On a lonely night, Luna meets a strange creature that calls itself a "human", then she follows him without knowing what kind of surprises the destiny had in store for her.
Princess Luna, goddess of the night and co-ruler of equestria, she's also a mare who yearns for something she had never experienced, she's lonely and wants to find that missing piece.
On a cool night near the Everfree Forest, she finds "something" or better said "someone" who will change her life forever, someone that maybe can fill the void in her heart, however, the price to pay for her happiness can be higher than what she thinks, more so when she finds herself stranded in another world without a way back home.
The night was beautiful, the sky was bathed in stars that shone on its blue background and the full moon lit the kingdom of Equestria with her silvery light, all was peace and tranquility. The door to the Lookout Tower of Canterlot Castle was surrounded with a magical blue aura that slowly opened it, through its frame appeared the figure of the Princess of the Night. Luna stood on the balcony admiring her creation, she breathe deeply and let the nocturnal air caress her body.
It had been some years since her return, she had earned the affection of the ponies of the kingdom and in return, they had learned to love her dedication to always give them beautiful night scenes and often she received letters of admiration for it. She was always glad for that, however, her heart always asked for something else, indeed, she was loved, but not as she wished.
She felt lonely, she wanted to meet somepony who not only loved her creations, in fact, she wanted somepony that loved her. She sat in the little nest of pillows and let her melancholy run down her cheeks. Luna sobbed quietly when she looked up and saw a shooting star; it was something that always caused her joy because it was one of the most beautiful sights of the cosmos, and something out of her control.
The trajectory of the star took her eyes towards the mysterious Everfree Forest; a strange mist appeared to be coming out of it. For a few seconds, the mist lit up with a blue glow, as if a lightning had traveled through it
Luna got up and approached to the telescope to look more closely at what was going on in the forest. For a few minutes she saw nothing unusual, she was ready to accept that it had just been her imagination when the fog lit up again with another flash of light.
Luna had never seen anything like that, full of curiosity and with some trepidation she decided to look more closely at the strange phenomenon. She spread her wings and flew until she reached the edge of the forest.
Landing softly on the wet grass, she took a moment to look around. In the distance she could see the castle with its large towers and illuminated domes, Canterlot City glowed with the dim light of the street lights and, at the foot of the mountain, the town of Ponyville showed yellow lights dim, it was a gorgeous sight.
Luna’s tranquility was interrupted by what seemed like hoof steps coming from the woods, the steps were slow and the fallen leaves of the trees rustled in time with them.
She felt fear, but her curiosity was greater, hiding behind some bushes she awaited. The steps were getting closer and closer. Luna saw that within the fog a figure was beginning to take form, at first blurred, but gradually, it became more solid.
Several minutes went by until finally she saw emerge from the fog a creature, it was tall and thin, but wasn’t a pony of any kind. From the distance, one could say it was a minotaur, but it didn’t have horns nor fur, still, this strange creature walked upright on two legs, and his skin was covered with fabrics.
Luna couldn’t believe what she was watching; she was so amazed that her mouth was wide open. The being took one of his arms to his head and pulled off a bit of fabric that covered it. It stood there watching the amazing postcard of the Kingdom of Equestria
"What I would give to know what is this place."
Said the strange being while taking an apple from its clothes to give it a bite, the night princess marveled at such image but didn't know how to proceed, she thought about it until she decided to come out from her hiding.
“What am I doing? What if it's dangerous? It could be a demon from the depths of the forest.” Luna thought, but she was already walking towards the creature.
"Could it be a dream? It looks so real."
He said and Luna stood still as a rock for a moment, then she continued forward. Her hooves trod some small branches and the noise alerted the being who was only a few meters away from her. She froze with fear as the being turned quickly to know what had caused the sound, when he saw her, his face was filled with surprise.
"Wow, this really has to be the weirdest dream I have ever had, legends speak of pegasus and unicorns, but I had never heard of something like you."
He smiled. Luna was stunned at such description, this thing; whatever it was, knew about the other kinds of ponies.
"Truly, you are a majestic creature, even though this is just a dream... come on Jack, it's time to wake up."
He said and shook his head. Luna didn't understand what he meant by that this was a dream; she wanted to tell him that he was not dreaming at all, but her thoughts were cut when he took another apple and offered it to her.
"Come on, don’t fear me, I will not hurt you, it is for you."
Luna's ears perked up and she could almost taste the flavor of the fruit, but she was still afraid so she began to recede. The creature approached her slowly and Luna tried to get away but a stone collided with one of her legs and made her fall on her hind legs in a comical way causing him to burst into laughter, of course, this annoyed her.
"Don't mock me creature! Don't you know who I am?! I’m Princess Luna! Show more respect!"
Luna’s royal voice almost sent him to the ground; he let the apple fall and stood cold as ice.
"D-did you… did y-you j-just talk?!"
"Of course I can talk."
Luna stood up and started walking towards the creature; he backed away and fell to the ground unable to believe what was happening.
"But… but you're a horse!" He said, Luna felt indignant at such a description.
"A horse? How dare you call me like that, the horses belong to the Kingdom of Saddle Arabia. I am an alicorn and for your knowledge I’m the Princess of the Night and Princess of Equestria, you pathetic fool."
She said firmly hitting the ground with her hoof. He just looked at her with his mouth wide open.
"Okay, now I’m sure that this is definitely a dream. Well dear brain, enough jokes for one night, I want to wake up now."
Just as he finished of saying that, Jack groaned in pain, Luna had hit him with a stone.
"This is not a dream, creature; I demand to know what you are and where did you come from? Answer to your ruler."
He rubbed the place where the stone had hit him; Jack stood up and walked straight towards Luna who didn't move from her place.
"You know? That wasn't very nice of you, your highness."
Jack said angrily and once he was in front of her, Luna realized that he was taller than her by a head.
"And for your information, I don’t like you calling me creature, I'm a human and my name is Jack. Now, if you were so kind of telling me how the hell did I got here and how I can get out, it would be helpful."
Luna looked at him.
"You said you’re a human? In all my life I have never heard of something like you. Listen, you are in the Kingdom of Equestria, and about how you got here? I don’t know. I just know that you came out of the fog that covered the forest and that you are not dreaming, and I know that because I have power over the realm of dreams."
Jack turned around and saw the fog she was talking about.
"So the fog brought me here? Well, I guess that it will be able to take me back where I belong."
He said nothing else and walked right into the woods. She could not believe it and without thinking ran after him.
"Human! Wait! The forest is a dangerous place!"
She entered the mist, there was a flash of white light and the fog lifted in an instant. Luna and Jack disappeared without trace.
Jack woke up with his face buried in the pillow. The sun coming through a crack in the curtain fell directly into his eyes making him growl in displeasure. It was Sunday morning and the idea of staying in bed all day sounded delightful.
"What a dream I had last night... I shouldn't have dine that much."
He thought as he stood on his left side, with the other hand he reached out to close the small space of the curtain. He fell on the bed again staring to the ceiling
"Alicorn... what a strange word. In everything I've read about mythology I had never heard of anything like that."
He began to laugh, remembering the details of the dream that he'd had.
"What was her name? ... Ah yes, Princess Luna."
Jack touched his shoulder; the pain caused him to tighten his teeth. In that moment he realized that he still had his clothes from the day before and uncovering the place where it hurt he saw that he had a big bruise.
"What? How did I...?"
His mind traveled to the moment he was chatting with the princess, he remembered that she had hit him with a stone when he mocked her for the way she had fallen.
"No... it can't be... it was just a dream, sure that I hit my arm while climbing the stairs yesterday's night..."
He said with a slightly shaky voice, however, his train of thought was cut when someone else spoke at his side.
"Mmmm... the tea is delicious... Tia! Don't eat the whole pie..."
After hearing those words, Jack with eyes wide open looked at the movement of something under the covers. Gathering some courage, he took the side of the blanket and lifted it finding a surprising and rather cute scene.
Beside him, sleeping peacefully was the same being from his dream. Luna was curled up with her head between her front hooves. Her long and messy mane moved slowly, as if dancing with a soft breeze, she smiled and spoke dreamily.
Jack was stunned. It was the same creature he had been talking in the dream, but now, he was awake! She was real and was there in the bed beside him!
It took several minutes until, by instinct, Jack began to bring his hand to the body of the night goddess. He dug his fingers into her mane and saw that it was in fact hair, but as soft and light as a feather. The contact made hundreds of little flashes to arise from it. Luna began to wake up and yawning noisily stretched her forelegs, she cracked her neck and spread her wings to its full extent. Jack froze not knowing what would happen next. She opened her eyes heavily and looked over to where Jack was.
"Hello... good morning..."
The two looked at each other and then, Luna cried out in terror and Jack did the same. They shouted to each other again and again until the alicorn tried to get up in one jump, but she became entangled in the blanket and fell with a loud thud. Jack stood up and ran around the bed. Luna had her face covered by the blanket and was still screaming, he took the tip of the cloth and pulled it slowly until she was free.
"Are you okay?"
Jack asked. Luna lunged at him pinning him to the ground with a death glare on her eyes.
"Hey, what are you doing? Get off me this instant!"
"What kind of magic did you use, creature? Why did you bring me here? Answer!"
"Listen... Luna, right? I'm as surprised as you are. Do you think it's normal for a human to see something like you in a dream and then wake up and know that you're real?"
She was about to answer when a knock on the door caught their attention.
“Lord Remington, is everything alright?”
Said someone from the other side of the door.
“Oh bugger.”
Jack took the opportunity to take Luna by her waist and twisting for him to end on top of her. Luna froze while he placed a hand gently on her chest and pleaded her with his eyes and finger on his lips that she remained in silence.
“Yes, Mrs. Robinson. I just… had a nightmare and… fell off the bed?”
There was no answer for a moment, Jack started to sweat.
“How many times have I told you to not eat that much before bed, kid?”
“I know, Mrs. Robinson, is just that your cooking is great, I can’t have enough of it.”
“Oh Jack, you’re a real gentleman. Well, I just wanted to tell you that the breakfast is ready on the kitchen, I'll be on my way now, see you next Tuesday.”
“Yes, and thank you so much Mrs. Robinson, see you then.”
With that, Jack heard the steps of the old lady walking away, then, a door opening and closing leaving the house in total silence. Breathing in relief, Jack placed his other hand on Luna’s chest without noticing it, well; he did notice the softness of her fur as he traced his fingers over it.
“Excuse me?”
Said another voice and he looked down to a blushing Luna with her front legs curved inward. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly stood up and moved to one side.
“S-sorry, here, let me help you.”
He offered his hand, Luna looked at it with wary.
“I will not hurt you, please, trust in me.”
Jack pleaded and she stretched her leg, he took her hoof and helped her to stand.
“T-thank you.” She said.
“Not the better of the first impressions, isn't it?”
Luna said nothing; Jack sighed and sat on the bed.
“Okay, shall we begin again?”
He asked and Luna nodded, he let a smile appear on his face.
“My name is Jack Remington, owner of Remington Industries, the greatest steel company on London.”
“L-London?” She asked fearfully.
“Y-yes.”
Luna rushed to the window and opening the curtains she felt a chill ran down her body. In front of her, a massive city spread on all directions. She saw many more “humans” walking on the streets; she saw carriages that moved without the need to be dragged by other ponies. All this was too much for her, her eyes filled with tears and she turned to see Jack.
"T-this... this is not E-Equestria." Jack shook his head. "Where am I?"
She sat on her haunches and began to mourn bitterly. Jack felt like if someone was squeezing his heart just by listening her. He slowly approached her to kneel down in front of her.
"Listen, I do not know how you got here; I know that this is not your home, this is earth, my planet. The last thing I remember is that I walked into the fog as you said something about the forest. After that, we woke up here."
Jack dared to take Luna's face with his hands. When he lifted it, he was marveled by her big deep blue eyes.
“I can't feel a single trace of magical power here; I’m stuck in this world. Oh Mother Faust, what am I going to do?
She said and Jack could feel the despair, fear and sadness in her words.
"Luna, don't worry, we'll find a way for you to go back home."
He told her heartily, Luna wanted to say something but in the end, she hugged Jack tightly and collapsed in his arms. He returned the embrace and the two stood there without saying anything more.
***---***---***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, a man with messed up grey hair, stains of coal on his face and big glasses over his eyes was looking to the lectures of a machine that steamed as many little multicolor bulbs flashed with every whistle that it gave.
“Yes! There has been another event!”
He said while taking a drink of coffee from his mug.
“Oh, and a bigger one this time, if those idiots on the British Museum could see this they wouldn’t be laughing of my right now.”
The man walked to a map on the wall with many sites marked with a red cross.
“Aha! Here it is, the place of the last event.”
He said while placing another cross over the map.
“This time, I’ll get the evidence I need; I will show the world that the trans-dimensional travel is possible.”
Jack asked to Luna who was resting over his bed. A couple of hours passed until she felt a little better, he still could see the stain of tears over her cheeks.
“In my world, magic is what you can call a “force of nature”. It is present in almost all forms of life, all the races of ponies can wield magic, of course, not all can develop it that easily. Unicorns and Alicorns have the characteristic of possess horns that function as a caster and receptor that helps them to use magic with great mastery.”
“Well, that makes sense; still, it doesn’t explain why you can’t use a spell to return to your world.”
Luna sighed sadly.
“Look at my mane.”
Jack did it and noticed that it was still moving like if it was trapped on a soft breeze. He reached out to Luna and traced his fingers along her silky hair.
“I still have a small amount of magic within me, but I can't use it, it isn't enough to try and open a way back, I need to have a source of power, but your world does not have magic, not a single trace at all."
“Like someone lost in a desert?”
He said and Luna nodded.
“Stranded in a strange land… and lonely…”
Luna put her head under her front legs, new tears started to sting her eyes.
“No, you’re not alone.”
Jack said while caressing her cheek. Luna didn't know why, but just by hearing his voice and feeling his touch, her heart was filled with a warm sensation… and she loved it.
“I don't know how long you will be here, but I will make my best for you to be comfortable, this is now your home, and I'm glad for it."
Luna couldn't help but smile, his words carried honesty and compromise, something she didn't expect in return.
"Come on, it's almost noon and you haven't eaten anything, plus, I'm hungry too."
In that moment, her stomach decided to answer for her with a low rumble, Jack raised an eyebrow and Luna blushed heavily, he found it adorable.
“S-sorry.”
He laughed. “Oh my, we better move, follow me, my dear.”
She stood up from the bed and did so. When they left the room, Luna's mouth fell open. Jack's home could easily have the size of the throne room in Canterlot Castle. The stairs led from the second floor to a lower level where large armchairs made a semicircle around a large shelf where there were many books, a big hearth with fire lit and what seemed to be a giant chest. While they kept walking, Luna could see through the window a large pool on the left side of the house; Jack leaned on the wall and looked at the alicorn who had a priceless expression of amazement.
“Do you like it?”
"Yes, I can find some similarities between this place and the library of the castle.”
“Do you think that there could be a relation between our worlds?"
He asked her somehow intrigued, did she really said that this “Equestria” has the same kind of life as in earth?
“To tell you the truth, by the few things you have told me, Equestria shares many things with earth, however, even the older books from the library don’t have something about your world or about your race, what was it called? Hum… humungus?”
Jack laughed. “Humans, our species is called humans. You know, for us you are not so unknown, our mythology speaks of unicorns and pegasus, only that you are a combination of both, that's fantastic."
He said as he led her into the kitchen.
"Well, since we're here. Tell me, what would you like to eat? I have eggs, ham, fruit, milk, coffee ..."
Luna asked for a couple of sandwiches and Jack was ready to oblige. While preparing the meals, she gave a little tour around the kitchen finding some more similarities, this caused her to feel homesick, but she tried to let it slide.
Once Jack had finished with the preparations, he set the table and Luna came closer taking a big look at the dishes, some fresh cut fruit, a big steaming pot from where a powerful herbal scent were coming, sandwiches and bread, everything looked delicious and made Luna's mouth water.
“Go ahead, eat.”
With her magic, she took the fork to start with the fruit. The freshness of it was such that she couldn't contain a small moan of pleasure that escaped from her lips. When she looked up and saw that jack was staring at her with big eyes, her cheeks turned red before she could look away.
Jack laughed before returning to his breakfast and in silence he thought that sharing his home with a being that seemed to come from a fairytale for some reason seemed very normal. After the awkward moment, they continued eating in silence until Luna spoke again.
"I'm curious to know what you do here in your world; this place looks pretty expensive, like a luxury apartment in Manehattan."
"Well, indeed it is, but my job allows me to pay for it.”
"What is your job?"
"My company sells steel as a raw material for other companies that transform it into a wide universe of things, from spoons like this one to a whole railway engine. And soon, we will build our own machines to compete on the market.”
“It sounds fascinating.”
“It truly is, the dream of my father soon will come true, I owe it to him.”
Luna could sense melancholy on his words.
“Is there something bothering you, Jack?”
“Well, my father was the first to have the idea of building machines to help the people of London, he wanted to make their lives more easy, this new century brought with it so many changes that a great portion of the population is suffering on the streets, he wanted to help the poor, to give them jobs, a better life, but he couldn’t.”
“W-why?” She asked
“Well…” He began, and Luna saw pain in his eyes. “He died a couple of months ago.”
Luna lowered her head in understanding.
“I’m sorry to hear that, he sounds like a great pony… I mean, man.”
“He truly was… all that I have is thanks to him, I still miss him.” Jack looked to one side as a tear ran down his cheek.
“Do you feel alone without him?” Luna asked.
“Yes… that’s why I try to spend most of the day at the factory, to keep my mind on other things, the loneliness of this house seems so big sometimes that it can be overwhelming, but now, thanks to you, I think… I think that will change.”
He said with a smile on his face. Luna stood perplexed by his words; did he really said that he was glad of having her in his life? Did he really mean it? She decided to keep those questions for her and just returned the smile.
They shared some more hours on the kitchen chatting about their worlds and life, learning things one from the other. After that, he showed her the rest of the house and told her to feel free of using whatever she needed.
Once the tour ended, Jack left the house to buy some things they would need and Luna decided to take a look at the huge shelves. She grabbed a book called “A Study in Scarlet” and began to read it; it didn't take that long for her to be hooked by the story.
Jack returned to find a curious scene; Luna was over the couch lying on her back with the book floating above her surrounded by a blue glow. Her eyes scanned the words and her mouth moved as she read page after page. He was pleased to see that his unexpected guest began to cheer herself, but it was obvious that this could not last long.
She had to find a way to return to her world, also, sure that she would have some privacy inside the house, but she couldn't be seen, they would have to be extremely careful during the first days.
“I see that you are enjoying yourself.”
Luna quickly stood up the couch and hugged the book.
“I love this book, this Sherlock Holmes a genious, oh and the story itself, the mystery, the intrigue, I can’t wait to see what will happen next.”
“I know, that book is one of my favorites, it’s a shame that Sir Arthur died a year ago, but he left a good amount of novels of Sherlock for us to enjoy.”
“Wow… I will read all of them in his honor.”
“I bet you will love them.”
Luna continued reading and Jack went to his studio to work on some projects until the night surprised them. After a small dinner, Jack took her to his room.
“You can use my room, I’ll take my father’s one, if you need something, you can come and wake me up, I’ll leave the door open.”
Luna climbed into the bed and under the blankets; He turned around to leave the room, however, Luna stoped him.
"Jack.”
“Yes?”
“I... I just wanted to… thank you for all that you have done... "
He raised his hand and she stopped talking.
"Listen, you don’t have to thank me, it is the least I can do, you are my friend and friends help each other, even in their darkest days.” He sighed. “I know that this place seems big, but for you, I’m afraid that soon will turn into some kind of prison, you will not be free, not until we can think of something and for now, you will have to stay here."
Luna moved the tip of her wing placing it gently over Jack's lips. The princess's eyes sparkled and soon were filled with tears, but this time, she was smiling.
I headed to the factory this morning; I came to tell you, but you were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't wanted to disturb you. There’s a tea pot ready on the stove and a lot food in the kitchen, feel free to take whatever you want. I shall be back by night. Have a wonderful day.
Your friend, Jack.”
Luna finished reading the note and left it over the commode at her side. Yawning, she jumped out of the bed landing softly on the wooden floor thanks to her wings. Luna stretched her body feeling the little bumps on her muscles disappear with a pleasant sensation of release. Next, she brought her wings to her mouth to preening them; the sensation of her work on the soft feathers sent a chill through her spine and made her giggle. Once she finished and sighing happily, she opened them at their full wingspan to let the blood and strength ran through them.
With her morning routine finished, Luna opened the curtains, rearranged the bed leaving her crown, hoof shoes and chest plate over it and left the room going down to the first floor of the house. In the moment she entered the kitchen, the scent of the tea reached her nose and the little stress that she felt vanished. She took a cup of the hot liquid and a slice of what seemed to be apple pie and took them with her to the living room where she sat on the large couch.
“Well… this isn’t so bad.”
She told herself.
“At least I don't have to deal with those boring court sessions, I bet Celestia is…”
When the name of her sister escaped from her lips, a stroke of pain and melancholy pierced her heart and the cup she held in her aura fell to the ground shattering into pieces. A tear fell down her cheek and her lips quivered, but she shook her head to avoid that the sadness could take hold of her mind.
"No, nothing is lost yet; I must look for a way to find a spark, a line that I can follow, Yes that's it."
She jumped from the couch full of energy, but her bare hooves felt something cold beneath them.
"But first I have to clean up this mess."
Using magic to pick up the pieces of the cup, she took them to the kitchen and deposited them in the trash can. Then, Luna returned to the living room with a piece of cloth to dry the spilled liquid. Once everything was left in place, she took the pie and went to the library where she began to search through the books any material that could serve as a reference.
"Legends and Myths of the world. Yes, this may be an option."
"Magic, Myths and Reality. Magic is not a myth, perhaps it is here in this world but it can serve."
"Planet Earth. I guess I can learn a little more about this world, this book will be an excellent reference guide."
Luna took several books from the shelves and put them on desk to start reading while eating a piece of the pie.
***---***---***
"And with the change of gears plus the new module the machine will run 20% faster."
Said a young man to Jack who was walking beside him. The sound of metal against metal, alarms and other sounds of the factory indicated that the line was in full procedure at the moment, however, Jack seemed to be with his mind somewhere else, in fact, his thoughts focused on the unexpected guest who was alone at his home.
"And if she can´t use anything? What will happen if she wanted to prepare something in the oven and she doesn't close the valves correctly?
He was so immersed in his whirlwind of ideas that it took him a while to realize that his employee was waving his hand in front of his face.
"Sir?"
There was no answer.
"Sir Remington, are you all right?"
"What? Oh, yes, sorry Peter. I was... remembering something."
"I can see that Sir. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Peter, don't worry, I just... I need to review some papers so I'll see you later, keep the good job."
"Oh, of course, well, see you later Sir."
Jack made his way back to his office at the top of the factory, there, he asked to his secretary if there was any message or calls to which she answered him that there was none. He asked her to not pass any call and entered the office. Once he was alone in the room, he slumped in his chair and threw his head back.
"Stop thinking that something bad will happen."
He told himself.
"She's a grown... mare?... girl? You must trust that she can take care of herself, after all, her world sounds very similar to this. I do not think there is a problem for having left her home alone, right?
He asked to the marble bust in the shape of his father as if waiting for a response. Meanwhile, back in his home, Luna turned away from the book and sneezed loudly.
"Sir!"
His secretary's voice sounded over the intercom, something did not seem right since she sounded desperate, pressing the button, Jack replied.
"What's the matter Marie?"
She didn't gave him a proper answer, instead, he was able to hear some of her words.
"I told you that you don't have an appointment scheduled with Lord Remington. Hey! You cannot pass!"
The doors of the room were flung open and a tall man with white skin, blonde hair and dressed with a black military uniform entered through them; Jack recognized the man and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Bloody hell, not him, not this again.” He thought.
"Jack, mein freund!"
The man told him, Marie appeared behind him and looked at Jack with fear.
"I... I'm sorry sir."
"Don't worry Marie, everything is fine, please leave us alone."
She obeyed; Jack got up and stood in front of the desk.
"It seems that you forgot to tell your secretary that I can come to visit you without an appointment.”
"No Krause, I didn't forget it."
Jack told him with annoyed tone.
"Is that so? Well, maybe her ears are not working properly. I don't blame you; I bet you have many problems when seeking for good personal."
"Actually, she heard perfectly when I said that I didn’t want anything to do with Krause Ornstein and his men."
Krause looked at him incredulously, but a moment later started laughing in an exaggerated manner.
"Always the joker, isn't it, Jack?"
Jack resigned and walked to one of the shelves.
"Since you're here, I can offer you something to drink, whiskey, rum... some tea?
Krause shuddered.
"Tee? Widerlich."
Jack chuckled at Krause's reaction; he knew perfectly that the soldier hated tea.
"I prefer a glass of whiskey; I still don't know how you British can drink that infusion of herbs and roots."
"If only you taste it, I bet you would like it."
He said giving the glass to Ornstein, he only shook his head and raised his drink in a kind of toast before taking it in a single chug.
"It's a good whiskey the one you got there, mein freund."
"Whatever. Now let's go to the point, to what have you come this time Krause?"
"I think you're right, we should not give more laps around the bush."
Krause left the glass on the table and pulled out an envelope from his jacket handing it to Jack. He just took it without opening it.
"For the last time, I will not access to build what you ask me in my factory."
"You must stop being so stubborn Jack, is it that you do not you see the earnings and growth that this can give you?"
Jack tossed the envelope to the floor in front of Krause.
"How many times do I have to repeat it? I build things to help the society. You just want to build things to destroy it, for the last time, I will not participate in something so perverse."
Krause closed his eyes, took a deep breath and smiled.
"You're tired, I understand. I'll let you think a little more, I'll come back next week to close the details of the deal."
Jack was stunned by such a response and wanted to claim him, but Krause had already left the room. Outside the factory a car expected him, Krause aboard it and left the place.
"It seems that our friend Remington still will not cooperate with us."
Krause said to a woman who was sitting opposite him.
"Maybe he needs a little more of persuasion from your part, don't you think?"
"Taking into account that part of this plan is your idea, I don't see that you even try to help us achieve the objectives."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong my dear Aryan friend."
"Really? Prove it."
The woman smiled and handed a letter to Krause.
"It seems that certain company is about to close a big deal with Remington Industries, It could be a good idea that you go to speak with them to convince them that the deal with Remington is not as good as they think, what do you think?"
"I think... that you live up to your name, Fräulein Zehirli."
Krause answered with a wicked smile.
***---***---***
"I have been walking in this neighborhood for more than five hours and still there's not a lecture at all."
Said in annoyed tone a gray-haired man who walked the through streets of the city, the day was coming to an end and soon the night would seize the sky that already showed orange tones against a darker background.
"Although, I must accept that this area of London is very nice, I wouldn't mind having a house here."
He kept walking. From the pocket of his worn jacket he pulled out a small device that emitted short beeps, a green screen on it showed a green line which remained static.
"Nothing, not even a tiny reading."
Said the man with angry tone, he sat on a small bench leaving his hat at his side. He bent a little to ease the pain in her back, after all, some time ago that the youth had abandoned him. There he stayed for a while trying to find an error in his readings, coordinates or formulas in general. Taking his hands to his head he began to stir his hair as if by doing so he could get what he wanted.
"Everything seemed to be in place, there wasn't a margin of error as great as last time; did I forget something?"
He wondered, but before he could answered himself, a soft voice took him by surprise.
"Oh, poor man, take this, I hope this helps."
He looked up; in front of him an old lady had stopped and was looking for something in her bag. Moments later, she put something inside his hat. Then, the old lady gave him a smile and walked away slowly. The man looked inside his hat finding a pair of tickets. He jumped up and tried to draw the attention of the elderly woman.
"Madam, wait, I don't..."
When looking at the amount that the lady had left in his hat, he was surprised
"100 pounds?! Oh, thank you my lady!"
He took the money and put it inside his bag.
"At least I got something out of this day; well, it will be better to head home."
He settled back his hat and turned around just to collide face to face with a young man. Both fell to the ground clutching their heads.
"Boy, you do have a hard head."
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I was distracted and didn't saw you, here, let me help you."
The old man took the hand of the young to get up, thanked him and saw him as he picked up a briefcase and a bouquet of flowers.
"Are you okay?"
"Sure son, I still have strength in these old bones."
"Good to know that, but where are my manners? Jack Remington."
He said extending a hand; the old man took it giving it a firm shake.
"Doctor Tiberius Turner, at your service, but you may call me just the Doctor."
Turner felt a small vibration in his pocket. He took the small device and gave it a quick glance; the green line had begun to move.
"I see that you're kind of busy," Jack told him.
"What? Oh yes, a little, I was looking for... some materials for an experiment."
"Are you a scientist? That is very interesting."
"Yes... I am. Hey Jack," said the Doctor cautiously, "do you live in this part of the city?"
Jack thought that it was a question a little out of place, so with some suspicion he tried to avoid the real answer.
"No, I just work around here and this is my every day way."
"I understand..."
For a moment they both watched one another in silence as if they studied each other.
"Well Jack, I don't stop you more, I bet you still have a long way to go."
"In fact. Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Turner, goodbye."
"Goodbye, Sir Remington."
Tiberius leaned his hat and walked ahead, in the moment Jack passed at his side the line in his detector gave a fairly high jump and then remain static again.
"Interesting."
The Doctor murmured and something on the floor caught his eye. He bent down and picked up a feather of blue color, its size and texture were exceptional and did not resemble that of any bird that he knew. The device vibrated again and Turner approached the feather to it, the line rose again but this time kept a constant level, only when he took the feather away the line was again left without movement.
"Very interesting."
***---***---***
"Luna, I'm home."
Jack said as he closed the door.
"Thanks god everything seems to be in place, I think there was no problem at all; I was just worried in vain."
He told himself and relaxed when he saw that his house was still in one piece. He put the briefcase on a table of the living room and went to the kitchen for a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. He called for the alicorn once more but there was no answer.
"Where is she? Did she went back to her world?"
That thought made him feel strangely sad, but why? After all, if that had happened he should feel happy for her, still, it seemed to him somewhat disappointing. He took the bouquet and went upstairs realizing that the light coming from the room of his host lit the dark hallway. On entering the room, he was glad to see the alicorn lying on the bed; she was immersed in a book of considerable size which she held with a faint blue aura.
"Hi my dear Luna."
He told her, she screamed in terror and threw the book in the direction she had heard the voice. The book hit Jack squarely in the face leaving him stunned. Luna realized what had happened and ran to him.
"Oh Faust, Jack, are you all right?"
"I think that you just broke my nose, but I'll survive."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but it's your fault; do not ever scare me like that again."
"I called you twice; I guess you didn't hear me."
She shook her head, he smiled and stood up.
"I promise I will not do it again, anyway, what were you reading to be so immersed in it?"
Jack picked up the heavy book, looked at the title and then saw that Luna had covered her face with her wings.
"Human Anatomy... certainly this is a topic that interests you a lot, if you know what I mean?"
Luna discovered her face and Jack feared for his life, the princess's eyes were full of anger and indignation.
"What are you trying to say with that? Of course I'm interested in you."
Luna took a minute to analyze what she had said; meanwhile Jack looked at her with a surprised face.
"Not that I'm interested in you," she stuttered, "I mean, in your biology, no no no, in your... on you as a human being and in your society."
"Luna, calm down, I know that what I said didn't sound very good."
"Do you think so?"
She turned her back to him, sat on the ground and crossed her arms. Jack sighed, feeling like a fool.
"Okay, I shouldn't have said something as offensive as that, I promise it will not happen again, will you forgive me?"
Jack ducked his head and put the bouquet in front of him, the sweet scent of the flowers reached Luna's nose and she turned to him and smiled.
"Of course I do, did you really thought that I meant it?"
Jack looked at her in disbelief.
"You are the worst."
He told her narrowing his eyes for a moment before starting to laugh, Luna soon joined him.
"By the way, I brought these flowers for..."
Jack could not finish the sentence; Luna jumped towards him and took a big bite out of the bouquet. He held up what little was left of the bouquet and then looked at the alicorn that chewed happily with her eyes closed.
"What? Oh come on, they are delicious; you should try and taste one."
Luna told him snatching the rest of the flowers to eat them.
"I don't know why, but I think that my garden will be in danger with you around."
He told her, Luna just shrugged and smiled at him.
A voice that she knew better than anypony called her name, however, wherever she looked only darkness surrounded her. She started to run following her sister’s voice which had started to sound closer. She kept running until a ray of light pierced the shadows and fell over her head, a warm sensation enveloped her entire body and she closed her eyes, moments later, she felt something soft under her back.
“Wake up sleepy head.” Celestia told her with her serene and loving voice.
In the moment Luna saw her, she started to cry and hugged her tightly sinking her face on her soft fur.
“Tia… I missed you so much.” Luna cried.
Celestia smiled and wrapped her wings around her.
“Calm down, stop crying, you know I hate to see you like this.”
“Please, forgive me; I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Celestia took her sister’s face on her hooves; delicately, she wiped Luna's tears and gave her a kiss on the nose.
“There’s nothing to forgive, you were only following your heart.” Celestia caressed her back in a soothing way. “You don’t have to worry anymore; he will no longer hurt you.”
“H-Hurt me? Who?” Luna asked surprised.
Celestia frowned, released Luna from her embrace and gave some steps away from her. Her horn started to glow, Luna felt how her surroundings changed as the spell was casted. The next thing she knew was that they weren’t on the bedroom anymore, now they were inside a dirty cell being illuminated just by the light of a few torches.
“Luna… here you have to the responsible of all your pain.”
Celestia said while pointing to a wall of the cell where Jack was being held by the neck with a chain like a wild animal. His clothes were torn and stained with blood, his hair was long and unkempt, as if he had spent the last few years locked up in that place.
“Jack?!” Luna called to him.
The man looked up at her and smiled wickedly.
“Look what we have here; I thought I would never see you again. Tell me, how’s that wound?”
He chuckled darkly, but his laughter died in the moment that Celestia plunged a dagger into his arm making him scream.
“Don’t you dare to speak to my sister like that!” She said menacingly.
“What’s going on?!” Luna screamed.
Her sister ran towards her and hugged the young alicorn who shivered nonstop.
“Luna, listen to me, he tried to kill you.”
“K-kill me?"
“Yes, He drew you with lies and empty promises just to carry out his most hideous desires with you.” Celestia started to explain. “But we avoid it and as soon as he felt cornered, he tried to end your life."
The sun goddess took one of Luna's hooves placing it over her chest where she could feel that part of her fur was gone. When the young alicorn looked at her body, she discovered with horror a scar that ran from the base of her stomach to her cheek.
"No... this cannot be... he was my friend..." Luna began to mourn.
"Oh please, me? Friend of a monster like you? How can you be so stupid to even think that someone would want to be your friend?" Jack sneered at the night goddess.
"Shut up!" Celestia shouted.
She used her magic to lift another knife, however, Jack was able to grab it first and using it he broke the secure of the chain. The white alicorn saw the human walking towards them; she turned around kicking him with such force that he crashed against the wall.
“Luna! Get out of here!”
Luna didn't move, she was in shock and her sister’s words just echoed in her mind. The next thing she saw was how Jack tackled Celestia, she saw them struggling on the floor until the human stabbed her sister on the neck. The white fur soon turned red with the blood that poured from the wound and Luna saw how the life left those beautiful pink eyes of her sister.
“Things didn't have to be like this.” Jack said while looking at Luna. “But what is done, is done. Please don’t give that look, I’m not a monster, soon you will join your sister, but first, let’s have some fun, shall we?”
Jack walked towards her brandishing the knife that seemed to shine more brightly, Luna looked up and saw that the eyes of him to whom she considered a friend only reflected something: hate.
***
Luna screamed in terror, she looked in all directions looking for Jack, but she was all alone. After realizing that she was still on Jack's house she wrapped herself on her wings.
"It was just a nightmare..." She whispered. "A cruel nightmare..."
Her feelings overwhelmed her and she spent the morning weeping silently.
***---***---***
"No... You can't be serious." Jack's voice trembled with anger and despair.
With his hands covering his face, Jack listened how the silence inside his office was cut by the noise of the old clock and his deep breathing. The man sitting across from him stood up placing one hand his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Jack… but..." For a moment, the man hesitated as if trying to find the right words with which appease his friend.
"I don't want your apologies!" Jack punched the desk with both hands startling the man.
“Do you not understand it?! You and my father started with this plan, he trusted you, he wanted to see accomplished the idea that both had dreamed. How can you betray him in this way?”
The man didn't answer, he perfectly knew that Jack was right, his anger was not derived from a simple unsigned document, it was being caused by the pain of not being able to finish what his father had started.
The idea of starting a new company in another country had materialized after one trip which gave Jack's father a vision. He just needed someone to help him carry out the actions needed to succeed in that new market, however, the man would not change his mind, let alone when his family was in danger.
***Two Days Ago.***
A group of soldiers had their weapons pointed towards two terrified women who cried nonstop while Krause took his gun and placed it on the man's head.
"Listen carefully, you will speak with Remington and will give by finished your business relationship with him."
"I'll do it, but please, don't hurt them." The man replied.
Krause stared at him intently. "That will depend of you; I wouldn't like to hurt such a beautiful girl."
He said hugging the man's daughter and licking her neck in a vicious way before pushing her against her parents.
"One more thing, you never saw us, otherwise, I will turn your life into hell. Do you understand?"
The man nodded, after that, Krause smiled and ordered his men to leave the house.
***
“Jack…” The man started to talk. “Listen, I wish there was another way, but this can’t go on. You’re a great friend and a great businessman and I respect what you've done with this company... but you're not your father and you will never be even half the man he was.”
After hearing him, Jack's mind shattered into pieces. He looked up and the man could see the hatred in the eyes of his former friend.
"Get out."
"Jack... please..."
"I said… get out!"
The man remained silent; he turned around and left the office. Jack began to breathe heavily, he looked at the papers and planes on his desk and he shattered them in his rage. He rose from his chair, took the table and flipped it spreading over the floor all that was in it. Then, he walked to a cabinet to grab a bottle and a glass, but he squeezed it so hard that the glass broke hurting his hand.
"Goddammit!"
Jack cursed, he looked at the bottle he held in his other hand and without hesitation, he removed the seal and cap and took a big gulp of the liquor. He felt how the liquid burned his throat but he didn't care, in that moment he just wanted to forget and with tears on his eyes he devoted himself only to continue drinking.
***---***---***
As soon as she felt calmer, Luna rose from bed and left the room. She went into the kitchen, took a glass of water and stood there silently listening to the sounds of the big city.
“It's been so long since the last time I had such a vivid dream, in fact, it was before I...”
The vision of herself turning into Nightmare Moon sent a chill through her body, but she didn't let it affect her, she knew better than no one that the spirit emerged from her jealousy had been defeated and that now she was free from its power.
Leaving her thought aside, she left the glass over the table and turned around just to find herself with an old lady who carried in her hands a tray with many dishes. Both stared at each other in silence but Luna took the initiative and did the only thing that seemed reasonable.
"Hello... my name is Luna... please do not be afraid."
"Monster!"
The old lady screamed and dropped the tray; moments later she left the house and ran down the street attracting the attention of several people who watched her with surprise, fear and confusion. Meanwhile, Luna stayed in the kitchen completely dumbfounded.
"Well... that's something you don't see every day..."
***Two Hours Later***
"I swear it, officer, that thing was here." Said the old lady, she had returned to the house bringing a cop with her.
"Please, I need that you to take a deep breath to calm down." The woman did what the cop had ordered. "Now, Mrs. Robinson, right?" She nodded. "I need that you describe me exactly what you saw."
"As I had said, it was an animal, a blue horse to be more precise, but this "horse" had wings and horns."
"Wings and horns... blue color..." The officer wrote in his notebook what she was saying.
"I don't see it like a sufficient reason for you to be so terrified, did this creature tried to make something to you?"
She hesitated a bit before answering. "Well... not really... and maybe this will sound weird, but I can swear that the animal was so surprised to see me as I was from see it."
"Interesting..." The constable closed his notebook. "Okay, as you can see, there is nothing here and there is no trace that can signal us that something was here." He said with a gesture. "Mrs. Robinson, maybe you were so tired that you started to fall asleep and you imagined it."
"But officer..."
"No buts, there is nothing more I can do. Mrs. Robinson, please, go home and rest, I'll wait for Lord Remington to explain him what happened."
The woman raised her arms in protest, she took her bag and walked towards the exit of the house, before she opened the door, she turned to look at the cop.
"I know what I saw, one more detail, that thing, whatever it was, was able to speak."
The officer raised an eyebrow but said nothing, once he was left completely alone in the house; he began to walk until something inside his bag began to vibrate.
"Scaring an old lady isn't something very nice, don't you think?" He asked, but nobody answered.
"Please, don't be afraid, I will not hurt you." Again, there was only silence.
He took his hand to the bag of his jacket and pulled out a blue feather.
"I know you can hear me, I can even bet that you're watching me, this is yours, right?" He asked again as he lifted the feather. "I want to meet you, I promise that I will do nothing more than talk with you."
"How to know that you speak the truth?" Finally, someone answered, the voice was feminine, sweet yet demanding and seemed to come from all directions around him.
"There's no way, you will have to trust in your instincts. To be honest, I'm afraid of you too." He replied.
For several minutes there was no answer, but when the voice was heard again, the answer was something that he was not expecting.
"I want you to take your clothes off."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, you want to talk? Take off your clothes and stand in the center of the room. "
He murmured something and did what the voice had asked. He kept only his underpants and stood where it had indicated.
"Well, I complied with my end of the bargain, now it's your turn."
He was able to hear something behind him, as if thousands of tiny bells sounded in unison.
"Turn around." Said the voice.
He did and found himself face to face with a creature whose form was a beautiful combination between a unicorn and pegasus, those turquoise eyes fixed on him seemed to show all the emotions that the being was experiencing, curiosity, wonder, fear.
The man grinned from ear to ear. "I've waited for this moment for so long, you're here and the only thing I can say is that, it's an honor to finally meet you."
His answer seemed to her more than strange. "Excuse me? I don't understand, what do you mean by "meet me"?"
"I will gladly explain it to you, but as you can see, I'm just an old man and I really need to ask you something."
"Wait, I don't even know your name, who are you?"
"But of course." He slapped his temple. "Where are my manners, Doctor Tiberius Turner, at your service." He bowed to her.
Luna smiled before the gesture and did the same. "Princess Luna, mistress of the night and co-ruler of Equestria, at yours."
"A princess? Great Scott! Excuse me for saying this but, this is awesome!" Tiberius started to jump in his place causing Luna to giggle.
"You humans are so strange."
"You don't have idea, your highness. Now, regarding to that little request."
Luna looked at him with suspicion. "Okay, what is it?"
"Please, can I get dressed?"
***---***---***
“Where is he?”
Luna was worried. She walked from side to side unable to know what to do, it was one in the morning and Jack still had not come home.
"He didn't said something about staying late at the work. Oh Celestia, please help me, what can I do? Even with an invisibility spell, where should I go? I will get lost in this city without doubt."
As in an answer to her pleas, the door opened and Jack walked into the house.
"Jack! Oh thanks Sister! I was so worried, where in Tartarus have you been, mister?"
She almost jumped on him, however, her happiness soon turned into confusion and concern. Jack was soaked from head to toes; his clothes reeked of alcohol, vomit and other nauseating things. He barely was able to stand and walked in erratic way.
"Jack? Are you okay?"
He looked at her.
"Look what we have here, it's my little horsey friend, come give the man a big hug and a kiss."
He said slurring the words. Jack tried to grab Luna but she jumped out of her reach.
“Get away from me! Look at you; did you fell in the sewer?”
"Ugh, you sound like my mother."
"I wish I was your mother in order to scold you."
"I don't need this, I'm going to bed."
"Oh no, you don't"
Luna pinned him to the wall and holding her breath to avoid puke over him, she ignited her horn and touched Jack's head. In an instant, a cold sensation embraced his body to the point that he started to shiver. The feeling of dizziness disappeared and was replaced with whole body pain, a dry and unpleasant taste in his mouth and a headache enough to make him beg for forgiveness.
"What have you done?!”
“I only used a spell; I will not tolerate you drunk.”
“I'm in hell!"
"No, you're not; you just have a championship hangover."
Still shivering, Jack was guided to the bathroom, once there, Luna opened the valve of the shower and when the temperature was acceptable, she turned towards him.
"Get naked"
“What?”
“You need to take a shower before you get into bed, you stink, now, get naked.”
Her look was enough to make him obey and with difficulty he was able to remove his clothes. When he looked at Luna, she had her eyes closed and her wings covered her face.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want to see you naked.”
“You know, you’re being silly, this was your idea on first place.”
"Shut up and get in the shower, I need to get rid of your clothes. I'll see you in your room once you've finished."
Luna took the clothes with her magic and left the bathroom; Jack just shrugged and entered on the shower. When he finished, he went to his room, still feeling cold from the spell, he took his pants and got into the warm of the bed sheets. Luna entered moments later with a smoky cup of black coffee.
“Here, take this, it will help.”
Jack thanked her and drank the sour liquid; it burned his already sore throat but made him feel better. The silence hung between them until he spoke.
"Luna, I'm sorry, I never imagined that you'd have to see me like this."
"You had me on the edge, I was about to go out to look for you, I was starting to believe the worst"
Jack looked at her eyes, the tears were already falling from them and he felt like the worst person in the world.
"I'm sorry, is just that..."
"Something happened today, isn't it?"
"Yes...”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, not right now, let's say that I had a bad day and I just wanted to feel better, to forget. But I never stopped to think in the consequences."
Luna smiled and took one of his hands with her hooves.
"I understand how you feel, I've also had bad days, but in the end, you need to think that they are necessary, they give us life lessons and we need to learn from them, they help us to be better ponies... or person, in your case."
"Has anyone ever told you that you really are an exceptional mare?" He asked while caressing her face.
Luna blushed and leaned on his hand, but he was so cold that she shivered a little. Without saying a word, Luna stood up and entered under the covers. Jack was taken aback by her actions, more so when he felt her wrap her hooves around him, both were so close that he could feel her warm and soft fur caressing his bare chest. He looked at her and saw that her cheeks were even redder than before and she had a shy expression on her face.
"She's so damn lovely." He thought.
"A side effect of the spell is that it will take some time for your temperature to be normal again, this will help." She said with trembling voice.
Jack hugged her receiving and adorable squeal of surprise from her. Moments later Luna added her wings as a second blanket.
“I’m glad that the side effect exists, even when this has been the first time that someone uses real magic on me.”
He said and they remained in silence for some minutes.
“Jack?”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Could it wait until tomorrow?”
There was no instant answer from her, but he felt her nodding. They snuggled a little more and Luna turned off the lights with her magic.
Outside, the rain fell relentless over the city, the people were running in all directions trying to cover themselves from it and to avoid that the cold wind caused havoc on them. However, inside the house marked with the number 442 B, the atmosphere was warm and cozy.
Jack woke up thanks to the murmur of the rain against the windows, slowly; he let the noise take away his drowsiness. His room felt warmer than usual, not that it bothers him; on the contrary, it seemed to fill him with joy.
Meanwhile, Luna was still sleeping peacefully curled up against Jack's body. The sensation of her soft fur on his bare chest made him sigh with pleasure.
Unable to move freely, Jack accepted that he would remain on the bed for a while and returned to entangle his arms around Luna. He spent several minutes just listening to her breathing and the faint sound of the rain. He began to move his hands to and fro along the warm alicorn's body noting its smoothness and firmness. After a while, he felt how Luna began to shake and was even more surprised when he heard her purr, as if she were a cat receiving attention from its owner.
He was so immersed in the goddess's reactions that his hand went beyond the limit of her waist and ended on her buttock. Luna's fur on that place was different; it seemed to be thinner and allowed him to touch the soft skin underneath, especially on the moon of her cutie mark.
Jack couldn't help but be charmed by the texture and his fingers began to dance on her mark. Luna's purring increased in intensity until she moaned softly; he also noticed that her wings began to spread. Filled with curiosity, he took his other hand to one of the wings and gently ran his palm from the base to the tip letting that his fingers entered between the smooth feathers over and over again.
Luna let out an intense and passionate moan which left Jack stunned, not only that, the room had begun to fill with an intense aroma of wild blackberries that somehow seemed to cloud his thinking.
Jack stopped his movements in the moment that Luna incorporated her body over his, she placed her front hooves on either side of his head and looked at him as if she were a lion about to attack its prey.
“L-Luna… I can explain it…”
He said, but Luna didn't want to hear him and without giving him a chance she joined her lips against his with passion.
Jack opened his eyes fully surprised by such action and tried to move away from her, but Luna applied even more force avoiding it. The taste to blackberries of her mouth was intoxicating and he finally let go of his inhibitions fully ceding to the kiss.
She took the lead during the first few seconds invading his mouth to tangle her tongue with his. Jack couldn't sit still and took his hands to either side of her rear, squeezing them over the moons of her marks causing Luna to moan into the kiss and taking the opportunity to invade her mouth instead.
Luna moaned again and was willing to let Jack take her to experience something she had longed for a long time, however, something in her mind seemed to break like a fragile crystal and the voice of her sister started to sound with an old adage.
"No one is if free of its influence, not even us, my dear sister. One kiss and the seal will break, a second kiss will make you crave it, but even if the third kiss arrives, if it is not real, your heart will break and it will never heal. Luna, you must be careful of to whom you give your love."
Suddenly, she parted from him and as if she had seen a ghost, her face showed terror, the blush that had spread to the tips of his ears vanished and so did the aroma of blackberries. Jack, that still was holding her between his arms wanted to speak with her, but Luna began to mourn and in a flash of white light she disappeared leaving him in utter confusion.
***---***---***
“Herr General, telegram from Berlin.”
Krause took the letter and read it silently. He rose from his desk and picked up a book in which he began to look for something. His finger pointed an address written on it; he read the name muttering and looked back to his subordinate.
"Call Strasse, tell him that the man he wanted to find died two weeks ago, I myself shot him in the head, also, tell him that we found nothing in his laboratory, just nonsense notes and indecipherable shit, we burned the place to the ground."
“Sofort, Herr General.”
Once the soldier left the room, Krause looked through the window, his eyes fixed on the towers of Remington Company.
"I still don't understand why the Führer insists on supporting men like Strasse, his theories are nothing but bullshit. There are more important things at stake, we can't afford to waste time on that kind of crap."
"Krause, you shouldn't bother about it, while you and I achieve our objectives, nothing else matters."
A woman dressed in black emerged from the shadows walking sensually towards the German general. Krause felt her hands caressing his back; he turned around and grabbed her by the waist tightly.
"That's more like it, my brave and strong soldier."
She said seductively, Krause smiled and kissed her frantically, starting on her lips and going down her chin and to her neck. A knock on the door stopped him and Krause cursed under his breath.
"What's going on?!"
"Mein General, Emil returned, you may want to see this."
"All right, I'll be there in a moment."
"It seems that our fun was ruined."
Said the woman while moving away from him.
"Anyway, I think I better go find something else to do."
She grabbed her purse and walked toward the door, Krause looked at her with suspicion.
"What will you do, Elena?"
"Hmmm... I do not know, considering that the issue with Remington's partner was resolved thanks to your persuasion, I may have to go to the rescue and see what happens. See you around."
***---***---***
Jack looked for Luna through the whole house, but it seemed that she had vanished from the earth. Feeling defeated and sad he went to his study. The clock marked noon while Jack changed the vinyl on the turntable. The voice of a woman singing in French began to be heard throughout the house and Jack slumped in his chair.
"Stupid, what were you thinking?" He said to the air. "Better said, you didn't think at all, you just acted and took advantage of her. Well done, animal, you can bet your ass that you traumatized her for life, she will never talk to you again."
"That is not true."
Jack turned in the chair, Luna stood before him with her face partially covered by her hair and rubbing her hoof on her leg.
"Luna..." He started. "Forgive me, what happened this morning was something..."
"Something that shouldn't have happened?"
She said almost sobbing; Jack could swear that she was disappointed.
"Listen, Jack, it wasn't your fault, it was me who took advantage of you and for a moment I left my instincts take control over me and... well… I did what I did. I have suffered so many years of loneliness that for a moment I thought..."
She couldn't continue and bowed her head to hide her tears
"Luna? You can tell me anything.”
"No, never mind, I swear it will never happen again."
The sound of static marked the end of the vinyl; Jack got up from the chair and walked towards Luna to hug her tightly. A moment later he placed his forehead against hers and looked at her eyes, they seemed to beg him to make the first move, but the moment was interrupted by a series of knocks to the door. Luna's ears jumped as if sensing something and the goddess muttered something after hearing again the knocking on the door.
"But who the hell can that be?"
Jack walked to the door; Luna screamed and ran to block it with her body.
"What the hell is wrong with you?
"Jack, listen to me, do you remember that I told you that there was something important we needed to talk about?"
He nodded with annoyed expression as the pounding continued with its methodical pace.
"Well, something happened yesterday... it was very funny if you think about it..."
Luna had begun to sweat and her nerves were betraying her.
"Dear Princess, can you confirm if it's safe to enter?"
Jack said following each knock on the door, Luna felt cold and emptiness in her stomach.
"How did you...?"
"It's Morse code for all the hells!" He made a pause and then. "Goddammit! You let someone see you?! "
Jack screamed and Luna giggled nervously.
"It was an accident, your housekeeper was in the house and she found me in the kitchen and..."
"Mrs. Robinson ?!"
Jack yelled, this time taking his hands to his head and pulling his hair.
"Y-yes... she saw me and fled terrified from here but then, she returned with an officer... whom turned out not to be a constable..."
Jack stood paralyzed, in his mind he saw himself lying on the ground under a beam of light rocking on his body sweating nonstop and saying that everything had gone to hell.
"Jack... Jack! Snap out of it!"
Luna yelled and hit him in the face.
"You son of... the moon... that hurts!"
"I had to do it."
"Luna, how did you let someone see you? Do you know the problem that you get us into?"
"I know it was stupid of me, but listen; the man behind the door is someone on who we can trust."
"How the hell you know that?!"
"Long time ago, I was connected to the element of honesty... although I'm no longer attached to it, I still can determinate when someone lies... please, you have to trust me and listen to what he has to say."
Jack looked at Luna, sighed deeply and nodded. She smiled, walked to the door and began to hit in a different pattern. Once she finished, she took the door knob and opened it giving Jack a good view of the man in the other side, he was dressed in a gray coat over a black suit.
"Damn the weather of this city, a sunny day for thirty of rain and wind."
The man said as he put his umbrella in the basket and took off his raincoat. Jack instantly recognized his voice.
"Doctor Turner?"
"Ah, Jack, my boy, you're a real devil, you know that?" Turner hugged him. "You were able to fool me the day we met, luckily you dropped this, without it I would never have managed to find you."
Turner handed the blue feather to Jack and turned around to bow before Luna.
"Good afternoon, Your Highness, I hope not to be inopportune."
"Don't worry, Doctor, we were expecting you."
"Excellent! We have much to discuss."
"Wait a minute!" Jack interrupted. "No one is going to discuss anything with anyone until someone explains to me what the hell is going on here."
"Does the Princess didn't talked with you yesterday?" Turner asked.
"Yeah... about that... yesterday we couldn't discuss anything... there wasn't an opportune time." Luna said somewhat nervously.
"Oh well, better late than never, by the way, have you read the news this morning? Apparently, someone caused big troubles in a downtown bar; the customers threw the poor guy into the sewer."
Jack hung his head in shame, it was a fortune that no one recognized him; after all, the guys who attacked him were as drunk as him.
"Jack, are you okay?" Asked Luna.
"Yes! Everything is fine!" He answered quickly. "Doctor Turner, you can start with your explanation."
"Okay." He started. "Over the past months, I have been detecting certain physical events of unknown origin. Scattered Thunderstorms of small-scale, variations in temperature in specific areas of the city, things like that."
"They sound as normal things of the weather to me." Jack said.
"That was exactly what other scientists of the museum told me, but in the places where each one of these events occurred, I always found traces of magnetic force and of a chemical element unknown to us, I have decided to call it "Turnonium "."
Jack rolled his eyes. "How original."
"I like it." Luna said. "It's fun trying to say it."
Jack looked at her and just shook his head.
"As I was saying." Tiberius continued. "I isolated a sample of the element within this small detector; surely you remember it, Jack." He said while showing them the strange metal device. "This little thing gave a big jump a month ago and I traced the nearest coordinates of the place where the event had happened."
"A month... that's the same time that Luna has been here." Jack muttered.
"Elementary, my dear Jack. After analyzing the readings, I concluded that the energy discharge must have been enormous, this would have implied an explosion of some sort, however, no explosions or anything out of the ordinary was reported, only a huge bank of fog that had settled over this part of the city, which I found strange since there weren't weather conditions for the fog to appear."
"The fog of the Everfree forest." Luna said in amazement.
"It is possible that this non-destructive force was released during an event in the line of space-time where, at some point, our world and Luna's were connected causing a transition between them." Concluded Turner.
"So... that was not a dream, I really was in your world." Jack told to Luna.
"So you met Equestria? Lucky bastard, you and her are the reliable proof that Einstein's theory of relativity is one hundred percent real." Said the Doctor.
"Okay..." Jack said. "Let's say all this "timey whimey spacey wacey mumbo jumbo" is real, still, I don't understand what are you trying to take out of this, Doctor Turner."
"All I want is help her to return to her world, but under one condition."
"It seemed too good to be real." Jack replied. "Tell me, Doctor, what is that condition? Because there's no way I could let you put her in danger."
Through all this, Luna looked at Jack with amazement.
"Put her in danger? I would never think about it, all I ask is that when the time comes, she would let me accompany her and thus experiment by myself something as amazing as the trip between dimensions."
For a moment no one dare to say something else, Jack looked at Tiberius and then to Luna. She smiled and nodded. Jack sighed, got up and offered his hand to him.
"You must promise me that nothing bad will happen."
"Science is a dangerous lover, Jack; you know I can't promise that."
"I... I know it, but... I don't want..."
"Jack." Luna caught his attention. "Nothing bad will happen, I promise."
"Okay, so be it." Jack shook hands with Tiberius. "Now that we settled this, how will you open another portal to Equestria?"
"Open a portal is not an option, we will have to track upcoming events, unfortunately, there was an incident in my laboratory a couple of weeks ago and part of my research was lost, something about a fire, I wasn't in town so I could only recover a few things."
"That doesn't sound good." Luna said.
"Don't worry; this is where we will need Jack's help."
"Sorry? How am I supposed to help?"
"It's simple, your steel company is key, I need that you build certain parts and components to create a machine with which we will keep tracking any event where the Turnonium appears."
"Seriously, you have to think of a better name for it." Jack said laughing; Tiberius didn't found it so funny. "Well, that's easy, I just need the schemes, but it will take some time and a good explanation for the workers."
"Fantastic! Now I need one more favor."
"And that is?"
"I need a large space to build the laboratory and a place to sleep, if you don't mind."
"What?! Do you really expect me to...?"
"You can use the basement, is huge down there, also, you can occupy a room, there's plenty." Suggested Luna.
"Thanks for supporting me, Luna, why don't you offer him my clothes too?"
"Don't be so childish, Jack, is the least we can do for him."
"All right, you heard her, Doctor, welcome to the Remington house."
"Splendid! I'll start bringing my things, but first, I have something for you, Your Highness."
The doctor took his suitcase and extracted a small box; he opened it and showed her the contents.
"These earrings are made of siderite; your feather for some reason ended on them it began to spin rapidly and emitted a faint light blue glow. Maybe they can be good for something."
Luna felt amazed by them; something in them attracted her and her magic began to react trying to wrap them.
"Allow me."
Jack took the earrings and placed them gently in her ears. The siderite reacted instantly, a faint glow covered her entire body for a few seconds and her magic power increased considerably.
"How do you feel?" Tiberius asked.
"I feel... I feel great, like a new alicorn." Luna rose from the ground with a single flap of her wings and gave some stunts in the air before dropping down.
"These earrings feed my magic, not enough to open a portal, but now I feel I can do more things with it. Thank you Doctor."
Luna hugged Tiberius; he remained stunned for a moment but returned the gesture.
"You're welcome, my dear, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go, I'll be back before the sunset."
Turner took his raincoat and umbrella and was about to leave but Jack stopped him.
"Remember, Doctor, no one should know that Luna is here."
"Don't worry, son, my mouth is a sealed grave, see you later."
With that, Jack and Luna were left alone again.
"Are you hungry?" Asked Jack.
"I cook; I want to try this new energy." Luna replied cheerfully.
***Some Hours Later.***
"Luna, where are you?" Asked Jack.
"In the library."
She answered. Jack walked down the hall followed by Tiberius. Upon entering the room, they saw her sitting on the couch reading the same anatomy book that almost broke Jack´s nose.
"That book for some reason has become her best friend." He said mockingly.
"I don't blame her, if I too were a being from another world lost in a strange place, I would also try to know everything about my new surroundings." commented Tiberius. "Thanks for helping me to arrange my things in the basement."
"You're welcome; I hope to have those pieces as soon as possible."
"That would be great, now that the siderite has renovated part of her energy; it is possible that she can sense new events easily, even if they're small."
"By the way, where did you got those earrings?"
Turner grinned. "Let's say that I borrowed them from the British Museum vault as my retirement fund."
Luna closed the book and sighed deeply. "I hope this works."
The alicorn closed her eyes, her horn began to glow and soon the rest of her body was wrapped with the same energy. Jack and Tiberius tried to approach her, but Luna opened her eyes and looked at them intently while saying no with her head. Her eyes turned white, glowing with such intensity that the whole room lit up.
"Luna! Luna!"
Jack screamed and no answer came from her. He saw Luna arch her body while a luminous cocoon appeared around her. Within the cocoon, the body of the night goddess began to change, the fur was replaced by soft brown skin, hands and feet replaced her hooves, her long tail disappeared as well as her horn, the long wings turned into a tattoo that covered her back and her mane went from blue to black hair.
The spell finished with a burst of energy that threw both men to the ground. The cocoon fell slowly to the ground and it disappeared leaving behind a new being. Jack immediately stood up just to be shocked by the sight.
Luna was now a beautiful woman of long dark hair, the tone of her skin contrasted with the intense blue of her eyes. A mole on her forehead was the only vestige of that great horn and if Jack still had any doubts, the pair of moons still drawn on her buttocks will surely give him the answer.
"Luna..."
There was a tone of sadness in Jack’s voice, yet, Luna didn't hear him. She was marveled watching the movement of her new fingers, then, she took her hands up to her face to touch it gently.
"It worked... it really worked..."
A huge smile appeared on her face; Jack knelt before her and covered her with his jacket while he helped her to her feet. Luna wrapped her arms around Jack's neck for support and ended face to face with him. Once more, Jack was lost in her eyes and images of their brief morning encounter appeared in his mind, Luna took the opportunity to rub her cheek against his.
"Jack, I think our guest needs some clothes."
Tiberius said smiling. Jack tried to hide the blush on his face and she just laughed like a little girl who had just committed a prank. Slowly, Jack took her to his bedroom where he helped her to sit on the bed. He opened the closet to look for something that could fit her.
"This will fit you perfectly." He said as he pulled a white dress and some underwear. "Now that you're human, certain things must change."
"I know, do you think that I “ate” part of your library just for fun? I have wanted to do this for some time, but the lack of something to feed my energy stopped me."
"I understand, still, why did you did it?"
"Does it bother you?"
"It isn't that, but I feel that this goes against your nature."
"I'm still the same, Jack, just my body changed, I can still use my powers, see?"
Luna made a vase levitate with a snap of her fingers.
"I just need to take off the earrings to return to my natural form, also, now I'll be able to leave the house safely without causing a scandal or a global crisis."
He chuckled. "You're right about that."
"Maybe now that I have this body..." Luna bowed her head trying to hide the blush on her face with her hair. "You'll find me more... appealing..."
Her last words were barely a whisper; Jack could almost guess them but said nothing. He asked her to turn around, the image of her bare back made him swallow. Gently, he placed the bra over her breasts and secured it. He told her how to wear pantyhose and turned around to give her some privacy. Luna laughed but followed his advice. Finally, he helped her to wear the dress which settled with her figure perfectly.
Luna looked at her reflection in the mirror, she had used clothes before, only on special occasions like the gala or the summer celebration and never felt comfortable wearing fabrics, but the dress she was wearing now made her look young and beautiful. The dress exposed her shoulders, over one of them Jack dared to plant a kiss before looking at her the mirror.
"You look precious."
He told her and Luna wanted to kiss him again at that moment, but Jack stepped back leaving her disappointed.
"I think that Tiberius is waiting for us, we better go back."
She nodded and took his hand. Both returned to the living room where Tiberius was reading the newspaper.
"You're a box of surprises, my dear. For a moment I thought something bad would happen, but I was wrong, you look spectacular."
"Thank you, Doctor. If you do not mind, I would like to eat something, the spell wore me out and I want to regain some of my strength."
"I agree with her, this day has been quite busy and I also feel a little hungry."
The three laughed and were about to go into the kitchen when three knocks on the door took them by surprise.
"Who can it be?"
Jack looked at the clock, it was almost nine in the night, he thought that it might be someone from the factory so he headed for the door followed by Luna and Tiberius. In the moment he opened the door a chill ran through him, on the other side of the door stood a woman dressed in a red dress.
"Hi my love, how have you been?"
She told him before she hugged and kissed him passionately. Luna felt sick by the scene and turned to the side with teary eyes. Tiberius that was holding her hand noticed that she tightened her fingers over his.
"Elena? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Morocco."
Jack asked her once their lips parted.
"I was there, beautiful place, but I needed to return to London for business and decided to surprise you..."
When she noticed that Luna and Tiberius were standing in the room, her mood changed from cheerful to hostile, mostly after seeing Luna with one of her dresses.
"I did not know you had visitors."
Elena's words almost oozed with poison, Luna began to feel furious.
"They are friends of mine."
“Oh, will you introduce me to them?”
"Yeah, sorry..." Jack swallowed before continuing. "Luna, Tiberius... I would like you to meet Elena Zehirli... my fiancée..."
Both women were sitting at the table facing each other, both with looks capable of melting iron, both waiting for the other to say something to use against each other.
Jack and Tiberius were inside the kitchen, the women could hear the clanging of pans and the occasional curse uttered by the old doctor, it seemed that a stove and other utensils were able to beat him despite being a scientist.
Luna looked around, inside her there was something burning, his veins seemed to carry hot lava all over her body, she didn't want to accept it but she was jealous, jealous that Elena was the woman that Jack wanted to have at his side, that also made her feel fury, how was it possible that he hid something as important as the fact that he had a fiancée, even worse, how did he dared to accept her kiss, her first real kiss?
"Tell me, Luna, where are you from?" Elena asked in a derogatory manner.
The night goddess gritted her teeth, Elena's tone made her feel angrier.
"...I come from a small town in Mexico, I own a ranch..." Luna started but was interrupted.
"How interesting." Elena didn't let her finish and went on as if she were completely bored. "That explains the vulgar tone of your skin, although I must admit, it contrasts perfectly with that dress."
"Just a snap of my fingers, that’s all I need to do to break your neck, bitch." Luna thought.
"It's a pity I cannot say the same of you, with that ghostly tone you have, the light seems to pass through you." Luna had a twisted smile on her face.
Elena had her eyes wide open. "You're a…" She remained with the words in her mouth.
"Dinner is served."
Jack declared proudly in the moment him and Tiberius came through the door carrying several trays of food. If there was something that Luna had learned during the month that she had lived with Jack it has been the fact that he was a great chef.
"It smells delicious, my love. I missed so much to test your delicacies." Elena said with false cheer, something that upset Luna and made her stomach churn.
Once Jack had served the meals to all his guests, Tiberius took the opportunity to try and get some information from Elena; he was an old sea dog so he knew how to get important information from the people.
"Tell me, my dear, what you do to live?"
"I have several businesses in London, stores where I sell imported products from countries like Japan, Russia, Germany, Thailand, I recently bought a small gunpowder factory in Morocco and I'm shareholder of Remington Industries, that's how I met Jack."
"Very interesting, it seems that both of you found success in the industry."
"That's right, Tiberius, and tell me, what kind of scientist are you?"
Tiberius almost spit the soup. "I never said I was a scientist, dear."
"Just by seeing you I realize that your life are the books, those cheap clothes, your frumpy image, your face shows more than you think."
Tiberius was surprised, she had won him at his own game, meanwhile, Jack had his face buried in his hands, if there was something that bothered him about Elena, it was the fact she didn't know how to talk to people that “were not at her height”. They had often discussed about it, whenever he tried to make her change she disappeared for several weeks until everything was back to normal.
"Elena... please..." Jack grumbled.
"But I said nothing bad, darling, just the truth."
"Don't you know you should think a bit before opening your mouth?" Luna questioned her.
"And what do you know about manners? You come from a country of savages." Elena told her angrily.
That was the straw that broke the camel, Luna wanted with all her heart prove to that smug who she actually was and make her pay for talking like that, but she knew she couldn't. She got up from the table and looked at Tiberius and Jack.
"Excuse me, I withdraw to my room."
"Luna, are you okay?" Tiberius asked with concern.
"Not really, I feel sick, I'd better get some rest, have a good night." Luna left the room and went to the second floor of the house.
"What's the matter with her? What kind of friends do you have, my love?"
"Shut up, Elena." Jack told her, he got up immediately and went after Luna.
When he got to the second floor, he heard a door closing; he ran to it and waited a moment before knocking.
"Luna, please, we need to talk."
There was no answer, he tried to open the door but it was in vain, a faint blue aura surrounded it.
"Luna, we can't end like this, please open the door."
"Just leave me alone, Jack, return with her before she starts thinking about something else, I bet both of you have a lot to talk about."
After hearing her words, Jack decided not to press her more and walked away with his head down. Elena appeared on the corridor and got closer to him.
“Is everything all right, Jack? Her concerned tone seemed almost real, but he didn't gave her an answer.
Jack looked at the other side and his gaze met Tiberius, the old man only shook his head in disappointment and then sat on the couch and grabbed the newspaper. Elena didn't give it too much importance and taking Jack by the hand both walked to his room, once inside she locked the door.
"You don't know how much I missed you." She said in sultry way. "When was the last time we shared your bedroom?"
She took away his vest and started to unbutton his shirt, but Jack grabbed her hands and gave a step back.
"Is there something wrong, my love?" She asked.
"No... is just... I've had a hard week, I feel tired, let's have some rest, please?"
"Did something bad happened at the factory?" Elena asked with fake interest.
"I... I don't want to talk about it." Jack sounded defeated.
"You did a good job Krause." She thought. "As you wish, my dear, I also need some rest after the travel."
"Thanks for understanding."
Some moments later both were lying on the bed, Elena hugged him and placed her head on his chest. The hours went by; Jack stared at the ceiling, his mind were a turmoil of ideas. Once more, images of the moments he shared with Luna that morning tortured him. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't deny that he had enjoyed it. Did he felt guilty for what have happened? The answer was no.
Even before she took her human form, Jack accepted that she was gorgeous, her slender body, the softness of her fur, her expressive deep azure eyes, everything about her liked him even when they were of different species and different worlds.
He gave a look at Elena who were already sleeping and realized that he wanted to have someone else at his side, yes, she was a beautiful woman, but she couldn't compete against the night goddess.
"I need to speak with her."
***---***
"H-his... f-fiancee..."
Those words felt like the fangs of a timberwolf sinking into her heart.
"How stupid I was."
Luna whispered while seeing her reflection on the mirror.
"I didn't make this to have normal life in this world; I did this for him, to see if he could love me as a human instead of a pony."
She undressed and took off the earrings, it didn't take long before her body changed to her natural form, but her mane and tail that always moved and shone with a thousand stars, seemed to be lifeless and fell over her face. The alicorn let the earrings fall to the ground, a moment later both were crushed by her hoof.
Luna wiped her tears; she walked to the bed and slumped over it, she grabbed the pillow and hugged it tightly.
"Celestia, please, help me, I want to go back, I don't want to be here anymore."
She begged and cried with all her heart. She felt like a fool for believing that she had found that special being that would show her the meaning of love, the meaning of belonging, but all her illusions were shattered in the moment that Elena appeared behind the door.
She lay there in her misery for several hours, but to her surprise, the door to her room was opened slowly. Jack closed the door and put the secure, slowly he walked to the bed but something under his shoe creaked and he saw the remains of the earrings, a slight smile graced his lips.
Luna wanted to scream at him, show him how much she hated him, but she also was feeling very happy that he was there; the smell of his cologne gave him away in the moment he stepped into the room. She pretended to be asleep, Jack got closer and kneeled in front of her.
"Luna, I never wanted to hurt you like this". He started. "I should have told you about Elena, but I felt so happy at your side that I completely forgot about her, to be honest, when I saw her at the door all I wanted to do was to close it in her face, now I see that she is the worst human being I have ever met, I suppose I was with her because I felt lonely, how stupid I was."
Jack placed his trembling hand on her cheek, he caressed her face with such delicacy that shiver ran down her spine.
"Yes, you're a fool..." She told him. "A goddamn fool..." Luna leaped towards him, he received her with arms wide open and both ended on the ground tangled in a tight hug.
There were no words between them; all that they wanted to say to each other they did it with their eyes. Jack took her in his arms and laid her softly on the bed, Jack rested his body over hers, her eyes showed that shine again and her mane and tail started to move again.
“Luna… I’m so sorry… I promise that I will never hide something to you again…” Jack’s words carried nothing but the truth and her heart started to beat faster.
“What about Elena?” Luna asked concerned.
“I’ll take care of that; you don’t have to worry about it.”
Luna sighed deeply. "Will you stay with me tonight?" Her voice trembled.
Jack smiled and joined his lips with hers; Luna felt in heaven, he really wanted to be with her. When he parted from her, Luna was breathing heavily, her cheeks were red and her wings fluttered a little.
"... I'll take that as a yes..." She whispered and as she fell asleep in his arms, the words of an old love poem invaded her mind.
“You and I, we play a verse, without commas. Without rules, without time or accents. We let the night grow. The kisses start to be more than an attempt. The moon is bigger than yesterday.”
***---***---***
Krause looked at the factory schemes, he marked many sites with red crosses and each one had instructions written under them. There were three more soldiers in the room, all of them expecting to hear their general's orders. He gave them a determined look and stood up from the desk.
"We already waited long enough, we need to act now. All of you will go inside the factory tomorrow and will proceed as accorded. What we’re going to do will destroy Remington's reputation, if he doesn't want to cooperate; we will hit him where it will hurt him the most."
"Mein General, what do we do if we get caught?" One of the soldiers asked.
Krause opened a drawer; he took a gun and placed it over the desk.
"I think you already know what to do, there must be no witness." He answered with stern voice. "Is there any other stupid question?"
"Nein, Her General!" The three soldiers answered.
"Ausgezeichnet! Now get out of here and get ready."
They salute him and left the room, once alone, Krause looked at schemes again.
"I gave you many opportunities, Jack Remington, now you will pay for your insolence."
A man walked outside his house and looked at the blue sky over the city. With a smile on his lips he turned to see his wife at the door with a small leather case.
“I made your favorite lunch for today.” She told him with a smile that reflected the one he had.
The man gave a step ahead and planted a kiss on his wife's lips. Both were in his 60’s or 70’s, their gray hair and wrinkled faces showed the past of the time and yet they seemed to love each other with a fierce force.
“Today is the great day, my love; wait for me with a bottle of the best wine we have and big steak at the table, we need to celebrate.” He told her while walking away and waving a hand.
“I’ll do, take care, I’ll be expecting you.” She waved back before he disappeared in the distance.
The man walked down the street whistling a tune, he tilted his hat every time he wished a good day for the people he found on his way. He was happy and everyone seemed to notice it. They may not know it but today was the day that he would retire, after a life of hard work his time has finally come, he worked and saw his sons grow and became successful men, all of them had their own families now and of course that ended with him and his wife alone in their house, yes, their sons and grandchildren came often to visit them but it was just for a couple of days at most and then, they returned to the embrace of the loneliness.
Still, they didn't complain and lived their lives the best they could. That's why today, after he signed his retirement, he would give the big news to her wife; they would leave the city and settle in the outskirts of a rural village in a little house he had built a year ago. They would leave behind the chaos of the city and its stress to live in peace for the rest of their lives. After some minutes, he stopped in front of a great black door, raising his sight; his tired eyes looked at the big letters above the door.
“Remington Industries.”
He tilted his hat once more before entering the building, he felt proud, he was one the oldest workers of the factory and also one of the few that saw it grow since the beginning. He still remembered his first day as it has been just yesterday and as he passed through the many sections of the factory, his mind brought images of those first days. He could see to Gerard Remington working side by side with his employees, hitting red hot steel with a hammer or working in the furnaces. He considered Gerard not as his boss but as a friend. He saw him work hard to reach his dreams and he felt pain and sadness the day that man left this world, but his son, Jack Remington, took what his father left and continue to develop the factory into one of the most important business in London.
His thoughts were cut when someone gave him a pat on his tired back. He turned his head to one side and smiled at the young man that was walking at his side.
“Today is your big day, Jerome, are you ready?” The man asked him.
“What can I say; I think my time has finally come, Peter.”
“I know, still, we’re going to miss you, old man, you’re like a father to many of us.”
“Kid, is too soon to start with sentimentalisms, don’t you think?” Jerome told him with a chuckle. ”However, yes, I’m going to miss all of you too, but everything has an end and today I reached mine, one day you too will walk the same line, never forget that.”
“I won’t, hey, I need to grab some things, I’ll catch you in a moment.”
Jerome nodded and saw Peter enter into a warehouse. He kept walking until he reached a far side of the factory were two big turbines were at maximum speed creating and spreading electricity to all the parts of the building. Jerome left his suitcase over a table and took his tools but something called his attention. A man he didn’t recognize was standing in front of one of the turbines with what seemed as a small mechanical device in his hands.
“Good morning my friend you must be new, am I correct?” Jerome asked but the man didn’t give him an answer. Peter appeared some moments later with a box of tools in his hand.
“Peter, do you know him?” Asked Jerome while pointing towards the other guy.
Peter looked at the man. “No, I’ve never seen him before, he must be new, but I can’t remember if there was any hiring of personal this month.”
“Neither I, anyway, we will have to ask Jack later today, let’s get started we need to calibrate turbines three and four, and the Betsy is making a lot of noise too.”
“Okay, you can see Betsy while I…”
Peter’s words were interrupted by a metallic sound at his back, he and Jerome turned around and with fear they saw that the man had taken away the cover of the controls of the turbine. The man then placed the strange device inside and was ready to activate it when a voice behind him stopped him.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Shouted Jerome. “The turbine must be inactive in order to open the controls.”
He walked towards the man but this one turned around with a gun in his hand, Jerome stopped just centimeters away from him. There was a gunshot and the old man felt a burning sensation in his chest, his white shirt turned red as blood poured from the wound and Jerome fell to his knees. His vision started to blur but he was able to see Peter tackling the man to the ground and hitting him in the face. Jerome looked at the sky one last time and uttered his last words before all turned black.
“… This was… such a promising day…”
******
“Son of a bitch!”
Peter kept punching the man’s face until it became a bloody mess, suddenly; the sound of an explosion in the other side of the factory and the fire alarm startled him. The man took the opportunity to punch Peter’s face making him fall to the ground. Peter spitted blood and stood up ready to finish with him, but he man placed something in his mouth and just some seconds later he clutched his neck with both hands, his face showed desperation and turned red due to the lack of oxygen, his mouth was filled with white froth and soon fell to the ground dead.
More alarms went on and soon all the workers started to leave the factory in a rush. Peter turned around and looked at his friend who was still kneeled with his head hanging.
“J-Jerome… c’mon… wake up…” Peter pleaded but it was too late. Another of his co-workers came running and took him by the shoulders.
“We need to get the hell out of here, I don’t know what happened but the south side is on fire.” He told him with despair.
Peter stood up. “Go get the firefighters; I need to be sure that no one is still inside, and be sure to get Sir. Remington here, now!”
His friend nodded and ran towards the exit while Peter gave one last sight at Jerome’s body before he turned to ran deeper into the building.
“… What the hell is going on?...” He thought.
***---***---***
The machine vibrated and gave several beeps while issuing a new reading. Tiberius took the slip of paper and began to study it while drinking some coffee. He turned walking to a table where the map of the city was and where he kept the track of the sites that had showed various anomalies.
When trying to locate the point of the most recent concentration of foreign element, the old scientist realized that coordinates didn’t look anything like the previous ones and even seemed to him that they were not within the city. He left the cup aside the map, took a protractor and began to draw lines on the paper, it took him several minutes but eventually a triumphant smile graced his lips. He opened a drawer of the shelf and took a photograph, looked at it for a moment and used a tack to pin it on the blackboard in front of him.
“Hey Doc, what are you doing?” Luna asked cheerfully.
Tiberius gave a not so very masculine scream and jumped backward. "Luna!? Don’t you ever do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack, my dear."
She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I went to drink some water in the kitchen and saw the door open so I thought in coming down and say good morning to you."
Tiberius approached her and scratched behind her ear making Luna laugh. "Don't worry, it was just the impression."
She took a moment to admire the place, three big machines with lights and sounds were placed on the walls, everywhere there were sheets of paper with scratches, numbers or letters, there were books piled on the table and on the floor, all that accompanied with the strong smell of recent brewed coffee. Seeing the mess reminded her of the laboratory and research room of Starswirl the Bearded. That unicorn was something special, he was like a grandfather for Celestia and Luna and he loved them like so, it was a very sad day when he gave his last breath, but it was something that both sisters had learned to accept, that was the price of being almost immortal.
“"Do you feel better?" Tiberius asked cutting her ideas.
Luna looked at him and nodded. "Yes, what happened yesterday was not a very nice experience, that woman has poison instead of blood."
"You don't say, anyway it's good to see that you have recovered your good humor." Tiberius laughed. "However, I think there's something more, it was not only the way Elena acted what made you feel bad."
"I d-don't know what y-you're t-talking about." Luna stuttered, her eyes were wide open.
Tiberius leaned on the table with a knowing smile. "You don't have to be so modest, even a blind man could have seen that jealousy was consuming you, to be fair, Jack really seemed to be swimming in sadness and defeat after you didn't spoke with him."
Luna hang her head but smiled anyway. "Yeah, I know, I could hear it in his voice last night."
"Wait." Tiberius looked at her in amazement. "Last night? But I saw him enter his room followed by Elena after..."
Luna lifted her face and he could see that her cheeks were red, he realized instantly showing a gesture of understanding.
She nodded. "I think he also feels the same for me."
"Wow, what can I say? Everyone deserves to be happy and if you come to fulfil what you have started, I think everything will be fine."
"I hope so, Tiberius, I really want to believe it."
In that moment, something on the wall caught her attention. Luna got closer and looked at the photograph that Tiberius had put on the blackboard minutes earlier. Something about that place looked familiar, but she could not know why.
"What is this place?" She asked.
Tiberius realized that Luna was looking at the photograph of a group of stones placed in a more than peculiar pattern.
"That, my dear, is Stonehenge, is a set of monoliths and archaeological site in Wilsthire, the last coordinates I got signal to that place." Tiberius noticed that Luna seemed to be thinking about something. "Does it look familiar to you?"
"Yes... and no ... I do not know, I don't have a clear image, but I can swear I've seen that place before."
"Interesting." Tiberius said.
Before he could say something else, the phone rang catching their attention and Tiberius raised the speaker, "Remington Residence."
Luna remained in silence and looked how the face of the old scientist went from surprised to worried in seconds.
"Yeah! Give me a moment; he will be there as soon as possible." Tiberius quickly hung up and started running towards the door.
"Wait, Tiberius, what's happening?" Luna asked exalted.
"We need to wake Jack up, something really bad happened in the factory." He said and exited the room.
Luna wasted no time and immediately teleported herself to the room she had shared with Jack, but what she found she didn't like at all. Elena was on the bed and was crawling towards Jack in a more than sensual way.
The sudden appearance of the night goddess in the room alerted Jack who raised his hands and made gestures trying to tell her not to move, but Luna didn't thought the same and to his surprise, she turned invisible.
"If you felt bad you should have told me, I could have helped you." Elena told him with a sultry tone.
"I d-didn't want to d-disturb you; you were sleeping so p-peacefully." He replied.
Jack was moving his eyes in all directions trying to locate a trace of the alicorn when Elena, who was just a few centimeters away from him, jumped or rather said was pushed out of bed and fell to the ground with a thud.
"What the hell!?"
Elena cursed while Jack tried to contain his laughter. Luna turned visible for a moment and winked at him just before Tiberius entered the room.
“Doc, you looked a little spooked.” Jack told him.
“Jack.” The tone of Tiberius’s voice alerted him. “You better hurry up, someone called from the factory, something really bad just happened there.”
***
Getting off the car, Jack felt as if his heart was pierced by a sword, all his workers were on the street in front of the factory, some of them showed wounds were that were already being attended to by emergency services while others gave instructions to firefighters that were entering and leaving the building.
Peter left the building following a stretcher on which lay a man whom I recognized instantly.
"J-Jerome..." Jack whispered as he saw how the doctors put the body into the ambulance and covered it with a white blanket. "Peter, what happened?"
"Sir. Remington, someone attacked us, they blew two of the furnaces, and they caused a fire that consumed the whole south site and...."
Peter was cut off by a constable that looked intently at Jack.
“Lord Remington.” Said the constable.
Jack looked at him. “Yes?”
“My name is Samuel Stark, I am the commissioner of the constabulary, I need to talk with you, in private."
"Of course, let's go to my office, if it is still on foot, Peter, please, try to help as much as you can here, after that, come search for me." Jack told to the boy.
"Yes, Sir. Remington."
Jack looked at Samuel again. "Please, follow me."
***
The hours passed, at Jack's house, Luna was desperate and pleaded to Tiberius that he took her to the factory, at the end, he agreed because he was also concerned, moreover, Elena left the house wordlessly shortly after Jack.
Tiberius and Luna, who had used the Invisibility spell again, moved through the streets of the city in one of Jack's car, the alicorn looked around trying to occupy her mind to capture every detail of the outside world that she was admiring for the first time since she had arrived to London, but her worries made it almost impossible.
When they reached the facility, Tiberius waited till they were alone in the street to let her exit from the car. At the door they saw a young man with a small briefcase in his hand and a box of tools in the other.
"Excuse, my friend, I'm looking for Jack Remington." Tiberius told him. "I'm a good friend of him and after I heard the news, I decided to pay him a visit."
The man turned around. "He... he is at his office, the commissioner is still with him."
"Son, what's the matter? You don't look so good." The scientist continued.
"I saw my friend die in front of me today, I just lost my job, my way of life, how would you feel about it if you were in my shoes?" Peter told him angered and turned around to walk away from the place.
Tiberius saw him go and then walked inside the factory followed by Luna. It didn't take them so much to find the office building and while climbing the stairs, the commissioner passed at their side without saying a word. They finally reached the third floor and were received by a woman who was packing some things into boxes.
"Good afternoon, my dear, I'm looking for Sir. Remington." Tiberius told her.
"He's inside his office, but I don't know if he would receive you, it's not the best of the moments." Marie answered.
"Don't worry; I'm a good friend, seeing me will help him." The old man insisted.
"Okay, just give me a moment." Marie told him and went into the big office behind the double doors.
"Sir. Remington."
"Yes? Marie."
I packed what you asked me, do you need something else?"
"No, that's all, thank you, Marie, for everything." Jack told her and gave her a kiss on her cheek that was wet due to the tears falling from her eyes.
Marie hugged him. "I'm sorry, Sir. Remington."
"Hey, stop crying, is not the end of the world, I also sent that letter to one of my friends, he will help you." He told her with a sad smile on his lips.
Marie wiped her tears with her hand. "Thank you so much for all these years, Jack, I'll never forget them."
"Go home, Marie, you need to rest, it was a hard day for everyone."
"Yes, Jack, oh, there's someone in the lobby; he said he's a friend of you."
"Let him pass, I'll stay here a little longer."
Marie nodded and walked outside, a moment later Jack was surprised when Tiberius entered in his office, more so when he closed the doors with secure and Luna dispelled the enchantment.
"What are you doing here?" Jack told them.
"Luna just wanted to know that you were okay." Tiberius answered.
The alicorn saw sadness in his eyes. "Jack..."
"The factory will be closed and evicted." Jack tried to contain his tears. "Two men die here today, one of the attackers and a friend of mine, the place is considered as a crime scene and after the investigations are concluded, it will be demolished."
"Is there nothing you can do?" Asked the old man.
"Even if I tried to recover the factory, the damage is bigger than what I expected, also, the time that the investigations need will also affect the value, Industries Remington will never recuperate, I've lost everything."
Jack fell in the couch with his face buried in his hands and sobbing silently. Luna walked towards him and took his face gently with her hoof.
"Jack, please, don't let yourself fall, you need to be strong... I need you..." She told him.
He looked at her blue eyes and understood that she was right; he needed to remain in calm and think in the future, even when it was unclear at the moment.
"Thanks, Luna." He said and kissed her on the cheek. "You need to go, the constable will come soon to put the seals at the doors, I'll wait for him, I'll see you later at home."
"Are you sure, we can wait with you if you need company." Offered Tiberius.
"No, I'm fine, I also need to go and see Mrs. Delacroix, her husband was his world, the news will be devastating for her."
Tiberius nodded. "Okay, Jack, we'll see you later. C'mon Luna, you heard the man, we need to go."
Luna turned around, but a moment later she returned to Jack and standing in her hind legs with her front hooves around his neck she kissed him, it was both, a love gesture and a promise that the things would get better. Her heart fluttered in the moment Jack embraced her with one hand and used the other to grab her neck gently to keep her in place. It was with that third Kiss that Luna understood that she had found what she longed for.
When they parted both were panting, but a smile lingered in their faces.
"See you at home, Jack." She told him and then walked away from him.
Jack looked at Tiberius who had a mischievous smile; the Doctor gave him two thumbs up and laughed.
Jack didn't have to wait too long, the constable returned with yellow tape and two posters with red letters. For the last time, Jack placed the padlocks in the doors that he and his father before him walked through every morning. The pain in his chest returned in the moment the constable placed the yellow tape and the posters on the doors.
"I really sorry, Sir. Remington." Said Samuel Stark.
"Me too, officer, me too." Jack placed a hand over the door and caressed it.
"I almost forgot, we found this in the pockets of the attacker, it is sealed and has your name in it." Stark gave him a small envelope.
"I... I'll open it later, I need to do something else now, I'll be at my home if you need anything." Jack told him and then entered in his car.
The night was painting the sky with her dark hues, Jack waved goodbye to Samuel and drove away from the factory. An instant later Stark did the same. From an alley at the other side of the street, a man wearing a military suit walked out and stood under the light of the lamp. Krause Ornstein looked at the gates of Remington Industries and smiled wickedly.
“Mit diesem, bricht die Hölle los.” He said and then started to walk while reciting and old song.
“London brücke fällt nach unten, Unten fallen, unten fallen, London brücke fällt nach unten, Mein schöne Dame.”
***---***---***
It was past midnight when Jack returned home. He felt glad that Elena wasn't there, he went to the kitchen, ate an apple and walked towards his room, passing in front of one of the doors he was able to hear Tiberius's snoring, it sounded like a truck with an old engine.
He laughed and continued walking, he stopped at the half-closed door of the room were Luna was sleeping and gave it a quick view, the dim light of the lamp let him saw her face, she was smiling.
He decided to sleep in his own room to avoid disturb her, once inside he closed the door and laid back on the bed, the light of the moon gave him a ghostly view of his bedroom, he felt inside a wolf's den and that made him feel lost and desperate, he was about to stand up to grab a bottle when the sound of thousands small bells got his attention.
He incorporated a little on the bed and saw Luna walking towards him. He felt the shift of the weight in the bed when the alicorn climbed it. Luna stretched her body over his and used her hoof to gently put Jack back on the pillow.
"I thought you might like some company tonight." Luna said shyly.
Jack looked at her and smiled. He caressed her face and the joined his lips with those soft and warm of hers. There was no doubt in his mind, he loved her and he would prove it. Without parting away from the kiss, he embraced her and turned around for her to be with her back over the mattress, finally, the lack of oxygen forced them to part from the other. Jack looked at Luna, her cheeks were red and her half lidded eyes showed desire, something he was sure his own eyes were showing too.
"... I love you, Jack Remington..." The alicorn whispered.
"And I love you too, my goddess of the night." Jack told her and Luna's heart started to beat faster.
Jack kissed her again and Luna moaned. With a spark of her magic she placed the safe in the door...
“I was a little too tall Could've used a few pounds Tight pants points hardly renown She was a blue haired beauty with big blue eyes And points all her own sitting way up high Way up firm and high”
***
The night sky over the city of London was full of stars which were momentarily covered by a few rebel clouds that moved with the breeze. The full moon with its silvery glow illuminated the empty streets and entered through windows of the houses breaking the privacy of its inhabitants, as if she were a mischievous spirit searching for secrets.
The moon continued with her indiscreet mission until, when she entered through a particular window, her rays bathed with their dim light to a very special couple. She, a demi-goddess from another world, he, a mere human, both were lost and the fate decided to unite them.
Luna was sitting across from Jack, her cheeks were flushed and her body had begun to be guided by her instincts for the second time in her life. Jack noticed again that sweet smell of wild blackberries, the same scent from the last "intimate" moment he shared with her, but this time, he not only enjoyed it, he craved it.
Lost in her eyes, Jack leaned forward catching the warm lips of the princess who soon started to moan as their tongues met. Luna's horn shone with a faint blue aura, the same that surrounded the buttons on Jack's shirt and that started to unbutton it.
Luna parted from him at the same time that the garment left his body. Jack felt the chill of his room for a brief moment before it started to be replaced by the warmth of the kisses that she started to trace on his bare skin, the action sent heavenly sensations through his body.
Taking her by surprise, he used his arms to place Luna into his lap. Jack then started to move his hands to and fro along her warm body searching for her most sensitive spots. Luna enjoyed every brush of his bare skin against her body and a moan escaped from her mouth when Jack's hands began to dance on her already spread out wings.
“… Jack…”
She whispered his name; there was a need in her tone, lust starting to be unbearable. Jack brushed his face against hers, once more their lips found each other. Jack leaned forward placing her on the pillow. He parted from her, starting to go down her body leaving kiss after kiss as he did so. He started on her jawline and continued in her neck where he bit her soft skin making her gasp and squirm, the sensation sending chills down her spine.
Jack continued tracing her body with his lips, his hands roaming freely over her form; his fingers sank and danced on the soft skin under her fur. Luna was panting, Jack ministrations made her feel like a scorching flame and there was a heat that pleaded to be quenched, never before she had felt like this, it was both, a torture and a blessing.
As he kept going down on her, the scent became stronger. After passing her tummy, he found two fleshy mounds crowned with two perky nipples, not wasting any time; he took one of her teats into his mouth, sucking and biting it softly while one of his free hands grabbed the other, his fingers prodding and twisting her nipple. Luna moaned in total pleasure, she squirmed while her hooves started to play with his hair as her back arched slightly.
Jack freed her teat and went for the other giving it the same attention, but her scent was driving him crazy. His hands grabbed her buttocks; he took his time to caress and play with them before he moved his hands to the inner side of her legs to try and spread them, however, Luna put some resistance and her tail clamped over her nether region. Jack looked at her with a sly smile on his lips making her shudder.
She returned the smile before nodding, taking a deep breath, Luna allowed him to fully spread her legs and she moved her tail aside to give him total acces to her sex, Jack gulped at the sight. The ghostly silvery light of the moon was reflected by the dampness that covered the most intimate part of her body. Jack took one of his fingers to the outer border of her flower and moved it along her warm skin, her reaction was immediately, she gave a lustful moan, her back arched and Jack saw a flash of pink skin at the top of her cunt where her love button appeared and disappeared with cadence.
Luna felt ashamed and she covered her face with her front hooves, Jack smiled, he went up to her face and moved her hooves apart with his hands.
"Luna."
He called her but she shook her head and kept her eyes closed.
“Luna, look at me… please…”
His hand gently caressed her face, she take a deep breath and opened her eyes.
"Jack... I'm sorry; this is the first time that someone has..."
He placed a finger on her lips, then leaned to kiss her deeply. The fire burning inside her rise with newfound intensity, he parted from her but bit her inferior lip at the end of the kiss much to her delight.
"If I will be your first true lover, I have to be the luckiest man in this world... or even in yours."
He told her playfully, Luna giggled and licked his nose.
"Don't ruin the mood."
“As you wish, my princess.”
Once more, he returned to her flower, the scent was stronger there and this time he dig into her folds with his mouth, kissing and biting her lips and drinking her nectar, it was sweeter than honey and he wanted nothing more that quench his thirst with it, as if he held to dear life just by doing it.
The alicorn squirmed and moaned, her head moved from one side to another barely able to stand the pleasure she was feeling, she bit her hoof in a vain attempt to stifle her moans, there was a pressure growing inside her and her body started to tremble.
Jack noticed all the reactions Luna was showing and he raised the speed and intensity of his ministrations, he waited for the perfect time and when her clit came out of its fleshy prison, he clamped his lips around it, that was enough to break the dam, Luna gave a scream of pleasure and her back arched as her body was rocketed by the first orgasm of her life.
Luna came down from her ecstasy and remained in silence trying to catch her breath with a smile on her lips. She was still trying to recover when Jack came up to her and kissed her once more. She was able to taste herself in his mouth, her own sweet flavor fueling her desire once more.
Jack rubbed his shaft against her pussy groaning in pleasure as the heat coming out from her washed over him. Luna started to thrust against him with need, trying to bring him into her. Finally, he started to part her labia as he started to enter her, Luna gasped as her walls welcomed him. Jack panted as he thrusted deeper, the sensation of her pussy clenching on him plus the heat of her folds were amazing.
He kept going into her until he felt some resistance, Luna winced in pain and Jack stopped, she took a deep breath and nodded. He pushed with more strength this time and went beyond the barrier, she screamed and placed her head on his chest while Jack remained unmoved, tears left her eyes as the pain kept growing, Jack kissed her trying to calm her down.
After some minutes that seemed like an eternity to her, the pain started to disappear and was replaced by pleasure. Jack saw her smile and took the hint, he hilted inside her and both moaned in unison. He started to retreat from her and she started to feel empty, her walls trying keep him in place. Jack once more plunged into her and Luna arched her back as pleasure coursed through her entire being.
Jack kept his pace and Luna pushed her hips upwards to increase the pleasure, their hips collided with each other with a wet sound. Her fur and his skin were slick by sweat and hormones, the room started felt warmer as their sexual dance went on.
Jack rose bringing her with him, Luna embraced his lower back with her rear legs and his neck with her front hooves. Jack played with her mane and caressed her wings without decreasing the intensity of his thrusts. The pressure returned to her body, Jack grunted like a wild beast as he also started to feel close, he kissed her and their tongues danced.
“Jack!”
She screamed his name as her body once more was consumed by pleasure, she squirmed and arched in his arms. Jack felt her tighten around him and that was enough to send him over the edge, he gave one last final and primal thrust fully hilting inside her and moaning with her.
They remain entangled in each other’s embrace for some time just listening to their breathing and enjoying the aftermath of their orgasms, Jack fell on the bed with Luna at his side, still breathing with difficulty, he looked at her and smiled, Luna did the same, her horn once more came to life and grabbed the blanket to cover their bodies, their warm and tiredness lulling them towards a deep dream.
“... I love you... Jack…”
She whispered, he tightened his embrace.
"I love you too, Luna."
The moon continued to shine in the sky as both felt asleep with a smile on their lips.
***
"My hooves sink at every moment I find a flower, it is you I feel so close, I feel you within me I look at you within a ray of light."
The morning arrived bringing with it a cool breeze, the weather on the streets of London was neither too warm nor too cold, the sky was free of clouds and the city dwellers smiled while looking at its blue color, for a city that always tended to be under gray clouds and non-stop rain, a clear sky was always welcome.
The thin curtains covering the window moved slowly thanks to the soft blowing of the wind, inside the room, Luna was still sleeping soundly on the bed, her lips curved into a happily smile, her elegant figure was covered by a white sheet that accentuated the curves of her body.
The chirping of birds outside the window finally reached her ears, the furry appendages moved rhythmically to the compass of the chirping, her eyes fluttered open shortly after.
"Good morning, my love."
She said, but her smile faded when she realized that she was all alone in the room, Luna was disappointed to see that Jack was not with her, after what they had shared, what she wanted most was to wake up in the arms of her lover, but apparently, he did not share her desire.
The goddess of the night started to feel the sadness fall over her, but at that moment the door of the room opened and Jack stepped through it holding a tray with his hands, over the tray was a plate of fresh fruit cut into small pieces, a cup of steaming coffee and toasts.
Jack placed the tray on the dresser to then sit on the edge of the bed, he took his hand to Luna's face to stroke it gently before joining his lips with those soft and warm of hers.
"Hope I haven't kept you waiting too much."
Jack said almost whispering; Luna smiled and wrapped her forelegs around his neck bringing him closer to her and kissing him again.
Once the kiss ended, Jack placed the tray with the food on her lap, using her magic to hold the fork, Luna took pieces of fruit to her mouth and she moaned softly enjoying the sweet taste that these had. Meanwhile, Jack walked to the closet from which he extracted a blue suit, a tie of the same color, a white shirt and other accessories to complete his outfit, finally, he took a towel and went into the bathroom, soon after, the sound of running water could be heard from the other side of the door.
With a playful smile gracing her lips, Luna got out of bed and quietly entered into the bathroom, the steam from the hot water had already filled the room and soon her fur was covered by tiny pearls of water, without hesitation, she opened the curtain and getting up on her hind legs she pounced on an unsuspecting Jack that had his back against her.
The warm water covered their bodies and Luna sighed as she felt her body relax by the action of the water entering through her fur and running over her soft skin, her tail and mane lost its usual form and her hair fell over her shoulders and back.
Jack chuckled, still between her forelegs, he turned around and hugged her body, he leaned until his forehead touched hers taking a few minutes to admire her deep blue eyes, he smiled and then kissed her passionately causing Luna to moan into the kiss.
Minutes later, Luna and Jack returned to the bedroom to get ready for the day, she wore again her regalia after several weeks, meanwhile, he finished placing his jacket on while she was helping him to adjust his tie.
"You look very handsome." She told him.
"Thank you," Jack answered and held her hoof, "but you look even more beautiful."
She smiled and gave him a peck; her cheeks had a faint red color.
"I'll be pretty busy today,” he continued. “My employees will come to receive their settlement and in the afternoon I will go to the commissariat to fill several forms, I need to think what I will do now, the money I have will help for some months... but..."
Desperation was palpable in his voice, Luna; not wanting to see him suffer placed a hoof on his lips hushing him.
"Jack.” She caught his attention. “Whatever happens after today, I'll be at your side, to be your support and the light at the end of the tunnel, together we can face anything."
Those words calmed his mind and spirit; however, doubts arose in the back of his mind while looking at those blue eyes of hers.
"Oh Luna, will you really stay with me? When the time comes and I know that it will, you'll have to make a decision, but I don't know if I will be able to accept it." He thought.
"Thanks, my love, I needed that." He said and leaned forward to join his lips with hers.
The doorbell rang three times announcing a visitor; Jack sighed and walked toward the door.
"Maybe it’s good idea that you use that invisibility spell, today there will be a lot people in the house."
She nodded. "You're right, anyway, I'll be in the garden for a while, perhaps Tiberius needs help in his laboratory."
"I don't think so, he is not at home, he left a note saying he had something to do in Wiltshire, he also took one of my cars... that old man is in serious trouble."
Luna raised her eyebrows and laughed merrily, "He really acts like Starswirl."
***---***---***
Tiberius parked the car on the side of the road, he descended from it and kept walking along a path until he found himself on top of a small hill from where he could see the town of Wiltshire nestled in the valley down below, taking it as a reference, he directed his steps to the north, it didn't took him much to reach his destination.
Many times during his life, Tiberius had been standing in the middle of that place, always admiring those huge stone structures that seemed to tell stories of the past, stories that perhaps no one could ever decipher. Stonehenge always welcomed him with arms wide open to help him clear his mind, helping him to find new ideas, but on this occasion, something else had drawn the old scientist to be surrounded by those majestic monoliths.
"Well, it's time to see if my theory is correct."
He said taking the small electric reader from the pocket of his jacket. He began to walk between the structures erratically trying to find the focal point that he had found in his laboratory.
"Come on, give me something, whatever."
He said almost pleading, in that instant, the device took a big jump in the reading and remained so for almost a minute before it went still again. Turner smiled and pulled Luna's feather from his jacket.
Glancing upwards, Tiberius realized that he was standing in front of a monolith that seemed to form a large door, it consisted of two pillars of nearly three meters high that at its summit held a third stone placed horizontally.
He gave some steps until he stood just below the stone frame, his device gave a big leap in his reading briefly and Turner held out the palm of his hand leaving the feather free on it, a gentle breeze blew and the feather raised with the wind, but to the surprise of the old scientist, it began to spin and to emit a faint blue glow before it disappeared without a trace.
Tiberius remained in silence for several minutes until a smile appeared on his face and he jumped in happiness while screaming.
Four hours went by painfully slowly. With the monotone tick-tack of the clock as her only company, Luna yawned and lifted her face from the book she held in her front hooves with an expression of boredom and drowsiness. She rose from the great armchair, stretching all her limbs and trying to take off the heaviness of being for so long in the same position.
Still, for the alicorn, the long court hours at the castle still seemed to be more boring, so spending time reading a good book was much better for her.
"I have to admit that "The Lost World" is an excellent literary work full of adventures." Another yawn escaped from her lips. "But "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" it’s even more fascinating."
Luna's stomach didn't seemed to agree with her, a slight rumor was heard in the empty library so she decided to go to the kitchen to eat something, but as soon as she was at the door, the sound of voices coming from Jack's office reminded her why she was in the library in the first place.
Glancing sideways from behind the door, she could see that several men and women were chatting in the hall while others read the newspaper, all of them waiting for their turn to speak with Jack.
Luna thought for a moment about her options, after all, she didn't want to spend the rest of the day locked in the library. She considered going down to the basement and spend some time in the Tiberius's laboratory, but the scientist hadn't yet returned home and if by accident she altered some of his experiments, she would surely be in troubles.
After a few minutes, her eyes shone as if she had discovered the cure for the cutiepox. Her horn shone faintly as her body started to fade. Once the invisibility spell took effect, Luna left the library walking out of the house where she stood in the middle of the garden.
Carefully she removed a feather from her wing and buried it in the soft earth beneath a rosebush, the roses that were of a vibrant red like blood color took a deep blue shade that gleamed slightly. "In this way I will not lose the way back home." Luna thought.
Then, with her wings completely extended Luna raised the flight. Once she was in the air, she felt marveled by the aerial postcard of London. The city seemed like a living being with all the movement that could be observed, the people in their coming and going gave to the great Metropolis its chaotic but continuous rhythm, something that for her was more impressive than most of the cities back in Equestria.
Catching the winds under her wings, Luna flew even higher feeing really free for the first time since she'd arrived to this strange world. It was true that she missed her home with all her heart, but she also had accepted the idea that if Tiberius couldn't find a way for her to return to Equestria, she would gladly spend her life in this world with the one being she loved the most.
Luna's thoughts were interrupted by the thunderous sound of the turbines of an airplane that passed at great speed only a few meters away from her. The plane, a Hawker Hurricane fighter painted with brown and green tones moved rapidly away pirouetting through the air.
As a filly that had discovered something fun, Luna licked her lips and flapped her wings with such force that she launched her body through the air at great speed in pursuit of the plane. It didn't take her long to be side by side with the plane. Unknown to her, the radar of the plane biped marking her position to the pilot who only thought that the device had broken.
Against her own survival instinct, Luna dispelled the spell and circled around the plane for some seconds before she passed it. The pilot was speechless, there was a winged unicorn flying ahead of him, the creature was a beautiful combination of both mythical beings and he wished to have a camera, no one would believe him, more so when he saw the silver flask attached to his belt.
Luna gave one last loop in front of the plane before disappearing from the sight of the pilot. She was smiling and panting while looking at the plane disappear in the distance. She looked up as she heard more engines passing over her, the alicorn ended mesmerized by the group of fifteen planes that moved more slowly while taking different formations. In Equestria she had the opportunity of admire the aerial spectacle of the Wonderbolts, but they were far below against what these mechanical beasts could do.
After the planes vanished into the horizon, Luna descended and ended a few meters above the buildings. She flew a few minutes more until she kind of remembered some of the structures she had seen when Tiberius brought her to Jack's factory. The massive building soon came into her view, she flew over the walls and then finally landed in the middle of the machine’s yard.
The place was silent as a graveyard and Luna felt a chill pass through her body. She started to walk around the place, charred structures and walls welcomed her after she entered into one of the main warehouses where she could see raw materials still in perfect state. Luna walked towards the main building but stopped in front of one of the turbines, at its side she saw something painted in the ground with white chalk, the place where one of Jack's worker and one of the attackers died.
She kept walking, but sadness seeped into her heart. Once she found herself in the main office, the night goddess sat in the cold wooden floor. Her mind was searching for an idea to help her beloved. Money was a priority at the moment if Jack wanted to recover his factory, but Luna had no way to help him... unless...
Her front hooves touched her golden chest plate, her eyes opened wide and she rushed outside the building, smiling from ear to ear she once more flew as fast as she could towards Jack's home. She didn't even noticed the sound the massive doors of the factory being opened and the roar of heavy motors of trucks entering into the building. Several men started to descend from the vehicles and to download wooden boxes from them.
A black car entered into the factory before a couple of men closed its doors. Once the car stopped, one man opened its door and Krause Ornstein descended from it.
"Herr General, All the buildings in a radius of three kilometers have been emptied." One man told to Krause while saluting him.
“Witnesses?”
“Keine, Herr General.”
Krause smiled. “Ausgezeichnet, now, bring our guess, I need to speak with him. ”
“Bringt den gefangenen!” The soldier shouted.
Two men appeared bringing with them a beaten up Samuel Stark, blood was still dripping from the wounds on his face and his white shirt was soaked with dry blood. Krause’s men left him kneeled in front of him, the German general took his gun and used the cannon to raise Samuel's face.
“Look at you, du bist eine schande, but I must admit that I'm surprised, nobody had endured so much torture so far." Krause cocked his weapon. "I almost don't want to do this, but there should be no loose ends."
Samuel wiggled his tongue around his mouth and spat blood on Krause's face. "Go to hell you son of a bitch!”
“Arschloch!”
Krause told him and then pulled the trigger of the gun, Stark fell dead to the ground with a smoking hole in his head.
“Get this piece of shit out of here before it starts to stink.” Krause used a piece of fabric to clean his face. “Bewegen, wir haben viel zu tun.”
With the sky taking orange hues as the night started to settle over the city, Luna finally returned to Jack’s house. She gracefully descended over the green grass of the garden giving a final stretch to her wings before tucking them at her sides. With the invisibility spell still covering her body, she entered into the house, however, she found herself in front of a not so pleasant surprise.
Elena was standing right in the middle of the main hall of the house, her arms crossed over her bosom and a venomous stare in her eyes. The woman moved her foot with desperation as the voice of Jack and someone else was coming from behind the door of his studio.
Luna was more than angry, the sole image of the woman made her stomach churn, yet again; she could also get some fun at her expense. The princess smiled devilishly and floated slowly until she stood behind Elena. Once in position, Luna started to blow air on the woman’s hair and it didn't take that long for Elena to start swatting her hand as if she were trying to scare a fly.
Not satisfied with the results, Luna rushed to the kitchen and returned to the hall with a rather big amount of seeds and almonds on her hooves. Elena was now sitting on the couch with the newspaper on her hands; Luna took the opportunity and threw the first seed at her enemy hitting her right in the forehead.
Elena took her hand to the attacked spot rubbing softly over the skin. She looked down and saw a lone almond resting on her lap; she took it, shrugged and ate it. Luna’s cheeks puffed out in anger, so she redoubled the attack and five seeds hit Elena in different parts of her face.
“What the hell!?” Elena stood up in a hurry. “Whoever is doing it? You better stop it at once!”
Her voice resounded in the hall, of course, no one answered back. She stood there in silence and looking in all directions. After a minute or so, she finally got an aswer, but not in the way she would want it. A rain of seeds landed on her. Elena screamed and jumped behind the couch trying to find some cover from the hail of food. Luna put her front hooves over her mouth in an attempt of muffle her laugh and just as she was ready to attack again, the door of the house was opened and Tiberius entered through it.
The scientist was sporting a smile from ear to ear, something that didn’t last for long due to a very angry Elena that appeared from behind the couch and walked towards him with her index finger pointing at him.
“You did it!” She almost shouted on his face.
“I…” Tiberius tilted his head. “...did what exactly now, my dear?”
“Don’t play with me old man!” Elena told him. “Your childish jokes are not funny at all.”
Luna could almost see the smoke coming out from Elena’s ears, and at the same time was getting angrier with the woman, after all, she was messing with someone important for her. Luckily, the door to Jack’s studio opened, he appeared through the door followed by another man. In the moment he saw Elena, he sighed and without saying a word he led the man to the door of his house where he bid him goodbye.
“Jack!” Elena hugged him once he turned around, however he didn’t do the same. “I heard about what happened today at your factory, I’m so sorry.”
Luna watched the actions of the woman from the other side of the couch. Even when she was feeling her jealousy burn, in her mind she was already wishing to see the woman’s face once Jack tells her that what they had was over.
“… Hi… Elena…” Jack’s words sounded hollow.
He saw Tiberius in the corner of his eyes and used that as a pretext to get away from Elena; she was left astonished to say the least.
“Hey Doc, where have you been? He asked.
Tiberius took some seconds to study the face of his friend.
“Jack, my boy… you know, investigating here and there…” He wrapped an arm around Jack’s back and asked in a hushed tone. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah… I’m just getting some strength to speak with her…”
“Okay, what’s going on here?” Elena’s voice was demanding.
Jack sighed and turned to look at her. “Elena, we need to talk.”
“Talk? About what?” She answered back at him.
The moment had arrived; Luna had a very wicked and happy expression on her face. Jack took his hands to the bags of his pants where his fingers brushed against a piece of paper; he extracted an envelope and held it in front of his eyes. The envelope was of a bluish color with a wax seal of an eagle, something he hasn’t seen before.
Elena felt her heart skip a bit while looking at the envelope. As fast as she could, she tried to take it from his hand, Jack was having none of that.
“Jack… please… give me that…” She pleaded.
There was something really suspicious about her actions. Without taking his sight from her, he teared open the envelope finding a more than familiar card design inside of it. Once started to read what was written on the piece of paper, the expression on his face went from surprise to shock and then to pure rage. Elena started to back away from him; she was terrified, something unusual in the proud woman. Tiberius took the card from Jack’s hand, after reading the text, he too ended perplexed.
“Elena… what does this mean?” Jack was furious.
He grabbed Elena by the arm with such force that her skin began to turn purple. After seeing the man she used to know in such a wild, almost animalistic state she lost it and started to cry. Not because she had been betrayed, neither due to the physical pain he was causing her. No, there was something deeper about her tears.
“Jack, please, you’re hurting me.”
“Shut up you bitch!” Jack shouted at her.
Luna was speechless; she had never seen Jack like this. However, she soon found the reason why he was acting that way.
“You destroyed my father’s work!” Tears of anger fell from his eyes. “The attack in the factory… you did it! You destroyed me!”
Jack finally let her go; Elena fell to the ground, her make up already ruined by her tears. She didn’t answer back, just lifted her face to look at the hurt and saddened expression of the man she once called the love of her life.
“…Jack… please… let me explain...”
“No!” He raised one hand in the air, his fingers were trying to grasp at something before he clenched his hand into a fist. “Don’t say a single word.”
Luna embraced him from behind, her fore hooves over his shoulders and her wings enveloping him as a protection cocoon while she nuzzled his cheek.
“Jack… you’re not like this… please, come back to me…” The goddess of the night whispered those words in his ear trying to calm him down before he did something he would regret. Feeling his anger dissipate thanks to Luna, he sighed and looked at the woman.
“Elena, I want you out of my life; I want you to leave this house and never come back.”
His words were like ice needles puncturing her heart; she nodded and rose to her feet. Elena made her way out of the house where she boarded her car. She started to drive without even knowing where she was going, tears were still falling down her cheeks. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stopped the car in the middle of the street.
With her hands gripping the wheel, she inclined over it and let all her emotions flow freely. Anger, hate, but overall, sadness. Because deep down she knew that she truly loved Jack. She had been betrayed, and for that she had lost perhaps what was most important for her. Jack was the first person to really gave her unconditional love, he made her feel complete, she felt protected when he wrapped his arms around her. Now, she has lost everything thanks to her greed and lust for power.
Elena also knew that she could still do something, undo her bad deeds and repay Jack, heal the wounds she had caused him. But someone else had other plans, two bright lights appeared from the darkness blinding her. The next thing she knew was that something collided against the right side of her car with such force that her whole body looked like a ragdoll being thrown from side to side while metal parts and crystals flew in all directions.
Several soldiers descended from the truck that had hit her car, some of them started to move the destroyed metal trying to extract her bloody frame from inside. After some minutes of struggle, the soldiers finally got her out of the car and without losing any time; they placed her aboard the truck, then they board it and one of them gave the instruction to the driver who nodded and started the truck.
As the machine moved through the abandoned streets, Elena came to her senses. She was shaken and there was an intense pain in her right side just above her ribs that caused her to groan. One of the soldiers heard her; he said something to one of his partners, both of them laughed while looking at her.
Elena knew she was in trouble after hearing them, the soldiers were part of Krause’s battalion, and if her guessing was right, she was already dead. Perhaps it was the best that could happen; she could still save Jack by giving up her life.
The truck finally reached Remington Industries. The factory was alive once more, but not in the way it should. This time, the long corridors of the factory were filled with military machines, tanks were being build all along the site. The furnaces that survived to the attack were at their maximum function melting iron to form parts and ammunition for the small army that filled the place and the surroundings of the factory.
The truck stopped and two soldiers took Elena from it to the interior of the principal building. She was dragged along the floor up into a dark room. There, she finally stood up using the wall as support. Some steps were heard and then a bright light illuminated the room, Elena stood face to face with Krause Ornstein once more.
“Meine süße Elena.” Krause shook his head. “I'm so disappointed of you; did you really think you could fool me?”
Elena smiled and spat some blood. “To be honest, I never thought you could be that intelligent.”
Krause smiled as well and caressed her cheek, then slapped her with such force that he sent her to the ground. Elena was whimpering and hot tears were falling from her closed eyes. She considered herself to be a very intelligent scammer, but she had been bested in the end and her pride had been shattered.
“You’re nothing more than a traitor bitch, Elena.” Krause walked to the door and opened it. “You almost destroyed my plan, and for that you must pay.”
Elena sat against the wall. “Is that so? Well, go ahead, shoot me, kill me and have your revenge.” She taunted him playing her last card. “You already have what you want, his factory, your army, what else do you need?”
“Oh meine liebe dame.” Krause let three more soldiers walk into the room. All of them looked at the woman with hungry, excited eyes, right in that moment she felt terrified.
“You can be certain that I will kill you. Also, I assure you that Jack will Join you in hell pretty soon. But first, I’ll let you in the company of these three great gentlemen.”
As the soldiers smiled and closed in on her, the only thought on her mind was Jack; she silently prayed for his forgiveness, she didn’t care for anything else.
“Habe spaß meine herren!” Krause said and closed the door.
***---***---***
***Three Days Later.***
Tiberius was walking back towards Jack’s home with the newspaper under his arm. After reaching the house and sitting on the couch, he started to read the news. There was an article regarding to missing persons in a certain district of the city, but he didn’t gave it much importance.
In another page, he read about strange sightings in Stonehenge, a local inhabitant said that he saw blue and white flashes of light near the center of the site while herding his lambs. That article caught his attention, Tiberius knew that it has to see with the readings he had been getting lately. If his calculations were correct, the door to Luna’s world was to be opened there in the next days, still, he hasn’t informed of his investigations to Luna nor Jack. They first needed to settle the things between them, something that he was sure will end in a broken heart, the question was of whom.
Tiberius almost finished with the newspaper when he saw Jack descend the stairs and enter into the kitchen. Luna didn’t took long to appear at the old man's side.
“Good morning Tiberius.” Luna gave him a smile. “Anything interesting in the paper today?”
“Ah my dear, each day is always interesting.” He smiled back and bowed his head. “Although, it gets more interesting as the hours go by.”
Jack walked out from the kitchen carrying a tray with three smoking cups of coffee, Tiberius took one and Luna took the other using her magic.
“You seem a little distant this morning Jack.” Tiberius commented.
Jack sighed and left his cup on a small table. “I know, is just… after what happened with Elena, I spoke with the constable, it seems that they have not heard of Samuel Stark in the last week, that’s why the investigation has been postponed until further notice. I’m kind of worried to be honest.”
Luna walked to him and gave him a little peck on the lips while wrapping her forelegs around his neck. Jack smiled and hugged her enjoying the warm feeling of her fur as he caressed her back.
“Also, I was able to obtain half of the money I need to recover the factory.” Jack continued. “But I don’t know where I will be able to get the rest.”
Tiberius was about to say something when he jumped from the couch smiling from ear to ear.
“Say Jack, I saw some pictures of horses around the house, were you interested in them?”
Jack tilted his head to one side. “Well, not me. My father used to own one or two in his younger years, why the question?”
Tiberius gave the paper to him; Jack read the header in loud voice. “Ascot Gold Cup, one of the most prestigious races of the Royal Ascot Meeting is schedule to be performed this weekend, the Ascot Authority mentions that some places are still open for inscription of horses and owners that want to compete.”
Jack frowned and looked at Tiberius . “Are you telling me… that I should pay the inscription to this event?”
Tiberius nodded.
“Doc, even for you, that’s a crazy idea.”
“Why? Don’t you think you can win?” Tiberius asked.
“Doc.” Jack was flabbergasted by the old man's attitude. “Do you know how much that inscription costs?”
“You have the money.”
“Yeah… money that I need.” Jack slapped his temple. “I can’t waste it in something that I surely will lose.”
“Who says that? You could win the big prize and all your problems will be solved!”
“C’mon Doc, you have to think things better, this is a very high risk. Also, do I need to remind you that I don’t even have a horse?”
Right in that moment, Luna came out of the kitchen holding in her magic a piece of apple pie. She licked her lips and was ready to take a bite when she saw that Jack and Tiberius were looking at her.
“What? She asked. "Do I have something in my face?”
“Luna, my dear!” Tiberius got close to her, the smile never disappearing from his face. “Say, how athletic do you consider yourself to be?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. This is the second call; the last exhibit of the horses and riders will begin in fifteen minutes, please take your seat and remember; all bets will be closed within the next thirty minutes.”
The speakers all around the Ascot Racecourse resonated with the announcer's message, the place was filled to the brim with people of all social classes, from the boastful millionaires gathered in the most luxurious and expensive boxes of the hippodrome, to those poor men who had bet their last few pounds on a ticket hoping to win something in this event. Luck was not an easy dame to catch, yet, there she was always waiting for the right moment to show her face and make the day of some poor bastard.
At the stables, Jack walked from one side to another, worry present on his face as he lit his eighth cigar.
“This is a bad idea.” He said aloud, his left hand passing through his hair. “This is a very bad idea.”
“Jack, you need to calm down.” Luna’s voice resonated in his head.
He chuckled a little and turned to look at her. “You know, I still can’t get used to hear you in my mind, it’s all weird and kind of scary.”
“Would you feel better seeing me talking while in this form?” She asked.
Jack shook his head while laughing. “Of course not, you could scare everyone in the place and put us in a more complicated situation.” With one hand he caressed the cheek of a mare of deep black fur that shone with even the small amount of light in the place.
When Tiberius mentioned the race, Luna felt excited, the idea of winning an event as important as this sounded fantastic, just imagine, a princess at the podium? But when she was told that she needed to transform in a “normal horse”, her pride died a little, yet, knowing that this could help Jack in more ways than one, she accepted and promised him, and to herself, that she would win the race, no matter what.
“Thanks for doing this, Luna.” Jack told her, his hand caressing her neck.
She walked a little and embraced him by placing her head on his back and lifting her left foreleg. “Everything will be all right, trust me.” Jack wrapped his arms around her neck.
“Sir Remington?” Another voice sounded at his back.
Jack let go of Luna. “Ah, Peter, I didn’t hear you, is everything ready?”
“Yes, I need to take her to the runway.” The young man dressed with a black jacket and white pants answered.
Jack sighed. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting.” He gave Peter the reins and the three exited the stable.
As they made their way towards the exhibition area, Luna looked all around her, the amount of people in the place made her feel a little uncomfortable, more so as many of them started to look at her, or more exactly, at the mare she was disguised as.
Shaking her head, she focused her thoughts to block all the fear and to avoid thinking on them; she had a mission to complete and needed to be calm and ready for everything.
“Sir Remington?”
“Yes, Peter?”
“I thank you for this opportunity you have given me.” Peter scratched his head. “But, are you sure I’m the right choice? I mean, I’ve never been on a real competition before”
Jack smiled at the young man. “I will be honest with you, I’m as nervous as you are, this is my first race too, but I couldn't think on a better person for the job.”
They arrived at the walkway and stood on the platform, the announcer mentioned their names and number of racer. When the crowd heard the Remington name, a lot of rumors started to sound everywhere.
“The way you talked about your family’s farm.” Jack continued without paying attention to the people. “And how much you liked horses, well, I thought it was a safe bet.” He once more caressed Luna and she leaned a little against him.
“Both of you will make a good team.” Jack extended his hand to Peter; he nodded and took it giving it a good shake.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final call. All bets have been officially closed, please take your seat. Runners, take your horses to the starting point for the final preparations, the race for the Ascot Gold Cup and final event of this day will start shortly.”
“It is time, you need to hurry.” Jack told them. “Take good care of her and give all you got.” Peter nodded and mounted on Luna’s back.
While Peter worked on securing the harness of the saddle and the reins against Luna’s body in a way to not hurt her and feel with enough grip, Jack looked directly into her deep black eyes.
“Luna, I know you can do this.” He started to speak with her using his mind. “But, if you don’t win, I want you to know that it will not affect anything, nothing will change. This is just a competition, I don’t want you to take risks and hurt yourself. if something happens and you think that there could be consequences, I want you to stop right there and forget about the race, do you understand?”
“My love, please, don’t worry, I will make you proud, you’ll see.” Luna answered and winked at him, he just smiled.
“Peter, if anything happens that threatens any of you, I want you to stop and get the hell out of there.” Jack said with a serious tone.
“Don’t worry Sir; we’ll see you at the podium of the first place.” Peter raised his fist and gave a soft pat at Luna’s ribs; she understood the order and walked away from Jack towards the starting line with a fast trot.
***------***
Luna and Peter took their place at the exit line where they were joined by the rest of the competitors. She took her time to study the other horses surrounding her; some looked stronger, more agile and more prepared than her. “That’s obvious.” She thought, after all, all of them were beasts raised and trained for this life, she felt a little of pity for them, they were just animals and nothing more.
The judge passed list, calling each one of the jockeys by their name. When Peter answered the call, some jockeys looked at him with disdain.
“Who’s the rookie?” One of them asked.
“Who cares?” Another one answered. “Maybe just another Mr. Nobody trying to get in the spotlight, just look at his horse, he will not even finish the first lap in that thing, what a weak beast he has.” The jockey mocked them.
They all laughed and Luna felt her rage starting to grow. “You piece of filth! How dare you? I’ll show you who’s a weak beast!”
Peter was able to feel her tense her muscles. “No, Luna, calm down, don’t let them affect you.” He started to caress her neck in slow motions that helped her to relax. “Remember, this is just a race, just ten laps and we’re done, are you with me?”
Luna looked at Peter and managed to nod at him, something that surprised the man. “Did you just…?” He said aloud. When she looked at the face he made, she laughed internally.
“All right boys, we’re ready to start!” The judge shouted while agitating a red flag. Jack was looking through the binoculars when Tiberius finally appeared at his side.
“What did I miss?” The scientist asked.
“They’re about to begin, they’re in line number eight.” Jack told him.
Tiberius smiled. “Ah good, that’s my lucky number.”
Jack lowered the binoculars and stared flabbergasted at the old man. “I still can’t believe that you made me accept this, what if we lose?”
“Jack, you need to be more intrepid, take more risks.” Tiberius gave him a pat on his back. “We’ll win, you’ll see.”
“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”
A gunshot gave the participants the final signal and all left the exit point in a cloud of dust, the crowd exploded with cheers, whistles and applause as the horses along with their riders started to move through the race field.
All the competitors ended the first lap mostly together, but when the judge marked the beginning of the second round, five of the jockeys moved ahead of the group by forcing their horses to move faster using the horsewhip to hit their backsides.
Luna cringed after seeing this and expected to feel the pain of the whip against her own body, however, she felt relieved and even surprised when Peter, instead of using the barbaric item, only patter her neck softly and scratched her ear.
“C’mon Luna!” She heard him speak. “Let’s show them what we're capable of!" Luna neighed and applied more speed to her pace trying to reach the leaders.
“You can do it Luna!” Jack cheered at the top of his voice; he was looking through the binoculars he held with one hand, with the other he grabbed Tiberius by the coat and started to shake him from one side to another.
“My boy, calm down.” Tiberius laughed at the attitude of his friend. “This just started.”
“Are you not seeing this Doc?”
"Well, I could see it if you stopped moving me like a sack of potatoes.”
“By end of the third lap.” The announcer’s voice sounded on the speakers. “Flares remains at the first place, followed closely by Precipitation. On third position we have Ocean Swell and at the fourth position, the newcomer of this year’s competition and a big surprise for many of us it seems, Luna!”
Once more, the whole crowd cheered at the horses and riders. Luna took a moment to feel pride at what she was doing; she was no athlete to be honest. Now and then she took the time to train personally with the ponies of her army, the Night Watch or Lunar Guardians as they called themselves. Of course, it was military and combat training, the energy demand she placed on her muscles was minimal compared to what she was doing currently, her legs had started to feel like if they were ablaze, her breath was becoming hard and labored, still, she pushed forward, there was so much at stake, she couldn't afford to lose.
The racers had reached the seventh lap, it was time to give the final push and secure the places at the podium. Luna was still in fourth place, she had Ocean Swell just a couple of meters ahead. Precipitation and Flares were in their own world fighting for the first place. She needed to reach them and her time to do it was running out.
An idea came to her; Luna focused her mind and imagined herself jumping into a large pool of blue crystalline refreshing water. Soon enough, all her body felt fresh, cold even, that calmed the pain in her legs, her respiration become normal again, that’s all she needed.
“Look at that ladies and gentlemen! Luna just passed Ocean Swell and she’s heading directly to the leaders, this is incredible!”
Luna reached Precipitation; they were running head to head. Peter was smiling at what was happening, this mare was awesome; she had kept a very good rhythm during the entire race, but now, it was like if she had found renewed vigor, they could do it! They could win!
As in cue to prove it, Luna passed Precipitation; the stallion fell behind very soon. It was the ninth lap, Flares was still ahead of her for at least ten meters and she needed to close the distance between them as soon as possible.
“It’s yours Luna!” Peter shouted. “Get him!”
The wind whistled in her ears, each step she gave make her hooves sink into the earth for grip. The jockey at the back of Flares looked over his right shoulder just to find a mare of black shining fur at his side. His surprise was major when he noticed the black uniform of the jockey at her back.
The man to whom he had referred as Mr. Nobody was now at his side, ready to take the first place away from him, He would not allow it. Peter felt a burning sensation on his arm; the other jockey had hit him with the horsewhip. The whip landed on his body several times, Peter couldn’t avoid it so he tried to move away from him, but the man just kept Flares close to Luna to not let him go.
“That son of a bitch is whipping Peter!” Jack said angrily, he scanned his surroundings and spotted one of the judges. “You there, judge, are you not seeing this?” His call fell on deaf ears as the when the judge looked up, he just saw the horses reaching the final stretch of the tenth lap, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Flares and Luna were still tied when they came out of the curve for the final part of the tenth lap. She knew what the other Jockey had done and was ready to retaliate. In the moment she saw him lifting the whip to strike again, Luna made a sudden move to the right.
Luna’s move avoided a direct hit; the whip only cut Peter’s cheek drawing blood, however, the inertia and force that the jockey had applied caused the whip to hit Flares directly in his eye. The poor horse whinnied in pain rising on two legs with such force that its jockey fell to the ground.
Flares ran in other direction leaving the race field falling to the ground and rubbing the right side of his face against the grass to try and calm the pain he was feeling. The crowd gasped, but the erupted into applause when they saw Luna cross the finish line.
The trainers ran after Flares to try and catch him. All the was in total disbelief of what has transpired, they started to move from their places to try and reach the field to get close to the winner, judges and constables were overwhelmed by the crowd.
Jack jumped over the fence of the balcony on the second floor; he needed to reach Peter and Luna. He made his way through the field and finally found them. Peter held a bloodied hand against his cheek, yet he was smiling and had Luna by the rein.
“Sir Remington!” Peter greeted him. “We did it! We won! We really won!” He said cheerfully.
Jack hugged his friend. “Well done Peter, well done. Here, take this.” He gave him a handkerchief. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need a doctor?”
“Nah, it’s nothing, just a small cut, I’ll be fine.” Peter smiled.
Jack nodded and then turned to Luna, right there he wanted nothing more than hold her in his arms and kiss her, but he just smiled, caressed her ears and hugged her face.
“You did it my love.” He whispered into her ear. Luna felt her heart soar at his words. She really wanted to dispel her disguise, but she made a mental note to really celebrate later.
A couple judges arrived to speak with them just as Tiberius did. They needed some explanation about what had happened. Peter told them what the other jockey had done and two constables ran towards the man when they saw him trying to escape from the place.
The trainer had managed to calm Flares; his right eye was closed and had a deep cut across the soft skin of his eyelids. He guided the horse up to where Luna was standing. A man dressed in a black coat got closer and caressed the head of the horse. “What’s the damage?” He asked.
Luna heard the trainer said that Flares eye was beyond salvation, he was practically blind now. The man turned around, walked towards the constables that held the jockey and punched him square in the stomach, the jockey fell to the ground coughing.
The man grabbed the jockey by the chin and looked at him straight in the eyes. “You will pay for what you’ve done.” He told them with cold voice. “Get this piece of shit out of my sight!” He demanded, the constables were stunned, yet they obeyed and dragged the jockey out of sight.
Luna took the opportunity and got closer to Flares. She caressed the damaged eye of the horse, a faint blue aura covered it and after a couple of minutes, he was able to open his eye, the wound had healed and only a faint scar on the eyelids remained. Flares neighed happily and to Luna’s surprise, he nuzzled her neck and used it to embrace her as if thanking her. Under her disguise, she was blushing madly, yet she leaned a little against him.
***---***
When all the commotion finally ended, the judges called the winners to the podium. Luna was joined by Precipitation on second place and Ocean Swell on third respectively. That day, many people made a fortune; luck had smiled upon them after all.
As the day ended, Jack finally joined Peter, Tiberius and Luna at the exit of the Ascot Racecourse after finishing the details of the prize they had won, while they loaded Luna on her car, someone else joined them. To Jack’s surprise, the man of the black coat stood in front of him.
“Sir Remington, congratulations.” The man told him extending his hand.
Jack took it giving it a firm shake. “Thank you, uhmmm… Mr…?”
“Oh, yeah, we haven’t met correctly; my name is Arturo de la Garza, at your service.” The man said tipping his hat.
“It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Arturo.” Jack said.
“Just Arturo, please, I feel weird when people call me Mr.”
“Oh, okay, what can I do for you?”
Arturo set his eyes on Luna and smiled. “I have to admit it; you have a great mare there.”
Jack chuckled. “Yes, you have no idea, she’s very special.”
“Let’s not kick the bush anymore, Sir Remington.” Arturo looked at Jack. “I want to buy her, how much do you want for her?”
Tiberius and Peter stuck their heads out the window of the truck with mouths wide open. Jack was stunned, even Luna had her ears perked up.
“Oh… well…” Jack didn’t know what to say. “Uhmmm, you see…”
“Just say your price Sir Remington; I’ll pay whatever you want.” Arthur extracted a checkbook and a fine pen from his coat.
Jack sighed. “That's very kind of you, Arturo, but she’s not on sale, I can’t lose her, she’s too precious to me.”
Arturo saw the serious expression on Jack's face. “There’s no way I can change your mind, isn’t it?” Jack shook his head.
“I understand.” Arturo returned his checkbook to his coat. “I just wanted to get Flares a girlfriend, and Luna looked like the perfect mare for the job.”
Luna blushed after hearing Arturo’s words. Jack tried to hold his laughter, but he finally belly laughed and soon Tiberius joined him laughing hysterically, Arturo was confused to say the least.
“Did I miss something?” Arturo asked and looked at Peter who just shrugged.
Finally, Jack calmed down and took a deep breath. “Sorry for that. It’s just; don’t you think she’s a little too young? She’s only three years old.”
Arturo thought for a moment. “Well, she looks older to be honest.” He laughed.
“Did he just call me old?” Luna said internally puffing out her cheeks.
“Yes, I think you’re right, after all, Flares is seven years old, it wouldn’t be fair.” Arturo shook Jack’s hand once more. “Sir Remington, you can’t blame me for trying.”
“Nah, don’t you fret about it.” Jack told him.
“Okay, good by Sir Remington.” Arturo turned around and started to walk away, however, after some steps, he stopped and looked at Jack again. “Sir Remington?”
“Yes?”
“I think I may have another offer to make you, one you surely can’t refuse.”
***---***---***
*Encore*
***Ready For Love***
Later that night.
The house was in total silence, the remains of the celebration party were scattered all along the main hall of Remington State. A shadow moved through the room towards the door of the garden, Jack looked at the full moon in the sky; he leaned against the frame of the door and lit a cigar, a puff of smoke escaping from his nostrils.
The sound of hooves against the tile floor told him that he wasn’t alone anymore. Luna gently placed her fore hooves over his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.
“Come to bed Jack, it’s too late, I feel lonely up there.” She told him. He chuckled and turned around embracing her by the waist. Jack allowed himself to get lost in her deep blue eyes.
“Something bothers you?” Luna asked.
“No, not anymore.” Jack leaned forward and kissed her. “Hey, I want to show you something.”
Jack guided Luna through the house until they reached a more secluded garden on the far wing of the mansion where the moon bathed the place with her silver shine. There Jack uncovered one of his most prized possessions. A large white triple axis car that had silver details of elephants and other Hindu symbols embedded on its frame. Luna was marveled by the sight of the machine; Jack stared intently at her as she gave the car a look around, her hoof slowly rubbing along its metal body.
Luna ended at one side of the car face to face with Jack; both stared at each other lovingly, their hearts beating faster with every minute. Luna took her hoof up to his chest where she traced a circle around his heart. Jack gulped and opened the door of the car allowing Luna to get in. Once inside, she turned on her back lying down along the back seat.
Jack leaned above her and kissed her again, only this time with more passion. Luna moaned sensually while her hooves roamed above Jack’s shoulder. He parted from her and wasting no time, he took away his shirt much to Luna’s pleasure. Some moments later, they were entangled once more on a frantic kiss, skin against fur on a heavenly contact, hands and hooves caressing each inch of their bodies. As the temperature rose, so it did their desire. Jack descended along her jaw planting kisses here and there, his hands kneading Luna’s chest that rose and descended with each rapid breath she took. Luna felt him accommodate his lower body between her back legs, her blush deepened when she looked up to see Jack staring back at her, his respiration elaborated and excited as hers.
“Take me.” She whispered.
Jack smiled, nodded and moved forward. A gasp escaped Luna´s lips and her back arched after she felt him enter into her core. Once he hilted inside of her, he grunted and remained there enjoying the sensation of Luna’s lower lips around his manhood. He started to retreat obtaining moans and sighs from her. Luna was in total bliss, with each movement Jack made, the flame inside her grew on intensity, soon her whole body started to tremble.
She reached up to him, her hooves around his neck and pulling him into a kiss, her tongue pushed against his teeth asking for permission, he allowed it giving Luna total access to his mouth, when her wet muscle passed above his canines, she shuddered, something primal inside of her make her feel at the mercy of a predator, unable to escape from his claws, that sensation served only to increase her excitement.
Jack’s member brushed against a certain point inside of her that caused Luna to cut the kiss and give a scream of total pleasure, warm thick marecum escaping from her sex and around his manhood. Jack didn’t know what happened, but he was now against the seat with Luna above him.
She took control of their love making and moved up and down on his spear. Jack grabbed her by the buttocks and mirrored her movements raising his hips to meet hers. Jack felt her body tremble, he was not too far behind and with a primal grunt, he rammed her sex fully hilting inside and releasing his seed into her womb. Luna was pushed over the edge by the sensation of his warm seed invading her core; she let out deep moan, her eyes rolling, body convulsing and releasing another warm torrent of cum from her sex.
Luna collapsed over Jack, he embraced her and both remained motionless just hearing the respiration of each other. She finally came back to her senses and incorporated a little above him, just enough for him to look at her. Jack saw that Luna’s mane covered half of her face giving her a look of tenderness and innocence. He removed her hair with his hand and brought her down to kiss her once more.
Without saying anything else, they stayed there enjoying the afterglow of their orgasms, arms entangled around each other until Morpheus took them to the reign of dreams.
