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It had seemed like such a simple, short errand. Sunset Shimmer had mentioned in passing to Rarity that she and Flash Sentry were looking at upgrading from her little apartment in the city to something just a bit bigger. Rarity had then let slip that Shining Armor's parents were looking into selling their family cabin up in the mountains.
Coincidentally, Sunset Shimmer loved the mountains. They reminded her of Equestria. Of home.
And that was how the four young adults had made a day trip out to take a look at the cabin. It was meant to be a short errand. Quick and easy. They'd drive up together, inspect the place, and be back in the city by nightfall. So short and simple was their excursion that all of them, all four of them, had made one very serious error.
No one had bothered to check the weather forecast.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Well, the gennie's holding up at least." Shining Armor pushed the door shut against the howling wind and rubbed at his jacketed arms in order to restore feeling. "But this storm's not showing any sign of stopping anytime soon."
Rarity offered her boyfriend a pitying look and held out a glass of amber liquid. "You poor dear. You look positively frozen. Is it really so bad out there?"
"Let's just say we won't be using the hot tub tonight." He chuckled, doffing his heavy jacket, gloves, and hat on the nearby rack and crossing the room towards the roaring fireplace. "And we should definitely keep the fire going in case that old piece of crap decides to give up the ghost." He gratefully took the glass, toasted the couple on the opposite love seat, and collapsed onto the sofa. "That's one thing that's going to need replacing if you buy this place."
Nursing her own glass of whiskey, Sunset frowned. "I'm so sorry you guys got stuck out here because of us."
"Yeah." Flash sipped his vodka and grimaced as the heat blazed down his throat. He checked his phone screen for the dozenth time in the past hour and sighed. "No signal. Still."
"We all messed up." Rarity agreed. "So there's no sense in beating ourselves up about it." She'd elected to prepare herself a martini, and she sipped it delicately as she relaxed into the sofa and basked in the fire's good strong heat. "There's plenty of room for all, and we'll be out of here in the morning no worse for the wear." She smiled wistfully. "In hindsight, I am glad we didn't bring Gawain after all."
"Yeah. That pup loves the snow but hates the wind. He'd definitely keep us up all night." Shining Armor patted his thigh lightly, and Rarity obeyed the signal without thinking, swinging her legs around and resting them in her boyfriend's lap. "So what do you think of the place, Sunset?"
"It's great." Sunset beamed, happy to take her mind off the storm. "It's cozy, the views are gorgeous..." She looked to her boyfriend. "What do you think?"
"Oh sure. It's fantastic. A little bigger than I was thinking, though. We'll, uh, have to crunch the numbers." Flash muttered into his glass.
"It's all good, man." Shining Armor reassured him. "I'm sure my parents would be happy to work something out. You two have been Twily's good friends for years now. That's gotta count for something."
"Quite right." Rarity plucked the tooth-pick impaled olive from her drink, considered it for a moment, then popped it into her mouth. The toothpick came free with a dramatic flourish and she chewed the morsel down with some pleasure. She caught her boyfriend staring and noted the smile on his face. "What?"
"You're adorable sometimes, you know that?" He rubbed her legs through the denim that covered them.
"Only sometimes?" She pouted.
"Okay, all the time." He raised his glass to polish off the last of his whiskey.
"Thank you."
He cut his eyes at her mischievously. "Especially when you've got something in your mouth..." He muttered.
"Shining Armor!" Rarity gasped playfully in mock indignation. "So uncouth in front of our friends!" She flicked the toothpick at him with deadly accuracy, pinging it off his glass and making him chuckle into the ice on his lips.
Sunset laughed lightly and laid her head down on Flash's shoulder. "I forgot. This place is pretty special for the two of you, isn't it?"
Flash leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Special? Why?"
"This cabin is where these two degenerates first hooked up. Right out there on the deck. In the hot tub, I believe." She cocked an eyebrow at her pale friend. "Am I right?"
"Mostly right." Rarity drained her glass and held it out to her boyfriend. "Refill, darling? While I set Sunset straight on our original dalliance?"
"As my lady wishes." Shining Armor took the glass, let her raise her legs just enough for him to stand, and looked expectantly at the other couple. "Ya'll too?"
"I'm good." Flash shook his still half-full glass.
"If you wouldn't mind." Sunset held her glass aloft. "Double?"
"A girl after my own heart." Shining Armor nodded approvingly before heading towards the wet bar in the next room.
Rarity unashamedly watched him go, congratulating herself on tailoring his new pants in a way that perfectly framed that ass of his. She cleared her throat as she turned back towards her friends. "As I was saying, you're mostly right. We did kiss for the first time out in the hot tub." She smirked. "If you want to get technical, we first made love in the shower afterwards." She nodded towards the nearby hall. "Just down there."
"With all of us sleeping not twenty feet away." Sunset shook her head. "Not very lady-like, Rarity."
"Spark of the moment, darling."
"And all those other times during the trip? Were those sparks of the moment, too?"
Rarity pursed her lips. "That Rainbow Dash really can't keep her mouth shut, can she?"
"Not in the least." Sunset laughed.
Flash watched the exchange with growing interest. "So those two spent a week going at it like crazy right under ya'll's noses? And you didn't suspect a thing? That's actually hilarious."
"Hey, in our defense, none of us put much thought into it." Sunset playfully punched her boyfriend's arm. "For all we knew, Shining Armor was still with Cadance and Rarity was..." A thought occurred to her, and her jaw dropped as she looked back to her fashion-obsessed friend. "Oh, you sneaky bitch."
Rarity only smirked.
"What?" Flash asked.
"We were talking about guys down at the lake. It was, uh, when I first started hinting that me and you were a thing again. And this one..." She pointed an accusatory finger. "This one basically confessed right then that she and Shining Armor were banging."
"Guilty as charged." Rarity giggled as she held her wrists out playfully. "Lock me up and throw away the key."
Flash laughed and shook his head. "Damn, Rares; not even trying to be subtle, huh?"
"I admit; I had ulterior motives." She grinned at Shining Armor as he re-entered the room. "After all, you were down at the lake with us. Weren't you, darling?"
"Sunset, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your friend is the living embodiment of the phrase 'lady in the streets, freak in the sheets.'" Shining Armor handed the ladies their drinks before reclaiming his seat. "She was doing her damnedest to get a rise out of me that day."
"And I succeeded." Rarity toasted him before sipping. "Teasing you is always such fun, my love."
"Sounds like a dangerous game." Flash offered, draining the last of his glass.
"No kidding." Sunset took a swallow of whiskey and coughed lightly. "I remember when I was teasing Shining Armor. Once he got a hold of me, I couldn't walk straight for a week."
Silence followed her statement. Not a sound filled the air save the wind against the walls outside and the crackling of the fire. The three others stared in wide-eyed shock at the fiery haired young woman. It took Sunset a moment to realize what she'd said, but when realization struck she gasped and threw her hands over her mouth. Her tumbler fell, and only Flash's reflexes kept it from spilling across her lap.
Shining Armor slowly closed his mouth and swallowed hard. "Sunset... I don't think you and I ever..."
Rarity's initial shock gave way to the kind of growing thrill only known by those who thrive on the world of gossip and drama. Her lips drew up into a Cheshire grin and she leaned forward in excitement. "You didn't?!" She practically squealed with glee at Sunset's deepening blush. It was really all the answer she needed. "Does Princess Twilight know?!"
"Of course not!" Sunset shook her head rapidly. "And in the event she comes back to this side, I am begging you not to tell her!"
It clicked in Flash's mind, and he visibly relaxed. "Oh. That makes much more sense."
Sunset looked at him apologetically. "I swear, it wasn't anything serious. We were just dumb kids."
Shining Armor blinked slowly. "I'm... still kind of lost."
Rarity rolled her eyes and nudged him in the ribs. "Darling, think about it; where does Sunset come from?"
When he finally managed to put two and two together, the group's elder finally joined Rarity and Flash in their relaxed state. "Oh. This is a magic horse planet thing, isn't it?"
Flash had to laugh. "Is that actually what you call it?"
"Yes. And it's adorable every time." Rarity once again leaned towards Sunset. "So..."
Sunset reclaimed her glass and sipped it uneasily. "So...?"
"Oh, come on now. Let's hear it. Details, darling, details."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Rarity, I hardly think..."
"Just think of it as quid pro quo. You know all about mine and Shining Armor's first week of debauchery. The least fair trade you could offer is some equally dirty laundry."
"I don't think Shining Armor and Flash want to hear about..."
"Actually..." Flash chimed in, setting his empty glass on the table next to the sofa. "I can't lie. I'm a little curious."
"Why?" Sunset gaped at him.
"Well, I kind of figured you'd dated back in Equestria. But you never talk about it."
"That's because there's not much to tell." Sunset looked at her reflection in the amber liquid. "There was only really the one before you." She looked up at the older man across from her. "And it was you." She realized how that sounded her chuckled apologetically. "Well, not you you, but..."
"Yeah, I've got that. And I have to admit; I'm in the same boat as Flash. I'm curious." He cut his eyes at Rarity, trying to gauge her reaction. "Almost everything I know about the other me comes from what Twily's told me. It'd be kind of interesting hearing about me... him... from someone else's perspective."
Rarity's smile widened, if that was even possible. "The ayes have it, then. Spill."
Sunset looked around at the three with some trepidation. "You realize what you're asking me to talk about, right? I was a pony. You're asking to hear the tawdry sex stories of a pony."
The three nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Sunset shrugged, and then downed her entire drink in a single swallow. She gasped when the glass left her lips and shivered in her seat. "Fuck it. Ya'll want it, you've got it." She placed the empty glass down on the end table and let her gaze drift towards the frost covered window. "You guys know in Equestrian years I'm older than..." She gestured at her body. "This."
All three nodded, enraptured.
"I'm older than Princess Twilight. Not crazy older, but a few years older. This all happened the year before I left Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and became Princess Celestia's personal apprentice. There are actually two schools side by side on the castle grounds; the one for magic users, and the one for royal guards."
"Like a police academy?" Shining Armor asked.
"Exactly. For students in both schools, we were forbidden to leave the grounds unless it was a holiday. Kind of a safety and accountability kind of thing, I guess. So, as a result, we all kind of grew up together. We'd take our lunches and watch marching drills, and then the cadets would come and help us study practical applications of magic." She laughed lightly and smiled at the memories. "It was good fun. We were the closest thing to friends as we could be. And as we grew older, it became very convenient to have friends with certain... physical attributes."
"Oh, here we go..." Rarity tittered, downing the last of her martini.
Something occurred to Sunset and she looked around at her friends. "Before I go any farther, do I need to explain the concept of heat to anyone?" She watched as Rarity and Shining Armor shook their heads, then grimaced at the barely restrained look of confused panic on her boyfriend's face. "Really?"
Flash's restrained grimace tightened. "Um..." His eyes flicked towards the crackling fire.
"Oh, honey. No." Sunset cooed and patted his knee comfortingly.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, darling." Rarity reassured him. "Truth be told I only know because of time spent helping Applejack at the farm. And Fluttershy at the shelter."
"And I only know because my sister tried to be an expert in everything and used me as a sounding board." Shining Armor stood with a grunt. "Refill?" When three hands all raised, he headed towards the bar with a resigned sigh. "May as well just bring the bottles..." He muttered.
"Anyway..." Sunset returned her attention to Flash. "Cliff notes. Once or twice a year, all the mares in Equestria that have reached sexual maturity go into heat. Think of it as a kind of ramped up need to mate. Something in the primal part of our brains fires up and tells us that it's time to find a stallion and make a foal. We start ovulating, you wanna bang all the time, the idea of getting knocked up suddenly does it for you, etcetera etcetera..."
"It happens to our versions of equines as well." Rarity chimed in. "Though I can't imagine what that must be like for a creature of greater intelligence."
"It's... a mix of good and bad." Sunset admitted.
"What's it like?" Flash leaned back and got comfortable. He loved listening to his girlfriend talk.
"Well, it's... I dunno. It's kind of hard to explain it in human terms." Sunset stroked her chin in concentration. "Imagine you're horny, but not like regular horny. Crazy horny. Like you need to get laid or you're going to literally die horny."
"Been there. Third week of the academy." Shining Armor returned, his arms full of bottles of alcohol, a bucket of ice, and a martini shaker. He set his haul down on the coffee table between the couches and set to work refilling and remaking everyone's drinks.
"But it's not just the horniness." Sunset accepted the restocked tumbler graciously. The buzz was playing with her recollections and making her feel... rather nice. "It's a need to breed. To be bred. Your sense of smell gets crazy strong, and just being too close to a virile stallion gets you positively soaked. You're hot all the time, all over your body, but especially..." Her eyes flicked downward at her sweatpants. She looked over and noticed Flash shifting his weight in a way she was very familiar with. "Is this turning you on?"
Flash coughed with embarrassment and sipped his drink. "Sorry. The way you say virile is kind of hot."
Sunset smirked. Oh yes. She was feeling very good. Very good indeed. "Viiiiiiirrrrrriiiilllllle." She purred.
Flash coughed again and crossed his legs.
"Oh, don't stop now, darling." Rarity had cuddled up to Shining Armor, hugging his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. "So... you were in heat."
"Yeah. It came on crazy strong that year, too." Sunset took another sip. "I barely had time to cast the contraceptive charms."
"Contraceptive... charms?" Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. "Do ponies not have condoms?"
"We do, but they're crazy inconvenient." Sunset settled back and giggled. "You guys know what a horse cock looks like. Imagine putting a rubber on that every time you want to do it." She caught the flush rising on her boyfriend's face and laughed out loud. "Honey, please don't start getting dick envy. Yours is perfect for this body. And..." She trailed her hand along his denim clad thigh. "I'll bet it would still be perfect if I took you through the mirror someday."
Flash coughed and third time and crossed his legs even tighter. "So..." His voice cracked, and he coughed to restore the bass. "So you used spells to keep from getting pregnant. That's neat."
"But if the mating drive is as strong as you say it is, then what's to stop you from casting some sort of counter charm in the, uh, heat of the moment?" Rarity asked. "If you'll pardon the turn of phrase."
"Most contraceptive spells are time-locked. They can range from a few days to a few weeks. So, if you're not ready to be a mom you just cast the spell, find a stallion to keep you company, and..." She shrugged. "Ride it out. Or let him ride you out. Whatever floats your boat."
"Convenient." Shining Armor nodded as he sipped. "So where do I come in?"
"Dude. Phrasing." Flash laughed.
Shining Armor joined in the laugh and held out his glass. "Shut up and let me hear about my alternate dimension fursona raw dogging your girlfriend." The two chuckled amicably as they clinked glasses and sat back on their seats.
Rarity and Sunset shared a look and rolled their eyes together good-naturedly. Men.
Sunset cleared her throat and looked into her glass. "Shining Armor and I weren't really that close. More associates than anything else. He was in a gaming club with my roommates Buttercream and Thistle. Since he came over every other day to continue their campaign, I got used to him hanging around."
Shining Armor's ears perked up at the word 'campaign.' "Wait. You guys have Ogres and Oubliettes too?"
Sunset nodded. "It's not as popular as it was twenty years ago, but it's still got it's fair share of players. Shocked the hell out of me when I got to this side and saw that even your box-art is practically identical."
"Please don't get him started." Rarity sighed dramatically, hand to her forehead. "If he begins waxing poetic about his latest adventures we'll never get to the juicy part of your story."
"Do you play?" Shining Armor directed his question to Flash, pointedly ignoring his girlfriend.
"Nah. But Micro tells me you guys have a good time."
"He's the best Dungeon Master we've ever had." Shining Armor knocked back his drink. "You know he's even bringing that girlfriend of his around these days? Aria something or other. She's started building her character and she's..."
"Darling!" Rarity snapped. "On any other day I would love nothing more than hear your fanciful recountings of wizard battles and cursed treasures, but tonight it's Sunset's story of conquest I'd like to hear."
Shining Armor cracked an embarrassed grin. "I love you?"
"And I love you. Now." She looked to Sunset and rolled her wrist in a 'get on with it' motion.
"Well it was their usual game day, but Buttercream and Thistle had neglected to inform Shining Armor that they'd volunteered to clean the lab that day for extra credit. I was under the impression that he knew, so I was just settling in to enjoy an evening of solitude with a single mare's best friends during heat season; a pint of ice cream and my right hoof. Next thing I know, there's a knock at the door. Even before I got there, I knew it was Shining Armor. I..." She blushed a little, and offered her former lover's doppelganger an embarrassed smile. "...I could smell him."
"It's not that rare of an occurrence, darling." Rarity was bent over the table, making herself another drink, but she paused to smirk at her boyfriend. "When he doesn't shower after the gym, I can smell him too."
"Hardy har." Shining Armor lightly swatted her on the butt, earning a surprised and pleased squeal from his girlfriend.
"So I opened the door and there he was, freshly showered and holding all of his O and O stuff. He seemed so upset when I told him that the girls weren't there, I invited him in to hang out."
"No ulterior motives whatsoever, huh?" Flash offered a wry grin.
"Look, the game was on the moment I opened the door. I said I could smell him. He very much could smell me. He knew what time of year it was. My little invite was just a necessary preamble." Sunset downed her drink and gasped with satisfaction. "He was on me from the moment I closed the door. He was... he was just great. Admittedly, I didn't have much to compare him with. But that first time? Amazing. God, and he was big. Just... built all over. His coat was so soft, and the muscles underneath were so hard..." Sunset grinned as she closed her eyes. "He pushed me down and mounted me right there on the floor. We didn't even make it to the bed. He was so big, so strong, I just... I just let him have me. It was... it was..." She trailed off when she opened her eyes and beheld her friend's expressions. All three were staring at her wide-eyed, uneasy half-smiles on their faces. "I got a little too into that, didn't I?" Sunset chuckled, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.
Rarity cleared her throat and playfully fanned herself with a hand. "Not...not at all, darling. I just don't think any of us expected your recollections to be so... vivid." She looked over at her boyfriend. "Did we, dear?" When he just continued staring, she elbowed him in the ribs.
Shining Armor winced and nodded quickly as he made to refill Sunset's glass. "Yeah. Very vivid."
Sunset looked over at Flash. "Are you still okay?"
The blue-haired boy finished downing his shot and set about pouring another. "Keep going." He rasped. "I'm fine."
Sunset couldn't help but giggle at her friends' discomfort. "Hey, you all asked for this." She accepted the glass gratefully, giving Shining Armor a meaningful look as she did so. "If you're half the lover my version of you is, then Rarity's one lucky lady. I don't know if it was the heat or the one who was giving it to me, but I never came as fast as I did that first time. He came right after I did, and then came the moment that every mare dreads. The... the... uh... the..." She stared up at the ceiling, her lips pursed. "I don't know what you'd call it. Once a stallion finishes inside, the heat dies down. You're able to think clearly for the first time since the need to breed started."
"Post nut clarity." Shining Armor and Flash said together, then clinked their glasses again in solidarity.
"Pretty much." Sunset laughed, then looked away wistfully. "We just laid there on the floor trying to catch our breath. I didn't know what was coming next. Was Shining Armor going to be one of those 'hit it and quit it' guys who bounced right after dropping his load? Or was he going to give in to the hormones and try to propose marriage then and there? Honestly... I didn't know which option I was dreading more." Her lips twitched into a sad smile. "I'd never had much luck with stallions. And Shining Armor... well, he was my first. I was in uncharted territory."
Rarity was practically on the edge of her seat. "Well? What did he do?"
Sunset looked at her first lover's doppelganger across the table and smiled. "He surprised me. He just rolled us over onto our sides and held me for a while. He chatted with me about stuff that was happening in guard school. He joked. He nuzzled me and rubbed me while I came down. It was the kind of aftercare every mare dreams about." She shrugged. "And then he kissed me. He wasn't my first kiss, but for a long time after that? It was the best kiss I'd ever had."
Flash couldn't help but wince at the way his girlfriend was looking at their host. "You... sound like you loved him."
Sunset shook her head. "Not really. You have to remember that I was still struggling with the concept of friendship back in those days, let alone bigger topics like romantic love. But he was comforting. And kind." She tipped her glass towards Shining Armor. "I didn't know how to put it back then, but he was my first real friend."
Shining Armor returned the smile and tipped his glass in return.
"And that was it?" Rarity pouted as she sat back on the sofa. "He tended to your heat and became your friend? A rather disappointing end, I must admit."
"Oh, that wasn't the end." Sunset tipped the last of her whiskey back and grinned. "After that? We started fucking on a regular basis."
Rarity matched the grin. "I see. Well, for someone who struggled with friendship, you certainly grasped the concept of friends with benefits easily."
"We both did." Sunset sat her glass down and curled her legs up under herself. "We were each the top in our class, and that kind of pressure needed release. I'd spend the night cramming for a test, then go get crammed behind the bleachers on the parade field. He'd spend the week mastering drills, then spend the weekend drilling me into my bed."
"Sunset's officially drunk." Flash laughed. "She's getting punny."
"We each had our favorite games to play. Mine was teasing. I'd make sure to be walking by the parade field while he was marching, making sure I was right in his field of vision when he had to stand at attention. Then I'd flash him my goods. Maybe play with myself a little if no one was around." She writhed a little on the couch. "I'd surprise him by winking into the barracks shower, go down on him for a minute, then vanish just as quickly."
"How cruel." Rarity's blush was across her entire face, and her hand had found its way to her boyfriend's lap. "I imagine you paid for that."
"With interest." Sunset confirmed, licking her lips without thinking about it. "I don't know which was better; him pouncing on me as soon as we were alone and fucking me like a toy, or teasing me with his tongue until I was a limp, drooling mess, begging for him to get inside me."
"Sounds like me and the horse have a similarly strong tongue game." Shining Armor smirked.
"Probably." Sunset looked to Rarity. "How is your boyfriend's tongue game?"
"Honestly? I need a refresher." Rarity jumped to her feet and practically yanked Shining Armor off of the couch. "I trust the two of you can handle yourselves for the rest of the night?" She looked at her man with hooded eyes. "I believe I've got a stallion of my own to take for a ride."
Shining Armor drained his glass and put it on the table. He have his girlfriend a once over, made a noise in his throat that sounded disturbingly like a nicker, and scooped her into his arms with practiced ease. "It's a shame it's too cold for the hot tub..."
"Oh, hush and take me to bed before I tear your clothes off in front of our guests." She hissed before claiming his lips.
Flash watched the pair go and shook his head. "I think your story really got Rarity's engine going."
"Not just hers..."
Flash turned towards Sunset just in time for her lips to meet his. He tasted the whiskey on her breath as she kissed him, and he welcomed her gladly when she clambered into his lap and started grinding on him. His hands found her hips and latched on as they rolled, and he groaned at the delicious friction building between them.
Sunset broke the kiss and lay her forehead against his. "Do you want to know how the story ends?"
Flash could only nod, though what he really wanted was Sunset's tongue in his mouth again.
"He fell in love."
"...With you?"
Sunset laughed. God, he loved her laugh. "No. With a certain princess who moon-lighted as a foal sitter. We agreed that what we were doing wasn't conducive to the wooing of royalty, so we called it quits. It wasn't too long after that I made my way here. Where I met the most perfect..." She pecked his lips. "...Loving..." Another peck. "...and dedicated guy."
Flash couldn't help but grin. "Sounds great. Do I know him?"
Their united laughter was swallowed by another heated kiss, this one broken only so Sunset could pull her shirt over her head and toss it away. "Can I ask you a serious question?"
Flash paused in his kissing of her neck and fiddling with her bra strap. "Now?"
"It's just..." Sunset sighed. "My story. It didn't make you uncomfortable, did it?" She grabbed Flash's face in her hands and looked at him hard. "You know that I'm not hot for this version of Shining Armor. Right?"
Flash smiled gently. "I know. But yes; it was a little weird to hear you be so... enthusiastic about your old fuckbuddy. But I'm not gonna lie." He rolled his hips, letting her feel the tent in his jeans. "It was also kind of hot."
"Oh really?" Sunset smirked as she reached behind herself. Her bra went slack and slipped down her arms, joining her shirt on the floor. "Well then, maybe I should tell you the number one reason human sex is superior to pony sex."
"It's the hands, right?" He chuckled as he used said appendages to cup his girlfriend's breasts.
"No... though the hands are pretty great." Sunset moaned. She looked down and smiled. "It's the fact that stallions can go, at best, two or three minutes before they pop." She leaned down to lick his ear. "Think you can beat that?" She whispered.
His answer was to swing her down onto the couch, her laughing all the way.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Outside, the blizzard raged.
Inside... four hearts blazed.