Chapter 5
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash and Spike pushed the door to the library open slowly and gently, almost afraid of what they were going to find upon looking inside. To their surprise, they discovered Vinyl Scratch and Octavia sitting on the sofa, talking quietly with each other in a rather civil member.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes. ‘I’m seeing things right? Right?’ she asked.
Vinyl Scratch turned and grinned madly at her. ‘The rumours of my death have clearly been exaggerated’, she said, causing Octavia to roll her eyes.
‘Please, Vinyl may be many things, but she is certainly not worth going to prison over’, Octavia said, smirking slightly.
Vinyl could only grin at her. She got up from her seat and walked over to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, wrapping her forelegs around her friend for a group hug. ‘Hey, listen, I wanted to thank you guys for everything you’ve ever done for me’, Vinyl said, and then lowered her voice just enough so that Octavia wouldn’t hear. ‘In both worlds, old and new’, Vinyl grinned at her friends and then returned to a normal speaking voice. ‘This has been a long time coming; I’m going to be moving out. I’ve been mooching of you guys way too long. It’s time for me to get my own place’.
‘Vinyl you don’t have...’ Twilight said, however she was quickly interrupted by Vinyl.
‘Yeah I do. It’s not fair; you’re just too nice to say anything different. Plus it doesn’t help I’m such a likeable pony’, Vinyl said with a grin, she could just feel Octavia rolling her eyes. ‘Besides, you two are young lovers who deserve some privacy when you want to get intimate with each other; at first it was kind of funny when I could hear you two doing it. Now, it’s just more than a little awkward’.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash grinned nervously at each other. Spike merely rolled his eyes, and having lost interest in the conversation crossed the room and into the kitchen for something to eat.
‘Besides, I’m not going far. That place down the street is still looking for a tenant. I’m going to sell off my place in Manehattan and make it my permanent residence! Besides, I haven’t paid the utility bills in months...’ Vinyl said, her voice beginning to trail off. ‘Anyway, I think I’m going to go for a walk, I’ll see you guys later’.
‘I’ll join you’, Octavia said.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight nodded, Vinyl had made up her mind. They loved their friend dearly, though she could be quite thick in the head sometimes. Upon making a decision like this, it was impossible to sway her.
Vinyl and Octavia trotted outside and began to stroll down the street.
‘This empty place you speak of... describe it a bit’, Octavia said.
‘Two bedroom flat, little more than I need, but you know, that’s never stopped me before!’ Vinyl said with a grin. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Well...’ Octavia said, her voice trailing off slightly.
‘Out with it!’ Vinyl said, playfully prodding the earth pony mare.
‘I’ve been sacked from the radio station’, Octavia sighed.
Vinyl Scratch raised an eyebrow. Octavia’s day job had been as the manager of a radio station in Manehattan. It was a great job that had netted her a fancy flat on the floor below. Making Octavia the sole permanent inhabitant of the Imperial Tower, that job had been something that Vinyl had envied of Octavia for the entire time she had known her.
‘What? Why?’ Vinyl exclaimed in shock.
‘Probably for telling my boss to, and I quote “get stuffed, you bloody useless wanker”’, Octavia said.
Vinyl Scratch’s mouth dropped open. Little miss proper actually saying that to somepony? Let alone her employer? Vinyl could hardly believe it. ‘Why would you do that O? You loved that job!’
Octavia rolled her eyes slightly. ‘Vinyl, I hated every minute of that job, the only reason I had that job was so I could be close by you. Figured it would come in handy for your eventual overdose where I’d need to come save you... I’m just glad it never came to that’.
Vinyl Scratch frowned. ‘Yeah... me too... I really wasn’t good to you, was I Octavia?’
Octavia shook her head. ‘No, no you weren’t’, she said, however a small smile began to form on her face. ‘It’s okay though, I forgive you’.
Vinyl smiled back at her, and the two mares continued onward down the street.
...
Fluttershy felt a bit out of her league as she sat on the floor of her cottage, watching as her house guest lay on her sofa pretending to be asleep. Fluttershy knew from speaking to Vinyl Scratch that Surprise did not sleep.
Fluttershy found it quite odd that the mare was bubbly and giggly while in the company of Pinkie Pie, but when Surprise was around Fluttershy, she was painfully shy and detached from the situation she found herself in. This was probably why she was pretending to sleep. Fluttershy had tried to talk to her, tried to get her to open up, but Fluttershy was at her end. Everything she had tried had failed.
The thought had crossed Fluttershy’s mind that this was probably exactly how her friends felt about dealing with her.
Fluttershy had done her best to be a loving and nurturing force to the Pegasus mare, but for the life of her, she couldn’t get Surprise to open up. Thoughts were racing through Fluttershy’s head, she had an idea that she thought might work, but she didn’t want to make Surprise feel uncomfortable. Maybe she should just leave her alone; maybe she’s perfectly fine and just doesn’t want to talk? Maybe...
Fluttershy turned her head at the sound of foot tapping behind her. Angel Bunny was behind her, looking at her with disdain. He was silently communicating to Fluttershy that she needed to stop over thinking it and just do it. Fluttershy understood, and thanks to more prodding from the rabbit, Fluttershy eventually went over to the sofa and laid down on it next to Surprise.
Much to her own shock, Fluttershy watched as Surprise’s forelegs wrapped around Fluttershy, and she began to smile. Surprise was definitely awake, though Fluttershy wondered if she was actually aware of the snuggling. Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice that Surprise’s body was somewhat warmer than it should be, and decided to check the mare’s temperature. That however was easier said than done. Fluttershy tried to get up from the sofa only for Surprise to begin holding her tighter.
Fluttershy turned bright red in embarrassment and looked around for a way out, eventually discovering that there was none. She then noticed Angel Bunny hopping towards her with her thermometer in tow.
‘Oh! Thank you Angel’, Fluttershy said taking the end of the mercury thermometer in her teeth, taking care to be gentle with it in order to not break it. She gently slipped it into Surprise’s mouth and under her tongue, finding that there was oddly no resistance to the act. After a minute or so, Fluttershy checked the thermometer again and discovered much to her shock that Surprise’s body temperature was at forty degrees Celsius. ‘Oh my!’ Fluttershy exclaimed. That was feverish for ponies.
Though, in the back of her mind, the idea dawned upon Fluttershy that Surprise was not a normal pony. What if this was normal for her? She supposed that it wasn’t all that unlikely. Pegasi, for example, usually held their bodies at higher temperatures than unicorns or earth ponies because it helped stave off cold weather, which was a necessary trait for their line of work.
Fluttershy took the thermometer back from Surprise and did her best to clean it off and get it back into its case. And while it had been somewhat difficult considering Surprise was still cuddling her tightly, Fluttershy eventually got it back in, and passed the case off to Angel who went and put it back where it belonged.
Fluttershy pretty much accepted at this point that she wasn’t going anywhere. Surprise may be awake, though she wasn’t responsive. She might not even be aware that she was snuggling Fluttershy at all.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but think on how... nice it felt for Surprise to be doing this to her. Surprise was so warm, so peaceful, so...
Fluttershy felt herself turning red. She was becoming aroused by Surprise. Thoughts of Fluttershy and Surprise together in bed ran through Fluttershy’s mind at the speed of light. No! It wasn’t right to think about Surprise like that.
Fluttershy was not comfortable with sexuality, despite her encounter with Katrijn, the shop keeper from Trotterdam, to whom she had experienced her first romantic encounter with. That wasn’t to say she had not enjoyed it, and she wasn’t ashamed of it, but it had taken every gram of bravery in the Pegasus’ body to have done it. Even then it had been under the influence of a drink that Rarity had given her to help loosen her up. Fluttershy didn’t know if she could handle intimacy without it.
It did not help, that in many ways, Surprise was like a child. Her general demeanour was incredibly childlike, making Fluttershy feel uncomfortable at the idea of being in bed with her.
Surprise pulled Fluttershy closer, and began nuzzling her affectionately. The mare was definitely awake, and she was definitely aware at this point. Fluttershy didn’t know how, or why, but it began to put her mind at ease. She calmed herself down, and made herself content to continue to lay there with Surprise for just a little while longer.