Chapter Fourteen: What's In Your Head?
✧❖☬❖✧
I closed my eyes and opened them to see a world of greys, burnt and wasted while remaining whole, almost as if untouched by the curse that had obviously been laid upon the land. All of it: Every piece of the glade I found myself in was cold and grey, and so was I. I looked at myself as if I were standing across from me, seeing two images at once while only seeing through one set of eyes. It was disconcerting at first, but I grew used to it as I realized that I was seeing both the light and the darkness simultaneously, seeing all while seeing nothing at all. Within the copse, there was no source of light, for everything was grey, and every tree was lit as if the Sun itself was shining down directly overhead, but when I looked up to the charcoal grey sky, there was no Sun. Only a never ending expanse of nothingness.
As I meandered through the forest, wandering aimlessly, I recognized the vision for what it was. If it proved to be more than a dream, then I would need to have my wits about me, but even as I thought about it, I was covered in armour and the forest grew darker around me, the shades of grey deepening and becoming somehow richer. A feeling of dread overcame me and I took to the trees as best I could, but there were no low hanging branches for me to climb upon, and all of the trees were too thick for me to shimmy up, so I had but one choice: Run.
And run I did. I ran at a decent clip until I heard the baying of the Hounds. I knew what they were, and I knew even as I ran from forest to swamp what was going on. The dread that had settled into my stomach drove itself into my bones in a sudden snap of brutality and took my strength from me in but a few moments. I willed my body to move; begged myself to get up and keep going, to prolong my fate for as long as possible, only to be tossed into the air by a set of jaws that rent the entirety of the back of my left leg off. I howled as I flew, saved from further savagery by clinging to the branch of the tree the Hound had thrown me to. It didn’t save me from having my left foot bitten off, but I still managed to get into the tree once it was gone.
The only time I could recall being in so much pain was when I was flushing Kiop from my system, the poison that nearly killed me. My entire body had felt like it was being torn apart at that point, but actually being torn apart was far, far worse. The pain was too real for it to be a simple dream. The raucous barking of the Hounds too loud for it to be so simple as that. I had to save my life the old fashioned way if I didn’t want the indignity of being eaten alive to happen to me. I’d been disgraced in the past, but none of that was important as I desperately tried to balance on the branch I’d pulled myself to with my one foot. The pain was enough to keep me going, the adrenaline pumping through my veins with a burning fury. It was enough to get me to a higher branch, but with the amount of blood I was losing on top of having just made my heart pound like mad meant that I was too exhausted to go any higher.
Again I willed my body to move, tried to spit up the acceptance I was choking down as fast it was being poured down my throat, making a bloody stink about it while I was at it. Again I did not prevail. I did, however, manage to see that my blood had color, but it wasn’t red. I bled blue for some unknown reason; a bright, greenish blue that I might call turquoise if I actually knew what real turquoise looked like. It was one of the rarer precious stones in Avalesce, but it was mostly because the coloration wasn’t in style. Ever. Aside from my pretty, pearlescent blood that dripped down, I finally laid eyes on my assailants and immediately wished that I hadn’t.
They were Hælhounds. There was no doubt about it. They themselves were made of greys, but the exposed ribs that were barely covered by their mangy, wiry fur were coated with an orange light that glowed from within their bodies. The light didn’t spread, but I noticed that all of them glared up at me with vibrant, deep red orbs in their eye sockets. The bare flesh of their maws was taught on their muscles, and their teeth all appeared to be a steely grey, razor sharp and ready to rend more flesh from me as they pleased. I wasn’t looking forward to falling, so I swung myself over the branch and balanced as best I could with my half-leg. As my eyes grew heavier and heavier, I saw the Haelhounds jockey for positions under my leg, catching each drop of my blood as it fell rather than just waiting for me to fall.
In a manner of speaking, my essence gave me power over them. They needed me whereas I needed nothing from them. They would go hungry if it weren’t for me, and I could make them go hungry, and that brought me a grim satisfaction. They wouldn’t get my flesh in the place with no breeze; no air. As I thought of that, I realized that there was no breeze. I wondered if I just had to create one, so with my rapidly draining strength, I started twirling my index finger and summoning my Mana to the best of my abilities, the presence of Death itself being enough to make my mind sharp and clear, though the blood loss was doing its best to make that reality a dream. Still, I had the mind to whip up winds that spiraled into a vicious tornado that made the Haelhounds lose their footing, and after a minute of me slowly fading into the grave, the damnable mutts fell back to the ground from about fifty feet up, all of them turning to dust as they impacted against the ground. My eyes didn’t last long enough to see the last Hounds fall, but I heard them all the same and that brought a slight smile to my face.
Once again I opened my eyes, but now the world of grey was Amaretta’s room, and the pain was gone. Instead, I was inside of a Mare who was laying on my chest, happily snoozing away. I couldn’t tell what time it was since the light didn’t seem to matter at all, but there was one thing I had to do. I bit my finger, piercing it on one of the canines I’d sharpened after ripping a man’s throat out with them, and squeezed it to see what was going on. Instead of bleeding turquoise, I bled a glistening silver that seemed to glow as it traveled down the digit, confusing me slightly. It didn’t matter since I was alive, but I didn’t particularly care that I was alive. Nothing made me want to get out of bed. Nothing made me want to wake Amaretta and tell her that she had bad morning breath. Nothing made me want to roll out of the wet spot either. Knowing that trusting another person was going to get me stabbed in the back one way or another, or that failing tests made to make me fail were going to get me arrested for heinous crimes. Or permanently maimed. Either one.
I sat and breathed for a while, thinking of what I was supposed to be doing, but I was already doing it. My partner had come to collect me and we were going to start basic training later, though I didn’t know how long later was going to be. I either spaced out completely or fell to sleep and didn’t dream because Amaretta stirred in my arms before propping herself up to give me a kiss, my member still not quite leaving her. I returned the kiss because the physical contact gave me warmth, which made me realize that I felt mildly chilly, but that was about it. She started bouncing along my length slowly, her juices trickling down my shaft as we started sinning all over again.
✯☾Ω☽✯
Irate doesn’t begin to describe it. Apoplectic is nowhere near it. I was worked up into a paroxysm of distilled fury, but I couldn't do shit against ‘It’. I couldn’t step in and rectify the bullshitthat had occurred because Garrison himself had let it happen, so now his Hell was his world. Instead of raging on like I normally would have, I entered the Gathering Place, the castle that connect all universes, and went to my office at the top of the million foot tower. Crimson was already there, but when he started speaking, I held up a hand and started pouring for two tumblers. Bourbon was my drink of choice for good times and bad, but for rage, I sip rum. It was a special spiced rum that was only available on Th‘lulu, and it had been made from the last Fedwak tree that still bore fruit, so it was a special rarity, even across all universes. I took my seat and gestured for Crimson to sit across from me by sliding his glass across the table.
“Speak.” I said coldly.
“Max, you know my job sucks, Bud. You know I don’t like doling out shit like that, but-”
“Crimson Tide, you literally tie the strings of Fate together.” I sipped my rum.
“Yeah, but do you know what that entails, Max? It’s bureaucratic as buck! There’s so many little nitty-gritty details to go through that-”
“Crimson. You have the power of a Creator. Do you need help? Do you need someone to help take the weight off your shoulders?” I asked.
He gave me a frustrated look. “Come on, Max. I can do the job, I just clumsy sometimes is all! I mean, I have to handle the fate of every single being in the Universal Collective, so what else am I supposed to do!?”
“Stop spiting me, for one.” I replied, my tone lethal.
“I’m not-”
“Then why am I here, Crimson Tide.” I wasn’t asking.
He glared at me. “You didn’t tell me what Fate’s job was, Maximus. You told me that you wanted me to fill the position. I filled it. It buckin’ sucks.”
“What did you think Fate did, you absolute child? What the FUCK DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO!?” I roared. “You knew. You knew what you were getting into, and you fuckin’ can’t say a fuck motherin’ word on whether or notcha did because ya fuckin’ got the info straight from Fate and me ya dozey bloody fuckin’ pillock. You can’t sit here and LIE TO ME about me blindsiding you because you knew. You knew and you agreed.” I bore my teeth at him as he glared at me, our eyes filled with tears. “I told you about every piece of suffering that I had to witness. I told you about every Fate I’d ever even thought of over the course of decatillions of years, and you. Fucking. Agreed. Did you not? Did you not accept the mantle, Crimson, because right now I’m hearing that you’re done with it.”
“I am done. We’ve been friends for too long, Max. If you can sit there and tell me that I haven’t suffered-”
“Did I fuckin’ say that? Did I say a fuckin- Crimson don’t put fuckin’ words in my mouth. Your memory is bloody perfect, so get your shit straight, or get it split.”
“So you can what, Max? Replace me?” He asked, curling his lip. “So you can stick another dumb son of a buck in my spot and hope that he lets you go so he in turn can hope that he gets let go eventually, right? Because that’s what the system is, Max. That’s what this system is at its core, and you don’t even see that.” He scoffed and sipped his rum. I saw him swallow and that was all I needed.
“You’ve given me the longest reign in the history of the Triple Sixers. You’re going to live that, Crimson. You’re going to live. Every. Moment. All because you didn’t think that there was a rule that said I couldn’t replace you until I was either deadly certain that you were fucking me over or, and this is the stupidest fuckin’ ‘Or’ you’re ever gonna hear you spiteful cock-sucking bastard, but you can’t be replaced until I am. Have fun in Smileton, Crimson. I hope you enjoy the trip.”
Crimson paled and his hands shook. “You can’t be serious.”
“You think I wanted you to suffer just because I was? You thought I just wanted you around for the fuck of having my best friend at my side? No, I offered you the position of Fate itself because you were a worthy guy who could’ve lasted more than long enough to get a successor. Tch. I gave you ultimate power, power over me, and you fucked me, Crimson. You couldn’t have driven the knife any fuckin’ deeper.”
“... Buck me. No. No. No. No-” Crimson started, clutching his mane, watching me with wide eyes.
I glared at him coldly and raised my hand. “Are you ready?”
“M-Max, don’t do this! We- We’re frien-” His voice cut out at the exact moment my middle finger touched my palm.
“Be seeing you later, old friend.” I spat hatefully, slamming the rest of my rum and his because I needed a fucking drink.
I switched to bourbon on my walk out of the Gathering Place and Time touched down next to me, a glass of wine in her hand. I spared her a glance and stopped my walk, giving her a level stare. “Wotcher, Blackberry.”
“He did not know, Max.” She said sadly.
“I wish he would’ve.” I replied.
“Maximus, my pupil… You’re mad.”
“Noir, what what was I supposed to do? Let him keep making us both suffer? Let him make us both outlive everyone else? Because Twilight’s damn near as old as I am, and she’s been more than ready to go since her second reset, and that’s because she got a fucking Torch Bearer. Crimson refused to let me die and he suffered for it. That’s all there is to it.”
“You could have broken that one rule-”
“Noir, for the love of Me, I break one rule and fucking riots break out! You know why Sh’ Ara was so damn straight-laced? Why he was such a pain in the arse about the rules and following them to every dotted ‘i’? Because he fuckin’ had to be. If I break rules, even just a little one, three hundred and thirty three of the Triple Sixers are going to flip their shit, and a third of them are going to buck fuckin’ wild on everyone else! The last time a Maximus Omnium broke a rule, there were six. Six. Single. Worlds. Left.” I stared her in the eyes. “Sh’ Ara himself was one of the last few people to survive on his planet. He wasn’t made into a Creator because he passed the tests, Noir. He was made into a Creator because there was no one else. Every Creator besides the final one, the Maximus Omnium who broke the rule in the first place; gone. No one knows where they are because they aren’t in the Void, or the Ether, or the [Word intranscribible], so where did they go?”
“... They live on, do they not?” Noir asked softly.
I nodded. “I can feel them on the edge of Existence, but they’re Nameless Abominations now, Noir. They’re creatures of the darkest kind; the Elder Gods whose names are unspeakable acts of heresy. You can be banished there, but no one can live out there, Noir. It’s impossible.”
“I can only look into the past for as long as I have existed, so I will have to trust you on this, but… Maximus, will you be honest with me?”
“I’ve never banished someone like that. I know exactly how many abominations are out there, and I know why they’re out there. Nothing any mortal or immortal could ever do to offend me would make me send them there.” I said honestly.
“Existing outside of time must be… Terrifying.”
I looked her in the eyes and she blanched. “Only I have that honor. Everything is beholden to time, stroke for me. Even you will become a distant memory, but my name’s already in Heaven Central. A part of me exists out there beyond Existence, but it’s not a part of me that I have control over.”
Noir’s face fell as she realized what I was saying. “... Holy shit.”
“I know.”
“Maximus, holy shit!” She seized my shoulders. “You cannot be serious.” Her voice shook like she was the one facing my Destiny.
“I am, and I’m well aware.”
“... Let me take over as Fate.” Noir requested.
“Then who’s going to be Time?” I asked softly.
We snapped to in the same moment. “I can’t ask that of her.” I said immediately.
“You don’t have a choice.” My former mentor murmured, looking around. “You have to, Maximus. It’s the only way it’ll be guaranteed!”
“There’s no ‘guarantee’ that she’s going to set me free, and even then-”
She slapped my shit and shook me. “We’re avoiding that path entirely by you asking Roxanne to make one more sacrifice for you.”
“Noir…” I said quietly. “I can’t ask her to do that.”
“Then who? We don’t have time for you to bring Fancy Pants through to the Triple Sixers, and even then he would most likely spite you and get you… Max, it’s either Roxy or Twilight.”
I glared at her. “I’ll appoint the next Fate and it will be neither of them. Are we clear?”
“We are not.” She growled. “You will bring us all to ruin if you do not choose, Maximus. Either you have someone fill my spot so I can help you, or-”
“You can’t do shit because you know about the rule, and I’m not scuttling either of them, Noir. You can’t ask me to choose between my heart and my soul.”
“Cut out your heart and your soul will live on.”
“Rip out my soul and my heart keeps beating, but what is life without one or the other?”
“Survival.” She said coldly. “Think on my words now: Ask them not of what they would want for themselves, ask them what they would want for you.”
“... They’d both do it in a heartbeat, Noir. I can’t-”
“You have to.”
… I really hate being wrong, but I was, and I knew it. If I didn’t choose between forcing Roxy to live on past her expiration date or asking Twilight to live longer than I have, then every universe in The Collective would be completely and utterly erased. Existence would blend into non-existence and the universes would be divvied up all over again, but this time without a Maximus Omnium to rebuild it all. I could either lose my soulmate, Roxy, the woman who was crafted from myself, or I could lose my heart, Twilight, the woman who reminded me to have love and compassion for all living things most of the time. Roxy was the woman crafted for me, and Twilight was the woman who I’d bonded with time and time again over everything.
The only thing I could do was wait it out and hope that choosing wasn’t going to be the option I was left with.
₪ღ✮ღ₪
Waking up with a cup of coffee being pressed against my cheek was weird, but even weirder was the fact that I woke up in Fluttershy’s bed, fully clothed, and with no recollection of how I’d gotten there. I did know, however, that my skull was splitting down the fucking middle, so I took that cup of coffee and drained half of it in one go without looking at the person who gave it to me. As it turned out, it wasn’t Fluttershy who gave me the life-giving brew. Instead it was Harry the bear, though how he’d managed to give me the cup, I don’t know.
“Thanks, Bear-homie. Any idea where Fluttershy is?” I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
He grunted and snorted.
“Ah, right. I forgot about the slumber party. Thanks homes.”
Harry nodded and walked away and I wondered what in the shitty tiddies just happened. It wasn’t something to be concerned about, I don’t think, so I didn’t pay it much mind and looked around at Equis-Fluttershy’s room since I didn’t remember seeing it. It was frilly and girly all over with all sorts of shit that I didn’t give two fucks about. Other than the massager on her nightstand, that is. I was tempted to see if it was for the front door or back door, but I really didn’t wanna be wrong, so I left it alone and followed Harry out of the room, heading downstairs to get more clothes for the day. My head still hurt like I’d been slapped with a hammer, and I saw the fuckin’ culprit just chilling out on the inn table in the living room. That damned bottle of whiskey had set me up to drunkenly stumble into Fluttershy’s room, and I vaguely remembered the thought process that was involved in last night’s decision making.
The first thing I wanted to do was smoke a fucktonne of grass because Fluttershy kept a lot of it to make tea, so I did that thinking that the whispers Catherine had been giving me were going to come in handy. She’d been telling me that it was a good night to get fucked up, and my idea of getting fucked up involves a lot of weed, but then I remembered why I started drinking, and I went from drinking water in the kitchen to sipping form that bottle of fucking whiskey again. Being alone made my heart ache because I knew he was gone, and I’d known it since my third day in the Everfree. I’d just been hoping that Tyler had made it through whatever Max put in front of him, and with Fluttershy helping to keep me busy, the ache didn’t feel too bad.
However, Catherine had advised me to get super sloshed on top of being blindingly high because she thought I wasn’t close enough to suicide for her liking. Being high made sure that I didn’t see through her facade, and when I realized that she was tricking me into giving myself alcohol poisoning, I stopped drinking and started looking for Fluttershy because I was drunk. I remembered finding her bed empty and thinking that it was a good idea to wait for her there since it was night and she was going to need to sleep, but I passed out because I couldn't think of why she wasn’t coming. I took out Flitch, my haunted-ass knife and started pulling down the shades in Fluttershy’s house so I could actually bear to look around. Having photosensitive eyes might be a bitch in a blizzard, but it’s great for night vision and it’s a side effect of being alive long enough to bitch about it, so I can’t really complain.
Fluttershy came home around an hour after I woke up to find me casually day drinking in her living room. She either didn’t pay attention to my beverage of choice or didn’t think it was odd. “Good afternoon, Jay. How are you?”
I looked her in the eye and gave her a little smile. “I’m doing better now that you’re back. I have some sketchy news for you, though.”
“O-Oh- I-I mean… What’s wrong?” She asked tentatively.
I made a face and scratched my head. “I may or may not have gotten incredibly drunk and slept in your bed.”
Fluttershy just looked at me.
“Look, I know, I’m sorry, but I was apparently looking for you and I thought that since it was night that you’d be in bed, but you weren’t there, so I sat down and waited for you to come back because I didn’t remember the slumber party thing and I kinda passed out from there so please don’t be like, super mad, because I’m tellin’ ya that regular mad is enough, like-”
“Jay?” Fluttershy asked.
I took a deep breath. “Rambling?”
“Y-Yeah. Look, J-Jay… It’s okay.” She said bashfully.
I frowned and rubbed my face. “Still. I shouldn’t have even been in your room without your permission, and I’m sorry for that, Flutters.”
She gave me a little smile and drew her wing so she could preen her feathers. “I-It really is okay, though…”
“... If you say so.” I said uncertainly.
Flutters swiveled on her hips for a few moments, a blush slowly growing on her face along with that adorable little smile until she was grinning to herself, lost in her own little world. Then, out of fucking nowhere, her eyes shot open and her face grew to a bright, full red that seemed to glow before she fucking sprinted out of the room and up the stairs, the heavy sound of her foot- Er, hoofsteps, I guess, sounding through the first floor ceiling. I heard a crash and cringed since it sounded like Fluttershy running straight into something and then some mad scrambling shortly thereafter. I was a ‘little’ worried about her, so I jogged up the stairs to find Fluttershy cramming something into her nightstand before sighing.
When we locked eyes, her face flushed all over again and she asked, “D-Did you s-s-s-see th-that?”
“See what?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Ah, good.” She sighed, relieved.
“Oh yeah, so what was that weird looking thing on the nightstand? It kinda smelled like biscuits and butter, but it tasted like-”
“Oh my gosh! You put it in your mouth!?” Fluttershy cried, embarrassed beyond words.
Oh yeah. I’m fuckin’ witcha hard. “It smelled good so I thought it was gonna taste good. It rather did, to be honest with you. I don’t know why you use that thing to spread butter, but I’m sure it works better for you than it would for me.”
Flutters stared at me for five hilarious seconds before steam came out of her ears and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. She fell onto her bed, luckily, so I didn’t have to race over and catch her or anything, but I did have to make sure she didn’t fall off of it, so I went around to the other side and shifted her legs so that she was properly lying down like a normal person. I thought it was hella amusing, though I was a little concerned after she stayed down for two full minutes. I started trying to rouse her by tickling her, through that just made her squirm slightly. I tried peppering her face with little kisses and that made her smile in her Jay-induced slumber, but that was it. When I kissed the corner of her mouth, she still didn’t wake up, so I just planted another on her lips to see if that would do the trick.
Much to my surprise, Fluttershy is actually stronger than a fuck. A fuck can be very powerful, and Fluttershy made sure that I knew she was on par with a pretty high level fuck by snaking her fingers into my hair and holding my head so I couldn’t break the lip-to-lip contact. Try as I might, I couldn’t get off of her, so I tried the one thing I thought wouldn’t get my slapped too hard. I grabbed one of Fluttershy’s breasts with intent to cause pain, which got her to wake up and ‘Eep!’, making her let me go and scramble away while I panted to get my breath back.
As she covered her chest, Fluttershy ‘glared’ at me with tears in her eyes. “J-Jay! H-H-How could you!”
“One sec.” I took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as I could. “Hot holy fuck, Fluttershy. Do you, like, not need to breathe or something?” I asked, holding my hand to my aching chest.
“... Whaa?” She kinda asked.
“You fainted for whatever reason, so I put you on your bed, but you weren’t really tryna wake up. I tried like, shaking you, tickling you, and covering your face in little kisses, but you just brushed me off, giggled a little, and smiled in that order. I figured the old ‘Sleeping Beauty’ trick might work, so I puckered up and went for it, right? While you were ‘sleeping’,” I used some heavy air quotes and gave her a pointed look, “you grabbed my hair and wouldn’t let me move. Trust me when I say that the only reason I’d ever hurt you is if you directly were trying to hurt me. Even then I’m not gonna like doin’ whatever you make me do.”
“... O-Okay, but d-did you really have to squeeze so hard?” She asked pitifully, massaging herself with her forearm instead of her hand.
“I kept adding pressure until you ‘woke up’,” Sprinkle in some air quotes here and there, “so yeah. You kinda made me squeeze that hard.”
“... I… J-Jay?”
“Yes, Flutters?” I asked patiently.
“... Are you telling the truth?”
I looked off to the side for a moment and thought before looking back to Fluttershy and nodding. “I didn’t shake you very hard or very long, but that’s mostly because your face looked kissable. That’s the closest thing I’ve said to a lie since I started talking.”
“... W-Why d-did you think a k-k-kiss w-would wake me up?” She asked carefully.
“It works in the fairy tales and you’re as pretty as a Princess, so maybe my shot in the dark would hit its mark. Did the kiss actually wake you up, or were you actually just waiting to see what I’d do?” I asked, folding my arms.
“I-I j-just… I-I-I mean, I wasn’t a-a-awake, p-p-p-per s-se....”
“Were you dreaming?”
She blushed. “Y-Yes…”
“Do you mind if I ask what it-” Fluttershy started nodding rapidly before I could even finish speaking, and even then her face was a bright, florid red. “Okay then. We’ll just go back to what that weird blue thing was on your-” She shook her head, her eyes wide as she practically spasmed to and fro. “Nevermind.”
“C-Can we just pretend that nothing happened after I c-came upstairs?” Fluttershy asked, giving me the most potent Sad Face I’d ever seen on anything.
“Oh dear Max above, someone shoot me up with fiddy CC’s of insulin.” I clutched my chest. “Holy shiet! Fluttershy; stop looking at me like that. You’re gonna make me do stuff that I really wanna do and you’re not gonna be able to make me stop hugging you.”
“I-I’d like a hug from you…” She said softly.
I wasn’t wearing shoes anyway, so I tackled her since she was on her bed and she ‘Eep!’ed in the most adorable fashion while I started peppering her face with more kisses, letting the final three land on her lips, extending the last one just a little longer than I probably should have due to Flutter Magic. “How wassat?” I asked cheekily.
Fluttershy gave me the same dopey smile she wore a lot whenever she was daydreaming. “Ah~”
“I’m guessin’ good. If you like that, just wait until the free back rub coupons start rolling in.”
Her eyes shot open and she beamed. “Back rub!? Y-You’d do that for me!?”
“If you want one, just ask.” I pushed myself away from her and sat back on my heels. “I don’t know how to do wings, but I’ve been told that my back rubs are pure Magic, and that was before I had Magic.” I wiggled my fingers at her and gave her a goofy grin.
“C-Can we do it t-tonight? I-I mean, I-I don’t want to m-make you feel o-obligated or anything…” She propped herself up and gripped her skirt, looking down at her hand and back to me in short glances, her gaze mostly focused on her hand.
I wanted all of her attention at the moment, so I reached for her trembling hand and held it with care. “Fluttershy, any reason to be with you is a good reason to me. Other than literally being thrown into jail or some shit, but still. It’d suck less if you let me hold you while we were there.” I gave her a warm smile and she flushed all over again.
“... I-I’d be…” Fluttershy mumbled something lower than even my Thrall senses and Super Sanity could pick up. She most likely just mouthed the words, but I assumed that she said ‘happy’ somewhere in there since I saw her ‘say’ happy.
“Was that a ‘happy’ right there? I wouldn’t be disappointed or anything if it wasn’t, but my preference is doper than the other choice. Much doper. It’s the dopest. Deadass. Dope as fuck.”
“Th-That sounds really… Um… Dope?” Fluttershy giggled anxiously.
I gave her an odd look. “Do you even know that dope means ‘good’?”
“Oh. Oh… That’s good.” She said blankly.
“It would be very good if you were happy. That’s what I was trying to say.” I explained since she still seemed lost.
Flutters blinked twice and tilted her head slightly, her brain seeming to have deflated before she blinked a third time to reveal none other than Shade Rose. “Hello, Jameson.”
“Hey there, Shade. How ya doin’?” I asked, trying to be civil. Shade had been creepy as fuck and more than a little foreboding, but it wasn’t like she’d actually threatened to beat me or anything. I’d had more abusive relationships, to be honest. One more to the pile wouldn’t hurt as long as it was ultimately for the one I wanted.
“I am doing fine. You have caused Fluttershy’s mind to shut down due to excessive stimulus. She has rarely been so aroused without estrus aiding in said arousal.” Shade informed an informationally informal informification of her words into my ears through to my brain.
“Sweet. That’s a real ego boost right there, but Flutters prolly don’t need to know I know that.”
“I agree. She is currently trying to process what flavor brown is and how it feels, but I am here to fill her position. Do you wish for intercourse?” Shade Rose asked in a way that was pretty fuck-in’ similar to how a coworker would open a box of donuts and ask if you wanted one.
“That was so damn casual I almost said yes.” I replied frankly.
She raised a brow. “Then your answer would be no. This is not a disappointment, but a failure to be learned from. I will acquire the skill to inquire about coitus in a manner most blase.”
“Why do you want to do the no-no cha-cha? Like, is it because you actually like me or is it-”
“Sex is a powerful weapon.” Shade interrupted. “By luring you with my honeypot, I could sweeten the idea of building a Coven with me.”
I pursed my lips and raised my brows before making a ‘Pop’ with my lips. “Aight. So, in order of importance; aforementioned honeypot ain’t yours, so let Fluttershy and I actually develop a relationship before you start trying to sex me up. Flat out. Next thing: What’s up with the Coven shit? What sucks about being a Daywalker? You get to live a semi-normal life and that shit? It’s super dope. Do you get shot at very often? Ah, what am I saying, of course you don’t. That’s because not doin’ shit to get put down is actually really fuckin’ dope. Trust me, living in the shade of society sucks-”
“How old do you think I, Shade Rose am, Jameson?”
“... Not Fluttershy’s age.” I sighed.
“You are correct. You assumed that I was born of Fluttershy’s transformation, yes?” She asked, her tone bored and her face neutral.
“Eeyup.” I admitted.
“Do not assume that. I am older than Celestia.”
“Well fuck.”
“Fuck indeed. I ask that you not presume to speak to me as if I were your junior.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, Granny Shade.”
Shade blinked lazily, rolling her eyes. “Fluttershy would stop me before I hit you, but I can do much worse than inflicting simple, physical pain.”
“Yeah, please don’t do whatever it is that’s in your ancient, possibly evil mind. It’d make me sleep better after heavy day drinking.”
She gave me an odd look. “... Would not the drinking to sedate you enough?”
“Only if I get blackout drunk. That’s chronic daydrinking. That’s when you have a serious problem.”
“You worry me.” Shade said flatly.
“Don’t worry. I’m not horribly unlucky for long periods of time, or at least I don’t think I am. Considering the past three months of my life, you could make a damn fine case for either a’ them sumbitches.” I thought about it a little too long and laid down, my eggs scrambling under high heat.
“Rise, Jameson. Now is not the time to sleep.”
“I need some fuckin’ Valium. I miss Valium. It was so nice to me.” I muttered to myself. “That nigga prolly ate my script the second he decided to become a Harem King. Dumb muhfucka.” I flipped up my sunglasses and dug through my past since I can go back as far as I’ve lived. It wasn’t just me either; I could do the same thing with everyone, but most of the Pinkies I’d met told me that it was generally a bad idea unless you knew what you were looking for.
I dove through time and located my last memory of Ty, placing myself at my right side during the moment he swung the first punch. I could see Catherine’s hands on my shoulders and a portion of her face near my ear, so I was basically at my own personal Ground Zero Mark II. The day Twilight swore that she would kill Ty if he didn’t shape up in her presence or start acting like a decent guy in general. It was one of the shittiest memories I could have dredged up, but recent is better when you’re linking through to someone else’s past through a memory, apparently. I knew how to do it and I knew the theory pretty damn well (Lunacy. It’s pure Lunacy, but it makes sense if you break your brain too hard.), but I’d never actually done it before. I tapped Ty’s forehead and checked for the last memory he had of my script, and I wasn’t surprised to find that he’d eaten most of it while we were separated.
However, temptation is as temptation does and I found myself at an impasse. It would be no problem for me to simply continue along Ty’s ‘stream’ and find out how he died, but… I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to know for certain how badly I’d failed that piece of shit. I stepped back and took the easy route because I could rationalize it better than I could justify seeing how my brother was killed. As I turned to come back to reality as most people understood it, there was a bold motherfuckcicle with their hand on my wrist who almost got clocked until I saw those baby blue eyes.
“Hell’s bells, Pinks. Whassup?” I lowered my fist and chilled.
Arcadia’s Pinkie gave me a sad smile. “You have to, Jay.”
“I’ll tell Max to spank your punk. Ass.” I tried to free myself from her grasp, but she didn’t allow me to move.
“The sooner the better, Jay.” Pinkie murmured kindly.
I glared at her. “Didn’t your insanity ever teach you not to interfere with other people’s timestreams? You oughta be ‘shamed of yourself.”
She gave me a dull look. “I can throw you into the memory and lock you in or you can walk in, Jay. We’re in a place where it doesn’t matter when things happen as long as they happen. This is a thing that’s supposed to happen.”
“Bruh.”
“Do you want a hug?”
“Can I save it for later?” I asked wisely.
Pinkie gave me another wistful smile. “It won’t be so bad on the other side. I Pinkie Promise.” She offered up her appendage as payment.
I licked it because fuck you pay me, and Pinkie hooked her pinkie around my tongue. “Eel.” I said because I couldn’t really say ‘Deal’.
Pinkie giggled and caught a floating piece of cotton candy to dry her finger with. “Alright, Jay. Go forth and face your fears!”
“Swear to God I’ll bearhug you if you tell me to laugh.” I deadpanned.
She looked down and I let out a shaky chuckle, letting the tides of Ty’s memory take me forward into the week leading up to the day he died. Ty had finally been released from his brainwashing and had scooped up a fine cadre of women to live off of, and he often spent his days visiting between them, screwing their brains out for a night in their bed, and eating their food. He was a glorified gigolo, is what I’m sayin’ here. Playa goin’ play and all, but it’s not respectable, and I know for damn sure that both of our Moms woulda disowned his sleazy ass at that point. Hell, he looked every bitta like Pops to my eyes, and when Twilight bust down his door one day in a righteous fury, I couldn’t say what I felt about it.
Twilight took my brother back to Canterlot after subduing him like he was a brittle boned child. The beating she gave him was savage to say the least, and every little crack I heard made me flinch a little harder. I knew Ty wouldn’t say a damn thing about mercy, even as Twilight abused him, working him over like she didn’t happen to be half his size. Once in a dark, private room, Twilight cast a lighting spell and revealed a laboratory full of shit I really didn’t want to spend much time looking at. Dissected brains floated in jars while various appendages and limbs were showcased on different walls in different types of preservation fluid. There were plenty of potions strewn about the rooms as well as arcane devices that carried the fused Magicka-Technica aspects of Arcadia, but with a sinister aura about them. Things didn’t bode well for Ty, especially not when Twilight strapped him into an odd machine that forced his limbs to unfurl.
“Where is he.” Twilight asked lethally. “Where is your brother?”
Ty smirked at her.
“I don’t think you realize that Jameson was the only thing keeping you alive. He’s been pronounced dead. Tell me, Tyler, do you think that you’re here because I intend to kindly ask where my Jamie is?”
“Bitch, even if I knew where that pussified, punk-ass, limp-dicked pissboi was, I wouldn’t tell yo’ cracka ass. You prolly jus’ miss peggin’ that ass dontcha? Miss ya bitch?” Ty taunted.
Twilight drew a knife and smiled. I’d seen that very same smile before, but for the first time I could see the visage of Sleipner rearing behind her. The days that followed… I stayed for all three of them. Twilight turned Ty into an abomination beyond all other, sewing fully working limbs onto him after cutting all of his own off. She forced him to watch through two other people’s eyes as she cut his manhood off before gelding him, and I forced myself to stay for the entire event. For once in his life, Ty begged for mercy, and it was at the hands of a woman who was supposed to have loved me, and the worst part was that I knew that there was no better life for him afterwards. Ty was going to Hell so his soul wouldn’t be recycled, and he’d died in the most horrible fashion I could have imagined. For some odd reason, I found that funny. I’d protected Ty for so long, prevented him from dying so many deaths only to find that the one time he’d finally pushed hard enough to push me away would be the worst fate he could have possibly faced. It was fucking laughable, to be honest, so I laughed. I laughed myself out of the memory and into Pinkie’s arms because laughing wasn’t making the pain fade like it was supposed to.
Life was made of suck and I hated it, but the hug made me feel a little bit better. “Was it as bad as you thought it was gonna be?” Pinkie asked softly.
“Pretty much.” I chuckled.
She squeezed me a little tighter before letting go to give me a warm, caring smile. “You know I’m here for you whenever you need me, but you can go and talk to Shade Rose about it if you want.”
I laughed at that too because I didn’t want to talk to Shade Rose. “Maybe.”
“She’s a really good listener, Jay. She can help you in ways that Fluttershy can’t.” Pinkie said kindly.
I chuckled some more. “I don’t want to be in her debt.”
“You’ll have to figure something out.” She gently pushed me backwards and I fell back into reality, snapping upright.
“Fu-uck.” I wheezed.
“Jameson? You mentioned something called ‘Valium’? I could obtain this for you.” Shade Rose lied.
“Ah, no. Valium doesn’t exist here, but I could use a hug or some affection.” I gave her a wide smile that I wasn’t feeling.
“Hmm. You’ve lost your mind completely now, haven’t you?” Shade asked.
“Little bit.”
“Then feel free to come here.” She opened her arms.
I gave her a pleasant hug that smelled more like spiced lemon cake, thinking about what Pinkie had told me. It was probably for the best to have a working relationship with Shade since she was a part of Fluttershy. “Can we talk for a little while? Just get familiar with each other and that kinda shit.”
“... Your smile is disturbing. Please quell it.” Shade requested politely.
“I can’t feel my face.” I informed helpfully.
“Do you require comfort? This is not my specialty, but I can make an attempt.” Shade said, placing a hand on my thigh.
“I just saw my ex-lover slash abuser torture my brother to death over the course of three days, knowing that me leaving him, by not being a little more patient, I could have kept him alive. Might not have made him go out like that. I knew damn well I was the only thing keeping that boy alive and I left.” I chuckled at that since it was stupid.
“I see. Why did you leave him if you knew the circumstances were so dire?”
“He pushed me away. Ty made it clear that he thought he didn’t need me and I let that rile me up.”
Shade opened her arms again and gave me a little smile. “Come here, Jameson.”
I gave her another hug, but instead of it being a normal hug, Shade turned into smoke and appeared behind me so she could hold me. I wasn’t surprised since I’d already kind of known that it was going to happen and I wondered if I really was starting to become more like Pinkie. “This is nice. I shoulda asked you to hold on to me in the first place.”
“You should have. I am good at physical comfort, but emotional comfort is not my forte. Should you desire sex, feel no hesitation in asking.”
“Is it more for me or for you at this point?” I asked, settling into her embrace. It wasn’t terribly warm, but it did smell like she cared, and that’s what I needed at the moment.
“I suppose you could say that I long for the touch of a man.” Shade admitted. “Do not allow this to influence your decisions, however.”
“I can do you a little favour if you need a little relief. It’s not as satisfying as the real deal, but it might help.” I offered.
“I accept. What do you ask for in turn?”
“Nothing much. Just let me know when you want me to do the thing for you and we’ll get started.”
“Would now be too soon to ask?”
I chuckled at that, my heart aching. “Of course not. Let’s get the pleasure train a’ rollin’.”
✧❖☬❖✧
“That’s the ticket, Suede! You know, you’re not a bad shot with a bow!” Amaretta complimented after I landed shot after shot on target.
I wasn’t a Ranger quite yet with my skills, but I could reliably hit the inner two rings of Amaretta’s target, though I didn’t know what color they were. “Say that when I’m hitting one of those rings with consistency.”
“Oh, posh! You’re just being all bashful, aren’t you?” She teased, bumping me with her shoulder.
I looked her in the eyes and said, “I couldn't care less. I just need to learn this to survive.”
Amaretta patted my chest. “Don't be such a sourpuss, okay Suede? I promised you that we’d go and get started all over again if you could keep it on the target, and you didn’t even miss! I mean, we’re not exactly far, but your average Unicorn or Pegasus would have trouble with even just drawing that bow!”
I raised a brow at her. “Humans are weaker than Earth Ponies in most cases, but I think we’ve got Unicorns and Pegasi beat.” I shrugged. “Wanna go have more sex now?”
“I thought you’d never ask!”
And so we did, and my heart was as empty that time as it had been the first. I didn’t care about Amaretta like I did Maud, but then again, I didn’t want to see Maud again either, so I just humped and dumped until Amaretta asked me to stop. It was simple to fuck and fuck until my pelvis hurt and my breathing grew ragged, but when I tried to leave to go do something other than have sex, Amaretta insisted on following me wherever I went, though I was just going to Twilight’s to learn more Magic. I was fine with having her come along anyway, so it didn’t particularly matter, I just wished that she didn’t talk so much on the way over.
When I knocked on Twilight’s door, Naisyn answered it with a smile. “Hi, Gauche! How are you, Dude?”
“Doing fine, Spike. Is Twilight at home at the moment?” I asked.
Naisyn gave me an odd look and said, “Yeah… Are you sure you’re alright? You sound like you’re under the weather.”
Amaretta scoffed and hugged my arm. “Please, Suede is just fine. He’s just not feeling his best is all.”
I shrugged, trying to send Amaretta a hint that she didn’t take. “Like she said, I’ll be fine.”
Naisyn gave me a dubious look. “Whatever you say, Dude. Twilight’s downstairs if you want to introduce your new friend.”
“You do mean the Princess, right?” My partner asked.
Nai nodded. “Yeah, Twilight and Gauche have really hit it off for some odd reason. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was about to have a new older brother!”
“It’s a good thing you know better, then.” I deadpanned. “We’ll talk later, Spike.”
“Sounds good to me! I’ll be in the library looking for some more books on Wind Magic for you if you need me.” Naisyn gave me a toothy grin and a casual wave before heading off to go do what she said she’d do.
I took Amaretta downstairs and we saw Twilight at one of her worktables, so I called out to her from across the room and Twilight looked back. “Oh! Hi Gauche, I wasn’t expecting to see you today since we had so many problems yesterday.”
“I’ve worked out a few of the kinks. I can reliably get myself up into the air now, for all the good it does me.” I replied, coming closer.
“Ah, Gauche, be careful! One of those rune circles activated itself and I’m still trying to figure out which one. If you want to head upstairs and wait for a little while, I’ll be right with you.”
I stopped and waved. “Then I’ll be upstairs. See you in a moment, Twi.”
“See you soon!”
And with that, Amaretta and I went back upstairs and we both found books we wanted to read in the library. Amaretta picked up some series that seemed like it’d be for young adults called ‘The Ranger’s Squire’ and I picked up another book on Wind Magic and its limited uses, but by the time I’d cracked into it, Spike had two more books for me to read on advanced Wind Magic, so I checked them out and there was an interesting spell in one of them. The spell would allow you to sense your surroundings by letting the wind blow around you, and the spell itself was called ‘Ill Winds’, which was a fitting name for if you wanted to know if you were surrounded. I memorized the rather simple spell and thanked Naisyn for finding it on my behalf, which made her giggle and blush for some odd reason I wasn’t really trying to worry about. About two hours later, Twilight came out of the basement and offered to take me outside of town so we could practice new Wind Magic like we had yesterday and I took her up on her offer, to which Amaretta jokingly groaned and asked if I was just going to stand around all day like I had the night before we’d actually met. I told her that we were actually going to be doing some interesting things, and Amaretta had her doubts about that, but she kept them to herself.
On the walk out of town, Twilight said, “So I heard that Maud broke up with you…”
I nodded. “She did.”
“... Gauche, are you okay?” She asked, concerned. “I don’t want to be nosy, but you don’t sound like you’re okay.”
“I’m as fine as I need to be, Twilight. What kind of magic did you have in store for me today?” I asked, changing the topic.
Twilight was adamant. “Gauche, you can trust me to keep your feelings to myself. It’s okay to be upset with Maud for breaking up with you during such a tumultuous time in your life, you know.”
“Twilight, I’m not upset with Maud.”
“Then why do you sound so… Well, you sound a lot like her, to be honest with you. It’s like all the Magic inside of you just collapsed in on itself!”
“That’s not it.” I shrugged. “I’m just a little down about losing her. I’ll get over it soon enough.”
“That’s right, Your Highness! Gauche has me now, and I’ll turn the frown upside down, just you wait and watch!” Amaretta said cheerily.
Twilight gave her a big smile. “You said your name was Amaretta, right?”
“Sure is, Your Highness!”
“Then I’m glad you’re Gauche’s partner. Do you know Maud Pie at all?”
Amaretta blushed. “Well… To be honest with you, I know her pretty well. We used to be best friends, after all.”
“Oh? What happened?” Twilight asked.
Amaretta sighed. “She stopped writing me one day. All of a sudden my Pen Pal up and vanished into thin air like she’d never written a letter in the first place, and then the next thing I know I’m being assigned to Ponyville instead of my hometown, Jolly Junction, and I never got to actually meet her. I know what she looks like and who she is, but we’ve never actually met.”
“She’s a charming woman once you see past the placid exterior and see into some of her mannerisms and nuances. She’s like a fine vanilla-roasted coffee: You’re not going to notice the hints of flavour unless you have the tongue for it.” I said passively.
The two women accompanying me stopped, so I kept walking before turning to see that they were now jogging lightly to catch up with me. “G-Gauche! I-I thought you’d be really bitter about Maud leaving you.” Twilight said when she caught up.
“Yeah, the way you talk about her, ya wouldn’t expect us to be together.” Amaretta said irritably.
I gave them both mild looks for their words. “Just because it was a bad break up doesn’t mean I have to spout hatred about the woman who’s done me no wrong. Maud helped me through some tough times and I owe it to her at the very least to keep a civil tongue while talking about her.”
“When you put it like that, you’re just being mature about the whole thing. I guess I’m more used to ponies around Spike’s age breaking up rather than people as old as you.” Twilight chuckled.
“I’m not that much older than you.” I pointed out.
“You’ve got six years on me, Grandpa.” She giggled.
“Oi! I’ve got a year on him, so does that mean you’re calling me Grandma?” Amaretta asked playfully.
“If the shoe fits…” Twilight replied, grinning.
The pair of them laughed as we walked and talked about a myriad of things that I didn’t give two shits about, but their incessant droning gave me plenty of time to do some introspection, and most of it was about Amaretta and taking her as my new ‘partner’ since I needed her to not. There was nothing in particular I needed her to avoid doing, I just needed her to… Not. I needed her to not try to fuck me constantly and I needed her to not try and fill the Maud-shaped hole in my heart, but what I mostly needed her not to do was try and be mine. I didn’t want Amaretta like she wanted me to want her, and I knew it was because she’d nearly gotten me maimed and had been generally untrustworthy, and trust matters when you’re dealing with a thief. I would keep her on a short leash and feed her with a long-handled spoon to the best of my abilities, but I didn’t know exactly where my abilities lie at the moment since everything was awash with grey.
Except for Twilight’s eyes, that is.
I’d noticed earlier, but hadn’t commented on it, despite the fact that Twilight’s eyes stood out to me like nothing else in the world. I could see into the windows of her soul and I knew what she was thinking just by looking, the inner workings of her mind laid bare for me to see. Amaretta’s eyes didn’t hold the same quality to them and remained as colourless as the rest of the world, but Twilight? There was something special about Twilight, and I was wondering what it was until we ran into Ladesa, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and another young woman who must have been one of Apple Bloom’s friends at first glance. My suspicions were confirmed by Applejack during introductions, but the main thing I was paying attention to was the fact that I could see the colour of Ladesa’s eyes, Applejack’s, and Apple Bloom’s as well, though Sweetie Belle’s eyes didn’t seem to have any color to them. I figured that the color of someone’s eyes was directly related to how much I could trust them since Ladesa’s amber irises were practically glowing along with Twilight’s, but Applejack’s were just normal, everyday green. It was an odd find, but the information was valuable to have, if that was the information I was being given in the first place, that is.
We didn’t stop to talk for very long, but that’s mostly because Ladesa wanted to have a word with me in private, so we ducked down an alley and kept an eye on the other five ladies. Once we had them in sight and were out of earshot, Ladesa said, “Gauche, this shit is some big news, and I do mean big.”
“Lay it on me, Raspberry.” I replied easily.
“I’m being accepted back into Godsholm.”
I looked at her. “... Are you serious?”
Ladesa gave me an uncertain smile and nodded. “It’s what Mum’s sayin’, yeah. She says I’ve got my Voima back already, I just gotta find a place to draw the return circle and I’m golden to go home. I mean… I’m excited, but why is this happenin’, Gauche? What’s your take on it?”
I shrugged. “Don’t you want to go home? Isn’t there something you wanted up in Godsholm?”
“My hoard is waiting, and Mum says she can’t wait to see me in person, but I don’t know what she would have sacrificed to make me return, Gauche. There has to be something she gave up so I could come back, but I don’t know what it could have possibly been!” Ladesa chewed on one of her nails and gave me a concerned look. “You don’t think she’s layin’ a trap for me, do ya?”
“From what she told me, she just wanted you to do well. I guess you’re getting a second chance.”
“... You really sound like you don’t give a fuck, Bruvva.” Desa sighed.
“Ladesa, you have your mojo back, right?”
“Yeah? What of it?”
“Can you check me for something? Something’s not right, and it hasn’t been since the day I woke up after Maud dumped me.”
“... Oooh, yeah, you might just be heartbroken, Bruvva.”
I looked at her. “Damn near everything I’ve laid eyes on today is grey, Ladesa. The only colour I’ve seen in the past twelve hours have been yours, Applejack’s, and Twilight’s eyes.”
“... Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Ladesa stared at me blankly. “... Yeah, I don’t know what would do that, Bruvva. Wish you the best of luck with it, though.”
I nodded. “Are you sure you can’t check to see what’s going on?”
“My Magic doesn’t work like that. You wanna go invisible for a little bit or go unheard in whatever you’re doing, throw up a prayer and I’ll cover you for sure, but I can’t exactly do a spot check on you.”
“Thanks anyway, Lover. I know you just fed me a bullshit sandwich, but I honestly don’t give a fuck right now.” I shrugged and walked off.
Ladesa followed in a snap and grabbed my arm, a conflicted look on her face. “... Gauche, I… Bruvva, what do you want me to do here? I’ve gotta get my face back, my whole life! I can’t just let it slip away!”
I looked at her calmly. “Then don’t.” I shrugged her off and rejoined the others shortly thereafter.
Ladesa took her time in coming back, and by the time we split up again, I’d heard all about how Spike was the cutest ‘boy’ on the block and that both of the younger women in the group wanted to date him or at least see him more often. Twilight promised to tell ‘Spike’ about their interest and they wandered off by themselves, giggling all the while as Ladesa and Applejack continued their day doing their own thing. Amaretta and Twilight started talking about the outfit that Ladesa had been wearing and Amaretta mentioned that Ladesa had the arse to wear a nice skirt or something of the sort, but Twilight informed her of Ladesa’s modesty.
“So what’s the deal with her anyway? She obviously knows Suede better than anyone else, so what’s the catch?” Amaretta asked Twilight.
“There is no catch.” I answered. “Ladesa is a sister by Covenant to me and that’s all there is to it.”
“Are you sure I don’t have to be worried about her stealing you away from me?” Amaretta teased. “I mean, I know I’ve got tail for days, but that little minx has the perky bottom every red-blooded Stallion wants a piece of!”
Twilight giggled, blushing. “Ladesa really does have a nice butt, though I think you have about as much to worry about from Ladesa as you do from me. That Mare is definitely something, but I think she might be a bit… Sweet, shall we say.” She giggled a little harder after that.
“What?” I asked, trying to at least feign interest in some fashion. “Are you saying that Ladesa licks ladies?”
“Well, I don’t want to give anything away~” Twilight sang merrily, adding a few little hops to her steps.
“Oh-ho-ho, with that manecut?” Amaretta said, sounding rather chipper herself. “That Mare has to be some kinda gay. I’m just wondering if your friend Applejack is going for her.”
Twilight giggled and replied with, “I think it’s already happening~”
I raised a brow. “Curious. Tribadism is looked down upon in Avalesce. A woman as old as Ladesa should be ashamed.”
Apparently I killed the mood. “... You don’t like gay people?” Amaretta asked.
“That’s not what I said. Ladesa is a Demi-Goddess. She’s over eight hundred years old. It was only four hundred years ago that the Avalesch stopped lynching people for tribadism on pure mannerism-check. Some people still hate tribads, or rather, gay people with some passion. I am not one of those people, but I imagined that Ladesa would have been with her given age.”
“... Your sister is how old?” She asked.
“Around eight hundred. She’s not really sure herself since Avalesce wasn’t always called Avalesce and it’s had a few calendar changes.”
“... Wow. I can’t imagine being that old. She must be half as old as the Princesses!”
“Yeah, she’s older than shit.” I commented.
“... You need a hug, Mate.” Amaretta stopped me and gave me a hug.
Twilight looked on and smiled. “Aww, you’re already more affectionate than Maud was!”
I stared at Twilight for a moment and patted Amaretta’s back casually. “Yeah. The extra hugs are nice.”
Amaretta giggled and gave me a peck on the cheek. “They’ll be even nicer when we get back home and finish up with training for the day!”
Twilight didn’t get it, but she smiled anyway and said, “At least you’re being taken care of by a cute Mare. A lot of Stallions might be envious of you, Gauche.”
“Oh, I think more Mares might be jealous of my catch! Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome right here is more than meets the eye, you know.”
“I know, but I still can’t say that I find Gauche attractive at all, but maybe I’m just into more masculine Stallions?” Twilight teased.
I could feel them waiting for me to respond, but I didn’t particularly care to answer that. “How much longer ‘til we hit the edge of town?”
“Not much longer, Love. We’ll have you blowing things around in no time!” Amaretta promised.
I nodded as Twilight said, “Gauche? Are you feeling okay?”
“Probably not. I can keep going for as long as I need to though.” I replied.
“Oh… Um... Okay?” Twilight said. “Gauche, what’s wrong?”
I looked at Twilight. “I woke up this morning and the world was grey.”
“... We’ll look into that.” Twilight said slowly. “There honestly isn’t much I can teach you about Elemental Magick that you can’t get from just reading about it. I mean, it’s a pretty straight forward art, but we need to get you checked out as of yesterday.” She whirled around, grabbing my hand and leading me back toward her house.
“Your Highness? What’s going on?” Amaretta asked.
“I don’t exactly know, but it’s worrying to say the least.” Twilight answered gravely. “I remember what it was like to have the colour sapped out of my world, and it was horrible!”
“It’s droll to be sure.” I said calmly. “Life is kinda bland at the moment.”
“Oi!” My new ‘lover’ objected.
I looked at her. “The affection is pretty decent. Your fur is especially soft.”
“That’s what I thought.” She huffed.
Twilight didn’t comment on that, but she did say, “Amaretta, can you stomach a teleportation?”
“I can do it just fine, Your Highness.” Amaretta said proudly.
Twilight stopped us and had the three of us join hands. “Alright, so we’re going to do a little hop on three. One. Two,” She bent her knees so Amaretta and I followed suit, “three!”
We all hopped in the air and landed in Twilight’s library. Twilight landed with a loud clop and Amaretta landed with a soft one, but I didn’t make any noise because I’m good like that. “There we go! Alright, Gauche, let’s get you tested for any spiritual or magical abnormalities.”
“Right. Say, Twilight?” I asked.
Twilight started heading off toward her basement. “Walk and talk, Gauche!”
“Right.” I followed closely. “Are we gonna get this done fast enough to go train with more Magic?”
“Maybe. We’ll see how quickly we can assess the problem.”
“Fine by me. Hey, Amaretta?”
“Yes, Love?” She replied sweetly.
“When’s our first mission?”
“Oh, we’ll probably get something in a week or two. You never really know, to be honest with ya.”
“Fair enough.” I said nonchalantly. It was alright to know that I had some time to firm up my grasp of archery and marksmanship before shit went down.
With my questions asked for the time being, our trio headed downstairs after Twilight told Naisyn to expect some odd noises and I should have been worried about that, but I wasn’t terribly interested in that. As we headed down the stairs, Twilight informed me that we were going to be doing extensive testing and at that point I cared so little about it that I don't even remember all of what we did. However, I do remember the final test and the deep, bone-chilling feeling that I got from it, as well as the paleness of Twilight’s face as she read the results. Twilight covered her mouth and shook her head slowly as if she could change whatever she was reading, but apparently the truth was there for her to see.
“... Gauche…” Twilight said softly.
“What’s wrong, Your Highness?” Amaretta asked interestedly.
“... Gauche’s Anima is either so weak it can’t be detected or it’s just gone.”
“My what?” I asked.
“Your Anima. The life you live besides your waking life. The you that exists in dreams and the life hereafter. It’s gone!” Twilight said, panicking.
“Oh. Sounds bad.” I commented.
“It’s horrible news, Gauche! I don't see how you’re so casual about this!” Twilight nearly yelled, freaking out.
“If you mean something along the lines of me losing my soul, then I probably don’t give a damn because I feel nothing. It’s nothing personal, Dearest.” I replied casually.
“Ah. Yeah. Right. That… That sure would do it.” Twilight nodded numbly.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
“... Garrison Varas, you are hereby arrested into the custody of Princess Twilight Sparkle. You are not to leave the premises under any circumstance unless accompanied by me. Is that clear?” Twilight said authoritatively.
I found it adorable. “Cute. Absolutely adorable. My heart actually feels- Ah, it’s gone.” I sighed. “It was nice though.”
Twilight looked at Amaretta with tears in her eyes. “Send a message to Celestia. I’m not going to let her force a Stallion to live his last days working his fingers to the bone and risking what little time he has left in the field.”
That caught my interest. “I’m guessing that you’re not saying that I’m the perfect picture of health.”
In that moment of grief, I saw it on Twilight’s face. She did resemble Aria in the shape of her eyes. I’d seen that same look of fear and loss when I’d told Aria about my first few missions for the Thieves Guild. It wasn’t a look that boded well. “Gauche…”
“Yup. I’m dying. Fuck-in’ lovely.” I muttered.