quite pleased with the job you’re doing. You take both hands and place them on her hips as a warning, but more so in asking permission for what you’re about to do. She doesn’t move, so you take that as her consent and begin caressing her haunches.

She doesn’t moan this time, simply flicking her tail a little at first as you move down from her cutie marks to her lower legs, making sure to clean out every nook and cranny. After finishing everything down to her hooves, you realize there’s something you forgot.

“Hey, Dash? Could you, um, spread your wing for me?” A pomf sounds as her wing stiffens out, fully erect. The combined speed of her wing opening and the wetness of her feathers makes it sound almost like a crack, and a spray of liquid is sent in every direction.

You’re a little questioning about it, but decide not to comment. Instead, you run your fingers gently through the delicate appendage, paying careful attention to her quills so as not to snap any of them.

You very lightly touch the base of her wing, letting her brace herself before cleaning that area. You massage it very tenderly, as the base of the wings and the wing pits themselves are the most sensitive parts of a pegasus’s aviary limbs, and are usually only touched by his or her most trusted relations.

You’re soon finished with cleaning her wings. You splash some bath water onto the undersides of her feathers, then tell her, “Alright, done. You can fold your wing back.”

She just sits there, unmoving. You roll your eyes. “Uh, Dash? I can’t rinse you off with your wing stuck out like that. Pull it back in.” She still does nothing, her eyes closed and unresponsive to your actions.

It’s then that you notice something off. Hot, heavy breaths escape her nostrils, and her cheeks are tinted a shade of pink. Hesitantly, you reach out to her. “Dash…? Are you alright…?”

Her head snaps to you as soon as you make a connection with her shoulder. You nearly jump, almost afraid of what she might be thinking of doing, wondering if you did something.

Her eyes, slightly slitted, stare straight into yours. As her gaze burns into you you try to read it, finding nothing except the radiating heat of…

…lust?

Oh, shit. She’s still in her estrus period.

((Starts to get NSFW around here. As usual, skip to the break if you don’t wanna read this.))

She whips around and bites on your hand, not hard, but enough to draw forth a yelp. You yank your hand back, and she giggles.

She hasn’t had sex in three days. As you recall, the last estrus that happened, she almost went insane.

You gulp. She’s panting now, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth as she leans ever closer. You’re confused, not sure whether to feel aroused or afraid.

Your lips connect, and she pulls you into a deep kiss. When she’s finally done, she pulls back, hoof on your chin, staring at you with the sexiest bedroom eyes you’ve ever seen.

Yep, definitely aroused.

But this really isn’t the place to be doing this.

“H-hey, um, Rainbow,” you stutter, trying to form your jumbled thoughts into coherent speech. She giggles as you do so. “We really can’t be-”

She puts a hoof to your lips, silencing you. “Oh, come on, Ivan. Who’s gonna know?”

In your state of mind, her argument is very compelling. However, the thought of being fired for such activities also finds audience in your head. Before you can voice your response, however, she follows up with more seductions. “Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy touching me all over like that. I felt you rubbing my teats, and grabbing my cutiemarks. Don’t deny it, Ivan.” She smirks coyly. “I know I enjoyed it.”

You open your mouth silently, completely forgetting what your retort was. She takes the chance to continue her advances. “And that wing massage you gave,” she crosses her forelegs on the edge of the bath and rests her head on them, looking wistfully into the air, “that was so-”

“Dash. As much as I’d love to rut the living fuck out of you right now, I can’t,” you finally get in. “If anyone finds out, more than likely I’ll get fired.” You sigh, honestly wishing you weren’t at work.

She stops for a moment, genuinely thinking over your dilemma. Suddenly, her eyes light up, a smile taking over her face. “Well, Sweetheart told you to clean me…” She turns around as much as possible, moving her tail to the side and revealing her swollen marehood. “Missed a spot.”

Somehow, this little loophole manages to fly in your head. You use your left hand to grab her flank and widen her slit, then stick two fingers into her open hole. She cries out for a second, before quickly covering her mouth upon remembering that it’s only supposed to be a ‘cleaning.’

It’s not hard to slip three, four, and then your whole hand into her pussy due to all the soap. You pump your fist back and forth inside her, while she lets out muffled moans of delight into her forehoof. She lowers her upper body close to the water, leaving her rump stuck into the air as you fist her. You immediately grab her ass, eliciting a borderline yelp from the rainbow pony as you dig your fingers into her toned flesh.

You can tell she’s on the edge. You bring your hand almost all the way out of her hot pussy and stop for a moment, teasing her right on the brink of her orgasm.

She looks back at you, an exasperated scowl on her face. “W-what are y-you doing? Come on!”

You relish the moment, tracing small circles around her puffy lips as she continues to writhe. Just as she opens her mouth to say something again, you plunge all the way back into her, making sure to include a good portion of your wrist in this one.

She silently screams, her marehood tightening around your hand as she rides out her orgasm. You wiggle your fingers around a bit, making sure to add a little bit to the bliss she’s experiencing.

Finally, she loosens from around your hand, releasing you. As you pull it out, your fist exits her vagina with an audible sucking sound, thin strands of mare juice still connecting the two of you. You stroke her mane with your ‘clean’ hand, also making sure she doesn’t somehow fall over and drown in the bathtub. “Feeling better, Dash?”

She nods, looking quite content. Her eyes light up in concern. “What about you?”

You look down. “Uh…” There’s a visible bump on your jeans, a result of your earlier erotic actions. It doesn’t look to be quelled anytime soon, and feels real tight inside the confines of your undergarments.

Automatically, Rainbow lifts herself up and props her body over the edge of the tub, beginning already to unzip your pants. You chuckle to yourself, shaking your head. “Does this even count as cleaning anymore?”

She stops her work on freeing your lower area to offer you a smirk. “I’m cleaning your dick. It counts.” She moves back down, starting on the button now. “Besthides,” she says through gritted teeth, “I can’th justh leth you go like thisth. Need to return tha favor.”

It’s not long before your boner pops out, standing proud and tall over the wild plains. Your little pegasus leans over it, placing a hoof on each thigh, and gives it a nice long lick from bottom to top.

Your mind buzzes with activity as an electric feeling travels up and down your dick and continues around your crotch area. She does this again, starting from the middle instead this time before opening her maw wide and engulfing your penis in her mouth.

You nearly buck your hips straight into her throat from the feeling. Luckily, she does this for you, managing to slowly go lower and lower until she has your whole schlong inside of her. You feel your tip touch the back of her throat, and wonder how she doesn’t choke. She starts to swallow, causing you to groan with pleasure at the feeling of her throat constricting the tip of your dick.

She’s talented at this shit, that’s for sure.

Ever so painstakingly slow, she draws her head up, making sure to drag her tongue all the way up just before her lips, drawing a circle around your urethra before repeating the same motion downwards.

She does this for some time. Eventually, you feel the pressure begin to build up, and decide to warn her before you release your load. “D-Dash… I’m about to come…”

She takes this as a signal to begin bobbing her head up and down incredibly fast. You grunt, unable to hold it in any longer as a warmth explodes from the tip of your dick, emptying your load into her cheeks.

She stops, holding still and sucking as you continue to pump more and more sperm into her mouth. Finally, the wave of ecstasy ends, and Rainbow pulls herself off of your not-as-hard-anymore member, tilting her head back to swallow.

You sigh, basking in the content feeling of just being sucked off, and watch as your seed slides down her throat. She lets out a satisfied “Ahh,” cum dripping off the edge of her mouth as she does so. She smiles slyly. “You like?”

You nod, waiting for your boner to subside completely before you pull your pants back up. “I like.”

((It is now SFW from here on out. Enjoy!))

At three o’ clock, your shift ended. At three fifteen, you and Lyra walked to the post office together, talking about things as you went.

“So, Ivan, I noticed you were ten minutes late today-”

“Oh, Lyra, don’t even fucking start.”

After the post office, you went to Sugarcube Corner to pick up some doughnuts and pills, then to the market to see if you could find something good to drink. There was a snack vendor selling beverages, so you ended up with a six-pack of grape soda in your right hand, a box of donuts in your left, and some letters and a bottle of pills in your pocket.

It is now about a quarter ‘till four. Lyra went on her way home a ways back, leaving you to return to the hospital alone. You step through the front door, noting that Cream’s position at the counter has been filled by a new receptionist. You flash her a grin, and she nods her head.

Walking down the halls, you manage to get a passing glance at Scootaloo. She often comes here to visit her father at around this time, since she gets out of school at about the same time you get off work. It’s not unusual that the two of you will pass by each other, doing the awkward eye-avoidance routine. Every time, you’ve wanted to stop her in her tracks and make her listen to you; yet, you’re well-aware of how fresh the whole situation still is, and know that even acknowledging her could hinder the process of gaining back the bond the two of you shared.

Right now, it takes willpower not to just walk on up to her and say, “Hey, Scoots. Party in Rainbow’s room, donuts and grape soda. You in?” But with the thought of pissing her off on your mind, you manage.

You make it to the door with the number 405 printed in black Equish on the front of it, and with some difficulty due to your full hands, turn the brass knob and push it open.

“Ivy!” you hear as you step inside. Two mares, one blue and one pink, sit on opposite ends of the bed, positioned as if they had been in conversation before you got here.

“Hey, you two,” you greet, sitting down between them and putting the snacks on the bed beside you. “Dinner is served.”

Both ponies lean over the junk food, taking their picks before going back to their spots and snacking. Pulling the tab of the soda can with a fizz! you sip some of your drink, then take a mid-sized bite out of your glazed donut.

All three of you just sit there, munching on your donuts and simply enjoying each other’s company. You’re glad that Rainbow and Cream hit it off so well; it’s nice to have a third person to balance out the levels of crazy in the room.

You feel a soft nuzzling on your neck. This prompts you to turn and give Rainbow a quick kiss on the lips. It’s little more than a peck, but you still taste a hint of chocolate, and can’t help but smile. Your little pegasus has been rather affectionate today; likely her little way of showing thanks for helping her this morning.

“These donuts are good, Ivan! Where’d you get them?”

You and Rainbow both snap your heads around to Cream, startled out of your starry-eyed reverie. She’s finishing her first donut, about to move on to her second.

You blink. “Oh, uh, you know. Faithful Sugarcube Corner customer.”

She licks the bottoms of her hooves, then takes a swig of grape juice and starts on the sprinkled pastry.

A glance passes between you and the multi-chromed pony. “Someone’s hungry,” you mumble just loud enough for Cream to hear.

She scowls at you, setting down her donut and licking a few stray sprinkles off her snout. “If you don’t want me to eat, then don’t get such good food.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing you’re going for the next food run, when we run out,” you say, gesturing to the nearly-empty husk of a donut box. Out of the ten donuts you originally bought, three remain.

“To be fair, I took out four,” Rainbow says through a full mouth. You look at her, then back and forth between the two mares, and shake your head.

Cream grins devilishly. “I think you’re just a light eater, Ivan. You’ve barely touched your first donut.”

Rainbow rolls her eyes. “Tell me about it. I keep telling this kid he needs to gain weight.”

You groan, the two mares laughing at your expense. “We’re just kidding, Ivan, come on,” she says, giving you a hug. Cream does the same, and soon you’re trapped between the two of them with your arms pressed against your sides.

“Hey, what’s this?” you hear from Rainbow. You feel a hoof grope your butt, and it isn’t until after you jokingly sit on her hoof that you realize there are actually letters in your back pocket.

“Oh, yeah, I stopped by the post office today,” you say, sitting up and grabbing the letters. The little pegasus takes this chance to quickly yank her hoof away.

“You dumbass,” she growls, “you nearly crushed my hoof.”

“And you said I needed to gain weight.” You start sifting through the mail, tossing the already obviously unimportant things to the side as you go.

“Ivan, wait,” Cream insists. You stop, and grabs the corner of a purple envelope with her teeth.

Your eyes widen. “Twilight sent a letter back already?” You take it, noting that it’s addressed more formally to you as a ‘Mr. Ivan Walczyk.’

You rip it open, and pull out the letter, beginning to read as the two mares watch you earnestly.

Dear Ivan,

Urgent news. We (Princess Celestia, and myself) request that you come to Canterlot as soon as it is physically possible. All costs will be covered, and a room has been booked in the Canterlot castle for your arrival.

Your dear friend,
Twilight

Wat.

Rainbow can sense your uneasiness, as she swipes the letter out of your hand. A few seconds later, she has a look of complete and utter confusion.

You take the letter in your hand, rereading it to make sure it’s real. You look to the bottom of the parchment, and realize that there was something you missed before Rainbow snatched the paper away from you.

P.S. I know this seems a bit sudden, and you’re undoubtedly confused, but all will be explained. It’s just much better that you hear this face-to-face.

Tell Rainbow I’m sorry for what happened to her wing, and that I can’t wait to see her. Come only when you feel that she’s ready for travel, as I wouldn’t want anything to aggravate her injuries any further.

You look up, turning to Rainbow. She looks just the same as you feel: completely lost.

“What?” Cream asks. Both of you turn to her, and she shrinks back slightly. “What does it say?”

Author's Note

I passed the two-week mark... By one day.

I have failed you all

Once again thanks go to hwrogers for the proofreading. He's a bit busier now, so I'm thankful to him for getting around to doing this sometime not next year :P