“Wait, what?” I said, pulling Cloud out of the way of the speakers where we could talk without yelling.
“I said, ‘Since I’ve been to San Francisco before, I can show you and Rhea around,’” she responded.
I blinked at her, trying to clear my head of the booze and music. “When did you go to San Francisco?”
“A few years ago,” she said. “Went with Sarah and my human dad.” She scrunched her muzzle up. “I’m gonna need new names. That just sounds wrong.”
She paused and suddenly barked a laugh. “Oh man! Ha! How about that! I’ve two moms and two dads now!” She shook her head. “Life, huh?”
I laughed along, though mine wasn’t as lively. January was distant from her family, Blossomforth had none. Jess and Cloud were closer to theirs, if strained on Cloud’s side from what I knew. I hadn’t really thought about my dynamic since the merge. I hadn’t thought about a lot of things, really.
Thankfully, the party was doing well to keep me distracted.
Dancing, liquor, meeting ponies and allies alike- I was having the best Halloween (or Nightmare Night) in a very long time. Rhea had even gotten into the swing of the event, breaking away from us to chat animatedly with a human dude about anime. I kept an eye on her, even if it did stray back to Cloud from time to time.
“That’s pretty wild,” I said to Cloud. “But, sure. Give us a dime tour. That’s... Better than anything I have.”
She pet my withers, smiling. “I’ll always take care of you.”
Her eyes widened suddenly and she took me bodily with both her forelegs. “I can take you to the fluffy bathrobe hotel!” she squealed.
I blushed, laughing with her enthusiasm. Cloud’s eye then caught a pair of earth ponies running to the floor to start dancing excitedly. She cocked her head at me, and, grinning, we followed suit.
Back on the dance floor, we fluttered about to the upbeat tunes. Pegasus flight dancing was a little different since I was post merge. I definitely enjoyed it more. I remembered how much January loved to dance and now that I could fly while doing it? Even better.
“I gotta say, all this fine pony booty is really representing Equestria well!” Cloud said.
“Glad to see your eyes are on the prize!” I commented.
“You’re the only prize I have my eyes on Cupcake!” she said, rubbing my cheek.
I blushed again.
“Woo! Yes! We have Cherry Cupcake!”
I rolled my eyes, my blush deepening. “Clooooooud...”
She flapped over to hug me from behind. “Aw, c’mon. You’re cute. Super, super, soooooper cute. And mine. Nom, nom, nom.” She nibbled on my ear, which made my wings... React.
“Cloud, please,” I said, almost below the hearable range the speakers allowed. I was feeling light-headed and a bit overwhelmed by all the input. “Tone it down a notch?”
She saw my serious expression, then smiled at me. “Of course.”
She flapped back into dance formation, zipping around with a silly grin.
I relaxed. I liked Cloud’s affections, but between the drinks I’d had and all the moving around and the sudden blood rushing about at her touch, I was hitting sensory overload. Just being close and dancing was good enough for now.
We went on like that for two more songs before a new voice called out, “Cloud- Cloud Kicker is that you?”
Cloud froze mid flap and her face froze in a way I knew all too well. I couldn’t help it, I giggled.
Flapping right next to her ear, I said, “What were you saying earlier about situations you’d never be in?”
Giving me a cool look, she turned to the unicorn just below us. The mare grinned up at Cloud in that way I’d grown used to in the last few days. I didn’t argue with it. Cloud was somepony special. Especially to me.
Cloud blinked and I could see her rapid-fire memory tearing through the list of ponies she knew and a split-second later, she smiled.
“Fluff! Hey, how’s it going?”
The yellow pony with purple mane and deep, maroon eyes chuckled. “Pretty good! Fancy catching you here!”
“Fancy that,” Cloud said, grinning. She turned to gesture at me with a hoof. “Hey Fluff, I want to introduce you to someone.”
We floated down to the dance floor proper and moved away from the speakers.
“Banana Fluff, this is my... Marefriend. Blossom Jane. Jane? This is Fluff.”
“Hey there,” I said, offering my hoof.
Banana Fluff took mine slowly and her eyes darted between us.
“Marefriend, huh?” she said, shaking and releasing my hoof. “You, Cloud?”
Cloud shrugged with her wings. “I’m not the pony I was,” she said with a smile. “Woke up this morning and I came with a shiny new shieldmate.” She threw her foreleg around me and pulled me in to kiss my forehead.
“Shieldmate?” I asked.
Cloud rolled her eyes. “I’ve been thinking and after saying it out loud, I don’t like ‘marefriend.’ It’s a bit young. I don’t like ‘lover’ either- makes it sound like I’m banging in a commune, and definitely not ‘partner.’ Too formal. So. Shieldmate. Just for us. Best description for you, love.”
Amused somewhat, I laughed softly. “I like it.”
Banana Fluff snorted, but she was starting to look somewhere between bashful and worried.
“Wow, well, uh... Congrats. Both of you,” she said, trying to edge away.
“Aw, now Fluffy...” Cloud released me to lean forward and nuzzle against the other mare. “Don’t be that way. We had some good times and if it all works out, we can have ‘em again. Just... Not now.”
I blinked at that.
After the merge, I guess I’d just accepted that Jess’s terms for a relationship had held out. Even though Cloud... Was Cloud, she respected love big time and treated it very seriously. Something big must have happened in the merge to make that line fly.
“Wait, what?” Banana said, sharing my confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah, hon,” I said, moving to face her. “Could you clue me in too? Last I checked, Jess said she was a one-mare pony.”
Cloud blushed, chagrined. I stared into her expression and couldn’t tell if she was blushing because she forgot to tell me something or blushing because she was caught red-hoofed. I reminded myself how responsible both Cloud and Jess were and how much Jess had loved January. But... Had Cloud shared Blossomforth’s feelings?
I’d confessed my love to her and she hadn’t said no, but then so much had happened... Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Suddenly I felt all too sober and all too nervous.
“Okay, so. I merged, right?” Cloud said, breaking into my worry.
I nodded. “That’s... What you told me. I believe you.”
“Good, ‘cause that is what happened. Part of that merge is I had to... Work out how either of me worked.
“Cloud knew you were cool with sleeping around so long as you knew you were solid. Jess didn’t want to run the risk of breaking your heart, so they compromised on something.”
“What’s that?” Banana asked.
I looked at her, a bit annoyed, but I let it pass. She was present for the conversation and if I’d stumbled on this, I’d probably be hard-pressed to keep my muzzle shut too.
“Well, it depends on Blossom here.” Cloud turned to me. I noticed the gold fire in her eyes was brighter, dancing almost. “Babe, how do you feel about me still banging around?”
That question certainly brought my brain to a screeching halt.
“What?” I said.
“Me banging other ponies, but you’re my main girl- how do you feel about it?”
I took a breath and lowered my gaze. I sat on the sudden appearance of the “She’s going to dump me” feeling and told it to let me think things through. It did, but, boy, did that feeling wring its hooves.
So, how did I feel about Cloud banging other ponies?
I loved Cloud. All of her. I didn’t want her wandering, but at the same time... I still wasn’t overly fond of sex. A bit of kissing, maybe making out, sure whatever, but sex? Blossomforth had been a virgin, but January was experienced. Way experienced. Too experienced for Blossomforth’s virgin ideas to stand against and the result was... A sexual apathy.
At least, for everyone beyond Cloud. I looked back up at my “shieldmate” and felt the warmth I associated with her bloom in me. Also the want. All this... Take-her-on-the-dance-floor-now! want.
Looking at Banana Fluff, I thought she was cute, but I wouldn’t want to do anything. Too complicated, not worth the effort. I had somepony who loved me and that was what mattered.
Wait. Back up.
I was certain of that. As certain as I was in my love for Cloud, so too was I certain of her love for me. So if she was just asking to bang around... Was that all it was? Some purely physical flings?
I realized I was fine with that. As long as she still loved me, she could bang a rock for all I cared.
I looked Cloud in the eye. “I guess... I guess I’d be okay with it, but we’d have to talk about some conditions.”
Cloud brightened instantly. “How about these conditions?” She leaned close to me and her smile made lascivious look tame in comparison. “No banging unless you’re there.”
I blinked at her, mouth open slightly. “Bwah,” I said.
“Huh?” Banana said.
“Wooo!” yelled someone from the dance floor.
Cloud chuckled at us. “Oh man, your faces. Wish I had a camera. Wait- I do.” She raised up her phone and I heard the little electronic click of a picture taken. The noise got my brain in gear.
“Wait. Wait! Cloud... Jess... You!” I said. “Are you saying, I... Have to be... Involved in all your future banging?”
“Pretty much,” Cloud said, throwing an affectionate wing around my trunk. “If I’m gonna bang now, it’s nothing but threesomes and up where everypony knows everypony else.” She nuzzled up near my ear, which just made me blush. “Because I don’t go unless my shieldmate’s with me.”
Banana’s eyes darted between Cloud and me. “Okay... Open relationship?”
I looked at Banana Fluff. “Really. Now?”
“Sorry, sorry,” she said, raising a hoof in peace. “I’m just... She’s really confusing me here.”
I turned to Cloud, my merged Jessica Cloud. I could see it in her eyes. I carried veto power now. She’d turn down Celestia if I said it made me uncomfortable and she’d be fine with the decision. Because she truly loved me. Talk about weird responsibilities.
“She’s part Cloud Kicker,” I said. “She kinda runs on confusing ponies.”
Cloud laughed, nuzzling me closer. “Sorry love. You know how a good part of me is. I figured this was a fair compromise.”
“I don’t know about fair...” I said, glancing over at Banana Fluff. “You know how I feel about three-ways.”
“‘Messy and more trouble than they’re worth,’” she quoted. “Just say the word and it’s just you and me, love. No worries.” She cocked her head with a quick eye to Banana. “We’d still be window shopping though, right?”
I sighed. I looked at Banana Fluff, who looked like she’d stepped in the biggest pile of her life. I looked at Jessica Cloud, who looked at me with implicit trust.
I saved everypony a bit of trouble, myself included. Turning to Banana, I said, “So, my human was big into genre detective and paranormal fiction, and my pony liked building things in her free time, how about you?”
Banana stared at me.
“What?” she said, flat.
“I used to collect superhero comics too, but lately, I haven’t been impressed with the offerings. I mostly read webcomics and indie stuff now. I’m a weekend, rec flyer. I sometimes make cloud courses to see if I can pull off things. I usually can’t, but... It’s fun, you know?”
Banana continued to stare at me.
“I’m sorry, I’m not getting something,” she said.
I leaned close to her, conspiratorially.
“There’s no way in all of Equestria I can keep up with Cloud,” I said, kindly. “Especially now.”
I looked over at my shieldmate, whose expression was getting wider and wider with its smile.
I looked back to Banana. “So, we’re going to try something, if you want. Before you and Cloud can bang, we need to know each other. I need to know what my shieldmate is getting into because she can talk about threesomes all she wants- I’d rather not get involved.”
“So what’s this?” Banana asked. “A sex interview?”
I shook my head emphatically. “No! Oh, Luna, nooo. It’s... Look. You wanna bang my shieldmate, I gotta be cool with you.” After a moment, I added, “Or think it’s gonna be so hot I’ll wanna bang Cloud after she tells me about it.”
Cloud’s mouth dropped at that.
“How’s that for ground rules, honey?” I said.
“I’m- I’m good,” she said, blinking slowly. A half-smile sprouting on her dumbstruck face.
“So,” I said to Banana. “This sound good?”
Banana Fluff looked at me, then to Cloud. She pawed the ground in thought.
“I like doing beading and jewelry making,” she said. “My human’s... Into photography.”
“Merged yet?” I asked, moving over to the relative quiet where Rhea was talking to her anime guy.
“No... No,” Banana said, following me. “Lilah’s letting me have a night out for fun. We’ve been trying to get some work done since she was really close to finishing a photo book before...” She gestured at herself.
“That sounds pretty cool,” I said. “I’ll buy you a drink if you both tell me all about it.”
Looking over my shoulder, I said, “You coming, love?”
Cloud grinned at me and flapped over so she was right next to me. She pecked me on the cheek.
“I’ll always come for you,” she said, her voice dripping with enough... Well, let’s just say wingboners aren’t fan theory. At least, they weren’t for me.
I rolled my eyes at her and ruffled my feathers, trying to smooth them out. “You’re gonna be the death of me, I can feel it,” I muttered.
Banana stared at me. She stared for a good minute with this unreadable expression. Finally, she looked over to Cloud and said, “You are the luckiest freaking pony in the whole, wide world.”
Cloud just looked at me in a way that definitely made me blush. “Don’t I know it.”