Gabriela, the Batpony

by Betty_Starlight

First published 24th of May, 2021

A unicorn batpony named Gabriela learns the magic of friendship!

Gabriela is a boring pony. She's a unicorn batpony and while the magic is nice, she always wanted to hang out and be friends with other ponies. But she feels she can't relate to most ponies because she's a batpony and she also feels she can't relate to other batponies well either because she has magic and not wings. She loved her unicorn mother, but she can't help but wonder what things would be like if she were like other batponies? Because of this isolationist attitude within her mind, she spends most of her time reading and sipping coffee with her cat, Pete.

Her two batpony friends Dusk Shine and Nightshade both work with her during the night shift at the Ponyville fruit processing plant on the southwest portion of town. Dusk Shine recently read the Friendship Journal by Twilight Sparkle and friends and that made her think of her friend Gabriela, the lonely night unicorn, some distance West of their cottage. So one fateful night when nopony in question worked, she decides to take matters into her own hooves!

Chapter 1: Meet Gabriela!

Gabriela sat in her hammock on her back with a book perched on her hind legs and a little cup of coffee on the stand table she kept nearby to her right. She felt the breeze from her open window on the left as she suddenly had to hold down the right page with her forehoof to keep it from blowing over. She smiled and said to herself, “This is perfect!”

Gabriela was not like other batponies. Her coat was light gray and where most batponies had wings, she had a horn. The magic was nice, but she always wanted to go for a fly with her batpony friends. She knew she couldn’t though, and she also knew she’d only slow them down. She eventually learned to accept this and felt that she’d always be by herself on the ground. Most batponies didn’t hang out down there after all and normal ponies usually didn’t associate with her. Or at least, she didn’t think they did?

She turned the page with her forehoof, when suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. Who in Equestria could that be? Gabriela thought to herself as her blue slitted eyes darted to the right towards her front door. “Hang on! I’ll be right there!” She yelled in her squeaky voice as she magically floated the light blue leatherbound book to the table and sat up. She sighed and looked to her right at the table before sipping some of her coffee with the distinct bluish glow of her magic. They’re on her time after all!

She got to her hooves on the floor and shook her long bluish gray wavy mane to adjust it before trotting over to the door. She always did that! To get ready! She trots to the door and makes the doorknob glow blue and swing inward towards her to her left and she sees two batponies there! She sees the punk rock batpony on the left named Dusk Shine with her light blue coat and pink spiked mane that jutted about 6 inches from the center of her head in every direction and a short neatly cropped tail of a matching pink color and greenish yellow slitted eyes. She also witnessed a slightly taller and lankier goth batpony named Nightshade with her darker blue coat and long bluish black straight mane that seemed to flow from the back of her head in an odd, yet stylish mane-cut with her matching tail. She looked to Gabriela with her bluish green eyes. Dusk Shine wore a black spiky anklet on each forehoof and a studded leather harness with well-hidden button-up pockets. Nightshade on the other hand, wore a long cloak, currently with the hood down and an understated harness, with four button-up pockets on it.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Um, yes?”

Dusk Shine smiles at Gabriela from underneath the long pink spikes and looks up to chirp, “Hiya Gabriela! We were just trotting through and wanted to know if you wanted to go do something with us?”

Nightshade grunts and Dusk Shine hits her right forehoof with her left while continuing to smile at Gabriela. Nightshade starts and looks to Gabriela as well.

Gabriela frowns, “You haven’t been here in awhile…”

Dusk Shine says, “Yeah, I know! It’s been about two weeks now, but we never know when to come by?”

“Seventeen nights Dusk Shine. It’s been seventeen nights since your last visit!”

“Well, yeah!” Dusk Shine exclaims as she scratches the back of her neck with her right forehoof and looks down, “So uh, hey! Are you hungry? We were gonna head over to the secret orchard on the West side of the Everfree! The mangos are great this year!” Dusk Shine says before nervously lowering her forehoof to the ground and awkwardly smiling at the unicorn batpony.

Gabriela sighs and says, “Okay uh, hang on! I gotta go deal with my asshole cat and make sure he’s fed! Then I’ll get my saddlebags and we can skate!” before magically shutting the door quickly.

She trots to the back of her house to the kitchen and looks at Pete’s bowls there, right in front of the backdoor. “Okay, he’s got food and water!” Gabriela mutters to herself before trotting over to her closet. She smiles and magically opens the door and looks above her to float her dark brown buttoned saddlebags to her back. She then frowns and says, “Well, just in case!” before floating over her stash box and magically opening it to fetch her metal smokeless pipe and red disposable lighter and then moving that into her right saddlebag and shutting it with a snap.

She smiled and rolled her eyes as she trotted back. She thought to herself, Fine! I’ll humor them for about an hour or so and then I can get back to my book and coffee! Uh, wait! Before looking over to her right saddlebag and snapping it open to float out her metal smokeless pipe and lighter. She floats the lighter at a downward angle towards the pipe and ignites it over the pipe and inhales to take a hit. The flame goes from the top of the lighter into the little smokeless port on top of the pipe, so she inhales the devil weed. She mentally counts to 7 before exhaling. She stands silently for a moment before taking a breath into her nose and breathing it out of her mouth. She then takes another hit and counts to 7 in her mind before exhaling, She mutters to herself, “All better! I hate people!”

Then she puts the pipe and lighter back in her right saddlebag before trotting to the door and magically opening it again and then smiling and chittering to her two cohorts, “Ready to go!”

The ponies trot North beyond the edge of town. Gabriela’s cottage is on the way, right at the edge towards the forest itself. They see the tree line and Gabriela says, “Well, it’s right past there. So uh, you two wanted to hang out?”

Dusk Shine looks to Gabriela trotting on her left and says, “Yeah well, we work together, but you never stop by or say hi or anything and I was wondering how you were doing?”

Gabriela looks to the batpony trotting on her right, “How I was doing? Gosh! Why would you ever worry about me?”

“Well, we never see you around town! I only see you at work and sometimes when you’re out there collecting more fruit. Sometimes, I wonder if we’re even friends anymore?”

Gabriela frowns as it suddenly occurred to her that it has been awhile since she’s had any sort of company. Usually, it’s just her and her cat Pete! She looks at Dusk Shine and says, “Well, I’m here now?”

“Yup!” Dusk Shine says before smiling at Gabriela while Nightshade groans and rolls her eyes.

As they trot through the forest, Gabriela sees a pair of dark batponies flying North, towards the mango fields and she looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Don’t you find it annoying that you can’t fly when I’m around? That’s why I don’t usually hang out with other batponies!”

Dusk Shine replies, “Yeah, but you don’t hang out with anypony else either!”

“So?”

Nightshade finally says from the back, “She read that “Friendship Journal” thing Princess Twilight wrote earlier and now she’s been going on and on about being a good friend!”

Dusk Shine looks back to her left at Nightshade and snaps, “So? And what’s wrong with that?”

Nightshade smirks, “I just think it’s cute!”

Dusk Shine glances back over to Gabriela and rolls her eyes, “Sometimes, I wonder why I bother?”

Nightshade says, “Because I’m your best friend and you love me!”

Dusk Shine smiles, “Yeah, I guess that’s true?”

Gabriela frowns, “You two have a love/hate thing going, don’t you?”

Dusk Shine glances to her bottom right, “Well, it’s all love!” She looks to Gabriela, “It’s all in jest! Come on! You were with us earlier! You know how this goes!”

“I guess I just forgot?”

“Exactly Gabriela! You never leave your house!”

“So?” Gabriela says before looking down and then back up at Dusk Shine, “I just like to be by myself!”

“All the time though? I mean, you’re my friend Gabriela and I at least wanna make sure you’re okay!”

“Friendship!” Chirps Nightshade from the back.

Dusk Shine sighs while Gabriela’s eyes brighten slightly, “Well uh, you know what Dusk Shine? That’s actually kinda sweet of you!”

Dusk Shine smiles brightly and closes her eyes, “Isn’t it though?”

Nightshade chirps, “Yay!” from the back.

Dusk Shine looks back to Nightshade and says, “Bitch!” before looking back to a giggling Gabriela.

Nightshade chirps back, “Skank!”

Dusk Shine looks back to her left in front of Gabriela, “I’m gonna buck you up one of these days Nightshade!”

“Oh, just try it bitch!”

“Nightshade, you and I both know that I can kick your ass! So, knock it off!” Dusk Shine screams back before she notices a chuckling unicorn of the night standing right next to her. She looks to Gabriela, “What’s so funny?”

“Just the way you two banter! It’s funny!”

Dusk Shine smiles and says, “Right! So, I’d um, like to be your friend!”

“Uh, aren’t we already friends?”

“Well, I know that, but um…” Dusk Shine says before glancing away for a moment before returning her gaze, “I’d just like to be closer…” and then lowering her gaze.

Gabriela says, “But why me though?”

Nightshade chirps from the back, “Easy target!”

Dusk Shine whispers back, “Not helping!” and then moves her eyes back to Gabriela, “Well, you’re always by yourself and I thought, um…”

Gabriela stops trotting shortly before everypony else, turns to face the batpony next to her, and frowns, “You think I’m lonely, don’t you?”

Dusk Shine says while facing Gabriela, “Well, aren’t you? Hey, I get kinda lonely too! Nightshade isn’t always around and sometimes I need a change of pace from the same old people. I think we would be good friends!” and then smiling nervously.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “But, why me specifically?”

“Well, I think you’re sweet and fun to talk to!”

Nightshade chimes in from behind, “And she wants to buck you!”

Dusk Shine closes her eyes at this point and can only softly giggle at herself while Gabriela looks at this awkward punker batpony with her spiky hair and leather vest, trying to pour her heart out to her.

“Sex, Dusk Shine?”

Dusk Shine opens her eyes, “No! Well, not unless you want to. Honestly, I just wanted a friend! I swear! Uh…” and then darts them every which way to look around nervously.

Gabriela frowns, “Not unless I want to?”

“Uh…” Dusk Shine nervously scratches the back of her neck with her right forehoof once more and brings her mouth to the right side, “Well, you are kinda cute and I wouldn’t immediately dismiss it?”

“Of course!” Gabriela says before beginning to trot South towards her house passing Nightshade on her left, “I know nopony would ever want to actually get to know me!”

“Gabriela!” Dusk Shine calls back at the unicorn, angrily galloping back to her home in a huff.

Gabriela sat on her haunches on her chair. She looks down at and opens her small wooden stash box on the right side of the table with a blue glow and floats out a pack of black label rolling papers* and a spare joint tip. She takes out a single paper and floats it down in her blue glow and sets the tip on the right side of the paper, down the trench, after verifying the sticky side is facing her and on the top. She then floats out a hunk of devil weed from the baggy inside the box and proceeds to evenly lay it into the trench of the paper while adding just a little bit onto the tip so that it seals. She then closes the paper and rolls the weed down to the bottom before rolling up her joint and licking the sticky portion with her forked tongue to seal it before closing it up completely. She floats it in front of her and twists the joint a little to tighten the inside, twists the end of the joint to seal that, and then licks it again to seal certain areas of the joint.

She gazes at her creation floating before her in blue magic and smiles before moving the tipped end into her mouth and looking to her stash box to float out her yellow disposable lighter. She lowers her head with the joint in her mouth before sparking it to create a flame and igniting the end of the joint in her mouth. The capped off end burns away as she inhales the sweet smoke before narrowing her eyes.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on her cottage door about 15 feet to the left of where Gabriela is sitting and she hears Nightshade’s somber voice coming from the other side, “Gabriela! Are you here? We need to talk!”

“Oh pony-feathers!” Gabriela curses to herself under her breath before looking to the door and yelling back, “I might be!” and then turning her head back to the right to her floating joint and putting her lips on the end to inhale once more.

Nightshade yells back as Gabriela takes in the smoke, “Hey, look! Dusk Shine really likes you and wants to be your friend… Well, just your friend for right now! I know she gets freaky sometimes, but we’re not talking about that, okay?”

Gabriela smiles and exhales. She takes a breath before taking another mighty puff from her joint and mentally counts to 5 before she exhales once more. She then looks back to her door and screams, “Well, that’s cool!” and then turns her head back to her joint to inhale once more.**

“Hey Gabriela! Uh, can I come in?”

Gabriela stays silent as she mentally counts to 7 before exhaling once more and then turns back to her left to calmly yell back, “Yeah sure! Uh, just a minute!” Gabriela says before looking over to her joint once more and moving her head forward to get her lips on the tip, sealing that, and inhaling. She mentally counts to 5 before exhaling the smoke out the right side of her mouth and then putting her mouth to the joint to inhale once more. She counts to 5 again before exhaling, floating the joint down to the ashtray, and rubbing the burning end back and forth into the ashtray so that it goes out and magically setting it aside to the right of the tray. She gets to her hooves in front of her chair and trots over to the door and opens it with her distinct blue glow before smiling and saying, “Hiya Nightshade!”

“Uh, hi…” Nightshade says before looking down. “I feel like what went wrong today is at least partially my fault. Um, can I come in?”

“Sure Nightshade!” Gabriela says before backing away to her right to make room for the other batpony.

Nightshade solemnly trots into the room to the left of Gabriela. She raises her head and sniffs the air before saying, “Gabriela! Have you been smoking devil weed in here?”

Gabriela starts, “No! Maybe! Shut up!” She straightens herself and looks to the winged pony, “Look! You’re in my house! What did you want?”

“I wanted to make things right! Um… “Nightshade looks down and grumbles slightly under her breath, “I want you two to be friends…”

Gabriela frowns, “You really care about Dusk Shine, don’t you?”

Nightshade looks back up at Gabriela and says solemnly, “With my life!” without hesitation.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “So, what do you want from me?”

“Okay, Dusk Shine is a zero bullshit kinda pony Gabriela. In order to make this right, you and I will need to travel to our cottage on the other end of town and speak with her directly…” Nightshade says to Gabriela with a serious look in her eyes.

“Um, okay! That makes sense… But before we head out, I’m finishing my joint! You want some?”

Nightshade trots to the right of the night unicorn on their way East towards their cottage. The dark desolate roads on the North end of Ponyville always seemed foreboding, even to a batpony like Gabriela. But thanks to her night vision, she knew exactly where to trot anyway. She looks to Nightshade, “So, what should I say anyway?”

Nightshade looks at her, “Don’t say anything at first! Let me do the talking! It was my fuck up after all…”

“Um, I’m just gonna let her make the first move… You know, I’m starting to think a single joint wasn’t enough for this? I’m really nervous and I’m not even sure why?”

“Could it be, because you care about Dusk Shine?” Nightshade says sweetly while smiling.

Gabriela starts and looks to Nightshade, “Well, I do! I really do! But uh…”

Nightshade frowns, “But what?”

“But I’m not used to dealing with other ponies!”

Nightshade smiles, “Yeah! Other ponies suck! It’s why I spend most of my time by myself.”

“Right? So uh, I’m not sure about this whole “friendship” business honestly? I mean, I’m always on my own with just me and my cat and we do okay!”

“Well, right! But after reading that book, Dusk Shine has it in her head that she could be doing more… And that includes you!”

“Assuming she’s not pissed at me?”

Nightshade frowns, “Why would she be pissed at you? You ran away from her distraught remember?”

“Okay! Um…” Gabriela looks down and then back up at the other batpony, “So she won’t be mad at me then?”

Nightshade widens her eyes, “You really don’t have much social experience, do you?”

“Well, I got enough! Um, I think?” Gabriela says while scrunching her mouth and squinting her right eye as she looks up.

“Rrrrrriiiiigggghhhhtttt… Well, we’re here now Gabriela!” Dusk shine says as they arrive at a small light yellow two-bedroom cottage with a dark wooden ornate door there and one white painted window on either side of it.

Gabriela stops trotting, looks at the door in the darkness before Nightshade, “So, what do I do?”

Nightshade smiles, “Just stand out here for now! I’ll let you know when you can come in!”

Gabriela nods and says, “Okay Nightshade!”

Nightshade trots to the front door and attempts to open it with her right forehoof only to find it locked! “Dammit Dusk Shine! We’re here to help you!” she says before using her mouth to fetch the key from her top right pocket in her harness. She operates it in the knob with her lips before opening it and pushing it forward with her left forehoof so that it opens up to the right. She trots in, collects the key with her mouth, and shuts the door behind her…

Gabriela waits in silence for a moment before she hears an angry chirp coming from the back of the house. She also hears Nightshade chittering back. She then hears a loud crash before quiet hoofsteps towards her and the door. The door opens to reveal a smiling batpony with a long pink spiky mane. Dusk Shine says, “Hiya Gabriela! Hey, look! I’m uh, sorry about what I said earlier… I’m uh, new to this…”

Gabriela giggles before saying, “That makes two of us! Hey, maybe we should start over? Hi! I’m Gabriela!” and then extends her right forehoof to shake.

“Oh, stop it, Gabriela! We know who you are!” Dusk Shine says with a light giggle of her own. “Hey! You wanna come in? Uh, we never made it to the mango fields, but there’s still plenty of apples in the back?”

Gabriela smiles, “Okay Dusk Shine! Let’s hang out! You and me, okay uh, friend?”

Dusk Shine smiles, “Sounds good to me!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*I know I can’t say the name of my rolling papers and while they’re made in Spain, I don’t know what the Equestrian equivalent would be either? But my label color is black…

**This is called “chiefing” among stoners…

Chapter 2: Awkward Rescues

“Okay um, should I come in now, or?” Gabriela nervously asks the punker batpony.

Dusk Shine widens her eyes, “Oh! Right!” before moving to her back left to make room for Gabriela.

Gabriela trots in, shuts the door with a blue glow, and looks to Dusk Shine before saying, “Yeah, I am pretty hungry now. And you wanted to eat with me anyway, right?” before nervously smiling. What she didn’t tell Dusk Shine was that she had smoked some Appleloosa Skunk, which is notorious for giving ponies the munchies.* As such, her stomach rumbled and she giggled nervously.

Dusk Shine looks to her, “I guess you are hungry?”

Gabriela smiles, “Sure am!”

“Okay Gabriela! Go sit at the table and I’ll get us a bag of apples and we can eat and talk, okay?”

“Alright Dusk Shine!” Gabriela says as she trots in and Dusk Shine heads to the back. She sees a gray couch on her left and matching love seat perpendicular to it on the adjacent wall. She trots past the love seat into the room beyond it, via the door to the right and sees a kitchen table on her right and a fridge to her left. Beyond the fridge, there is a stove and cabinetry and beyond that, a small door, and while all of this done in dark polished wood, the backdoor looks much darker than the rest. She looks over and trots that direction to sit at the table, with her back to the door she came in.

Gabriela sits there and soon sees the back door open as Dusk Shine emerges from it while carrying a sack in her mouth, sitting on her back, and held in place by her wings as they’re spanned out on either side of her. She walks to the table and sets the sack down with a thud as her right wing goes higher to move the sack while the left gets lower to allow room for it to pass.

Gabriela smiles, “That’s a neat wing trick you got there, Dusk Shine!”

Dusk Shine raises her head and smiles, “Well, it’s not magic, but I manage!”

“Oh, Dusk Shine! I always wanted wings! Just once, I would like to see what it’s like high in the sky you know? But…”

Dusk Shine stands and turns her neck to the other batpony, “But what, Gabriela?”

Gabriela looks down, “But I can’t… I don’t have wings, nor will I ever have wings…”

Dusk Shine scrunches her mouth, “You wish you had wings? Well, what about your horn? I mean, you got magic right?”

Gabriela looks to Dusk Shine and starts, “And it’s great! But…”

“But what?” Dusk Shine asks while lurching her head forward with an inquisitive look in her yellowish eyes.

“But uh…” Gabriela’s eyes go down as her voice gets lower, “But I didn’t want magic… I’d rather have flight, like other batponies, you know?”

Dusk Shine frowns, “You know, you really ought to learn to focus on what you do have instead of what you don’t…”

“Huh?” Gabriela asks with a puzzled expression on her face.

Dusk Shine straightens herself, “What I mean is, you say you wanted wings right?”

“Well um, yeah! I always wanted to hang out with other batponies!”

“Well, you don’t have wings! You have magic instead! But you know, you are hanging out with another batpony anyway, right?” Dusk Shine says with a whimsical look in her eyes.

“Well, I guess that’s also true?”

“Buck yeah, it’s true Gabriela! I stay up all night and suck fruit with my fangs! I am indeed a batpony! And guess what?”

“What?”

“So are you!” Dusk Shine says before smiling.

“Well, I know that! At least, I think I do?” Gabriela says as she squints her left eye and thinks about how she can’t really seem to relate to anypony.**

“Well, right! And you know what else? I think your magic is neat!”

Gabriela glares wide-eyed, “Y-you do?”

“Sure!” Dusk Shine says while smiling at Gabriela with her wide open yellowish green slitted eyes, “I had to lug this sack in here with my mouth and back. But you could’ve just floated it in instead!”

“Huh…” Gabriela says while scrunching her mouth, when suddenly, her stomach gurgles once more and her belly visibly shakes. She looks down and back up before saying, “Uh, suppose we should take care of that?”

Dusk Shine giggles, “Sure thing Gabriela! Let’s eat!”

“Well, um…” Gabriela looks to the sack and makes it glow blue as she opens it with her magic and floats over two red apples to her side of the table. She then looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Oh, wait!” and then magically floats two apples over to Dusk Shine’s side of the table as well before smiling her goofy fanged smile in that direction, “There you go!”

Dusk Shine observes this strange night unicorn carefully, noticing how she perked up just then and takes note of this as Gabriela grabs a red apple in her magic to float in front of her face. She stares at it with a hungry look in her bluish green slitted eyes for not even a moment before levitating it into her open fangs to swiftly suck the juices out and causing the sweet fluid to spray all over the floor and table!

Dusk Shine starts, “Uh, those are really juicy! Be careful!” Dusk Shine says before grabbing an apple in her forehooves and carefully biting into it with her fangs to suck the juices out, so it gets shriveled and dry before putting the dried-out husk on the table in front of her.

Meanwhile, Gabriela hangs onto an apple with her fangs in her blue grasp and as she sucks the goodness out of it, it visibly withers away in front of her face. She disengages with her fangs and floats the apple husk down to the table next to other before wiping her mouth with her right forehoof and staring to the other batpony with a start, “What? I was hungry!”

“Obviously!” Dusk Shine says while smiling and then grabbing her other apple in her forehooves. She looks to Gabriela and says, “You can have another if you want?”

“Well, um…” Gabriela frowns before looking at the sack and making it glow blue to open the top and floats out another apple with her distinct blue glow. She stares at it hungrily before opening her mouth and quickly flying the apple to her fangs. In a split second, it starts to welt and wither as Gabriela sinks her teeth in deep. It then floats back down to the table and Gabriela sees the three apple husks there before looking up to Dusk Shine and smiling with her now dripping batpony fangs.

Dusk Shine smiles at Gabriela once more, “Are you fed Gabriela?”

“Oh yeah Dusk Shine! That was tasty! Uh, hey! Where’s Nightshade anyway?” Gabriela asks before looking around the room to only see one other pony present.

“After what happened earlier, I doubt we’ll see her again for the rest of the night. More than likely, she’s gonna give me a chance to explore my friendship with you…” Dusk Shine says while frowning. She looks up and squints her left eye, “Actually, she probably headed back to the Everfree by herself, now that I think about it!”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth, “I see… You keep a big supply of fruit here, don’t you?”

“Um, usually!” Dusk Shine says while looking up with her eyes, “You never know when a bad growing season is gonna come and you’ll need some extra fruit to get you through!”

“Makes sense! Uh, what do you want to do now?” Gabriela says with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

“Well, we did what I wanted to do already? Maybe you should pick the next activity?” Dusk Shine says while tilting her head to the right and squinting her right eye.

Gabriela starts as her off-blue eyes widen and says, “Oh gosh Dusk Shine! I just read, sip coffee, and pet my cat! What do I know about friendship activities?” before shrugging.

“Oh well um, right!” Dusk Shine says as she looks up and then down to Gabriela, “I got a deck of cards in my room if you wanna play rummy?”

Gabriela widens her eyes in insecurity and scrunches her mouth, “Sure! Why not?”

Dusk Shine scoots her chair back and gets to her hooves on the floor before beginning to trot back to the foyer on Gabriela’s left.

Gabriela also scoots her chair back before returning to her hooves on the left, turning to face Dusk Shine in the other room, and crosses through the door.

Dusk Shine turns left to trot towards the wall opposite to the couch and opens the door there with her right forehoof and begins to trot into her room from there, with Gabriela a few paces behind her.

Once they’re both inside, Gabriela looks to the right and closes the door with a blue glow. She looks back to Dusk Shine and sees a small bed with many blue velvety pillows along the wall to her left. She stares at it for a moment before asking, “Why do you have so many pillows?”

Dusk Shine turns her body to her bed, “Well, I like pillows! That and um, Nightshade usually snuggles me at night…

Gabriela turns her head to Dusk Shine and starts, “Wait! You two sleep together too?”

Dusk Shine frowns and squints her right eye in concentration while saying, “Well, usually! About eighty percent of the time, I wanna say?” She stares to Gabriela and continues, “I get cold a lot of times during the day!”

Gabriela brings her right forehoof to her face as she continues, “So you two have sex sometimes! You cook and eat all your meals together! You do things together constantly! And now, I find out you even NORMALLY sleep together! Dusk Shine!” she lowers her hoof to the ground and looks into the other batpony’s eyes, “You think maybe, you’re a little bit MORE than just roommates?”

Dusk Shine looks up and then back to Gabriela and shakes her head, "NAW!"

Gabriela starts, "Dusk Shine! Does it even register with you what I'm trying to say?"

"Sure!" Dusk Shine says while smiling back with her fangs blissfully protruding from the top of her mouth.

Gabriela can only squint and sigh at this confusing little nocturnal pony at this point. “You love Nightshade, don’t you?”

“Well of course! She’s the best roommate ever!” Dusk Shine says while continuing to smile.

“Ugh!” Gabriela says while closing her eyes in frustration. She looks back to the other batpony, “Okay! Hypothetical question Dusk Shine! Lets say another pony asked you out on a date! What would you say?”

Dusk Shine looks up and says, “Well, I’d probably say no?” She lowers her gaze back to Gabriela, “I mean, I’m not really interested in a relationship right now…”

“And that’s because?”

“Because I have everything I need at this point!”

“Thanks to Nightshade!”

“Exactly!”

“So, don’t you believe it’s a logical assessment that you’re in a relationship with Nightshade?”

“Um, no! We’re just roommates!” Dusk Shine says back while continuing to smile.

Gabriela squints at this annoying night dwelling pony as her fluffy ears go down to the side of her head, “Okay! Let’s try another idea!” Her ears perk as she straightens herself. She looks to other batpony, “What exactly, does Nightshade do for you Dusk Shine?”

Dusk Shine smiles, “Oh well, Nightshade is just great! She provides me with company and companionship! She also helps out with the chores around the house, she snuggles me at night, and we occasionally give each other sexual relief!”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “So, basically like a marefriend, right?”

“Well, if you wanna put a label on it, sure!”

“So then, she’s your marefriend, wouldn’t you say?”

Dusk Shine squints her left eye and says, “Uh, no! We’re just roommates, remember?” before correcting herself.

At this point, Gabriela can only move her head down, facehoof with her right forehoof, and giggle at herself softly, “Well, we tried! An attempt was made!”

Dusk Shine scrunches her mouth, “What are you talking about?”

Gabriela lowers her right forehoof to the ground and widens her eyes to the other batpony, “You know what? Don’t worry about it!” she says before shaking her head. She looks back, “So, where do you wanna do this?”

“Oh uh, grab us some pillows and we can play on the floor! I’ll go get my cards!” Dusk Shine says before trotting over to her closet on the other side of Gabriela while the other batpony frowns and looks to the bed, before causing three pillows to float to the center of the room in her blue magical grasp.

Dusk Shine opens her closet door with her right forehoof and trots halfway in before lowering her head, biting onto a deck of playing cards and then trotting back to the center of the room.

Gabriela sat on her haunches on the blue pillow while holding 6 cards in her magic before her face. She frowns the left side of her mouth before floating the 3 of diamonds to her hand from the open pile and selecting the 2 of clubs to put that on the face down pile with a blue glow. She looks to Dusk Shine, “I haven’t played Rummy in years!”

Dusk Shine sits on her stomach behind two pillows with her cards all arranged neatly so that they lean against it. She gets on her hooves for a moment to grab a card from the mystery pile with her head and mouth and then placing that behind her pillow fort. She looks to Gabriela, sitting before her and says, “It’s actually my favorite card game, but Nightshade never plays with me… Do you like doing this?” before looking to Gabriela wide-eyed and scrunching her mouth.

Gabriela starts out of the trance she was in while staring at her cards and looks to Dusk Shine, “Oh uh, yeah Dusk Shine! You know, playing cards with you is pretty fun! I could see us doing this later!”

Dusk Shine smiles to the night unicorn, “Sure! Maybe even have a regular day for this or?

“Well, I know we’re both off Mondays?”

“Wanna meet then?”

Gabriela squints her eyes at the punk, “It’s like you wanna be my friend or something?”

Dusk Shine smiles, “Well, yeah! You see, I was at the bookstore the other day and I saw The Friendship Journal, by Twilight Sparkle and friends and I decided to buy it!”

Gabriela squints more, “Go on?”

“Well, the book talks about some ponies who might have trouble coming out of their shells. Especially some of the stories Fluttershy wrote near the beginning… Then I thought back to the lonely unicorn I work with… You’re always by yourself when you eat your lunch right? Well, that made me think that you needed a friend!”

Gabriela starts and frowns while glaring at the other batpony, “What? Needed a friend?”

“Right! And so that’s why I’m here!” Dusk Shine says before smiling brightly at Gabriela and closing her eyes with her head tilted cutely to the right.

This look only annoyed Gabriela even more as she grimaced and raised her voice, “Look! I don’t need to be rescued, okay? I’m fine living by myself with just me and my cat!”

Dusk Shine frowns, “Well, I didn’t say you did! That is to say, um, gosh Gabriela… I swear, I didn’t mean anything bad by it! I just thought…”

Gabriela’s stares to Dusk Shine with fire in her eyes and her voice takes on a somewhat lower and more even tone as she says, “You thought what exactly?” before narrowing her mouth.

Dusk Shine stammers, “Um, that is… Ugh!” She closes her eyes before looking directly at Gabriela, “You know, one-night-stands are a lot easier to handle than ordinary friendship!”

This caused Gabriela to stop before she closes her eyes and softly giggles to herself as she lowers her head…

“Uh, what’s so funny?” Dusk Shine asks with a curious look in her greenish eyes.

Gabriela opens her bluish eyes excitedly to Dusk Shine as she rapidly stammers, “Well, it is pretty funny when you think about it! I mean, something intimate like sex is somehow easier to set up and deal with than just an ordinary card game among friends!”

Dusk Shine stuttered as she smiled and said, “Oh yeah! I guess that is odd when you really think about it?” before squinting her left eye.

“Well, right! But uh, we’re actually doing it aren’t we?”

“Yup!” Dusk Shine says while smiling, “The feared and dreaded, Social Card Game!”

Gabriela shrieks in a high-pitched voice, “Oh the horror!” before both batponies erupt in laughter.

Dusk Shine smiles and says, “But anyway, I just wanted to try friendship or whatever, with somepony new. I was getting bored with my life, and I felt that maybe, you and I could develop a connection?”

“Kinda like sex, only totally different right?” Gabriela says, with that goofy smile on her face once again.

“Right!” Dusk Shine says with a whimsical look in her eyes, “Exactly like sex!” before both batponies erupt in hysterical laughter.

Dusk Shine continues, “Well, hey! That was some really heavy tension! I’m gonna have a glass of wine if that’s okay with you? Uh, do you want one Gabriela?”

Gabriela looks to Dusk Shine while she still sits on her stomach with the cards floating in front of her in her blue glow as she says, “No thanks! Uh, I don’t really drink… I got my pipe if it’s okay for me to smoke?”***

Dusk Shine smiles, “Sure thing, Gabriela!”

And suddenly, Gabriela is thankful she stashed a spare dime-bag in her saddlebags!

Gabriela awakens the following evening inside what could only be described as a nest of blue velvety pillows in a sea of darkness. She also notices the forelegs embracing her from behind and feels the odd sensation of hair and wax on the back of her neck… Which could only mean, that she’s being held from behind by the spiky maned Dusk Shine! Oh, sweet Celestia! I hope to Tartarus that we didn’t have sex! Gabriela quickly thinks to herself while scrunching her mouth and widening her blue eyes.

She then feels nuzzling on her neck along with more waxy hair and on the back of her head as she hears the other batpony say, “Good evening Gabriela!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*Skunk weed will usually give you the munchies. Trust me on this! I’m a stoner!

**This is how I feel whenever people tell me I’m a “real woman” or whatever since I’m transgender… I really do hate my brain sometimes and these adjustments are often very trippy for me!

***I gave up booze some time ago and now I smoke weed.

Chapter 3: Living Your Life

Gabriela feels Dusk Shine’s hooves holding her and she feels at peace, and yet, panic-stricken at the same time. She tentatively asks the punker behind her, “Um, did we have sex?”

She hears Dusk Shine’s flighty voice snickering behind her before the words, “Oh yeah Gabriela! You rocked my world!”

Gabriela grimaces and raises her voice, “Dusk Shine, I’m serious!”

“And so am I baby! That was bucking amazing!” Dusk Shine says in a high-pitched, whimsical voice before giggling even more.

Gabriela can only squint her eyes and frown for a moment before saying, “Okay, so we didn’t really have sex, did we?”

“As bucked up as you were, I just couldn’t Gabriela! I mean, where’s the challenge?”

Gabriela sighs and stutters, “That Appleloosa Skunk sure is some powerful stuff!”

“Obviously! You’ll have to show me where you got it one of these days!”

Gabriela’s eyes widen and voice gets higher, “Dusk Shine! I didn’t know you also smoked?”

“Yeah, sometimes! I usually drink though!”

“Yeah well…” Gabriela says before looking down, “I gave up drinking… Turns out, I did way too much of it!”

“Yup! And so now, you smoke chronic! I know Gabriela!”*

Gabriela looks back up with a start, “Y-you do? I didn’t think anypony paid that much attention to me?”

Gabriela feels the hooves tighten around her as Dusk Shine says, “Well, I wanted to learn more about you and so…”

“Wait! Were you taking notes on me?” Gabriela says while squinting her right eye.

Dusk Shine is silent for a moment before squeaking, “Maybe?”

Gabriela can only softly giggle.

“Why are you giggling?” Dusk Shine asks inquisitively.

“Because I was actually under the impression that aside from Twilight Sparkle, I was the only logical and methodical pony in this town! You gotta admit, the rest of this place has a backwoods feel!”

Dusk Shine snickers, “Yeah… Hey! What do you want for breakfast?”

Gabriela sighs, “Well, I usually smoke a joint for wake n bake first, but…”

Dusk Shine perks up her voice and says, “Gotcha covered! We’ll smoke together!” before releasing Gabriela from her embrace and Gabriela can hear Dusk Shine making her way to the other edge of the bed behind her before the resounding CLOP of four hooves hitting the floor. Gabriela looks over and down to see Dusk Shine trotting to her closet on the other end of the room. She sees Dusk Shine slide the wooden door to the right with her right forehoof before looking inside, leaning down, and biting down on something with her teeth. She turns and trots to Gabriela to reveal a small wooden box that’s much smaller than the one Gabriela owns, although she couldn’t help but find the little thing cute at the time. Dusk Shine trots to her nightstand, just off the bed from Gabriela and sets it down there next to the alarm clock so Gabriela can see the bright green devil weed leaf on the top.

Gabriela gets to her haunches and stares down at the small box on the nightstand. She looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Well?”

“Um…” Dusk Shine says before scratching the back of her neck with her right forehoof, “I have a pipe and I also have papers we can use… Um…”

“What is it, Dusk Shine?” Gabriela asks curiously, while staring to punk with her blue slitted eyes and ears perked in her direction.

Dusk Shine looks down and says, “I can’t roll a joint…” She looks to Gabriela, “I got orange label papers though!” before smiling slightly.

Gabriela scrunches her mouth as her ears go back to the sides and lifts her right eyebrow, “So, you want me to roll us a couple of joints then?”

“Um, if you don’t mind?” Dusk Shine says lowly, “If it’s not too much trouble?”

Gabriela smiles, “Give me about five minutes! Hey, would you go get me some coffee please? Uh, no sugar and two creams!”**

Gabriela sat on the side of the bed and floated the burning joint to her lips before closing around it to take a drag. She floats it back before her, after her puff and then exhales a few seconds later before looking to Dusk Shine and saying, “Thanks! Yeah, I smoke up sometimes because it helps me think… Weird huh?”***

Dusk Shine frowns at Gabriela from her haunches on the chair next to the nightstand, “I wouldn’t think so? Everypony is unique and that’s just the way your mind is!”

“Hmm?” Gabriela says before taking a second drag and then floating the joint over to Dusk Shine, so she can get it in the cleft of her left forehoof.

Dusk Shine grabs the burning joint and asks Gabriela, “So, why did you think we had sex anyway?” before moving her hoof to her mouth to take a drag of her own as the cherry lights up.

Gabriela exhales smoke over her cup of coffee and looks to the white cup of blond coffee on the nightstand as she brings it to her mouth with a blue glow before taking a sip. She smacks her lips and looks to Dusk Shine, “I don’t know? It’s been so long since I’ve been held, that I guess I just thought…”

Dusk Shine smiles as she exhales smoke and brings the joint away from her mouth, “That any affection must mean sex?”

Gabriela wills the glowing cup back to the table before looking at Dusk Shine, “Yes! That! I haven’t snuggled anypony in a very long time!”

Dusk Shine giggles before taking another drag and then holding her forehoof up to signal Gabriela to get the joint with her magic.

Gabriela looks up and takes the joint in her blue grasp to float it back towards her.

Dusk Shine says, “Well, like I said, if it happens, great! If not, that’s also cool!”

Gabriela observes this spiky haired batpony carefully and says, “You live a free life, don’t you?” before floating the joint to her lips once more to inhale the devil weed smoke and feel it roll, hot, strong, and slightly tart down her throat as she inhales and the flame at the end grows brighter.

Dusk Shine smiles and says, “Punk rock baby! Live your life and buck the rest! Live hard and live well!” before nodding.

Gabriela exhales a big cloud of smoke into the air just to the left of Dusk Shine and looks to the punk and says, “That’s not a bad philosophy really?” before facing forward and lowering her head to take another drag as the cherry glows once more at the end of the joint.

“But since we’re on the subject, I do think you have a nice pair of flanks!”

Gabriela exhales a cloud of smoke quickly to her front before looking to the punker, “Wait, what?”

Dusk Shine grins, “Yeah, I sometimes wonder what they taste like?”

“Dusk Shine!” Gabriela shrieks wide-eyed.

“What?” Dusk Shine says as she starts. “Don’t be such a prude Gabriela!

Gabriela can only float the joint back to Dusk Shine as she pouts, and her cheeks redden as the punker giggles.

Dusk Shine gets the joint in the cleft of her right forehoof and says, “What? You’ve never had that done to you?” before bringing it to her mouth and turning it to take a draw herself as her head tilts downward and the cherry grows bright.

“Well, I, um…” Gabriela stutters as her cheeks redden even more.

Dusk exhales a big cloud of smoke into the air above her and says, “Okay! That is pretty cute!” before taking another drag of the almost finished joint, now just a small roach on her hoof, as the front of it ignites in a bright red glow.

“Uh, what’s cute?” Gabriela asks with an inquisitive look in her bright blue eyes once more.

Dusk Shine gulps before exhaling the smoke to the right of Gabriela, “You! Just the way you blush!”

Gabriela looks up, “Oh, Celestia!”

Dusk Shine smiles and says, “I’m a free spirit, remember? I like you as a friend for now, but the sky’s the limit for what may happen later!” before taking a final drag and then reaching up to put what’s left of the roach in a small glass ashtray on her nightstand that Gabriela suddenly noticed.

“Oh um, right! Free spirit!” Gabriela says before smiling at the punker while Dusk snuffs out the joint with her hoof.

“Anything wrong?” Dusk says while looking to Gabriela enquiringly.

“Oh, not at all hun-baby! Everything is alright babe-honey!” Gabriela says wide-eyed before correcting herself and glancing over to the other joint she rolled on the table. “Hey uh, is it alright if we smoke this now? I don’t usually smoke this much, but…”

Dusk Shine squints her right eye to the unicorn, “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“No! Maybe! Shut up!” Gabriela quickly stammers out while looking at the punk with wide eyes. She frowns again while narrowing her eyes as the joint slowly flies up to her mouth in her blue grasp and a green disposable lighter soon flies to her front before igniting. She leans her face forward to get the front of the joint into the flame and inhales… She tastes the smooth, yet somewhat tart taste of the weed once more on her tongue as she shuts the lighter off. She exhales out the side of her mouth a few seconds later with the joint still in and turns to Dusk Shine before saying, “What strain is this anyway?” out the side of her mouth and then bringing the joint to the front with her lips and locking around it, to inhale the smoke into her lungs once more.

“Uh, I think it’s Everfree Green! I know a pegasus who collects it just North of here!”

Gabriela floats the joint forward and looks down before lifting her head and exhaling a big cloud of smoke in the air above her. She looks to Dusk Shine and nods, “Probably Everfree then!” before turning her head and floating the joint to her lips and lowering it to take another drag. She then makes it glide in the air back to Dusk Shine.

Dusk Shine raises her right forehoof to catch it, “Yeah, I don’t smoke as much as you and so I wouldn’t know these things!”

Gabriela exhales another cloud of smoke before her and says, “I see!” while Dusk takes another drag of the joint.

Dusk exhales again to her right and looks to Gabriela, “So, you blush a lot!”

“No, I don’t!” Gabriela says back nervously while shaking her head slightly.

Dusk giggles, “Okay sweet cheeks! Whatever you say!” and then brings her right forehoof to her face for a second drag while Gabriela’s mouth tightens, and cheeks redden slightly once more.

“Are we gonna spend all night talking about my ass?” Gabriela finally adds while Dusk takes another drag while giggling slightly.

Dusk exhales a cloud above her while smiling, “Well, it is pretty fun? But we don’t have to hun-baby! Uh, so what do you do for fun Gabriela?” she says before looking up at the unicorn.

“Nothing much?” Gabriela says while staring at the joint and causing it to glow and float towards her. She won’t admit it to Dusk Shine, but she’s starting to feel lightheaded and giddy at this point as the high of the devil weed begins to go full bore in her mind and she steadily floats the joint in front of her face. “I mostly just read and sip coffee! And there’s my cat!” she says before bringing the joint once more to her lips so she can take a large drag and cause the cherry to light up once more.

Dusk frowns, “You don’t get out much, do you?”

Gabriela exhales smoke into the air above Dusk and looks to her and says, “Not really, no…” before floating the half joint back to her lips where she locks around it and causes the cherry to glow once more. She then causes the glowing roach to float back down to Dusk Shine, still sitting on the chair to the right.

Dusk grabs the joint in midair with her right forehoof and says, “Well, do you ever get curious about the wide world out there?” before taking a drag of what’s left, which is just a small one-inch-long roach by this point.

“Um, sometimes…” Gabriela looks down, “I just don’t think I really belong there; you know? I mean, I’m very unusual!” she says while leaning forward and widening her blue slitted eyes to the other batpony.

Dusk holds up her forehoof to signal Gabriela, who looks at it and makes the joint in the cleft glow blue before it starts to float to back to her as she leans back. Then, Dusk Shine says, “Well, hey! I got a crazy idea! I’m high and I’m sure you’re starting to feel it, even with that high ass tolerance, right? Let’s go out!”

Gabriela looks to Dusk Shine and says, “Alright… But we’re loading these roaches into my pipe!” Before taking a powerful drag of the now diminutive roach. She looks up and exhales a big cloud of smoke a few seconds later and then stares to the ashtray, where she moves the front of the joint back and forth into it to snuff out. She smiles and looks to her right to snap open her saddlebag there and float out her metal smokeless pipe over the ashtray. She dumps the contents there while scraping out the herb with her magic and looks through it while mystically moving what’s smokable away from what isn’t and then, setting her pipe to the side. She grins as she looks up and floats the pipe right-side up, above the ashtray and then floats the two roaches into the bowl. She looks at the heap on the ashtray and squints her eyes in concentration as she magically lifts the smokable section of what she had separated and puts that into her pipe. Then, she investigates the pipe and magically forces some of the devil weed down in there so everything will fit and then she looks to her right, grabs the cap in her blue grasp, and floats it over onto the pipe to screw it back on. She then floats the pipe back into her right saddlebag before snapping it shut, as she says, “Okay! One bowl of resiny goodness, ready to go! So uh, what did you have in mind Dusk Shine?” before looking to the other batpony.

Dusk Shine frowns at the other batpony and says, “Well you said you wanted breakfast? What about the all-night coffee shop on the West side of town? It’s a few blocks off and they serve fruit, just for batponies! And I know you like coffee, right?” with an expectant, hopeful look in her eyes.

“Well, you wanted to do something I’d enjoy right?”

“Yes! Because you’re my friend!”

Gabriela squints her eyes, “Right uh, friendship! But what do you want to do?” she says before widening her eyes to the punk.

Dusk Shine responds robotically, “Whatever you want friend!” before smiling.

“You don’t have a plan, do you?”

“Didn’t I already tell you that I live freely?”

“Oh um, right!” Gabriela says as she starts. “Punk rock! Yes!” Gabriela looks down to the table as she suddenly realizes that some strong coffee might do her some good. She looks to the punk, “Alright, I’m game Dusk Shine! Lead the way!”

Dusk Shine turns right to face the West and glances to Gabriela to her right as the other batpony trots out of the house and shuts the door with her blue glow. She then looks up to Dusk Shine, “Lead the way! Uh, you know where it is, right?”

Dusk says, “Sure! You like coffee, and you’ve never been here?”

Gabriela starts, “Well uh, I don’t get out much!”

“Obviously! Uh, alright Gabs! Right this way!” Dusk says before turning forward and beginning to trot.

Gabriela trots to Dusk speedily to catch up to her on her right before looking over and saying, “Gabs huh? Well, I’ll take it over sweet cheeks!”

Dusk looks over and whimsically says, “Yeah, we’re not there yet, are we?” before smiling.

“What do you uh, oh shut up Dusk Shine!”

“Anything you want, juicy booty!”

Gabriela squints and says, “It’s not funny!”

“Sure!” Dusk says while widening her eyes and perking up, while trotting.

Both ponies look forward as they trot West for several minutes. Finally, Gabriela says, “Dusk Shine! I got a confession…”

Dusk looks over to her right once more to see Gabriela trotting there in night vision with a serious look in her blue slitted eyes as she stares back.

Dusk Shine stops trotting and faces her body to the unicorn before saying, “Uh, what’s up?” and slightly nodding her head.

Gabriela notices in her own night vision and stops to face her body to Dusk Shine, “I’m really nervous! And uh, well… When you mentioned earlier tonight that we might have sex, I just saw an easy way out… I’m still not sure I want to do this?”

Dusk Shine looks to Gabriela wide-eyed and says worriedly, “Why not Gabriela? Haven’t we been having a wonderful time? Smoking and talking?”

At this point, Gabriela can’t tell if it’s the devil weed giving her courage or if she just found better footing as she gulps and says, “Well, right! Of course! I’ve been having a great time! It’s just that…”

“What Gabriela?” Dusk asks while tilting her head to the right with an inquisitive look in her greenish yellow eyes.

“I don’t know if I should have friends or go out!” Gabriela says before shutting her eyes.

“What Gabs? Why would you say that?”

Gabriela opens her eyes and motions with her head back to her house to the South and says, “I don’t know if you’d understand?” before looking down.

Dusk Shine takes two paces towards the unicorn and stares with a determined look in her slitted greenish yellow eyes, their fire reignited by the indication that something was wrong with Gabriela, “Try me!”

Gabriela turns back to Dusk, “Well… I uh…” She looks down.

“What is it?” Dusk asks curiously while leaning forward a little.

Gabriela looks back to Dusk, “Look at me! I’m a unicorn of the night! I…”

“What Gabriela?”

“There’s no others like me anywhere near here Dusk Shine… I’m all alone and I can’t really relate to anypony! I mean, what would you know about night magic?” She looks down and beings to breath harshly. She closes her eyes for a moment while trying to compose herself and think of the right words to say. When suddenly, she feels a hoof on her left shoulder. She opens her eyes to see the greenish yellow eyes of Dusk Shine staring back at her gravely…

“I actually think you’re fine Gabs…”

“W-what?”

“Look here Gabriela!” Dusk Shine says, with that same fire in her eyes as she lowers her right forehoof back to the pavement, “Yeah, sure you’re unique! Yeah, there’s nopony anywhere near here that’s quite like you… But so what? I like you! And you’re my friend!” Dusk says before embracing Gabriela in a tight hug.

Gabriela is stunned and momentarily frozen in place as she asks, “Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m hugging you! It’s uh, physical display of affection to show support!” Dusk Shine says, almost robotically.

Gabriela finally leans on Dusk and embraces her with her own forehooves before asking, “What all did you read in that book, anyway?”

Dusk disengages her forelegs from Gabriela and goes back to her hooves before nodding, “A lot of things… But hey! Friendship or whatever, is still pretty new to me too! So uh, you wanna go have some bucking coffee and figure this mystery out with me?”

Gabriela finally cracks a smile and says, “Sounds good to me!” while giggling slightly.

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*I am a recovering stage 2 alcoholic and “chronic” is one of my generation’s slangs for marijuana.

**If you read my stories, it’s probably obvious to you that that’s how I take my coffee.

***Medicinal marijuana explained! I’m autistic and after the initial high is gone, I function better than ever!

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 Notes:

*It’s true! I do!

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

Chapter 5: Just Friends!

Saturday into Sunday:

Gabriela looks across the room constructed of white cinderblocks. She sees two batponies she doesn’t really know sitting at the wooden table near her and she sees the familiar hot pink spikes of Dusk Shine’s hair at the table beyond them. She gulps and begins to trot around the first table on the left to see Dusk sitting at the table further away.

Dusk sees Gabriela and simply smiles.

Gabriela marches up and sits at the chair opposite to Dusk. She looks into the punker’s eyes, “You want to give me as much space as I need, don’t you?”

Dusk says lowly, “That was the idea! That way, I don’t risk scaring you off…”

“You have a logical and methodical mind…” Gabriela notes lowly.

“To match yours Gabriela! I live my life freely, but I keep a design to it…” The punker whispers back with a fanged grin.

Gabriela frowns while looking forward with her slitted blue eyes, “And that design includes me?”

Dusk leans forward and says slightly louder, “What do you think?”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth in irritation, “You’re annoying, you know that?”

Dusk beams to the other batpony, “And yet, you’re still here, aren’t you?”

“Ugh!” Gabriela exclaims before scooting her seat back and disembarking to her right before turning to trot out of the breakroom.

“See you later Gabriela!” Dusk chirps loudly, causing the other batponies to briefly glance her way.

<******>

The rest of the night is uneventful. Gabriela knows that Dusk always takes the final lunch shift at 2 and she takes hers at 1. As such, she doesn’t see the punker until early the next morning as she’s exiting the plant in the front ramp that leads out the side of the building into the Ponyville city streets. She sees the spikes on Dusk’s head in in front of her and her short pink tail in her night vision about 15 yards ahead as she’s trotting out. She begins to hurry, but Dusk makes it to the outside and begins to flap hard with her leathery wings to take off. She leaves the ground and begins ascending and turns right, away from the rising sun to head home before Gabriela can gallop all the way to her.

Gabriela skids to a stop as her saddlebags flap a little bit at her side and she veers slightly to the right. She then looks up to see the punk batpony soaring over the next building in her night vision, through the early morning light. She scrunches her mouth and says, “Well, there’s still tomorrow before D-day?”

<******>

Sunday into Monday:

Gabriela works steadily at her job. Without Dusk Shine there, she can’t help but notice an improvement in her work performance and she locates three bad pears almost immediately before throwing them into the nearby wastebin and can’t help but wonder if Dusk’s absence has anything to do with it? Surely, she couldn’t be getting into my head, right? Baa! This is madness! She thinks to herself at her station as her mouth scrunches in mild irritation and she sees the final batch of pears come down the rubber conveyer belt with her blue slitted eyes. She then diligently begins to inspect them with her magic.

Later that morning, she trots out the ramp ahead of two other batponies. She makes it about 20 yards in front before flinching slightly as she hears the two behind her take off with their leathery wings and as they begin to fly home, she gazes up to see them. She then stares ahead to the East to see the sun beginning to peak out just over the horizon as their dark silhouettes fly away in the distance. She thinks to herself, Alright Dusk Shine! You wanna play? Well, I can play too! Before she trots to the road and turns left to begin her walk back home.

She writes in her diary when she gets home, Obviously, Dusk Shine intends to let me move in on her on my terms. The idea is to give me as much freedom as I want. I can already tell she wants me to be able to operate how I choose on this matter… Could this be a simple gesture to show that she cares about me? I keep thinking that I really shouldn’t do this, but my heart keeps telling me to move on ahead… It’s so odd being able to do things how I want, and yet I feel compelled to go down there? Its Tuesday morning now, meaning my next window comes this evening after I sleep and the sun goes down. I think I’ll have a special smoke session with her for wake n bake, after I wake up and get some coffee and an apple into me! I need to explore this further!”

Gabriela sinks into her hammock with her pillow and blanket to sleep until later that evening.

<******>

Gabriela knocks on the door of the tan house and patiently waits there with her dark brown saddlebags on as the wind lightly blows her bluish gray wavy mane to the right side.

Soon, the door opens inward and to the right to reveal a spiky maned pony with a short neatly cropped tail and a big smile on her fanged mouth below two yellowish green slitted eyes. Dusk Shine chirps, “Ah! Right on schedule!”

Gabriela frowns, “Look! I uh, wanted to talk with you… Can we go to your room please?”

Dusk smiles even wider, “Of course, Gabriela!”

<******>

Gabriela sits on the velvety blue pillow in the center of the room while looking down at a glass cylinder with an open top and a pink and purple rim. This cylinder contains water up to a point and has a glass section that juts out into a smaller blue plastic piece that leads finally to a blue rubber half-ball with the open section away from the glass and devil weed inside the opening. *

She magically lifts the mouthpiece of the bong to her snout so she can get her mouth on it without too much interference from her batpony fangs. She keeps the bowl on top and ignites the same red disposable lighter at a downward angle to the bowl and inhales to bring the flame to the weed before magically lifting the bowl out so that Dusk now sees there’s just a small blue plastic piece and nothing connecting it to the rest of the pipe. Gabriela lifts her head for a moment and swallows before breathing out a big cloud of smoke directly overhead. She looks down to Dusk with a smile on her fanged face and says, “Thanks Dusk! I uh, really wanted to get away…”

Dusk frowns, “Don’t you usually just sit alone at your house and read or something?”

Gabriela looks up, “Uh, usually? Hey!” She magically lifts the bong back to her lips and ignites the red lighter downward towards the plastic and rubber bowl once more to fill up the glass chamber visibly with smoke that swirls up through the mouthpiece and into her snout as she inhales and pulls up the stem. She looks up and gulps once more before exhaling a slightly smaller cloud of smoke. She looks down to Dusk across from her, also on her haunches and sitting on a pillow and catches her breath through her mouth briefly, “I’ve been thinking a lot about you…”

“Oh?” Dusk raises her right eyebrow inquisitively.

“Yeah uh…” She looks to pale blue bong currently glowing in her slightly darker blue magical grasp before floating the mouthpiece over to Dusk Shine’s snout. She looks to the punker and smiles, “I’ll operate the lighter and stem for you with my magic! You just inhale Dusk!”

Dusk nods her head as her spikes go up and down.

Gabriela floats the bong up 2 more inches to get into Dusk’s mouth and the winged batpony purses her lips to get around her fangs. Gabriela then aims the lighter down at the bowl and strikes it to ignite and Dusk begins to inhale and fill up the watery chamber with smoke. Gabriela continues to smile as she lifts the stem so that the smoke swirls into Dusk’s mouth after air starts to be sucked into the chamber.

Dusk gulps and exhales smoke, first on Gabriela before she corrects herself and breaths the rest out above the two batponies in the room. She looks down and says, “Whoa!”

“Ready for hit number two darling?”

Dusk smiles and nods as her spikes go up and down once more.

Gabriela once again brings the glowing bong to Dusk Shine’s lips as her horn glows the same pale blue color. She ignites the lighter and Dusk inhales to bring the flame into the bowl and fill the chamber with smoke. Gabriela soon pulls the stem out and the smoke swirls through the glass and into Dusk’s mouth.

She brings her head back with a jerk and a startled expression in her yellowish green eyes. She soon slowly exhales smoke as it pours above her eyes and mane, out of her mouth and towards the ceiling.

“You alright Dusk Shine? Feeling groovy?”

Dusk Shine smiles to Gabriela, “Yeah… Hey look, I’m sorry about what happened back there, okay?”

Gabriela looks stunned in her blue slitted eyes, “What?” She quickly looks down and floats the bong over to her.

Gabriela inhales to fill the chamber while Dusk continues, “Yeah, I’m not sure if it was really fair to you to move so fast like that?” She gestures with her forehooves in front of her torso, “I just saw what I wanted and seized it, you know?” She brings her forehooves back down, “But I’m sorry…” She smiles, “The truth is though, I really want you Gabriela…”

Gabriela turns her head to the left and exhales smoke that direction before setting the bong down and releasing it so that it stops glowing. She looks to Dusk Shine and squints, “I uh, really never thought of you like that Dusk Shine?”

Dusk smiles again, “Yeah… Uh, hey! Load it with my shit! We already smoked some of yours!” she says before gesturing to her small wooden stash box on her round nightstand.**

Gabriela looks to the stash box and makes it glow blue before moving in the air towards the bong. She sets it just beyond the bong from her and lifts the same devil weed designed lid to open the box and slide it back, still halfway on top. She looks inside and floats out a little baggy towards her bong.

She brings the plastic baggy before her and causes it to unravel in front of her blue eyes as she smiles and her fangs get slightly higher on her face, as she gently tears open the top to pull out a small green nug of devil weed and holds it over her bowl. She then magically grinds it with concentration in her blue slitted eyes and green flakes soon gravitate down into the bowl. She grinds all the nug and says, “Gosh!” before looking to Dusk, “Well, you got a couple left!”

Dusk smiles, “Yeah, I’m meeting my guy tomorrow! Hey, you wanna come with? I’ll introduce you!”***

Gabriela smiles, “Yeah, but now…” She lifts the bong to her mouth and ignites the bowl once more before removing the stem, moving her head back from the bong, and exhaling out the sides of her fanged mouth. She smiles as she magically moves the bong off to the floor on her right before getting to all-fours and slowly trotting 2 paces to be right in front of Dusk Shine.

Dusk looks at her with wide-open slitted eyes, “Uh, Gabriela? We’re not gonna snuggle and make out and play kissy-face now while we share this bong together, are we?”

Gabriela smiles and says, “No!”

Dusk gives out a sigh of relief, “Okay good!”

Gabriela smiles even wider, “Maybe?”

Dusk starts and looks at Gabriela wide-eyed, “Wait what?”

Gabriela snickers and leans forward, “Shut up!” before moving over to sit next to Dusk Shine on the previously unoccupied pillow next to her and then leans over to magically float her bong to her lips with the lighter once more and takes her traditional second hit.

<******>

The two batponies snuggle on their sides with their heads at the head of Dusk Shine’s bed and stare into each other’s faces while they share her big pillow for their heads and all the while surrounded by big fluffy blue pillows that caress their bodies. Gabriela looks to Dusk, “I can see now why you have so many pillows! Pillows are great!”

Dusk smiles, “Bucking A! We’re always so busy worrying about the next big thing that we forget about the simpler joys! Like snuggling pillows!”

“Whoa Dusk Shine!” Gabriela says wide-eyed.

Dusk looks at Gabriela stunned, “What?”

“You just blew my mind!”

“You’re high, aren’t you?”

Gabriela’s eyes narrow as she smirks, “No, you!”

Dusk can only grin and giggle at this ridiculous dark unicorn nuzzling and snuggling her.

“Hey, Dusk Shine!” Gabriela asks the other batpony, her eyes open with curiosity.

“Yeah Gabriela?” Dusk asks curiously.

“Are you still gonna buck Nightshade after tonight?” Gabriela says as she frowns.

Dusk suddenly starts as she hasn’t considered this. She says, “Well, I mean, I’d like it if you still gave me that freedom baby? I don’t want to move too fast on you…” She smiles, “Like you said, I’m giving you plenty of room to move like you want to…”

“Well, um…” Gabriela stutters while her cheeks start to get a little bit redder.

Dusk smiles and says at a slightly higher volume and pitch, “Oh, there it is! Puffy cheeks! Puffy cheeks!” before she begins to try and move her forehooves into Gabriela’s pits to tickle her!

“Stop it!” Gabriela squeals as her body gyrates!

Dusk suddenly stops tickling her when a thought occurs to her. She timidly looks down to the other batpony, “Wait! You wouldn’t be getting embarrassed unless…” Her eyes widen, “Gabriela! Were you about to open your hind legs to me?”

Gabriela stops as the forehoof on the bed is outstretched and the outer forehoof to her side. She looks up shyly and says lowly, “Um, it’s a strong possiblity?”

<******>

Gabriela lays on her back inside the snuggly nest of pillows while feeling Dusk Shine’s body heat on her and looking down at the other batpony with her tongue out the side of her fanged mouth. “We didn’t really have sex, did we?”

Dusk looks over to the unicorn, “Uh, I touched your butt a few times, if it’s any consolation?”

Gabriela smiles and brings her tongue in, “Yeah I felt your hoof back there?”

“So uh, what do you wanna do now, best friend?”

“Devil weed nap?”

Dusk smiles and says, “Buck yeah!” before moving in to snuggle Gabriela some more.

<******>

Gabriela sleeps in the hooves of the punker. She once again feels the hair gel behind her head and can’t help but smile at that like an old friend because that’s her buddy Dusk Shine back there! She feels at peace when suddenly, she hears knocking.

She looks up from where she is napping and hears a familiar somber voice from behind Dusk’s door say, “Hey Dusk! Are you alright in there? You’ve been alone for a long time, even for you!”

She hears Dusk squeaky voice chirp behind her, “Yeah we’re okay Nightshade! Uh, don’t worry!”

There’s a brief pause before, “Wait? WE’RE okay? Is Gabriela in there with you Dusk Shine?”

Gabriela then chirps in a silly squeaky voice, “Oh no! It’s not Gabriela at all! It’s totally somepony else!”

This causes Dusk to softly giggle behind her as Nightshade yells from the door, “Uh, okay! You’re doing alright! Really, all I needed to know! Uh, you two have fun in there!”

Both bed ponies hear hoofsteps from the other side of the door as they grow fainter with Nightshade’s departure.

Dusk giggles and tickles Gabriela’s pits with her forehooves, “Why did you do that Gabriela!”

“He he! What? It’s funny! Stop tickling me, jerk!”

Dusk stops, “Now, she’s gonna think I bucked you!”

“So!”

“So? She’s gonna think we’re having relations now!”

“And?”

“And? Gabriela! You just don’t give a buck, do you?”

“Umm…” Gabriela says as she looks down and says lowly, “Not really? No…”

Dusk Shine giggles and shakes her head behind as Gabriela feels the gelled spikes on and off on the back of her mane, “So uh, what do you wanna do now?”

“I don’t know! What do you wanna do Gabriela?”

“Well, you read the Journal, didn’t you? Isn’t there something about friendship activities?”

“Oh! You like being told what to do? Uh, do you also like spankings?”

Gabriela sighs, “Still thinking about my flanks I see!”

Dusk snickers, “Well, how could I not? I mean, they’re right there!”

Gabriela gets out from under Dusk’s hooves by scooting forward in the bed and turns around to face the other batpony.

“Yes?” Dusk asks with an inquisitive look in her wide open yellowish green slitted eyes.

Gabriela looks deep into them and asks her, “How do you feel about me?”

“Well, I like you!”

“Obviously! But what I mean is, do you wish to be with me? You keep talking about my body and while I am flattered, I wanna know what you really want from me? Is this just friendship or?”

Dusk smiles, “Call it, friendship with a few perks!” before leaning to Gabriela and kissing her on the lips.

Once again, Gabriela feels weak with the sudden affection. She never realized how long she had gone without this sort of thing until Dusk Shine started giving it to her again and at that point, she understood.

Dusk breaks, “I like you, Gabriela!”

“Yeah but…” Gabriela looks down.

“What is it, Gabriela?”

Gabriela looks up and smiles, “I like you too Dusk Shine!”

“So, you’re okay? Uh, you wanna burn another bowl right quick or?”

Gabriela starts and looks to Dusk with a serious expression in her eyes, “No! I want a clear head for this…” Her eyes soften and fanged smile grows, “Hold me please…”

“Um, okay!” Dusk says before scooting closer to embrace Gabriela in her forehooves.

“I think…this is what I really needed the whole time?”

“What do you mean?”

“To be loved…”

Dusk continues holding Gabriela and is unsure of what to say.

Gabriela smiles, “We’ll talk more later! Just hold me now, please…”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*I just described my bong. It happens to have a similar color scheme to the unicorn filly I created to befriend Cozy Glow in my first story and so I named it, Starshine after her.

**In the stoner world, it’s generally considered rude to only be smoking one stoner’s weed. It’s considered appropriate for smokers to offer weed money or herb of their own in many situations.

***Before legalization, this is pretty much how stoners met dealers.

Chapter 6: Plummet

Gabriela sleeps in the hooves of the other batpony. The night unicorn begins to stir in her sleep and starts to dream…

She opens her eyes deep in a dark forest somewhere. She looks up at the night sky and can see that it’s very cloudy in her night vision. She frowns and whispers to herself, “This seems a lot like the Everfree Forest?” as she looks around at all the gnarled and crazy-looking trees.

She then notices a dark silhouette approaching her from the shadows of the forest.

“Hello?” She calls out as she leans forward and looks curiously with her blue slitted eyes.

She then sees the larger imposing form of a dark blue alicorn come out of the shadows. Her cosmic mane dancing in the pale moonlight to her left while chartreuse eyes stare down lovingly at the little night unicorn. Princess Luna says, “I see you found love!”

Gabriela frowns at the princess, “Uh, what do you mean? I’m not in a relationship with Dusk Shine?”

Luna cranes her neck down while continuing to smile, “I never said you were!”

“So uh, what do you mean, I found love?”

“Are you or are you not being lovingly held by the other batpony right now Gabriela?”

“Okay, but uh… Huh?” Gabriela stammers out before she looks to the ground.

“You don’t have to be in love to have love…”

Gabriela looks back up with her slitted eyes wide open and says, “Well uh, I guess that’s also true?” before scrunching her mouth deep in thought.

“I’m so glad you found friendship, Gabriela! I was starting to worry about you!”

“Me?” Gabriela says while frowning, “Why would you worry about me?”

Luna’s expression turns serious, “Because there’s more to a pony’s life than going to work, smoking dope, reading, and taking care of a cat Gabriela!”

“Hey!” Gabriela says indignantly, “Pete needs me!”

“Yes, and so does Equestria!”

Gabriela frowns, “What do you mean?”

“Equestria is not as complete without you in it, Gabriela!”

“But…” Gabriela looks down, “I’m a night unicorn… I don’t belong!”

Luna trots just a few more paces towards Gabriela and lifts her chin up to face her with her right forehoof, “You sure about that Gabriela?”

Gabriela awakens inside the hooves of her friend, and she once again feels the sticky mane gel on the nape of her neck, and once again, she smiles about it. She then slowly gets out of her hooves to turn back and face her.

Dusk smiles her fanged batpony grin and says, “Rest well?”

Instead of answering, Gabriela leans forward and lovingly nuzzles Dusk’s nose with her own while giggling at her.

“Uh, Gabs? You doing okay?”

At that point, Gabriela sinks underneath the covers while Dusk can only stare wide-eyed with her slitted yellowish-green eyes. She suddenly starts and says, “Oh uh… Gabs! What are you doing down there? Uh, whoa!” wide-eyed before looking up in ecstasy.

<*****>

“So um, we actually did have sex that time!” Gabriela says before magically taking a swig of her coffee while sitting at the table.

“This is true!” Dusk says on the other side of the table wide-eyed before nodding and then grasping her own coffee with her forehooves to take a drink.

The glowing coffee cup floats back down to the table before it stops gleaming. Gabriela smiles up at Dusk, “Well, I told you I was ready!”

“Yeah but… That was kinda sudden! Didn’t really see that one coming!”

Gabriela smiles and leans forward, “You mean, cumming as in, orgasm?”

Dusk squints her eyes and scrunches her mouth, “Now who’s got the dirty mind?”

Gabriela widens her eyes and raises her voice slightly, “I’ve yet to hear any complaints!”

“And I’m not gonna! You were actually a pretty good lay!” Dusk says to Gabriela, as her cheeks begin to redden again.

Gabriela sullenly speaks while pouting slightly, “Well, Nightshade thinks we’re sleeping together and she’s technically not wrong now!” before taking another magical sip of her coffee.

Dusk smiles at the unicorn, “Nope!”

Gabriela looks at her tentatively, “So uh, does this change anything?”

“Not really? We just have something else fun to do now!”

“So um, we’re still not in a relationship, right?”

Dusk frowns, “Not that I’m aware of?”

“So uh, friends with perks, right?” Gabriela says while nervously smiling at her winged friend.

Dusk picks up her cup in her forehooves and says, “Buck yeah!” before taking a deep drink of her coffee.

Gabriela sits there and smiles at Dusk.

Dusk puts her coffee down, “Hey, don’t you usually smoke whenever you wake up?”

“And on those rare occasions I have sex, but uh… I’ve been smoking a bit more than usual now that you and I are hanging out! I wanted to save some for later!”

Dusk smiles, “No problem! I see my guy tomorrow and we can smoke my shit!”

Gabriela frowns, “Gosh! Y-you’d do that Dusk?”

Dusk smiles, “Well, sure! We’re friends, right?”

“Um, okay…” Gabriela stutters, “Uh, where do you wanna do this?”

“How about in the Everfree Forest before we buck out there?” Dusk says while smiling widely and leaning forward to the unicorn.

Gabriela’s eyes narrow while her fanged mouth grins, “Oh, could we?”

Dusk snickers, “Just kidding! My room is fine!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits on her haunches on the velvety blue pillow in the middle of the floor and looks down at the white rolling paper in her blue glow that’s now folded so that there’s a trench down the middle along the bend and says, “If we’re gonna be smoking together, I need to teach you about rolling papers! Uh, don’t you usually keep your stash box in your closet?”

Dusk Shine is sitting across from her on her haunches on top of her own velvety blue pillow and says, “Yeah well, you’re here now, so it made sense that it be on the table!” before glancing briefly to her left at the wooden stash box on her nightstand.

“I don’t smoke that much!” Gabriela says as she looks down and magically shaves off some herb from a nug and carefully floats that down into the trench. She looks inside and magically moves all the weed into a line with a blue glow, while leaving roughly a quarter-inch clearance on one end of the paper. She smiles as she closes the paper, moves it to her face, and licks the sticky portion before rolling up the paper from the bottom with her magic.

Dusk rolls her eyes, “Of course not! Uh, hey! Do you think you could teach me how to roll a joint?”

Gabriela says, “I don’t know?” before twisting the joint to tighten as she rotates it in front of her with her magic and licks it in places with her forked tongue to seal any imperfections. She levitates the doobie in front of her and turns it to put it into the side of her mouth on the other side of her right fang, “I mean, I use my magic! You only have your hooves?”

“See now why having magic is neat?”

Gabriela frowns so her fangs get slightly less obvious on her mouth as a glowing red disposable lighter glides in from her right side and sparks to ignite the end of her joint. She takes a quick puff before saying, “Okay! I get it! I’m a neat batpony!” before pursing the side of her mouth and inhaling and causing the cherry to glow once more as she tastes the same sweet flavor rolling through her mouth and down her throat.

“Something the matter?” Dusk asks inquisitively while leaning forward with her eyes open.

Gabriela exhales a cloud of smoke out the left side of her mouth while continuing to purse on the joint on the other side, “You keep telling me how neat my magic is… Do you wish you had it Dusk?”

Dusk starts and moves back, “Well, I uh… It would be cool, I guess?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes while pursing on the stogie in her mouth and inhaling to make the cherry glow once more. The joint then begins to glow for a moment while she inhales before she magically floats it out her mouth towards Dusk, who promptly grabs it in mid-air in the cleft of her right forehoof.

Dusk brings it to her mouth and takes a drag causing the joint’s end to glow while Gabriela exhales before saying, “I wish I had wings and you wish you had magic? Too bad we can’t just be happy with what we are?”

Dusk Shine’s eyes widen as she leans forward slight to slowly and deliberately exhale smoke into the center of the room between her and Gabriela. She looks at Gabriela and says, “I don’t think we can trade places, can we?”

Gabriela smiles and chuckles while Dusk brings the joint to her mouth for her second drag, “Well, I don’t think so? I mean, unless you know Starlight Glimmer. Well, uh this is what we got, right? You have those awesome leathery wings and I got… Night magic…”

Dusk raises the joint in her right forehoof to signal Gabriela while turning her head to the left and exhaling more smoke. Gabriela levitates the joint out of Dusk’s hoof towards her in the air while Dusk turns to face her, “You say night magic like it’s a bad thing? I keep telling you how hard it is for me to do things!”

Gabriela frowns as the glowing joint goes into her mouth at the center, between her fangs and mutters between her teeth, “But I can’t fly?” before pursing her lips and inhaling to cause the cherry to glow brightly as her blue magic disappears from it.

Dusk Shine smiles, “You know, with the Magic of Friendship, you don’t have to? I’d be happy to fly up and get anything for you!”

Gabriela exhales out the right side of her mouth while pursing the center, causing a cloud of smoke to appear at her side. She says, “Yeah, and I can do magical stuff for you too!” between her teeth before pursing again and causing the cherry to glow.

Dusk smiles, “Right! Because we have the Magic of Friendship now!”

Gabriela floats the half-joint before her in the air and carefully brings it over to Dusk while she holds the smoke in her lungs and Dusk soon sees this and snags the joint in mid-air with the cleft of her right forehoof. Gabriela then exhales a big cloud of smoke overhead and smiles as she says, “Well, we can each compensate for each other then?”

“That was the idea!” Dusk exclaims while she brings her hoof to her mouth to take another drag off the roach.

Gabriela frowns, “But, I just never felt that I really fit in, you know? I mean, I… I’m so alone!”

Dusk exhales smoke to the right of Gabriela, “Well, don’t you think you could use a friend?” before bringing her hoof to her mouth for her second drag.

“Probably? But um, who’d wanna be my friend? I always thought that I was just too different and should keep to myself… So, I got a cat!”

Dusk looks over to her nightstand and turns her body so that she can bring her right forehoof over her glass ashtray there and turns her hoof to snuff out the joint by rubbing the burning end against the surface all the while slowly exhaling smoke out of her mouth.

Gabriela frowns while widening her eyes, “Uh, what are you doing Dusk Shine?”

Dusk leaves the roach in the tray and turns her body back to Gabriela before raising her left eyebrow, “Does it even register with you, Gabriela?”

Gabriela starts and stares at the other batpony, “Uh, what?”

“I’ve been trying to be your friend for about a week now!”

“I…” Gabriela looks down, “I’m sorry… “She looks back up to Dusk with a serious expression and says, “I guess when you’re alone for so long, you eventually get to the point where you don’t even remember what friendship is like?” before frowning…

“Did you used to have any friends?”

“Um, I think so? It’s been so long though…”*

“Well um, why don’t you start over?”

“Why Dusk Shine?” Gabriela says with a severe look in her eyes, “You’ll be gone eventually, just like all the others!” She sighs, “And I’ll be all alone, yet again! Why even try?”

Dusk Shine frowns, “I think we met for a reason…”

Gabriela starts and widens her eyes, “W-what do you mean?”

Dusk smiles, “Because, I’ve got the perfect life philosophy for you!”

Gabriela’s mouth scrunches as her eyes narrow, “What?”

“Instead of worrying about what’s coming around the bend, why not take joy in the things you have now? You got your good friend, Dusk Shine, this righteous devil weed here in this paper, and this lovely conversation!”

Gabriela frowns, “Well, the conversation kinda went South?”

“I don’t think so…” Dusk says while continuing to smile at the unicorn.

Gabriela looks carefully at this smiling and devilishly cute punk rock batpony sitting on a pillow before her, “What do you mean?”

Dusk continues, “Now I know the real reason you don’t have any friends…”

“Really?” Gabriela says while raising her right eyebrow.

“Because you’re afraid they’ll all leave you and go away in the end… Which means, I gotta stay with you now, no matter what!”

“W-what?” Gabriela says with her mouth open and eyes wide.

Dusk leans forward and narrows her eyes, “Because I care about you and that’s what you need…”

Gabriela can only sit in silence.

“So, sex or no, cuddling or no, that stuff shouldn’t matter... The important thing is that you need me!” Dusk continues while beaming her fanged smile.

“I don’t need anypony!” Gabriela says indignantly at a slightly higher volume.

Dusk continues smiling, “Well, do you like me Gabs?”

“Huh?” Gabriela says with her mouth open in confusion.

Dusk returns her spine to normal, “Do you like me, Gabriela? Simple question, I’d think?”

“Well, um,” Gabriela stammers out while trying to figure out what to say, “Of course, Dusk Shine! I mean, I wouldn’t have sex with you otherwise!”

“And would you like to hang out with me more Gabriela?”

“Um, sure Dusk! Hanging out with you and smoking is better than doing it alone I guess?”

“You guess? You seem unsure?”

“Ugh!” Gabriela groans while she closes her eyes. She opens them again, “Okay fine, Dusk! You’re my friend and I like hanging out with you!”

“So uh, what more do you need?” Dusk asks inquisitively while pursing her lips in confusion.

Gabriela can only stare confused at this bizarre spiky-haired batpony before her.

Dusk Shine’s mouth returns to a normal serious expression, “Gabriela, will you be my friend?”

Gabriela smiles to Dusk, “Sure Dusk Shine! Uh, hey! Again, I don’t normally smoke this much, but…”

Dusk cuts her off mid-sentence at a higher volume and says with her slitted eyes wide open, “Of course Gabriela! By all means! Roll another joint! Let’s get bucked up!”

And so, Gabriela rolled another joint with her awesome night magic and happily sealed it using her forked tongue. Then, the two batponies smoked up and talked and giggled about nothing.

Eventually, there’s another knock on Dusk’s door. “Hey, Dusk! You still in there?” Says Nightshade’s somber voice from the other side.

By this point, there’s a big devil weed fog in the room while the two batponies are sprawled on the floor with their heads on the pillows. The ashtray is between them and now contains three roaches.

Gabriela just blurts out, “She’s still hanging out with me Nightie! We’re all good!” before giggling slightly.

“Ugh! Sometimes, I wonder why I bother?”

Dusk looks to her door while continuing to lay on her back, “Well, you can always join the party Nightshade?”

“No thanks!” Nightshade says, “I’ll be in my room if anypony comes looking for me!”

Both batponies then hear hoofsteps trotting away from the door. Gabriela looks over and says, “Yeah but uh, buck that!” before giggling again.

Dusk looks over to her friend, “You’re blazed, aren’t you?”

“Like a fox!” Gabriela whimsically says before snickering.

Dusk can only chuckle slightly at this unicorn of the night as she lays next to her with her soft violet mane laying on the floor all around her body.

Gabriela says, “Hey, you know what we should do?”

“Burn those roaches in your metal pipe before snuggling up later when we sleep in my bed together?”

Gabriela’s azure-slitted eyes widen as one thought leaves her head to be replaced by this suggestion, “Uh, yes! That! That’s totally what I was gonna say!”

“That wasn’t your idea at all, was it?” Dusk says while beaming at Gabriela.

“Yes, it was! Totally!” Gabriela says before giggling slightly. “I mean uh,” She regains her composure, “what did you have in mind Dusk?”

“Well, why don’t you load those roaches into your pipe before we head out Gabs? You said you wanted to fly right?”

“Well uh, yeah?”

Dusk gets a wicked grin on her fanged mouth, “Feel like doing something stupid?”

<*****>

The metal smokeless pipe floats to Gabriela’s front and into her mouth and the red ornate stem can be seen visibly as the lighter ignites above the bowl and she inhales to bring the flame into the port so she can inhale more of the devil weed smoke. She takes her mouth off the pipe, starts, and then turns her head to the right to exhale a big cloud of smoke. She looks to Dusk Shine standing across from her on the grassy ledge and says, “Okay, so what are we doing on this cliff face in the Everfree forest again?”

“Well!” Dusk says while smiling, “I can hold you with my hooves and use my wings to glide down! I’m not strong enough to fly and carry both of us, but I can give you that experience anyway!”

Gabriela frowns, “And why do you want to do this again?”

Dusk giggles slightly, “Because you always wanted to fly, right? Well, here’s your chance!”

“Right! Time to smoke up before I plummet to my demise!”

Dusk snickers, “Relax Gabs! You’re many things, but I don’t think you’re heavy? I’ve lifted boxes easily twice your size at the plant!”

Gabriela purses her lips around the mouthpiece and ignites the lighter above the bowl to inhale the flame once again into the port. She starts again before looking up, gulping, and exhaling a cloud that Dusk sees visibly in her own night vision.

Gabriela then floats the glowing pipe back to her right saddlebag and snaps it shut. “Okay! Uh, how do you wanna do this?”

Gabriela is standing on her back legs while Dusk Shine does the same behind her while wrapping her forehooves around Gabriela. Gabriela says, “Those spiky anklets are less than comfortable!”

“They’re not too bad, are they?” Dusk softly says into her ear.

“Uh, no? I think I’ll be fine?”

“Okay!” Dusk says slightly louder, “You ready?”

“Um…”

“Three!”

“Oh wow!” Gabriela says while looking down into the dark chasm stretching forward below her. She sees the rock walls on either side and a steep drop to Celestia knows where down below in perfect darkness that not even her night vision can penetrate.

“Two!”

“Hey, shouldn’t we talk a bit more about this first?”

“One!” Dusk shouts before leaning forward to bring Gabriela with her and holding onto her tightly with her forehooves.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” Gabriela screams as both ponies hurtle towards the bottom.

Suddenly, Gabriela here’s a whooshing noise behind her and her descent begins to slow as she begins to travel forward into the darkened canyon!

“HOLY SHIT!” Gabriela screams as she begins to glide forward while being held by the rocker pony behind her.

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*Before I left my hometown and began the road to transitioning, I had quite a few friends… Thanks to hormones thought, I only remember their names, but their faces are all a blur in my memory… This was before though…

Chapter 7: Desires

“SHIIIIIITTTTT!” Gabriela screams as she flies forward into the blackness and her vision adjusts for even greater darkness as she descends into the chasm. She can hear Dusk Shine giggling behind her as she’s held in her forehooves, the spiky anklets no longer irritating her at this point as she’s now focused on her descent and the fact that she’s certain she will not survive this. “What’s so funny?” Gabriela asks with her head cocked to the left to speak more clearly to Dusk.

“Oh, just you! Relax Gabs! I gotcha! And hey! Check out what everything looks like down here! You’re flying!” Dusk says exuberantly.

Gabriela then looks forward with her slitted blue eyes as the pupils widen and she perks her fluffy ears with interest. She begins to see the ground some distance below as they descend, and she sees cliff walls on either side of her as the gray rocks and crags fly past while they sail through the air. “I uh, wow Dusk! This sure is pretty!”

“There you go Gabs! Can’t appreciate things unless you look!”

Gabriela’s eyes widen with this realization, and as the ground gets closer, she looks ahead and says, “Uh, what are you gonna do if we hit a cliff face?”

Dusk says securely from behind her, “Not gonna happen!” before shifting her left wing down and right wing higher to take a sharp left just several feet away from the cliff face both batponies were careening towards and Gabriela flinches before opening her eyes once more and seeing another section of chasm as they turn that direction and continue to fly through it.

“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?”

Dusk giggles, “You think I haven’t done this before?”

Gabriela begins to relax as she suddenly realizes she’s very tense.

“There you go! Just enjoy the ride! You might not get another one!”

“I uh, wow! This is really cool!” Gabriela says as she stares forward into more blackness while a cliff face is on either side of her. She also sees the ground approaching at a slightly faster rate as the rocks and debris below move past with speed.

Soon, the ground begins to approach faster than ever as both batponies race forward and then, they slam into the ground with a thud, Gabriela a split second before Dusk Shine as their hooves contact the rocky terrain. Gabriela flies forward with a gallop as she lands and Dusk finally lets go of her.

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” Gabriela happily screams as she races forward on her hooves shortly before skidding to a stop and veering to the right as her body twists with the action. She then looks behind to her back left to Dusk to see her face grimaced. She perks her head and ears up and looks inquisitively with wide-open eyes, “Uh, you okay Dusk?”

Dusk stops grimacing to look over at Gabriela while standing on her hooves as she says, “Yeah! Landing that way is always a shock and kinda painful, but I’m good!”

“Uh…” Gabriela chirps before correcting herself to all four hooves and looking up at the cloudy night sky with her night vision, now between two cliff faces in her sight. She looks back to Dusk, “Don’t suppose you know the way out of here?”

Dusk smiles her fanged grin once more, “You kidding? Follow me!”

<*****>

Both batponies trot down the darkened trail, towards the edge of the forest to the South. Gabriela looks over at Dusk Shine from the right and asks, “That sure was a lot of fun!”

Dusk smiles to Gabriela and says, “Yup!”

“How did you know about that anyway?” Gabriela asks curiously.

“Well uh, lets just say I’ve dived off a few cliffs in my time…”

“Why would you do that?” Gabriela replies curiously.

“Because, well…” Dusk looks down, away from Gabriela’s eyes.

“Well, what?” Gabriela asks while craning her neck to the other batpony with both fluffy ears perked her way.

Dusk looks back to Gabriela’s eyes, “Let’s just say, living didn’t always seem like the best option for me…”

Gabriela stops trotting and Dusk sees and stops herself.

Gabriela faces Dusk with wide blue-slitted eyes and head craned forward, “You mean to tell me that you actually tried to kill yourself?”

Dusk frowns and looks to her lower right, “Well, not exactly? More like, I leapt down there and just sailed with my wings, not sure if I’d make it or live or die…” She leans forward and raises her voice, “You’d be amazed at what you can do when you no longer care!”

Gabriela starts as she can’t fathom having no desire to live. She then looks up when she realizes that she could, but also realized that she had long since learned to bury her existential dread and take solace in herself and tending to her life and cat. And only when those thoughts crossed her mind did Gabriela suddenly understand Dusk Shine more clearly… While this wasn’t exactly a cry for help, she could tell that her friend might need her a bit more than she previously believed… She leans forward interestedly and asks, “Well, doesn’t Nightshade help with that? Loneliness and depression and whatnot?”

Dusk frowns, “Sorta? But she’s a loner type and we don’t hang out as much as you might think…”

Gabriela frowns and narrows her eyes, “So, what am I then? A distraction?”

“Ugh!” Dusk says while flinching. She stares at Gabriela with new resolve in her eyes, “You’re special, okay?”

“Yeah, I know!” Gabriela says while looking up at her curved unicorn horn.

“Ugh! No! Not like that! I mean,” Dusk flinches again before strengthening her determination and expression, “I like being with you and I love your personality!”

Gabriela frowns and widens her eyes to Dusk, “Yeah, I know!”

Dusk narrows her eyes and frowns, “So, why are we making this more complicated than it has to be?”

“Because…” Gabriela flinches and looks to the bottom right, “Why would anypony like me?” She stares to Dusk wide-eyed, “I’m too different!”

Dusk slowly exhales through her nose, “You ever think maybe the biggest problems are all in your head?”

“Huh?” Gabriela replies interestedly as her neck leans forward.

“Well, yeah! Think about it! You’re a unicorn batpony, right? A “unicorn of the night” or whatever! Sure, you don’t have anypony local that you can talk about night magic with or dark unicorn things, but so what? You still got me!”

“Well, how could you know what it’s like to be me?” Gabriela asks.

“Well, how the hay are we gonna find out if you don’t tell me about these things?” Dusk boldly retorts.

“What do you mean?” Gabriela asks before frowning.

Dusk sighs, “What I mean is, how do you know I won’t understand unless you talk to me about it? Ever hear that old expression about judging a book?”

Gabriela suddenly smiles, “By its cover!”

“Exactly!” Dusk adjusts her footing and says, “You need to let me in Gabriela…”, and then, with wide eyes, she nods and continues, “I swear, I’m here to help you!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Why would you want to help me?”

“Because that’s what friends do!” Dusk happily chirps back before trotting forward and embracing Gabriela.

“EEP!” Gabriela exclaims as she’s embraced by the other night pony. She regains composure and returns the hug with her own forehooves.

<*****>

They both emerge from the thick forest down the trail on the South end of the Everfree Forest. Gabriela looks to Dusk trotting next to her on the left and asks, “So uh, what do you wanna do now?”

Dusk looks back at her, “Well, what would you like to do Gabriela?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Well, a good cappuccino sounds lovely about now?”

“There’s the coffee shop on the other end of town? It’s only a block South and two blocks West?”

Gabriela smiles, “Sounds good!”

Dusk stops and motions forward with her right wing, “Lead on m’lady!”

Gabriela giggles, “Knock it off, jerk!” before trotting forward.

Dusk soon joins her on the left as both batponies turn right to face West, “Yeah, I admit that the first time I did that, I didn’t really care if I made it or not. But after that, I sometimes do it to clear my head. Never did it while holding another pony though!”

Gabriela looks to Dusk, “So, what made you decide not to live anyway?”

Both ponies trot down the desolate streets of Ponyville in the early morning hours while Dusk says while looking at Gabriela, “I just, well… I didn’t see the point anymore?”

“What do you mean?” Gabriela asks as her head moves slightly to Dusk with her blue eyes wide.

“Well…” Dusk says as she stops trotting and positions her body to face Gabriela while Gabriela does the same. She looks forward with wide eyes, “Think about it! I go to work! I listen to music! I smoke and drink and get bucked up! What else was there? I just…” she closes her eyes before opening them and looks to Gabriela, “What is my purpose?”

Gabriela frowns, “So, you felt you had no reason to live anymore?”

“Exactly!” Dusk says as she leans forward. “But then, I read the Friendship Journal and it talked about how we, as ponies need other ponies and how we all interact to make each other stronger and better! And that made me think that maybe, just maybe, I was going about this the wrong way? And then…” Dusk looks over Gabriela carefully before smiling, “I remembered you… The pretty night unicorn I work with…”

Gabriela starts and perks her ears to Dusk once more, “Wait! You think I’m pretty?”

Dusk narrows her eyes and straightens her mouth before saying whimsically, “Oh no! I like to buck ugly mares! It’s a fun pastime of mine for some strange reason!”

“Oh gosh!” Gabriela says as she looks down slightly and her cheeks begin to redden.

Dusk trots towards her and raises her chin with her right forehoof, “Nopony told you, you were pretty before?”

“Well, um…”

“Well, what?” Dusk asks while looking deep into Gabriela’s eyes.

“Heh! Several ponies have told me that… But I never believed them?”

“Why not?” Dusk asks curiously with her head cocked to the right slightly.

“Because of what I am… I just, well…”

“Well, what?” Dusk persists with her head slightly forward.

Gabriela starts, “Well, since I don't belong, that must mean I can’t look pretty, right? I can’t be aesthetically pleasing! I mean, come on! I’m me!”

At that point, the spiky haired punk rock batpony did the unthinkable… She craned her neck forward and kissed Gabriela on the lips!

Gabriela’s slitted eyes widen as she feels Dusk’s lips on hers and she feels her legs begin to quiver before she corrects herself with new resolve.

Dusk pulls back, “Well, guess what Gabriela? You actually are a very beautiful unicorn batpony and I love you!”

Gabriela stares at the punker wide-eyed, “I-idiot!”*

Dusk lowers her forehoof and giggles before asking, “What?”

“I uh, nothing… Gabriela looks down for a moment before returning her eyes to Dusk and smiling, “I love you too Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles and nods, “Good! But we’re not getting to the coffee shop by just standing here!”

Gabriela smiles back, “True! Uh, come on! Let’s go!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits in front of her triple amaretto cappuccino while watching the punk rock batpony gulp down her own double latte. She looks to the winged pony, frowns, and asks, “Dusk Shine! How do you really feel about me?”

Dusk sets her cup down with her forehooves, “I love you a lot, Gabs!”

Gabriela flinches before staring back and perking her head forward with a curious look in her blue eyes, “No, what I mean is… Are you in love with me?”

Dusk frowns, “Uh, why would you think that Gabs?”

Gabriela flippantly tilts her head to the left, “Oh, I don’t know! Probably the sensual kiss on the walk up here?”

“Well, um…” Dusk looks down before back to Gabriela, “I could not kiss you anymore if you don’t want me to?”

Gabriela starts and looks to Dusk, “Uh, no!”

“What?”

“Um…” Gabriela looks down and blushes slightly, “I liked that…”

Dusk leans forward, “So, what’s the problem?”

“Um, well…”

“Well, what?”

“Well…” Gabriela looks back to Dusk with a start, “I wasn’t expecting it!”

“So, you don’t want me to kiss you out of the blue anymore?” Dusk asks curiously while staring intently at the night magic user with her ears moved that way.

“Umm…” Gabriela says as her cheeks redden even more, “I kinda liked that too…”

“You’re still not describing any sort of problem to me?” Dusk asks intently from her side of the table while frowning.

“Well, um…” Gabriela composes herself once more, “I guess there isn’t a problem? I guess I’m okay with being kissed by you?”

“Kissing and snuggling on my pillow nest before work tomorrow?”

“Hey! I still need to feed Pete! I gave him plenty of food earlier, but he’s probably just now beginning to run out!” Gabriela says while leaning forward wide-eyed.

Dusk rolls her eyes, “Because Ponyville is SO large and you’ll NEVER find the time to swing by your place for a few minutes, right?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes at this obstinate punker, “Okay, you got me there!”

Dusk leans forward with a smile, “You worry too much! We’ll take care of everything!”

Gabriela sighs, “So, you’re sure this is okay?”

<*****>

Gabriela goes inside her house to sure enough, sees a meowing gray tabby cat greet her. She looks down at the lean animal and says, “It’s okay Pete! Mommy’s here now and she’ll feed you! Should also tend to your litter box!

She trots through the backdoor and looks to the left to see Pete’s bowl there almost empty. She smiles as he walks up to it and says, “Well, I wasn’t too late anyway! My baby won’t go hungry!” before smiling as the small yellow bag of cat food floats down towards the bowl while glowing pale blue. She tilts the bag to pour more food into his bowl while he starts to munch on it. She giggles as she sees some of the food land on his head only to fall back down into the bowl. She then looks up and floats the bag back to the shelf in her blue grasp before looking back down and floating her beloved cat to her from the floor. She holds him in her right forehoof while nuzzling him and says lowly, “I know momma’s been away boy! But worry not for I still love you and I’ll always be back to take care of you!”

Gabriela floats the cat back down and looks to verify that he has plenty of water. She whispers to herself, “Okay, now the litter box! Then, we raid my stash for the good shit!”

<*****>

Dusk Shine looks down at the colorful pink and purple bong and says, “Okay, so what did you do here Gabs?”

Gabriela smiles and looks to Dusk from the other side of the bong in her room as both batponies are surrounded by blue velvety pillows, three on Dusk’s side of the room and two more on Gabriela’s, “Well, my bong has what’s called an ice-catcher! This holds blocks of ice in the neck so that it will cool the smoke as it rises towards the mouthpiece. Which is good because we’ll be using my butane torch to burn some of your herb that I mixed with my hash in there and it can get pretty hot!”**

Dusk looks to Gabriela, “Oh, cool!”

Gabriela continues, “And as an added bonus, this will slow how fast the smoke rises so that you can take in more as you inhale!”

“This is pretty sophisticated!”

Gabriela giggles, “Well, I’ve been smoking devil weed for awhile now!”

Dusk smiles, “And now, you’re gonna teach me stuff!”

Gabriela starts, “Well uh, I guess so? I mean, I don’t drink anymore and so, that’s how I unwind. Well, that and it calms my overactive mind…”

Dusk frowns and asks inquisitively, “Is that a serious problem with you?”

“Not often, and as long as I smoke up on occasion, I’m normally fine!”

“But you don’t drink anymore?” Dusk asks inquiringly while lurching forward.

“No!” Gabriela says with a start, “You see, earlier in my life, I used to get bucked up every night on rum and whiskey and well, eventually I realized that I was killing myself… So, I put a stop to it! Just herb from here on out!”

“Did you actually have any health problems before that point?”

Gabriela leans forward, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, did anything go awry with your health before you stopped drinking? I mean, how did you decide that anyway?”

“Oh!” Gabriela smiles and says, “Well, outside of the normal lapses in memory and occasional vomiting that come with excessive drinking, I don’t think so?” before looking up with her eyes.

“Oh okay, good! I just wanted to know if you freak out or anything!”

Gabriela giggles, “Oh no Dusk! I haven’t had the stuff in years and I’ve long since cleaned out from it!”

“Okay, good! I want my pretty Gabs to be healthy!”

Gabriela blushes and says, “Jerk!”

Dusk giggles and asks, “What?”

“You’re a jerk!”

Dusk starts, “For calling you pretty?”

“Yes!” Gabriela says with wide eyes.

Dusk leans forward and asks inquisitively, “Uh, how the hay does that make any sense?”

Gabriela squints her eyes, “Oh, you know exactly how it makes sense!”

“I’m gonna kiss you again!”

“Oh, you wouldn’t dare!” Gabriela says defiantly.

Dusk suddenly gets up from her pillow and trots two paces to Gabriela’s face, “I’m not sure you realize who you’re talking to here…”

Gabriela leans back slightly and smiles, “Oh yeah?”

Dusk leans forward to nuzzle Gabriela as she has her own fanged grin on her face, “Is that a challenge?”

Gabriela giggles, “What do you think?”

“I think I need to give that cute rump of yours a spanking tonight!” Dusk says before leaning in all the way with her head slightly cocked to the left to deliver a slow sensual kiss to Gabriela.

As Gabriela widens her eyes, she can’t help but think that she asked for this, although she can’t for the life of herself, figure out why…

Dusk disengages her lips and moves her head back, “Better?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Well!” Dusk says carefully, “You obviously wanted a kiss, otherwise, you wouldn’t taunt me like that…”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“About what?” Dusk asks quizzically with her eyes open.

“About loving me!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*That’s my usual reaction whenever somebody says that I’m pretty.

**My bong does feature an ice catcher, but it works as a percolator as well when not loaded.

***This is a typical setup like a stoner might make. I’ve often employed my ice catcher to mellow out shatter and resin in the past so it’s not as harsh when I inhale and I can take in more of it that when I breath in.

Chapter 8: Revelations: Coming Back Again

As Gabriela played with Dusk that morning, many thoughts entered her stoned mind... She briefly thought about all the times love had let her down and then realized that she was very much enamored with the batpony currently burying her face into her hind end, regardless of what she had been through before... There was a lot of carnal pleasure there, but at the same time, a sort of air entered the room as the two batponies had their sexual play...

And then, the next evening…

Gabriela stirs as she feels the hooves of the punker around her body. She also can’t help but feel the wet sensation between her rear flanks. She moves her hind legs to feel the moist sensation there before opening her eyes and saying matter-of-factly, “I got a sticky butt!”

She hears Dusk Shine snickering behind her, “Yeah, you probably wanna take a shower after what we did this morning! Use the blue pony wash and you want the green mane wash and conditioner bottles!”

“Ugh!” Gabriela says as she slides out of the bed to her hooves on the floor. She slowly gets out of bed and feels the damp sensation between her hind flanks as she goes to the door, magically opens it with a pale blue glow and trots out before shutting the door and Dusk Shine can hear her hoofsteps grow fainter as she turns left to trot down the hall.

<*****>

Gabriela opens the door as the knob glows blue and trots back into the room with damp fur to see a smiling Dusk Shine there on a blue pillow with a loaded dark blue blockhead pipe to her right next to the same red disposable lighter from earlier, and a cup of black coffee in a white cup on her other side. She also sees two more pillows across from her with a white cup of blond coffee in front of it, towards Dusk, which she only presumes is for her as she looks to her and chitters, “Wake n bake?” *

Dusk smiles at her as she trots in and magically shuts the door, “I know my Gabber Buns!”

Gabriela starts, and shakes her head with her eyes wide open, “You really like my butt!”

Dusk narrows her eyes, “No, not at all Gabs! I’ve only been talking about it for days and I did play in it this morning!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and mouth, and her cheeks begin to grow as they turn red.

“Oh, there she is again! Puffy cheeks! Puffy cheeks!”

Gabriela solemnly trots to her pillows and sits on her haunches while shaking her head and feeling the remainder of the water there dissipate, “It’s not funny!”

Dusk leans forward while grinning, “Oh, but I think it’s hilarious!”

“Shut up!” Gabriela states emphatically while leaning forward.

Dusk snickers, “So, did you have a good time this morning?”

“Well, yeah…” Gabriela says as she lowers her head to the floor.

Dusk leans forward with an inquisitive look in her slitted eyes, “Something the matter?”

“Well, um…” Gabriela says before she looks up to Dusk, “Believe it or not, all of those things have been done to me, but it’s been years!”

Dusk frowns and narrows her eyes, “So, why would you be so bothered by it?”

Gabriela shakes her head, “Well, I’m not bothered per se? It’s just that um…”

“What?” Dusk asks while leaning forward.

Gabriela looks up, “You know, I’m actually from Fillydelphia on the Northeast side of Equestria! I moved here when my mother died because I didn’t have a choice! And that’s when I stopped being around other ponies so much and started keeping to myself…”

Dusk frowns, “You’re not really comfortable around other ponies? Is that right?”

Gabriela looks forward with wide blue slitted eyes as she perks her fluffy ears to Dusk, “No, not really?” She lowers her ears, “I just don’t feel like I belong?” and then she looks down sullenly.

“While it doesn’t happen often, unicorn batponies are not unheard of!”

Gabriela looks back up, “Right! But uh, who do I talk to about it?”

Dusk smiles, “How about, your best friend, Dusk Shine?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Alright! But we’re smoking while we do it!”

Dusk giggles, “That’s the old pepper!”

“Less talky talky! More smokey smokey!” Gabriela says as she looks down to the pipe and floats it up in her blue grasp while turning the mouthpiece to Dusk.

Dusk looks over, “What are you doing?”

Gabriela says, “Whoever rolled or packed always gets the first couple of hits! That’s the rule! You packed this bowl; therefore, you get the first hits!” **

“Oh!” Dusk says before opening her mouth.

Gabriela floats the pipe to her lips and Dusk seals them around the mouthpiece while the lighter glows blue and raises to the side of the pipe at a downward angle on the left before igniting. She inhales to bring the flame into the bowl while Gabriela uses her magic and focus to tap the carburetor, on and off so that she gets a steady, even hit while inhaling as the lighter goes out. She moves her head back before widening her eyes and then lifting her head skyward to breathe the smoke out above the two ponies. Then, she levels her head again and seals her lips around the front of the pipe and Gabriela magically gives her another hit by re-igniting the lighter.

Gabriela says, “I actually did have a good time last night, and that’s what scares me…”

Dusk starts with the devil weed hit in her lungs before moving her head back up and exhaling another large cloud of smoke above the two batponies. She looks back down to Gabriela, “Why would it scare you?”

“Because I really like you and enjoy being around you and well… When you had your face in my flanks like that, it made me realize that this isn’t like other friendships! This is something completely new!”

Dusk smiles, “Well, I’m not like other ponies. I’m me!”

“Well, right! You’re Dusk Shine, the punk rock batpony!”

“And you’re Gabriela, the sweet, pretty, and witty unicorn who smokes!”

Gabriela’s cheeks redden and mouth scrunches while she nervously floats the pipe away from the other, now giggling batpony’s mouth.

Gabriela purses her lips on the mouthpiece and looks at the lighter with her pale blue slitted eyes. The lighter sparks to ignite and she puts her eyes on the front of the pipe as she inhales to bring the flame into the bowl and take a deep hit, while magically tapping the carb. She starts and leans back several inches before exhaling overhead. She looks over at Dusk and smiles.

“All better?”

“Getting there!” Gabriela says before pursing her lips on the pipe to take another hit. She ignites the lighter again and inhales to bring the flame into the bowl and soon tastes the flavorful earthy tones of the devil weed as it rolls past her tongue and down her throat. Gabriela looks to the right side and exhales a big cloud of smoke there while Dusk continues to sit on her pillows and smile. Then, Gabriela floats the pipe back over to Dusk while commenting, “I still think you’re insane!”

“Why?” Dusk asks before pursing her lips onto the pipe.

As Gabriela magically ignites the lighter and Dusk inhales to bring the flame back into the bowl, she says, “Because I’m me! Why would anypony want to be my friend?”

Dusk flinches as she takes her body back a few inches and then turns to the left to exhale a big cloud of smoke. She looks over at Gabriela, “Yeah, it’s much easier to give up, right?”

Gabriela leans forward with her eyes wide, “W-what?”

Dusk looks over and says, “Think about it! Going out and making new friends is hard! Believe me! I know! It’s much easier to just not even try… But…” before leaning over and smiling.

“B-but what?” Gabriela asks while frowning.

“But there’s more out there for you Gabs! So much more! You just gotta be willing to try it out!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Why would I be interested in the world at large?”

Dusk smiles, “Well, I’m there, for one?”

Gabriela sighs, “I need to smoke more! Uh, take your hit Dusk!”

“Tell me something first though Gabs…”

Gabriela looks up perplexed, “What?”

“Um…” Dusk starts before continuing, “Tell me… Are you glad we met?”

Gabriela frowns, “Well, I suppose so? I’ve been having lots of fun with you, smoking, playing, and doing uh, other things…”

Dusk smiles, “So, you’re glad we’re friends then?”

Gabriela looks down, “Well, of course!”

Dusk grins wider, “And that’s why we’re gonna have a stoned snuggle and make out session before we head out to meet my dealer?”

Gabriela looks to Dusk and narrows her eyes, “And you’re gonna touch my butt some more?”

Dusk rolls her eyes, “Obviously!”

<*****>

The two batponies trot West towards the fruit plant in the distance as Gabriela looks to the clock tower in the darkness with her night vision, “Uh, it’s not quite seven now and we go in at eight!”

Dusk looks to Gabriela on her right and says, “Yeah, my dealer lives just West of you! I’m surprised you don’t know him! It’s convenient too because with a slight detour, that’s right on the way to work! I’ll just get my smoke now and stash it in my locker!” as they trot through the Ponyville streets, with earth ponies and unicorns far and few between as the sun sets on the horizon before the batponies.

Gabriela looks at Dusk, “Devil weed in your locker? Pretty sure that’s against company policy?”

Dusk looks back, “Yeah, but since when do I follow all the rules anyway? Besides! Just don’t draw attention to it and don’t be stupid! They won’t say a word!”

“Well, I sure as hay don’t know anything!” Gabriela says as she winks with her left eye.

Dusk smiles and nods, “Right!” She looks back to her front, “Okay, it’s this house coming up on our right! Stay out here and I’ll go knock on his door and see what’s up!”

“Okay!” Gabriela chirps as she stands there at the gate and smiles at Dusk Shine from the right. She looks over to see a 4-foot-tall wooden fence with no paint on it, yet neatly carved at the top that encircles the small house.

Dusk then looks at the blue door on the pale tan cottage and as she trots over, she’s still not sure how he found Spanish roofing while glancing up there. She brings her eyes back down as she trots forward before timidly knocking on the door with her right forehoof.

The door opens to reveal a tall lanky blue pegasus pony there with a brown mane and tail. He stares down at the shorter batpony and says, “Who’s that?”

“A friend! She’s cool!” Dusk chirps back.

“Oh?” The pegasus says as he narrows his eyes to the punker. He stares up at Gabriela and says, “Well, if you’re cool, come on by if you want some shit later! A cut is three bits!”***

“Alright, cool!” Gabriela squeaks back.

Dusk then fetches 3 bits from the top left hidden pocket of her studded leather harness and the pegasus extends his right forehoof to her so she can deposit them by opening her mouth.

The 3 bits fall into his hoof, and he moves it up to his mouth so he can grab them before lowering the hoof back to the ground and trotting inside while Dusk stands there and waits.

Gabriela soon sees him return with a tan sack in his mouth and he says between his teeth, “Yeah, I got a shipment of Cloudsdayle Hydro! Good shit!”****

Dusk snatches it with her own mouth after leaning forward and moves her head back to put it into the top right hidden pocket of her harness. She looks over and squawks, “Thank you!” to the pegasus.

“Anytime!” He says with a smile before shutting the door with his left forehoof.

Dusk trots back to the gate to Gabriela and says, “I got Cloudsdayle Hydro! I’ve never smoked this stuff?”

“Well, we got a few minutes before work?” Gabriela says as a smile forms on her face and a gleam shines in her blue eyes.

Dusk frowns, “Yeah, but we don’t have a way to smoke it?”

Gabriela slyly says, “There’s an all-night corner store on the way and they have papers and lighters we can buy? You got the shit! Implements are the least I can do!”

As Gabriela trotted out from between the two buildings after doing what she did, she misjudged a step with her left forehoof as the ground just seemed to be further than it was. She limps on that leg and exclaims, “Whoa!” with wide blue eyes as she stares downward at her hoof.

Dusk Shine trots over to her right and smiles her fanged grin in her direction, “You smoked a bit more than me! Starting to feel it, Gabs?”

“Yes! I mean, no! I mean uh… Whoa…” Gabriela says as she blankly stares forward with wide eyes.

Dusk snickers, “You sure you’re okay to work tonight?”

Gabriela looks back over at Dusk, “Well, once the buzz wears off, I should be fine! Probably during the trot up there? Let’s go!”

Dusk frowns, “That Cloudsdayle Hydro is pretty strong right? I mean, I’m really feeling it too, but you!”

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me!” Gabriela chitters energetically.

Dusk snickers, “Okay Gabs! Whatever you say!”

Gabriela begins to trot forward and turn right to head to the fruit plant in the distance that way.

Dusk sees this and turns to match her, “I don’t usually smoke this much!”

Gabriela looks back to Dusk on her right as they trot through the darkened cobblestone streets of Ponyville. She sees her trotting there with her greenish yellow slitted eyes, leathery wings at her side, and pink spikes that bob as she trots. She says, “Yeah, you said you usually drink right? But uh…”

Dusk turns to her left, “Yeah yeah yeah! I know! You don’t do that anymore! And that’s fine! I respect it and have no problems getting blazed with you, whenever!”

Gabriela smiles, “Thanks! You really are my friend, aren’t you?”

Dusk starts to feel warm and fuzzy inside, “You just now figuring that out Gabs?”

Gabriela giggles softly and looks at Dusk’s hooves, “Yeah… I can be kinda hardheaded, right?”

Dusk smiles, “That’s okay Gabs! I like you, just the way you are!”

Gabriela gets a similar fuzzy sensation in her stoned mind and body before she stops and stares at Dusk Shine while standing on her hooves, “Dusk Shine… I keep thinking we’re more than just friends. I-I feel really close to you now! In such a short time, too!”

Dusk stops and turns her body to face Gabriela from the right, “Yeah, I know what you mean…”

Gabriela takes a step towards Dusk with her left forehoof and looks into her eyes.

Dusk looks at her with wide eyes, “Gabs? What are you doing?”

Gabriela narrows hers at the punker as she takes another step forward with her right forehoof, “I’m taking what’s mine!”

“Huh?” Dusk says with a confused expression on her face as she leans her head slightly back.

Gabriela smiles as she takes another step forward with her left forehoof and kisses Dusk on the lips passionately.

Her slitted eyes are wide as saucers as this peculiar dark unicorn plants her lips on hers and Dusk can no longer think straight.

Gabriela breaks her lips from the spiky haired batpony and looks deep into her greenish yellow slitted eyes.

“I-I love you too Gabriela!”

Gabriela smiles, “So, we’re more than just friends then?”

“Um,” Dusk looks skyward with her eyes, “I guess? I mean, I’ve done most of those things with Nightshade, up to and including the ass licking, but…” She stares into Gabriela’s eyes with the most sincere look she can muster, “There’s something about you… I can’t put my hoof on it, but you’re different from anypony I’ve ever met?”

Gabriela leans her head forward while scrunching her mouth and widening her eyes, “Oh?”

Dusk giggles slightly, “Yeah… I-I love you Gabriela… Just uh, you!”

Suddenly, both batponies hear the clock tower strike 9 chimes! At the second chime, Gabriela says in a more frantic voice, “Oh pony feathers! Hey, we need to get to work, NOW!”

Dusk nods, “Right!”

Then, both ponies take off at a gallop to head West as Gabriela loudly chitters, “We’re talking about this later, after work!”

<*****>

Gabriela trots up the factory ramp to the concrete foyer outside, surrounded by a chain link fence. She trots to the open gate there swung to the right side and waits. She looks up at the sky and sees that it’s very cloudy in the dim morning light. A raindrop suddenly falls on her dark blue nose. She lowers her head, “Oh gosh! I hope Dusk isn’t too long?”

“Hey!” Gabriela hears a squeak from the factory exit and looks that way on her left to see a spiky haired batpony galloping over to her!

Dusk skids to a stop 5 feet from Gabriela and says, “Sorry! I uh, had a few things to do before I could leave! Ready to walk home Gabs?”

Gabriela smiles, “Sure thing, Dusk!”

The two batponies trot East down the Ponyville streets that foggy morning as rain droplets occasionally fall and the town begins to become alive again as ponies occasionally put “OPEN” signs on the fronts of stores. Dusk Shine looks to Gabriela trotting on her right and asks, “So, what the hay was that last night anyway? I got the C lunch today and I knew you’d have A lunch, so now’s the time for talking Gabs! What’s up?”

Gabriela looks to her left, “I-I don’t know Dusk? I guess…” She looks down, “I guess I was just stoned and out of my mind?”

“No way!”

Gabriela looks up at Dusk as her eyes begin to gleam, “Uh, we did just share a joint, remember?”

Dusk shakes her head, “No, what I mean is, that was more than just the devil weed talking Gabs!”

Gabriela’s cheeks begin to protrude and her mind flusters as she says, “What makes you say that?”

Dusk stops trotting and stares at Gabriela, so Gabriela reciprocates. She looks into the eyes of her unicorn friend and takes a pace towards her with her right forehoof.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Gabriela nervously asks while moving her head slightly back.

“Showing you something!” Dusk says before taking another pace with her left forehoof and then kissing Gabriela on the lips.

Gabriela’s eyes open wide as she feels her legs begin to weaken before she manages to compose herself.

Dusk disengages her kiss and looks into Gabriela’s eyes, “That! That shit! That’s what I’m talking about!”

“I, uh…”

Dusk frowns, “So, would you mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“Ugh!” Gabriela says before turning right and galloping off into the fog, away from Dusk Shine..

“Hey! I need to!” Dusk yells at her before more quietly chittering to herself, “Oh, dammit Gabriela! Why do you always run away?”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*A blockhead pipe is a style of glass pipe that stoners use. They typically have a carburetor on the right side of the bowl and are usually aerodynamically designed. They’re often hand blown, but factory-made blockhead pipes are also common.

**This is common stoner etiquette. Whoever rolls or packs always gets the first two hits before passing to the pony on their left.

***A “cut” is an old hippy slang for an eighth sack of weed, or 3.5 grams. I decided that the ponies use it since it’s a very common amount to buy…

****The pegasi of Cloudsdayle do not have a lot of room for growing devil weed and usually employ hydroponics. As such, the THC concentration is a bit different in their herb.

Chapter 9: Wandering Through the Fog

Gabriela stared at the perfectly rolled, unrefined, tan rolling paper that contained her devil weed floating before her in her blue grasp with her sky-blue slitted eyes. She turns one side to her mouth and moves it closer so she can purse her lips around it before a yellow disposable lighter, floats up from the left side and ignites. Gabriela moves the joint into the flame by moving her head closer to the lighter and inhales to feel the aromatic weed flow into her mouth and past her tongue so that she tastes the earthy fruity flavor.

Suddenly, there’s a loud thumping at her door! “THUMP THUMP THUMP!” it goes before a feminine batpony voice squeaks, “DAMMIT GABRIELA! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

Gabriela takes another puff from her joint to cause the cherry to glow as she narrows her eyes before exhaling smoke out the right side of her mouth, opposite to her fang.

Dusk Shine continues to yell from outside the cottage, “It’s daylight out now, but it’s cloudy as buck and I got patience like a monument! I’m not going anywhere until we clear this up Gabs!”

At that point, Gabriela sighs before the deadbolt and lock on her door both slide open with a blue glow and the doorknob opens to reveal a somewhat haggard, spiky-maned batpony there with a studded black leather harness and spiky black leather anklets on both her forehooves.

Gabriela takes another drag from her joint to make the cherry glow as Dusk stands there in her doorway, with wide yellowish green slitted eyes, staring deeply at her.

Dusk trots in and loudly slams the door with her right forehoof and adjusts her body to the unicorn, “Dammit to Tartarus Gabriela! I want to be with you!”

“I know!” Gabriela calmly says before pursing her lips around the joint and inhaling to make the cherry glow once more.

Dusk takes two paces towards Gabriela, “I don’t understand? I like you and you seem to like me? What’s the problem?”

Gabriela quietly exhales a cloud of smoke on the right side of her mouth again before looking at Dusk and saying calmly out the other corner of her mouth, “Because I don’t want you to hurt me…”

Dusk narrows her eyes and lowers her head, “W-what?”

Gabriela sighs before taking another drag and then calmly exhaling smoke between her and Dusk, “Love is bad, okay? I feel like I’m starting to love you and I really don’t want that…”

Dusk starts as her eyes widen and mouth scrunches, “Why would love be a BAD thing?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Because love is awful, and relationships only lead to pain and misery! It doesn’t lead to happiness or fulfillment at all!”

Dusk looks up with her eyes and whispers to herself about “damage…” She looks sternly at the unicorn and says, “But we aren’t together, remember? We’re just friends with perks!”

Gabriela smirks slightly as she takes another drag from the half burnt joint in her mouth and then calmly exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth again before saying, “Oh, don’t be coy! You and I both know what’s really going on here!”

“Ugh!” Dusk says before cringing. She looks back to Gabriela seriously with her yellowish green eyes and says, “I thought you might have baggage and issues and so I wanted to give you all the room you needed to work in… I wanted to be your friend first and just take it from there… That’s how I wanted to get with you, but please remember that I’m your friend, first!”

Gabriela exhales smoke once more out the right side of her mouth before somberly turning her head to the right to face forward once more and then moving the roach from her mouth to the ashtray with a blue glow and snuffing it out there. She looks back at Dusk, narrows her eyes, and says, “So?”

Dusk sighs and says, “Okay, I admit I kinda got between your legs a bit faster than I was expecting! But uh, that ass!” before shaking her head and continuing, “But if you don’t wanna have sex anymore right now, that’s also fine! I can just hang out and be your friend!” She leans forward and widens her eyes, “Uh, smoking buddy! Yeah!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “You’re determined, aren’t you?”

Dusk nods her head, “Goddamn right I am Gabs! I don’t care if we’re in a relationship or bucking or not… It’s you I’m after!”

Gabriela closes her eyes before solemnly saying in a lower voice, “Get your ass over here! I’ll roll us a new joint!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits and stares at the joint she just rolled on the coffee table in front of her as she sits in her red EZ-chair. She floats it up to her head and moves one end into her mouth before the yellow disposable lighter flies from the table to ignite in front of the joint and light the end as she inhales. She draws in, before exhaling a cloud of smoke from the right side of her mouth and saying, “Seriously, I don’t usually smoke this much!”

Dusk grins at her from the blue couch on the other side of the room, “Yeah, and yet, here comes joint number two!”

Gabriela looks at Dusk, “Well, I’m actually a bit of a social smoker when I think back on it?” she says while looking her eyes upward towards the ceiling. She looks back down to the other batpony and says, “I’m just uh, not usually this social!” before grinning like an idiot. She then pouts and takes another drag to make the cherry glow.

Dusk frowns, “Oh, okay! Uh, should I go away now, or?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes as she quickly exhales smoke out the left side of her mouth, opposite to her fang, “What? No! Not at all dufus! I just meant…”

Dusk grins and says while chuckling slightly, “D-did you just call me dufus?”

Gabriela floats the joint out of her mouth and turns it to the punker before beginning to make it float over to her and says while widening her eyes, “Well um, yeah I guess I did!”

Dusk leans forward in the couch to catch the floating joint with her mouth and taking a draw to make the cherry glow as it sits between her fangs. She then exhales out the right side of her mouth before saying from there as she looks at Gabriela, “Since when do you have guts?”

Gabriela leans forward in her chair towards the other batpony and grins, “Since I know my best friend Dusk Shine will know that just I’m being silly!” She starts and scrunches mouth as she says wide-eyed, “Oh crap!”

Dusk opens her eyes at Gabriela, “What?”

Gabriela giggles, “I don’t wanna get all sappy with you!” She composes herself, “You know I love you Dusky!”

Dusk narrows her eyes and purses her lips on the joint before taking a drag to make the cherry glow. She exhales out of right side of her mouth before smiling and saying, “I love you too Gabs!”

Dusk lifts her neck and loosens her mouth’s grip on the joint so Gabriela sees before causing it to glow blue and float back her direction. She opens her mouth to catch it on the right side and takes a draw, causing the cherry to glow before exhaling out the other side of her mouth.

“Hey, since we’re about to suck some fruit and turn in anyway, I was thinking I could just crash here, on your bed, with you?”

Gabriela says out the left side of her mouth, “Yeah, that’s fine sweetie!”

“And um, maybe butt stuff too?” Dusk says as a slow grin forms on her fanged mouth.

Gabriela narrows her eyes as she takes another drag before causing the now glowing and smoking joint to float out of her mouth. She looks to the left and exhales a cloud of smoke there from between her fangs and then looks back and asks, “What is it with you and my butt?”

Dusk leans forward to catch the joint in her mouth, opposite her fang on the right before looking at Gabriela and saying out the left side of her mouth, “Okay fine! You caught me! I’ll confess!” she narrows her eyes, “I wanna be your ass addict Gabriela!”

Gabriela starts and leans forward wide-eyed, “W-WHAT?”

Dusk quietly snickers to herself while taking a drag from the joint. The cherry glows and she soon exhales out the left side of her mouth before looking at Gabriela and saying out that same side, “Oh shit! There she is again! Puffy cheeks! Puffy cheeks!”

Gabriela pouts with her now red cheeks and says at a lower tone, “I’m gonna get you!”

“Oh yeah?” Dusk says from the other side of the half-joint in her mouth. She narrows her eyes and continues, “What are you gonna do?” before pursing her lips on it and causing the end to shine once more.

“Oh um,” Gabriela says as her head shakes. She looks at Dusk, “you’ll see! It’s gonna be bad! Really bad!”

Dusk snickers as she exhales smoke from the left side, “Oh, I’m shaking in my metal horseshoe’s Gabs! You’re so scary!”

“Shut up!” Gabriela says while beginning to pout again.

“You’re really cute when you get flustered, you know that?” Dusk says while leaning forward with a grin on her fanged mouth.

“You piss me off constantly, and yet, I still smoke with you?”

“Aw! You know I love you, Gabs!” Dusk Shine says while playfully leaning forward.

“Well, what if I ripped on you then?” Gabriela says while raising her right eyebrow.

Dusk lifts her head to signal Gabriela, who then floats the joint back across the floor towards her. She looks back down at the unicorn, “Okay, this I gotta see!”

Gabriela floats the roach to the right side of her mouth, opposite to her fang and stares wide-eyed at the punker while saying in a squeaky voice, “Oh, I’m Dusk Shine! I have spiky hair and am into punk rock! Bleh!”

Dusk snickers, “Seriously? Cause that was spot on!”

Gabriela looks wide-eyed at Dusk, “Really?”

Dusk shakes her head while continuing to grin, “No! Not really!”

Gabriela chuckles while pursing her lips and making the cherry glow, “Yeah, I didn’t think so either…”

“You’re goofy!”

Gabriela exhales smoke out the left side of her mouth, “No U!”

Dusk Shine giggles, “Yup! Definitely a goofball!” She looks intently at Gabriela as she furrows her brow, “You know what this means, right?”

Gabriela tightens her lips onto the joint and takes another drag before floating it back to Dusk, who soon grabs it with the cleft of her right forehoof in the air. She then looks up and exhales a sizable cloud over the two batponies, before looking back down at Dusk, “That we’re both goofy batponies?”

Dusk opens her eyes wide while holding the roach at her right with her forehoof and says, “Yup! We’re surely doomed now!” before bringing the joint to her mouth for another drag.

Gabriela closes her eyes as she can’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous both ponies are now acting.

Dusk brings her forehoof to her mouth to take a puff of the joint as she chuckles to herself.

Gabriela looks at Dusk, “So uh, how does a couple of apples sound before we sleep?”

Dusk exhales over the ponies, “Sounds good!” before bringing the joint to her mouth for her second hit and then holding her hoof high to signal Gabriela while she holds the hit in her lungs.

Gabriela looks at what’s left of the joint and causes it to glow before levitating over to her. She inhales to make the cherry glow before floating it back out of her mouth and exhaling smoke between the two ponies and saying, “That’s too hot! Uh, I think that’s it?” and then looking at her ashtray to float the joint there and snuff it out by moving it back and forth. She looks back at Dusk, “Ready to eat and turn in now?”

Dusk looks at Gabriela, “You bet, sweet cheeks!”

Gabriela pouts slightly but decides to ignore it as she looks over to the table at her right and causes the cabinet door of her black wooden table to glow and open itself to reveal a yellow bowl of apples inside, roughly 8 inches wide and 5 inches deep. This soon glows blue and floats in the air to the stained wood coffee table between the two batponies. Gabriela looks at the bowl and scrunches her brow as she causes two of the red apples to glow and float over to the table in front of Dusk. She smiles her fanged grin before causing two more apples to glow and float over back to the table on her right. She then widens her blue eyes before causing the red apple on the right to glow and float up to her face where she ravenously bites into it with her fangs and begins to suck the juice out, causing it to noticeably wither before she floats it back down to the table next to the other apple.

Dusk sees the apples in front of her and snags the one to on the right with her forehooves before hungrily bringing it up to her face to suck the juices out with her fangs as her yellow slitted eyes narrow in pleasure.

Gabriela shakes her head and looks to the apple on the other side before causing it to float to straight to her face quickly with a blue glow as she opens her mouth to catch the apple in her fangs and suck the juices out voraciously.

Dusk sets down the husk with her forehooves before picking up the other apple and bringing it to her face to bite deep with her fangs and suck the juices out… It soon shrivels to another husk with her fangs in it and then, she carefully sets the other husk down.

Gabriela smiles and floats over her pale blue trashcan from the left side of her chair to her front and then, all 4 apple husks soon float in with the same blue glow. The trashcan then silently floats back to it’s original place… Gabriela looks at Dusk and says, “That was a tasty way to cap off our munchies! But uh, we should probably get some rest now?”

Dusk looks up to Gabriela wide-eyed and hopeful, “After you make me your ass addicted slave?”

Gabriela starts before getting to her hooves in front of the chair, “Knock it off!”

Dusk snickers as she returns to her legs on the floor, “Worth a shot! We’ll get em next time!”

<*****>

As Gabriela slept once again in the hooves of this punk rock batpony, she couldn’t help but feel a deep attachment to her. She somehow, now felt at home inside the forelegs of her friend, and she couldn’t help but wonder exactly what this is? She knew she cared for Dusk Shine and very much enjoyed hanging out with her and smoking and talking… But she couldn’t help but wonder if that’s all there was? She finally decided to just close her eyes and rest…

Gabriela emerges in a fog inside a meadow somewhere. She looks around, but notices that nothing is clearly visible past a certain point and her exact location is a complete mystery to her. She leans forward and calls out, “H-hello?”

“You’re doing well!” a calm feminine voice says from behind the batpony.

She turns around to see the larger imposing dark alicorn there with a swirling colorful mane and tail. She instantly recognizes her as her patron princess, Luna there, standing a mere 5 feet from her. She leans forward and says wide-eyed, “Why did you want to talk to me again?”

Luna smiles down at the unicorn, “I wanted to check on you and see how your progress was coming along before I turned in for the day… So, do you like your new friend?”

Gabriela frowns and says, “Well, yeah! But I can’t shake this feeling that there’s something else going on though? I mean, we’re having sex now and doing everything together, just like it was a relationship! And yet…” before looking down with a bewildered look in her blue slitted eyes.

Luna trots a few feet to Gabriela and lifts her chin with her right forehoof to face the princess, “There are many forms of love Gabriela… But once you have it, you should never let it go!”

Gabriela’s eyes normalize, “So uh, I love Dusk Shine?”

Luna smirks as she tilts her head to the right, “Well, what do you think?”

Gabriela looks off to her upper right before back at the princess without moving her head, “Okay, I love Dusk Shine! But doesn’t this mean that she’ll hurt me later? Ponies aren’t trustworthy!”

Luna lowers her right hoof to the ground and narrows her eyes at the unicorn, “What makes you say that?”

Gabriela stares blankly at her princess’s neck, “Well, because many of them have not been good to me in the past…”

Luna looks down at Gabriela fiercely and narrows her mouth, “How is that Dusk Shine’s fault though?”

Gabriela looks at Luna’s face, “Well, it’s not her fault?”

Luna smiles, “And has she done anything to make you believe that she’s not trustworthy, so far?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Um, no? So far, so good!”

Luna tilts her head to the right, “So from this, wouldn’t you say that Dusk Shine deserves the benefit of a doubt?”

Gabriela suddenly becomes flustered as her eyes narrow and she says at a higher volume, “Why doesn’t anypony get it? I don’t wanna play this game anymore! I just wanna be alone with me, my books, and my cat! I don’t want anypony to ever bother me!”

Luna frowns, “Doesn’t that sound like a hollow, meaningless life to you though? Dusk Shine once reached the conclusion that she’d rather not live that life…”

“But I’m not Dusk Shine! I’m Gabriela!” Gabriela shouts with her eyes shut as her body shakes slightly.

Luna smiles, “So? Ponies are social creatures…” She cranes her head down to Gabriela, “Do you recall that I was once trapped alone on the moon for a thousand years?”

Gabriela looks up at Luna once more, “Yes, I do remember that! That was very hard on us batponies and I lived in a colony on the East side of the forest back then…”

“Cherish your friends and lovers Gabriela!”

“Ugh!” Gabriela groans as her the dreamscape disappears in a miasma of swirling colors and the sweet embrace of darkness and slumber once again overtakes the unicorn of the night…

(To be continued…)

Chapter 10: Pre-party

Gabriela stirs while snoozing in the fetal position in the hooves of the punker behind her… She also feels the soft comforting feeling of the toy she’s clutching to her chest with her forehooves…

She wrinkles her nose before a familiar squeaky batpony voice asks from behind, “Whatcha got there, Gabs?”

Gabriela starts as her slitted blue eyes open wide, “Nothing!”

“Uh, no Gabs! You’re obviously holding something in your hooves! What is it?” Dusk says as she attempts to climb over Gabriela behind her.

Gabriela then tightens her body around the pink plushie, “I don’t have anything… You should look behind you! There’s a distraction there!”

At that point, Dusk Shine giggles and curves her forehooves down to begin tickling Gabriela in her pits!

“He he he! Knock it off, jerk!” Gabriela giggles.

“Not until you surrender it! What do you have, Gabriela!” Dusk says at a louder volume while continuing to tickle Gabriela.

“Okay! Okay! It’s a plushie! It’s a plushie! Stop tickling me!” Gabriela says while continuing to snort and giggle.

Dusk removes her hooves from Gabriela’s pits and says, “See? Was that so hard? What kind of plushie do you got?”

“Um, it’s uh…” Gabriela trails off inaudibly.

“Uh, what Gabs? I didn’t catch that?” Gabriela hears from behind her as she feels gelled spikes touching her neck.

“It’s Pinkie Pie!” Gabriela finally blurts out before clutching the plushie tightly once more in the fetal position.

Dusk looks up over Gabriela’s shoulder to see her adorably snuggling a large Pinkie Pie plushie to her chest before saying, “Why would you be ashamed of that, Gabs?”

“Well um…” Gabriela trails off again in her speech.

“Gabs, speak so I can hear you please! We are friends here after all! Well, friends who buck, but whatever!”

“I like plush toys! I like to snuggle them, and I know they won’t judge me when I talk to them or use what I say against me later…”

“AWW! That’s cute Gabs!”

“Yeah, well…” Gabriela says before more tightly clutching the plushie to her chest, “I gotta go put this one up with the others, in the closet now…”

“How many plushies do you have, Gabs?”

“Uh, forty-two by my last count!”

Dusk moves her head back and Gabriela feels the mane gel stop touching the back of her neck, “Forty-two! That’s a lot!”

“Well um, I like them and they’re my little friends…”

Dusk smiles, “That’s okay too Gabriela! I have a little punk pony plushie with a mohawk that I sleep with!”

“Really?”

Dusk snickers, “No, not really! But I always wanted something cool like that! Uh, why Pinkie Pie?”

“Huh?”

“Well, there are lots of ponies in Equestria and many of them have plushies made after them. Why Pinkie Pie specifically?”

Gabriela giggles nervously, “Her fearless optimism and cheerful demeanor always helped me when I was feeling low…”

At that point, Gabriela gives a loud “EEP!” as she’s embraced tightly by the punker![1]

Gabriela can barely croak out, “Why are you hugging me?” to Dusk Shine as she’s held firmly.

Dusk says, “Because I know what that’s like!”

“Know what what’s like?” Gabriela barely manages to stammer out as she’s held firmly in the other batpony’s forehooves.

Dusk finally releases Gabriela, who then gasps for air while Dusk says, “I know what it’s like to need hope… A reason, you know?”

“Geez! Not everything is so dramatic, Dusk!” Gabriela says, while continuing to gasp for air.

Dusk replies lowly, [2] “Oh, I’m sorry… I get wrapped up in myself sometimes…”

Gabriela sighs, “No, you know what?” She looks up to once again feel Dusk’s mane-gel on the nape of her neck, “That’s okay too, Dusk! Because I’m glad that I can bring meaning to your life… Maybe this is what I needed?”

“Huh?”

“Well, yeah!” Gabriela looks down again, “I mean, I went to work, go home, got stoned, read, and took care of my kitty… But well, maybe there was more for me after all? I don’t know. There was always something missing, and I just couldn’t put my hoof on it! But at the same time, I really don’t think I wanted to admit it either?”

At that point, Dusk snickers and says in a squeaky cutesy voice, “You love me, Gabriela!”

“Um…” Gabriela starts with this realization in her bleary head as she just woke up, “Yeah Dusk! I guess I do, but uh…”

“But what Gabs?”

“I gotta pee!”

Dusk snickers and releases Gabriela from her forehooves, so she can slide off the bed to her hooves on the floor. She floats the big soft Pinkie Pie toy over to her closet door, which magically opens with a blue glow, so she can deposit the toy on her closet floor before softly shutting it with her telekinesis. She turns and trots to exit door before magically opening it while making the doorknob glow and trots down the hall.

<*****>

Gabriela trots into her kitchen and sees Dusk sitting there and smiling at her at the white table to the left and her fridge on the right with the coffee maker just beyond it on the counter with some black brew starting to percolate down into the pot. She looks over at Dusk, “You made coffee!”

“Yup! And don’t worry! I know my Gabber Buns and know she likes her coffee strong!”

A thought occurs to Gabriela at that point, but she shakes her head to ignore it as she trots into the room and beyond the table before turning her head to the right to see more coffee pouring into the karafe there. She looks up and forces the left cabinet door to open with a blue glow and floats out a white coffee mug to the green marble cabinet, just to the left of the maker. She then causes the pot to glow and move out from under the maker so that the sneak-a-cup engages, and it stops making coffee so she can pour coffee into her mug before floating the karafe back to the maker, where it soon starts to brew and pour coffee into the pot once more after the system re-engages.

She trots over to the table on the other side of the kitchen, with her coffee mug in her magical tow on the top left, before sitting down with her back to the wall and facing Dusk and gently floating her mug down in front of her.

“I thought you took it blond?” Dusk says with a curious look in her slitted eyes.

Gabriela starts and looks up with half-open blue eyes, “Yeah, but I usually drink it black when I wake up… Helps get me operational again!”

“Oh! Well, that makes sense!” Dusk says before grasping her coffee mug in her forehooves and tentatively chancing a sip. She smacks her lips before saying, “Yeah, still way too hot!”

Gabriela looks up at Dusk and softly giggles, “Well, it just came out of the pot!”

Dusk smiles, “Right! So uh, how did you sleep?”

“Oh, I slept well! Being in your hooves seems to calm me down and I can just relax!”

Dusk smiles, “And Pinkie Pie helped too, right?”

Gabriela’s cheeks redden slightly as she stares down, “Well um, yeah…”

Dusk observes the night unicorn carefully, “Why do you act so ashamed of it?”

Gabriela looks up again, “W-what?”

“Well first, you act as if you sleeping with a plushie is ‘bad’ or something and like you need to hide it…” She leans forward slightly, “And now, you’re acting embarrassed? It’s like you don’t want to admit that you need comfort. Everypony does Gabriela! Ain’t no shame in it!”

Gabriela chuckles as she magically floats her cup to her mouth for a timid sip before smacking her lips and saying, “Still too hot! Uh, well I guess that makes sense. So, me having a bunch of plush toys is fine?” before looking up to Dusk again as her glowing coffee mug floats back down to the table.

“Sure thing, Gabs! You need comfort and that’s where you get it!”

Gabriela smiles softly, “I guess it’s different when I have somepony here to tell me these things, right?”

Dusk smiles back, “Friendship!”

Gabriela widens her eyes and says at a slightly higher volume, “Right! My plushie addiction is fine!”

Dusk looks over with curiosity, “Addiction?”

Gabriela shakes her head, “Uh, nevermind!” She straightens it, “So, what do you wanna do before work, Dusk Shine?”

Dusk leans in again and smiles, “I was thinking, we both take a personal day and relax for another day…”

Gabriela frowns at Dusk, “You’re a bad influence on me!”

Dusk smiles wider, “But, your still gonna do it, aren’t you?”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “No! Maybe! Shut up!”

Dusk snickers, “Yeah, lemme get this coffee down and I’ll go fly out there! You have explosive diarrhea!”

Gabriela starts, “Why that?”

Dusk snickers, “Because it’s funny!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Can’t we just say I got a bad cold or something?”

Dusk shakes her head, “Not as funny!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Come on!”

Dusk busts out in laughter, “Fine! You have the flu now! Whatever!”

Gabriela frowns, “So uh, what should I do while you’re away?”

Dusk leans forward, “Well, why don’t you put a few stuffed friends in your bed and we’ll smoke up together and have a wonderful stoned snuggle session?”

“Huh?” Gabriela asks curiously with wide eyes.

Dusk smiles, “Well, you like snuggling, right?”

Gabriela frowns and normalizes her eyes, “Um, yeah…”

“And you like getting high with your best friend too, yes?”

Gabriela widens her eyes and scrunches her mouth, “Of course!”

Dusk rolls her eyes, “So, doing both together, should be fine!” She leans forward with a big grin on her fanged face, “Right?”

“Yes!” Gabriela says while blankly staring at the punker. “But I still think you’re a bad influence!”

Dusk smiles, “But, I’m a lot of fun!”

Gabriela chuckles softly, “Yeah…”

Dusk nods, “Great! I’ll drop by my guy’s place and get a dime for us to smoke on the way back! You just worry about coffee baby!”*

“Baby?” Gabriela stammers out while narrowing her blue slitted eyes.

“Well…” Dusk begins to say as she rolls her eyes again and tilts her head slightly to the right, “I can just go back to calling you ‘sweet cheeks’ if you like?”

Gabriela starts as her cheeks begin to redden slightly, “No no! Baby is fine!”

Dusk straightens her head, leans forward, and snickers, “There she is! So cute!”

Gabriela shakes her head as she decides to ignore this as well before looking down and magically floating her coffee to her mouth to take another cautious sip.

Dusk takes her coffee mug in her forehooves and sips again before setting it down and smiling at Gabriela.

Gabriela starts as she magically sets down her coffee mug, “What?”

“You’re so pretty!” Dusk says while continuing to smile.

Gabriela widens her eyes, “Hey, I just woke up! I don’t need this right now!”

Dusk tilts her head slightly to the left and frowns, “Don’t need what?”

“To be told uh, that!” Gabriela says before magically taking another sip of her coffee.

Dusk straightens her head and frowns, “That your pretty? Why would that ever be an issue?”

Gabriela shakes her head, “I just uh…”

Dusk giggles slightly and smiles, “Don’t believe it, right?”

Gabriela stares at the punk, “Uh…” she looks off to the bottom right side with her eyes, “No, not really…”

Dusk smiles wider, “’Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Gabs! You know, you’re always gonna be beautiful to somepony out there!”

Gabriela widens her eyes and scrunches her mouth again, “I guess that’s true?”

Dusk nods, “Damn right, it is! Besides, you also realize that you’re all you got! So, rock that shit! Whatever it is!”

Gabriela chuckles as she takes another sip of coffee. She feels that it’s cooler now and so, she begins to sip more aggressively as she continues to smile[3] at the obstinate nocturnal pony, who would dare live her life![4]

“And you’re beautiful to me Gabriela!”

Gabriela starts and chokes slightly on her black coffee as she sputters and a few drops spray from her mouth. She floats the cup back to the table as her face grimaces and she then causes the napkin on the upper right side of the table to glow blue and begin floating to her face to magically wipe it off. It floats back down to the table, and she looks at Dusk before saying, “Was not ready that time!”

Dusk smiles and tilts her head slightly to the left, “AWW! I’m sorry cutie pie! I’ll try to time my admiration for you better from here on out!”

Gabriela widens her eyes to this batpony, “D-do you actually think I’m pretty?”

“Oh geez, Gabs! Haven’t we already been over this twice already?” Dusk stammers out.

“Oh um,” Gabriela looks down, “I’m sorry…”

Dusk narrows her eyes, “Um, you know what? We can take as long as you need to, okay? I mean, I get wrapped up in my own shit and you got uh… that!”

Gabriela looks up and smiles, “Yeah, we’re all kinds of bucked up, aren’t we?”

Dusk grins and giggles, “Yeah, but we’re bucked up together!”

Gabriela joins her friend in giggling, “Yeah…”

Dusk grabs her cup in her forehooves and takes one final mighty swig! She sets it back down on the table and says, “For the road! I’ll be back in about 30 minutes to an hour, okay honey bunches?”

Gabriela frowns at Dusk, “What is it with you and pet names, anyway?”

“Well, I just like them! And it has nothing to do with testing the waters to see if I can make you blush, I assure you of that!”

Gabriela starts as she feels her cheeks begin to rise slightly.

Dusk grins wide, “I mean, I would never want my Gabber butt buns batpony booty queen to ever feel embarrassed and start to blush!”

Gabriela’s cheeks are red once more as she angrily says, “STOP IT!” to the other giggling batpony.

Dusk slides forward off her chair down to her hooves while in a fit of hysterical giggling and she trots around the right side of the table to Gabriela’s seat, and she leans into kiss Gabriela on the lips once more.

Gabriela’s eyes narrow as she feels the sensation of this other pony who loves her against her lips. She thinks about how she and Dusk first met at the plant and how she honestly never gave it much thought before now.

Dusk disengages and draws her head back to her body, “Love you honey bunches! Be back soon!” before trotting to the backdoor, opening it with her right forehoof, and trotting out and then shutting it behind her.

Gabriela soon hears the ‘WOOSH’ of Dusk taking off to fly West while she sighs and magically brings her coffee cup to her face for another swig.

<*****>

Dusk flaps her leathery wings to land in Gabriela’s darkened front yard. As Dusk walks to the front door, she can’t help but think that Gabriela would do better to plant grass in her yard, rather than use gravel like she was now. She opens the door with her mouth and trots in, past the door as it opens to her left. She walks into the living area and calls out, “Gabs! I got us some snacks from the store, papers, and some soda! Yeah, I know you like Blue Cola as I’ve seen you buying it from the machine at work!”

Dusk hears a soft voice in the other room, “I’m in here sweetie! Come on in and put your haul on the table! I got something for you!”

Dusk trots into the kitchen just beyond the first room while staring intently forward and she sees Gabriela sitting at the table on her right. There’s two glasses of a blond liquid on the tabletop and a small glass of ice next to them.

Dusk looks at Gabriela, “Uh, what is this?”

Gabriela smiles, “I made us each a double vanilla cappuccino and I thought that while you were away, they’d cool down. And so, that’s why I got us some ice! We can have yummy, iced cappuccinos together now!”

Dusk widens her eyes, “Wow! I didn’t know you could do this?”

Gabriela smiles her fanged grin, “Yeah! Come sit down with me and we’ll drink coffee!”

Dusk chuckles softly as she trots to her chair, with the door to her back, “Yeah, I got us another dime of that funky hydro stuff from Cloudsdayle! Uh, he’s not out yet!”

“Obviously!” Gabriela squeaks back before turning her head at the glass of ice and causing 2 cubes to glow blue and float from that glass into the other glass in front of Dusk. “Try it baby!”

“Baby?” Dusk says while lifting her right eyebrow and leaning forward to grasp her glass in her forehooves. She tilts the coffee back and leans her head to take a mighty swig! She then cautiously sets the glass down on the table and looks at Gabriela with a slight grimace as her eyes narrow, before stammering out, “Pretty stout! Yummy though!”

Gabriela smiles as her fangs widen and she squeaks, “Glad you like it darling!”

Dusk scrunches her mouth and narrows her eyes at the other batpony, “Okay, what is it with you and pet names all of a sudden?”

Gabriela looks at Dusk wide-eyed, “You were doing it earlier!”

Dusk smiles and giggles, “And I bet you think turnabout is fair play, isn’t that right?”

Gabriela looks up, “Well, not until I tickle you?” She looks back down at Dusk, “But we’re getting there!”

Dusk snickers, “You know, I’ll just retaliate, right?”

“Well, I’ll just have to hit you back harder then, won’t I?”

Dusk widens her eyes and guffaws as she says, “Dusky Gabs Tickle Wars! The final conflict!”

“Of course!” Gabriela says before floating the two remaining ice cubes to her glass and then levitating it to her mouth to take a drink.

Dusk leans forward and narrows her eyes to Gabriela, “Why are you in such a good mood? Did you take a few puffs without me?”

“Um, no not really?” Gabriela says before shaking her head, “I just like being with my good friend Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles, “You mean, good friend and buck buddy, right?”

Gabriela’s cheeks begin to turn slightly pink, “Uh, right!”

“Keep glowing, tasty cheeks!” Dusk says while giggling and grasping her glass in her forehooves again and taking a sip of her coffee.

Gabriela frowns, “So uh, I guess we’ll smoke here and use my glass ashtray?”

Dusk sets her coffee down, “Go right ahead!” before reaching into her right saddlebag with her mouth to pull out some gold labelled rolling papers and a small baggy with green herb in it. She uses her mouth to snap the bag shut before reaching over to her right bag with her mouth and taking out two 20 oz. bottles of a brown soda with blue labels and a bag of barbecue potato chips.

Gabriela floats the papers and weed to her side of the table before nonchalantly saying, “Barbecue! My favorite!”

“I know!”

Gabriela looks up at the smiling spiky maned batpony before back to the papers and says, “Well, it’s better than red label! Let’s see here!” before looking at the baggy of herb on her right and floating out a nug to the table, next to the papers. She opens the book of papers with her magic and pulls out a white paper and lays it flat in front of her on the table before hovering the nug over it and causing it to glow as the various buds of weed separate and lightly land onto the paper below. She looks at the paper and magically arranges the herb into a line on the paper, lengthwise, while leaving half an inch open on one side of the paper.

The paper soon glows blue and floats up to Gabriela as she looks at it with her slitted eyes as her curved horn also glows and it soon begins to roll up from the bottom. Gabriela licks it with her forked tongue and seals the joint before putting resting her tongue out the left side of her mouth, opposite her fangs while twisting the joint and saying, “I can feel with my magic that there’s still a little too much air in there! Gotta tighten this guy up before we can smoke it!”

Dusk smiles, “Oh cool! Well, let’s fire it up! Get this party started!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*In stoner slang, a “dime” means a gram of pot. Usually, about 2 to 4 joints, depending. In Equestria, a bit or so is a fair price for a dime, depending on what it is and where you got it.

Chapter 11: Protecting Your Flanks

Gabriela floats the joint to her lips and causes the cherry to glow as she takes a drag. She mentally counts to five before turning her head to the right and exhaling. She looks back at Dusk Shine across the table from her, “Yeah, I usually go to the head shop for papers, but whenever I have to use the corner store, I always get Task gold label papers!”

Dusk nods, “Good to know!” and then takes a swig of her iced cappuccino with her forehooves.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “So, since we’re apparently not working tonight and being irresponsible, what do you wanna do after we smoke?”

Dusk smiles, “Don’t you remember loading your bed up with plushies?”

Gabriela starts and chirps, “Uh, yes! I TOTALLY did that! Uh, you’re not allowed to enter my room until I say otherwise!” before floating the joint to her lips for her second drag.

Dusk giggles while the cherry lights up and Gabriela smokes, “You didn’t plushie up the bed yet, did you?”

Gabriela throws her head back and exhales smoke above her before looking back down at Dusk, “Now, whether I did it or not is not the question! The only thing that is important is that it will DEFINITELY be done before you walk in!”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah! Didn’t prep the bed yet!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes as she floats the joint back to Dusk, who promptly lifts her right forehoof to grasp it in the cleft. As Dusk takes a drag, Gabriela chitters, “So, you like holding me and snuggling me?”

Dusk exhales some smoke over to Gabriela’s left side at the table before staring at her and chirping mockingly, “Wow Gabriela! You’re smart!”

Gabriela grimaces while Dusk takes another drag, “Okay! I get it! You love me!”

Dusk quickly exhales smoke to her right and looks to the night unicorn, “Now, you’re getting it!”

Gabriela looks down as her wavy violet mane falls down over her shoulders, “I still don’t know why though?”

“So, I need a reason to love my best friend now?” Dusk says before frowning and bringing her right forehoof to her mouth for another drag.

Gabriela looks up at Dusk as the she inhales and the cherry glows “Uh, I wouldn’t think so?” before looking at the table and taking a long slow drink from her coffee using her magic. She floats the glass back down to the table and looks up, “I’m just not used to that!”

Dusk exhales smoke over Gabriela, “Yeah, being alone is very different, right? You can really only count on yourself, and you know you’re the only one who gives a buck!” before holding her right forehoof up with the burning joint to signal the unicorn.

Gabriela giggles as she causes the joint to float out of the other batpony’s hoof, “But now I got you, don’t I?”

“Yup! Your best friend who’s into punk rock and anarchy!” Dusk chirps while the floating joint goes to Gabriela’s lips and the cherry glows as she inhales. Dusk smiles and continues, “And who loves your flanks!” before Gabriela coughs slightly and lets loose some smoke in front of the giggling punker.

Gabriela finished exhaling the smoke before saying, “What is it with you and uh, that?”

Dusk frowns and widens her eyes, “Uh, I think you’re sexy!”

Gabriela widens her eyes and floats the joint back to her mouth to take another drag.

Dusk frowns, “I’ve been telling you this for days now, Gabs! You’d think it would sink in by now?”

Gabriela raises her head to exhale above Dusk once more. She lowers her head and floats the joint over to Dusk before chuckling and saying, “I guess I’m pretty hardheaded, right?”

Dusk grabs the joint in mid-air with her right forehoof before saying, “Like titanium!” and then takes a drag off the half-joint.

Gabriela nods and says, “Yes, of course!” while Dusk takes a drag of the joint and causes the cherry to glow. Gabriela then takes another magical sip of her coffee.

Dusk exhales over the unicorn before saying to her, “Every friendship is different, you know?”

Gabriela nods while swallowing and mentally causing the coffee to go back to the table, “Well, right! I mean, Nightshade is still my friend, but I wouldn’t buck her!”

Dusk brings her forehoof to her face for another drag while Gabriela looks at her intently…

“But you would, right?” Gabriela says while staring carefully and frowning…

Dusk quickly exhales smoke to the right of the unicorn with a slight cough, “Actually, I haven’t bucked her in about a week now!”

Gabriela floats the roach to her from Dusk’s hoof after the punker raises it to signal while saying, “Is that unusual?”

Dusk nods, “Yeah! I mean, Nightshade can easily please herself and she never has trouble finding strange,[1] so I don’t think she really minds?” before frowning.

Gabriela takes a puff from the glowing nub in her mouth and causes the embers on the end to glow as some ash falls to the table in front of her... She starts back and shortly exhales above Dusk before looking down at her and casually saying with a smirk, “But you don’t need her anymore, because you get that from me now?”

Dusk starts, “Well, not for THAT anymore uh…” she says as she trails off…

Gabriela narrows her eyes as she inhales from the glowing joint once more.

Dusk looks at the unicorn with narrow greenish yellow slitted eyes, “Surely, you know by now that this isn’t just sex?”

Gabriela starts as she coughs slightly and exhales some smoke to the right of the other batpony. She looks at the punk rock pony[2] and says, “No Dusk! We’re WAY past that point now!” She leans forward while mentally causing the nub to float back to her friend and smiling, “But it’s a nice bonus for you, am I right?”

Dusk catches it in her right forehoof again and says, “Dammit Gabs! I like you for you! The fact that you happen to have THAT attached to your back is a nice bonus, I’ll admit! But I’d still be here, with or without your rump, Gabs!” before taking a drag and causing the cherry to glow.

Gabriela chuckles with her fanged grin, “Yeah, but if I don’t tease you about it, then how would I have any fun?”

Dusk waves her forehoof in the air as smoke sporadically exits her mouth, “HOT! HOT!”

Gabriela widens her slitted eyes and looks up to float the joint out of Dusk’s waving forehoof and down into the ashtray before moving it back and forth to snuff it out while staring at it intently. She looks up at Dusk and says, “Are you okay?” with a frown and worried expression in her eyes.

Dusk smiles, “You should know by now that I’m tough, Gabs!” before grabbing her untouched iced cappuccino in her forehooves and gulping down roughly half of the tall glass of blond coffee at once in front of a wide-eyed night unicorn.

“I see!” Gabriela says, almost robotically.

Dusk set her coffee down and then smiles as she leans forward, “How you feeling, Gabs?”

“Whoa!” Gabriela says as she shakes her head and then stares at the punker with a dazed look in her blue slitted eyes.

Dusk’s eyes widen as she gives a fanged grin, “Good shit, right?”

Gabriela nods slowly with a glazed over look on her face.

Dusk smiles and says, “Told you, I got the hookups!” before taking another powerful swig of her coffee with her forehooves to finish off all but the last inch inside her glass with the now half melted cubes inside.

Gabriela can only nod and magically float her glass to her lips as it shakes in the air while she struggles to concentrate. She takes a drink to finish off all but the last 2 inches inside the glass.

Dusk just giggles as she takes the last mighty gulp down her throat to leave three mostly melted cubes of ice in the bottom as she sets it down. She looks at Gabriela, “So uh, finish your coffee and we’ll go snuggle with your friends!”

Gabriela starts wide-eyed as her mind snaps back to reality and she says, “Of course!”

<*****>

Dusk enters Gabriela’s darkened room after the door opens and she trots to the center of the floor, before moving her body to face Gabriela’s closet, to her back left after entering. She says, “So uh, which friends did you wanna snuggle Gabs?” with her fluffy ears perked in the direction of the night unicorn as she trots in the door behind her.

Gabriela turns her body to her left, and looks at her closet door, before causing it to glow blue and it swings open towards the wall on the right to reveal a large collection of stuffed bears, stacked neatly on the right side, with larger bears on the bottom and progressively smaller ones higher up!

Dusk widens her eyes, “That’s uh, not a small amount of bears!”

Gabriela giggles slightly before causing several of them to glow blue and float to the bed with her mind. She looks at the bed and mentally focuses while scrunching her brow to neatly arrange all the bears systematically onto the bed with her blue magical glow, with the two larger bears to the back, the light brown near the foot and the dark brown bear at the head. She turns her body to face Dusk and says emphatically while leaning forward. “I like bears! They’re soft and snuggly!”

Dusk smiles as she looks over to Gabriela on her left, “And Pinkie Pie too, right?”

Gabriela starts and shakes her head before nodding and saying, “Um, yes!”

Dusk leans her head to the bed on her right, “Well, shall I get in so I can hold you?”

Gabriela frowns.

Dusk trots over to her, kisses her softly on the lips and says, “It’s okay Gabriela…” before turning and trotting to the bed on the other end of the room at her right, getting in on her left side with her head at the head of the bed, and moving the big dark brown bear behind her before using her forehooves to scoot two light brown bears about a foot in front of her. She leans back and pads on the spot behind them with her right forehoof. “Come on in Gabs! I even put a couple of friends in front for you to snuggle too!”

Gabriela smiles and trots to the bed before getting in on her left side, parallel to the punker and then scooting back over the two bear plushies and into Dusk behind her. She smiles as she feels the familiar gooey feeling of Dusk’s mane gel on the back of her neck and soon feels forehooves going over her body to embrace her against the other batpony. Then, a leathery wing goes over Gabriela as well! She then grasps the two bears in front of her as she smiles and says, “I love you Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles and cuddles Gabriela from behind while holding her in her hooves and wing as she says, “I love you too Gabriela…”

Gabriela then timidly says, “Um, no Dusk… I really love you…”

Dusk then nervously says, “Uh, I really love you too Gabs…”

Gabriela sighs and says, “So uh, wanna go out with me sometime?”

Dusk is silent while holding onto Gabriela tightly…

“Uh, Dusk? Did you hear me?”

“Yes Gabs… I heard you…” The other batpony says before sighing and continuing to snuggle Gabriela.

“Well? How about it? Wanna be my marefriend?”

“Yes… Yes I do Gabs… And that’s what scares me…”

“Why would that scare you, Dusk?” Gabriela says uncertainly.

“Because…” Dusk stammers out before snuggling Gabriela more tightly and remaining silent.

Gabriela gasps out, “Because what Dusk?” as she’s held firmly in the hooves of the other batpony, with a wing draped over her…

“Because uh, oh gosh! I’m sorry!” Dusk says before loosening her grip on Gabriela.

Gabriela gasps for air.

“Are you okay Gabs?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! Why does loving me scare you?”

“Because this is different!”

“Different? Different how?”

“Well…” Dusk stutters out, “I mean, yeah, sure! I went with Nightshade for a while! And yeah, sure! We got freaky and did a lot of things together… That’s all true, but it wasn’t like this?”

Gabriela sighs, “That still doesn’t answer my question…”

“Yeah, I’m getting there Gabs!” Dusk exclaims. She says lowlier, “When I was with Nightshade, or the one before her, or well, any of the mares earlier, it wasn’t serious… Gabriela… I kinda uh, wanna keep you!”

Gabriela looks up with a start and quickly chirps, “Yup! Clearly a moron!”

“Would you stop that already, Gabs? I could tickle you again, you know?” Dusk says while pulling her wing all the way back and putting her forehooves back near Gabriela’s pits.

“Alright! Alright! Cease fire! I won’t tell you how stupid you are anymore!”

Dusk giggles while moving her forehooves back forward and keeping both wings behind her to cuddle the bear this time, “And yes Gabs! I’d like to date you!”

“Is this what you wanted?”

Dusk sighs again, “Well, the truth is, I didn’t really know what I wanted from you?”

Gabriela replies tentatively, “That doesn’t make any sense. If you didn’t know what you wanted from me, why would you come to me in the first place?”

“Well…” Dusk continues lowly[3] as she sighs before continuing, “there was something about you…”

“Huh?” Gabriela says as her head visibly starts in the darkened room.

“Yeah!” Dusk chirps, “Just uh, sweet lovable Gabriela… The pretty night unicorn I work with…”

Gabriela is silent for a moment before finally chittering, “You really do think I’m pretty, don’t you?”

“Titanium!” Dusk quickly chirps out!

Gabriela giggles, “Oh, now who’s being a cantankerous pain in the flanks?”

Dusk lightly snuggles and snickers, “Had to get you back!”

“Yeah, I know! I’ve been fighting you this whole time!”

“And yet, I still won!”

“Yeah…”

Dusk holds Gabriela more firmly, “And now I got her! Flanks and all!”

Gabriela snickers, “Butt stuff again?”

“All the time!”

Gabriela smiles her fanged grin as she’s peacefully embraced by this leather clad spiky haired rebellious batpony and soon, closes her eyes for a dreamy devil weed nap…

<*****>

Gabriela emerges in a fog and sees that she’s once again surrounded by trees as it dissipates in the air around her. She looks around with her slitted blue eyes and can’t help but notice a friendly looking alicorn night princess before her. She smiles, “Luna again!”

Luna smiles down at the night unicorn as her galactic mane dances to her left, “Greetings Gabriela! I wanted to see how you were?”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth, “Well honestly, I’m kinda confused…”

“Oh?” Luna says while widening her cerulean eyes.

“Well, right!” Gabriela nods. “This wasn’t the plan!”

“What do you mean?” Luna says while frowning down at her.

Gabriela starts and looks at the alicorn sternly, “This wasn’t what I wanted to do!”

“But are you not having a wonderful time with Dusk Shine?” Luna says while frowning with a hesitant look in her eyes.

“Well, I am, but…” Gabriela says while looking up with her eyes.

“But what, child?” Luna asks as she leans forward while frowning and narrowing her eyes.

“But this isn’t what I wanted!” Gabriela says before shaking her head. She looks back at Luna, “I wasn’t supposed to fall in love! I was supposed to just keep to myself with my coffee, books, and happiness… “

“But are you not happy now, Gabriela?” Luna asks curiously while tilting her dark blue head slightly to the right.

“Well, um…” Gabriela looks up once more before turning her eyes back to the dark alicorn, “Yes, I suppose I am…”

Luna frowns, “So, how could you have a problem with this?”

Gabriela fiercely replies as her body shakes in anger, “Love is fake, okay? Ponies don’t care about other ponies! Well, not really!” She rolls her eyes while chirping, “Oh, sure! They’ll pretend to care! They’ll do stuff for you sometimes! But the truth is, they’re only doing it, so they’ll feel good and stroke their own egos!” She leans back forward with wide eyes and says while shaking her head lightly, “But it’s not legit! They don’t truly care! I know that nopony really cares about me, Luna…” She stops shaking her head, “I know that it’s always fake… I know that I’m better off alone and yet…” She closes her eyes and looks down before opening them widely to the princess, “I just can’t tell Dusk Shine to buck off!”

Luna smiles, “Because you’re in love!”

“Oh great! Here we go again!” Gabriela says whimsically while rolling her eyes.

Luna’s eyes widen and mouth opens in surprise.

Gabriela hotly continues to the night alicorn, “Yeah, it’s gonna be great at first! FANTASTIC even!” She lowers her gaze, “But then, she’s gonna change! Because that’s what happens!” She glares at Luna harshly, “That’s what ALWAYS happens! No!” She turns her body around to face the darkened forest and looks off to her right and says more quietly, “I shouldn’t let that happen…” She straightens her head to face directly into the woods and glowers determinedly, “I can’t let that happen!” She sighs and looks down, “Of course, this means I need to find a new job?”

Luna exclaims at a higher volume, “SLOW DOWN GABRIELA!” She takes a few trots towards the night unicorn so Gabriela hears her more clearly, “Don’t you think we should talk about this? Did I not already tell you that Dusk Shine is not like those other ponies?”

Gabriela mutters, “I still don’t believe in love…” mechanically while glaring straight into the abyss blankly.

“And yet, you have love for another pony! Is that not strange?” Luna says while widening her eyes.

Gabriela scrunches her mouth as she stares with a furrowed brow and annoyed expression in her blue eyes, “Maybe? But…” She glares down to her left, “Dusk Shine doesn’t have love for me… Not really…”

“And how can you be so sure, Gabriela?”

Gabriela looks forward into the woods, “Because like I said, love is fake… There is only power!”

“What?” Luna asks curiously while leaning forward.

“Relationships are all about being used Luna!” Gabriela says sternly before nodding.

“And what makes you say that?”

“Because that’s all friendship and love actually are! Just ponies using one another!”

Luna says incredulously, “Then, why did you make awesome coffee for you and your love?” before tilting her head slightly to the right.

“Because…” Gabriela starts, “Because I care about her and wanted her to have something good to drink when she returned…”

The alicorn corrects her head, “Because you love her! And so, why don’t you wish to continue with her?”

Gabriela smiles as she stares into the deep forest as she says sardonically, “Because all this hype about love and togetherness is just a façade… We always end up alone anyway…” She raises her left eyebrow as she looks on grimly, “So, what’s the point? It is better to be alone than to live in fantasy…”

“Tell me Gabriela… What do you feel when Dusk holds you?” Luna takes another pace to Gabriela, “When she kisses you?”

Gabriela stares into the woods blankly, “I feel…passion… I don’t feel alone all of a sudden…” She looks to the lower left again, “But it’s not real!”

“How can you be so sure?”

Gabriela stares off to her lower right, “Well uh, I guess I can’t, can I? I mean, I certainly feel something when we kiss? When she holds me?”

“Do you love Dusk Shine, Gabriela?”

“Um… I uh…” Gabriela turns her gaze to the center while looking downward and sighs, “I guess I do?”

Luna then says inquisitively while raising her left eyebrow and leaning forward slightly, “So, since you in fact, love Dusk Shine, don’t you believe it’s within the realm of possibility that Dusk Shine also loves you?”

Gabriela turns her body to Luna and looks up at her, still questioning and unsure, “Uh, I guess that’s possible? I mean, “she looks to her lower left from Luna, “she probably also loves me?”

Luna finishes trotting to Gabriela and lifts her chin with her right forehoof and looks deep into the slitted blue eyes of this puzzled unicorn of darkness, “Don’t you think she deserves a chance? Do you believe you owe Dusk Shine that much?”

Gabriela stutters out, “Well uh, I love her… And she more than likely loves me back…”

Luna then smiles warmly at Gabriela and says exuberantly, “Then that’s truly all you need, child! Go and have fun with your love!” before lowering her right forehoof to the ground… Soon, a fog begins to rise from the ground suddenly and quickly as Gabriela begins to feel herself return to consciousness. “Have fun in Sticky-Butt-Land!” Luna calls out as Gabriela returns to the waking world.

<*****>

Gabriela opens her eyes suddenly and says, “Wait what?” as she half giggles to herself.

Dusk Shine is holding Gabriela from behind in her forehooves with a big dark brown bear behind her as she says, “Uh, what’s so funny Gabs?”

Gabriela lowly mutters to herself, “Just fifteen minutes without mentioning my ass! Just fifteen minutes…”

“What?” Dusk stammers out while half giggling.

“Um, nevermind!” Gabriela says before shaking her head. “Uh, hey Dusk? Would you let me go so I can turn around and face you?”

Dusk releases Gabriela from her hooves and the night unicorn begins to adjust herself and turn her body to face the spiky haired batpony.

She smiles at Dusk, “I love you Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles her fanged grin back, “I love you too Gabs!”

Gabriela then giggles as she gently nuzzles Dusk’s nose with her own while continuing to smile.

“What’s gotten into you?” Dusk asks nervously while leaning back slightly.

“I just love you, you little fanged leather-clad rule breaker!” Gabriela says whimsically while giggling slightly.

“Okay, now who’s dumb?” Dusk says while giggling and then nuzzling Gabriela back.

“This shall not go unavenged!” Gabriela says while giggling.

“Huh?” Dusk starts and moves back slightly with a wide-eyed confused look in her slitted eyes.

Gabriela then moves her right forehoof from the bed to touch Dusk Shine’s nose and presses while saying, “BOOP!”

Dusk giggles before looking up and saying, “Great! I have a unicorn batpony marefriend now!” She observes this smiling horned batpony snuggling her from the front carefully, “And she’s insane now!”

(To be continued…)

Gabriela will meet Luna in a dream where they will talk about Dusk Shine.

“This wasn’t the plan” speech by Gabriela.

---

were you trying to say 'she has trouble finding strange ponies?'
this almost seems kind of redundant when you refer to Dusk. Maybe just change it to 'she looks at her'?
what does this mean?

Chapter 12: Sex, Drugs, and Relevance

Dusk Shine lays there on her left side, underneath the covers, surrounded by stuffed bears, and staring at this delirious blue-eyed batpony before her, “Uh, you okay Gabs?”

Gabriela starts and shakes her head slightly before staring at the spiky haired batpony, “What? Why wouldn’t I be okay Dusk?”

Dusk narrows her greenish yellow slitted eyes, “You’re just uh, acting really goofy! I mean, what got into you?”

Gabriela blinks, “I uh…” She looks down, “Do I have to tell you?”

Dusk frowns, “Uh, not if you don’t want to?”

She looks back at the punker before her and smiles her fanged grin again, “You really do love me, don’t you?”

Dusk smiles, “Of course I love my titanium-headed stoner marefriend! Uh, you are my marefriend now, right?”

Gabriela blinks again as her mouth grows small before she mumbles, “I think so? That’s what we agreed upon before laying down, wasn’t it?”

Dusk widens her eyes as she giggles slightly and stammers back, “Um, right! I think it was!”

Gabriela smiles again, “Yes! And you’re my spiky maned, leather clad, rebellious marefriend then, yes?”

Dusk blinks, “Um, right! That I am!”

“So, we’re together now? Officially, or whatever?”

Dusk smiles wide-eyed as it begins to dawn on her what she has gotten herself into as she stutters, “Right!”

“Right! So, what do you wanna do now, marefriend?” Gabriela says while leaning towards the punker and almost nuzzling her as she continues to smile.

Dusk stares at Gabriela wide-eyed, “Uh, don’t you usually smoke when you wake up?”

Gabriela giggles slightly, “No, I think I wanna stay straight for this!” before nuzzling Dusk gently on her nose and staring into her eyes.

“What are you doing, Gabs?” Dusk nervously twitters with a fanged frown.

Gabriela giggles softly, “Trying to convince my love to ride my face!”

“That’s not exactly straight, Gabs!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits at the polished wooden table in her kitchen and stares at the punker dreamily from across the table while she uses her magic to sip coffee. She sets down the white coffee cup in her blue grasp and it promptly stops glowing as she looks onward with her blue eyes at the nervous spiky-maned pony before her.

“So uh, you’re okay then?”

Gabriela starts out of her daydream and blinks, “Why wouldn’t I be okay, Dusk Shine?”

“You’re just acting weird! Weirder than usual! And you turned down a smoke sesh for sex!”

Gabriela smiles as she leans forward slightly, “You’re my drug of choice now, Dusk Shine!”

Dusk frowns, “Oh dear!”

Gabriela leans forward more and continues to smile at Dusk.

“Uh, sip your coffee, Gabriela! Sip your coffee and I’ll be right back!” Dusks says before dismounting her chair on the left and then turning her body to trot back to Gabriela’s room.

Gabriela leans back again and watches wide-eyed and frowning while the punker trots back into her cottage.

Dusk returns 5 minutes later with a loaded purple blockhead pipe, red disposable lighter, and a little plastic zip-up sandwich baggy of devil weed in her mouth, arranged left to right. She lowers her head to the table and opens her mouth so the three objects fall. The pipe and lighter make a small rattle while the baggy plops down silently.

Gabriela frowns at Dusk, “What is this?”

Dusk Shine stares into Gabriela’s blue slitted eyes, “Gabriela, listen to me very carefully… (Gabriela nods solemnly with her mouth agape) I don’t know what got into you, but you need to be taken down… This herb will do that!”

<*****>

Dusk shakes her head to cause her spikes to swirl for a moment before staring at Gabriela, now with a glowing hash pipe in her mouth and floating lighter at the ready, “Wait! So, you met Princess Luna in a dream? I thought she was just a myth?”

Gabriela blinks before causing the lighter to spark at a downward angle from the left to ignite a flame that soon travels into the bowl as she inhales and magically operates the carb on the right side of the pipe by tapping. She starts and brings her head back before coughing slightly and raising her head to exhale the smoke over the two ponies. She looks back down at Dusk, smiles, and chitters, “Oh, Luna is very real!” She leans forward and frowns, “And apparently, she wants us together now! She said I found love or something?”

Dusk frowns and widens her eyes, “Well uh, didn’t you?”

Gabriela smiles and leans forward as the glowing pipe moves out of her way to the left, “Of course I did, my spikey wikey leather wearing revolution ball!”

Dusk narrows her eyes, “Okay, that’s new! And annoying!”

Gabriela giggles and smiles, “He he he he!”

Dusk starts, shakes her head, and looks back at Gabriela, “Your second hit Gabs! Take it now! In fact, have a third!”

Gabriela only dreamily stares at the other batpony and smiles with her blue eyes fixed.

Dusk frowns and stares wide-eyed, “Gabs! You gonna take your hits?”

Gabriela starts as she shakes her head, “Oh, right! We were smoking, weren’t we?”

Dusk smiles psychotically and nods as she stammers out, “Yes Gabs! Now take three hits in rapid succession, right now!”

Gabriela blinks, “Oh! Right!” before moving her head down to the glowing mouthpiece and pursing her lips around it. She looks to the lighter and causes it to spark while she inhales while riding the carb, so the flame goes to the bowl and the smoke fills the chamber. She releases the carb with her magic to cause a straight hit of devil weed to go rushing into her mouth and soon tastes sweet earthy flavors on her forked tongue as the smoke rolls down into her mouth and to her lungs. She releases the mouthpiece, starts, and looks up to exhale smoke over Dusk.

Dusk nods, “Good Gabs! Okay! Two more! And then, you can tell me about Luna!”

Gabriela widens her eyes to the other pony before looking back to the front of the pipe, closing her lips around the end, sparking the lighter, and inhaling to take another hit while tapping the carb this time. The smoke travels into her mouth and she again, tastes the same sweet earthy flavor as the smoke pours into her throat. She releases the pipe, looks to her right, and exhales there as Dusk watches on.

“One more Gabs! Whenever you’re ready!”

Gabriela looks back down at her pipe with a sleepy look in her stoned eyes. She’s not sure exactly what this strain is, but she does try to make a mental note to ask later before she moves her face to the mouthpiece and puckers to inhale for her final hit. She tastes the same flavor, only slightly burnt now as it creeps into her mouth and back past her tonsils to travel to her lungs.

At this point, Gabriela feels a deep warm feeling inside her before she looks up and exhales a puff of smoke… She looks down at Dusk and smiles…

“How you doing Gabs? All better now?” Dusk asks apprehensively while leaning forward with wide open eyes.

Gabriela moves the floating pipe down to the table while looking at it before back up at the other batpony, “I feel good now lover!”

Dusk smiles as she giggles slightly, “Okay, that’s a pet name I can live with!”

Gabriela smiles and giggles.

Dusk leans forward, “So, what’s Luna like, anyway?”

Gabriela frowns, “Well, she seemed to genuinely care about me and said she wanted me to go out into the world and to have friendship and love?”

Dusk narrows her eyes, “Well, you’re her child, right?”

Gabriela looks up, “Uh, I think so?”

Dusk corrects her eyes and smiles, “Well, think about it! Let’s just say, you had a foal! A little unicorn batpony filly, right?”

Gabriela looks down at Dusk and narrows her eyes, “Okay?”

Dusk starts, “Right!” and nods, “And let’s just say that all this filly ever did was keep to herself, read, and drink coffee! Uh, okay pretend this filly is old enough to drink coffee!”

Gabriela frowns, “Go on?”

Dusk widens her eyes as she leans forward, “Would you or would you not be a little concerned about that filly?”

Gabriela starts and says wide-eyed while leaning forward slightly, “Well, maybe she’s just an introvert? Those kinda ponies do exist, you know?”

Dusk starts, “Well, yeah! But ALL the time, Gabs? Even most introverts get out once in a while! You should read about Fluttershy in my book later!”

Gabriela giggles softly and smiles, “Maybe I will?”

Dusk smiles, “So, what do you wanna do now?”

Gabriela smiles, “Well, I never did get my last turn back there? I kinda wanted to, well, you know…”

Dusk frowns, “It seems my new marefriend is horny in more ways than one tonight!” She straightens her glare at Gabriela, “Okay, but first, we’re gonna finish this bowl and load another!”

<*****>

The two batponies are laying on Gabriela’s bed, with their own pillows at the head and over the covers naked while staring up at the whirring ceiling fan with their slitted eyes. Dusk’s spikey anklets and leather harness are neatly folded away on the table on the other side of the room. Dusk looks at Gabriela to her right and asks, “How’s your asshole doing?”

Gabriela gives a wide-eyed start before looking slightly to her left and asks, “What is it with you and butt stuff?”

Dusk smiles, “Well, you know what they say about butt stuff!”

Gabriela frowns, “Uh, what about butt stuff?”

Dusk smiles wider, “It gets better in the end!”

Gabriela giggles, “Shut up!”

“No U!”

“Jerk!”

“Pretty face!”

Gabriela starts, “I’m gonna get you!”

Dusk chuckles, “Haven’t we already established that I’m not afraid of you?”

Gabriela squints her right eye, “I dunno? Maybe?”

Dusk looks all the way to Gabriela on her right to see two beautiful slitted blue eyes staring back at her. She can’t help but smile when she sees those two eyes and instinctively moves forward to nuzzle her love while softly giggling.

Gabriela nuzzles back and softly pecks Dusk on the lips before whispering, “I love you!”

Dusk smiles, “I love you too Gab! You still high?”

Gabriela frowns, “Well, I rode your face for a while and the buzz is gone anyway? Still feel pretty mellow though…”

Dusk nuzzles Gabriela softly, “That’s good baby… I love it when you feel good…”

“Obviously!”

Dusk nuzzles Gabriela’s nose, “So, do you get it now?”

Gabriela giggles, “Is this what you want, Dusk Shine?”

Dusk giggles, “No! I’m snuggling and nuzzling my wonderful marefriend for no inexplicable reason!”

Gabriela giggles too, “Right! I mean, why does anypony do anything?”

Dusk knows that words aren’t important anymore… She knows that Gabriela feeling her love and being there for her is all that matters at this point… She also knows that she needs to kiss Gabriela again, and so she does… Deeply and passionately… This ignites a spark in both batponies as they both feel so alive in each other’s hooves and being in love…

Dusk removes her lips from Gabriela’s muzzle while Gabriela smiles back and asks, “We’re not gonna fall asleep again, are we?”

Dusk frowns, “I hope not? We could always have sex again?”

Gabriela softly giggles, “No Dusk… I got all I need right now…” before moving her left forehoof over the spiked mane of the other batpony.

Dusk smiles, “Yeah, this moment is so freaking perfect… I don’t wanna tell you that I’m starving!”

Gabriela snickers softly, “Yeah, me neither… Let’s not bring that up for at least a little while longer, okay?”

Dusk snuggles closer, “It’s a deal!”

<*****>

The glowing apple soon shrivels dry while being attached to Gabriela’s fangs before leaving her mouth and floating back to the table, where it promptly stops glowing. Gabriela looks at Dusk and says, “Okay, I think three is the magic number?”

Dusk exclaims wide-eyed from the other side of the table, “Celestia! Three apples! Was that the munchies or sex appetite, I wonder?”

Gabriela shrugs and giggles, “Why not both?”

Dusk shakes her head, “Eh, doesn’t matter!” before looking at Gabriela, “You’re fed now, right?”

Gabriela nods, “Oh yeah, snookum bookum leather bear!”

Dusk narrows her eyes and leans forward slightly, “I’m gonna have to get used to that now, aren’t I?”

Gabriela giggles, “Probably!”

Suddenly, there’s a knock-on Gabriela’s door in the foyer, behind Dusk Shine.

Gabriela raises her head and squeaks inquisitively, “Who is it?”

She can hear the muffled somber voice behind the door say, “It’s me, Nightshade! Is Dusk still in there?”

Gabriela starts as she lowers her head and stares blankly before leaning forward, towards Dusk and whispering, “Should I tell her you’re still here?”

Dusk rolls her eyes and looks to her left before shouting, “Yeah Nightshade! I’m still here with Gabriela!”

Both batponies hear the muffled voice say, “Alright! Just checking! Haven’t seen you in awhile! I’ll be home!”

Dusk stares back at Gabriela blankly and says, “I hadn’t realized I’d been here for so long!”

Gabriela leans forward and smiles, “Yeah, it’s almost like we’re in love or something?”

Dusk leans forward and smiles back, “Naw! Now why would I ever love a beautiful, charming night unicorn with a pretty smile, wonderful personality, and sexy flanks anyway?”

Gabriela starts as she narrows her eyes and frowns, “You’re gonna pay for that?”

Dusk giggles, “For what? Telling you how great you are?”

Gabriela raises her voice, “Oh, you know EXACTLY why I’m mad now!”

Dusk snickers more, “No Gabs! Enlighten me!”

“Because you’re being a jerk!”

“What?” Dusk gives a wide-eyed start, “How is me telling you how pretty and sexy you are, being a jerk, Gabs?”

Gabriela narrows her slitted blue eyes, “Oh, you KNOW why!”

Dusk sighs, “I’m not gonna get a straight answer here, am I?”

Gabriela smiles and giggles at the other pony, “We’re WAY past that point now, dear!”

Dusk leans forward and asks inquisitively, “So uh, what do you wanna do now, Gabs?”

Gabriela giggles, “Whatever you wanna do is fine, Dusk baby!”

Dusk rolls her eyes, “Somehow, I knew that was gonna be my answer!”

Gabriela smiles wider and giggles more.

Dusk frowns deeply as the fangs lower on her face, “Well, we’re being irresponsible anyway, right? Might as well go the full nine!”

<*****>

Gabriela takes the final drag off the glowing joint, currently floating in front of her with her lips pursed on the tip. She starts and exhales to the left of Dusk Shine, currently sitting before her in her backyard. She smiles and says, “That tip is probably no good after this. I’ll just throw it on the ground and my yard pony will nail it with the lawnmower in a couple of days! Cardboard is biodegradable!”

“Yeah… Hey, wanna stare at the stars and talk with me, Gabs?”

Gabriela smiles and says, “Sure thing!”

Gabriela turns her body to her right and then lays on her back from her haunches to stare up at the sky while Dusk reciprocates on the other side. She looks up at the beautiful night sky and says, “It’s been awhile since I’ve done this!”

Dusk smiles, “Yeah, the stars are so pretty, aren’t they?”

“Yeah…” Gabriela can only stammer out as she stares out into space and her heart now flutters at the thought of this batpony lying to her left beside her.

“You ever wonder just how important you actually are, Gabs? I mean, the universe is just so big, you know. Does anything really matter?”

Gabriela softly replies, “Well, you mean a lot to me now, Dusk Shine?”

Dusk coughs, “Yeah, and you mean the world to me too, Gabs!”

“Maybe…” Gabriela starts before staring back up, “Maybe, that’s all you really need, you know? Sure, we’re not mega-famous and sure, we don’t really run with that many ponies… But maybe it’s what you do have that means something?”

“Yeah…” Dusk says as she stares deep into the empty void, “I mean, my whole world is currently lying next to me!”

Gabriela giggles softly, “Yup! Clearly out of her mind!”

Dusk snickers too, “Knock it off!”

“Jerk!”

“Sexy butt!”

Gabriela grins, “Speaking of things that need to stop!”

Dusk giggles, “Oh baby, we’re just getting started!”

Gabriela looks off slightly to her left towards the punker, “No U!”

(To be continued…)

Chapter 13: Rethinking

The two batponies lay on the grassy ground with Gabriela to the right and Dusk Shine on the left. They both stare up at the bright starlit sky as Gabriela asks, “Why do you love me again?”

“Ugh! Do I have to constantly tell you how great you are, Gabs?”

“I dunno?” Gabriela says while lowering her eyes towards her body. She lifts them back up to the sky, “I just don’t understand why anypony would ever actually want love at this point?”

“Um, wow… Well, there’s lots of ponies in love, right? And they all seem to think it’s great?”

Gabriela points her eyes skyward, “You sure about that Dusk?”

Dusk starts, “Well, what do you mean? Why would they stay together and keep being affectionate to one another if they didn’t?”

“Well, think about it!” Gabriela starts to say analytically, “Society says that love and togetherness is SO important! Yet, there are lots of ponies who do just fine all by themselves!”

Dusk blinks, “Well, I did try to kill myself because I needed more?”

“That may be true Dusk… But there are other things in life, you know?”

Dusk turns her head towards her love on the right, “Gabriela, are you trying to tell me that there’s things that can be just as fulfilling as loving you?”

Gabriela shakes her head and looks back at the sky, “I dunno? Probably?”

There’s a silence before Dusk says, “Wow! You really don’t think much of yourself, do you?”

Gabriela frowns, “Um, I guess not? I was just going to be alone and happy when you came knocking at my door!”

Dusk sighs, “Gabriela, are you happy that I knocked on your door a few days ago?”

Gabriela blinks, “I think so?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Gabriela says as she closes her eyes. She opens them back up to the night sky, “Like I said, I was just going to be by myself… Now I keep wondering when this is all gonna go south and I’ll have to break up with you?”

Dusk briefly pauses before chittering, “Pessimistic much, Gabs?”

“Uh, a bit I suppose?”

“Look!” Dusk says emphatically as her bright yellowish green slitted eyes gaze firmly at the heavens, “I want my dope smoking book-pony of the night and you want your… Ugh!” She closes her eyes before opening them again, “I can’t believe I’m saying this! But you want your nocturnal leather clad spiky rabble-rouser… And this is fine for now! You ever think that your thinking makes things WAY more complicated than they need to be?”

Gabriela giggles slightly, “Yeah, I do have a bad habit of overthinking!”

“Right!” Dusk nods, “And that’s why I’ll be here to sit you down, make you puff some dope, and actually think about why you’re thinking about things so much!”

“Wow!” Gabriela says with a wide-eyed start at the black nothingness above, “You really do love me!”

“Now who’s being stupid?”

Gabriela giggles slightly, “Shut up, idiot!”

Dusk snickers, “Moron!”

“Fucktard!”

“Dipshit!”

At this point, both batponies can only stare at the sky and laugh!

Dusk Shine finally asks, “What do you wanna do after this Gabs?”

“Buck would I know? Just sit back and enjoy the sky now baby!”

Dusk chuckles again, “Right! Live in the moment!”

“There we go!”

<*****>

As Gabriela sits at the café table underneath the awning outside, she stares at Dusk across the table and asks, “Was that illegal, what we just did?”

Dusk giggles in her chair, “I dunno? Probably?”

Gabriela snickers, “Yeah, it’s irresponsible chaos tonight, right?”

Dusk raises her right forehoof high in her chair, “Anarchy in Ponyville!”

Then, both batponies giggle hysterically as Gabriela begins to feel the effects of the devil weed she had just smoked on the way there.

Gabriela soon notices a teal unicorn waitress standing behind Dusk to her right and waves her right forehoof above her head to signal her and the waitress soon trots alongside Dusk to get between the two batponies on the side of the table, to the right of Gabriela. She turns to them, smiles, and says, “You two again! What can I get you this morning?”

Gabriela looks at the waitress as the wind blows her blond mane and squeaks before opening her menu on the table and points with her right forehoof at Double cappuccino written on the right side before squeaking again at the waitress and moving her forehoof to where it says, Peppermint chocolate before giving an affirmative chirp!

The waitress smiles, “Double peppermint chocolate cappuccino! Nice choice!” She looks at Dusk on her right, “And what would you like Dusk Shine?"

Dusk moves her forehoof to the right side of her menu where it says, Single latte, squeaks, and moves it to, French Vanilla.

The waitress smiles and says, “Single French vanilla latte! Alright, I’ll have your coffee out to you soon!” before turning and trotting away towards the door, behind Dusk.

Dusk smiles at Gabriela and perks her fluffy ears that way, “So, we’re having coffee again!”

Gabriela smiles, “Yeah, and it was your idea I might add!” She grins wider, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re starting to like coffee because of me?”

Dusk starts as she shakes her head slightly, “No! Maybe! Shut up!”

Gabriela’s eyes widened, “That’s my line!”

Dusk smiles, “I don’t see your name on it?”

Gabriela frowns, “That doesn’t make any sense! You can’t put my name on a line!”

“Exactly!” Dusk leans forward and widens her eyes, “Free reign!”

Gabriela widens her eyes even more as a thought occurs to her, “Uh, Dusk… Have you read any books recently? Even a novella or maybe a short story?”

Dusk leans back and frowns, “Uh, no not really…” She squints her right eye, “Why do you ask?”

Gabriela shakes her head slightly, “Uh, well it seems like we’re becoming more like each other now? I mean, you’ve been smoking dope and barely drank a glass of wine the other night and I’ve been breaking rules! And now, you wanna drink coffee with me!”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah, we’re becoming a lot alike now, right? Hey!” She leans forward, “Wanna spike your mane? Or no, buck that! We should buzz the sides and mousse up the rest! And add some neon blue swirl highlights to your purple color!”

Gabriela giggles, “Now you wanna make me all punk rawk?”

Dusk nods slightly and grins, “Hell yeah!”

Gabriela can only glare at this punk rock batpony, “Uuuuuhhhh…”

Dusk widens her eyes, “Come on Gabs! It’ll be badass!”

Gabriela finally grins again and giggles slightly, “Uh, we’ll put that down as a maybe for later…”

Dusk fixes her eyes and continues to smile, “I’ll get em next time!”

Gabriela sighs, “Okay, before we did what we did on the way up here…”

Dusk cuts her off, “Smoked a bowl!”

“Uh, right!” Gabriela raises her right forehoof beside her head before pointing it at Dusk, “That!” She lowers her hoof, “Before we smoked on the way up here, we were talking about love and why I’d want it?”

Dusk nods, “Right!” She mimics an ancient earth pony emperor as she throws her hooves out to her sides, “Well, are you not entertained?”

Gabriela snickers, “Right! Living in the moment! Uh, I still think you’re a jerk for making me love you!”

Dusk smiles her fanged grin and tilts her head to the right, “Well, what are you gonna do about it?”

Gabriela leans forward, “I’m gonna love you back!”

Dusk straightens her head and puts her forehooves to her mouth, “Oh no! I’m so scared!”

Gabriela leans more, “And then, I’m gonna take ALL of your hugs and snuggles!”

“The horror! The horror!”

Then, Gabriela notices the teal waitress standing at the table to her right while holding a tray with two coffee mugs in her white magical grasp closer to Dusk. Even though she doesn’t think the waitress can understand her, she chitters inquisitively, “Uh, how long have you been standing there?”

The waitress just snickers and begins to float a medium sized white coffee mug in front of both Dusk and Gabriela before the tray turns vertical and floats to her right side.

Gabriela looks forward blankly and blushes towards Dusk while the punker snickers back at her. The waitress soon turns right to trot off back to the door, behind Dusk.

The two batponies sit in silence for a moment as Dusk silently giggles and Gabriela can only stare forward vacantly.

Finally, Dusk widens her slitted eyes and perks her fluffy ears at Gabriela before asking, “Uh, you okay Gabs?”

Gabriela snaps and looks at Dusk, “We were just cute there uh, weren’t we?”

Dusk frowns, “Are you surprised?”

“Yeah…” Gabriela looks down to her right, “I didn’t think I could well…” She looks back at Dusk, “I truly love you, don’t I?”

“Whoa!” Dusk gasps with mouth agape, “It does happen! She gets it now!”

Gabriela leans forward again, “So uh, we’re marefriends now, right? Does this mean we’re gonna go on dates and kiss and talk and snuggle?”

Dusk smiles, “Well, when I’m not messing with those flanks anyway!”

Gabriela frowns and blushes, “You’re gonna pay for that!”

“He he he! Puffy Cheeks the batpony is at it again!” Dusk giggles before taking a powerful swig of her latte.

Gabriela shakes her head slightly and looks down to magically lift her cup in a blue glow to take a strong sip herself. Her eyes widen as she realizes that it’s still very hot! She swallows quickly and lowers the cup back to the table and looks at Dusk, “So um, I guess this means I should sit with you at lunch when we’re working at the plant together?”

Dusk frowns, “If we get the same lunch that day, sure!”

“Uh…” Gabriela stammers out, “What about the other workers?”

Dusk leans forward, “What about them? I mean, they’re not in a lesbian relationship! We are!”

Gabriela shakes her head, “It’s not that, that I’m worried about Dusk…” She leans forward wide-eyed, “I mean, we’re coworkers, right?”

Dusk nods, “Right! Coworkers who happen to love each other!”

Gabriela’s eyes widened more, “Right!”

Dusk narrows her eyes to Gabriela, “In fact, I’m gonna do you one better Gabs… I’m gonna request that we always have the same lunch break!”

Gabriela brings her head back and frowns, “Y-can you do that?”

Dusk smiles and says, “Well, worst case scenario, they say no, right?” She leans forward, “But I’m tired of you sitting alone all the time… I’m gonna change that baby…” before using her forehooves to take another powerful swig of her latte and setting it back down.

Gabriela dreamily stares at the spiky maned batpony with a big grin on her face, “That would be really nice, Dusk!”

Dusk frowns, “Seriously though, you ever think maybe you should make some friends?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and frowns, “This is the part where you tell me I should read The Friendship Journal, isn’t it?”

Dusk starts and widens her eyes, “It’s a really good book! It’s uh, life changing!”

Gabriela smiles and giggles, “Obviously!” before magically taking another strong sip of her coffee.

Dusk uses her forehooves for another gulp of her latte before setting it back down, “You’re cute when you drink coffee!”

“What?” Gabriela starts before frowning at Dusk, “How am I cute?”

Dusk leans forward and smiles at the unicorn of darkness, “Just you! My sweet night unicorn!”

Gabriela frowns, “Do I need to start throwing cutesy pet names at you again?”

Dusk giggles, “Only if you want me to start talking about that ass of yours!”

Gabriela smiles and giggles, “And, the battle continues!”

Dusk smiles, “Always!” before grabbing her mug with her forehooves and taking another strong sip.

Gabriela starts as she stares at this batpony before she looks down at her cup and makes it glow blue and floats to her mouth and sips it. The minty flavor of the peppermint excites her tastebuds as she smiles and causes the cup to float back down to the table.

Dusk grins, “Well, we got THC and caffeine now! Good and drugged up baby?”

“Oh yeah!” Gabriela says back with a smile. “Honestly, I almost forgot what it’s like to be on a date…”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah, me too!”

Gabriela leans forward as her mouth changes to normal, “What do you mean?”

Dusk sighs, “Well, sure me and Nightshade did things and stuff, but it was never anything like a relationship, exactly? Truth be told…” Dusk frowns, “Truth be told, all I wanted from you was friendship,” She starts and widens her eyes, “in the beginning… I didn’t rule you out as a potential sex partner, but I didn’t know we would ever be going on dates and kissing and all that lovey dovey junk, you know?”

“I see…” Gabriela frowns, “So, would you say I fulfill a role or need for you then?”

Dusk says back sternly, “Knock it off and sip your coffee Gabs! We’re not having any of that analytical crap on our date!”

Gabriela giggles, “Oh! Right! Yes, of course!” Before looking down to her coffee mug and causing it to float to her face for another sip.

Dusk takes yet another strong sip of her latte and sets it down, “Hey, this is almost cashed! You about done Gabs?”

Gabriela looks up to Dusk and says, “Yeah, just one more good swig and I’m through!” before floating her cup to her mouth for one final gulp.

Dusk smiles, “Well, it’s almost dawn and we both work tonight! You wanna get freaky and snuggle before bed?”

Gabriela shakes her head slightly as she starts and looks at Dusk wide-eyed and inquisitive, “You wanna stay at my place, again? Is this why I’m not getting any reading done?”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah, probably?” She straightens herself to the unicorn and nods, “But yes, Gabs… I want to sleep with you this morning and since we both work at the same place, I’d also, very much like to walk you to work this evening…”

With this revelation, Gabriela can only frown and ask, “It’s like you want to spend time with me and” she gulps, “be with me now?”

Dusk giggles and says whimsically, “Almost got it, but not quite there! Maybe if I say yes, it’ll sink in?” She leans forward, “Yes! Yes Gabriela, I like being with you and spending time with you!”

Gabriela giggles, “Oh, right! Of course!”

<*****>

Gabriela snuggles Dusk behind her as she’s held lovingly in the punk’s hooves on her bed. She smiles when she feels mane gel on the back of her neck and asks, “Something tells me that since you’re gonna be doing this a lot, I should get more pillows?”

Dusk giggles, “Pillows! Yes! Pillows are amazing Gabs! You need more of them!”*

Gabriela giggles as she cuddles the stuffed tan bear to her chest while deeply under the covers inside a cocoon of love with this other batpony. She smiles and says, “I love you so much Dusk Shine!”

Dusk smiles and chirps, “Yay! I own a nerdy nocturnal book-horse now!”

Gabriela snickers, “Stupid!”

Dusk smiles and clutches Gabriela tighter, “Alright moron! Let’s not start that again!”

“Okay idiot! Just hold me now!”

Dusk giggles and moves her body closer, “You got it bunny brains!”

The two batponies snuggle affectionately and fall asleep together, deep under the covers in Gabriela’s small bed.

<*****>

Gabriela emerges on her hooves in her backyard. She sees two small imprints to her left where she and Dusk were laying down and staring at the night sky earlier while the luminescent glow on her right seems far more interesting. So, she turns her body that way and beholds a dark blue alicorn princess staring down at her from about 10 feet away.

Luna smiles and says, “You two are adorable together!”

Gabriela frowns and squints her eyes, “Yeah, maybe?” She widens her eyes again,” Uh, what’s up, Luna?”

Luna continues to smile at the night unicorn, “Surely, you see what’s happening, yes?”

Gabriela turns her body to Luna, “Yeah! I fell in love with Dusk Shine!”

Luna giggles, “Well, yeah! And what do you suppose is going to happen next?”

Gabriela’s eyes widened as she hadn’t considered that, “Well, I guess we’re gonna go on dates now and snuggle and kiss and all that mushy stuff?”

Luna laughs more, “Obviously! But where do you suppose Dusk will want to be now that you two are in love?”

Gabriela frowns more, “Probably with me more often now?”

Luna just snickers as she replies, “Well, technically correct!”

Gabriela squints her right eye, “Did you just call me here to tell me I’m cute and tell me I’m gonna be with Dusk Shine now?”

“Not exactly child…” Luna looks down at Gabriela with narrowed eyes, “Are you aware of what this means?”

“Yeah! I’m in love with a punk rock batpony now!”

Luna shakes her head, “That’s not what I meant.” She leans forward, “Being with Dusk Shine! What does that mean to you?”

Gabriela looks up at the princess with her blue slitted eyes, “Well, it means that we’re gonna be spending time together and snuggling and kissing and being together and uh,” she gulps, “doing sex things together too, right?”

Luna frowns, “You really are hardheaded, you know that?”

Gabriela starts and widens her eyes at the princess, “Okay, just spit it out already! Uh, please Your Highness!” She shakes her head, “I’m uh, apparently too dense to get this!”

Luna looks down deep into Gabriela’s eyes, “I just don’t think you want to!”

Gabriela starts and widens her eyes, “W-what?”

Luna smiles, “Think about it Gabriela! You haven’t been in a relationship in a very long time, right?”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth and narrows her eyes, “Well, rub it in, why don’t you?”

Luna shakes her head, “I mean, it’s been a long time for you! And you’re in a new town now and everything here is strange to you, correct?”**

Gabriela frowns, “Well, yeah! I don’t really know anypony here and would much rather just stay by myself…”

“Do you truly think that’s what’s best for you, Gabriela?”

Gabriela stares blankly at the alicorn’s body before saying, “Well, what choice do I have? I have so much trouble relating to other ponies, and I never know what to say?” and then looks back up to her.

“So, you just give up, right?”

Gabriela cringes as her eyes narrow and mouth tightens, “Now, you sound exactly like Dusk!”

Luna frowns, “You think maybe if more than one pony is saying these things to you, they might have a point?”

Gabriela turns her body to the empty open field behind her as she stares at the starlit grass with her night vision, “Everypony is against me!”

Luna quickly trots to Gabriela’s left side and looks over at the batpony as she stares into the distance, “Why do you say that child?”

Gabriela frowns, “Because I just wanted to be alone and by myself…”

“And Dusk wanted to be by your side instead…”

Gabriela starts and widens her eyes as she says vigorously, “Yes!”

Luna frowns, “And why would that irritate you, Gabriela?”

“Because…” Gabriela winces and closes her eyes deeply before opening them back up to the field, “Because this isn’t what I wanted!”

Luna leans closer to Gabriela, “But, don’t you think it’s what you need?”

“I don’t know anymore, okay? I don’t know what I need…”

Luna leans closer and says imperatively, “Maybe, you need Dusk Shine now?”

“I hate this!”

Luna widens her eyes and leans back slightly, “Why would you hate this, Gabriela?”

“Because it’s confusing okay!” Gabriela turns her head to Luna on her left, “Because I don’t know what to do anymore!”

Luna smiles, “It’s not so simple anymore, is it?”

Gabriela turns her body to the alicorn, “No! It’s really not!” she sighs and looks up at the princess, “This is why being alone is better! Nothing is complicated and I always know exactly what I need to be doing! It’s not like that in a relationship…”

“Because there’s another pony with you!”

“Exactly! I mean, how do I know Dusk is gonna like what I wanna do?”

Luna leans forward slightly, “Maybe, try asking her?”

Gabriela rolls her eyes, “Oh, here we go! See, this is why it’s better to be single! Because I get my freedom and I can do whatever the buck I like! I haven’t been reading much right now because I’ve been so busy smoking and having sex with Dusk Shine!”

Luna corrects her neck and smiles at the night unicorn, “So Gabriela, you’d rather read than have fun with your love?”

Gabriela starts and widens her eyes before saying lowly, “Oh, you’re good!”

Luna giggles softly, “You can read anytime you wish Gabriela. Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to spend time with Dusk Shine whenever you can?”

Gabriela normalizes her eyes and frowns, “Owe it to myself?”

Luna sighs, “Do you or do you not believe that spending time with Dusk Shine is good for you, little batpony?”

“Uh...” Gabriela looks up with her eyes before back at the princess, “probably?”

“Probably Gabriela? Don’t you feel better with somepony by your side that you can be with?”

Gabriela gazes up sternly at the alicorn, “I know it’s been awhile, but I really don’t recall love ever being this annoying?”

Luna laughs as fog begins to envelope Gabriela once more.

“Hey! I wanted to ask you something! Dammit to Tartarus!” Gabriela says as she returns to the waking world once more…

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*I’ll admit that Dusk Shine gets this from me. I love pillows and I sleep inside a “nest” of them on one end of my twin bed. The plushophilia of Gabriela is also from me as I also sleep with many stuffed ponies. They make me feel secure and not alone and I know I can freely play with them and talk to them and they won’t judge me. Suffice it to say, I’ve been in some horrible relationships with awful people in the past…

**”Being in a new town” is my allegory for transgender transitioning. The truth is, while I have had a couple of sexual encounters since I got onto hormones, I haven’t had anything resembling a relationship since that point and I don’t really understand what the dynamics would be anymore or how they might be different from before. I’m exploring a lot of these concepts in my writing. The fact that this happens to be a lesbian romance is irrelevant however, since I appear to be omnisexual. As in, I can take virtually any lover I may choose, or not at all if I prefer.

Chapter 14: Changes

“Ugh!” Gabriela says as she wakes up in the hooves of Dusk Shine on her left side in the bed, with her wavy violet mane over her right eye.

“Mmm!” Dusk stirs as she holds Gabriela before tightening her grip on the night unicorn.

Gabriela’s eyes widen when she remembers that she’s not alone in her bed. She softly whispers, “Dusk Shine! Are you asleep?”

She then here’s a familiar voice behind her squeaking lowly, “Yeah, I’m still asleep Gabs. You should just relax now…”

Gabriela giggles, “Uh, Dusk… I gotta pee!”

Dusk snickers softly before giving Gabriela a final squeeze, which only serves to agitate her full bladder before releasing the unicorn.

Gabriela grumbles to herself as she slowly gets to her hooves on the floor of her room. She turns and trots to her door on the right-side wall from her bed, magically opens it with her pale blue glow and then trots into her hallway and turns left to go to the bathroom…

<*****>

She returns a few minutes later to see Dusk sitting on her pillow on the floor and leaning down while using her mouth to collect some devil weed from a clear plastic baggy on her right before dropping it into the red blockhead pipe on her left, while a yellow disposable lighter sits on the floor to the left of the pipe.

Gabriela frowns and says, “Okay, but I’m getting a cup of coffee first!” before trotting back to Dusk’s left, down the hallway.

Gabriela returns a few minutes later with two floating white cups of coffee hovering on her right as the door opens to the right on the inside and she trots in. She looks down at Dusk, still sitting on her pillow, with another pillow now across from her.

Dusk smiles at Gabriela, “So, you brought me a cup of coffee too!”

Gabriela giggles, “Well, you’re drinking it now, right? Two sugars baby?”

Dusk giggles, “Always! Come on down sweetie! I got a bowl all ready for us!”

“Of course!” Gabriela says as she trots to her pillow while floating the coffee cups with her. She sits down on her haunches and causes the far mug to drift over to Dusk and onto the floor. She smiles and says, “Okay, we got coffee and weed! Right on!”

“Fire it up baby!”

“Yeah!” Gabriela chirps before she makes the pipe glow and float in the air before the mouthpiece turns towards Dusk.

Dusk opens her mouth and the pipe flies in. She seals her lips and begins to inhale as the yellow lighter floats in the air, turns downward towards the bowl from her left and it sparks to ignite a flame.

The fire goes into the bowl, which ignites the weed, and it begins to burn as Dusk inhales the smoke through the far port. Gabriela stops riding the carb and begins to pump it to give Dusk a steady even hit. Dusk brings her head back and starts before looking above the two batponies and exhaling a big cloud of smoke there.

“Okay, round two! Fight!” Gabriela says before she floats the glowing pipe closer to Dusk’s face.

Dusk starts and chuckles with a fanged smile, before pursing her lips on the mouthpiece as a flame forms above it and she inhales to bring it into the bowl again while continuing to suck down the smoke.

Gabriela taps the carb as she says, “I love you baby!”

Dusk starts as her spikes fly back and they soon go horizontal as she lifts her head to exhale smoke once more. She looks back down at Gabriela and smiles, “I love you too baby!”

Gabriela smiles her fanged grin as she causes the glowing pipe to float towards her, “Yeah…”

Dusk looks at Gabriela and frowns, “You okay?”

Gabriela says, “Why wouldn’t I be okay, Dusk?” before the glowing pipe floats to her mouth, which she promptly opens and seals around the pipe. The lighter floats over to her left side at a downward angle and sparks so that Gabriela can inhale the flame into the bowl, which makes smoke, that then travels to her mouth as she magically operates the carburetor on the left side of the bowl. *

Dusk leans forward, “I just need to make sure you’re alright!”

Gabriela exhales some smoke to the right of Dusk before looking back at her, “Oh! Right! Marefriends! Uh…” she leans forward, “Are you okay baby?”

Dusk giggles, “Oh yeah! I’m great! I got weed, my love, and now some coffee too!”

Gabriela smiles, “Because you like coffee now!” before closing her lips on the end of the pipe and sparking the lighter to take another hit as her blue slitted eyes look on at the process.

“Yeah!” Dusk says before taking the coffee in her forehooves and taking a small sip to test the temperature. She sets it back down and says, “Still too hot!”

Gabriela exhales to the left of Dusk and looks back at her, “Well, it did just come out of the pot, silly!”

Dusk frowns, “I’m new!”

“Right!” Gabriela nods, “Fresh batpony coffee addict, ready for assimilation!” before looking at the glowing pipe with her eyes and forcing it to turn in the air and float back towards her love.

Dusk looks back at Gabriela and asks, “So, what sorts of coffee do you know how to make, anyway?”

Gabriela stares back wide-eyed, “Uh, you name it! I own an espresso machine and a French press, on top of a regular maker.”**

Dusk places her lips to the end of the pipe and Gabriela makes the floating lighter go at a downward angle from Dusk’s left to ignite and cause fire to spark there. Dusk inhales to bring the flame into the bowl, where it ignites more weed. Gabriela again taps on the carb so Dusk gets a good hit.

Dusk leans back slightly as she starts and then turns her head to exhale smoke to the right of Gabriela, who says, “Since I’m a stoner, you should learn how to roll a joint!”

Dusk smiles at Gabriela, “Well, I always wanted to learn, but uh, I haven’t found anypony to teach me? I mean, you got magic and so, you’re right out!”

Gabriela nods, “Right! You told me my magic was neat!” She frowns, “Well, I could see if I can find a book at the store for you to read? I mean, they might have something like that?”

Dusk raises her left eyebrow, “Hopefully!” before normalizing her eyes and pursing her lips on the pipe once more.

The lighter sparks at a downward angle again as she inhales the flame back into the mostly burnt bowl, which soon begins to burn as she inhales and tastes the earthy flavor on her tongue as the smoke goes down her throat. Gabriela taps the carb for her and she soon starts and holds the hit in her lungs before looking above the batponies and exhaling. She looks down and says, “About time to cap it off! Set it down in front of me baby!”

Gabriela uses her mind to lower the floating pipe to the floor in front of her love, with the bowl towards Dusk’s left. She frowns at Dusk and says, “I can do that a lot faster with my magic!”

Dusk looks at Gabriela and smiles as she considers her words, “True, but why should you have all the fun?”

Gabriela giggles, “You don’t want me doing everything with my amazing night unicorn magic, isn’t that right?”

Dusk raises her left eyebrow, “You’re smart sometimes, you know that?”

Gabriela smiles at Dusk even wider, “Yeah! Sometimes! Sure!”

Dusk just shakes her head and grins her fanged grin even wider before looking down and using her mouth to fetch more weed and load it into the pipe. She uses her left forehoof to pack down the pipe while holding it with her right as she looks at Gabriela, “Okay! I think she’s ready!”

“Alright!” Gabriela nods. “So, I guess you’re now the loader and I’m the operator?”

“Right!” Dusk says wide-eyed to Gabriela, “We’re a team!”

Gabriela giggles as she makes the pipe float up in the air before herself and turn so the mouthpiece faces her, before gliding towards her face as she says, “A team that gets stoned together!”

Dusk squeaks, “The best kind of team!”

Gabriela squawks out the corner of her mouth, “Amazing!” before causing the yellow lighter to float at a downward angle from her left and spark to ignite a flame, which promptly goes into the bowl as she inhales and magically taps the carburetor.

Dusk stares at Gabriela and says in a low ominous voice, “YES! INHALE! INHALE AND GET HIGH! MWAHAHAHAA!”

Gabriela giggles as she says out the side of her mouth, “Quit it! I’m trying to take a hit!”

Dusk giggles hysterically as Gabriela struggles to stay focused enough to operate the pipe with her magic.

Finally, Gabriela starts and turns her face left to exhale a small cloud of smoke over there, before moving back to Dusk and saying, “Jerk! That doesn’t count! I get another hit now!”

Dusk snickers, “Totally worth it!” before grasping her coffee with her hooves and gulping it down in a mighty swig!

Gabriela shakes her head and purses her lips around the pipe again for another hit…

<*****>

The apple glows blue before visibly shriveling to a sucked-out husk while floating and attached to Gabriela’s fangs. It soon floats back down to the floor.

Dusk frowns, “I like the way you keep a fruit stash in here, so you don’t really have to go anywhere for a quick bite.”

Gabriela nods at her love, “Well, it makes getting ready in the evening quick and easy! Uh…” She looks at her wall clock behind Dusk and says, “Well, it’s just after eight now and we gotta be in at nine!”

Dusk nods, “Right! And I’ll of course, walk you up there and back home!”

Gabriela smiles, “Right! And then, you fly back to your place…”

Dusk blinks, “Right!” before picking up her own apple off the floor in her forehooves and moving her face down to bite it with her fangs and she sucks the delicious juices out as it withers to a shriveled mass before she sets it back down on the floor and smiles up at Gabriela.

Gabriela leans forward slightly with wide eyes and says, “I love you baby!”

Dusk looks up at Gabriela and smiles back, “I love you too darling!”

Gabriela smiles, “I’m starting to feel all warm and fuzzy inside!”

Dusk widens her slitted eyes, “Yeah, I know! Weird, right?”

Gabriela’s eyes widen as well, “Yeah!”

Dusk narrows her eyes and says seriously, “But you have no problems, right?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and frowns, “You keep asking me that!”

Dusk shakes her head and looks back at Gabriela, “Well uh, I just want to make sure!”

Gabriela says mechanically, “You have effectively made sure Dusk Shine! I am in fact, okay!” before looking over at her coffee mug just to her right and causing it to glow blue and float to her face so it can tilt down her mouth as she takes a mighty sip of the now, lukewarm coffee. It floats back down as Gabriela looks over at Dusk with concern in her eyes, “You keep asking me that though…”

Dusk sighs, “I uh, just wanna make absolutely sure!”

Gabriela frowns and narrows her eyes, “Okay, sure! Yes Dusk! I’m fine!”

Dusk smiles dimly, “Okay baby…”

Gabriela leans forward and says nervously, “But you’re okay, too?”

Dusk gives a wide-eyed start and says robotically, “Yes! I am fine! Everything is fine! We’re all fine!”

Gabriela giggles, “Okay darling… Hey, we should probably head down to work if we’re gonna grab coffee at the all-night corner store!”

Dusk smiles and giggles, “Right!”

<*****>

The fruit plant is about 200 yards of red-bricked wall on it’s east side and there’s a metal ramp leading down below, underneath a green cloth awning held in place by small metal poles. The two batponies trot alongside it from the north, so that the opening appears on their right as they move towards it. Gabriela looks at Dusk on her left and says, “So, I guess this is it? I won’t see you again until tomorrow morning, when we get off?”

Dusk smiles at Gabriela from her side, “Assuming they don’t give me the B lunch instead so I can sit with you?”

Gabriela shakes her head, “Oh yeah! You were gonna do that, weren’t you?”

Dusk leans to Gabriela and nuzzles her while giggling, “Yeah! Remember stoner!”

Gabriela chuckles, “Yeah yeah yeah! I get it! You wanted to sit with me!”

Dusk grins wider, “Because you totally wouldn’t like that, would you?”

Gabriela stops trotting in front of the door, before starting as she moves her head back just barely out of the nuzzle, “No! Maybe! Shut up!” She shakes her head and stares back at the punker wide-eyed while leaning forward slightly, “Hi! I’m Gabriela!”

Dusk stops trotting as well and leans forward to kiss Gabriela softly on the lips.

The unicorn batpony starts with this sudden affection, but quickly regains composure as she leans into the kiss slightly, with her head tilted to the right side… Her eyes widen when suddenly, she feels Dusk’s slimy tongue entering her mouth, but at the same time, she knows she can’t resist at this point and she can only lick the tongue inside her mouth tenderly.

Dusk moves her head back to smile at Gabriela, “And there’s that, too!”

Gabriela straightens her face and says nonchalantly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits at the white table and sees that it’s just past 1 o’clock in the morning on the wall clock, opposite to the table on the other side of the room, past another table that currently has several batponies seated there. She’s alone at the table when she sighs and looks down at the brown paper bag she bought from the cafeteria with two pears inside.

Suddenly, there’s a tap on her right shoulder. She looks over her shoulder to see a spiky-maned pony there with a big, fanged grin on her face as she says, “They did it, baby! We can sit together during lunch now!”

Gabriela smiles widely, “Awesome darling!”

Dusk quickly leans forward to Gabriela and passionately kisses her on the lips…

Gabriela can only start and narrow her eyes as she’s overtaken by the sudden love… She soon hears squeaky batpony cheering coming from behind her, but she doesn’t react as she also knows that right now, nothing is more important than this…

Dusk breaks from the kiss and looks down at Gabriela, “See! No scary mad coworkers here!”

Gabriela smiles and giggles, “Okay! Fine! Sit your flanks down now!”

Dusk snickers slightly as she trots to get into the seat to Gabriela’s right, “You got it, sticky buns!”

Gabriela shakes her head slightly before she giggles slightly while whispering, “All butt stuff, all the time!”

“Where it’s better, baby!” Dusk says slightly louder than Gabriela as she nuzzles her love with a grin on her face.

Gabriela closes her eyes as she can’t help but snicker at the reference.

<*****>

Dusk stands there on her hooves while staring back at Gabriela from the right of the unicorn’s red front door as she frowns and says, “Uh, Gabs?”

Gabriela looks up at the punker from the other side and frowns, “Yes, Dusk honey?”

Dusk looks down, “Can I come in? I uh, don’t really want to leave just yet…”

Gabriela leans forward and frowns, “You wanna crash here with me again this morning, don’t you?”

Dusk starts and looks back up at Gabriela wide-eyed, “Uh, if you don’t mind?”

Gabriela frowns harder and narrows her eyes, “Why would I mind? I love you!”

Dusk smiles slightly and says timidly, “Yeah uh, I kinda wanted to talk to you about that…”

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

*While you can operate a blockhead pipe with either hand, the carburetor is almost always on the left side. I’m not sure why?

**”Regular coffee” is normally referred to as “Americano” in the coffee world. Although America doesn’t exist on their planet and so…

Chapter 15: Where We Belong

The neatly rolled tan joint sat in Gabriela’s mouth between her two fangs as the red disposable lighter flew in from her lower right side and ignited to spark a flame. She moves her head forward towards the lighter to burn the end and frowns as she inhales the warm smoke into her throat and feels it go down into her lungs.

Dusk Shine gulps from her place on the matching red chair across from the couch Gabriela sits at. “I uh, don’t wanna go…”

The cherry glows as Gabriela exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth, opposite to her fang before saying, “I know, and I don’t want you to go, either…” somberly out the other side of her mouth… She then purses her lips once more to take her second hit and the end begins to shine once more…

Dusk can only shake her head before widening her greenish-yellow slitted eyes and saying, “So uh, what are you trying to say?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and exhales smoke out the left side of her mouth. The joint soon glows blue and flies to the ashtray, on the polished wood coffee table in front of her and taps on the side to take off the end ashes and then, it flies to Dusk across the room to her front, where it turns around so the burning end is away from her, and then promptly into her lips, which close and purse around the other side… Gabriela then looks at Dusk, sighs, and says, “I’m saying it’s okay, Dusk Shine… For you to be here, I mean… With me…” She smiles her fanged grin at the other batpony, “The truth is, with you, I’ve been happier than I ever have been for a long time!”

Dusk takes the joint out of her mouth with the cleft of her right forehoof, exhales smoke just above Gabriela, and looks down to her, before stammering out, “Well um, should I get my shit, or?”

Gabriela squeaks out suddenly, “Well, not now silly!”

Dusk giggles and says, “I meant tonight! You know, since I don’t work? I don’t really have a lot of shit! I could be done inside two hours! My dealer has a cart I can borrow…”

Gabriela continues, “I mean, the sun’s about to come up and uh, oh right!” before smiling at a giggling punk rock batpony, who’s now taking a second drag from the joint with her right forehoof. Dusk soon raises her forehoof to signal while holding a hit in her lungs and Gabriela causes it to glow blue before flying out of the other batpony’s hoof and towards her. It turns around in front of her, and glides into her awaiting lips. She narrows her eyes as she purses her lips around her fangs to take another drag and makes the cherry glow as her eyes narrow in smoking bliss.

Dusk exhales smoke above the two batponies before looking back down, gulping, and mumbling, “So uh, I should probably tell Nightshade?”

Gabriela causes the glowing joint to fly from her lips into the ashtray on the table in front of her, before moving the cherry back and forth on the surface to snuff it out. She then moves the glowing joint to the side of the tray, before looking to the right of Dusk, exhaling a cloud of smoke, and then back at her and saying, “Well, the way you were talking, it sounds like she wouldn’t know the difference anyway?” before frowning.

Dusk shakes her head and looks back at Gabriela, “Probably not, no? She’ll probably just shrug and wish me luck? Uh so are we actually gonna uh, move in together, or?”

Gabriela starts and shakes her head before looking at the other pony, “I uh, think so? Wasn’t that what we were just talking about?”

Dusk shakes her head again, “Uh, right! I uh,” she continues robotically, “love you and wish to live with you and be with you and uh, stuff…” before smiling widely at Gabriela.

Gabriela smiles and giggles at Dusk, “You’re cute when you’re nervous!”

Dusk starts and widens her eyes, “I’m not nervous! You’re nervous!”

“No U!”

The two batponies snicker while Gabriela makes the glowing joint float in the air, ignites it with the red lighter, and then it bobs and floats towards Dusk, across the room.

Dusk snags the joint in mid-air with the cleft of her right forehoof and smiles back at Gabriela, “So, Gabs! I guess we’re going to sleep together again, after this?”

Gabriela shakes her head, “Well, the sun’s coming up now and you’d have trouble, getting back home?”

Dusk leans forward towards Gabriela and smiles her fanged grin, “Because you don’t like snuggling and sleeping with me at all, right?” before bringing the half-joint to her lips for another drag.

Gabriela widens her eyes. “No! Maybe! Shut up!” She shakes her head and leans forward, “I mean, why would you think that Dusk? Whatever would give you that impression?” and smiles widely…

Dusk narrows her eyes and exhales a small puff of smoke between the two ponies as she giggles, “You’re cute when you’re in denial!”

Gabriela shakes her head slightly and stares back with blue slitted eyes, “I’m not in denial! You’re in, uh, hey!”

Dusk chuckles more.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “You’re a jerk!”

“You’re a cutie!”

“Shut up!”

“No U!”

Dusk brings her forehoof to her mouth for her second drag.

Gabriela narrows her eyes, and sighs…

<*****>

Gabriela and Dusk trot west to head towards the fruit processing plant on that side of town. Gabriela looks at Dusk trotting on her left and says to her as her spikes bob with each pace, “So, you wanna live with me, now?”

Dusk looks over at her and smiles, “No, I wanna go back to being by myself, without my awesome marefriend who likes to be held and loved, because I certainly don’t like snuggling her or bucking her regularly!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes at the other batpony, “I take it, that’s a yes?”

Dusk Shine starts and stares back at Gabriela before rolling her eyes, “No, it’s a no! What do you think?”

Gabriela scrunches her mouth and narrows her eyes, “I just wanna be absolutely sure that this is what you want to do, jerk!”

Dusk sighs and looks down, “I’m sorry Gabs!” she looks back up, “I guess I get sarcastic when I’m nervous?”

The two ponies trot through the empty Ponyville streets with the night sky overhead, cloudy, and starless tonight. They both notice the lights of the plant coming up in the distance, past the edge of town.

Gabriela just trots that direction, wordlessly, with her blue slitted eyes focused forward.

Finally, Dusk looks back to her right and asks, “Are you okay, Gabs?”

Gabriela doesn’t avert her gaze from her front, “I-I think so?”

Dusk narrows her eyes and frowns, “You seem tense?”

“I” Gabriela shakes her head before staring forward blankly, “I got a lot on my mind, okay?”

Dusk stops trotting and Gabriela does the same. She turns her body right to face the unicorn and looks at her while she reciprocates, “Wanna talk about it?”

Gabriela starts and looks at Dusk seriously, “Because it's all a façade, okay? It's all crap! No Dusk Shine, let me tell you how this goes... We move in together and have a relationship or whatever, and it's all great, right? And then, as time goes on, you change into something awful! And then, I have to make a choice! I have to either accept life with whatever horrible piece of equine garbage I've shacked up with or go my separate way and start over! And I really just don't see the point anymore!" She then shuts her eyes and flinches to the left, expecting the worst…

“Gabriela!” Dusk exclaims.

Gabriela continues to hold her cringing position with her eyes shut and head off to the side.

“Gabriela!!!!” Dusk shouts louder.

Gabriela timidly opens her right eye underneath a lock of violet hair, to see a spikey maned batpony with a concerned look in her greenish-yellow eyes staring back at her and fluffy ears perked her direction.

“Do you honestly think that you’re the only pony in Equestria to have several bad relationships?”

Gabriela starts as the lock of hair falls to her side and she straightens her gaze at the other pony, “Um, n-no? Probably not?”

“Okay! Follow-up question!” Dusk says before nodding her head, so her spikes go up and down with her crown. “Do you believe that just straight up, giving up on love is a beneficial or healthy alternative?”

“Um,” Gabriela looks down before back up at Dusk, “well, I just never saw the point? I mean, why bother going after something that doesn't exist, right?”

Dusk takes two paces towards Gabriela, so her face is merely inches away as she stares on with a blank expression in her yellowish-green slitted eyes and a bright cheerful smile on her fanged mouth.

“Uh, what are you so happy about all of a sudden?” Gabriela asks with a shocked look in her wide-open blue eyes.

“Because what I’m about to do, apparently doesn’t happen!” Dusk says before moving her head closer to Gabriela to kiss her passionately on the lips! Dusk disengages her lips from the other pony a moment later and stares deep into her soft blue eyes, “I know this is a big change baby and I know it’s scary… But you need to know that I’m right here, okay?” before smiling pleasantly at her and leaning her head slightly to the left, “I love you, Gabriela!”

Gabriela scrunches her nose and narrows her eyes as she somberly says, “You’re a jerk, you know that?”

Dusk giggles and nuzzles Gabriela’s nose gently with hers, “But I’m your jerk! He he!”

<*****>

The two batponies trot into the punch-clock room in the plant. It’s 10 feet long and 5 feet wide with one door leading outside to the rear of the factory and the other leading into the hallway, with the breakroom on the other side. The hallway door is open, while the back exit is not. Gabriela stares at Dusk Shine from the left of the punch-clock towards the hallway, on the left side of the room, and smiles, “Well, I guess this is where we part ways?”

“Right!” Dusk says before nodding again. She leans closer to Gabriela, “Give me your key so I can go get my shit! I can have pizza and” she says lower, “something to smoke waiting for us!” she normalizes her voice, “I’ll be back later to walk you home…”

Gabriela smiles, “That would be really nice, Dusk Shine!”

Dusk leans her head a few inches to nuzzle Gabriela, “Of course! I love you baby!” and smiles her fanged grin back.

Suddenly, Gabriela hears happy chirping and squeaking coming from behind her, across the hall in the breakroom. Her eyes go skyward as she thinks about her coworkers.

<*****>

Gabriela scrunches her brow as she stares down at the conveyer belt to do her quality-control job. She quickly glances to the right to magically lift an emaciated looking red apple with brown growth on it and causes it to float and glow into the waste bin on her left as she looks down that direction. She immediately shakes her head and affixes her eyes to the belt once more to do her job, but she can’t help letting her mind drift as she feels aloof about a lot of things right now. She sighs while continuing to watch the apples pass by, from the left on the belt to the drop-off on the right leading into the factory, same as usual… But this wasn’t the same because she knew that somepony would be waiting on her later…

She hears the plant whistle blow and starts as she looks up at the clock on the wall, just beyond the belt. She widens her eyes, “One AM finally! Geez, could this day go by any slower!”

<*****>

Gabriela sits at her usual spot, in the corner of the breakroom, opposite the door on the other corner. She looks down at the brown paper sack she packed two apples in and causes it to glow open and both red apples magically float down to the table with a blue glow, side by side. The one on the right glows blue and floats to Gabriela’s mouth, that she opens to sink her fangs into the juicy morsel. It soon withers in front of her face before the husk floats back down to the table and she sighs.

She then hears a familiar squeak behind her, “Uh, hey Gabriela!”

Gabriela looks to her back left from her chair and sees the light blue form of one of her coworkers, Stargazer standing there with his black mane that curves back around his shoulders and dark leathery wings at his sides. He looks up at her, “Is it okay if I sit here?”

She looks into his grayish-blue eyes skeptically and frowns, “Uh, sure! Free country, right?”

Stargazer smiles, “So I’m told!” before staring forward and trotting over to scoot into the chair on Gabriela’s left. He looks over at her and smiles again, “So, you and Dusk Shine are a thing, now?”

Gabriela sighs while looking back at him, “Yes, apparently! She didn’t know what she wanted from me at first, and we ended up shacking up together! She’s moving into my place right now…”

He nods and chitters, “Well, it’s good that you found somepony, Gabriela! I mean, you’re always alone and by yourself! Sometimes, we wonder if you’re okay…”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Wait, we wonder? Why would any of you be worried about me?”

Stargazer gets his own brown paper bag out of his right saddlebag and sets it onto the table before him with his mouth. He stares back at Gabriela, “Well uh, like I said! You’re always alone! You don’t really seem to associate with anypony?”

“And? Maybe I just like being by myself!”

Stargazer gets a red apple from his bag with his forehooves, “All the time, though?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes and says at a slightly higher volume, “Dusk Shine said the same thing!”

Stargazer brings his apple to his mouth with his forehooves and sinks his fangs into it, before sucking to make it shrivel up. He then sets the husk down on the table, before looking over at her, “Well, if more than one pony is saying it…”

Gabriela cuts him off, “Then there’s clearly mass delusion! Something in the water, maybe?”

Stargazer widens his eyes and squeaks confusedly, “W-what?”

Gabriela snickers softly, “Uh, sorry! Uh, natural defenses, I guess?”

Stargazer’s fanged mouth narrows, “Uh, sure!” He shakes his head, “I was gonna say, you and Dusk are a cute couple!”

Gabriela leans to Stargazer and narrows her eyes, “What exactly are they saying, anyway?”

Stargazer gulps and widens his eyes, “Uh, just that you’re with Dusk Shine now and you seem happy!” He leans to her, “I mean, we only know what we see! We saw you two loving each other earlier and it was just the sweetest thing ever!”

Gabriela sticks out her forked tongue, “ACK!”

Stargazer giggles, “Yeah, quite a trip, huh?”

“W-what do you mean?” Gabriela asks while widening her blue-slitted eyes.

Stargazer chuckles slightly, “I mean, one day, you’re alone and by yourself, same as always! The next day, you’re waking up next to the most special pony ever!” he shakes his head, “But I want you to know that I wish you the best Gabriela! I truly hope you and Dusk Shine make it!”

“Uh, thanks Stargazer!” Gabriela can only chirp at this point.

<*****>

Gabriela is trotting from the plant into the punch-clock room, where she turns left and floats her timecard into the slot with a blue glow and then, uses her horn to make the lever go down to punch on her time. It flies back to her left saddlebag, and she turns right just in time to see the door to the outside open there and a spiky maned batpony with a leather harness waits for her, smiling.

She quickly trots up to Dusk Shine, “Hey baby!” before nuzzling her affectionately while grinning. Suddenly, she hears some happy squeaks behind her from the breakroom, just beyond the corridor and she rolls her blue slitted eyes, before affixing them to the other pony and smiling again.

Dusk smiles and nuzzles back, “Hey sweetie! I’m moved in now and I got pizza and uh, other stuff!”

Gabriela nods, “Right on!”

Dusk frowns, “I hope you don’t mind, but your walls were kinda bare and so, I put up some posters! I put up my Foalsprings poster, my Fallout Colt poster, and Battery Triad poster!”

Gabriela smiles, “That’s fine sweetie! I’m guessing we’ll be listening to punk rock sometimes, when we’re uh, doing stuff?”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah, sometimes! Now come on! Pizza isn’t gonna eat itself!”

<*****>

Gabriela trots to the right of Dusk as both batponies head east, further into town. The sky is clear, and they both see the sun peaking out just over the trees on the horizon. She looks left and says, “So, how was moving?”

Dusk smiles back to her right, “Not hard! Like I told you, I don’t really have a lot of shit! Finding smoke was more of a hassle really, but I got us Fillydelphia Window Bud!”

Gabriela smiles, “Awesome!” she frowns, “Uh, I never smoked that stuff before?”

“Oh, you’ll love it sweetie! It’s more concentrated than a lot of the herb you see, and you shouldn’t need much!”

Gabriela snickers, “I don’t know? I got tomorrow off, my love is now living with me, and there’s pizza, cuddles, and probably sex!” she leans towards Dusk and widens her eyes, “I think I have a good reason to smoke!”

Dusk snickers, “Yay! Time to hang out with my favorite stoner batpony!” she composes herself, “So, how was your night, baby?”

Gabriela goes normalizes her neck, “Oh, it was fine! I had a lot of time to think while I was working, and lunch was okay…”

Dusk frowns, “What did you think about?”

Gabriela blinks and smiles, “I thought about how lucky I am to have you in my life and how great you are!”

Dusk frowns, “Now, I know THAT’S bullshit!”

Gabriela shakes her head and widens her eyes, “Okay, fine! I was thinking about how this is gonna be a big change for me! I mean…” she narrows her eyes, “Do you know how long it’s been for me?”

Dusk giggles, “Yeah, years or whatever! Sure! But” she looks at Gabriela intently, “you still want to do this, right?”

Gabriela frowns, “Kinda late now, right?”

Dusk frowns back, “Not necessarily? I mean, I could go back to Nightshade’s and snooze on the couch, before heading back to your place to get my shit tonight? Uh, if you want out now, that is?”

Gabriela shakes her head before smiling and lowering her head slightly, “N-no Dusk!” she sighs and looks deep into the other batpony’s eyes, “I uh, I want you to live with me…”

Dusk widens her eyes, “You’re sure?”

Gabriela regularizes her eyes, smiles and nods her head, “Yes Dusk! I’m ready now!”

Dusk smiles, “Alright sweetie!” she looks back as both batponies trot towards the rising sun, “Well, it’s almost time to turn left and go to our new home together…”

(To be continued?)