//------------------------------// // Hello, Is It Me You're Looking For? // Story: Fauna of Mirrors // by Eggtaro //------------------------------// Well, shit. Creme thought. The situation Creme was currently in wasn't doing him any good. There he was, standing half naked, with only a towel to cover his man parts. Behind him was Sonata, who was already starting to hyperventilate. She was grabbing onto Creme's arm, her nails digging deep into Creme's flesh. Her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and shock. "What is that?!" she cried, pointing from behind Creme's back with her finger. "WHAT IS THAT?!" she repeated louder, shaking Creme's arm. Creme quickly grabbed tightly onto his sole and only cover. He wasn't planning on putting his family jewels on display just yet. Creme glanced over at Rainbow, who was too busy laughing. "Rainbow Dash!" Creme shouted. "Laughing is the last thing you should be doing right now!" he said with a huff. Rainbow was unable to say anything to Creme. She was laughing so hard, she was already in tears. "Rainbow Dash!" Creme shouted again, hoping to get the pegasus's attention. But once he saw that the pony was a lost cause, he quickly focused his attention back to Sonata, who was still spouting out questions and exclamations, most of them incoherent. "Sonata!" Creme shouted. "Calm down! Please let me---" "Whatisthatthing?!" Sonata cried, shaking Creme even harder on the arm. "Is that a monster?!" That caught Rainbow's attention. "Excuse me?!" Rainbow yelled in anger, glaring at Sonata. "Who're you calling a monster?" "AHHHHHHH!!!" Sonata screamed, and she suddenly grabbed onto Creme, hugging him tightly, squeezing the air out of him. "So...na...ta..." Creme managed to say, but with difficulty. For someone smaller than Creme, her strength can be quite surprising. He tapped Sonata on her hands, and even tried peeling them off him. But Sonata's grip was like iron, and it would take something more than just Creme's hands to get her off him. Like a crowbar, maybe. "It spoke! The monster just spoke!" Sonata said, her voice quavering with fear. She suddenly pressed her entire body against Creme's back, causing Creme to immediately stand up straight. Even though he was running out of air from the hug of death by Sonata, Creme was still able to feel something soft, something firm pressing into his exposed back. Soft! Creme thought between gasps of airs. Very, very soft! He tried once again to remove Sonata's hands from crushing him into paste, trying his best to ignore the sensual yet deadly feeling coming from behind. But the girl would not let go, let alone loosen her grip. Creme was already running out of ideas of how to escape. So was his oxygen. "Creme! Are you okay?" Rainbow called out from beyond the mirror. Creme turned to look at her. Rainbow was staring back at them, no longer laughing. Her face was painted with worry. Now you notice me? Creme thought. He shook his head at Rainbow and pointed at Sonata's hands. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. He looked back at Rainbow with a pleading look. Hoping...praying...wishing, that Rainbow could somehow think of a way to rescue him. Luckily, Rainbow was quick enough to understand the peril Creme was in. "Hey! You're going to kill Creme if you don't let go!" Rainbow shouted. "Calm down and take a deep breath!" For just a split second, Creme felt Sonata's grip loosen. But it came back almost immediately after that, tighter than before. "Why is the monster talking to me, Creme?!" Sonata cried. "Does it want to eat me?!" "I'M NOT A MONSTER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!" Rainbow suddenly bellowed, causing Sonata to release Creme in surprise. "I'M A BUCKING PONY!" * * * * * * "Awww...she's just so adowable!" Sonata said gleefully. "I wish I could pet her!" Creme rolled his eyes while massaging his sides. Now that he was fully dressed, he and Sonata were seated next to each other facing the mirror. After Rainbow's sudden outburst, Sonata finally managed to calm down. And after a quick explanation was given to Sonata, all she did was giggle and she had asked Creme why he didn't said it sooner. The palm-mark on his forehead was still very red and visible. "I'm not 'adowable'!" Rainbow retorted, though blushing a little around the cheeks. "I'm c-cool, a-and awesome!" Rainbow turned to face Creme. "I liked her more when she was busy crushing you." "Haha." Creme deadpanned. After explaining what the mirror does, he introduced Sonata to Rainbow. The change in attitude from Sonata was so fast it was like meeting two different Sonatas. Her eyes had lighten up when she got the chance to properly look at Rainbow, squealing in delight as she does so. "A pony!" She had said, spinning around and smiling at Creme like a kid's first time at the zoo. "A talking pony!" Creme couldn't help but to smile back at Sonata. "So...she's a human like you too?" Rainbow asked. Creme and Sonata nodded in unison. "She's a colleague of mine at work. We were supposed to go grab a bite together a moment ago but...stuff happened." Creme said, rubbing his stomach. "Oh! I'm so, so sorry for what happened earlier, Creme." Sonata apologized, smiling sheepishly at him. "It's okay, Sonata. No harm done." Creme turned to look at Rainbow. "Where's the princess?" he asked, feeling curious as to why Twilight had not appeared after all that yelling. "Still asleep in my room, snoring louder than anypony I've ever seen." Rainbow replied, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. "After meeting you, she spent the remainder of the night reading about something. She was getting ready to sleep just before I got up." "Does she always stay up late like that?" "Only when something interesting catches her eye. Which in this case, is you." Rainbow said, winking at Creme. The three of them spent the rest of the morning chatting, with most of the talking actually done by Sonata, who kept on asking question after question about Rainbow's world and the ponies that live there. "Oooh, how I wish I could go visit Equestria!" Sonata said with a wishful look. "It must be wonderful to be a pony!" "Yeah, ponies can be pretty cool." Rainbow said smugly. "But I'm still the best among all of them!" she boasted with pride. "Even better than the rulers of Equestria?" Creme asked, cocking an eyebrow. Rainbow let out an awkward laugh, and she blushed a little. "Well, not among all of them." she said shyly. "I bet they all look as adorable as you though!" Sonata chirped, smiling at Rainbow. "Stop calling me adorable!" Rainbow said with a huff. "That word makes me feel so uncool." she looked at Creme. "You think I'm cool right?" "I think you're adorable." Creme teased, chuckling to himself as Rainbow turned red in the face. "Stop it!" * * * * * * After saying their goodbyes to Rainbow, Creme and Sonata left the apartment building and started walking towards the nearest taco shop. "Would you let me talk to her again next time?" Sonata asked, stepping ahead of Creme and turning to look back at him. "There are still so many things that I want to ask her!" Creme gave Sonata a peculiar look, his hands in his pockets. "You know, you are taking this entire thing pretty easily. Even I flipped out when I first met Rainbow Dash." Creme said. "How can you take all of this so calmly?" Sonata grinned at Creme. "Oh, you know. It's just been a while since I last met one." "You've met talking ponies before?" "A long, long time ago." Sonata said with a mysterious tone. "I don't like monsters though. Monsters are scary." Creme opened his mouth, but closed it almost immediately. He was wondering if Sonata was pulling his leg about meeting talking ponies before. He considered the thought for a moment, but decided to let it slide. Maybe Sonata was just playing around. "Yeah, monsters can be pretty scary." he said in agreement while nodding his head. "Right? I get so scared from just thinking about them." "But talking ponies don't scare you?" Sonata shook her head, her ponytail wagging behind her with each shake. "I told you, I've met talking ponies before." "Right, and I'm the king of tacos." "For realsies?!" Sonata asked, suddenly stopping in her tracks and colliding head first with Creme's face. "Ooh, sorry! Are you okay?" she asked quickly, stepping back. "I'm pine." Creme said, rubbing his reddening nose. "And no, of course I'm not the king of tacos." "Oh..." Sonata said sadly, looking crestfallen. "I've always wanted to meet the king of tacos." "Wha---why?" Creme asked, surprised. "Just curious." Creme gawked at Sonata. Is she serious? he asked himself mentally. She actually believes there is a king of tacos? The duo resumed their walk. They were slowly approaching a taco shop, and Sonata started skipping the moment she saw the sign. "That's the new taco shop that just opened here recently." she informed Creme, pointing at the sign. "I've always wanted to come here, but never really found the time to do so." As they got closer and closer towards the taco shop, Creme stared at the sign: it has a huge golden crown with a throne in the middle, and sitting on the throne was a--- A taco. Creme thought. A taco sitting on a throne. he sighed to himself. What is this? A game of tacos? Creme squinted his eyes as he read the name of the shop. "The Taco King!" Sonata squealed, jumping up and down. "This place is called the Taco King!" she grabbed hold of Creme's hand. "Come on! We might actually meet the king of tacos!" and she began dragging Creme towards the entrance. "Sonata, I highly doubt that we wil---holy sh---" he was unable to finish, for he was suddenly interrupted by--- "GREETINGS, ROYAL SUBJECTS! I AM THE KING OF TACOS! AND I WELCOME YOU TO THE TACO KING!" A huge man wearing a taco-shaped crown was standing behind the entrance. The man was also wearing a red royal cape and was holding a long sceptre with a golden taco ornament at the tip. "THE TACO KING IS REAL!" Sonata yelled, bouncing up and down happily. "He's real, Creme!" "Indeed I am, my lady!" the huge man said, beckoning for Creme and Sonata to enter. "It is my duty as king to see that my subjects have the privilege to see me. My appearance here not only fills my subjects with feelings of hope, and passion. It also brings joy for the children." This man must be fun at parties. Creme thought to himself. Sonata was almost bursting with happiness. She let go of Creme's hand and instead hugged his arm from the side, still jumping. "He's real! He's real! He's real!" Sonata squealed, pressing her chest against Creme's arm. Creme could feel the very same sensation he felt that morning. Except that it was closer now. Much closer. And since now that he was in a completely different situation, Creme was finding it difficult to not grin like an idiot. I could stand here all day. Creme thought to himself blissfully, enjoying the movement of Sonata's chest moving up and down against his arm. "Now come! Choose your taco!" the huge man suddenly shouted, pulling Creme by the shoulder and pulling him back to his senses. Creme cursed silently as Sonata released his arm and followed closely behind him as they approached the counter. Sonata began to hum her tuneless tune as they read the menu. "Welcome to the Taco King. It is our sworn duty to provide you with the best tasting taco you've ever tasted." the server behind the counter deadpanned. "Can I take your order please?" The last word sounded forced. Creme looked up at the server, who was a girl. She was chewing on a piece of gum, and seemed more interested with her fingernails instead of the customers. Great service. Creme thought sarcastically. He looked back at the menu. "So, what you want, Sonata?" he asked. When he didn't receive a reply, he turned to look at her. "Sonata?" Sonata was no longer humming. She was no longer smiling, and no longer skipping. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears, and her body was shaking as if a sudden chill had suddenly came over her. Creme stared at Sonata in shock. He opened his mouth, about to voice his concern, when Sonata suddenly spoke. "A...Ar...Aria?" Sonata whispered, staring at the server in front of them, with tears streaming down her face.