//------------------------------// // Ch. 11: Vain // Story: Sin // by MemoryLane //------------------------------// I awoke on the floor in Pinkie's room, thankful that I actually got through the night(I think...). Last night scared me to no end. I think I was almost raped by Aphrodite, although I don't know if that was her intention. Maybe she was just cuddling? No, I'm sure it was rape. She can't be the attribute for lust if she wasn't. "Rise and shine!" Aphrodite burst through the door, causing me to jump and almost hide under the bed. Just the sound of her voice. Don't get me wrong, yes she is an attractive mare, and she knows how to...push buttons. But still! It doesn't mean anything. I hope. Pinkie Pie jumped out of bed and hugged Aphrodite, not even asking what I was doing on the floor. "Hi Aphro!" She cheered. Aphrodite seemed to like her new nickname, as she smiled at Pinkie warmly. "Morning! I trust you both slept well?" She looked over at me and winked. I felt like slapping her. "Oh yes! The bed was really comfy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I felt like I was sleeping on clouds! Oh! I bet Dashie knows how that feels. We should get Dashie here and have her compare the two!" A spark of hope appeared in Aphrodite's eyes. "You have MORE friends?" Pinkie, please stop... By the way she said that, It's kind of obvious that Aphrodite didn't have any friends herself, probably because she couldn't help but flirt with all of them and drive them away. It's not her fault though, per se. I have yet to figure out if Aphrodite was born like this, or if she was given the "attribute" earlier in life, and it made her this way. Eh, I'll figure it out later. I kind of felt bad for her, upon realizing this, however. She must be VERY lonely, so it's probably not best to treat her badly. As Pinkie bounced towards the kitchen(It would appear that Aphrodite had already made breakfast...) I stopped Aphrodite to talk to her. "Can we talk?" I asked her, Aphrodite's eyes fell a little bit in both wonder and excitement. I didn't want to know what she was hoping I would say. "Sure...take a seat." Aphrodite went over to the bed and laid down on it seductively on her side, her flank facing the wall and her fore hoof resting on her cheek. This is not what I meant. "Aphrodite...I'm not interested in you." I said bluntly. Aphrodite's facial expression immediately fell from a smile, to a sad frown. "I'm straight." "So am I." "So I can'- wait what?" I was utterly confused for a second until I figured it out in my head, but Aphrodite cleared it up for me. "I'm for both teams, hun." Well, I was right about one thing. "Well, I'm not interested in you like that. But I still think we could be friends if you'd stop hitting on me so much." I sat on the edge of the bed. I didn't mean to be so blunt, but there was no way that I'd be able to tell her seriously. She gave me a sincerely smile. "I'm sorry..." Aphrodite wrapped her arms around me to give me a sincere hug, and I returned it, seeing as it wasn't sexual anymore. Until she began to whisper in my ear again. "Don't worry...you'll give in eventually. Everypony does..." I blushed and before I had a chance to say anything, she got up and walked into the kitchen. This was going to be a long journey... *** Everyone was so drained of energy from yesterday's events, that we actually slept in a little later than we'd have hoped. Luckily, I managed to set the alarm clock last night before I fell asleep for 10 AM, just incase. When the time came around, no one was happy about it. Cashmere was very aggressive hen it came to his sleep. Without even opening his eyes, he took one of his extra pillows and threw it at Rarity, who was closest to him. I was on the other side of the bed. The pillow clocked her in her horn. "Turn it off!" He mumbled, and only receiving an aggravated groan from Rarity. Instead of giving him is pillow back, she kept it for herself and pressed "Snooze" on the alarm clock. Eventually, the alarm clock rang once again, and we were all up for good. "Wow, I'm surprised with how well I slept..." Rarity announced, stetting her slender body on the edge of the bed. She was right, I slept pretty good also, and I presume Cashmere did as well. We immediately got ready for the day, eating various snacks for breakfast that we had brought. I lent some of my food to Cashmere, so he wouldn't go hungry. I put the Medallion around my neck, was it me or was this thing getting more and more heavy? Anyways, as soon as I put it on, it shown brightly the same dark green as before. Whoever we needed to find, they are VERY close... We packed up our things and left the crummy hotel, following the Medallion through Manehatten. It was much more different now that it wasn't night time. It seemed...restless. As we walked down the street, not even 10 minutes later, I had this strange feeling of being watched, so I quickly turned around, only to see something duck away behind a mailbox. Whoever it was, they weren't a very good stalker. "Hello?" I called out over the noise of the city. Cashmere and Rarity both stopped and turned to me. "What is it?" Cashmere asked, intrigued. "I think we're being followed..." Rarity poked me playfully. "Dear, I think you're just a little paranoid..." Rarity started, but I'm not kidding when I say I saw something. "Hello?" I called again as I walked closer to the mailbox. I saw is shake slightly, and a light green mare pop her head from it. She let out a long sigh and marched over to me, looking me dead in the eyes. Her green ones staring right into mine. Her mane reminded me of party streamers, and it was colored of turquoise and white. Her tail was the exact same way. What I couldn't help but notice was that her tail was shorter than Cashmere's. Rarity stood beside me just in case something were to happen. "Who are you?" She asked, trying to figure out of our little "stalker" is. "That is NOT important! The thing is that I know EXACTLY who you are!" She growled, apparently staring into Rarity's soul. "You're the ones plastered over the newspapers every other BUCKING week!" "Uh..." Rarity was speechless, she didn't know exactly what to say. "I'm just going to say this...I better not see any of you three around here every again, or they'll be Hell to pay." She steamed, motioning over to Cashmere, who stood awkwardly behind us. With that, she galloped away down the street, grumbling to herself. As she turned away, I couldn't help but notice her cutie mark was a second place ribbon... "How rude!" Rarity exclaimed. "Can you believe her?!" She asked me. She stared at my chest for a moment, before I actually looked down. The Medallion was flashing like never before. "Could that have been...?" I asked, and Rarity nodded, taking off for the mare down the street. "Come on!" She shouted to Cashmere and I. The stallion looked left and right, as he obviously wasn't paying attention as to what was going on and began to reluctantly follow us down the street. *** Rainbow Dash and I had awoken from a very rough night on the cold bunker floor. My flank hurt from the position I slept in, and Rainbow couldn't stop complaining about how sore her wing felt. "Ugh!" She furiously shook her left wing as to "fix" it. We stood up, only to realize that Ennui was still asleep in the bed. Go figure. I trotted over to her and poked her belly. "Ya alive?" My only response was a loud snore. Instead of poking her, this time I decided to shake her, "Wake up!" I mumbled. She simply turned away from me and continued to sleep. "Rainbow, could ya give me a hoof?" I asked the pegasus, who was gathering her things in her saddlebag. She grinned mischievously and walked over to the Ennui and leaned into her ear, taking a deep breathe. "WAAAAAAKE UUUP!" She hollered straight into the mare's ear. I had to cover my own, since the sound echoed loudly throughout the room. I thought my ears were going to bleed. Ennui was still asleep. Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck, obviously that yell wasn't good for her vocal chords. "Screw it. Let her sleep. I'm going to see what food she ha-" "The Hell you will!" Ennui jolted her eyes open and glared at Rainbow Dash. Well, now we know for later that threatening her food supply can, and most likely will, wake her up. "Step. Away. From. My. Stash." She deadpanned. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Ennui got out of bed, only to slide onto the floor. I actually had to help her to her feet she was so gosh-darn lazy. "Um, where's the bathroom?" I asked her, not wanting to waste any time. I needed to go pretty urgently. To my dismay, Ennui shook her head a smiled sleepily. "This is none. You're going to have to go in the woods." She chuckled. Most mares would not be okay with that, but it doesn't really bother me much to do it. So I just shrugged. I walked up the stairs to the wooden door. I expected it to push open, but when it didn't I actually smacked my face against it, leaving a nice bruise on my forehead and knocking my hat clean off. "Ouch!" I exclaimed, causing Rainbow Dash to explode into another fit of laughter, along with Ennui. I picked myself and my hat off the floor, with my dignity intact, and pushed on the door. It didn't budge. "What the hay?" I said, calling to Ennui. "It's stuck!" Rainbow Dash immediately stopped laughing and ran over to me. "Stuck?! How can it be stuck?!" "Let me explain..." Ennui announced, we both turned our attentions to her. "I just love you guys so much-" "Now is not the time for jokes!" Rainbow yelled, a few seconds before I was going to. "How do we get out of here?" "The door." Okay, now she was really pissing me off. "Ennui!" Ennui lifted up her hooves defensively, that same somnolent look in her eyes. "Look, there's a key around here somewhere." Ennui stated, I raised my eyebrow as I realized something. "So yer tryin' to tell me, that there is a lock to keep ponies IN, but not to keep ponies OUT?" That made no sense! "You'll be thanking me when the zombies are chasing you and this is your only option when it comes to safety." "What!?" Rainbow and I said simultaneously. "Nevermind. Just start looking..." Ennui rolled her eyes and began to look under the mattress that she was just sleeping on a few moments ago. Sometimes, I just want to smack her.