At last, Nightmare Moon and I had a permanent home on the 71st floor of the US Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles. But the rest of our home wasn't finished yet.
The rest of Nightmare Moon's new home came together with little difficulty. As was our habit, we had taken the stairs up from the 69th floor to the 'entrance room'; the one that would eventually have a trap door installed in the floor. In fact, the floor had already been torn up in preparation for installing that exact thing. It made sense that the trap door would need to be finished before carpet could be laid. The entrance room walls had been painted a dark purple. To our left, the entrance to our bedroom now had a shoji door installed. The door was made of wood stained black, with white paper behind the wood slats. To our right, the two entrances to the throne room were closed with shoji doors that were also stained black with white paper. The ceiling had been painted a flat black, just like our bedroom. The room smelled of curing paint, which was unpleasant.
"Ah, more progress. Let us see what has been completed in our absence."
Nightmare Moon turned to my right and walked over to the shoji door. Her armored hooves loudly clacked on the bare concrete. She slid open the shoji door with her magic, then walked through. Curiously, the sound of the mare's shoes had vanished. I followed the Moon Mare in to the room, then slid the door closed behind me.
The throne room had been painted in a dark blue, though the blue was not as dark nor as vibrant as the Midnight Blue used in our bedroom. Carpet had been installed, which was a dark charcoal color that was quite soft under my feet. The dais that would hold Nightmare Moon's throne-couch had been built, and it was covered in a dark purple carpet. No furniture was visible in the room. Like the other rooms, the ceiling was painted a flat black. The smell of curing paint was faint but still present.
The shoji doors had been installed in this room as well, and looked like the others; black-painted wood with white paper. The Night Mare strode towards the doors leading to the elevator lobby, and slid one side open. Again, I followed behind to look over her shoulder. The room beyond had been painted black as the mare had requested, but the silver trim and cutie mark motifs were absent. Nodding in satisfaction, the dark mare closed the door and walked over to the meeting room on the far wall.
Behind the door was a simple room, painted a dark purple with dark charcoal carpet. Otherwise, the room was empty. A shoji door, again black with white paper, was on the far wall. I knew that beyond that door was our familiar bedroom.
"Ah, excellent. I am pleased with the progress so far.
"Now, time for our daily slumber."
One opened shoji door, and we walked in to our bedroom. As the room was complete, Nightmare Moon had left our bed and armor stands in their places. The two of us removed our armor and unceremoniously climbed into bed. We cuddled together and I quickly fell asleep.
I awoke to the sound of a shoji door sliding open. I cracked open an eye, and saw Janice (the building manager) standing in the doorway. I remembered that she was allowed into our bedroom, so I promptly fell back asleep.
I was awakened again by my dark Queen. Janice wanted some input on furniture for the throne room, and Nightmare Moon wanted my input. Together we decided on a plush sectional couch covered in black satin fabric, with a purple canopy high above the couch. Janice convinced me that the bean bag chairs she had in mind would be regal enough, so the Night Mare authorized her to purchase them. She would get them in the colors red, blue, black or purple depending on availability.
We deferred to Janice's choice on a conference table and chairs for the meeting room, though there would also be a small selection of bean bag chairs for any equine or other four-legged guests. Also, Janice promised that the trap door would be complete by the next morning. Her task done, Janice left and we quickly returned to bed. Cuddled together once again, we slept until dusk arrived.
Or so I thought.
Upon waking and getting out of bed, I noticed that the shoji doors had been changed. When before they were made of black wood and white paper, now they had black wood and dark blue paper. I turned to Nightmare Moon for an explanation.
"Weren't the shoji doors white when we fell asleep?"
"Eh? Ah, I could not sleep after Janice left us so I chose to recolor the Japonese doors. I completed all of them very quickly, then returned to bed to cuddle with you."
"I don't remember you getting up, nor you getting back in bed."
The ebony mare paused a moment before replying.
"I do not know what to say to you. Perhaps you were simply in a deep sleep."
Something felt off about her answer, but it was a plausible explanation. I let the matter drop as it was time to start our work that night.
That evening, we completed our conquest of the Northeast Community Police Station a bit earlier than expected. For that reason, we returned to our new home about an hour before sunrise. We landed on the 69th floor observation deck as always, and I casually pushed the crash bar on the closest door to open it. Once inside, I headed over to the emergency stairwell as usual.
"Hold. The trap door entrance to our home should have been completed this evening, and I am eager to try it out."
Nightmare Moon began to ascend the large, curving staircase in the middle of the room. My curiosity piqued, I followed behind her. And as always, I ogled her fine flank the whole way up.
The staircase let us off on the 70th floor into a large hallway. The Moon Mistress looked upwards and lit her horn with her magic. A moment later, she grinned widely and let her magic disperse.
"Huzzah! The trap door is complete, and done to my exact specifications. Here, let me teach you how to open it. Reach upwards with your magic, and feel for three bars of metal above."
Ok, let's see what we have here.
Ah, got the three metal bars. And I can feel that they're on a pivot and will rotate to the side.
Afterwards, the doors should lift up easily.
"Any magical locks I need to watch for?"
"Eh? None as of yet, but I shall add them this evening."
I locked eyes with the Night Mare as I summoned magic into my hands. With a thought, I 'grabbed' the three metal bars with my left hand. While I continued to stare at my dark Mistress, I lifted my left hand up so we could both see it was glowing red with magic. I gave my hand a twist, and the three bars rotated sideways. The bars made no sound as they moved, though I was hoping to hear a satisfying 'clunk'.
In my mind, I 'released' the metal bars. Next, I lifted both hands up into our shared vision, and opened them so the palms faced upwards. I paused for dramatic effect, then pushed my hands up a few inches. The ceiling immediately split open into two pieces. The pieces were hinged on their outer edges, so I gently rotated the two doors with magic until I felt them come to rest on the floor above. Eyes still locked with the ebony mare, I flew upwards through the open trap door and landed in the entrance room on the 71st floor. I idly noted that the floor was now covered in a dark charcoal carpet, which appeared to match the carpet used in the throne room. A few moments later, Nightmare Moon joined me in the entrance room. She used her magic to close the trap door, and I guessed that she also locked the door with the metal bars. The back of the doors were also covered in the same carpet on the floor, so when the door was closed the trap door was nearly invisible.
"In hindsight, the trap door's mechanism was obvious."
"Only when you told me about the metal bars, then yes."
"I see. Give me a moment to place the locking spells into the mechanism."
Nightmare Moon bent her head down, lit her horn and sent a beam of magic into the trap door. While she worked, the two halves of the door glowed in her magic. When she finished a short time later, the glow quickly faded away. Just before she spoke, I felt a little magical twinge like I had just been poked.
"There. I have linked you to the lock's magic, so I may demonstrate how it works. The lock will send you a warning if somepony attempts to open the trap door and does not have permission to do so."
The Moon Mare used her magic to try and open the trap door, but the door did not open. In my head, a tiny buzzing started.
"There, do you feel it?"
I nodded but did not otherwise speak. I filed that buzzing away in my head as 'Unauthorized user attempting to open door.'
"Excellent."
She released the door, and the buzzing stopped.
"I shall now link myself to the lock's magic...there. I shall now open the trap door."
As the trap door opened, a pleasant chime went off in my head. I decided that this one meant 'Authorized user entering.'
"Heard that."
"If the door is not locked properly after it is closed, you will receive yet another warning. I shall close the trap door, but shall not lock it with the metal bars."
The mare closed the trap door. After a few seconds, a harsh chime went off in my head. That one had to mean 'Door left unlocked.' I used my magic to close the metal bars, and the warning chime went silent.
"What happens if we need to leave the door open for some reason, say to bring in a bunch of boxes?"
"That should not happen, we have the elevators for such things. But if necessary, I can mute the alarm.
"Now, there are two ways to open this lock. One is the way I have just used. The other will also open the door, but will send a warning to all ponies linked to the lock. It is used in case a pony has been captured and is being forced to open the lock."
This time, as the trap door opened I heard an alarm tone in my head. This one clearly meant 'Authorized user compromised.'
"Nice feature."
"Yes, it has saved me from invaders several times."
"Won't save you from people who turn traitor."
"True, though there are other spells that can help detect unauthorized usage. However, I have no need for such spells at this time."
"No? I'm flattered you have such faith in me."
"Yes...faith."
The dark mare stared at me for a moment but said nothing more.
"Er, yes. How do I open the lock both ways?"
"To open it normally, grasp both the bar and its pivot point. To set off the warning, only touch the bar. Go ahead."
I reached out with my magic, 'grasped' each bar by its pivot point then pushed the bar to the side. Once all three bars were pushed open, I lifted the trap doors open. This time, I did not hear any chimes or warnings in my head.
"Good. Now, repeat the process but open the trap door the incorrect way."
I closed and locked the trap door, then turned each metal bar without holding the pivot point. As soon as I pushed the trap door open, Nightmare Moon spoke.
"Excellent. Now you have the ability to come and go from this trap door as you please."
"I didn't hear the chimes or alarms when I opened the door myself. Is that an extra security feature?"
"I am impressed. Yes, it is so anypony opening the door shall not know if they have set off any of the alarms on the lock. Anypony attempting to monitor the lock or tamper with it will set off other alarms that only I shall hear.
"Now, let us inspect the rest of our home and see if it is complete."
As we had done for the past few nights, we turned to enter the Throne room. Nightmare Moon slid the closest shoji door open, and the two of us walked through. I gently closed the door behind us.
From what I could see, the throne room had been fully furnished. On the dais was the large sectional couch that the Night Mare had requested. It was huge! I had never seen a couch so big, it must have been able to seat ten or twelve people. The couch was in an "L" shape, with the bottom of the "L" next to us. The rest of the couch stretched across the wall behind it, and appeared to end at the other shoji door back by the windows. The couch frame and seats were covered in a soft black velour fabric, and thick, plush navy blue pillows were generously stacked on the back of the couch. A canopy made of sheer purple fabric and black metal poles was draped high over the couch.
In front of the dais were a number of cloth-covered chairs. If they were actually bean bag chairs, I'd never seen any like that before. But an instant later, I realized that it didn't matter what they were. I would be sitting on the couch with Nightmare Moon, so what did I care what the commoners sat in?
"Ah, I must try out my new throne. Come, join me."
I followed Nightmare Moon as she walked up to the dais and over to the couch she was calling her 'throne'. Up close, I could see the fabric for the seat and back cushions were made of the same type of fabric; some sort of glossy velour. The fabric shimmered in the light, almost like a star field.
Nice choice of fabric, matches Moony's coat really well. Bonus points to Janice.
The ebony mare gleefully climbed on to the middle of the couch, with her tail towards the bottom of the 'L', and I watched as she stretched her hooves out like a cat. She held this stretch for a few seconds, then relaxed and let out a blissful sigh. I noted that she took up most of the couch when she stretched out like that. Her mane was draped over her back while her tail hung down in front of the couch. My queen smiled up at me, then gestured with her head towards the only part of the couch left open -- the bottom of the 'L'.
"Come, sit with me."
I walked the few steps over to the end of the couch, then sat down. The cushions felt nice and soft to me; just enough give to be comfortable, but not so much that they would suck you in and make getting up nearly impossible. I shifted around in my seat, to check if I found the one comfy spot or if I could find another that was better. The couch surprised me by being super comfy no matter how I sat on it. A smile slipped on to my face as I leaned back and let the pillows hug me close. The pillow behind my back felt just as soft as the one I was sitting on, and I imagined it would be even more comfortable when I wasn't wearing armor.
I glanced over at Nightmare Moon, who was still stretched lengthwise down the couch, and I decided I wanted to lie down on the couch too. Hey, if it was good enough for Moony it was good enough for me. I laid down on my left side and rolled over, so I was lying on my back with my head in the corner of the couch. I closed my eyes and decided that yes, the couch was very comfortable to lie upon.
Without warning, I felt something flop down on my face. I opened my eyes, and my vision was filled with twinkling stars out in deep space. That made absolutely no sense. I could feel something lying on my face, so I reached up to pull it off. But I couldn't touch it. My hand went right through it and I nearly poked myself in the eye. I panicked a bit, and kept trying to grab this thing even though I knew I couldn't. Then, I heard a cute giggle from off to my left.
"Stop that, it tickles."
Tickles?!
Oh.
Duh, this must be Moony's tail.
I pushed my body up from the couch, and the star field disappeared to be replaced by the throne room. I turned to look down on the couch, and saw just what I expected to see: Nightmare Moon's tail, slowly undulating right where my head just was. I gave the dark mare a reproving look, and she replied with another giggle.
"Cute."
"I am glad you think so."
I rolled my eyes at the mare's antics, then sat back up on the couch. Another glance at the Mare in the Moon only got me another adorable giggle. I let out an exasperated sigh, and decided to check out the rest of the room. To my right lay the bean bag chairs. A quick bit of math told me there were sixteen chairs, in four neat rows and columns. A glance beyond the chairs showed a large open space. It looked like the dais and chairs only took up half the room, while the back half of the large room was completely empty. Seemed like a waste of space to me, but maybe Moony had some future plans for it. I had a sudden urge to try out one of the bean bag chairs, so with a push I stood up from the couch.
"Where art thou going?"
"I'm going to check out the chairs over there."
"Verily? Ah well, I suppose I shall join you."
As Nightmare Moon clambered off of the couch, I walked off the dais and stepped in front of the rightmost chair. A quick look at it revealed nothing special. This chair was completely covered in navy blue fabric, and appeared to be made of vertical strips stitched together. Each strip looked like it was three or four inches wide. The seat was made of the same sized strips of fabric. The arms of the chair came up at an angle from the seat and rose up to meet the back in one smooth curve. And there was a large tag attached to the side of the chair that read "Big Joe".
With nothing else to learn from looking at the chair, I turned around and sat down on it.
Yup, it's a bean bag chair. And comfy. And it holds its shape a lot better than I thought it would. The back of the bean bag is actually supporting my back, too.
These should do nicely.
"I am uncertain how comfortable these seats shall be for an equine. Are they comfortable for a biped?"
"Yes. my Queen. They are comfortable, yet they're a bit awkward as well. They force you into a casual position, rather than a rigid or regal one. And sitting in one makes the dais and couch seem much taller than they actually are, which will make you seem taller."
"Ah, excellent. I do not expect to have this many petitioners to my court so soon, but I wish to be prepared.
"I shall have to reward Janice for making such a fine seating choice."
I struggled a bit standing up from the bean bag chair, but finally managed it. The two of us then strolled over to the double shoji doors that lead to the elevator lobby. One shoji door had been colored black and navy blue like the rest, but the other was blue and dark purple. Nightmare Moon slid the purple door to the side, and we strode into the lobby.
The first thing I noticed was the murals on the walls. To my left was a forest scene at night, with trees and forest animals like deer, foxes and owls. A crescent moon shone through the tree tops and gently illuminated the scene.
To my right was a beach scene at night, with waves crashing upon the sand and palm trees visible on the left of the mural. A small mountain range was in the background, and the full moon was high in the sky yet surrounded by clouds.
Nightmare Moon and I studied the murals for a couple of minutes before the mare spoke.
"These murals shall be sufficient, though I am certain that Equestrian craftsponies would have shown more imagination."
We left the lobby and made our way to the meeting room, the only room we had yet to see. Once inside, we noted the large yet boring conference table and the dozen or so executive chairs surrounding it. A speaker phone similar to the ones in the sheriff's stations was in the middle of the table. The wood surface of the table was polished to a shine, and looked absolutely new. But it was still a dull conference table. And it seemed that the Moon Mistress agreed with me.
"Hmph. I expected a table made of marble or crystal."
"It's a common style. It's supposed to look fancy even though it's actually pretty dull."
"I see. I shall have to speak to Janice about this."
Our inspection of the floor complete, we entered our bedroom and removed our armor. As was our custom, we faced each other and cuddled together, with my head cradled between her forelegs and her head resting upon mine. Most nights, we would simply relax together this way until we fell asleep. But that night, the Night Mare pulled her forelegs in a bit tighter and gave me a pleasant squeeze.
"Forsooth, I have thee now! Thou cannot escape my grasp!"
Oh, we're going to play THAT game, are we?
I dropped the tone of my voice to a flat monotone and pretended to resist.
"Oh no. I am trapped. Whatever will I do."
"Be subject to my ministrations, of course!"
She then proceeded to nibble gently on one of my ears.
Hey!
Oh.
Oh...my...
When I was human, I never liked it when my ex-girlfriends played with my ears. It just felt weird. But this new body of mine was turning out to be very different. The mare's nibbles sent these little electrifying jolts through my whole body. Jolts that were also quite...erotic in nature. The nibbles were still a little weird, but in a 'not used to this' way. And I really, REALLY didn't want her to stop. But despite the pleasure, I didn't want to just lie there and be pleased. I wanted to give her some of the same pleasure that she was giving to me. So I slid my left hand between my body and hers, then slowly slid it downwards. I stopped right at that crease where her right leg joined with her body, and gently rubbed the tender flesh there. My ebony playmate paused her ear nibbles and let out a slight gasp, which stretched out into a soft moan. My fire down below was kindling fast, and I couldn't hold back a moan of my own. If we kept this up, I knew I would soon hit my point of no return.
"You keep that nibbling up Luna, and we're going to be awake for quite a while."
In response, Luna gave my ear a long and sultry lick.
"Wouldst that be such a bad thing?"
My only reply was a loud moan. She had slipped her right forehoof between us, and was idly rubbing my lower belly. She was so close to what I wanted her to rub, so close... But she always stopped just before she reached my need.
I found myself even more frustrated when the dark mare stopped rubbing and nibbling and instead rested her muzzle atop my head.
"In truth, now that we are here I am uncertain how to proceed. Shall we move southwards, where we may encounter hard resistance? Or continue northwards, and sink our teeth deeper there? Or perhaps cease our motions for a time, and merely relax?
I squirmed in her grasp, hoping to rekindle her flames of passion.
"Oh, don't stop now."
"Eh? I was speaking of our conquests of this land, what dost thou mean?"
The ebony mare lifted her head to look at me. Then looked farther down at her belly, where perhaps she felt a part of me brushing against her belly fur. It took her a moment longer to finally realize what she had done to me.
"Oh! OH! Oh my...I did not consider that thou would react in such a fashion. Truly, it was not my intention to push thee so far. I only meant to be affectionate, not...this."
Oh, I was pissed. She just made it very clear that I wasn't getting any relief from her. And I didn't want to take care of it myself in a smelly bathroom or janitor closet.
I had a sudden flash in my head of making a 'mess' sitting on Luna's new couch. Then another quick flash where Luna had joined me instead.
"You are such a tease, Luna."
Luna giggled and nuzzled the top of my head.
"It seems so. I shall make it up to thee one day."
"You'd better."
We cuddled in silence for several minutes as my passions went limp, sputtered and miserably died alone in the dark.
"Feeling better, my little Warrior?"
"I'm not little."
Luna whispered softly into my ear.
"So I saw. And what I saw pleases me very much."
And...she just rekindled that fire.
"I thought you said you weren't going to tease me again?"
"Didst I? I believe I have forgotten."
Oh, no. I'm not going through that tease again and not get any relief.
"That's it. I'm getting up and sleeping on the couch."
I squirmed in Luna's grasp and tried to get free. But she wouldn't let me go, and instead held me close with her forelegs.
"Nay, nay! I apologize! I shall not tease thee again. I...I do not wish to let thee go. Please, stay with me."
Even though I was very frustrated and angry, I still wanted to believe her. I loved to cuddle when I was human, and still liked to cuddle now that I had been changed. But this teasing would stop, NOW.
"Fine. But if you tease me again, you better go all the way or I'm going to be very angry with you. Got it?"
She let out a great sigh that resonated both against my belly and atop my head.
"Yes, yes I do. I deeply apologize for my behavior. It is just...I find it difficult to control my actions when I hold thee close like this."
"Then perhaps we shouldn't be so close."
I made to leave her grasp again.
"Nay, nay! I...I must learn to control myself. I find myself unready to move things forward between us, yet I wish to keep thee close. So I must learn control."
I really wasn't used to being on that end of a relationship. Normally I was the one to heat things up, and the girlfriend was trying to slow me down. But I supposed the reversal was only fair. I thought about heating Luna up and pushing things farther, but the Mistress had spoken. It was clearly time for both of us to learn some patience.
But right then, it was time to use a trick my ex-girlfriends used on me when they wanted to slow me down; a distraction.
"So, what do we do now?"
"I wish to cuddle with thee some more, and I solemnly swear I shall control myself."
And she actually did, for I slept unmolested until the sun went down past the horizon.