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// Chapter 3: Resting Redemption 
// Story: The Reason I Don't Date 
// by LyNx_X_PiE_PiE 
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I regained consciousness in an unusual place. It wasn't my house and it looked pretty similar to Nightshine's house. I began to sit up and felt a sharp pain in my head followed by lightheadedness.

I looked about for the time, but there was no clock on the wall. I began to struggle to get myself up and then collapsed on the floor. All I wanted to know was what had been done to me! I was unable to speak, unable to talk, and now unable to walk or take a simple step.

I tried to get up as much as I could. As hard as it was and as much as I tried, I fell flat on my stomach again every time. So I settled on crawling everywhere. I had the feeling that I didn't know what I was getting into and really, really didn't want to find out.

I was about to reach the door to the room. I could hear breathing on the opposite side of it. I went to call out to them, maybe ask them to help me, but nothing came out. I went to grab the handle and tried to turn it. Nothing. I tried harder. Nothing. I then tried something else that I instantly regretted. I tried my magic!

The door opened with a 'click' and I shuddered at the sound that echo that followed. 'click', 'click', 'click'. I tried to move normally, but that still didn't work. I tried to move my arms, but now they were useless. I was completely paralysed, from head to hoof.

"So I can't move, but I can use my magic! What type of nightmare is this?" I questioned quietly to myself. I used my magic to lift myself to my hooves and began to move my hooves with my magic. I was not able to do this ever, so this had to be some sick twisted nightmare that I wasn't able to escape from. Nice!

I awkwardly shimmied along the pitch black corridor that extended from the room I was just in. Before I was able to react, the light behind me faded as the door to the previous room was shut. I began to breath heavily as I began to feel my heartbeat. Every pulse from my heart shook the corridor floor and then completely stopped altogether.

Voices began to talk to me. I picked up the voices as they circled me.

"Hey are you Mist?" One asked.

Another asked "Are you ok sir?"

A third one entered the voice list and stated "You're the reason that she isn't happy!" 

I then thought of something that didn't add up. I began to think harder and harder to gain a chance at a thinking space opportunity. I had heard the first two from the previous day. One from the mare that pressed the knife to my throat, and the other from the guard, checking that I was ok. The third one I didn't make out. It sounded familiar, but not that familiar. I then began to think back through the years. I began to remember what it was and when. It was on my best mates birthday. We were all going to go paintballing for his birthday. It was his treat after all and he wanted to practice with a fake firearm, before moving up to the bigger thing, a real firearm!

My special somepony was with me at the time and she was convincing me not to go, saying that I would hurt myself or that something could go wrong and I could end up in the middle of it.

Colt was my best mates name, not the colt as in 'child' but as in 'weapon'. My mates name was a name of a weapon! That was cool! The Colt Mist was the joke that bonded our friendship together. It was the little name that was given to us when we used to hang out together.

Anyway, back to the memory that I was explaining. My special somepony was very worried about me at the time and I didn't listen to her. I went paintballing and enjoyed it as me and Colt got the most people out. They didn't like it at all that a bunch of newbies came out of the blue and destroyed their team. The group then came up to me and began to say some harsh and violent things with lots of vulgar language for added hardness. Colt took notice of that and he too came over and listened to the group. We were both amused at the sight and laughed a little in between their sentences. Then one got to me that Colt noticed. He said the very sentence and watched as a frown grew on my face, replacing the smile I had. "You're the reason that she isn't happy!" As soon as Colt saw my face, he rushed towards the stallion that said it and bucked him in the chest. Hard! Little did I know was that that stallion was the one that my special somepony cheated on me with.

"Don't you dare talk about his mare like that!" He roared, standing in a zebra-like stance. The rest of the group moved back and looked on in shock as Colt stood above them all.

I was cut from my loving memory when I saw somepony standing in the hallway with me. I used my magic to lift myself up. The figure approached me with light fast speed as Colt pinned me against the wall.

"Colt?" I stated in silence. No answer. I looked at the figure again and saw a rusty dagger slide towards me in the air.

I was then murdered, by my best mate.

I woke up with a gasp as I felt pressure being relieved from my neck, where the knife had just been plunged. I was alive! It was a nightmare I guessed. I looked around at where I was and found that I was a Nightshine's house. I began to hold my head with my hooves. I looked around and found that Nightshine was lying next to me. She had one eye open and the other closed. I didn't think she was awake until she came closer to me.

"Hey! Are you alright there Mist?" She calmly asked, as her hooves began to rub my sides, reassuring me that I was in the real world. I shook my head as I slowly looked down at her.

"I really don't know Nightshine!" I said, shaking a little. She had the last straw of me being upset so she rolled on top of me and gave me a loving hug. I didn't have the best reaction to the hug. I tensed a little in response to it. She looked up to me with worry.

"Is this not helping?" She asked, hoping to Celestia that it was. I shook my head slowly as I wrapped my arms around her too. She could feel how tense I was and then pondered on a thought for a minute.

"Nightshine, I do love you, but I'm not in the right frame of mind right now!" I stated, getting a sad look of the mare. She came up to eye level with me as she began to pant with what seemed to be lustful desire. I was going to say that this mare was turning me on, but I had to stay strong. I didn't want to do anything with this beautiful mare but cuddle up to her for the day.

"Mist? You know that you can just call me Night or Shiny right?" She asked with a smile. I nodded my head before pulling her body to mine for a hug. She gladly accepted it and almost purred into it.

She couldn't hold back any longer. She kissed me in the muzzle. I was a passionate and long kiss. Our bodies compressed together while our muzzles locked in place. She was getting into it and tried to allow her tongue entry, but I quickly denied it. She broke the kiss with a wet 'slurp' before looking down at me with disappointment.

"Wha...why?" She mumbled to me, being in a loving mood. I brushed her cyan blue mane out of the way before looking deep into her crimson eyes.

"Today we are going to relax and maybe go out and have some fun. Together." I said, with a smile. She looked at me with more anger now.

"Just answer this then. Why didn't you allow me to enter your muzzle?" She asked with an uninterrupted anger build up in the eyes.

I simply answered with a laugh. "Oh that! Yeah about that, that isn't the only entry I'm going to be blocking tonight!" I announced with a devious grin present on my face. I watched her go from confused to furiously blushing bright red within two seconds. "Do you get it now?" I asked her with a bemused look. She nodded slightly, still furiously blushing.

"That still doesn't answer my question." She calmly said.

"Oh that! Yeah...I did that to set myself up for that joke." I laughed. She wasn't laughing at all. "You wanna try again?" I asked her with a little hesitation.

"Nah! You're just a little mood killer aren't you!" She pointed out. I smirked at that response and began to laugh. "But I got to say that I do indeed still love you!" She announced quietly, gaining a response from me. I blushed a little before getting up with her still attached to me.

"I love you too, but can I also say that I am not a tree that you cling to." I blurted out and made her realise that she was gripped very tightly around me. With that, she started to slowly slip down my body, like she was sliding down a pole. I was amazed that I was able to keep my balance on my hind legs. My Grandad was a zebra after all and my dad was part zebra and part pony. I think that Nightshine wanted me to topple over as she began to grab my hind legs and began to pull them.

I got to my normal pony posture and looked at her with amusement. "Tremor missed out on a real catch!" I loudly rasped with a big smile and a big cough to follow it up. She blushed a little at that and got to her hooves.

"You're ex is really missing out as well!" She charmed clearly. I smirked at that and then shook my head furiously. "Hey umm… do you want to grab a coffee or something in a minute?" She asked with just a smile. I nodded and instantly went to the bathroom down the corridor.

I closed the door and then looked in the mirror. I looked a lot better than yesterday, that much I knew. I took the time to look myself over. I was ready to go I thought. I opened the door and locked eyes with the mare that I had literally just slept with. She was clean, mane was straight with no bed mane in sight and wearing an attire that made her blush a little when I scanned her over. She wore a black hoodie, which was about a size too big for her, and also a pair of black running tights.

I looked in shock at her and then looked back to the bathroom. "How long was I in there for?" I questioned out loud, which to my surprise, made Nightshine drop to the floor with a laugh.

"I rushed to put this on just to do this to you!" She said between laughs. I wasn't having any of it.

"After the nightmare that I had that woke me up, slipping away for a certain time scares me now." I stated with panic. She instantly stopped laughing and sighed. She inspected my mane for a second before going into the bathroom that I just came out of. She grabbed the brush that was laying on the side and twirled the brush in her hooves.

"You want me to brush your mane again Mist?" She asked, a smile growing on her pretty little muzzle. I hesitated at first, before going to sit on the floor in front of her, making it so that my mane faced her. I looked in the mirror and could make out a faint frown form across her face before she took the brush and stroked it down my mane. This sent pleasure to my mind and I relaxed into her gentle touch as the brush made my mane as straight as it could be.

About five minutes later, Nightshine stopped brushing my mane and I turned to look at her. "Are you ok Night?" I asked, using the nickname she told me I could use for her. She just stared into the mirror and I watched, not knowing what to do. I built up enough strength to push myself up and then blocked the mirror with my body and pierced my eyes into hers. She instantly snapped out of it. "What's wrong?" I asked, getting slightly worried as she didn't answer.

"Nothing Mist! I'm just… just thinking." She stated, trying to assure me that she was ok. I wasn't buying it, not for one minute.

I took the brush off her and placed it to the side of the sink. I then proceeded to go behind Nightshine and slowly, and playfully, began to put pressure on the tip of her ear with my mouth. Pretty much biting her ear to get her to snap out of it.

It took her a couple seconds to realise what I was doing. "Hey! Ouch! Stop it!" She yelled, trying to hit me with a hoof. I dodged it and released her ear. "That only works when somepony is in the mood, and I'm not now!" She angrily announced.

I began to laugh a little as she looked at me with a mixture of emotions. I then went quiet and smiled at her, which she returned happily.

"Ok then! Let's get some coffee!" I shouted with excitement. We both walked out of the bathroom and then hurried to the door.

As I watched Nightshine close and lock the door behind us, I felt a fresh tingle as I breathed in the morning air. It was about 7 o'clock from what I saw before I went to the bathroom this morning. I turned around and saw the figure of Nightshine fly past me.

"You up for a race Mist? First one to the Coffee Cream wins?" She asked, being confident that she would win. I nodded in approval as she flew off towards the main part of Canterlot, flying over the houses and out of my line of sight. I sighed and then began to trot to the center of Canterlot.

I had seen the business called Coffee Cream before. It was one of the buildings that I passed to get to work. I would always get a whiff of coffee as I walked past it and enjoyed the smell before going into the bar to work.

I was about to pass my workplace when I noticed a pony shouting in it. I checked that I had my blade on me, just in case anything happened to go south. It was there alright! I looked at the door as I approached it. I got to the door and casually opened it. I found that Storm was inside on the phone, arguing with one of the managers over what I could hear to be the payouts of the hoofball game that took place two days ago.

I coughed and smiled at Storm as he turned to see me in the doorway and frantically waved his free hoof at me.

"Well I was right about the money then. So the deal is won by me then!" He shouted down the phone before ending the call and sighing softly. "Ponies not liking it when their boss beats them!" He stated with a wink at me.

"Hey Storm! What are you doing here this early?" I asked with curiousness. He smiled brightly and pointed at the storage room. I'm getting some builders to build a bigger storage room for all of the beverages that need to be chilled." He stated flatly.

"Ah! I heard shouting so I came to check that nobody had tried to rob the place." I stated, feeling better that Storm was here and not some random pony trying to steal something. "Ok then, I'll leave you to it. I got to meet Nightshine at the Coffee Cream!" I said with a little amount of excitement. He nodded and then went to check something in the storage room. He waved at me as he looked back and I exited through the front door to see Nightshine gleaming at me with hopeful eyes.

"There you are!" She stated loudly as she pounced at me and gave me a hug. I returned the hug and smiled.

"Sorry! I got too competitive! Again…" Nightshine said with a sigh. I broke the hug and looked down the road to see the Coffee Cream. I pointed and then began to gallop as fast as I could. Nightshine took notice of that and then spread her wings and leapt into the air before heading for the business like a bullet. I stopped outside and looked to see Nightshine flapping above.

"I won!" We both called out in unison. We both sighed and got to the same level, her flying to the ground and me standing up tall. We both nodded before entering the shop, ordering the same type of coffee, before sitting down at a booth that was next to a window.

I sighed as Nightshine began to take a sip of her coffee. She stopped after the sip and looked at me as I daydreamed out the window. "You didn't tell me what was wrong with you last night." She stated, gaining my attention.

I sighed as she placed her hoof on mine. "I… I miss my best mate! He...he was killed in the changeling attack on Canterlot." I whispered as tears streamed down my face from the memory. Nightshine started to rub my hoof as she tried to change the subject immediately. "What were you thinking about this morning Night?" I asked, hoping to get an answer this time. She sighed before looking down at the coffee cup she had.

"Promise me that you won't get mad? She asked with pleading eyes as she looked up at me. I nodded and leaned forward a little. "Please don't tell anypony this!" She added shortly after.

"Night I promise! I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." I assured her. She looked at the table again and sighed.

"I can't stop thinking about Tremor! If that mare was right, I'm the reason that…" She announced quietly before I cut her off. I put my hoof against her muzzle. I got a surprised response from her from the action.

"Really? Is that all? I'm the reason that Tremor has ended up in as bad a state as he is. The stallion was putting money ahead of his mare. That was the first wrong move." I stated quietly to her. "Also, I know that you can't stop thinking about him. I've known from the night that we met. It's the same thing with my ex as well. I can't forget about that mare because she did something so bad to me that it burnt a patch in my brain, making herself never forgotten from my mind." I calmly spoke.

Nightshine smiled a little at that and then looked out the window to see that it was now raining. "Perfect weather for this I guess." She muttered. I heard it. I got out of my seat and stood right next to her. I then proceeded to give her a hug, followed by some short, sweet kisses down here neck. She shivered a little with a smile present on her face now, along with a noticeable blush irradiating her cheeks.

"You… creep! You just want something from me!" She playfully said.

"Only for you to be and feel ok!" I demanded as I then gave her one last kiss on the neck before giving her a firm lick on the top of her muzzle. "I just licked you so nobody else can take you away!" I announced quietly. I received a very prominent blush from her. She instantly grabbed me with her wings and licked the top of my muzzle.

"And now you're mine!" She playfully announced, a little louder than I did. I went to the other side of the table again and sat on my chair.

"Oh...so cold!" I whispered as I rubbed my muzzle with my hoof. At that sound, she began to laugh.

All I wanted to do was keep my mare happy, it didn't matter if I was unhappy at all. I was happy however. This made me feel like I was part of a group.

"Mist? What was your best friends name?" She asked with a little curiosity lingering at the corners of her mind. I was snapped out of my happy daydream by that question.

"His name was Colt!" I admitted to her. "He was my everything, but now he's gone. He's been gone for a good solid year now and… and I haven't spoken to anyone since, until you showed up and I witnessed something that was relatable to me." I added.

I looked at her with a worried frown as my ears splayed back.

"He was your everything… you must have loved him strongly then." She said, watching me as she began to feel bad for me.

I looked at my cup and then looked up at Nightshine. I drank the now coldly warm coffee in one massive chug before placing the cup on the table again.

"You help me deal with the loss of my best friend these last couple of days. Everytime that i have felt bad, I would just look at you and you would remind me that my best mate loved me, just like you do. That would make me smile and eventually, I would begin to stop thinking about him, but he would always have a place in my mind." I said as more tears began to stream down my face as I looked up into Nightshine's beautiful crimson eyes, that seemed to glisten brighter in the rain.

She looked at me with a huge amount of worry dwelling up in her mind. "What happened this morning then Mist?" She asked with a sceptical look. I tried to fake a smile at her, which instantly failed as she took another sip of her coffee.

"I had a nightmare about not being able to move unless I used my horn. I heard a voice and got stabbed in the throat by my mate Colt. I think it was just my mind trying to forget that my best mate got punched and bucked to death." I stated flatly. She looked shocked hearing the sentence coming out of my muzzle.

"Oh… Sweet Celestia! I feel terrible for asking now!" She admitted as she looked down at the table.

I began to get uncontrollably uncomfortable in the chair and got up to stretch my legs. "I guess we should get back while it is like this." I stated as I pointed out to the rain. She nodded before lifting herself up. I was going to thunder like mad later.

She stood outside and spread her wings and waited. "Come on… are you getting on or not?" She asked. I looked stunned for a second before I hesitated to speak.

"What? Are...are you sure that you can hold my weight?" I asked her as my brain began to fear the thought of me plummeting from more than a building. She nodded and smiled sharply.

"I was able to carry 3 stallions that were slightly overweight last time I checked." She calmly convinced me. I hesitated but got on her back in the end.

I grabbed a hold of her shoulders and then felt her push off the ground as she began to lift us up to the clouds. Within a matter of seconds in the air, we pierced through the cloud layer that was raining on us and then sat above it at a steady pace.

"So we have talked to me about my story, what's yours Night?" I asked as she began to slow down. She began to brace herself as she landed on the cloud layer.

"Don't get off my back or you will fall through and died!" She commanded with a frown. I knew about this so I gripped her shoulders tighter. "I was raised up by my mother, who is a Bat pony too and my father, I never knew my father. He… he died before I was born. I have a younger brother called Fang and an older sister called Bluewing. Haven't seen them for a while because I have had stuff going on with Tremor at the time." She said sadly.

"Sorry about your dad!" I stated, feeling bad that she never knew him. He could have been an awesome dad and she didn't know it.

"Mist? Can I ask you something?" Nightshine asked with pleading eyes locked to me.

"Sure go ahead!" I said, bracing myself for any question.

"How did you lose the ability of your horn?" She questioned.

I looked at her flatly and stated "I was born without magic." She looked shocked as she heard it and tilted her head. "True story!" I added.

Nightshine plunged through the clouds as I grasped onto her shoulders tightly. She was going fast enough that I was losing grip on her shoulders. I watched as she began to pull up and I clenched her shoulders tighter and tighter.

I looked around at the sights speeding past me as Nightshine carried her speed. She looked back at me for a second before smiling. I looked down into her eyes and smiled at her. She turned her head to find that she was too close to a building. She stopped lapping forwards and began to flap backwards in a desperate struggle. She stopped so fast that I was launched from her back.

Seconds felt like minutes as I began to fall towards the building. I hit the building with a loud crack and then fell downwards. I hit my head hard and I looked up in time to see the last image before I was knocked out or even killed. 

My last image was of a wide eyed Bat pony mare with her mouth agape, as a single tear pierced the surface of her fur.

I faded into blackness with pain...