//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Experimentation // Story: Shaded Hearts // by Salzpriester //------------------------------// „So, this is it then. Everything in place, so far so good“. The changeling stood in front of a mirror, a final check if everything was in place and ready. „Last chance to weasel out now…do I really think this is a good idea, I mean, if somepony were to question my reason behind all this I wouldn’t really have anything reasonable to defend myself. It’s like a personal death wish, only much, much weirder and sluttier“. Taking another look in the mirror, his reflection showed a dark-grey changeling stallion with an orange mane, completely natural and undisguised, the way he was born and looked like all the time, all while wearing a black Maid uniform with a white skirt, completed with a huge white ribbon and a blush that almost made him look like a ladybug. Shrugging it off, he turned in all directions to see if he was suited and ready to go. „I do look rather silly, and submissive“, frowing he continued his monologue, „come on Cyrax, they have a silly dress up theme tonight, you bought this only to confuse these ponies…remember. I mean, who would expect a changeling in a maid uniform, seriously“, bursting in laughter, he took a moment to regain his composure, „But hey, I can’t wait to see all the surprised and confused looks on their faces“. „And even if it goes out of hoof, I can always shapeshift“, giggling one last time Cyrax looked at the clock as it read midnight, „Good, they started an hour ago. Time to go, I guess, now where did I put the map again?“. Searching around in his stuff, he quickly found the map of Hollow Shades. He had taken vacation here, in the capital city of the batponies, right in their homeland of Nocralya. To clear his thoughts and to get to know something completely different for once, and since the relations between batponies and changelings are rather well, at least not sworn enemies, who could resist this change of scenery for once. „Ah right, so I just have to go here, then take a turn left and then right. At the plaza, right again, mmhmm…mhmm…hmmm, and there, right. Perfect. Oohhhh, this is going to be fun“, giggling one last time Cyrax went for the door and walked outside. Greeted by an illuminated city, he began to walk towards the only club in Hollow Shades, on normal occasions it would only be open during the daytimes, hence batponies were nocturnal by default, so partying till dawn was rather reversed with them. But since there was an event tonight, which was scheduled on Saturday, they made an exception for visitors and honestly, most ponies don’t work on weekends. Cyrax coudn’t fly there because his suit didn’t have holes for wings, but a nice and calm walk through this city would be welcoming. He met many ponies on his way, some showed him weird looks, others cheered for him. Making his way down to the west district of Hollow Shades, he eventually found the club, titled ‘The Early Bat’. How ironic, he thought. Hearing rather dense but catchy music, Cyrax made it towards the entrance. Lucky for him, there was no line, and the security, who was easily a head taller than him, gave him a sceptical look, „Are you sure you want to enter like this? “, while pointing a hoof at the changeling. „It’s not that I would deny you, but“, awkwardly scratching his head, he contuinued,“Naah, it’s nothing, go on ahead“, he stepped aside to let him pass. As the music got louder, Cyrax heard him say „Have fuuuun~“, in an almost seductive way. Shrugging it off as imagination he walked further inside. At first he was overwhelmed by the rather rich and neatly designed interior of the club. The entire ceiling had been covered in countless lights wich emanated a dark pink, but not entirely purple light, the walls had been dyed black, which was usual for Clubs, but more so often he could see fancy mirrors who were curved in a way that changed your reflection to make it look really silly. There were a lot of disco balls hanging from the ceiling, but unlike disco balls, they were mostly out of glass, which did make for a nice combination in the pinkish light. It didn’t reflect as much, as to be annoying, but enough to make a nice atomsphere. Upon entering, Cyrax saw two curved stairs leading down to the dance floor, he decided to take the left one. There weren’t as many ponies as he’d expected, but that meant more place to shake and dance. All the while, the music had been complementing the enviroment really well, Cyrax had trouble pointing the genre but it felt very funky and ‘wanting to move’, his knowledge of music wasn’t very good, to say the least. Reaching the lower level, he found the main bar of the club, situated between the two stairwells. There were much more sideways on the upper level, which probably led to the restrooms, he assumed. Up front, right across the bar, he saw the main DJ responsible for these awesome musical pieces, a batpony, which didn‘t suprise him. Overall, Cyrax was very impressed so far, the scenery and the music were working together amazingly well and the amount of ponies were just right, ocassionally one would bump into him by accident. In most situations they would complement him on his outfit, one even called him cute after giving him a surprise boop. It was in this moment that Cyrax first realized that there were a suprising amount of stallions here, only every tenth pony happened to be a mare, and they all seemed to be taken already. And a very large portion of these stallions were also dancing with other stallions in a way that showed everypony else that they were closer to each other than just ordinary friends. „Well, some ponies are known to embrace this kind of relationship, no need to worry. As long as everypony has a good time“, Cyrax thought to himself, while gulping. He had started to sweat due to his nervousness. Calming down, he trotted back to the bar and ordered a drink. „Come to think of it, the entire theme in here kinda looks A bit, gay, hrmmmm, whatever suits them I guess. I don’t have anything against them, supposed to be pretty nice and understandable, as long as nopony tries anything I should be just fine“, he thought while the barpony gave him his drink. Taking a sip from his ‘Knaze Kolada’ Cyrax walked back to the dance floor, he found himself a neat little place off the side and began to dance, letting the music do most of the work as he tried to find a nice dance rythm. The music was very catchy he had to admit. Dancing amongst changelings is rather rare, considering their Stick-Up-The-Butt attitude, their culture amongst these kind of things, being noble, fancy dresses, dancing styles, music, you name it, was rather non existent. Cyrax found himself trying his best to find a rythmic solution, which transcended into his moving limbs. It did not always work and dacing in this thing was a pain in the flank, but something about the music just wouldn’t let him stop. Losing himself in the atmosphere, he failed to notice a set of eyes that had been watching him silently from the distance. *********** „Wee…hell.., would you look at that. Is that a changeling? No, it can’t be, or, is it, this outfit does look a little too real“, the mysterious silhouette thought. Getting up from his seat, it continued to watch him. Covered in a dark area of the bar, one set of deep blue eyes scanned every part of the changeling, from head to hoof, from front to rear end, the latter receiving a lot of attention. Purring, the silhouette began to grin „A stallion, and a cute one too. And all that packed together in a maid outfit like a present. My, oh my, what in Equestria is going on here? Is somepony playing a prank on me here, because this would be one prank worth biting into. Just too sweet to be ignored“. The silhouette began to walk into the pink light oft he club, covered in a dark grey coat, his wings folded back to his sides, a masculine batpony emerged, quickly fixing his purple mane the batpony stallion began to walk towards the changeling. Trying to get his attention, as to not surprise him, the batpony began to dance himself in his direction, trying his best to match the dancing style. At first, the changeling didn’t seem to realize him at all, but as he grew more persistent, the changeling gave him more of his attention. „Good“, he smirked. Breaking the ice, the batpony ignited the conversation. „Hey there. I’ve been noticing you from back there“, pointing a hoof at a small corner to his left. Both of them had stopped dancing and he now had the changeling’s full attention as he continued. „I thought that you dance rather nice, mind if I join you?“, he smiled back at him. Putting a hoof at his own head, the batpony continued, „Oh, where are my manners. Terribly sorry. I’m Chester, nice to meet you“. Reaching a welcoming hoof out to the changeling, Cyrax returned a small nod but refused the hoofbump. Chester was surprised when the changeling turned him down and walked away, but he wouldn’t give up this easily. Breaking into a dance again he quickly catched up with him and began to dance around him. „Oh come on, I haven’t even gotten your name. I’ll buy you a drink if you tell me“, Chester gave him a warm, yet expecting smile. „I’m not interested“, was all that came back as a response. Not breaking his dance Chester stopped dancing around him and instead began to just dance in front of him. „All righty, then. How about we just dance instead. You must be feeling pretty lonely all by yourself.“ The changeling was still in complete defense mode, he made it very obvious. „Maybe you could show me how to dance like you, it looks really nice and relaxing“, he said, before, to Cyrax surpsise, he began to roll on the floor and put all four of his hoofs up in the air, „pretty please...“, he said in a whimpering loud tone, that caught the attention of some ponies around them. Beeing embarrased by his silly behaviour, Cyrax quickly shushed him, „Okay…okay...fine…just stay quiet for Chrysalis’ sake“. Jumping back to attention, Chester let out an exciting squee and gave the small changeling a hug. „Wow, his fabric is soft“, he thought. „Thanks a lot, I’m super excited for it.”, standing at full attention one could see anticipation written on his face. As Cyrax began to dance, Chester tried his very best to copy his movements. After a while he learned the pattern and they began to dance almost simultaneously. Cyrax was having a good time, he could tell. Occasionally Chester would ‘accidentally’ bump his flank to see how he would react, the small „Eeep' was worth it every time. Dancing for, what felt like an eternity, they finally stopped. Panting, both of them leaned against the bar next to each other. „Woo…hoow, you’re really good, Chester. I take it you come here more frequently.“ Scratching his head, Cyrax decided to losen up a bit. „Sorry for earlier…I’m Cyrax. Nice to meet you“, he smiled. It took an immense amount of reserveness for Chester, not to hug him right now. He was so unbelievably cute and huggable. „The pleasure is all mine Cyrax, I’ve never seen you here before. I take it you’re new here, or you’re a tourist?“, he asked. „Yeah, nailed it with the second one“, he laughed. „I just wanted to visit this club, but somehow there are a lot of, well, special kind of ponies here, if you get my hint“, a small blush forming on his cheecks. „I didn’t expect that at all“. Stepping back from Cyrax, Chester looked at him with a half shocked, half sad expression. „O...oh, I thought you were…“, Chester said while stepping back even further. Then Cyrax began to put the pieces together. „W...wait, you’re“, Cyrax began to feel really sad for him. „I…I didn’t know…I“, looking down to himself he realized that his outfit probably gave off these impressions. „I’m…sorry if this made you think…“. Groaning in anger, Cyrax wanted to punch himself, „I didn’t want to do this...I...I wanted to prank ponies into believing I was gay…b..but I didn’t…thought, I…I didn’t want to…“, he was stopped by a hoof that was pushed on his lips to silence him. „You don’t have to blame yourself. How should you have known? I was way too aggressive and forceful“, putting his hoof back down Chester continued, „Listen, you look really gorgeous in this outfit, I mean it. If your barn door doesn’t swing that way, I am perfectly fine with it. I won’t push it any further.“ „But you should wear something more straight next time“, Chester giggled. „To avoid something like this ever happening again. There are many gay ponies here in Hollow Shades“, for the first time tonight, a slight blush appeared on Chester, rather than on Cyrax. „Soo...uhmm, could we dance one last time together, please? I promise, I won’t bump you on purpose again“, he asked. „W…wait, that was on purpose?“, Cyrax asked, shocked, but then giggled. „Sure, why not“, returning a smile, they continued to dance together for well over one hour. After the party was over, they both walked outside together. Chester and Cyrax almost had the same route home so they talked some more on the way. Parting farewell before the motel he was in, Cyrax waved a goodbye at Chester, and as he walked away Cyrax stared at his flank for longer than he felt comfortable with. Running up to his room like a mad pony, Cyrax threw himself on the bed and buried his face deep inside a pillow. Clearing his thoughts, Cyrax found trouble finding sleep. The sad part was not him, feeling bad for falsely deceiving Chester into believing he was into this kind of relationship thingy, but rather his own lewd thoughts surrounding him, and the omnipresent fact that he agreed to meet Chester at the club tomorrow again… *********** Cyrax felt his body temperature rising as Chester pushed him deeper and deeper into the bedsheets. Towering above him, the batpony had gently lowered himself on his belly and began to move his hooves up and down his body, almost petting him.Ocassionally planting kisses on his thorax, Cyrax could feel his soft fur, as more and more of his body began to brush against him, all the while still gently touching his armor with his hooves. Getting closer and closer to his face, Chester was now almost completely on top of him, as he began nibbling his ear in a playful, yet tender way. Cyrax felt his entire body tremble from this sensational feeling as he instinctively opened his mouth to taste the love that Chester was providing him with. It felt so pure, Cyrax’ body began to heat up even more, as suddenly something soft met his lips. As Cyrax opened his eyes, he could see Chester locking himself on him as his tongue entered Cyrax mouth. He felt his hoof backing up his head as Chester pushed on his mouth with more and more strength. Cyrax didn’t want this to end, so he began to wrap his hooves around him. Changing their positions, they began to curl up next to each other, while still maintaining their kiss. Cyrax was in total bliss as Chester began to cuddle him, holding tight but still very gentle, Cyrax began to run out of air. Gasping for it, Cyrax took a deep breath as he opened his eyes again to look at his lover. Wait, lover? Coming down from his pleasure ride Cyrax locked eyes with his oponent, who turned out to be himself now. Shocked, his doppelganger began to smile deviously as he began to talk, „Waaaakeee uuuuup!“. Letting out a scream that probably woke up the entire town Cyrax gasped for air as he jumped up from his bed, covered in sweat. His heart felt like it wanted to hit the road as a loud buzzing noise prevented him from hearing straight. Letting himself fall back on the bed, Cyrax was breathing heavily, he felt exhausted, the scenario he had just witnessed playing in his head repeatedly like a broken recorder. „W…What the buck. W…WHAT THE ACTUAL BUCK“, Cyrax began to scream in his pillow a couple of times before letting it go. „What the buck was that, w… why… why did I just dream that. What is wrong with me, I’m…I’m not gay. I..like…mares…right“. Taking the pillow back in his hooves, Cyrax began to hug it. „Calm down old boy, it was nothing“, closing his eyes, still feeling the warmth of the pillow in his hooves, Cyrax saw an image of Chester, seductivly lying on a bed, presenting way more to him than he had to. Throwing the pillow at the nearest wall, Cyrax let out a loud groan. Looking at the nearest clock it read 11 a.m. Perfect, the breakfast buffet had just opened. Had he really been sleeping for 15 hours? Walking down to the main dining hall, Cyrax needed to clear his thoughts, or shapeshift into air. He really didn’t want to be alive at the moment. Arriving at the breakfast area, he grabbed various fruits, moved to a table and began eating them. The mangos sure were delicious. Batponies knew alot about farming, they harvest all sorts of fruit and the weather conditions here in Nocralya, at least in summer, made for a very good point to cultivate them. Taking a sip from his raspberry juice Cyrax ate through melons and apples and finally, as he peeled a banana his mind started to get really creative and perverted. His cheeks reddened so much that a waiter came to him to ask if he felt alright. „M…me, yeah…I…feel good, I’m..just“, using fake laughs while beginning to sweat Cyrax looked at the batpony with embarrassment, he received confused and concerned looks simultaneously, which caused him to panic. It was a stallion. „E…excuse me, I really have to go, d..don’t worry…I’m fine“, trembling and shaking Cyrax stood up, „Really nice food you have…it’s very good, t...thanks, b..bye.” He made his way to the stairwell to get back to his room as the waiter collected his plate, the peeled banana still on it. Shooting one last look at the weird changeling, the batpony humbly asked, „ Do you still want that“, but Cyrax was already out of sight. Slamming the door shut behind him, the bed was the next destination for him. Cyrax’ thoughts were everywhere he’d never seen them before. All centered around this one Chrysalis-forsaken batpony. Snorting, he began adressing the bugbear in the room. „Am I gay….“, he asked himself as he laid on the bed, facing the ceilling. Scrunching his face he growled, „No…no…I’m not. I am into mares. Fact“ „But then, why do I think about him soo much.“ Pausing, Cyrax exhaled, his heartbeat growing normal again. „Because he is nice, very understanding, calm, extremly cute and strangely appealing to my subconcious.“ Hiding his face behind his hooves, Cyrax could still see the ceiling through his leg holes. How ironic. „Those dammed ears and…and chestfluff…and his eyes. Alright, that’s it“. Getting up and groaning Cyrax made it to a mirror and transformed into Chester, taking a peak at him….himself….whatever. Cyrax stood there for a long time, and going deep inside him he began to realize that Chester had become special for him. He liked him. Apparently, he did REALLY like him. But from a point of view, he was a very nice pony. Cyrax could really see them becoming good friends as he seemed to have some sort of connection to him, and the more Cyrax thought about it, the more he began to like the thought. Talking, doing things together. He would be the first, non-changeling, friend he would ever have. A warm smile forming on Cyrax’ cheeks, he was very happy that he agreed to meet him again. Some part of him almost coudn’t wait for it. Putting the pillow, he had thrown at the wall earlier, back on the bed, Cyrax made for the door, disgusied himself as to sneak by the dining area and to make it to the door. He would explore the town a bit, there was plenty of time, since the club would open up at 6 a.m. *********** Chester had been taking a stroll yesternight after the club. It was quite relaxing and refreshing, especially after Cyrax, to his surpise, had been asking him if they wanted to meet each other again. Was that a disguised date? He was so happy about this that he wanted to eat him, just because he found it so sweet. After he came home he had done some laundry, watered his flowers and, for whatever reason, had refurnished his home a bit, he went straight to bed at 12 a.m, which was pretty late for batponies. Purring slighty, Chester wrapped himself around the second pillow as he slowly nuzzled it. Batponies, hence their rather cold homelands but also because they are very social, share the desire for close body contact and just love to cuddle, then take this, and double it for Chester. After all, they were related to bats. „Mmmmmm…if only you were real. If you only had the slightest idea of how interesting and appealing you are, you silly bug.“ Pressing himself against the pillow, Chester tightened his grip. „Soo…exotic, and, interesting. Just….how do you smell, what are you into, what does your armour feel like…maybe even.…how you taste…“, groaning, he bit in the pillow, leaving bite marks on it. „Oh…shucks.“, another groan escaped his throat. „That stupid sexy changeling. Come on…it might be hard to accept...but he’s straight…accept it…and move on“. Almost moaning, he held a hoof in the air, expecting to be able to touch the cute changeling.“Just one small bite“, noticing a growing heat, Chester felt his blood pulsating in certain areas that were screaming for attention. Growling and blushing he let himself sink back in the bed. „Gotta take care of this one“, he sighed. Getting up at 8 p.m, Chester had slept very well, and after making his bed he decided to continue the book he had been reading on lately. A rather romantic story about a purple unicorn mare, who was tasked to strengthen the political relations between them and batponies, although it tends to twist the facts of reality a bit, it does so in favor of catering for a more exciting reader experience, Chester was just fine with it. And more than once had he caught himself replacing said unicorn mare with an orange changeling. Luckily, a clock spoke his language as it signaled him that it was time. Finally. Eating some joghurt, flavored with an assortment of bananas, mangos and blueberries, he took a quick shower afterwards and prepared himself for his Sort-Of-Date. Taking one last look at the time, he could not wait to go and meet him again. Eager to have a nice evening with him, Chester had to turn down his anxiety, dedicated to him, for the sake of having a nice night. Making his way towards the same bar as yesternight, Chester met one of his neighbours, who also happened to be homosexual but, lucky or rather unlucky, depending on the view point, he had a relationship. „Well, what do we have here?“, the rather tall, deep blue stallion exclaimed, while smirking. „If it isn’t Chester, how’s it going? Didn’t hear anything from you in a long time, is everything alright. You look like you’re in a hurry“. „Hey, Bernard. Actually, it’s going pretty well.“, as he wanted to continue, he was interrupted by Bernard, „Judging from the look, you are up to meet somepony. I haven’t seen this much anxiety on your face in a long time, hmmm“, his smirk has turned into a devious grin. Chester looked to the side, embarassed and blushing. Bernard let out a loud laugh, followed by a crushing hug. „That’s wonderful to hear, found yourself some cutie, I knew you’d eventually find one!“, Bernard exclaimed. „In this case, off with you. Go catch your prey, bugbear. If you need any help with positions, I’ve got a loooooooot of things you and him would love to try out“, as Chester began to walk down the street he, thanks to Bernard, was not feeling any calmer with himself as he sighed and thought about a scenario where Cyrax would show reversed interest in him. „No…NO…STOP…IT…YOU…PERVERTED…IDIOT“, Chester thought to himself, while banging his head on a nearby pillar. „Please let me live through this night without doing something I will regret“. Walking towards the club, he met Cyrax, who was apparently waiting before the Club. His heart made a jump of joy. Waving in his direction, Cyrax gave him a smile as they met. „Hey there, Cyrax. How are you? Slept well?“, Chester asked, while they gave each other a small hug. „C’mon…let go..you idiot….it’s too long…let go already“, he thought while not wanting to let him go. „Soo…umm….Yeah...this is me…without the dress and all…“, Cyrax said, pinkish red cheeks forming on his face. Seeing Cyrax, all untransformed and naked, Chester needed a few seconds to comprehend this new perspective. Putting a hoof on his shoulder, he gave the little changeling a warming smile, „You look beautiful, Cyrax.“ ‘You look so unbelievably adorable, I want to pick you up, carry you home, throw you on the bed, hug you, cuddle you, nibble your ear and do all kinds of other things with you. But letting you go is definitely not an option. You’re mine’, Chester thought. ‘Shut up, brain’. ‘You know you want him’. ‘SHUT THE BUCK UP’. Noticing a nervous smile on Chester’s face, Cyrax began to worry. „Ummm, Chester are you feeling alright?“, he asked, while gently poking him. Snapping back to attention, he gave an uneasy laugh. „Y...yeah.., it’s just a lot of things going on right now. I’m still surprised that you wanted to meet me again. It really means a lot to me, especially after our rather weird first meeting“, he replied. „Good, because I wanted to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind since this morning. But we should head inside first…grab something to drink“, Cyrax said, while blushing more. Cocking an eyebrow, Chester followed him, but quickly decided that walking next to him would avoid any more weird situations. Coming up to the security stallion they both got inside. Playing a nice variety of Jazz music, Chester noticed Cyrax stopping in track. „Surprised. They are always playing Jazz music on Sunday. I really like it. Do you?“, Chester asked him, while looking at his companion, squeeing. „It’s definitely something new. It’s interesting, very low paced and relaxing. It sounds very different from what I heard yesterday…night. It sure has some appeal to it“, he replied. Making their way to the bar and ordering drinks Chester was surprised when Cyrax walked straight to a table and sat down, a serious look on his face. Hesitating, Chester sat on the opposite side, „Soooo…you wanted to talk about something.“, he said, while getting physically comfortable and mentally uncomfortable. „Yes…yes I do“, Cyrax said, while looking him in the eye. „Chester, yesterday I realized something. Right after we parted, I….I had trouble sleeping, you know. I’m sorry for what I did to you, and the two of us had a rough start, but you seem like a nice, straightforward and reliable pony. I would really like to consider you a friend, especially after all the things that we talked about yesterday on the way home”. Looking back up to him, Cyrax showed a very serious face, yet a warming smile spread on his lips. “Chester, I like you. I know this feels pretty rushed and I barely know you, but….I…I just felt the need to tell you that, and I would like to make up for it someday. Maybe just start the whole thing anew“. Cyrax looked like he tried to keep something. Shuffling around he seemed to be very nervous. Was he keeping something secret? Cyrax began to grab Chesters hooves and started blushing furiously as he moved closer and closer to the batpony’s face. „Chester, I....I’m sorry if this is sudden and all…but I, I had some pretty weird fantasies with you in a dream last night. I kept thinking about you, it just wouldn’t leave my head and all. Y…you and I…we were doing some things that actually felt really nice…and all.”, shaking his hooves in embarassment as he corrected his former choice of words, “C…cuddling. Nothing more….eeep.“, he said, now really looking like a ladybug. It was simply adorable. Calming himself down, Cryax tried his best not to embarass himself anymore. Exhaling, he contuinued in a more serious demeanor, “Chester, I’m confused. And the irony is that I went in this bar with the intention of being the one who confuses, not the one being confused. I think I’m developing certain feelings towards you. And to my own surprise, I would not want to ignore them. You sparked an interest in me I didn’t know existed.” “We both don’t know each other for long, about twenty-four hours maximum…but as I said before, I like you. And I would like to expand that friendship with you because I think that we get along pretty well. So we could maybe change these twenty-four hours into something longer. I would really like that, partially beacause I could use a couple more friends. It’s not that simple as a changeling.” Quickly downing his entire drink in one swift gulp Cyrax steadied himself for the impending reaction from his companion. A surprising blush formed on Chesters’ face, as his mind had to accept what the changeling had just said to him. He could hear his mind yell out ‘Jackpot’, but right now there were other things he cared more about. Cyrax liked him, as a friend. Not as a one night stand, not as a device for initimate innuendos. He liked him… …as a friend. He wanted to form a friendship with him. Chester silenced his inner perversion swiftly, because he wanted that too. Cyrax was a very nice pony and there were plenty of things he would want to know about him. He said he could use more friends, and Chester felt like he himself did too. “Woohowww…that’s a bit much to take in, but I appreciate your honesty. Would really like to hear what the two of us were doing back in your dream~”, teasing the changeling like a thermostat rising to its peak, Chester gave him a very devious grin. Yet, stopping dead in his tracks he put on a more serious face. “Okay...jokes aside. I would be lying if I would tell you that I weren’t thinkin’ about you on more than one account during the last day. But aside from that, I really do like you, as a pony. And seeing you reach a hoof out to me this far, really moved me. I mean it. So how how could I possibly resist, one must reach out and grab it.”. Reaching out and grabbing an actual hoof from Cyrax, Chester now played a very, very bad pun. “I would like to spend more time with you so we can get to know each other better. We could maybe take sightseeing tours together or play some games, dance some more”. His anxiety rising quickly, as quickly it began to deflate again. “But….you don’t live here…right. You were just here on vacation…right...that’s sad.”, letting go of his hoof and looking back to Cyrax one could visually see how sad he was. “How long did you plan on staying here, if I may ask?”, he asked. “Well, that’s kind of the problem”, Cyrax stated, scratching his head awkwardly.”I would depart on monday noon, I am going to leave with the fist chariot you batponies offered me, so this…this is my last night here ”, his response made Chesters’ heart sink very deep. “I…I see, so you’ve seen pretty much everything our town has to offer, I guess…”, flashing images of yesternight jumped across Cyrax’ eyes as he was once again, hurting him unintenionally. To his surprise, Chesters’ mood lightened up quickly as he gave him a warming smile. “I might just know one place you’ve likely not seen before, a secret hilltop not that far away which offers a beautiful view over Hollow Shades, we should visit it later when the sun rises.”, looking at a nearby clock It read 2 a.m, “it rises around 8 am, which is still plenty of time. But for now, let’s make the last night the best of all. Care for a dance? What do you say, Cyrax?”, his warming smile washed away all the bad thoughts Cyrax had. “Yes, I would like that very much”, he replied as he gave him a hug.