Gabriela, the Batpony

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 4: Just Coffee!

“Wait, so what did you just order?” Dusk Shine asks Gabriela from her side of the table at the cafe while widening her yellowish green slitted eyes.

Gabriela smiles her goofy fanged grin and says, “It’s called an Au Lait! It’s half espresso and half frothed milk! It’s similar to a latte, that’s one part espresso to four parts frothed milk, only a lot stronger! Basically, it’s a latte on poneroids!”

Dusk widens her eyes all the way, “That’s really interesting! So, you know a lot about coffee and devil weed?”

“My two habits!” Gabriela says before shrugging.

Dusk corrects her eyes, “I see! So uh, I just ordered an amaretto cappuccino!”

“Also, pretty good! I actually own an espresso machine at my cottage and I use it to make funky coffees all the time!”*

“Oh?” Dusk says before leaning in and smiling, “Maybe you can be our barista and we can smoke and drink coffee together?”

Gabriela smiles again, “Don’t forget I’m also the bud master since I can roll a joint!”

“Gosh!” Dusk looks down.

“What’s wrong?” Gabriela asks while leaning forward and widening her blue eyes interestedly.

Dusk looks to the unicorn, “Well, there’s not a lot for me to do in this scenario?”

Gabriela adjusts herself, “Oh, that’s fine! Your company is good enough!”

“Oh, right! Spike the dragon learned this lesson earlier!”

Gabriela frowns to the other batpony, “You learned a lot of things from that book, didn’t you?”

“Well…” Dusk sighs before continuing, “I uh… That is to say…” before gulping and looking to Gabriela.

“Uh, is something wrong?”

Right then, a green waitress with a blond mane and tail trots out of the door behind Dusk and carries a tray with two cups in her white magic. She looks over to verify the tray is clear of the door before shutting it in a white glow and moving to the table. She smiles and magically sets down the tray at the center of the table before looking to Dusk and floating a white glass cup of piping hot coffee to her while saying, “Alright Dusk Shine, here’s your usual amaretto cappuccino and for you,” she looks over to Gabriela and floats her white coffee cup over to her side of the table while smiling. “your French vanilla Café Au Lait!”

Gabriela smiles and opens her fanged mouth to chirp “Thank you!” to the waitress, although she’s not sure she understood her.

The waitress smiles to Gabriela and says, “You’re welcome! Now, if you batponies need anything else, my name is Emily!” before looking to the table and floating the tray to her right side and trotting back to the door, magically opening it, and going back into the café before the door gently shuts behind her.

Gabriela looks back to the punker, “Well? Is anything wrong Dusk?”

Dusk Shine sighs and says, “For years, me and Nightshade have been roommates and best friends… But well… I wanted other friends; you know?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “And so, you came and got me?”

Dusk smiles dimly, “Yeah…”

Gabriela looks down and thinks for a moment before staring back to Dusk, “I like you too Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles, “Yeah… I sure liked playing cards with you earlier!”

“Hey, me too! You know what we should start doing?”

Dusk smiles and says, “Smoking joints and playing cards together?”

Gabriela’s eyes widen, “Uh, I was just gonna say play cards!” she narrows her eyes, “Do you get bucked up a lot?”

“When I’m with friends, sure! Well, um…” She looks down, “Only when I’m with Nightshade these days…”

“Did you used to have more friends?”

Dusk looks to the unicorn, “Well, I used to, but…”

“But what?” Gabriela asks while widening her blue eyes.

“But a lot of those ponies were just taking advantage of me and using me, and so I had to cut them from my life… And that’s when I learned to be distrustful and not let anypony in…”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and frowns, “But you’re with Nightshade?”

“Um…” Dusk stammers, “not exactly?”

“What do you mean?” Gabriela asks inquiringly before taking a small sip of her coffee with her magic and determining that it’s safe to drink now.

“Well, Nightshade is a free spirit, like me! Sure, we have sex and snuggle a lot, but it doesn’t mean anything…”

Gabriela frowns, “But we also snuggled? Does that not mean anything either?”

“Um…” Dusk continues to stammer, “Not exactly?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “What do you mean, not exactly?”

Dusk shakes her head, “I like you as a friend! For now!”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth and considers this for a moment before floating her big coffee to her mouth and deeply drinks the delicious warm caffeinated beverage. She soon tastes the flavorful bursts of the French vanilla on her tongue as it slides down her throat. She looks to Dusk, “Hey! This is pretty good! But uh, “she smiles, “mine is better!”

Dusk smiles back and squints, “Well, you’re probably gonna prove that to me soon?”

“I work tomorrow… When’s your days off?”

Dusk smiles, “You wanna do the smoke and play cards thing too, right?”

Gabriela stammers, “Well, there’s other stuff we can do too?”

“This is also true! And I’m off Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday!”**

“Right! And I’m off Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday…” Gabriela widens her eyes, “So apparently Tuesday and Wednesday are my Dusk Shine days!”

Dusk observes this night unicorn carefully, “So, you’re saying you want to hang out with me and be my friend?”

Gabriela looks to Dusk and says, “Um, only if you want to?”

“Are we gonna keep this going all night?” Dusk asks before cautiously taking a sip of her cappuccino with her forehooves.

Gabriela narrows her eyes and grins, “Well, we can start talking about my ass again?”

Dusk Shine spits her coffee out in a hysterical giggle.

Gabriela giggles before taking a sip of her coffee.

Dusk starts to the unicorn, “When did you develop a sense of humor?”

Gabriela sets her coffee down, gulps, and says, “I don’t know? It’s like I’m becoming uh, comfortable around you or something now?”

“I know, right?”

Gabriela squints, “So um, we’re friends now?”

Dusk smiles, “Only if you wanna be?”

Gabriela starts and says, “Knock it off!” at a slightly higher volume before both batponies start with a shared snicker. She then lifts her cup in blue magic and takes a big sip of her coffee.

Soon, the door behind Dusk opens and the same green waitress emerges while holding a tray in her white magical grasp. She trots to the table with the tray in tow and turns to face it while setting the tray down in the center of the table. Dusk is now to her right and Gabriela to the left. She floats two mangos to Dusk while glancing to face her and two mangos to Gabriela while doing the same. She smiles and says, “There you are! Two mangos per batpony! Do you need anything else from the menu ladies?”

Gabriela gives a negative chirp and shakes her head.

“Alright! You two enjoy your breakfast!” she says before floating the tray back to her side and trotting behind Dusk to the door to exit.

The two batponies voraciously suck the juices out of both mangos, Gabriela using her magic to hold the fruit while Dusk employs her forehooves.

Gabriela leans back with her tongue out of her fanged mouth and says, “Mangos are really yummy!”

“Yeah…” says Dusk while she leans back with her head leaned all the way so that her pink spikes now jut out behind her.

Gabriela looks back down to Dusk Shine, “So um, what do you want to do now?”

Dusk looks back down to Gabriela, “Do I look like a batpony with a plan Gabriela?”

Gabriela snickers at the leather clad spikey maned batpony, “Well, there’s a lot of open fields between the library and train station and nopony goes out there at night?”

Dusk narrows her eyes, “This is true!”

Gabriela smiles and says at a much lower volume while leaning forward, “Well, I still got this bowl in my saddlebags plus a couple of nugs left in that dime I took with me earlier…”

Dusk whispers back, “You wanna smoke out there?”

Gabriela smiles, “Sure! Why not? Nopony is gonna know!”

Dusk snickers and says at a slightly higher volume, “Alright, let’s do it!”

Gabriela sits on her haunches while Dusk Shine does the same before her in the darkened field at night. She looks over to her right saddlebag and snaps it open with her pale blue magic before floating out the pipe and red disposable lighter. She glances back at Dusk before her while floating the pipe before her, magically unscrewing the cap, and floating it back to her saddlebags so she doesn’t lose it. She then raises her head and magically raises the pipe to her lips with the lighter craned downward to the bowl and ignites the lighter causing her face to become more apparent in it’s small glow as the flame flies into the bowl to ignite the contents as she inhales the smoke into her lungs. She tastes the Appleloosa skunk of her own stash soon beginning to mesh with the Everfree Green from Dusk in the joints as it all warmly slides down her throat. She raises her head skyward and exhales the smoke so that Dusk sees it flying upwards in her night vision. She lowers her head once more and ignites the lighter to inhale again. She lowers her head before exhaling smoke out the side of her mouth.

Then, Gabriela looks up and causes the pipe to glide to Dusk’s lips in her pale blue grasp along with the lighter. She lights the lighter at an angle right above the bowl and smiles, “Inhale Dusk!”

Dusk brings her lips to the pipe and inhales to bring the flame into the bowl and ignite the devil weed there to bring the smoke into her mouth. She brings her head back from the floating pipe and turns it to the right to exhale a big cloud of smoke. She leans forward after that to inhale and bring the flame back into the bowl to ignite the weed inside and bring the smoke through the stem into her mouth before she leans her head back. She lifts her neck up and exhales a cloud into the air a few seconds later.

Gabriela floats the pipe back over to her and takes two more hits before floating it back to Dusk so she can do the same. Then she floats the pipe before her so she can see inside the bowl and says, “Okay uh, looks like another hit or two left. Should probably cap this off with some more herb?” She looks over to her right and floats out her plastic baggy from her saddlebag to float out a small nug of devil weed. She breaks off a small chunk of that and magically grinds it in the air over the pipe, causing the smaller chunks to glide down into the bowl below. She sees there’s still some of the nug left after the bowl is full and so she floats that back into the baggy for later before causing that to fly back into her right saddlebag.

Dusk widens her greenish yellow eyes, “That’s a neat trick Gabriela! So uh, you don’t need a grinder?”

Gabriela looks to Dusk, “Well, that trick takes some effort and believe me! Using my aluminum grinder at the cottage is easier and better, but we don’t have that here and so…”

Dusk Shine smiles, “No, but you’re here…”

Gabriela looks at Dusk while lifting her right eyebrow and says, “Uh, yes I am!” before floating the pipe and lighter to her mouth to take another hit while Dusk scoots just a little bit closer. Gabriela soon exhales the smoke above her with her head back again before bringing her head back down to inhale once more while igniting the lighter so that even more smoke enters her mouth and down her throat.

She soon exhales the smoke with her head turned to the left and she can’t help but notice that Dusk Shine is now maybe just two feet from her. She glances that way and causes the pipe to float back towards Dusk Shine’s lips and causes the lighter to spark and burn above it.

Dusk leans forward and inhales from the pipe before leaning back and smiling at Gabriela.

“Uh, Dusk Shine? Why are you smiling at me like that?”

Dusk waves the floating metal pipe away with her left forehoof and Gabriela looks to it and struggles to keep it level in her magical grasp while Dusk leans forward and plants a big wet kiss on Gabriela’s lips!

Gabriela’s bluish gray slitted eyes widen as she’s kissed and feels Dusk open her mouth, so she does the same as she begins to feel weak and smoke flows into her mouth and down her throat.

Gabriela leans back and exhales what’s left of the smoke while turning her head to the right. She looks back to Dusk, “What are you doing? What about Nightshade?”

Dusk leans forward and says, “What about her?” before leaning into kiss Gabriela more passionately now that the shotgun has been delivered.

Gabriela can only widen her eyes again as the punk rocker kisses her ardently on the lips.

Dusk leans back.

Gabriela says, “You’re an idiot!”

Dusk shrugs and look to the left slightly as she says, “What? I like you a lot, Gabriela!”

Gabriela squints, “And that’s exactly why you’re stupid! Now get your dumb ass over here so we can kiss and snuggle!”

Gabriela trots East, away from the library, on the right side with Dusk Shine. She looks over as her disheveled bluish gray mane falls over the side of her shoulder, “So uh, what just happened Dusk Shine?”

Dusk looks back and smiles, “Well, you suggested we go out into the field between the library and the train station since it’s dark and nopony is out there now so we could smoke devil weed under the stars! One thing led to another, and we made out and cuddled!”

“Well, uh…” Gabriela stops trotting and turns to the other batpony, “Did that mean anything? Um, to you I mean!”

Dusk stops trotting and looks down… She breaths for a moment before looking back to her right at Gabriela, “Um, I don’t know…”

Gabriela squints her pale blue eyes, “What do you mean, you don’t know? I’m starting to develop feelings for you!”

Dusk faces her body to the night unicorn, “I know… And I don’t want to hurt you…”

Gabriela looks curiously while tilting her head slightly to the left, “What do you mean?”

Dusk sighs, “Well, I didn’t think it was gonna go as far as it did, honestly Gabs… I just, well…” She looks down.

“Well, what?”

She looks up to Gabriela suddenly, “I like you, a lot, okay? And it’s not just your flanks!” she looks to the left side slightly, “Although, that is a nice bonus!” she corrects her gaze to the unicorn, “But it’s you Gabs!” She blinks, “It’s always been you…” before sighing.

Gabriela blinks, “W-why me?”

“Well!” Dusk says while moving her greenish yellow eyes to the sky, “You’re sweet, kind, smart, funny, charming,” she looks back to Gabriela, “and you have the most enchanting smile!”

Gabriela can only breath in and out through her nose with her fluffy ears perked to the other batpony as she says all these nice things about her. She lowers her ears to the sides of her head, “I uh…” she smiles dimly and lowers her head a little, “I like you too Dusk Shine…”

“So, we’re good?”

Gabriela looks back up, “Well, I don’t know? I mean, are we in a relationship now?”

“Of course, we’re in a relationship! You’re my good friend, Gabriela! The devil weed smoker and coffee junkie!”

Gabriela raises her voice, “That’s not what I meant!”

Dusk smiles, “I know!”

“Look!” Gabriela finally says as she’s had enough, “Are we in fact, going out together at this point?”

Dusk smiles even brighter, “I’m gonna make this interesting…”

Gabriela brings her head back and says, “What do you mean?”

Dusk glances off to the right with her greenish yellow slitted eyes and then back to Gabriela, “Now, I told Nightshade that we were playing cards tonight at 1:30. The town clock tower there says 1:22, meaning I’d better get flying back there soon. You now know how I feel and what I’m willing to do with you… “She leans forward, “You also know how and when you can get a hold of me to do these things… So, let’s see what you do now!”

“Huh?”

Dusk trots closer to Gabriela and kisses her once more, passionately on the lips while her blue slitted eyes widen. She separates and then embraces a stunned Gabriela in a tight warm hug in her forehooves while whispering, “See you soon Gabs! I love you!” in her fluffy ear before disembarking and then turning right towards her own shared cottage and trots that way quickly a few paces before launching herself off the ground and flapping her leathery wings forcefully to take off and fly into the night while a stunned dark unicorn can only sit there and look on with her ears perked that direction.

Gabriela looks down, lowers her fluffy ears, and sighs. Then she straightens herself and turns to the East to begin her lone trek home.

The next two days are very routine for Gabriela. She wakes up, smokes a joint and has her coffee before breakfast and heads to work. She gets to the factory and does her job of quality control and inspection on the assembly line. She almost misses some bad fruit, and she can’t for the life of her figure out what’s throwing her off her game. She always gets home in the morning, eats a bean and cheese burrito for dinner before firing up her little pipe and going off to slumber peacefully in her bed with her cat.

Then, she gets to work on Saturday, but doesn’t see Dusk Shine at first. She stays at her station, diligently doing her job until the whistle rings to signal lunchtime for the night shift at 1. She trots to the breakroom and sees Dusk Shine at the far table near the back wall of the white brick room. She gulps and trots up to her.

(To be continued…)

Author's Note:

*It’s true! I do!

**Jobs that have a 12 hour shifts normally have three or four days off a week, depending.