//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: More Than a Love Triangle // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// "I got him as fast as I could," Rainbow announced as she flew through the front door with Chroma running in behind her. The sun was approaching the horizon in the background. "Good," Luna said. "He needed to be here with us." "What's happening to Soren?" the unicorn asked. "All of us do not know. He came home, refused to say anything, and locked himself in his room. It would be rude to force him out." "Is there a plan to confront him?" The mares glanced at each other with shame. "Guess not. I take it all of you have spoken to him from outside his room?" They nodded. "I might as well try then. Chroma walked upstairs with the mares following behind. He reached Soren's door and knocked. "Go away." "Soren, it's me, Chroma. Is there anyway I can help? We're all worried." "Tell them to wait downstairs and I'll let you in." Chroma looked at the mares, who all nodded and retreated downstairs. He then mouthed at them to stay down there. "Ok, they're gone." Soren teleported Chroma into his room. "Woah, give a colt some warning before doing that!" He quickly shut up as he stared at Soren. He looked a mess; his mane was a tad frazzled, his eyes were watery, and his mouth was scowling. "Are you alright?" "Of course I'm not!" he growled. "My mind doesn't want to work right. I know who I love; it's Rainbow Dash. So why. Am I. Considering. Dating. Another. Mare?!" Soren hit his head lightly with a hoof with every pause. Chroma levitated him off of the bed and brought Soren to eye level. "Get a hold of yourself!" He took a softer tone. "Just relax. I'm here. Just speak your mind." He set Soren on the floor then sat down with him. "I should be dating Rainbow Dash right now, not thinking of dating Nyra or Luna. I know what's right, yet my mind seems to be forcing me to think of what's wrong." "Speak honestly. How would you feel if you dated Nyra or Luna?" "Well...it probably wouldn't be much different than my relationship with Rainbow. It'll just be a different mare. I don't know why I want to. Mares are just too gorgeous." "And kinky. Don't forget that." "I'm a few seconds away from slapping you." "Duly noted. I take it you couldn't think of a plan." "Plan? I was going to think of a plan?" Chroma's ear twitched. He forgot? "No, I just assumed you would have to come up with one," he lied. "With how messed up I am, I probably couldn't think of one anyway. What am I going to do?!" Soren dropped to his stomach and wrapped his head in his hooves. "Calm down, Soren. I'll help steer you to the right mentality. You're fine." "You're telling me I'm fine? The colt who suggested that I start a herd?" "I suggested what now?" His ear twitched again. "I don't remember that. It definitely won't help you anyway. Are you positively sure that Rainbow wouldn't mind you becoming close friends with Nyra?" "How am I supposed to go about asking her?! 'Hey, Rainbow, do you mind if I date you but flirt with another mare?'" "I don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas." "I think you have as many ideas as I do right now. Just...go. I want to be alone right now." "If you say so. We'll be downstairs if you need us." "Yeah, yeah." Soren teleported Chroma out of the room. He jumped back onto his bed and shoved his face into his pillow. Maybe I can sleep this off. Meanwhile, Chroma appeared in the upstairs hallway. He was stunned that Soren teleported him again without warning and that he just realized something. He said I mentioned forming a herd with the girls. That's not something I would take lightly, yet I forgot about it until now. What is going on? None of this got out of hoof until Hearth's Warming. What happened before that day? Ice-skated, came to Soren's house to find that smell, Luna cleaned the air... His eyes widened. She wouldn't... He trotted back downstairs and almost forgot four mares were waiting for him. They all immediately broke their conversation and looked at Chroma. He glanced straight at Luna. "How is he?" Rainbow asked. Chroma looked away from the princess. "He's fine. He wanted some time alone." "What's wrong with him?" Nyra asked. "Can't we help?" "I think that will only make it worse. This is something only he can do alone." "Horse apples!" Rainbow cursed as she lifted into the air. "He needs help! No one should be depressed alone." "Rainbow, please! Trust me on this. We'll give him until tomorrow afternoon. If he doesn't come out, we'll have to go in." She landed on the couch and crossed her forelegs. "Fine. I'll give him until tomorrow. Let's just go to sleep then. I'm staying with all of you down here if that's ok." No one objected. Nyra told Luna she could have the guest room again, so the princess made her way upstairs. The others took their spots anywhere in the living room and tried to sleep. After about half an hour, Chroma opened his eyes. He pretended to rest, hoping the others would now be asleep. He slowly stood up and snuck to the staircase. He walked slower on the stairs to avoid any hidden, creaky steps. Eventually he made it up and stopped in front of the guest room. He slowly opened the door and peeked inside. He saw Luna laying on the bed, reading a book next to the lit nightstand lamp. After Chroma entered and closed the door, Luna turned towards him, probably hoping it was Soren. "Oh, hello, Chroma. I did not expect you to still be awake. Are you having trouble sleeping?" "No, I stayed up on purpose. I came to talk to you." "Oh? What about?" Chroma took a deep breath to relax. "I know you used magic on all of us to make us more...heated." "Heated?" "You made our hormones increase in intensity. You put the mares in heat and put Soren's thinking out of line." "When do you suggest I did this?" "The day when you 'cleaned the air' with your magic. The next day, everything started going downhill..." ------------ Rainbow Dash couldn't fall asleep; she couldn't stop worrying about Soren. Last time he was depressed, he completely broke down and cried on Celestia. He was supposed to be leading them, yet he cracked under the pressure. Rainbow could only imagine what would happen this time. She walked upstairs to Soren's room and tried opening the door. Locked. Wanting to try and sleep again, Rainbow made her way to the stairs, but she stopped when she heard voices coming from the guest room. She put her ear to the door and listened. "When do you suggest I did this?" Luna said. "The day when you 'cleaned the air' with your magic," Chroma answered. "The next day, everything started going downhill. You all fought each other trying to get to Soren, which was a funny sight, and now he's depressed because he can't decide which of you to date!" Rainbow gasped silently. That's why Soren was depressed?! She continued to listen. "All I did was cleanse the air of that foul order," Luna said. Rainbow couldn't tell, but Chroma created an aura field around Luna to levitate her a foot or two off of the bed. "Oh, really? Because I know how it feels to be magically manipulated. Now, are you going to tell me why you are doing this?" He put her back down. "Obviously we meant no harm to him. We are simply experimenting with his loyalty." "I doubt 'we' is just you this time." "Believe what you will, but you cannot prove we were using magic on everypony. Alicorn magic is different than regular unicorn magic." "I'm sure Soren will listen to me. I'm one of his best friends after all." "Unless, of course, you forget this conversation." "Are you honestly threatening to erase my memories of this?" "We do not threaten our subjects! The nerve of such an accusation! We are merely saying that you are very tired, we all are, therefore our memories may not be the best tomorrow." "I highly doubt I will forget this." "Very well, just please...consider our side before speaking with Soren." Chroma sighed. "I will, but you'll need to tell me everything. Goodnight, Princess." "We are sorry, dear Chroma. Goodnight." Rainbow silently flew downstairs before Chroma walked out of the bedroom. As Chroma stepped through the door, Luna looked at the back of his mane. She saw a tiny blue orb embedded in it and gave a small smirk. "We cannot end the fun just yet, dear Chroma. However, we are truly sorry for that." ------------- The next day wasn't fun for anyone. Chroma woke up without realizing that he spoke to Luna last night, the mares were still worried about Soren, and Rainbow Dash had to figure out what to do with the information she heard the night before. If Luna truly caused them to become in heat, what could Rainbow do about that? Soren was freakin out over almost nothing. She trusted him, even more so now that Luna may have caused all of this. How could she blame him for thinking that way? She herself didn't even care that three other mares were trying to kiss him on Hearth's Warming Day. By the afternoon, Soren came out to eat. He barely said anything to his friends and couldn't make eye contact with the girls. As Soren made food for himself in the kitchen, Rainbow whispered for everyone to wait downstairs. With food levitating beside him, Soren walked back to his room. Rainbow snuck up behind him and used her hoof to block the door Soren tried to shut. She pressed herself inside and shut the door. "Rainbow! Wha...? I want to be left alone." "You shouldn't be alone. It won't help you. We can. Talk to us; we will understand." "I know that, it's just...this is something that can cause complications. I'd rather avoid that if possible." Rainbow didn't know what else to say. He's forcing himself to stay silent in fear of losing me. Without saying anything, Rainbow hugged Soren; he didn't hug back. She broke the hug and smiled at him. "Well, if you don't want to accept our help, I'll just have to give it to you when you aren't expecting it." With that, she stepped out of the bedroom, leaving Soren confused. Before she made it downstairs, Rainbow lost her grin and put on her best, faked, neutral expression. She had a plan. "Any better?" Pinkamena asked. "Not really," Rainbow replied. She looked at Chroma. "You might as well go home. If anything happens, we'll come find you right away." "Okeydoke. I'll be at home when that happens. See you girls later." He waved goodbye as he left. Rainbow waited a minute or two before proceeding. "Ok, girls, I have a plan and Chroma can't know about it. This should hopefully help Soren, or explode his mind. One of the two." Luna, Nyra, and Pinkamena gave each other worried glances. "Don't worry. Tonight should be the night we get Soren back."