Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did.
Flight From Memories Chapter Ten:
Closing
I stared at my azure companion with what could only be described as shock. “I’m sorry, say again?”
“I distinctly remember my daughter, Streak,” she said. “She was a blue unicorn, with a white mane and tail, and her eyes were the color of a vibrant fire opal. I may have only seen her for a few moments, but I never forgot what she looked like.”
I paused in contemplation. “You have to tell her, Rainbow Dash,” I said. “She deserves to know, and to hear it from you.”
“I know, I know,” she said, frowning. “It’s just that I’m worried she’ll hate me. What if she resents me for what she went through in the orphanage?”
“None of that was your fault,” I consoled, draping a leg over her withers. “If you could have stopped it, would you have?”
“In a heartbeat,” she said without hesitation.
“That’s what matters,” I said with confidence. “I think she’ll love you, Rainbow.”
“Hey, you didn’t use my full name that time,” she teased.
“Maybe because I feel comfortable around you,” I said, nuzzling her softly.
She blushed bright red, but didn’t retreat. In fact, she took it a step further when I pulled back, and planted her lips on mine in a quick, chaste kiss. She giggled as I locked up, pushing me over with a single hoof. “Just like last time,” she said.
I chuckled from my prone form, “I think this has been the worst first date in the history of first dates.”
She cocked her head, asking, “What do you mean?”
“Think about it. We toppled the governments of two major nations, one on accident, just days apart, and almost died,” I said. “There was a saying when I was in high school: ‘A good date ends with dinner, a great date ends with breakfast.’ What kind of date changes the face of the world irrevocably?”
“An excellent one,” she said, smirking.
I smiled at her. “How about I get you that dinner when we get wherever we’re going, and we’ll talk about breakfast?”
She snuggled up next to me. “That sounds great,” she said, winking.
That crafty minx.
We stayed there, just enjoying each others’ company for the next hour or so. After that hour was up, we heard a knocking at the door. I looked up to see a deflated Custos was standing in the doorway. “You were right,” he said quietly. “He’s dead.”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re going through—” I started, sitting up.
He held up a claw, silencing me. “Just don’t, Streak. I have arranged so that you have free transportation wherever you wish. Just know this, as the leader of a non-allied nation, I have seen it fit to assign you some ambassadors.”
“That’s not necessary," I said, frowning.
"I know," the griffon said. "They'll be waiting for you at the train station first thing tomorrow." His piece said, he walked out of the room.
"Angry child," I reiterated.
“Very,” Rainbow said again, snuggling closer to me. I looked back at her in time to see her lower her eyes to half mast, giving me a smoldering look. “So we have a whole day to ourselves.”
I swallowed, “Uh, yeah, we do.”
She slid slowly up my side, keeping her eyes locked on mine. Right as I felt sweat start to bead on my forehead, she lifted a hoof, pushing me back onto my side. She quickly straddled me, pressing her lips into mine with fervor. I returned the surprising gesture with passion. As we lay on the bed, I ran my hooves around her upper body, getting a lay of the land, if you know what I mean.
Right as I felt her hooves dragging down my stomach, I heard a voice. "Hey, Dad, how did–SHIT! Warn me. Put a sock on the door, or something! Geez!" The door slammed closed.
Rainbow and I looked at each other for a moment, both flushed bright red. "That was getting pretty physical," she muttered.
"Yeah," I agreed.
We stared at each other for a few more moments, before bursting out laughing. "Oh, man. I don't think you saw how big her eyes were!"
"At least she didn't walk in five minutes later," I chuckled.
"And why is that?" she asked, sidling up next to me. "Are you saying things here were about to get. . . steamy?"
"I don't know, was it?" I asked, bumping her nose gently with my hoof.
She grinned slyly, saying, "I don't know, let's see." I felt her hoof pushing me back onto the bed. Right as I felt my back hit the bed, I quickly grabbed her and rolled, coming up stradling her prone form. I gave her a grin as she gave of an uncharacteristically girly squeal.
It was a great day.
*~*~*
I woke up in the best mood I'd been in in. . . years. Centuries, even. I think Rainbow shared the sentiment, since she was almost skipping on the walk to the train station. Star was muttering as we walked, glancing up at either Rainbow or me occasionally.
"I see you're in a good mood this morning," a familiar voice said from behind us once we'd reached the station. I turned around, getting a massive smile on my face when I saw who it was.
"Murphy!" I said, giving the griffon a brotherly hug, suddenly even happier that I had taken a shower this morning. Then another one after that, but uninterrupted that time. "You here to see us off?"
"Ah, in a way," he said. "Emperor Custos has assigned us as ambassadors to the Void."
"Us?" my fillyfriend asked. "Who is 'us'?"
"MURPHY!" I heard another voice yell. "I am not happy about this!"
I turned to face the source, seeing Gilda scowling as she walked up. She was in full armor and being 'escorted' by my favorite griffon. I say 'escorted' because Kaiesar was bodily dragging her down the road. "I'm not any happier about this," he growled. "But an Emperor is an Emperor, and I don't disobey my Emperor."
Rainbow stepped forward. "Let go of her," she growled.
The centurion scoffed, "Or what, little crippled pony? You'll beat my ass?"
"No, I'll count it as an act of war," I said, "as any nation would treat an attack against a foreign ambassador under their protection."
Kaiesar glared at me for a moment, before shoving Gilda forward. She stumbled a bit before catching herself. He growled, "How about we settle this?"
"Settle what, your wounded pride?" I asked. "There is no issue between us, just your issue with me. Now I suggest leaving before I actually take a disliking to you."
He glared at me as a whistle announced the arrival of the train from Equestria. I heard a voice, most likely the conductor's, call out, "Next stop, McLeod Clanhold!"
Murphy looked between the two of us, before saying, "We'll tell the train to hold. Come on Gilda, Rainbow, Star." They hesitantly walked off toward the engine at the front of the pony-run train.
The staredown continued for a few more moments before I heard a disturbingly familiar voice behind me. "Well, today's starting to look up, isn't it?"
I scoffed, breaking eye contact with Kaiesar to look at the newcomer. "Shining Armor, how wonderful to see you here."
He grinned a malicious grin. "I thought being suspended and sent on a diplomatic mission wasn't going to end well."
"If you're here to see Throm, it won't," I said. "There isn't even dust left."
He shrugged. "No skin off my back," he said. "I still get to fight you."
I chuckled. "Actually, you don't. I have places to be, and that train won't wait forever."
"Well, that would be a damn shame, but it doesn't have to," he growled, stamping a foot on the ground and snorting, lowering his head into a charging stance. "This won't take long!"
I jumped to the side as he tried to gore me with his horn. "WOAH!" I yelled, shit-eating grin pasted to my face. "Watch that thing, it's sharp!"
"Stand still and take it like a stallion!" he yelled, whipping around.
"Look, out of respect for your wife and sister," I said, dodging another charge, "I won't kill you, how does that sound?"
"Shut up and fight me!" he shouted.
"As you wish," I said. My face instantly fell, becoming serious. The next time he charged, a hoof flew into the right side of his face, snapping his head left and deflecting his attack. He spit blood on the ground, snarled, and whipped around, ready for another round. A hoof smashed the other side of his face, knocking him a few feet backwards.
He leveled his eyes at me. At first they were filled with burning hate, then they widened in abject terror as I came at him again. He whipped up a milky pink shield, but with the first hint of a touch, it shattered into a million fast dissolving shards without slowing me. He started backing up, matching my speed while keeping his eyes on me. His eyes widened even more when he felt something solid at his back. His back was to a wall. Nowhere for him to run.
I pressed my newfound advantage to the full extent. I whipped hoof after hoof into his face, smacking his horn each time he tried to cast a spell. None of my hits were hard enough to damage him, but they were enough to hurt. Right as I was about to get one good hit in on him and finish it, I felt a piercing agony in my foreleg.
“Son of a bitch!” I yelled. I yanked the unicorn’s horn out of my leg. I gripped it with both my forelegs, swinging him into the wall will all the strength I could muster. There was a loud CRUNCH as Shining Armor slammed into the solid barrier, and he dropped to the ground, moaning. I panted, limping on my injured leg up to his prone form. After laying a hoof on him, I noticed something I had missed all the other times I hit him.
A second later, a confused Shining Armor looked up at me. “Streak?” he asked. He blinked, then groaned, “Ah, my damn head!”
“Have a talk with Luna when you get back to Equestria,” I said. “Ask why she had an emotion amplification enchantment on you.” With that, I limped to the train. I jumped through the doors right as they closed. I shook the injured leg, testing its range of movement. I needed to eat some magic soon to repair it, since whoever had designed demons gave us no damn way to store eaten magic for later use. If they did that, I would be set.
“Streak,” Rainbow yelled, running up to me, “you’re hurt!”
I waved my hoof dismissively, “I just need to eat some magic, then I’ll be fine.”
“Streak,” she said softly, “you’re bleeding.”
I scoffed, “Please, demons don’t—” I lifted my hoof and was taken aback by the abundance of red running down my leg. “I don’t–I don’t understand,” I said, stumbling from the shock. “I don’t have–Rainbow, I can’t bleed, I don’t have blood! I don’t have blood!”
She put a hoof on my shoulder, shaking me lightly. “Listen to yourself! You’re freaking out, knot boy! We’ll get you some bandages, and worry about this later. One step at a time, alright?”
“Alright,” I said, “alright.” I allowed myself to be pulled through the train to where our griffon friends and my daughter were waiting. I didn’t notice the stares as we walked through cars, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have cared.
“Dad!” Star exclaimed. “Can you please go a day without getting in a fight? For me?”
I chuckled lightly. “I’ll try. At this rate, I’ll be dead again by next Tuesday.”
“Streak,” my fillyfriend scolded. “Sit down and shut up while I get these bandages on you.”
“Fine,” I said, giving her an affectionate nuzzle. “Just for you.”
She rolled her eyes, grabbing the roll of bandages that Murphy held out to her. She wrapped it tight around my leg, and I watched in fascination as the white cloth started getting tainted with both red and black. “What the hell?” she wondered half-silently.
“Watch the black,” I said, “it doesn’t stay for long.”
She looked closer, watching as tendrils of black seemed to writhe in the bloodstained bandage. “What the hell?” she asked louder.
“That’s magic,” I said. “Magic in its purest form.”
“Pure magic is black?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Why does that surprise you?” I asked.
“Because when unicorns use it, it’s colored,” Gilda said. “How do they add color to black?”
“They don’t” I said.
“They remove parts of it,” Murphy clarified.
“That’s. . . really damn weird,” Star said.
I turned to her. “We haven’t had the chance to talk about your language yet, young lady,” I said.
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes, “it was ‘damn’. It isn’t even really a curse word.”
“I remember a ‘shit’ from last night,” I said, giving her my best ‘dad’ look.
“I walked in on you two rutting!” she exclaimed. “Do you blame me?”
Gilda and Murphy looked over at the two of us, eyebrows raised. I thanked my lack of visible facial features, otherwise I would have been just as red as Rainbow next to me was. “We weren’t rutting, Star,” I said.
“Yet,” she replied. “Twenty bits says that it took you less than a minute to start after I left.” I coughed lightly into my hoof, looking slightly down and to the left, not making eye contact with my daughter. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Well, this is interesting and all, and I will definitely be speaking with the two of you later,” Murphy said, “but I think we should drop this topic for now, before Rainbow Dash dies of embarrassment.”
I turned to my fillyfriend, seeing her face was as bright as the red in her hair. I gave her a quick nuzzle, before turning back to the rest of the group. “Alright. So, minotaurs.”
“Minotaurs,” Murphy said.
“Minotaurs,” I reiterated again.
“What about minotaurs?” Rainbow asked.
“We’re heading to their largest clan’s clanhold,” Gilda said. “There isn’t really much to it, honestly. They like drinking almost as much as I do, and they run at each other with claymores to see who’s strongest. Their entire culture is defined by ceremonial warfare between the clans. Killing is discouraged, but not forbidden, and casualties aren’t mourned, but celebrated, even by family. If we’re staying there for any length of time, we’ll fight at least one of them.”
“One minotaur?” I asked.
“One clan,” Murphy said. “The only ones of us who really have to worry about fighting right now is Gilda and me.”
“Why?” Rainbow asked.
“Because Star’s a child, and the two of you are injured,” Gilda explained. “All of you are not worth any honor for beating until you beat someone first.”
"Give Streak five minutes," Rainbow muttered.
"Thank you for having so much faith in me," I grumbled.
She turned to me, "How about this: it's Friday. This week's challenge is to not get into an avoidable fight that isn't for the protection of another. How does that sound?"
"It's one of those Friday challenges, isn't it?" I asked.
"One of them," she confirmed. "And I'll follow through with it, too."
I nuzzled her. "You know how to motivate a stallion."
Star scrunched her face, muttering something unintelligible.
"You're getting nuzzly," Rainbow commented, smirking.
I shrugged. "You're soft."
She giggled, pressing her lips against mine momentarily. We spent the next hour of the ride making small talk about nothing. After that hour was up, Murphy put a claw on my shoulder. "I mentioned I wanted to talk."
I stood up, following him out of the room. As soon as we were relatively in private, I felt him weave magic around the two of us. At my questioning look, he explained, "So there are no prying ears."
I nodded. "Alright, you brought me over here to talk, so talk."
"You don't die," he said bluntly. "You don't age. You can't get sick, you can't be poisoned, you live off of cannibalized magic. The path you are traveling down is one of pain."
"No matter what I do, there will be pain," I replied. "If I don't do it, I will regret it for the rest of my life. If I do, I'll have to watch her age and die in front of me, and there won't be a damn thing I can do about it. However, unlike you, I am not a coward. I won't avoid commitment because it will hurt."
"You're calling me a coward?" he asked.
"I thought that was clear," I growled. "Celestia fucked up both our lives, but what did you do about it? Hide until someone else fixed your fucking problem for you. I fucking died twice because of that bitch, and I still came back to bury a knife deep into her throat."
"Yeah, that's not the only thing you shoved in her throat, is it?" he asked. "You two were rutting for years, and you coldly buried a knife in her throat. How long will it take for you to bore of Rainbow? How long until you hurt her too?"
I was silent, glaring into his eyes. I recognized the look he wore—he had different eyes, but it was still Chance—it was a challenging look. He was daring me to agree with him, to play along. However, at that moment, I was also incredibly pissed, and Shining Armor wasn't all that good for blowing off steam. Before I knew what I was doing, I had punched the demigod in the face.
He staggered back, clutching his cheek with a claw in surprise. I tangentially noticed the stares that my little outburst accrued, but I didn't care. "You fucking think I'll abuse her? You even fucking suggest that I'm an abusive coltfriend to your pet fucking cat, and I'll fucking rip out your skull, Guardian or not. I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck, do you understand me, fucker?"
"That was a much stronger reaction than I expected," he muttered. He turned to face me fully. "I just wanted to make sure you really cared for her, and weren't getting into this for the wrong reasons. I'm her friend, I'd hope, and yours too. I don't want to see either of you hurt."
I spat at his feet. "You're no damn friend of mine, Chance, and I can guarantee that when I tell her about this conversation, she'll want nothing to do with you either."
"I'm sorry, Streak," he said.
"Yeah, fuck you," I said, walking away. I wandered back into the correct car, sitting down next to Rainbow and Star. I must have not looked happy, because I was getting looks from the three women.
"Is he alive, at least?" Gilda asked.
"Against my better judgement," I growled. Okay, so I didn't look happy because I wasn't.
"What did you do to him?" Rainbow asked.
“Not much, I socked him in the face,” I said. I could still feel my hoof shaking, both from anger and from terror. That man had enough magic in him that he was trusted with controlling a quarter of the world, he was one scary bastard.
“You punched Murphy in the face?” Gilda asked. “Why would you do that?”
“He equated my killing of Celestia with future abuse of Rainbow, so I punched him in his fucking face,” I growled. “I wanted to kill him, but I restrained.” I turned to Rainbow. “That doesn’t count as a fight, he didn’t hit back, and I only hit once.”
She shook her head, “Streak, I would have kicked his ass if he said that to me.” She slid to be pressing up to me. “I think I’ll reward your restraint.”
That’s it, ladies and gentlemen. If you behave, you get tail. Hand me the lawbook. “Well, if you have to,” I said, nuzzling her again. I looked out the window, sighing as I saw a large city on the horizon. “No matter how much I don’t like him, I need him right now.”
“Why?” Rainbow asked.
“He’s expecting a damned trap,” Star said. “We all should be.”
“Yes, I am,” I said. “Also, do as I say, not as I do, Star. Just because I swear doesn’t mean you should.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Dad.”
“I mean it,” I said. “A parent’s job is to make sure that at the end, their child is better than they were in some way, shape, or form.” Star didn’t notice the small nudge I gave to Rainbow at my remark. “Tell her,” I mouthed.
“Later,” she mouthed. I nodded. Didn’t want to rush it, did we?
“But we digress. I fully expect that we’ll run into Equestrian military, maybe even Luna herself. She’s a crafty mare, for sure.”
“So you want Murphy to hold her off?” Gilda asked.
“That’s ridiculous,” Star scoffed. “From what I’ve seen, Chance is the weakest of the three remaining Guardians—Celestia being the exception in that count, of course. Celestia was afraid of Luna, and it took all three Guardians to take down Discord. Where does that leave Chance?”
“At the bottom of the ladder,” I said. “We were taught that he was the youngest of the four. That’s not what I need him for.”
“You want to run,” Rainbow said.
“He wants us to run,” Star corrected. “Isn’t that right, Dad?”
“It’s me they want,” I said, predicting inclement weather.
I was proven right immediately. My muzzle slammed into the bench in the space between Star and me, and my vision got clouded by flashing, staticky stars. I brought a hoof up to my nose, before noticing the much larger pain on the back of my head. “What the hell, Streak!” Rainbow shouted. “I looked for you for two damned years, I’m not just letting you die again!”
“If you don’t leave him, none of you will escape,” I heard my absolute favorite person’s voice say. “As it is, even with me helping, you most likely will die next to him, if Luna wishes it. It would be different if your wing worked.”
I looked up to see Rainbow whirl on the demigod-turned-griffon. She stalked right up into the larger predator’s face. “Well then, can’t you just magic it better?”
“My magic deals with the subtleties of chaos, Rainbow Dash,” he said, unphased by the angry mare less than two feet away from him. “I can’t do it, because you expect it.”
“That is the biggest bullshit I have ever heard!” Star exclaimed. I gave her a look, and got a sheepish look in response. She continued, “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”
“Coward,” I reminded him.
He was unphased. “I have lived for countless centuries, Streak. I think I can take some schoolyard tactics from your everyday bully.”
“Bully?” an unexpected source exploded. “What the hell do you mean by that? Bullies pick on the weak, the helpless, the outcast! He’s attacking a being that has more power in a feather than your average unicorn!” After Star’s outburst, I felt a little prouder of her. Both for what she said, and for it being mostly clean. She learns.
“Yet what I do has restrictions,” he said. “I have laws I have to abide by. One such law is that I must remain the lighter—in both usage and subtlety—use of chaos to balance Discord.”
“That bastard’s in stone, and his magic is doing nothing,” I mentioned. “Just do what you can, I don’t give a damn about the specifics or what happens to you after, just do it.”
“Since you asked so nicely,” he muttered, walking back out of the car. Gilda gave me a look of disapproval before following the chastised deity.
“I don’t like him right now either, but you could at least have pretended to not hate his guts since we need him,” Rainbow said.
I sighed, “I guess you’re right.”
I didn’t see Murphy for the last half hour of the train ride. There was a whistling noise as the train pulled up to the station, and the girls and I disembarked. We walked for all of three steps before being hailed. “Hail!” I turned to the speaker. He was a massive blue minotaur, one of the types that looks like they have more muscle than brains. However, appearances can be deceiving, I reminded myself as I looked down at the necklace around my neck.
“Hail to you, friend. How can we help you?” I asked.
“What you should be asking is what Iron Will can do for you!” he exclaimed. I cocked an eyebrow at his use of third-person, but let it slide.
Rainbow, however, seemed to know him. “Hey, I know you!” she exclaimed.
He grinned widely, flexing his not-inconsiderate muscles. “Of course you know Iron Will! Iron Will is famous across Equestria!”
“You turned my best friend into a bitch,” she said, brow furrowing.
“Er, that wouldn’t have happened to be Miss Fluttershy, would it have?” he asked, suddenly deflating.
“There is no way in hell. It would take a special kind of asshole to turn that fluffy pegasus into even a cranky waker,” I said, scoffing. “She couldn’t hurt a fly, she couldn’t even yell at it for long without apologising.”
“That’s why I’m not this guy’s biggest fan. He managed to turn her from Fluttershy to—” Rainbow started.
“Flutter-ASSERTIVE!” he said, going back into his flexing pose.
“Flutterbitch,” Rainbow corrected. He deflated again.
“Look, Iron Will is done with the whole assertiveness seminar thing,” he said. “After teaching ‘no means no’, Iron Will lost all profits. Now Iron WIll is an assistant to the ambassador from Clan McLeod to Equestria. Iron Will greets the new ponies and shows them around town.”
I shot a look at Rainbow, mouthing, “It’s time.”
She nodded, mouthing back, “Let’s do this.”
“Annoy?”
“Make him stab his ears out.”
“Alright Mr. Will, or should I call you Iron? No that’s way too familiar, and we have a business relationship,” I started talking as I walked behind him. “You wouldn’t have happened to meet any of the alicorns recently during your job as ambassador’s assistant? I heard that just being in their presence is like sex. Would you agree, Rainbow? Is being around an alicorn like sex?”
“Depends on the pony,” she said, smirking as Iron’s ears turned red. We couldn’t see it, but I’m pretty sure that his face followed. “Some are better than others.”
“Oh, that’s a valid point,” I said. “Hey, Iron–sorry, Mr Will. If being near an alicorn is like sex, what would having sex with one feel like?” I got a look from Rainbow that caused me to wince. Damn it.
“Iron Will couldn’t say,” he said slowly, keeping his eyes forward. While he wasn’t looking, Rainbow, Star, and I were looking around for either the griffons or the trap that Luna had set. “Iron Will hasn’t thought about it.”
I took a calculated risk. “Oh please, there are few in the world that could compare to one of the Princesses. I mean, have you seen that Cadance? Ten out of ten! You can’t tell me you haven’t had a single fantasy?”
“Iron Will can’t say he has,” our minotaur guide said, turning down a street.
“Please, you’ve never even thought of having Luna jump your bones?” I asked. “I think every single straight male would tap that.” That earned me another look from my fillyfriend. I would have a lot of making up to do, that was for sure.
“Uh, well—” he started.
“I’m pretty sure any other male would still tap that. Hell, some of them would even let her tap them,” I continued. “On top of that, there would be a not inconsiderate amount of women of all races that would still tap that. Even with all this, you’re saying you haven’t had even a single stray thought?”
“Uh, no?” he asked more than said. I caught a flicker of movement down one of the alleys that was too short to be a minotaur. Gotcha.
I bumped into Rainbow to get her attention. “Alleys,” I mouthed. “Ponies.”
“You sure?” she mouthed back. I nodded.
“Hey, how many ponies do you have on average in this Clanhold?” I asked. “I’ve seen a lot of movement in the alleyways that looks much too short to be minotaurs.”
“Minotaur children like to practice for the battlefield by hunting each other through the alleyways,” Iron Will said, glad for any distraction from our previous topic. I noticed Star walk over to Rainbow and the two started a silent conversation.
I tsked, making a show of staring at one of the obviously pony-shaped forms in one of the alleys as we passed. “I bet that even minotaur youths have fantasies involving the Princesses,” I said. Iron Will groaned quietly.
“What’s your fixation with the Princesses?” Rainbow asked suddenly. “Aren’t I good enough for you?” Star gave me a smirk, walking away from my fillyfriend.
“Of course you are, Rainbow,” I said. I would be talking with Star soon for putting me in this situation. “You can’t say you never had a thought about that strapping young lad, Shining Armor?” Rainbow flushed bright red, looking away. “Thoughts mean nothing as long as they stay thoughts. You wouldn’t go running off with Shining Armor, I’d hope. Especially since I smashed his stupid ass into a building earlier today.” Rainbow gave me a look, before rolling her eyes and going back to watching for ambushers. I smirked back at Star as she gave me a scowl. I don’t think she liked me talking about sex openly around her.
I turned back to our guide. “So, Mr. Will, if you had to pick one being on this planet to rut tonight, who would it be?”
He sputtered, “W–what?”
“It’s a simple question. Pick one living creature. I don’t care if it’s Celestia, Discord, your pet cat, or even my daughter—okay that’s a lie, if you answer my daughter, I’ll put you in the hospital. But besides my daughter or my fillyfriend, who would you rut?”
“Iron Will wouldn’t. . . ergh, ‘rut’ a lady without establishing a prior relationship. As Iron Will is single, that means nobody,” he said with a proud smile for his cleverness in avoiding answering.
“Okay, so if you could pick a single living creature to have a long term, loving relationship with, who would it be?” Rainbow asked. “A relationship that just happened to involve rutting tonight.”
He muttered to himself in a language I didn’t understand, before answering too softly for us to understand.
“Say again?” I said, getting closer.
He answered again. All I caught was “F—er—y”
“Buttery?” Rainbow asked. “Who’s Buttery?”
“No, that first letter was an F,” I said.
Iron Will groaned, “Fluttershy, okay?”
Rainbow stopped walking, just staring at the row-red minotaur, jaw dropped and eyes wide open. I turned to look at the minotaur in similar shock. “Any reason why?”
“She started off just like any other pony that had used Iron Will’s assertiveness seminars, she took control and drug life onto the path she thought she wanted it on. Then she realized that the life Iron Will taught her to live was not the life she wanted to live, and she changed on her own. She became assertive, without being aggressive. Iron WIll didn’t think that was possible after so long in the minotaur lands,” he said. “She opened Iron Will’s eyes.”
“How about this, if you ever end up in Ponyville—and I ever go back—I’ll put in a good word for you,” Rainbow said. “We’ve been friends for over a decade, after all.”
“You’d do that for Iron Will?” he asked, perking up in hope.
“Sure. I haven’t known her as long, but she let me crash at her place when I needed a place to stay,” I piped up. “I can throw in an endorsement for you.”
“I’ve never even met her,” Star grumbled, momentarily forgotten in our surprise.
“Please, you think she’d ignore a good word from such a cute kid?” Gilda asked, walking up. She mouthed to me, “Two dozen waiting on roof. Next intersection.”
“Murphy ready to grab the girls?” I asked silently.
“As he will be.”
“Good. Treat him well,” I mouthed. She nodded.
“Gilda!” Star groaned. “I’m not a little filly!”
We started walking again. I counted hoofsteps to the next intersection. Right as we walked in, I asked, “So when were you going to tell us about the ambush planned at this intersection, Iron?”
He stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Please,” I scoffed, “do you think that I talk about sex and boning alicorns on a regular basis? Keeping you embarrassed kept you looking forward while we watched your pony friends get ready. We got you, Iron Will, and your pony allies, too.”
“He was acting on my orders,” I heard a much too familiar voice say, “and the soldiers are merely a precaution. I have learned from my sister’s mistakes.” I turned to look back the way we came. Behind Gilda was the last person I wanted to see.at that moment. The ethereal mane, the midnight blue coat, the brilliant sapphire eyes boring into your soul from that beautiful face. There was only one pony it could possibly be.
“Hello, Luna.”