//------------------------------// // #143 - What is this feeling? // Story: Questions #143 and Beyond // by ArDee //------------------------------// Sunny Starscout was...conflicted. As incredible as it was to have her efforts at reunifying the pony races vindicated in far more spectacular a fashion than she ever could've anticipated, it brought with it catastrophic structural damage to her beloved home — Maretime Bay's iconic lighthouse, and the place that contained all of her father's work with magical antiquities from...from before she'd lost him forever. From when she was still a bright-eyed, staunchly optimistic filly with zero qualms about voicing her "radical" opinions about unicorns and pegasi. ...Admittedly, that was a trait she'd never let go of even as she grew to young adulthood, and as Sunny sat thoughtfully on a grassy slope overlooking the lighthouse's reconstruction efforts, she reflected on how singularly crucial her stubbornness had turned out to be for the future of ponykind. Sunny was jarred from her introspective moodiness by the feeling of a hoof hesitantly tapping her back, the telltale rattling of a gemstone bracelet giving away its identity without her needing to give it a second thought. "Sunny! Gosh, I was calling your name for ages, filly! Y'know, you really shouldn't spend too much time in your own head. It's not healthy!" Izzy Moonbow chastened, her chipper demeanor never faltering for a moment as she plonked herself down right in front of Sunny, obstructing the heartwrenching view of her damaged domicile with a happy-go-lucky smile. Her face began to feel hot, as fuzzy tingles of indescribable, heart-fluttering energy rippled through her from their point of contact. 'There it is again! But why...?` Shaking it off as best she could as she attempted to compose herself, Sunny opened her mouth to reply — and found that, when she stared into her best friend's bewitching amethyst eyes, words simply wouldn't leave her lips. Izzy's eyebrow crept higher the longer her friend stayed "spaced out" and silent. "Uhh...is there somethin' on my face? What's with the look? Ooh, is this another staring contest?!" Izzy squealed excitedly and abruptly fell silent as she returned Sunny's stare with intense concentration, bottom lip jutting out goofily in the process. "W-wha...?" Sunny said breathlessly as her brain finally rebooted, shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear up whatever was fogging her thoughts. "Ha-haaa! I win this time!" Izzy exclaimed, pumping a hoof in victory. "So that means you gotta start answering me! What's got your mind going all wacky, huh?" "Well...I've got some more questions I wanted to ask you. New ones, I mean. Ones that came to me while we were, y'know, saving the future of Equestria." she quickly pulled it out of her satchel and unbuttoned the cover, nearly fumbling it in the process. With shaky hooves, she hurriedly flipped towards the end of her list of questions. "Th-they're not anything about history or tradition, though. These questions are about...you." "Ooh, like what? Didja wanna know my favorite flavor of ice cream? Well, rainbow sherbet is preeetty goo-" Her motormouth was abruptly halted as Sunny's hoof was held up to her lips. "Izz...w-why do I get this feeling...of butterflies in my stomach whenever I look at you?" Sunny said breathlessly, the effort of that monumental question feeling like a herculean weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. Whatever Izzy might've been about to say left her mouth with a fading whimper, her eyes widening in surprise as a rosy blush lit up her cheeks. "S-Sunny?" The kindling embers in Sunny's heart began to crackle with newfound life as a feeling of self-assured confidence filled her chest, borne of countless pro-friendship protests around her closed-minded hometown. Staunchly, with her brow furrowing further and further, she continued reading down her list, allowing the emotional furor of the moment to fuel her interrogation-cum-confession. "Why can't I stop thinking about you? Why does everywhere you touch me leave a tingle? Is all of this part of your crazy unicorn powers?" With a long inhale, Sunny finally paused in her questioning, her breaths coming in staccato gasps. Sunny could hear Izzy's horn alight with its newly unlocked sorcerous power as that ethereal purple shimmer lit up in her periphery, but before she could ask any further embarrassing and confusing questions - Izzy's telekinesis pushed Sunny's chin upwards and away from the pages of her notebook. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest as Izzy's knowing, half-lidded gaze filled her vision, and she could feel the insistent force of telekinesis around the back of her head - preventing her from pulling away as Izzy's face moved swiftly towards hers. In that singular, magical moment, as sunset gave way to twilight in the sky above them, their muzzles met. A collective shudder rolled through them the moment that they made contact, Izzy's telekinesis fading away to nothing as Sunny dropped her notebook to the grass and gripped Izzy's barrel in her forehooves. All of the questions she'd had, all of the confusing and unfamiliar feelings that had been welling within her from the moment they'd first locked eyes in that hectic encounter in Maretime Bay, resolved themselves in an instant. She could feel Izzy's broad tongue licking against her lips, the older and more experienced mare begging for an entrance - which Sunny wholeheartedly allowed, a muffled giggle passing through her whenever the other mare's tongue tickled a sensitive spot in her maw. With a martial prowess that heavily subverted her childlike, hyperactive demeanor, the unicorn's deft muscle quested through and conquered every square inch of her interior, sending Sunny's head spinning as her eagerness to reciprocate led her completely out of her depth. "Whoa." The husky, awed voice of their pale pegasus friend cut through their rapturous union in an instant, the two mares blushing furiously as they hurriedly disentangled and tried in vain to make it look like they hadn't just been snogging at sunset like some kind of stereotypical romance novella. Zipp landed hesitantly upon the grass as she carefully considered her next statement, shuffling her wings restlessly as she folded them against her sides. "I...was gonna ask how you two were doing, but I guess now I don't need to. Heh." "Z-zipp! Please don't tell anypony else about this! Reintegrating the races is one thing, but I don't think everypony would be ready for something like this just yet!" Sunny exclaimed, glancing around hurriedly for any other potential witnesses. "Whoa, whoa, whoooa. Slow your roll, there, pony girl! My lips are sealed as long as yours are." Sunny and Izzy shared a meaningful glance at each other's spit-slickened lips as they gave Zipp sheepish smiles, getting a good-natured laugh out of the pegasine princess. "Aw, you know what I mean. Jeeze, keep it in your saddlebags, you two." "That was soooo adorable, wasn't it guys? Aren't Izzy and Sunny just the cutest couple?" Pipp purred sweetly into her front-facing camera, although a quick glance at the appalled expressions on the other three ponies' faces caused her sweet smile to falter. Returning her focus back to her camera as her wings fluttered anxiously, Pipp hurriedly closed her livestream with her signature catchphrase and grinned sheepishly at the other ponies as she quickly stowed her phone beneath her downy wing. "Pipp, what the hay are you thinking?!" Zipp shouted furiously, getting right up in her sister's face as her wings flared out at her sides. "Do you have any idea of what less understanding ponies are gonna think about what you just streamed to the entirety of ZH?! Do you honestly even think about what you're doing half the time?" "I-I-I..." Mouth hanging open in horrified realization as she beheld the hurt looks on Izzy and Sunny's faces, Pipp couldn't find any words to excuse her behavior. With tears quickly welling in her eyes, she at least made an attempt. "I'm so sorry...I was just so happy for the two of you that I...ohh, I've ruined everythiiing~!" Her tears ran in trails down her cheeks as she turned tail and ran, unable to bear the potentially disastrous consequences of her actions. Zipp's angered expression broke into an exasperated sigh as her ears flopped downward. "I'm really sorry, you two. I'm gonna try to see if I can't help my sister fix this mess. You two just...talk things out, alright? Try not to let what other ponies think ruin this for you, yeah?" Without another word, she was off like her namesake, chasing after her distraught and impulsive sister. Sunny and Izzy were left in painfully awkward silence in the wake of the pegasine princesses' sudden intrusion into their moment. Izzy, taking the initiative, was the first to open her mouth. "Sooo...you wanna...talk things out some more?" she purred, wiggling her eyebrows as she gave Sunny that half-lidded come-hither stare that she already knew drove the other mare wild. Rolling her eyes and scoffing, Sunny pulled her new marefriend close once more. "You are incorrigible, Izz. But...yeah. I'd like that very much." All those thoughts of the uncertainty and strife that Pipp had just thrust upon them left her mind as their lips met once more, the two of them flopping belly-to-belly onto the grass as their hooves journeyed across each other's manes and bodies. Whatever the future would bring, the two of them wouldn't go down without a fight — after all, when had Sunny Starscout ever been one to play by the rules?