Of Laurels & Lace

by WritingSpirit

Interrogatorio

"I'm sorry, Miss. We're trying everything we can-"

"Then why won't he open up?" Twilight asked the police-pony.

"He's guilty of something and you were suppose to find out what it is!"

"But Miss, we're talking about different crimes in different parts of Equestria. It's too spread out for only the Fenderville Police to explore upon!"

"He tried to kill the Elements of Harmony! You know how big that sort of crime is?!"

Twilight slammed her hoof on the table, making the police-pony jump back out of fear.

"We're talking about my friends here! My friends!"

"Twilight? What's going on?"

Pinkie trotted into the room, hearing all the commotion. She was waiting for a complete confession outside along with Rainbow Dash, who was still grumbling silently to herself. They all have a good reason to, though.

Her mane was still flat, her expression looking more annoyed than concerned.

"They can't get a word from him."

The unicorn pointed her hoof at Winter in the other room, who was silently sitting there without a trace of emotion on his face, as if he had done nothing wrong despite the cuffs around his hooves

"Can you believe it? After everything he had done..."

Pinkie tried not to scowl. This wasn't the first time she had seen the stallion being 'unusually' quiet before.

"He'll open up eventually, Twilight." she said, trying to calm her friend down, yet deep down inside she herself wanted to scream at the stallion for zipping his mouth tight.

"He might just need some time."

"You're saying that as if you didn't know him at all," Twilight shot back, almost accusingly.

The pink pony stopped, a little taken aback at her friend's sudden rashness.

"T-Twilight?"

"We all know you know this stallion very well, Pinkie."

The unicorn was glaring now, stomping angrily towards her friend. Twilight's face was now grim and wrathful, yet her twisted expression only managed to fuel the burning rage in Pinkie herself.

Pinkie just gave a cold stare, her back touching the wall.

"Don't bother."

"Don't bother?! Of all things you could say!"

Twilight slammed her hoof against the wall, her face a stool's length from the pink pony as she shouted:

"Applejack and RD had been hurt by this pony, Pinkie. This pony! The pony that I'm sure you know for the whole time that he has been hurting all out friends and-!"

"I KNOW the whole time it was HIM?!"

Pinkie pushed her friend back, the unicorn responding with a flare of her horn as she gritted her teeth.

"Come on, Pinkie! I won't be surprised if you're in league with him!"

"Take that back, Twilight!"

"What the hay's going on in here?!"

Rainbow stepped in just in time, a little shocked to see the two exchanging spiteful glares, their noses twitching with hatred. With every passing second, the two looked like they're going to battle or, in this case, cause an all-out war.

"Alright. Enough with this."

Pinkie snarled in response. Twilight just left the room, letting out a harrumph of displeasure.

The cyan pegasus just blinked for a moment, before turning to the pink pony.

"Twi and I are just gonna go back to the hotel. Maybe let out some steam a little. I'm sure you'll find some way to deal with the stallion. Right Pinkie?"

She just growled.

"Of course."

As Rainbow Dash quickly left the room, she noticed the dozen pairs of eyes staring at her.

"What are you looking at?" she roared.

The police-ponies immediately resumed their work, not giving the pink pony a second glance. Pinkie trotted towards one of them, ignoring the fearful sweat running down his chin.

"I'll talk to him myself. Disable the magic barrier as well."

"B-But Miss-!" he began to protest, but stopped as the pink pony raised her eyebrow.

"O-Of course, Miss! Right away!"

Pinkie sighed. Stupid colts.

The steel door clasped open, the bars sliding out of their locks. Without a second thought, the pink pony marched in, brushing her flattened mane covering half of her face.

"Don't try me Winter," she muttered, walking towards the next door as she turned the knob.

"Don't you even dare."

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"Again. Focus your energy. Control the aura in your horn."

Rarity just clenched her teeth, her horn flaring up. She ignored the pain pumping through her head, her face steeling with determination.

She had just finished learning about bolts, much to everypony else's surprise. The mare had never known she was a fast learner like Twilight: she just thought it was by luck she could even learn one spell.

"Put a little more effort into it, Rarity. Remember: picture a ray, not a ball."

Stellar was still shouting over the spark and fizzles her horn was making. She was slightly annoyed by his so-called demands recently. But still...

Spike was silently observing everything she was doing, making the task ten times harder. He gave her a thumbs up, successfully making the white mare roll her eyes.

"Don't give in to the darkness, Rarity!" the butler shouted again. Rarity would've groaned if not for the pain searing across her forehead, knowing that the dark aura was gathering along with her magic.

Without hesitation, she let it all out, the grand beam of dark blue blasting across the garden. She was screaming the whole way through, the striking flare of light bursting through the forest.

Spike wanted to interrupt, his head ringing from her agonizing scream she was giving, but Stellar pushed him back down with a shake of his head.

"Celestia.... S-Spike!!"

Her scream seemed to last forever, the dragon becoming more frantic as time passed.

"Stellar, stop it." he demanded, but the butler just gave him a cold stare, indicating his denial.

"Stellar!" Spike barked again, his agony of watching his beloved mare screaming in pain starting to break his conscience.

"Stop this now!"

"We need to let it all out!" the stallion protested with a scowl.

"If you don't want Rarity to become an insane filth of a mare, I recommend her to continue!!"

Spike's face immediately darkened, his eyes burning with a hellish rage.

"What did you say?"

Stellar just kept quiet, before he started choking as he felt the burly, scaly claws of the dragon wrapped around his throat, lifting him up with ease.

"What did you SAY?!"

"SPIKE!!"

The dragon immediately blinked, releasing his tight grip on the butler's throat, who now fell to the floor, his face blue and gasping for air. Spike immediately sprinted towards Rarity, tackling her down.

The white mare's horn stopped flaring the moment she fell, safely into the dragon's arms. She sobbed out the immense fear she contained, wrapping her white hooves around his scaly back in a tight embrace.

"I can't do it! I-I j-j-just c-can't..." she managed to shout, before breaking down again.

Stellar just stood up, spitting at the floor. He and Spike exchanged distrustful glares, the butler brushing the dust off his suit before marching off, his snout held high.

Rarity just sobbed in his chest, the intense pain in her head fading away.

"I'm s-sorry...."

"No need to be. Stellar was the one who needed to apologize!"

Spike let out a growl, glaring at the butler.

"Who does he think he is? Making you go through all the pain!"

"I-It's okay, Spikey...."

Rarity just bit her lip. She had never seen Spike this... protective of her before.

"Can we go now?" she asked, making the dragon turn to her.

"I'm a little... well... exhausted from..."

"I know, Rarity."

The dragon felt her warm hooves let go from his back, releasing him from her tight embrace.

"Want me to piggyback you?" he asked, almost jokingly.

The white mare giggled in response along with a blush, limping down the gravel path with Spike clutching tightly on her hoof.

"I think I'm fine enough to walk."

The dragon just shrugged, sighing happily with every swing of his arm.

"Just a thought, you know!"

"Well, if you're being such a generous dragon for giving me a ride like that..."

For a second, Spike thought he saw a coy glint in Rarity's eyes, his heartbeat throbbing and his scaly cheeks reddening as she said in the most passionate, most lustful tone he had ever heard from her:

"When we're back in the palace, I want to experience a ride that I will never forget."

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It was too easy.

Winter chuckled to himself. Demolishing the patience of everypony else was always easy. Keeping silent, with no leak of even the faintest emotions.

Sometimes, he just loves his family tradition.

The steel door snapped open once more. Winter tried not to groan; how much times are they going to try this on him? It won't work at all.

He looked up, before blinking in surprise. Slowly, the edges of his mouth started to curve as the Patriarch watched the pony walk in, calling out her name:

"Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"Pinkie, Winter." she corrected, sliding the chair outwards. Her face was literally dark pink, her cold hatred visibly dancing about her eyes. Even the stallion himself had never seen her this serious before.

Winter tried to ignore it. Remember the training, he told himself.

"I've heard you're giving the police here a hard time." she said, almost teasingly. Winter felt his heart dwindle a little. This is not going good.

"When you're guilty of nothing, it's always giving them a hard time."

The Patriarch just laid back his hooves, letting out a fake yawn.

"So, you're here to find out what they want to find out?"

Pinkie's smile immediately faded.

"Similar."

"Similar, is it? Let me take a guess at it, then."

Winter pretended to ponder, before he suddenly concluded with pure sarcasm in his voice:

"Of course! The reason why I hurt your friends, is it?"

"Twilight was the last straw, Winter."

Pinkie stood up abruptly. This was going too far for her.

"In fact, you should've known better than to touch Applejack in the first place."

"The Element of Honesty, eh? Funny though."

Winter let out a hearty laugh, only angering the pink mare a little more.

"Then there's the Element of Loyalty. What was her name?"

"None of your concern."

"Rainbow Dash! Of course!" he said, clopping his hooves happily. Pinkie just clenched her hooves: if the stallion spits out one more joke like that...

"And here I thought I was the forgetful one. Come on, Pinkie. Have you enlightened your friends yet?"

"Shut up, Winter."

This was it. The moment the Patriarch had anticipated.

"Still cute when you're angry, Pinkie." he said, his heart racing as the pink mare's rage flared up evidently.

"Really, Pinkamena. You're such a dear."

"For the last. time, Winter," she barked, her ears twitching with annoyance.

"Don't. CALL Me That!"

Winter immediately chuckled, giving her a sly grin. His plan was working.

The appetizers are up. Now for the main course...

"Oh come on, Pinkie!" he whined like a preschool foal.

"Treating your coltfriend like garbage these days!"

Pinkie snapped, hearing a few audible gasps from the other room. She immediately glared at the stallion, who was smiling at her almost intimately.

"Since when you're my coltfriend?" she scowled.

"Since, I don't know...."

The stallion fluttered his eyes, making her stomach lurch with disgust.

"Forever?"

The pink mare just snarled, yet her heart was telling a different story.

Why was it beating so fast? Why is she feeling this way?

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Come on, Pinkie. Cut the act!"

Winter swayed around his seat, his hooves nudging the pink mare across him. Pinkie quickly kicked it away, crinkling her snout scornfully at the stallion's attempts of wooing her.

Something formulated in Pinkie's head. This will immediately scare the Patriarch for sure, but she bit her lip. She isn't going to like this...

"Fine, fine." she said in an instant, catching Winter by surprise as the pink mare started giggling.

"You caught me there, Winter."

"P-Pinkamena?"

This wasn't what was expected. In fact, it's going way off the charts for him, yet he can't back down now.

"Uh.... I knew it! I knew it all along you were pretending!"

"Always the smart one, are you now?" she replied, giving him a wink as she twirled towards him. The Patriarch's jaw dropped at the mare started to wrap her hooves around his coat.

"I knew it wouldn't take long for you to guess..."

"Well... I'm just.... tense! With whatever's happening and..."

Pinkie sighed. She had already tuned out as the stallion rambled, his voice droned to silence in her head.

"Enough of the chit-chat, Winter."

"Wait. Just what are you planning to-"

In a flash, Pinkie grabbed his face, slamming hers towards it in a deep kiss. Winter squirmed and struggled, yet his shackles kept him chained to the spot, the chains clinking with every unsuccessful attempt of escape he makes.

It wasn't long before the pink mare let her tongue slip inside, feeling the warmth of the stallion's mouth as her cheeks started to turn red. The Patriarch's mind started to turn hazy, the firm walls of resistance crumbling down.

The pink pony settled onto his lap, still continuing their unending kiss. The world around them started spiraling, the sweat from their bodies dripping as their kiss grew hotter, their dancing tongues now twirling around each other.

Pinkie purred and moaned, her lips still trapped in ecstasy. A wave of shivering euphoria tingled through her skin as the stallion ran her hooves from her straight mane down her body, admiring her curvature along the way.

Winter was hungry: in his mind, there was only lust. Passion. Desire. Pinkie was his! Nopony could take that away!

Immediately, she broke it, only leaving his arousal hanging. He growled, demanding for more, but the pink mare closed her eyes. Behind that playful smile, she seemed to have other ideas.

"Stallions like you..." she mewled, before bringing him towards her again, nuzzling his snout affectionately.

"Always so.... blind..."

At the instant she opened her eyes, Winter felt his body twist by an unseen force. He yelped out in excruciating pain, his gut lopsided and his stomach gurgling. He clutched his chest tightly, gritting his teeth in agony.

His eyes turned towards the pink mare, who somewhat giggled at his suffering.

"P-Pinkamen- argh!! Y-You.... You s-sadist!!"

Pinkie just yanked him closer by the throat, whispering into his ear.

"Consider it payback."

She pushed him back gently, letting him suffer from the spell she placed on him. The spell she had dreaded to use for the very same reason. For him, this was different, though.

"As I recall, you owe me a confession."

"G-Go.... Go to h-hell!"

"I'm already on my way there, wretch!"

Pinkie slammed her hoof down against his, making him shout out in pain.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. When you're ready to talk, I'll come back."

Winter wanted to shout, yet the... thing drilling into his body only made him clench his teeth in pain.

Completely enraged, he watched as the mare left the room, never giving him a second glance.

Pinkie snickered under her breath. Sweet revenge.

She turned to look at the stallion through the window, smiling at his suffering.

"Let's see how long you'll keep your mouth shut, Winter."

As she stepped back into the room, she couldn't help but notice everypony shuddering. Pinkie just trotted along, ignoring all the fearful faces they're giving, before bumping into somepony.

"Watch it, you-"

Twilight just stood there, a dark grimace on her face. Judging from the hellish hatred and the cold stare she was giving, there was no doubt she saw everything.

"Pinkie. We need to talk. Now."

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Rarity and Spike panted heavily, sweat drenching down both of their bodies.

She laid down on the bed, her cheeks still reddened. The dragon soon plopped right beside her as well, wearing a blissful smile on his face.

Her vision was hazy, even though it was already a quarter of an hour after their little fun. She turned to the dragon, cuddling herself into his arms.

"That was wonderful..." she purred, making the dragon chuckle.

"Wonderful, eh?"

Spike turned to the mare, giving her a mischievous grin.

"Wanna go another round?"

"No way, Spike!" she immediately replied with a humph, turning away from him. The dragon just laughed along, placing his left arm next to her.

"But it was great though. I never knew..."

Rarity just pecked him on the cheek. He was talking too much.

"Enough, Spike. If you keep yapping every single time after everything, I'd rather not do it all over again."

Spike just sighed.

"Fine."

The two just lied there, completely silent whilst letting the wave of euphoria pass through them. It seemed to last forever in them, before fading away, though the emptiness they felt afterwards only made them lust for more.

"At least I had my share of fun." the white mare finally said, twirling her hoof across Spike's chest.

The dragon couldn't help but agree. His arms were still sore from the bindings Rarity had made with the bed sheets, with bruises now visible across his wrists.

"Damn, the knots are strong."

"That's what happens when you work in a boutique." Rarity replied with a wink, making the dragon blush.

"But you were brilliant, darling."

"Of course! I'll do anything for you, bubble marshmallow."

"Bubble marshmallow?"

Rarity blinked for a second as the dragon laughed, lying back on the bed once more.

"Well... at least this 'marshmallow' here has enough to satisfy the needs of my Spikey-Wikey~" she mused with a purr.

Spike just grinned, stroking the mare's mane absentmindedly.

"Dominatrix."

The unicorn just rolled her eyes, kicking the sheets away before she stood up, walking towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" the dragon asked, making the mare glance back to him.

"Well, I'm going to have a steamy shower. I don't want to walk around knowing that some of you is still trickling down my hooves."

She watched as Spike chuckled, shaking her head with a smile.

"And don't! Think of coming into the shower, Spike!"

"Awww...." his voice droned as Rarity giggled.

"But I thought we're gonna have so much fun~!"

"Save your thoughts for later, Spikey." she said, reaching for the towel.

"A lady needs some privacy sometimes."

It wasn't long before she stepped inside, turning the fine, glazing knobs. She held her breath as she felt the warmth of the droplets scattering across her body, feeling it crawl down her tingling hooves.

She washed her mane thoroughly, her hooves running smoothly through it like silk. She could hear the dragon whistling outside out of boredom, giggling quietly under her breath.

"Spike..."

Rarity was little worried, reflecting on what they've done in the last half an hour. She had done a little research on the subject. Apparently, there were no recorded offspring of a dragon and a pony before.

It was lucky Spike was a charmer. She wasn't really ready when they had already started.

Turning the knob once more, Rarity stepped out of the shower, brushing the towel across her mane. She sighed with relief: having a long shower for once was really worth it.

Her hoof reached for the brush as she tried to dried herself off, tossing the damp towel aside.

Rarity gazed at her reflection, combing her hair straight down. It wasn't long before she shake it a little, cooing at her own reflection.

"Lucky mare you are today."

The moment she said that, her reflection started smiling, swirling her own mane despite the white mare still busy curling it around. Rarity's eyes widened in horror as her reflection started laughing coldly, before speaking:

"Yes I am, Rarity."

Immediately after the unicorn gasped, the mirror cracked, her reflection shattering apart.

"Rarity?" Spike called out, hearing her yelp in pain as one of the shards grazed her hoof.

"Rarity? What is it?"

"I-It's... It's nothing!"

Her hoof was bleeding, making her feel faint. She reached for the towel, whimpering with each gentle dab she makes.

"Rarity I..."

Spike stopped, looking at the fresh wound on her hoof.

"What happened?" he immediately asked, hurrying to her side.

"I don't know..." she immediately spoke, whimpering as Spike helped her rinse the wound.

"I thought I saw something."

Rarity shuddered, gazing back at the cracked mirror.

She had seen it: instead of her usual, white skin, it was a pale pink.

The white mare gulped. That wasn't her at all.

But if it wasn't....

"Rarity?" Spike said, following her gaze. His pupils immediately froze in terror at the sight of the pony, seemingly seeping out from between the cracks of the mirror.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know...."

She bit her lip. For some reason, it wasn't a good sign.

"Can we go now? Please...?"

"Sure, sure." the dragon replied, almost absentmindedly. He was too disturbed by her reflection to actually listen to her.

"I'm just...."

Spike stopped himself at that point, waving his claw dismissively as he and Rarity strode out of the bathroom. Rarity saw the look on his face: it was filled with fear.

Scared of her? There was no way he had any reason to be! Unless...

"S-Spike....?" she hesitantly called to the dragon, who turned to her in response.

"Am... Am I becoming...."

"No, Rarity." he snapped, making her look down in guilt.

"You won't become crazy. Please don't say that about yourself."

Rarity just stood there as the dragon walked back to the bedroom, beckoning her forward with a smile. She felt a little relieved by his answer, yet her gut was telling her a contrasting story.

"I just hope you're right..."

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"Save it, Pinkie!"

Pinkie just sat on the king-sized bed, tolerating her so-called reprimand from Twilight. The unicorn had been yelling at her for about fifteen minutes now, despite her attempts at cutting in.

"Can't believe you'll do this! When Applejack finds out-"

"Twilight! I didn't know he was behind this, alright?!"

She brushed her flattened mane away. All those false accusations.... she couldn't take it anymore!

"Look, if you would just listened to me-"

"You KISSED him! You kissed the pony that tried to kill our friends!"

The unicorn tossed her hooves up into the air, her mane becoming frizzier with rage.

"And you dared to call us your friend!"

"Twilight!"

The pink pony panted and heaved, letting out the anger as the unicorn finally stopped, glaring at the pink mare.

"I had to do it, okay? It was the only way I could get something out from him!"

"By kissing him?! Ridiculous, Pinkie!"

Twilight wouldn't want to hear the rest of it. That was enough from her.

"But Twilight! I didn't just kiss him-"

"Yet you still did! You know why?"

The unicorn pointed her hoof accusingly, tapping it onto her chest.

"Because you're in league with him!"

"WHAT?!"

"And he's treating you so well!"

She wrinkled her nose in contempt, watching the pink mare completely aghast at her accusation.

"You two were working together! Imagine that, Pinkie! Partners in crime!"

"I'm NOT working with him!"

Pinkie stood up, in a state of denial. She couldn't believe her friend was accusing her of this!

"Just because he says we were together doesn't mean it's true!"

"So you're trying to say that act. That act that you have performed so well! Was all a fake?!"

"Well.... uh... I-" she managed to stammer, remembering her kiss with the stallion.

"See?! I don't even know if we can trust you anymore, Pinkie!"

"For Celestia's sake, Twilight, he's my EX-COLTFRIEND!"

Twilight stopped immediately, blinking in surprise. The fog around her head started to clear up, the unicorn letting her friend's words sink into her brain.

"What... what did you say?"

"Ex-coltfriend, Twilight!" she repeated, lowering her voice down to a stutter.

"Winter.... he was my.... coltfriend...."

"What... but..."

Twilight didn't get it. It was usual in Pinkie's case, yet this was something she wouldn't even expect from her friend.

"Falling in love with him? There's no way..."

"It's complicated, Twilight," the pink pony said with a chuckle.

"But he was a different stallion last time... before it all happened..."

"Before what happened?"

Pinkie just sighed, turning to her friend with a chagrin frown.

"I don't want to risk your life for this..."

"I understand now, Pinkie."

Twilight placed a hoof around her friend's shoulder, giving her a slight smile.

"I'm... sorry, okay? For shouting and accusing and just saying all the stuff without thinking..."

"Don't be, Twilight."

Her friend stood up, wandering towards the window. She looked out longingly, clenching her hooves for hope.

"You'll find out about everything. When we get there..."

Twilight saw that look before. It was the same look she had seen on Fluttershy's face when Big Mac passed by her. The same look Rarity gave when Spike was around.

"You still love him, don't you?"

Pinkie just sighed. She wanted to shrug, but the facts were all written in front of her.

"He's.... different...."

Her heart ached with a small tear crawling down her face.

"I... I just wish he can still love me back..."

Comments

[WritingSpirit]

A little revelation there......
Chapter 43.

Yes, Rarity and Spike managed to have a little fun.
Yes, Pinkie and Winter were a couple.
Yes, I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner or later

[Rookee Alding]

"You'll find out about everything. When we get there..." Is that Pinkie talking or you?

[WritingSpirit]

1181606
Pinkie

But~ you could say it's me as well

[Fury of the Tempest]

... Wait, hold on. Are you saying that Winter is the Mirror Mare, or at least some of the appearances of the Mirror Mare?