Gabriela feels Dusk Shine’s hooves holding her and she feels at peace, and yet, panic-stricken at the same time. She tentatively asks the punker behind her, “Um, did we have sex?”
She hears Dusk Shine’s flighty voice snickering behind her before the words, “Oh yeah Gabriela! You rocked my world!”
Gabriela grimaces and raises her voice, “Dusk Shine, I’m serious!”
“And so am I baby! That was bucking amazing!” Dusk Shine says in a high-pitched, whimsical voice before giggling even more.
Gabriela can only squint her eyes and frown for a moment before saying, “Okay, so we didn’t really have sex, did we?”
“As bucked up as you were, I just couldn’t Gabriela! I mean, where’s the challenge?”
Gabriela sighs and stutters, “That Appleloosa Skunk sure is some powerful stuff!”
“Obviously! You’ll have to show me where you got it one of these days!”
Gabriela’s eyes widen and voice gets higher, “Dusk Shine! I didn’t know you also smoked?”
“Yeah, sometimes! I usually drink though!”
“Yeah well…” Gabriela says before looking down, “I gave up drinking… Turns out, I did way too much of it!”
“Yup! And so now, you smoke chronic! I know Gabriela!”*
Gabriela looks back up with a start, “Y-you do? I didn’t think anypony paid that much attention to me?”
Gabriela feels the hooves tighten around her as Dusk Shine says, “Well, I wanted to learn more about you and so…”
“Wait! Were you taking notes on me?” Gabriela says while squinting her right eye.
Dusk Shine is silent for a moment before squeaking, “Maybe?”
Gabriela can only softly giggle.
“Why are you giggling?” Dusk Shine asks inquisitively.
“Because I was actually under the impression that aside from Twilight Sparkle, I was the only logical and methodical pony in this town! You gotta admit, the rest of this place has a backwoods feel!”
Dusk Shine snickers, “Yeah… Hey! What do you want for breakfast?”
Gabriela sighs, “Well, I usually smoke a joint for wake n bake first, but…”
Dusk Shine perks up her voice and says, “Gotcha covered! We’ll smoke together!” before releasing Gabriela from her embrace and Gabriela can hear Dusk Shine making her way to the other edge of the bed behind her before the resounding CLOP of four hooves hitting the floor. Gabriela looks over and down to see Dusk Shine trotting to her closet on the other end of the room. She sees Dusk Shine slide the wooden door to the right with her right forehoof before looking inside, leaning down, and biting down on something with her teeth. She turns and trots to Gabriela to reveal a small wooden box that’s much smaller than the one Gabriela owns, although she couldn’t help but find the little thing cute at the time. Dusk Shine trots to her nightstand, just off the bed from Gabriela and sets it down there next to the alarm clock so Gabriela can see the bright green devil weed leaf on the top.
Gabriela gets to her haunches and stares down at the small box on the nightstand. She looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Well?”
“Um…” Dusk Shine says before scratching the back of her neck with her right forehoof, “I have a pipe and I also have papers we can use… Um…”
“What is it, Dusk Shine?” Gabriela asks curiously, while staring to punk with her blue slitted eyes and ears perked in her direction.
Dusk Shine looks down and says, “I can’t roll a joint…” She looks to Gabriela, “I got orange label papers though!” before smiling slightly.
Gabriela scrunches her mouth as her ears go back to the sides and lifts her right eyebrow, “So, you want me to roll us a couple of joints then?”
“Um, if you don’t mind?” Dusk Shine says lowly, “If it’s not too much trouble?”
Gabriela smiles, “Give me about five minutes! Hey, would you go get me some coffee please? Uh, no sugar and two creams!”**
Gabriela sat on the side of the bed and floated the burning joint to her lips before closing around it to take a drag. She floats it back before her, after her puff and then exhales a few seconds later before looking to Dusk Shine and saying, “Thanks! Yeah, I smoke up sometimes because it helps me think… Weird huh?”***
Dusk Shine frowns at Gabriela from her haunches on the chair next to the nightstand, “I wouldn’t think so? Everypony is unique and that’s just the way your mind is!”
“Hmm?” Gabriela says before taking a second drag and then floating the joint over to Dusk Shine, so she can get it in the cleft of her left forehoof.
Dusk Shine grabs the burning joint and asks Gabriela, “So, why did you think we had sex anyway?” before moving her hoof to her mouth to take a drag of her own as the cherry lights up.
Gabriela exhales smoke over her cup of coffee and looks to the white cup of blond coffee on the nightstand as she brings it to her mouth with a blue glow before taking a sip. She smacks her lips and looks to Dusk Shine, “I don’t know? It’s been so long since I’ve been held, that I guess I just thought…”
Dusk Shine smiles as she exhales smoke and brings the joint away from her mouth, “That any affection must mean sex?”
Gabriela wills the glowing cup back to the table before looking at Dusk Shine, “Yes! That! I haven’t snuggled anypony in a very long time!”
Dusk Shine giggles before taking another drag and then holding her forehoof up to signal Gabriela to get the joint with her magic.
Gabriela looks up and takes the joint in her blue grasp to float it back towards her.
Dusk Shine says, “Well, like I said, if it happens, great! If not, that’s also cool!”
Gabriela observes this spiky haired batpony carefully and says, “You live a free life, don’t you?” before floating the joint to her lips once more to inhale the devil weed smoke and feel it roll, hot, strong, and slightly tart down her throat as she inhales and the flame at the end grows brighter.
Dusk Shine smiles and says, “Punk rock baby! Live your life and buck the rest! Live hard and live well!” before nodding.
Gabriela exhales a big cloud of smoke into the air just to the left of Dusk Shine and looks to the punk and says, “That’s not a bad philosophy really?” before facing forward and lowering her head to take another drag as the cherry glows once more at the end of the joint.
“But since we’re on the subject, I do think you have a nice pair of flanks!”
Gabriela exhales a cloud of smoke quickly to her front before looking to the punker, “Wait, what?”
Dusk Shine grins, “Yeah, I sometimes wonder what they taste like?”
“Dusk Shine!” Gabriela shrieks wide-eyed.
“What?” Dusk Shine says as she starts. “Don’t be such a prude Gabriela!
Gabriela can only float the joint back to Dusk Shine as she pouts, and her cheeks redden as the punker giggles.
Dusk Shine gets the joint in the cleft of her right forehoof and says, “What? You’ve never had that done to you?” before bringing it to her mouth and turning it to take a draw herself as her head tilts downward and the cherry grows bright.
“Well, I, um…” Gabriela stutters as her cheeks redden even more.
Dusk exhales a big cloud of smoke into the air above her and says, “Okay! That is pretty cute!” before taking another drag of the almost finished joint, now just a small roach on her hoof, as the front of it ignites in a bright red glow.
“Uh, what’s cute?” Gabriela asks with an inquisitive look in her bright blue eyes once more.
Dusk Shine gulps before exhaling the smoke to the right of Gabriela, “You! Just the way you blush!”
Gabriela looks up, “Oh, Celestia!”
Dusk Shine smiles and says, “I’m a free spirit, remember? I like you as a friend for now, but the sky’s the limit for what may happen later!” before taking a final drag and then reaching up to put what’s left of the roach in a small glass ashtray on her nightstand that Gabriela suddenly noticed.
“Oh um, right! Free spirit!” Gabriela says before smiling at the punker while Dusk snuffs out the joint with her hoof.
“Anything wrong?” Dusk says while looking to Gabriela enquiringly.
“Oh, not at all hun-baby! Everything is alright babe-honey!” Gabriela says wide-eyed before correcting herself and glancing over to the other joint she rolled on the table. “Hey uh, is it alright if we smoke this now? I don’t usually smoke this much, but…”
Dusk Shine squints her right eye to the unicorn, “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”
“No! Maybe! Shut up!” Gabriela quickly stammers out while looking at the punk with wide eyes. She frowns again while narrowing her eyes as the joint slowly flies up to her mouth in her blue grasp and a green disposable lighter soon flies to her front before igniting. She leans her face forward to get the front of the joint into the flame and inhales… She tastes the smooth, yet somewhat tart taste of the weed once more on her tongue as she shuts the lighter off. She exhales out the side of her mouth a few seconds later with the joint still in and turns to Dusk Shine before saying, “What strain is this anyway?” out the side of her mouth and then bringing the joint to the front with her lips and locking around it, to inhale the smoke into her lungs once more.
“Uh, I think it’s Everfree Green! I know a pegasus who collects it just North of here!”
Gabriela floats the joint forward and looks down before lifting her head and exhaling a big cloud of smoke in the air above her. She looks to Dusk Shine and nods, “Probably Everfree then!” before turning her head and floating the joint to her lips and lowering it to take another drag. She then makes it glide in the air back to Dusk Shine.
Dusk Shine raises her right forehoof to catch it, “Yeah, I don’t smoke as much as you and so I wouldn’t know these things!”
Gabriela exhales another cloud of smoke before her and says, “I see!” while Dusk takes another drag of the joint.
Dusk exhales again to her right and looks to Gabriela, “So, you blush a lot!”
“No, I don’t!” Gabriela says back nervously while shaking her head slightly.
Dusk giggles, “Okay sweet cheeks! Whatever you say!” and then brings her right forehoof to her face for a second drag while Gabriela’s mouth tightens, and cheeks redden slightly once more.
“Are we gonna spend all night talking about my ass?” Gabriela finally adds while Dusk takes another drag while giggling slightly.
Dusk exhales a cloud above her while smiling, “Well, it is pretty fun? But we don’t have to hun-baby! Uh, so what do you do for fun Gabriela?” she says before looking up at the unicorn.
“Nothing much?” Gabriela says while staring at the joint and causing it to glow and float towards her. She won’t admit it to Dusk Shine, but she’s starting to feel lightheaded and giddy at this point as the high of the devil weed begins to go full bore in her mind and she steadily floats the joint in front of her face. “I mostly just read and sip coffee! And there’s my cat!” she says before bringing the joint once more to her lips so she can take a large drag and cause the cherry to light up once more.
Dusk frowns, “You don’t get out much, do you?”
Gabriela exhales smoke into the air above Dusk and looks to her and says, “Not really, no…” before floating the half joint back to her lips where she locks around it and causes the cherry to glow once more. She then causes the glowing roach to float back down to Dusk Shine, still sitting on the chair to the right.
Dusk grabs the joint in midair with her right forehoof and says, “Well, do you ever get curious about the wide world out there?” before taking a drag of what’s left, which is just a small one-inch-long roach by this point.
“Um, sometimes…” Gabriela looks down, “I just don’t think I really belong there; you know? I mean, I’m very unusual!” she says while leaning forward and widening her blue slitted eyes to the other batpony.
Dusk holds up her forehoof to signal Gabriela, who looks at it and makes the joint in the cleft glow blue before it starts to float to back to her as she leans back. Then, Dusk Shine says, “Well, hey! I got a crazy idea! I’m high and I’m sure you’re starting to feel it, even with that high ass tolerance, right? Let’s go out!”
Gabriela looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Alright… But we’re loading these roaches into my pipe!” Before taking a powerful drag of the now diminutive roach. She looks up and exhales a big cloud of smoke a few seconds later and then stares to the ashtray, where she moves the front of the joint back and forth into it to snuff out. She smiles and looks to her right to snap open her saddlebag there and float out her metal smokeless pipe over the ashtray. She dumps the contents there while scraping out the herb with her magic and looks through it while mystically moving what’s smokable away from what isn’t and then, setting her pipe to the side. She grins as she looks up and floats the pipe right-side up, above the ashtray and then floats the two roaches into the bowl. She looks at the heap on the ashtray and squints her eyes in concentration as she magically lifts the smokable section of what she had separated and puts that into her pipe. Then, she investigates the pipe and magically forces some of the devil weed down in there so everything will fit and then she looks to her right, grabs the cap in her blue grasp, and floats it over onto the pipe to screw it back on. She then floats the pipe back into her right saddlebag before snapping it shut, as she says, “Okay! One bowl of resiny goodness, ready to go! So uh, what did you have in mind Dusk Shine?” before looking to the other batpony.
Dusk Shine frowns at the other batpony and says, “Well you said you wanted breakfast? What about the all-night coffee shop on the West side of town? It’s a few blocks off and they serve fruit, just for batponies! And I know you like coffee, right?” with an expectant, hopeful look in her eyes.
“Well, you wanted to do something I’d enjoy right?”
“Yes! Because you’re my friend!”
Gabriela squints her eyes, “Right uh, friendship! But what do you want to do?” she says before widening her eyes to the punk.
Dusk Shine responds robotically, “Whatever you want friend!” before smiling.
“You don’t have a plan, do you?”
“Didn’t I already tell you that I live freely?”
“Oh um, right!” Gabriela says as she starts. “Punk rock! Yes!” Gabriela looks down to the table as she suddenly realizes that some strong coffee might do her some good. She looks to the punk, “Alright, I’m game Dusk Shine! Lead the way!”
Dusk Shine turns right to face the West and glances to Gabriela to her right as the other batpony trots out of the house and shuts the door with her blue glow. She then looks up to Dusk Shine, “Lead the way! Uh, you know where it is, right?”
Dusk says, “Sure! You like coffee, and you’ve never been here?”
Gabriela starts, “Well uh, I don’t get out much!”
“Obviously! Uh, alright Gabs! Right this way!” Dusk says before turning forward and beginning to trot.
Gabriela trots to Dusk speedily to catch up to her on her right before looking over and saying, “Gabs huh? Well, I’ll take it over sweet cheeks!”
Dusk looks over and whimsically says, “Yeah, we’re not there yet, are we?” before smiling.
“What do you uh, oh shut up Dusk Shine!”
“Anything you want, juicy booty!”
Gabriela squints and says, “It’s not funny!”
“Sure!” Dusk says while widening her eyes and perking up, while trotting.
Both ponies look forward as they trot West for several minutes. Finally, Gabriela says, “Dusk Shine! I got a confession…”
Dusk looks over to her right once more to see Gabriela trotting there in night vision with a serious look in her blue slitted eyes as she stares back.
Dusk Shine stops trotting and faces her body to the unicorn before saying, “Uh, what’s up?” and slightly nodding her head.
Gabriela notices in her own night vision and stops to face her body to Dusk Shine, “I’m really nervous! And uh, well… When you mentioned earlier tonight that we might have sex, I just saw an easy way out… I’m still not sure I want to do this?”
Dusk Shine looks to Gabriela wide-eyed and says worriedly, “Why not Gabriela? Haven’t we been having a wonderful time? Smoking and talking?”
At this point, Gabriela can’t tell if it’s the devil weed giving her courage or if she just found better footing as she gulps and says, “Well, right! Of course! I’ve been having a great time! It’s just that…”
“What Gabriela?” Dusk asks while tilting her head to the right with an inquisitive look in her greenish yellow eyes.
“I don’t know if I should have friends or go out!” Gabriela says before shutting her eyes.
“What Gabs? Why would you say that?”
Gabriela opens her eyes and motions with her head back to her house to the South and says, “I don’t know if you’d understand?” before looking down.
Dusk Shine takes two paces towards the unicorn and stares with a determined look in her slitted greenish yellow eyes, their fire reignited by the indication that something was wrong with Gabriela, “Try me!”
Gabriela turns back to Dusk, “Well… I uh…” She looks down.
“What is it?” Dusk asks curiously while leaning forward a little.
Gabriela looks back to Dusk, “Look at me! I’m a unicorn of the night! I…”
“What Gabriela?”
“There’s no others like me anywhere near here Dusk Shine… I’m all alone and I can’t really relate to anypony! I mean, what would you know about night magic?” She looks down and beings to breath harshly. She closes her eyes for a moment while trying to compose herself and think of the right words to say. When suddenly, she feels a hoof on her left shoulder. She opens her eyes to see the greenish yellow eyes of Dusk Shine staring back at her gravely…
“I actually think you’re fine Gabs…”
“W-what?”
“Look here Gabriela!” Dusk Shine says, with that same fire in her eyes as she lowers her right forehoof back to the pavement, “Yeah, sure you’re unique! Yeah, there’s nopony anywhere near here that’s quite like you… But so what? I like you! And you’re my friend!” Dusk says before embracing Gabriela in a tight hug.
Gabriela is stunned and momentarily frozen in place as she asks, “Uh, what are you doing?”
“I’m hugging you! It’s uh, physical display of affection to show support!” Dusk Shine says, almost robotically.
Gabriela finally leans on Dusk and embraces her with her own forehooves before asking, “What all did you read in that book, anyway?”
Dusk disengages her forelegs from Gabriela and goes back to her hooves before nodding, “A lot of things… But hey! Friendship or whatever, is still pretty new to me too! So uh, you wanna go have some bucking coffee and figure this mystery out with me?”
Gabriela finally cracks a smile and says, “Sounds good to me!” while giggling slightly.
(To be continued…)