Filling in the Gaps

by Nonagon

First published

Flash Sentry gets a text message.

During the second-worst week of his interdimensional girlfriend's life, Flash Sentry gets a disturbing text message. As he rushes to see her, he fears the worst. What he finds is exactly not that.

What did happen to Flash Sentry during the events of Mirror Redemption? A side project for the sake of continuity and to write something pleasant for once (OBJECTIVE FAILED).

the part with the plot (optional)

View Online

My phone was silent in my hand. I rested my head against the window and let the streets roll by.

Ringo drove. We'd spent most of the day rehearsing in his garage. With all that had been going on lately Flash Drive hadn't had many chances to practice our regular sets. The others got back into it easily, but it only took us an hour to realize that my head just wasn't in it. I caught my bandmates glancing at each other whenever I looked back, but they didn't say anything. I kept playing, searching for something in my guitar that was usually so easy to find. It just didn't happen.

I felt like I was burning up inside. Plain and simple. And it hurt worse because I knew I had a perfect life. I was the best at everything I did, had my own band, the best friends in school, and now, somehow, two incredibly hot girlfriends who were so into me they'd change their own destiny for me. I got all the benefits of magical adventures without ever having to leave the sidelines and had total confidence in the safety of this town. People stopped me all the time to tell me how lucky I was or ask me for my secrets. It would have felt like a betrayal to tell them that it seemed like all I ever did was constantly worry.

I knew what Twilight was like behind closed doors. Her pain was my burden to bear. Her job was to keep the world safe, and my job was to save her; at least, as much as much as a boring, non-magical human like me could. This was normal now. It wasn't ideal, and I knew that I could never really be a part of her world, but we were happy. But then the other Twilight had made her grand entrance, crashing her train wreck of a life into us both, with Shimmer following just after. And then Sunset...

Everyone reacted to what Sunset kept doing to herself differently. I got angry. Maybe that was selfish, and it hurt me that I knew it was selfish, but she had other friends to look after her. I could be furious enough for all of them. Rage, envy, concern, despair; all four of those girls burned inside me like individual furnaces, fighting each other for my attention. On other days I could have used this as fuel for a new song, but what came out of me with each strum of my guitar was barely even music. It was just loud. And no matter how loud the notes got, they wouldn't carry me away.

It was mid-afternoon when Brawly stood up from his drums and dragged me off to the side, away from our captive audience of Ringo's little sister and her stuffed rabbit, and made me sit down. "Look dude, maybe you should just go home," he said.

"No, I can get this," I said, fumbling over a complicated riff for the ninth time.

"No, you can't. This is just stressing you out, dude. You need to relax."

"I am relaxing." I glared at him, but couldn't hold it. "Look, I just... I just need some time, okay? I've been going through some heavy stuff lately."

He leaned against the wall next to me. "I know, bro. We heard about Sunset Shimmer. And look, it sucks that your girlfriend's BFF tried to kill herself, but-"

"She's my friend too!" I snapped loudly.

"Whoa. Okay, jeez." He inched sideways across the wall. "I just thought you two weren't talking. You know, since..." He put up his hands and raised two fingers on either side of his head, like horns.

"...Yeah." I looked down and played a few notes, turning it into a familiar tune. "We're not close. But I still care about her. I mean, I dated her for close to a year. You get to know someone pretty well in that time, even if they're hiding something. You know she's the reason Flash Drive even exists?"

"No kidding?"

"Yeah. She's the one who encouraged me to keep working on my music. Without her, I probably would have put all my time toward trying to get into the police like my dad." On automatic, my fingers played through the first tune I ever taught her. "I mean, I worked out later that she was just trying to get me to give her guitar lessons. But it worked out. The only time she seemed like a normal girl was when she was holding an instrument. You know, laughing, making mistakes, actually smiling at me like she meant it. That was the only time she ever kissed me, too." The song ended. I slid my guitar off my shoulder and rested it in my lap. "That's how I try and think of her now, anyway," I said. "Like someone who's basically good, but needs the right reason to let it come out. She just makes it hard. Sometimes I wish I could actually take her up to the loft like that again, jam like old times. You know?"

Brawly was starting to look uncomfortable. "Hey man, does your girlfriend know you're talking about another chick like that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Dude, you have no idea what Twilight lets me get away with. If I told her I wanted to have sex with Sunset right in front of her, she'd probably set up the date herself." That had started as a joke, but it came out more bitter than I meant it. I dialed it back. "Besides, I don't know if I could even stand to see Sunset right now. I'd probably just shake her up. I mean, I know she's in a different place than she was when she... you know." I put up my fingers into horns. "But it's hard not to get mad at her. We keep giving her second chance after second chance, and I know she's just trying to repent, but it feels like she's just turning around and spitting on everything we've tried to teach her." I took a deep breath. "And Twilight's worried sick about her. The hospital cleared her this morning, but Twilight's barely slept thinking about a relapse. Whatever the other Twilight said to her might happen again, and no one's heard anything from her either. Plus Shimmer's still out there, and-"

"Whoa, whoa. Dude, this is exactly what I'm talking about." Brawly put a hand on my shoulder. "You can't keep holding on to so many other people's problems. You're only gonna drive yourself crazy. Before you can help anyone else, you gotta do you first."

"How can I?" I grumbled at him. "Everyone I know has bigger problems than I do."

"Do they? 'Cause it sounds like you've got as much reason to be mad about Sunset as anyone else." He flicked my head and massaged my shoulder. "You're not a sponge, dude. You can't be upset about something for someone else. It doesn't work that way. Let your girlfriend do her thing, and you work out how you're feeling. Then, when you've got that sorted out, you can start working on her."

I hesitated before answering that. It did sound like a good plan. But that was the thing about Brawly; most of his plans only sounded good. "It's not that simple," I said. "For Twilight this is about more than just Sunset. The last thing she needs right now is more people vanishing on her."

"Isn't this the chick who basically wrote the book on friendship? She'll be fine. She's got backup. And you need backup, man. She's not some dragon you've got to slay on your own. You need someone you can talk to, too. If you just charge in without knowing what you're doing, then..."

He gestured, and I followed his hand. On the other side of the garage, Ringo had been dragged into the other chair by his sister and was attempting to explain, in words a seven-year-old could understand, what had happened to Sunset and why I was upset. Judging by their faces, neither side was taking it very well. "Okay, point taken," I sighed. "I guess I still need to work some stuff out. She'll understand that." I gave Brawly a hard look. "And for your information, I do have someone I can talk to. Twilight cares about how I feel. We look out for each other, not just me for her."

Brawly nodded hesitantly. A higher tone came into his voice, suggesting that he knew he was edging onto dangerous ground. "Yeah, I believe you, but, like... do you talk to her?"

"I..." My voice caught as I rapidly thought over our conversations these past few weeks. Then months. Then over the whole year. "I... don't have to," I decided, opting for something poetic. "Just being with her is enough. When she's around, she makes all my problems seem like nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing from where I'm sitting, dude."

"Well... well what do you want me to say?" I snapped. "Should I just not be there for her any more? Every week, she has to deal with monsters, demons, culture shock, homesickness, clones of her old friends, some messed-up kind of body dysmorphia and the fact that everyone on her homeworld might be dead. The worst thing that ever happens to me is when she tells me about all those things. If she can go through all that and still commit to a relationship, what does it make me if I can't even give her someone to lean on?"

Brawly's fingers drummed thoughtfully over my shoulder. "Is that how she makes you feel?" he asked. "Like you're just someone for her to lean on?"

"What? No, I..." My own fingers throttled the neck of my guitar. I tried again. "She's worth it. Okay? She's magical and she's wonderful and she's worth it. You're just going to have to trust me on that."

"Sure, your mouth is saying that. But I've been listening to your music from the beginning, dude. I know when something's eating you. And every time you come in here with a smile that says 'I finally got some last night' your guitar starts saying 'please, please, someone take me out back and shoot me.'"

I held Fortuna protectively. "So?"

"I'm just saying, you've got to talk about this. You can't keep going back to someone who's making you sad. Take a break. Figure out where you want to go. And..." He gulped. "Maybe, if you spend some time on your own, you... might start to think about other things. Things you might not have noticed otherwise."

I twisted around, glaring hard. "What are you implying?" I said.

He backed off, raising his hands. "Nothing, man, nothing," he said. "Twilight's a good kid. We'd all be zombies without her and I'm really, really happy for you. But remember Lemon Zest?" he pressed. "Remember how I was the last one to notice how much of my time she was eating up? Chicks mess with your head, man. They make you forget that there are other things that matter. You stop seeing what's really going on."

I stood up angrily. "And what is it about Twilight that I'm supposed to be seeing?"

"Not her, man. You." Brawly did his best to give me a stern look. "Look, you know I'm only saying this because I love you, but sooner or later you've gotta accept that you've got a thing for damaged chicks. And that's all right, but you need a better way of dealing with that than what you've got going on. Because in another three years, I don't want us to be having this conversation a third time."

I just glared. We stared each other down, testing the waters while the candles inside of me slowly solidified into something heavy and chilling. Even the pair across the garage went quiet, staring at us with mouths open. "Oh, snap," Ringo's sister whispered.

I turned away. "I'm going home," I said. "Don't wait up."

Brawly released a breath. "Yeah man, sure," he said. "Take as long as you want."

I unplugged my guitar and put it in its case. Just as I picked up my backpack, it buzzed. Cursing silently to myself, I pulled out my phone.

Two missed calls. Both from Twilight, two minutes apart. One incoming text message. I read it once. My gut tightened into a rock.

"Almost there, dude."

Ringo's voice startled me. I almost busted my nose against the van's window coming back to the present. "Heh, sorry man." He grinned apologetically. "Thinking hard?"

I wanted to take a swing at him, but couldn't muster the energy. Ringo was lucky that he had the kind of laugh that it was hard to get mad at. Also, he was driving. "I'm trying not to think about anything," I muttered, returning my gaze to the familiar roads.

He had the sense to not say anything to that. Something caught my eye, and just for a second I thought I saw a flash of familiar fiery hair walking by, but it was gone before I could focus. I shivered, trying and failing to settle my nerves, and rolled my eyes down to my phone. It had stayed silent since I'd picked it up, even after returning the favor with two missed phone calls and a text message of my own. Despite knowing that it wouldn't make a reply come any faster, I read the message again:

Dear Flash,

I need you. Now.

-P

Every few minutes my mind would flare up with questions, none of which I wanted answering. I kept topping myself thinking of the worst possible outcome. The last I'd heard, Twilight's plan for the day was to track down the other Twilight and then check on Sunset. What had happened between her and those two? I kept picturing Twilight sobbing into her bed again, and each iteration carried a new thought with it; I knew they shouldn't have let Sunset out of the hospital so early, I knew the other Twilight couldn't be trusted, I knew I should have insisted on coming with her that day... What was so terrible that she needed me with her right at that second? Why wasn't she answering?

And, if I'm honest, the initial bugged me more than it should.

Twilight had never really gotten the concept of text messaging. It was kind of cute, at first, even if we were all silently tapping our feet for the day she realized she didn't have to sign her name on every one. For a while it was a mix of Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle and Your Friend, Twilight Sparkle, which we'd eventually gotten her to shorten. But after that night, it was just P. P for Princess.

The worst part was how easily she'd gone along with it. It wasn't as if the other Twilight had barged in and demanded her name back; it was like she'd been looking for an opportunity to give it away. The end result was that as long as that impostor was around, I wasn't even allowed to call my girlfriend by her own name. And, frustrating as it was, I hadn't been able to come up with any alternatives. Calling them "human Twilight" and "pony Twilight" would just be a constant reminder for both of them, "my Twilight" felt plain wrong, and "the real Twilight" was just asking for trouble. "Princess" was a fair compromise - I even had her saved in my phone as My Princess, which I was starting to regret more and more each day - but the real insult was that she was the one who was expected to change her name. And everyone, even me, had gone along with it.

I still wasn't sure how I felt about the other Twilight. It was frustratingly difficult to stay mad at her; I couldn't be angry with the face that made me smile whenever I saw it. If I wasn't paying attention, it was easy to mistake her for the real thing. The Twilight I knew was in there somewhere, distorted and reflected by her own life. So was the quiet, confident girl I used to spend all day thinking about in the ninth grade. But then she'd open her mouth or stare down at her shoes, and I'd realize that I still knew nothing about her at all. It caught me off guard every single time. Maybe this was what living with a changeling was like.

There was something dark inside her. This wasn't necessarily her fault; I'd been the first to hear the rumours Sunset had tried to spread about her and I still felt like I'd just scratched the surface of what had happened. But I still remembered the hunger I felt the first time she kissed me. I'd stupidly awoken something that night, something with all the wisdom and cunning of Twilight Sparkle that craved satisfaction and revenge no matter who she had to hurt to get it. If she'd been allowed to get anywhere close to Sunset Shimmer again...

You don't have to be born evil to play the villain.

"Hey," Ringo said.

I tore my gaze away from my phone. "Yeah?"

"Listen, about what Brawly said." He took a deep breath. "You and Twilight, man. You gotta make it work."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Man, you don't function unless you got someone. You need a muse, you know? A project. Twilight Sparkle is that project. Yeah, she works you hard, but she keeps you happier than anything else I've ever seen from you. You can't let that kind of happiness go, man. You just can't."

That raised my spirits, but probably not as much as he'd hoped. "You shouldn't talk about her like that," I said. "She's a person, not some problem I need to fix."

"Man, you talk about her like that half the time," he chuckled. That died when he finally looked at me and saw my scowl. "Hey, you know I didn't mean it like that," he said. "You're good for each other, that's all. She does her magical girl stuff, you keep her in the real world, and no one in the school gets eaten by gnolls. You're a total catch, man. You deserve someone out of this world. And the only reason she's been able to stick around is because she's got someone who can take whatever she can dish out." He turned his eyes back to the road. "So seriously, no pressure, but if you break up with her and she goes crazy then we're all definitely going to die."

No pressure. Right. "Thanks," I muttered, staring even harder at my phone.

Ringo hesitated. "Also, Grasswhistle said that if you break up she's got dibs on you for the next century."

That got a laugh out of me. "Tell her to give me a call in eleven years."

"That's what I said. She looked me right in the eye and started citing legal precedents. If she could tie her own shoes she'd scare me sometimes. Crazy what can come out of your own flesh and blood, huh?"

He laughed to himself. I just stared broodingly into the distance. "Yeah," I said.

I spent the final minute of the trip in silence, expecting at any second to hear the wailing sound of sirens.

the part without very much plot at all (also optional)

View Online

The streets were quiet as we pulled up to Twilight's building. Still no sirens, and Rarity's moped was parked across the street. This settled my nerves a little, but not completely; deep down, I was still expecting the worst. I can't even remember if I said anything to Ringo. I just grabbed my guitar and hit the pavement before the van had even stopped.

The doorman (one of these days I really needed to learn his name) let me in without even looking at me. It looked like there was something on his mind, but I didn't stop to ask. I was halfway up the stairs when I realized that I wasn't even sure if I was in the right place. Today was supposed to be an adventure, and Twilight's text hadn't been specific. She could have been anywhere. I should have called around for more information first... or, really, Twilight should have called me back. I almost stopped on the second floor, but kept going. Whatever it was, I still had to at least try to get it out of her in person first.

Twilight's door wasn't locked. It wasn't even closed all the way. For someone as paranoid as her, this was a first. I gritted my teeth and, still trying not to jump to conclusions, pushed my way inside. Since the last time I'd seen it her massive library had been rearranged into sturdy blocks spaced evenly around the apartment, awaiting a real reshelving. Her phone was resting on top of the nearest one. It cheerily blinked two missed calls and a text message. "Twilight?" I yelled, biting down panic. All that answered was the faint sound of running water.

I shut and locked the door, rested my guitar against the sofa, and followed the noise. A line of dropped clothes led up to Twilight's small, meticulously clean bathroom. All of it was grey, with no crest printed anywhere. Not the clothing of anyone I knew. In front of the door, I finally came to a halt. This one had been left slightly open as well, letting steamy air drift up to me as I caught my breath. Over the dull hiss of a running shower, I heard a giggle, then a moan. In my current mindset I had no idea how to react to this. Like I was in a dream, I reached out and pushed the door open.

I was not prepared for what was on the other side.

Both Twilight Sparkles were in the shower together. The curtain had been thrown carelessly wide, giving me a perfect view of their wet, naked bodies rubbing against each other, one behind the other. Purple skin and hair blurred together and at first I couldn't even tell who was who until my gaze was dragged downward and I compared their cup sizes. Princess (I swore I was only going to think of her like that as long as her impostor was in the room) cupped Twilight's smaller breasts from behind, pinching and squeezing while she nuzzled her copy's shoulder. Twilight clung to her, pulling her close and grinding against her with her eyes closed and her mouth open in a ring of pleasure. Princess noticed me first. She lifted her lips from Twilight's neck and curled them into a smile. "You made it," she said. "You're just in time. I got her warmed up for you."

My legs shook. The most unbelievable sense of relief fell over me and I leaned hard against the wall, my lips flapping. "Flash?" Princess stepped carefully out of the shower and rushed up to me, grabbing my hand. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I felt like laughing. My breath came in long gasps; the emotional turnaround had winded me. "I thought this was about Sunset!"

"What? No! No, Sunset's fine." She put her hand on my cheek and then looked closer. "Are you... crying?"

"I'm not crying!" I bawled. My head felt light and steamed, like all the fire and ice I'd been nursing in my gut all day was boiling away all at once. I surreptitiously wiped something from my eye and kept going. "I was just really worried about you- her. I thought something happened to her."

"Oh my gosh. No!" Princess hugged me, dampening my shirt. "Twilight and Sunset talked things out. They're both better now. She... she probably saved her life," she added more quietly. "Everyone's fine. Everyone's safe. We just called you over because we wanted to celebrate." She grinned and grabbed my butt with both hands. "And we were starting to get a little impatient."

I looked up at Twilight. She nervously covered herself and stared at her feet, unable to look at me but obviously totally turned on. I wasn't even sure there was a word for what I was feeling, that indescribable joy of thinking that one of your oldest friends is dead but instead discovering two beautiful girls who want to have sex with you. One of them would know. I finally burst out laughing and powerfully hugged Princess, lifting her into the air and spinning in the confined space. Joy overwhelmed us as we kissed. I squeezed her ass, making her moan, and my diamond-hard dick started poking her through my jeans. This was heaven.

We stopped moving when my shoes squeaked on the damp tiles. I kicked them off and Princess put her arms inside my jacket, pushing it off. "Come join us," she whispered to me.

As she started pulling at my shirt I eyed Twilight again. She'd retreated further under the water, looking a little red from embarrassment and a little green from envy. Seeing her like that, it was hard to remember why I'd been so wary of her earlier. Even if what had happened to Sunset was her fault, from the sound of it she'd more than made up for it already. Maybe there was good in her after all. What the hell, I decided. As soon as my shirt was off I reached into the shower and pulled her close to me, kissing her as well. She was more nervous, but responded even more to my touch. When I pulled away from her, she looked up at me with a kind of terrified wonder, like I'd just descended out of the clouds to make out with her. Like me, she still couldn't believe that this was really happening.

Princess tugged at my belt. I let Twilight go and finished undressing myself, then stepped into the shower. Right away I was sandwiched between the two of them. They laughed and rubbed themselves over me, washing me with their wet bodies. The hot water finally cleared my head, and filled it with something else. I caressed Twilight and smiled at her, trying to get her to do the same. Slowly, her face relaxed and she grinned shyly at me, covering her mouth with her hand and then lowering it. I encouraged her by pulling her close and putting my tongue between her lips. I barely thought as I moved, letting my heart choose for me. Even with all her hurt, she was so beautiful to me. In that moment, all I knew was that I loved this girl. Nothing else mattered.

A teasing hand wrapped around my side, rubbing my stomach and wrapping around my dick. I turned away from Twilight and put an arm around Princess, the one girl who I loved. Somehow, my brain found no contradiction there. With both of them beside me it was like they really were one soul in two bodies, and no matter how many differences I listed I couldn't bring myself to feel otherwise. Not that I even wanted to. While I started to make out with Princess I cracked open an eye and pinched one of Twilight's stiff nipples, loving the way she gasped and pressed my palm against her chest. She returned the favor, tracing my muscles while I felt her up, getting both of us hotter and hotter.

We kept up like that for a while. The girls slid around me and under my arms, taking it in turns to rub me and get rubbed back. I lost track of which one I was kissing. Water cascaded over the three of us. I took soft handfuls of anything I could grab, making them moan, giggle, and press against me further. Finally, Twilight was the one who broke the pattern, laying down a string of kisses on my chest as she crouched down. When her face got level with my dick she just stared at it, breathing heavily. She licked her lips but hesitated as she moved forward, looking up at Princess as if for permission. But Princess was preoccupied: her lips on mine, one hand on her own boob, the other on my butt. Taking initiative, Twilight gulped, steadied herself against my leg, and gently kissed the head of my dick.

This was new territory for me too. Princess had never been confident enough to touch me like this, and I'd never asked. The ripple across my body was enough to tell Twilight that I liked it, and the way she dove onto me told me that she liked it too. She started with a frantic flurry of licks and kisses but then just stuffed me into her mouth and sucked hard. Her eyes rolled back in bliss a second before mine did. I ran my fingers through her hair and held Princess even tighter, sinking my fingers into the supple flesh of her ass. Making out with one Twilight while getting a blow job from another was an all new level of fantasy... no, not even that. My fantasies had never strayed too far outside the realm of plausibility.

Twilight sucked me further, trying to take in as much of me as she could. The inside of her mouth was heaven on my dick, and even though she could only fit about half my length inside her the pleasure was almost too much to bear. I moaned, and Princess smiled slyly at me. Then she started to bend her legs as well, and pulled Twilight off of me with a whisper. The next thing I knew, Princess Twilight Sparkle, inter-dimensional traveler, embodiment of friendship and many times over savior of the world, was sucking on my cock. It was a huge power trip as well as yet another reminder of how profoundly weird my life was.

A thin hand joined those delicious lips on my dick as Twilight made her move. Then suddenly both of them were on me, licking, sucking, and caressing me together. I backed up against the wall and let them do their thing. Their hands and mouths moved over me in every way, forcing me to close my eyes and take calming breaths to stave off the inevitable. My mind, as well as my dick, was getting blown.

The next time I dared to look down they both had one hand on me while their lips met at the tip, almost kissing while they sucked both sides of me. Then they slipped off and suddenly they were kissing, open-mouthed, jacking me off all the while. I gaped down at them, not sure that I believed what I was seeing. The two of them groped at each other and made out for a full ten seconds before they suddenly seemed to realize what they were doing and broke apart, instantly turning bright red. Their blush was infectious and I found myself laughing, which luckily broke the awkwardness just as it was forming. The two Twilights grinned at each other and hugged, giggling to each other, while I found it in me to get even harder.

The pair silently communicated with their eyes for a moment and then broke apart. Princess took me in both hands and started sucking me solo, while Twilight leaped back up and kissed me like she had something to prove. She pressed my hands hard against her boobs and ground against me, soaking my leg with more than just water. It wasn't long before Princess joined us, kissing and rubbing me just as hard. They caught my cock between their hips and we all shivered. "Bedroom," Princess ordered. "Now."

The three of us jumped out of the shower together. Princess grabbed the only towel and rapidly rubbed herself with it, getting her skin and hair down to a more moderately damp level before tossing it to me and rushing out of the room. I took less time doing the same, content to simply shake my shorter hair out, then passed it on and followed. In the bedroom I discovered Princess already halfway under the bed, frantically digging through the junk she kept under there. I stroked her gorgeous round behind, and when she arched her back but didn't emerge I brought my face down to it.

When Twilight joined us she found me eating my girlfriend out, supporting her shaking legs while I lapped at her dripping pussy. The taste excited me, but also filled me with a faint regret; if I'd known that this was what got her off, we could have been doing this every night for months. Princess squirmed under the bed, her moans muffled. "Flash, no," she squeaked out between her cries of pleasure. "We need... penis..."

I let her go and she unsteadily slithered out, her entire box of condoms in hand. She threw one at me and I ripped it open, rolling it on with ease. I turned, and Twilight made her move; while Princess put the box down on her desk, her double shoved me onto the bed. I lay back and let her straddle me, grinning as she rubbed herself. She stared at me with pure lust and then lifted herself up, positioned us both, and then worked herself snugly down onto me.

Our groan of absolute release reverberated around the room as I filled her up. Sex with Twilight was the best feeling in the world, physically at least; no matter which body it was on, her pussy was tight and slick, molding around me as if it had been made for me. She gripped me tight and started to ride me, which felt even better. I ran my hands over her, adoring her body, and she bit her lip and stared at mine with a hungry intensity.

Princess joined us, but not in the way that I expected. There was noise at the end of the bed, and suddenly I felt hot breath on my balls. Princess licked them, taking one into her mouth and gently sucking. Two purple hands shot up and grabbed Twilight's backside. The shock caused the girl on top of me to fall forward, but she didn't even slow down. She just wrapped her arms around me and kept jerking her hips, humping at my cock. Princess kneaded her ass, continuing to suck my balls while I kissed and fucked her double literally right in front of her eyes. I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind right then.

Even as horny as she was, Twilight only lasted a few minutes on top of me before she started to get tired. As she slowed down Princess leaped on top of us both. "My turn," she purred. Twilight nodded with a pouty face and let out a last moan as the three of us broke apart. I started to rise so that Princess and I could get into our usual position, but she pushed me back down again. "I want to try it like she does," she whispered. I just grinned dumbly and lay back again.

Holding Twilight's hand, Princess swung her leg over me, though still facing away like she always did. I admired the view. She still hadn't realized, but that butt was the envy of Canterlot High. Perfectly shaped, perfectly sized, with just the right amount of ripple every time she moved. I put my hands on it and took a selfish satisfaction in knowing that I was the only guy who could. Princess giggled and wiggled for me, driving me wild, then crawled out of reach and took Twilight's place around my dick.

This position was even better. Princess experimented, shaking her hips in all directions as she figured out how to please us both. At first she held on tight to Twilight, but this time it only took her a couple of minutes before she felt confident enough to ride me solo. When her hands came free she leaned forward, gripped the edge of the bed and started pumping her hips hard, taking me from tip to hilt with every stroke. Seeing that perfect purple ass bouncing up and down on my cock almost got me off in seconds. I quickly tore my eyes away.

Twilight was watching me again. She knelt next to us with one hand between her legs, biting her lip. We both knew exactly where she wanted to be, but she kept glancing between me and Princess again like she was waiting for one of us to say it was okay. Impatient, I grabbed her skinny leg and pulled her over me, letting her slide up my chest. One more tug and my face was between her legs. She steadied herself against the wall while I started licking, letting her juices flow straight down into my mouth.

Having something in front of me to focus on helped distract from the intense pleasure coming from my dick, as well as Princess' increasingly animalistic cries of ecstasy. The wails of the two girls echoed around the room, blurring into each other and doubling everything. One simultaneous shriek from them both was the tipping point; at long last, I drew my head back and added to the mix with a cry of my own, feeling the dam burst. Sensing what was coming, Princess slammed her pussy down and held it there, rocking from side to side as I shot two, three loads inside her, filling up the condom.

I collapsed back, breathing hard. Princess cooed at the extra tightness in her and then slowly slid off of me. "I hope you've got more of that in you," she said.

"Yeah," I breathed back. "Just... give me a minute." On the inside, I was already raring to go. With these two beauties taking care of me, I felt like I could run a marathon. It was just a shame stupid biology couldn't catch up.

In careful motions, Princess pulled off my condom and tied it shut. She chucked it in the direction of her garbage and started to nuzzle my half-erect dick back to life. "I think that position's my new favorite," she said between licks. "But we've got lots to try. Right, Twilight?"

Twilight didn't answer. She finally got the hint and got off of me so that I could catch my breath. She knelt next to the bed and kissed me, as impatient as I was to keep going. With the two of them working on me, it felt like only a minute had passed before I was rock-hard and buried deep in Princess' mouth again.

"Mmm." I wrapped my arms around Twilight and pulled her onto me. "Your turn, right?" I whispered. "How do you want it?"

Twilight just blushed. Instead of down, she started to crawl up; she wanted more oral. I smiled and kissed her body as it slid up me, biting down gently on a passing nipple. Twilight gasped and pushed her minuscule breast into my mouth. While I attended to that, Princess retrieved another condom and rolled it onto me, ready to rumble for another round.

Twilight finally made it past me to the end of the bed. She sat up and leaned against the wall, spreading her legs wide. I rolled over and eagerly dove in. Her pussy turned to honey in my mouth. With every lick I was getting better at this, putting together a stronger list of just what I had to do to make her scream. I reached around and rubbed the base of her spine, and just like that her fingers were in my hair, pulling me closer, begging me to keep going. The way she squirmed and moaned got me harder than ever as I aggressively ate her out.

Princess appeared at my side, kissing my neck. "I want to see your face," she whispered. Her arm slid under my chest. In bits and pieces she wriggled under me, resting her head on Twilight's thigh. I lifted my head up for just long enough to kiss her on the lips and then got pulled back to my task. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her hands stroked me down below; I didn't realize what was happening until her position shifted and I felt myself sliding inside her.

As we started to fuck I pulled away from Twilight again to give more attention to Princess. Now that I was finally in a position where I could see her face while we were having sex, I could see that she had the same goofy, blissful grin that Twilight always had when I first entered her. It was hard to decide what felt better: the sex itself, or knowing that it was my dick that was giving the girl I was madly in love with the greatest pleasure of her life. "Don't stop," she murmured. She put her hand on the back of my neck and pushed my face back into Twilight's pussy. "I like... seeing you... do that..."

I obliged, trying to figure out how to eat a girl out while simultaneously keeping my hips pumping. I gave up my licks and settled for kissing and sucking on her clit, trusting her pleasure-tight grip to keep me in place. Twilight went wild, jerking her hips in time with my thrusting. Of course, Princess was a distraction. I felt her warm breath on me the whole time. She kept craning her neck to sneak kisses onto my cheek or Twilight's thigh, turning us both on. Her boobs felt amazing crushed against my chest, and I could feel her ass ripple every time I pounded into her. Both girls moaned my name in stereo, which set an all new fire in me. These two were the best.

I kept this up as long as I could before getting impatient. This was awesome, but neither of the Twilights seemed close to climax. I needed to step up my game. Shifting positions slightly, I rubbed my hand over Twilight's pussy and slid two fingers inside her. She cried out and grabbed my arm, holding me steady while she adjusted, and then slowly pushed me deeper. I started finger-fucking her, rubbing her insides while my thumb skittered over her clit, drawing uneven gasps from her. I was sure my technique needed practice, but I wasn't hearing complaints.

With my mouth free, I moved back over to Princess and gently bit down on her earlobe, the way she sometimes did to me when she was really turned on. Her face lit up and she bit me back, nipping at my ear and neck like... well, like an excited pony. Her breathing got sharper and louder as we attacked each other, and I could tell that she was finally building up to something. I summoned my reserves and fucked her harder, squeezing Twilight tighter to add her squeals to the air, doing everything I could to get my girlfriend off. Her fingernails dug into my back. "Oh, yes," she moaned, slowly letting loose before she gave in and shrieked. "Oh YES! FLA-A-AAAAAASH!"

That one cry got us both off. As the last syllable left her mouth we both came, her thrashing and silently screaming while I exploded in her pussy a second time. Our shared orgasm carried us to a place of nothing but light and each other; we kissed each other on the mouth, whispered meaningless words to each other, teased and trusted in ways that no one else could. When we came back to the bed we were completely tangled up in each other, in more ways than one. "Love you," Princess whispered.

"I love you," I whispered back, nuzzling her.

"Love you," she repeated. There was a vacant, dreamy smile on her face. "So good. Love. Do me so good. Love you."

That was one for the books. I'd actually fucked her brains out. I stretched, realizing that I still had two fingers inside of Twilight, who was deliberately looking away with her arms folded. I felt a pang of guilt, but withdrew and cuddled Princess some more. I started to pull out of her, but decided against it and just lay there on top of her, keeping her filled up while she drifted in her orgasmic haze.

I was already halfway hard inside of her when she finally uncoiled her legs from around me. "Do her next," she said as her wits came back to her.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Yeah. She hasn't cum yet and you haven't finished in her. Do both." She kissed me. "Make her feel how I feel."

That was a tall order, more than she seemed to realize, but if it made her happy then I was down for the challenge. I slid out of her and sat up, smiling as she squirmed cutely around on the bed. Then I looked at Twilight. She kept glancing at me with a kind of defiant apprehension, like she didn't really believe that I would actually touch her again. "Want another round?" I said.

She looked me up and down, and all that nervousness evaporated. "Yes," she said loudly.

Twilight fell into my arms. Princess slipped the spent condom off and again started cleaning me with her mouth. I wondered if this was going to become a tradition with her. I started to move to get another, but Princess grabbed my hip and held me back. "Do her naked," she said.

"Huh?" I looked between them both. "You sure?"

"I know she's taking something. And I know she wants it. As long as it's just her, it'll be fine." Princess sucked me for a few more strokes and then straightened up, hugging us both. "Today's your day," she said, nuzzling Twilight. "All this is happening because of you. Don't be shy. You can have him any way you want."

I felt a pang of unease at that, but Twilight hesitantly smiled - another small step toward her coming out of her shell. "Well, um..." She bit her lip and turned slightly redder. "If you did it the way I usually do it, maybe... I could do it the way you usually do it?"

"Sounds like fun." Princess laughed and kissed her cheek. "Follow my lead."

The three of us split apart, and the two Twilights turned their backs on me. They got onto their hands and knees, the human following the pony, then threw back their hair and gave me identically mirrored sultry looks. Like they'd rehearsed it, they arched their backs and simultaneously wiggled their asses at me. A discomfort that I hadn't been fully able to put words to burned away as my dick rose to attention. "You know what I like," I said.

The pair grinned at each other while I got into position behind Twilight. I leaned low and kissed down her back, making her shiver in lust and anticipation. Her smaller butt didn't give me as much to hold onto, but the way it quivered was somehow even cuter as I massaged and gently spread it. I rubbed her experimentally a few times, making sure that she was slick and ready, and then plunged my way inside her.

The sensation got a grunt out of us both. Sex without a condom really was better; it was a small change, but enough for us both to appreciate what we'd been missing. Her pussy clung to me as I started to fuck it, going slowly at first like I did with Princess but rapidly picking up speed. At the same time, I reached out and squeezed the beautiful ass that was on display beside her, pressing the two of them together. "So beautiful," I murmured to them. I thought my heart might burst, if something else didn't first.

Both Twilights dropped onto one elbow; I saw them holding hands. The changed angle put a new pressure on the top of my dick, which I loved even more. Princess moaned as I hooked two fingers inside her. As she squirmed and bowed onto the sheets, my drifting thumb brushed against her asshole. She squeaked, and I hesitated; up until that moment, I had never considered that this might be a possibility. After today, who knew what she might be into? Not now, I decided. Another time. After we've talked about it... and we're alone.

Both girls started to push back, alternately pumping their hips as I thrust into them both, completely in love with what I was doing to them. I grasped Twilight firmly, caressing her as much as I could with one hand. But Princess had me covered. She edged closer and closer to her double and then grabbed Twilight and kissed her. Only momentum let me keep going - I watched, completely stunned, as these two iterations of the same girl made out in front of me. Twilight seemed almost as surprised as I was, but I wasn't hearing any protests.

Princess started to get more aggressive. She grabbed Twilight's shoulders in a tight hug and twisted them towards each other, dropping them both further onto the bed. My fingers slid out of Princess as she fell out of reach. She pawed at Twilight's breasts and her own and pushed harder, looking not completely in control. I started to wonder: did she think she was doing this for me, or was there something else there that I wasn't seeing?

As Twilight's sides turned my dick started to pinch and I had trouble holding on. I withdrew long enough for Princess to roll Twilight onto her back and sprawl half on top of her, still making out. Right away Twilight's hips were jerking upward, missing me as soon as I was gone. I leaned over her and thrust into her again, holding myself up with my arms. Princess stayed between us. She groped and squeezed Twilight, all while wrapping tongues with her, making muffled sighs and gasps with each touch. As I resumed my rhythm she started to move downward, trailing her lips down Twilight's neck and chest while her hands roamed even lower. Twilight looked like she was about to say something, but it turned into an incoherent wail as Princess started sucking on her nipple.

Something brushed against my dick. I looked down and jumped in surprise again; Princess had spread her arms all the way across Twilight, putting two fingers in her mouth, two on her clit, rubbing her at both ends. Not to be outdone, I reached out and grabbed her uncovered breast. Twilight sucked and moaned, getting completely lost in pleasure as we both worked her over. She jutted out her chest, but I couldn't tell for who. Deep down, I started to wonder which one of us, me or Princess, was really the one fucking her.

"Cum," Princess whispered. The word made Twilight clamp down around my dick. Her knees grabbed on to me and her pussy trembled, bringing us both to new heights. "That's it," Princess encouraged her, slurring her words between licks. Her voice spurred me on as well, making me hump faster and faster to match Twilight's breathing. "I wanna see you cum. Love his body. Love your body. Love..."

And then, in the other room, the phone rang.

Princess recoiled like she was on springs, her face instantly hardening. I stopped moving out of surprise, and Twilight screamed; whether she'd gotten off or it was out of frustration I couldn't tell. Just for a moment, it sounded like there was another voice screaming along with her. "Sorry, I need to take this," Princess said quickly, leaping past us.

I watched her rush out the door. Listening closer, I heard the ringtone that she used for Fluttershy vanish and Princess start talking in a low voice. I turned back to Twilight. "You okay?"

She lay still under me, her hair splayed around her. She was bright red, her chest heaving with a barely noticeable ripple, chewing on one of her fingers. She'd never looked more adorable - and I wasn't just thinking that because I was still balls-deep inside her. "I was so close," she mumbled. "I was so... f-fucking... close." Her tone was pure frustration. Not angry frustration, just tired, like the only person she was mad at was herself.

"Sorry." I leaned down and kissed her cheek. When I moved away she threw her arms around me and held on tight, pushing her face into my neck. "Whoa, hey." I pushed her off and stood up, regretfully pulling out of her. "I'm just going to check on her. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Fine." She curled up on the bed and stared at her knees. I glanced back at her as I walked away, but when she didn't move I hurried out of the room.

Princess was pacing among her books, her phone to her ear. She looked angry. "No, slow down." She didn't seem to notice me as I leaned against the corner of the wall, watching her. "Okay... Okay. And how long ago was this?" She rubbed her forehead. "Okay, good. She won't have gotten far, and she doesn't know these streets. If we spread out, we should be able to... Yes we do. We can't just let her walk away like this... Because I'm sick and tired of people hurting my friends, that's why!" Princess stomped. "How long until Rainbow and Pinkie Pie arrive?... Good. Just let me put some clothes on. I'll meet them downstairs... Thanks. Bye."

She hung up, fire in her eyes. "Is something wrong?" I asked. She just brushed past me back into her room, and I followed.

I waited for some kind of answer, but she marched straight to her dresser and started throwing on underwear. "Something's come up," she said only when she was already half-dressed and going through her closet. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong. Everyone's fine. But I have to go out for a while." She sucked in her breath while she squeezed into her favorite skirt, giving an unintentional show as she wriggled her hips. "I'll be back soon. You two can keep having sex. I don't mind. In fact, I want to hear about it when I get back." She wrestled a shirt over her head, stumbled over and kissed Twilight's cheek, then got herself straightened out and ran out. "Bye!" she yelled. I heard her grabbing her phone, the door slam, and then her falling over as she tried to run and put her shoes on at the same time.

I stared after her, faintly concerned... for more than just selfless reasons. "She didn't even look at me," I muttered.

Twilight stroked the bed. "She didn't even look at me," she echoed.

I looked at her. She tried to do the same, but only made it halfway up my chest before she flinched away. It was slowly starting to dawn on us that we were alone together - alone and naked together. We each knew exactly what night we were both thinking about. "Do... do you think she's telling the truth?" Twilight asked, changing the subject before it could even begin.

"I know she is," I answered, definitely not thinking about when this girl had sobbed on my shoulder for over an hour. I sat down beside her. My erection jutted out awkwardly in front of me, unable or unwilling to go down. "Twilight isn't the type to lie. She just... doesn't always know what she's talking about."

"...Yeah." The other Twilight swung her legs off the bed. She stared at the ground, folding her hands in her lap. "I wish I was more like her," she said.

"No you don't."

She stared at me. "What?"

"...Sorry. Reflex." Honestly, I was surprised too. "It's just that people say that about her a lot. Every time she has an adventure, there's always some little girl confiding in me that they want to be like Princess Twilight when they grow up. They don't know what they're really asking." I sighed. "Everything that makes her special is something that hurts her. She's brilliant, but has to unlearn everything. She's got lots of friends, but to her they're all copies. She's magical, but she can never go home."

"She's got you," the other Twilight interrupted. "That's... got to be worth something. Right?"

"I'm not worth it. I try to make her happy, but... all I can be for her is a bandage. I keep things from spilling out, but I can't fix anything that really matters to her." I looked at the door. "And no matter how close I get, she keeps going to places I can't follow."

She breathed in, testing her next words carefully. "But you love her."

"I love her. You have no idea how much I love her. I just wish..." I put my head in my hands. "I wish I wasn't always going to be an alien to her."

She looked at the ground again. "I wish I had someone who wished that about me," she said quietly.

"I wish we could just have a normal relationship, without me always worrying about hurting her."

"I wish I'd never been hurt. I wish none of this had ever happened."

"I wish she would just talk to me about how she really feels instead of trying to get me to play along."

"I don't care what you say. I wish I had her life."

"I wish I had..." Then I crossed a line. "You."

We stared at each other.

I honestly can't remember who moved first. Maybe I kissed her, or maybe she kissed me, or maybe we moved together. What I do know is that I was the one who dragged us down onto the sheets. We tangled each other up as we rolled around, both of us trying to be on top, groping and grasping as we powerfully made out. I ended up pinning her down and grinding against her, while she ground herself against me, like we were trying to absorb each other through our skin.

We broke apart and looked each other in the eyes, breathing heavily. She looked up at me - this girl who was my girlfriend, who ached for me, who trusted me, who had the power to inspire everyone she met, who was beautiful in more ways than I could ever hope to count, whose every word could make me smile and every action turn me on, who deserved the world but didn't know it - this girl who had loved me even after time had split us apart and now lay here, in my arms, begging with her eyes for me to fuck her.

And I looked down at her - this girl who was not my girlfriend, who would never know magic, whose loss I could comprehend, who had a future if she could allow herself to see it, who would never speak of worlds I didn't understand or cry over the one I did, whose problems I knew that I could help her to fix if I could only love her hard enough - this girl who destiny had decreed that I would love and I now held here, in my arms, ready and willing to fuck her.

We stared at each other, breathing hard. We knew there would be no repercussions for what we did next. It wasn't cheating. We had permission. And when I closed the distance between us, when I made her shiver as I rubbed myself against her eager folds, I knew, more than I'd ever believed in anything else, that this was what was right.

I gulped. "Wanna watch a movie?" I said.

She thought about this, her expression not changing, and then nodded. "Yeah."

It took some thinking to set up. I carried the TV from Princess Twilight's desk and found a place for it on top of one of her book piles, then took a few minutes to untangle her collection of wires and hook it up to her disc player. She was constantly disassembling or rearranging her electronics and then not understanding why they didn't work. I put my boxers back on and picked something at random from the apartment's much smaller movie library - some weird action movie called Punch Club. I'd never watched it all the way through.

Twilight appeared as I finished setting things up, wearing the fluffy gown with her crest on it. I closed the blinds and we settled down on the sofa together. She leaned against my side, and I put my arm around her shoulders. It felt natural. Well, of course it did; these were the same shoulders I always held like this.

Ten minutes later, Twilight was asleep. I quickly lost interest in the flashing lights and screams from the TV and watched her instead. She barely stirred as I gently brushed the hair from her face. She looked exhausted. So was I - between band practice and the two of them I'd had a pretty good workout that afternoon - but the lines under her eyes ran deeper. She looked like she hadn't had a good rest in days, maybe longer. Maybe a lot longer. But in my arms, her soft breathing made my heart melt. Without thinking about it, I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

No.

An inch away, I stopped. I slowly pulled back. I examined her face again, searching for what I'd seen in it earlier. This girl was a good imitation. To a casual eye, there would be no difference. But up close, all I saw were reflections, traces and echoes. To me, it wasn't enough that she looked the same on the outside. I'd already seen into her soul.

In another lifetime - heck, in any other lifetime - we could have made this work. But I already had a girlfriend. It didn't matter how this one felt to me. Princess Twilight was first, she was better, she was complete. She had a light in her that bettered the lives of everyone around her. This girl just had a darkness. She really was her mirror; fidelitous in every way but where it counted most.

Maybe someday, in the very distant future, I'd be able to forgive what she did to me. But I wouldn't forget. The shadow of that night would always hang over us, this shadow of her own making. I couldn't let things go as easily as Princess. I wouldn't. And unlike her, I wasn't afraid to call it what it really was.

No, I couldn't love this girl. Too many things had already happened between us, too many things I couldn't unsee. No matter where we went from here, as far as I was concerned, she would always just be an Other Twilight. But I wouldn't abandon her. I'd learned that much. This wasn't about what I wanted. It was about what she needed. Even after all of this, and even with that shadow still there, the least I could do for her was to be her friend.

Or maybe I was just kidding myself about that, too.

Even after the movie ended, we didn't move. I let her lean on me and watched her breathing. The desire to kiss her didn't go away, and I wished that I could find a way to make her outside match her inside. She didn't wake even when the door opened and Princess staggered inside, looking just as haggard as I guessed her copy felt. "Hey," I said, waving her over. "How'd it go?"

She collapsed onto the sofa and clung tightly to my side. Tears welled up from her as I put my free arm around her. "Flash," she whispered. "I really messed up."