Close Bonds: Sixth Chapter

"You almost done, Ivan?"

You zip up your backpack, confident that all the 'necessities' are packed. "Yeah, I think so."

Rainbow flies up, bumping you aside and re-opening the zipper. She looks at you, eyebrow raised. "You know we're going to the beach, right?"

"Yep. It was my idea, remember?"

"This," she pulls out a roll of duct tape and a Buck knife, "is not meant for the beach."

"Well," you say, carefully taking back the items, "It's always good to be prepared."

She rolls her eyes. "Paranoid freak..."

"Whatever you say. My money, my trip. I get to do what I want."

She shakes her head for a moment, then sighs. "Right. You done packing yet?"

"Just about," you grab some folded shirts off the counter and plop them into your suitcase.

"I helped a bit with your clothes while you were doing... that," she gestures toward the backpack.

You peer into your suitcase, and lock it with a click. "Oh? So that's why my suitcase looks like shit."

She punches you lightly, and smiles. You smile back, kneeling down and giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Things have been going well ever since her estrus cycle ended a week ago. Other than the usual banter, the two of you haven't really had any arguments, and have actually been having a lot of fun together.

In a perfect world, this is how the relationship would have began. But, seeing as how all is fine and good now, you're okay with it.

"Did you send that letter to Twilight?" Rainbow asks, wiping her lips with a foreleg.

Oh, funny story here. A couple of days ago, Rainbow tried to convince you into drinking hard cider again. After much begging and moaning, you agreed to just a few sips; however, it's difficult to remember how many times you heard the words, "Come on, Ivan, just a little more!"

In a short while, you were as drunk as Rainbow Dash during happy hour. The two of you spent the night telling terrible jokes that seemed funny at the time, discussing the 'All-Seeing Horn', which is basically the pony version of the Illuminati, and making not-so-subtle hints at sex.

Then, you saw Twilight's most recent letter sitting on the table, and for some unfathomable reason, decided you were going to reply to it. Her letter went like this:

My good friend Ivan,

I am sorry to hear about Rainbow. Please tell her that I hope she gets better soon, and say 'hi' for me. I also hope that you will soon find the time to fill out and turn in your citizenship application, and that everything goes well for you.

(P.S.) Sorry for the short letter, but I am rather busy today. I promise to get back to you as soon as I can so we can talk about more casual things. I do miss talking to you.

Your princess and dear friend,

Twilight Sparkle

Pleasant, right? Now, here's how your letter went:

Dearr prinsess,

Thenks for the lettr i hoep yor hgud good...

ivan

Oh, and apparently you wrote it in English, too.

"Yeah, I sent it. Why?"

You sent the Equish version, which was a much better revision.

"Really? Because I found it on the floor this morning."

You chuckle. "Nice try."

"No, really!" She pulls a piece of paper out of her saddlebag, and begins to read aloud, "Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, thank you for-"

You swipe it out of her hoof. "Lemme see that." Your eyes scan the page for a minute, before you mouth one word.

"Shit."

"Ah-ha!" She points a forehoof at you. "Told ya!"

"Shush. Now, I'm trying to remember. I did take a letter to the post office, I just don't know which one..."

You stop as the realization hits you. Rainbow looks up at you, a wide grin plastered across her face.

"Did you really send her the drunk letter?"

You facepalm, ignoring her. "God, no. What's she going to think when she receives an ill-written, barely legible cider-stained note, in English at that? I mean, how did I let that happen?"

Rainbow giggles. "Maybe you were drunk."

You give her a deathly glare. "You're not helping."

You see her shrink slightly under your gaze, but she hides it with a meek smile. "Hey, come on, I was just jokin' with ya. I mean, it's not like she can read it, right?"

You sigh, rolling your eyes. "Yeah, there's that."

She flies up, circling around you for a second before clinging onto your shoulders piggy-back style. "Twilight's our friend; she'll be understanding. I really don't see what you're so worried about, it's not like she'll think any less of you because of one letter. She probably expected something like this to happen eventually, what with the influence I now have on you."

"Yeah, there's that," you chuckle.

She bops you on the ear. "Shut up. I was just trying to make you feel better."

"My ear's ringing."

"Nope, that's the doorbell." She jumps up, balancing on your shoulders with her hind legs. She then drops a little bit, kicking off of your chest and propelling herself through the air towards the door.

You stumble backwards, catching yourself on the counter as Rainbow whips open the front door. After a second, she turns. "Rarity's here."

You take this moment to whip out your middle finger. She giggles; she's really the only one in Equestria who knows what it means, as she's seen you flip off ponies on certain occasions. Usually in defense of her. Here, though, it doesn't really have the same effect, as it's similar to cussing at someone in a foreign language.

It's been more of a joke between the two of you than anything.

She sticks her head back out the door. Faintly, you hear, "Ivan said come in."

Rainbow takes a step back. Rarity trots through the door, followed by three little fillies. Rarity is wearing sunglasses and a hat, while the fillies each have their assortment of beach toys, including a rubber duck inner-tube worn by Sweetie Belle.

Rainbow gives you a knowing look as you recall what happened here.

It was suggested, sometime in the past week, that the two of you would go to the beach together. In preparation, you bought train tickets, booked a hotel, and put in a vacation day for the following Monday, just for your efforts to be squandered by a simple question.

"Won't it seem kinda suspicious?"

You called Rainbow a troll, to which you received a raised eyebrow and the suggestion to invite someone else along.

It was agreed upon that Fluttershy was the perfect candidate for this, seeing as how she already knew what was going on, and therefore you and Rainbow could act like a couple in front of her.

So, you talked to Fluttershy about it, explaining the nature of the situation. She agreed with you; who wouldn't take up an offer to go to the beach?

The next day, you were approached by Rarity, who was wondering if she and her sister could come along.

"Come along where?" you said, though you already knew the answer.

"Why, come with you to the beach, of course!"

Apparently, Fluttershy had mentioned the beach trip during one of their spa meets. You weren't mad at her; it wasn't like this was top-secret or anything.

But it would've been nice if you could be affectionate with Rainbow somewhere other than the hotel room.

And then, there's the matter of the fillies. After finding out that Sweetie Belle was going to the beach, Applebloom and Scootaloo each begged their guardians to go; Applebloom to Applejack, and Scootaloo to you don't know who.

Applejack kind of represented them both when she asked you if they could come along. At that point, it was kind of a matter of, "Well, everyone else is coming anyways. Why not two more?"

And so, it was decided that Rarity would drop by and pick both of them up, then bring them to your house before you left.

"Ready, you two?"

Rarity's question snaps you out of your thoughts. You blink and look to Rainbow, who shrugs.

You turn back to her. "More or less." Picking up your suitcase and strapping on your backpack, you notice Rarity eyeing you curiously.

"Uh, something wrong, Rarity?"

She snaps to. "Uh, no. Sorry, I was just wondering about that..." She gestures with her hoof.

"Backpack?"

"Yes. Backpack. I've seen you wear it before, but not very often. Is it a human style?"

"Uh, in a way," you scratch your head. "I guess it's kind of the Earth equivalent to a saddlebag. I happened to be wearing it when I got here; kind of a fortunate thing, really."

"Oh, yes. You said you arrived in the Everfree forest?"

You nod. "Yeah. Conveniently, I had been out camping at the time, so when I arrived here, I was already well-equipped with survival tools."

"And he thinks he's going to need them for the beach," Dash mutters.

"You know what? You would be like this, too, if you were dropped in the middle of some unknown... place. What would you do if you found yourself in the Everfree?"

She grins. "Fly home. I know that forest pretty well."

You shake your head. "That's not the point. But whatever. You ready for the beach?"

She throws on a pair of sunglasses and crosses her arms. "Always ready."

You rub your forehead, then turn to Rarity. For the first time, you notice that she has no luggage with her.

"Hey, Rarity?"

"No, it won't hurt the rubber ducky if we- Wha-?" She looks up from a conversation with Sweetie Belle.

"Where are your bags?"

"Oh. That." She chuckles, waving a hoof. "Darling, you didn't honestly think I would bring all that inside, did you?"

You peer out the open door, and for the first time, see a pile of suitcases on a wagon.

You turn back, slightly amazed. "And you managed to pull all that yourself?"

She laughs, waving her hoof. "Of course not, dear."

You're now at the train station.

And the fillies have somehow managed to, as a collective group, lug the mountain-of-luggage-on-wheels all the way to the depot.

You have to give them credit. That's not something you would normally undertake, at least by yourself.

Rarity checks her watch. "I do hope Fluttershy arrives soon. Heaven forbid if the train left without her."

Right as Rarity says this, a suitcase approaches, seemingly hovering by itself. When you look closer, however, you see the legs, claws, snouts, and tails of mice protruding from underneath.

You look a little ways down the road and see Fluttershy, accompanied by another floating suitcase. Meeting your eyes, the yellow pegasus smiles.

"Hello, Ivan." She nods at the others. "Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Giiirls."

She draws out the last word, as a kind of special acknowledgement, you guess.

"So, you have your animals carry your luggage?" you venture to ask.

"Oh! Well, just on the way here. They insisted, and I just couldn't say no." She pats the one nearest to her on the head, and coos, "Okay, Nosey, you can go now."

The mouse squeaks in response, rubbing up against her hoof, and scurries off back towards the road. Fluttershy sighs as she watches him go.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

You, Rainbow, and Rarity look at each other, and can each only nod awkwardly in response. Holding a particularly long eye contact with Rainbow, you realize that both your thoughts concern the average lifespan of a mouse.

Fluttershy sighs again, unaware of your thoughts. Turning around, she's met with the rest of her furry servants lined up in front of her.

"Aw, you all want rewards too?" The assembly nods, and Fluttershy starts with the one in front.

"Thank you for helping, Mimsy. Be good while I'm gone, Flipsy. Are you, going to miss me, Kicker? I bet you will!"

It goes on like this for awhile. She names off her pets, giving each one of them their own special little goodbye.

Soon, it's a rather ugly, mostly hairless one's turn. She kisses it, chirping, "Goodbye, Ivan! Momma won't be gone long!"

Ivan?

Rainbow Dash snickers just loud enough for you to hear. In response, you ruffle her hair, messing up her somewhat formerly neat mane.

She stops laughing, and punches you in the thigh. You're ready to retaliate by pulling off her sunglasses, but Fluttershy turns back to you.

"Sorry about that, girls. And Ivan. Ready to go?"

You all nod and pick up your bags. Predictably, Fluttershy is the last one to board. Before she can get on, however, you tap her on the shoulder.

"Um, yes, Ivan?" She asks, doing her best to disguise her impatience.

You make it quick. "Just wondering, why was one of your rats- mice, named Ivan?"

Her eyes brighten up. "Oh! He's the one you saved from the pot of macaroni! Don't you remember?"

You look at your right hand, the evidence of such an occurrence still slightly visible. "Yeah, I remember all right. I'd have to be crazy not to."

Yeah. Especially when the scooping spoon was within reach. But, of course, you went with the option of sticking your hand into a pot of hot macaroni.

"All aboard!" the conductor shouts, making the both of you jump. You gesture for the pink-maned mare to go ahead of you, to which she gratefully accepts.

Now, to think of a way to get back at Rainbow. You do have the whole trip there.

"And I thought beach folk were supposed be friendly..."

You throw your bags on the ground next to the hotel door. Rainbow does the same.

"Well, what did you expect? You were eating beef jerky, in public."

You wave it off. "Gah, griffons do it all the time. Why do they sell it if you're not supposed to eat it?"

She rolls her eyes. "Well, for one, griffons living in pony territory normally don't eat in public. It's kind of an unsaid rule, since this is a vegetarian nation."

You sit down on the bed. "Okay, but I'm still wondering how ponies know what meat looks like. You know, vegetarian nation and all."

She raises an eyebrow. "Do you want me to make you feel like an idiot again?"

"No..."

She smiles, sitting next to you on the bed. "Then shut up for awhile."

You're about to retaliate, but stop when she leans against your shoulder. You look down at her, intending to give her a disapproving scowl, but soften up once you see her big violet eyes gazing back at yours.

With a sigh, you roll your eyes and put an arm around her. Giggling, she hugs you back.

The two of you stay like that for a while. Dash, eyes closed, soon lays across your lap. "You make a good pillow."

You look towards the pillows at the head of the bed, and wonder if she would like to 'have' a real one.

"Don't even think about it."

"What?" you ask innocently. She shoots you a glance that reads, 'Are you fucking kidding me,' then rests her head on your thigh.

Not wanting to move and consequently disturb Rainbow, you decide to finally take a look at your room. From what you can tell from your sitting position, there are two beds, a nightstand in between them, a kerosene lamp hanging above that, and by the door is a bathroom.

It's odd how similar this is to the hotels you would find back on Earth. It has the common nothing-special design that you're used to, albeit the absence of a television.

Actually, the lack of T.V. is making you kind of bored. That's one of the things you always enjoyed about hotels.

A slight movement catches your eye. You look down, finding that Rainbow's ear is twitching.

The urge is irresistible. You bring your hand behind her ear, and begin to softly scratch.

A pleasured groan escapes her. Knowing now that she's not asleep yet, you move your appendages to her shoulders to see if you can get a better reaction.

Your fingers move over her collarbone, caressing the soft area on and around her neck. You squeeze her shoulders and knead her upper back, eliciting pleasured moans and what you perceive as a purr.

You can't help but chuckle at the first mumbled words that pass her lips: "This is enough to make me wet."

At this, you move your hands a little lower, just enough to meet her ribcage. For some reason, you've always liked to touch her ribs.

She knows this. She also knows what this tends to turn into. Adjusting herself so as not to hit you, her wings snap open, awaiting your caressing touch.

Licking your lips, you lean forward, ready to bring forth sensual feelings-

Creeak...

"Ivan? Rainbow? Are you two in here?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay! I was in Reno for a few days, during which I got almost no writing done. So it was about a four-day delay.

As always, thanks go to hwrogers for proofreading, and all you wonderful people for supporting this story!