Initiative
“Really?” 8-Bit ran a yellow-gray hoof through his short, light blue mohawk mane and narrowed his purple eyes at Gaffer. He recognized these well-worn HocusPocus: The Get-Together cards. “The combo deck again?”
Gaffer shrugged. His green mane bounced on his orange-and-cream face, and he flicked his cards in his sabino-patterned hooves. “It’s my favorite.” His eyes dipped down even as he smiled. “Life's short, right? Might as well do what we love.”
8-Bit sighed. “If only.” He looked around at the Shipping Sea, which was painted with brilliant, warm pinks, purples, and oranges in the seemingly eternal sunset. Beautiful, stylized boats floated across the smooth water, each one perfectly capturing the essence of the one or two ponies they housed. And then there was 8-Bit’s boat, a rusty sloop that he’d pulled up next to Gaffer’s colorful tugboat. They’d slapped a plank across the gap as a makeshift table.
“Aw, cheer up, Bitty. You’ll find the right pony someday.”
“It’s not just about finding them, Gaff.” He looked up at the sky, streaked with ribbons of color. “It’s about the adventure. The passion!”
Gaffer rolled his eyes and smiled. “Here we go…”
8-Bit stood, holding his own cards to his chest like a shield. “It’s the call for something greater than ourselves, Gaff! Meeting that special somepony, even when you don’t yet know they’re the one.” He hopped into the air with a flap of his wings. “Discovering more about them! And more about yourself.” He flew up and up, holding his other hoof to the sky and twirling in the air. “Facing challenges! Rescuing princesses! Becoming a hero of love!” With a quick turn, he swooped back down to his seat and grinned. “Ya’ know, stuff like that.”
“You dummy,” Gaffer laughed, shaking his head but still smiling. He looked back over the sea and could practically taste the love in the air. “Well, you picked a good spot to do it. Magical pocket dimension or not, this is the most romantic place I’ve ever seen.” He paused. “If you can ignore Princess Cadance's occasional cackling flyover.”
“Yeah, somepony should really check on her,” 8-Bit mumbled as he refocused on their game. “Those magic pages have really gone to her head.”
Gaffer looked at his cards again. The two stallions huddled over the plank, not unlike they had when they were foals. Gaffer furrowed his brow. “Hm…” He set a card down. “Green-white energy.”
8-Bit raised an eyebrow. “That’s new.”
A colt’s grin broke across Gaffer's face. “Gotta keep things interesting.”
8-Bit flicked his eyes down at his own cards, the same as always. He looked back at Gaffer with a smirk. “Bring it on.”
Their game commenced, full of play and counter-play against the backdrop of boats, each one harboring a pair of snuggling ponies.
After a particularly thrilling (to some) interaction, Gaffer cleared his throat. “So… you really think you’ll find love out here?”
“Of course!” 8-Bit beamed. “After all, Shining Armor got his happy ending. I'm glad we helped him and Cadance get together—”
“That's what friends do, right?” Gaffer’s voice sounded strained. “Help each other, especially when they need it most.”
“Right. But, like, isn’t it our turn? I've been dating since high school. Feels like I’ve tried dating everypony, and you seem like you've more or less given up. Why can't either of us have a stable relationship like Shining and Cadance?”
Gaffer grimaced, and he nodded up at the sky. “I'm not sure 'stable' is the word I'd use right now.”
“WAHAHAHA!!!” Cadance boomed as she dashed through the sky, bug-eyed and looking like she hadn't slept in months. A contrail of magical pages zoomed along behind her. “Love! LOVE! EVERYPONY LOVE!!!”
8-Bit shrugged. “Fair enough. But yeah. I figured, well, there are all these reality-bending magic pages everywhere, and Cadance literally set up a whole place just for ponies to find love, so I should try, right? If not here, then where?”
Gaffer’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
8-Bit set a card down with the dramatic defiance of a comic-book character. “Black-red energy! I pass my turn!” After striking a pose, he asked, “How about you?”
“Same, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
Gaffer paused, then flicked his cards. “Earth Pony Peacemaker,” he said, placing a green-and-white earth pony card onto the table. “We both gain four life.”
8-Bit raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Okay…” He reached over to his notepad and made the change to their life point totals. “That's not much life, though. I’m still going to win next turn.”
“Maybe…” Gaffer said with a smirk. “But how about this? I play my Rebirth enchantment, bringing my Planet-Eater Dragon back from the graveyard!”
8-Bit narrowed his eyes. In his hand of cards, he had a counterspell that would ensure him victory. However, curiosity tingled the front of his brain, especially since his friend rarely got to win. He smiled. “No response. Show me what you got.”
“Really!?” Gaffer practically sparkled. “Okay, so my Planet-Eater Dragon eats everything on the field, including the Rebirth enchantment and my Earth Pony Peacemaker. But that removes the Rebirth enchantment, so my dragon dies again, and then it returns Rebirth and my Peacemaker to the battlefield, we each gain four life, and the loop starts all over again!”
“Nice.” 8-Bit nodded as it all came together. “So then what happens?”
“That’s it!” Gaffer said with a wide smile.
8-Bit’s expression dropped. “No, I mean, how do you win?”
“We both win!” He leaned over and moved his cards around, demonstrating how it all worked. “Unless you disrupt it, it keeps going forever.”
“But we don’t win.” 8-Bit scrunched up his face. “We just gain infinite life together.”
Gaffer shrugged. His expression and voice grew softer. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Well…” 8-Bit’s neck felt hot. His eyes flashed back and forth between his cards, full of powerful spells and ways to easily destroy Gaffer’s plans. But then he looked at Gaffer’s hopeful face. Sure, 8-Bit wasn’t finding love out here, certainly not while he was entertaining his friend’s ideas of how to win a game of HocusPocus, but the excitement practically radiated off of Gaffer, brighter than the magical sunset. 8-Bit sighed and smiled. “No response. You got it.”
“Awesome!” Gaffer shouted. He threw his hooves in the air, knocking against the plank and nearly dunking their cards into the sea. “Whoa! S-sorry!”
8-Bit grabbed onto the plank at the same time, and he chuckled at his companion. “No problem.”
“Play again?”
8-Bit smiled. “Sure thing.”
* * *
For all the bizarre sights and sounds on the Shipping Sea, Cadance sure knew how to take care of ponies. Not only did their ships have the stallions’ favorite card game, but every time they opened up a cabinet or secret compartment, 8-Bit and Gaffer found exactly what they needed, whether it was food, towels, or, in this case, comfortable beach chairs that they could set up on the decks of their respective ships. Gaffer had laid out luxurious terry-cloth towels over his, while 8-Bit sat on his without any covering. They sipped piña coladas as they looked out over the horizon, and a soft jazz saxophone played from seemingly everywhere.
Gaffer lifted a hoof and pointed to two boats: an apple-covered cutter and a rainbow-striped speedboat. “Oh, hey!” With a warm glow, the two ships merged into a zap-apple themed mini-yacht. “Nice! Applejack and Rainbow Dash just got together. Aaaaand looks like they’re heading below deck. Heh heh.”
“Good for them,” 8-Bit said, with just the slightest acid in his voice. He sipped his drink to cover it up with something sweet, then looked in the opposite direction. “Still think Dusk Shine will end up with Flash Sentry?”
“Hm…” Gaffer looked up and to the side. As if buying time, he sipped more of his drink. “Ah… Maybe. There’s some compelling evidence that he’s going to end up with Zecora.”
“Evidence?”
“Well, my headcanon, basically. I think it makes sense, especially for this particular Rule-63.”
“Rule what now?”
“Don’t worry about it. What do you think?”
8-Bit reclined back into his chair. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Gaffer flicked a hoof at him. “C’mon, it’s fun! And it’s not like we get to talk about this stuff very often.”
“I should be out there,” 8-Bit mumbled, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gaffer’s ears flatten. “Oh, dude! Sorry. Didn’t mean to rain on your parade.” His wings and shoulders felt suddenly heavy. “Just… lot on my mind, is all.” For just a moment, he thought he saw Gaffer frown. “…What?”
Gaffer drooped but said nothing.
“C’mon, Gaffer. You can tell me. We’re best buddies, right?”
Gaffer shrugged. “Well, we’ve known each other for decades, we hang out every day, and even though we’re pushing thirty, we still have slumber parties at least twice a week.” Gaffer gave the tiniest laugh. “So, yeah, I’d say we are.”
“So… what’s got you down?”
Gaffer lifted his straw to his lips, then set the coconut with his drink back down in his lap. He held it loosely, such that 8-Bit worried it might tip. Gaffer opened his mouth, then let it close again.
8-Bit fiddled with the drink in his hooves. “You’re freaking me out, dude.”
“Do you think love is a feeling?” Gaffer turned his head to his friend. “Or is it a choice?”
8-Bit blinked and shook his head like somepony had just asked him what color grass was. “It’s a feeling. Obviously.” He lifted a hoof and gestured around. “You find somepony that gives you that special spark, something deep down, and it tells you that this is the right pony for you.” His voice raised and took on a dramatic flair as he stood and gestured more wildly. “You reach out to them with your heart, and they reach out with theirs. You become intertwined, inseparable, and reunited like two stars crossing through space and colliding into a supernova of excitement and energy and warmth, beautiful and powerful and fierce!” He flopped back into his chair. “That’s why it’s special. You need that feeling. It’s the only way to know for sure.” He nodded at Gaffer. “Yeah. Definitely a feeling.”
“But that can’t be all that there is, right?” His voice had an edge that 8-Bit had rarely heard. “Like, sometimes ponies fall out of love. Or they have fights. Or they grow distant.” He shook his head. “If love is what you say it is, then how can any of that stuff happen?”
Feeling his wings clench to his sides, 8-Bit looked away. “Well… Maybe the feeling was wrong, then. Maybe it wasn’t what they thought it was.”
“See? Thought. You don’t think about feelings. You just feel them.” Gaffer stuck out his lower lip. “So if it’s just a feeling, then it would be a lot weaker than you’re saying. No crashing, beautiful stars, just fireworks that peter out after a while.”
8-Bit snorted. “But you can’t just logic your way into loving somepony, Gaffer.”
“Have you tried?”
8-Bit reeled. “Excuse me?”
“Have you tried? Like, have you tried thinking about the ponies you’ve met and picturing yourself with them forever?” He set a hoof on the foreleg rest and leaned in.
“Well, no. Mostly I follow my heart.”
“And where has that gotten you?”
8-Bit’s blood ran cold.
Gaffer gasped. “Sorry! Sorry, shoot. That was—”
“Low blow, dude.” Suddenly, the bespoke beach chair didn’t feel so comfortable anymore. 8-Bit flapped his wings and landed on the deck of his ship with a heavy thud. Head hanging, he walked to the front and threw his hooves on the railing. He started to say more, but the words never made it past his throat.
He heard slow hoofsteps on Gaffer’s ship. He looked and saw Gaffer sulking just like he was, a mirror image of himself. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, Bitty.”
“You don’t have to call me that.”
“I want to, though. Do you mind?”
8-Bit couldn’t deny that it reminded him of simpler times. He groaned, “It’s fine.” His tail swayed lazily behind him.
The two friends stood there, looking over the railings of their boats. The Shipping Sea, very still except for the wakes of the passing watercraft, lay before them, full of pairs and groups of ponies finding each other. Between them, single ponies voyaged on, hoping to find love for themselves. Every few minutes, they would see a glow on the horizon as two ships would merge into one.
The air, perfumed with lavender and roses, hung heavily between the two stallions.
Gaffer looked at the deck below him. “I don’t want you to be sad, Bitty.”
8-Bit deflated. “Thanks, Gaff. Not much to do about it, though.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Huh?” 8-Bit raised his head and swiveled his ears towards his friend.
“I mean, maybe you aren’t choosing to find love, but that doesn’t mean I can’t choose to find it for you.”
8-Bit’s wings puffed up. “Heh. Not sure it works like that.”
“Nonsense! Just look at what happened with Shining and Cadance.” He hopped off the railing and walked to the edge facing 8-Bit’s boat. “You said it yourself: we were doing it for everypony that’s reached for the stars. And that certainly sounds like you, right?” His tail wagged. “So let’s do it!”
“Haha! Sure, Gaff. But unless you’ve got a plan—”
“Speed dating!” Gaffer’s horn flashed, and little bursts of light shot from it.
“Huh?”
“C’mon, you came here looking for love, right? And so did everypony else! They’re out there, trying to find somepony, and one of them has to be looking for you.”
8-Bit shook his head. “That seems so… logical and forced. Like an algorithm.”
“Buddy. Friend. Buddy.” He waved his cream-colored hoof between them. “Look at me. Hey. Hey. Look at me. Buddy. C’mere, look at me.”
8-Bit snickered. “Okay.”
“Look at me. You looking at me?”
The pegasus walked over to get eye-to-eye with Gaffer. “Yes! Yes, I’m looking at you.”
“Great. Now listen very carefully: by tomorrow morning, I promise you I’ll find you love.”
8-Bit shook his head and smiled. “Okay, fine. Speed dating it is. How bad could it be?”
* * *
8-Bit shook his head and scowled. “This is a disaster.”
“Hmph!” Rarity turned up her nose. “Well, if you’re going to be rude, then I don’t see why I should bother wasting my time.” She stood from the elegant table in the bistro that had magically popped up on 8-Bit’s ship for the speed dates (no telling how Cadance had fit all of that into a random secret cup-holder, but 8-Bit was beyond questioning it by this point). Rarity turned away from 8-Bit. “Good day!” she harrumphed. She stomped elegantly back to her diamond-encrusted sailboat and hoisted the sails, storming off on an unfelt wind. As she passed out of view, she shouted back, “You loutish plebeian!!!”
With a half-groan, half-growl, 8-Bit’s forehead met the checkered tablecloth. Soon enough, a grimacing Gaffer slid next to him. “Heeeeeey, buddy. Sooooo… Plenty of fish in the sea, right?”
8-Bit set his chin on the table. The smell of candle wax and lukewarm hors d'oeuvres filled his nose. “Nine fewer than an hour ago.”
“Well, you’ve still got Moon Dancer lined up in a few—” He squinted at the horizon. “No, wait, she’s riding off into the sunset with Steven Magnet.”
“Eh, they’ll be good for each other.” 8-Bit wasn’t sure if he believed it, but he’d gotten used to telling stories like that.
Gaffer sat down opposite 8-Bit. “I’m sorry, Bitty.”
“You need to stop apologizing for this stuff. It’s not your fault.”
“Maybe not, but I’m the one that suggested it.” His eyes flicked to the table. In a low voice, he asked, “You gonna eat the rest of those candied figs, or…?”
8-Bit groaned and rolled his eyes, “Feasts are for heroes. You go ahead.”
Gaffer nickered and smiled broadly. His horn glowed, and he levitated a fork to the small dish of fragrant figs. With a deft jab, he skewered one and brought it to his mouth, and not unlike his friend, his eyes, too, rolled back into his head. “Mm! These are amazing! You’re really missing out here.” When 8-Bit snorted a laugh, Gaffer swallowed and asked, “What?”
“The fork.” He sat up and stretched out his neck. “Why do you use it? You can just float a fig to your face and take a bite, right?”
Gaffer shook his head. “Oh. I don’t want to get my magic sticky.”
Eyes wide, 8-Bit responded, “It can do that?”
“Hahaha!” Gaffer threw his head back and slapped the table, rattling the silverware. He leaned forward and tapped 8-Bit on the nose. “You dummy. It’s just an etiquette thing.”
“Hey!” 8-Bit’s wings flared out. “I don’t know how it works! For all I know, it’s like iced cloud cutlery, and it’s a fancy one-time use thing.”
Gaffer’s head turned to the side. “That sounds super wasteful. They really have that?”
8-Bit narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Now who’s the dummy?”
Gaffer hid his blush behind a hoof and tried to hide a small laugh. “Oh, geez. Walked right into that one.”
“You’re good, Gaff. But you’re right, might as well finish the rest of these.” He popped a fig into his mouth, sticky hooves and all. “Okay, wow. Yeah, you weren’t kidding. Heh. Almost makes it worth Miss Cheerilee calling me two-dimensional.”
“To be fair, that’s a pretty good burn.”
“Yeah, it is. Hey, wanna help me finish this bottle of wine?” 8-Bit made a little rolling motion with his hooves. “I don’t know if it can go bad, but, like, it’s here, right?”
Gaffer nodded and smiled warmly. “I’d love to.”
8-Bit grabbed fresh glasses from a secret compartment under a loose floorboard. He set one in front of each of them and filled them both with deep red wine before recorking the bottle. “So that was a bust. Good try, but I don’t think speed dating is going to work.”
“How did the others go?”
8-Bit sat back and counted through them. “Well, Sapphire Shores kept singing the whole time. She seemed more interested in her backup dancers than me. I was afraid Big Bell would literally crush me if she got me on the buckball field. Professor Fossil was a bit old for me and kept talking about my bone structure…”
“You do have a very nice bone structure, Bitty.”
“Yeah, I remember, but it’s creepy coming from a paleontologist, right? Anyway, Clear Skies, Flitter, and Kerfuffle all seemed nice, but we didn’t have much in common, and I… don’t really even remember the others.” He popped another fig into his mouth. “Probably for the best. Less heartbreak to carry around. But that leaves me without a date, and I still haven’t found that special feeling.” Tossing back his wine glass, he drank the rest in one gulp.
“Want some more?”
“Sure, why not.” He stared at the wine bottle he’d been drinking from for over an hour. “I can’t believe I still haven’t found the bottom.”
“You’re looking at him,” Gaffer mumbled to, he thought, himself.
“Huh? I’m looking at what now?”
Gaffer went ghostly white. His chest rose and fell quickly as he stared at 8-Bit. “N-nothing! I was just thinking that we should both get some.” His eyes went wide. “Some wine, I mean! Here, lemme grab your—” His pupils constricted. “The cork! ‘Cork’ is what I was saying.” Gaffer swiped the bottle and tugged at the cork, but he couldn’t free it. “Gr… Sorry, I-I-I just need to work it a little more.” Below his breath, he whispered, “Why’s it so thick!?”
8-Bit raised an eyebrow. “Uh… you okay?”
“Oh my!” Gaffer gasped as the cork finally popped from the bottle. “Feeling great! Just, uh…” His eyes darted around for a distraction. “Uh, wanna see a trick? Heh…” He set the wine bottle on the table and squinted at it, then stuck his tongue out and bit down in concentration. The emerald glow of his horn extended to the bottle, but it didn't raise up. Instead, a solid bubble of wine shakily squeezed through the hole and floated towards 8-Bit.
The pegasus clapped his hooves together. “Very impressive!”
Gaffer was sweating and panting from the strain of the unwieldy liquid. “Catch it catch it catch it!!!”
“Oh! Uh…” 8-Bit swiped his glass from the table, but he fumbled it and only barely caught it before it crashed to the ground.
The wine bubble quivered, and Gaffer whimpered, “Faster! Faster!”
“Like this?” His heart rate pounding, 8-Bit thrust his glass forward and tried to scoop the wine from the air.
“Gah!” Gaffer's magic collapsed, and the bubble with it. The wine landed mostly in the glass, but the rest ran down the side and splashed into the table. A few drops hit 8-Bit's chest and stained his fur. “S-s-sorry!”
Catching his breath, 8-Bit laughed in response. “You're fine.” He licked up the side of the glass, catching the rest of the dibbles. “It’s tasty. I don’t mind a mess.”
Wiping some sweat from his brow and catching his breath, Gaffer chuckled back, “See, this is why we use utensils.”
“Point taken,” 8-Bit replied, grabbing another fig. A wicked smile curled on his lips. “But I'm not the only one getting messy here. Take this!” With a flap of his wings, he leapt across the table and jabbed his sticky hoof at Gaffer’s face.
Gaffer squealed and tried to lean back, but the fig smeared his cheek before finding his mouth. As the sweet taste hit Gaffer’s tongue, he launched another fig with his magic, which 8-Bit deftly caught in his teeth with a dramatic chomp. 8-Bit grabbed the breadsticks while Gaffer flung Rarity's spaghetti, and the laughter during their food fight could be heard for miles, rippling across the beautiful waters.
* * *
Stepping back onto the deck, 8-Bit towel-dried his short mane. “Impressive that they've got hot water on these things, right?”
Gaffer, leaning on the railing of 8-Bit’s ship, looked out over the sea. “Yeah. I think it's for when ponies want things to get steamy, I guess.”
“Mmm… That sounds like a good time. Heh heh.” 8-Bit jabbed the towel into his ear to get the water out. His face twisted as he tickled a nerve. “My shower is probably a little small for two, though.”
“Yeah…” He didn't look back. “Feeling any better?”
“Eh, a little.” He wandered up to the railing. “But I’m about ready to… throw in the towel. Hyah!” He threw his towel over the edge, and it landed with a wet plop in the sea. Gaffer raised an eyebrow at him, and 8-Bit hitched up his wings and shrunk. “Don't look at me like that. I thought it was going to burst into rose petals or something. One sec.” He spread his wings and swooped down into the pink water before coming back up and clinging to the side of the boat with the soaked towel in his teeth.
Gaffer shook his head and laughed, “Dummy.”
8-Bit hoisted himself on deck. He spat out the towel onto the railing to dry. “At least I don’t litter.” He rested on the railing next to Gaffer. “So, any new prospects?”
Gaffer nodded out towards the water. “Take a look. Anypony look promising?”
8-Bit took in the scenery. The sunset had shifted to deeper blues and purples, with just a hint of gold, and the ships all around him floated as they always had. They were clearly in a different part of the sea, though. These boats were new. “Let’s see… Sunburst is reading on deck, we’ve got Feather Bangs and his backup dancers over there having just a wild time, Double Diamond and Party Favor are cuddling up, and, uh…” He furrowed his brow, and then slowly, very slowly, he turned to face his friend. “Hey, uh, Gaffer?”
Gaffer looked back at 8-Bit, but his eyes darted away to the water. Then they darted back to 8-Bit, then to the deck, the railing, the boats, 8-Bit, the sunset, his hooves, boats, 8-Bit, 8-Bit’s hooves, railing, and finally, to 8-Bit’s face. He grimaced. “Yes, Bitty?”
“Can’t, uh…” He clicked his tongue and spoke slowly. “Can’t help but notice a pattern here.”
Gaffer gulped and feigned ignorance. “Yeah.” Railing, deck, hooves, 8-Bit. “Weeeeeeird. Seems like a, uh… seems like a lotta g—”
“LOTTA gay stallions, yeah.” His head bobbed in a repetitive nod while he sucked on his lower lip. “Yeah. Yep. I noticed.”
Gaffer deflated. “Sorry. I brought us to Gay Cove while you were in the shower. I figured since, you know, that one time, you said that one thing…”
“I’ve said a lot of things at a lot of times. You wanna be more specific?”
Gaffer tapped his hooves on the railing. “I-i-it’s just that, well, remember when I came out?”
8-Bit paused. He saw Gaffer’s hoof quivering. His voice had a wobble that was usually reserved for the Ogres & Oubliettes table when the rolls were going particularly poorly. 8-Bit took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Of course I do, Gaffer.” He held a hoof to his heart, then side-stepped and threw a wing around his friend for a feather-hug. “I’m still honored you told me first.”
Gaffer closed his eyes, and his quivering stopped. “Do you remember what you said?”
“Yeah! I told you that I’ll always support you, because you’re my best friend.”
Gaffer sulked again. “Not that. The other thing.”
“Oh! You mean how I kept having those thoughts about Geode? And Shining, but I made you swear you’d never tell him or Cadance?” Cadance zoomed by in the distance, blasting some kind of love laser seemingly at random. 8-Bit mumbled, “...especially not right now.”
“Yeah. And I wondered…” He shook his head. “You said you’ve always wanted to try it out, and there was that one time you dated Marble Rye for a few weeks in college. Do you think you might swing that way?”
8-Bit scratched at his mane. “Well… I’d probably say I’m straight-ish.”
“Ish?” Gaffer asked with a sudden brightness.
“Maybe like seventy-thirty. Heh. Not like I’ve had enough success to know for sure.” He looked over at Gaffer. “Sorry I don’t talk about guys more. Do you want me to? Because, yeah, some of ‘em are pretty cute. I just don’t want to go after somepony you have your eye on, right?”
“Heh.” Gaffer’s blush deepened. “That, uh… That won’t be a problem.”
“I don’t wanna risk it, though. But if you think it’s worth a shot, then it’s worth a shot. What did you have in mind?”
Gaffer stood tall and smiled broadly. “Ever been on a cruise?”
* * *
With a funky island beat playing over the rainbow-colored cruise ship’s loudspeakers, 8-Bit sat, pulling the skin under his eyes down and gnashing his teeth. All around him, stallions leapt into each other’s forelegs, kissing deeply or bumping noses in a way that made the others squee with delight.
“Such a huggable hunk of a stallion!” Fashion Plate shouted as he tackled Rivet to the ground.
“I’ve never felt this way about anypony,” Thunderlane confessed to Promontory.
“My better half!” the two Mirror Pool clones of Cheese Sandwich shouted to each other. They hugged to the sound of a squeaky toy.
All around 8-Bit, the sounds of love filled the air, grating him. He grunted and sat on the pool deck, crossed his forelegs, and clenched his jaw so hard that he heard something pop.
Rivet pranced by with Fashion Plate on his back. “Thanks for introducing us, 8-Bit. That was really clever, bumping into me at the buffet and knocking me into Plate here.”
“I was trying to hit on you,” 8-Bit grumbled, but the couple had already moved on.
Promontory rubbed his face against Thunderlane. “Sure was lucky that the 8-Bit guy took an extra turn on the dance machine, or we might never have met.”
8-Bit felt every muscle in his body tense.
“Our meeting was destiny!” the Cheese clones shouted in unison. “But trying to cheer up that grumpy pegasus together didn’t hurt!”
8-Bit fumed and wondered what kind of dental insurance Cadance had in this realm of hers.
From 8-Bit’s boat, Gaffer held a hoof to his mouth. “Everything okay up there?”
“No!” 8-Bit shouted, throwing his hooves in the air. “I’m literally the last stallion on this ship without a date!”
“Aw, that can’t be—”
“YEEEEAAAAHHH!!!!” boomed a voice over the loudspeaker. Bulk Biceps’ voice carried across the sea. “We did it! Everyone on board has found their special somepony!”
“Or special some-minotaur!” roared Iron Will. “Except that one guy, but there was an odd number of ponies, so what can you do? When the number’s odd, you need a rockin’ bod!”
“JUST LIKE YOU, BEEFCAKE!!!”
“YOU SAID IT, SNOOKUMS!!!”
What followed was the sound of wet kisses, a monstrously heavy thud on the floor, and a drawn-out feedback noise from a ruined microphone before the tropical music came back on.
8-Bit sat so stiff that he didn’t even move when a magical, green aura enveloped his tail and plucked him up like a crane game toy. He floated, inverted, back to his boat, where Gaffer chewed his lower lip and said, “Well, turn that frown upside-down, Bitty.”
Maintaining angry eyes, 8-Bit smiled, but now it looked like he was frowning. Gaffer righted him with his magic, but 8-Bit frowned, keeping the angry look on his face. Gaffer spun him around like this several times before 8-Bit finally grumbled, “I’m gonna hurl, Gaff.”
“Oh. Right.” He gently set 8-Bit — forelegs still crossed and jaw still clenched — down on the deck. “So… didn’t find that special feeling?”
“Of course not!” 8-Bit flapped his wings and stomped around the deck. “I mean, sure, it was great for everypony else. I accidentally set up twelve different couples, a bunch of stallions from Canterlot formed some kind of polyamorous octet, and something like ninety-nine percent of every Soarin’ and Braeburn from all the different realities found each other and fell in love!”
Gaffer tapped his chin. “Well, that last one makes sense at least.”
8-Bit cooled for a moment. “Well, yeah. They are undeniably the One True Pairing.”
“Undeniably.”
“Indeed.”
“Indeed.”
They shared a reverent nod.
8-Bit was back to storming around the deck. “But that leaves me! I must be the least lovable stallion in Equestria! Literally every combination of ponies works, except when it involves me!”
Gaffer stepped forward and flicked a hoof. “Oh, c’mon, Bitty. There must be at least one pairing less likely than you and somepony else.”
8-Bit stomped and jerked his bug-eyed face towards Gaffer. He frowned so hard that it curled inward. A vein threatened to pop on his forehead as he jabbed a hoof off the starboard side towards the brilliant glow of two more ships merging into one. Gaffer looked and saw a wooden houseboat decorated with dark purple and black crystals. On the bow sat Troubleshoes Clyde and King Sombra, eyes closed as they smooched happily with a droning mwah mwah mwah mwah noise, while heart-shaped smoke puffed out of their chimney.
Gaffer sucked in air through his teeth. “Okay, but that one has to be a fluke, right?”
8-Bit shook. He tried to walk, but each step he took felt wrong. He breathed harder and took short, gasping breaths as his head whipped all around. Every time he tried to speak, another snarl just flew from his mouth.
Gaffer bit on his hoof, shaking, until he finally shouted, “I cast Hold Pony!”
8-Bit shook his head and snapped out of his spiral. He raised an eyebrow. “But you never let us use Hold Pony. You said it’s OP.”
“Okay, fine! Grapple check,” Gaffer pleaded as he stepped forward and threw his hooves tightly around 8-Bit. “I got an 18.”
“...Success,” he mumbled as he sat down to get his mane petted.
“Good.” He held onto 8-Bit until both of them breathed normally again. “So. You didn’t find what you were looking for. That… happens to all of us. That’s okay. We can try again.”
“Gaff, give it up. I’m not meant to be loved.”
“No! I don’t like seeing you unhappy like this.” His voice was on the edge of breaking. “And…”
“And what?” 8-Bit looked up at his friend.
“Please don’t give up on love yet.” He looked down and petted 8-Bit’s mane.
“I’m not a little colt, Gaff.”
“Shhh… You’re my little— No, that’s weird.” He took a deep breath and hugged him again. “You haven’t exhausted your options yet, right? Maybe… Maybe we shouldn’t cast such a wide net. Maybe you just need to figure out what it is you want. You know, choose. Like I said?”
8-Bit could feel the shift in Gaffer’s voice. He took a deep breath. “Well… Okay. First, escape check.”
“Success.” Gaffer let go, and 8-Bit walked to the edge of the ship to look out over the horizon.
8-Bit felt the cool, perfect breeze in his mane. He swished his tail in the slightly salty air, and he closed his eyes. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His head rolled back and forth, as if trying to rattle out the answer.
Gently, from behind him, he heard, “No rush. I don’t mind waiting.”
“It’s hard to say. It’s hard to put feelings into words.” 8-Bit shook his head. “It’s supposed to just happen, you know? It doesn’t need to be thought about.”
Softly, Gaffer replied, “Try listening to your heart, Bitty. What’s it telling you?”
8-Bit breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. He brought his attention to his chest. “I guess… I want somepony who I just vibe with, right? Somepony who’s fun, who gets my interests and loves me for me. I want somepony who I can take care of, somepony that I get to feel like a hero around, and they can take care of me sometimes, too.”
Gaffer’s voice quivered. “That’s great. Keep going.”
“Somepony who makes me laugh and believes in me, no matter what. Somepony who wouldn’t think I’m a nerd or a loser. Somepony I respect, who’s smart and creative and full of surprises.” He turned back to see Gaffer smiling. Encouraged, he looked up at the sky as his body felt lighter. “Somepony that just gives me that special feeling, y’ know? Somepony that I know I’d be great with.”
Breathlessly, Gaffer asked, “And… do you think you’ve found them?”
Casually, 8-Bit shook his head. “Nah, but you’re right. I can’t stop looking. And you shouldn’t either. We’ll both find somepony for us someday. What do you want in a pony, Gaff?” When he heard no response, he looked back down. “I bet you— Whoa.” He recoiled at what he saw. “Uh… Gaff?”
Gaffer sat, shaking and holding his breath to stifle a sob. He stared directly at 8-Bit. “D-did you…” His words fell broken from his mouth. “Did y-you s-s-seriously just ask me that?”
8-Bit’s jaw hung open. “Uh… Gaff?” He took a step closer.
Gaffer’s teeth chattered. He took short, ragged breaths, and he stared directly at 8-Bit, unblinking. His body shook enough to send vibrations through the wooden boards to where 8-Bit stood. He sucked in a big breath, and his mouth opened as if to scream, but instead, he raised a foreleg to his eyes and exhaled suddenly.
“Gaff, c’mon. It’s not the end of the world.”
With his head hung low, Gaffer stood up and slowly walked to the railing, where he threw two hooves over it. He said nothing. He looked up at the first stars that glittered on the purple-and-black velvet canvas above. “You have no idea how much I want to just… lose it right now.”
8-Bit paused. The sounds of the cruise ship and the passing boats faded to white noise. He took one step, then another, like he was stepping around mouse traps. When he reached the railing, he tried to meet Gaffer’s gaze, but his friend kept looking at the stars.
“You know I like you, right?” Gaffer turned his head towards 8-Bit. He chuckled to hide a sob. “Like, I know you don’t like subtext, but it had to be obvious, right?”
8-Bit’s eyes flickered down. “It’s… Yeah. I know.”
“Heh.” He blinked, and a drop of water disrupted the mirror-like sea.
“Gaff… Why didn’t you just tell me? We could have talked about it.”
He sniffled. “Because I was afraid. You’re not the only one that wants to believe in fairy tales, Bitty. I didn’t bring it up, because I knew exactly what you’d say.”
8-Bit frowned. “Gaff, you’re—”
Gaffer spoke over him, and they said at the same time, “—my best friend, and I care about you a lot.” They stared at each other, one in shock, the other in resignation.
8-Bit’s ears folded down, and he looked away. “Oh.”
“See?” Gaffer looked back out at the water. “Better than you know yourself.”
A ribbon of aurora slowly wove itself into existence in the darkening sky. The two stallions let the cool light caress their faces.
8-Bit spoke softly. “So… Then why try to set me up on all those dates?”
“Because I wanted you to be happy, Bitty. We’ve known each other for most of our lives. Love is a feeling for you, and you want it so, so badly. If you don’t have that feeling for me, well…” He shrugged. “Then I just want to know that you found it, even if it’s with somepony else.”
The back of 8-Bit’s neck tensed as a thought crept into his mind. “You weren’t, like… trying to trick me into dating you with all this, were you?”
Gaffer’s head shook. “Absolutely not. I love you too much for that.” Gaffer gasped and held a hoof to his mouth. “Sorr—” He cut himself off, cleared his throat, and set one hoof on the deck with the other still on the railing as he faced 8-Bit. “No, I’m not apologizing for that one. It’s true.”
Simply, 8-Bit whispered back, “But that makes you sad.”
“So? Love is a choice, Bitty. And I can choose to love you from a distance if you’ll be happier that way. If… if you found somepony that made you happy, then that could be enough for me, right?” His legs shook, and he spat, “Maybe I could finally move on and let my stupid little fantasy die, because it wouldn’t be an option anymore.”
8-Bit’s body felt stiff. He searched himself like he was scooping water from an empty barrel, and he repeated, “You’d be sad.”
“I’m already sad, Bitty. Do you have—” His voice cracked, but he cleared his throat again and recovered. “Do you have any idea how much it absolutely sucks to watch you go through all this and not even consider me? You said it yourself: it feels like you’ve tried dating everypony.” His pace picked up. “I’m literally the last stallion in Equestria, Bitty, and you sit there, naming all the things you’re looking for, and I think, ‘Yeah, that’s him and me. Obviously. How can he not see that?’ But I don’t even cross your mind.” He grew louder. “And it’s not your fault! And I get that!” He sucked in a shaky breath. “But it sucks, 8-Bit. It really, really sucks.” He slumped and let his head bang on the railing, sending an anharmonic clang rippling across the water.
8-Bit stood welded to his spot. He took in the pony in front of him. His tall, svelte form looked bent in a way that was just wrong. He remembered back to when they’d been colts, how one time, he’d accidentally broken Gaffer’s transforming bug toy. He remembered the expression on his young friend’s face, and he remembered how the toy had looked damaged beyond repair. In this moment, Gaffer looked like both. A quiet anger smoldered in him for thinking like that, like they were both still foals, when his best friend was in front of him, hurting more than he’d ever seen.
Quietly, 8-Bit walked forward, joined his friend at the railing, and wrapped him in a wing hug.
For a moment, Gaffer’s breathing slowed, and he closed his eyes. 8-Bit felt the warmth radiating from his friend, but Gaffer tensed at the withers and said, “You can’t do this.”
Summoning a smile, he replied, “Yes I can. I got a sixteen on my grapple check.”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
Gaffer calmly stood up and met 8-Bit’s eyes. For reasons he didn’t understand, 8-Bit’s heart pumped harder. His back felt sweaty. He didn’t put it together until Gaffer said, “Because if you keep holding me like this, I’m going to kiss you.”
8-Bit could feel his heartbeat in his ears. His tail thrashed, and his whole body warmed. His mind felt like it was in a tumble dryer, but he looked at one of the most important ponies in the world to him, and he chose his words carefully. “Would that really be so bad?”
Evenly, Gaffer asked, “But do you want me to?”
8-Bit froze. The tumble dryer was empty, and for all the activity in his body, he couldn’t make his mouth move. And after a long moment, he still had said nothing.
Gaffer’s eyes watered as he whispered, “Okay.” He waved a hoof. “I-I-I’m sorry, I need to go.” Gaffer quickly turned and cantered to the plank he’d set up between their ships.
“Gaffer, wait.” 8-Bit held out a hoof, but he couldn’t force his legs to move.
“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Without looking back, Gaffer sat in the center of his boat. His horn glowed, and he conjured a stiff breeze that rushed him away. The plank between their ships fell into the water with an unceremonious splash.
“Gaffer, please?” 8-Bit walked to the edge of his boat. His wings felt like lead, and with Gaffer’s head start, it would be difficult to catch up, even at maximum speed.
Gaffer said nothing. He didn’t look back, and his boat zoomed across the glass waters and into the night.
And 8-Bit stood there, on the deck of his boat, watching a shrinking speck on the horizon.
* * *
8-Bit lay splayed out on the deck of his ship. His wings were sore. The stars twinkled in a rainbow of colors that reminded him of his favorite games, but even though he could probably find them tucked in a drawer of this crazy ship in this crazy sea, he had no desire to play.
The ship felt wrong as he lay on it, like it was off-kilter, uneven. His body felt like such a small thing should be unnoticeable, should be something he could adjust to, but his mind kept fixating, kept screaming, This is wrong!
His head rolled to the side, and he saw tiny scratches on the railing. After some thought, he realized it was where Gaffer had set up the board for their game of HocusPocus. “Oh. Right.” He understood that, without Gaffer’s ship tied to his own, his sloop didn't quite tilt the same way.
He let his head roll back to look at the stars. Now instead of tilting, everything felt like it was sinking, but he had no desire to get up and escape. He remembered Gaffer’s bug toy again, and he wondered what toys felt like when they were broken.
“Grr…” he groaned, rubbing his eyes with both forehooves. He had no sense of time out here in this magical sea, but his mind was wiped out, and his chest felt like it was missing several pieces.
A smooth, perfect breeze kept the heat away and caused tiny waves to lap at the sides of his boat. He shivered, something he’d previously thought impossible in this perfect world. The air smelled of lilacs now, and in the distance, he heard ponies serenading their lovers or dancing late into the night. Between those noises, he heard the content silence of ponies that had found each other. That quiet needled him most of all.
With another growl, 8-Bit rolled onto his stomach and jumped to his hooves. “What am I doing? I’m sitting here, sulking, when I’m not the one that’s sad!” Something tugged at his stomach. “Not the most sad, at least! What do I have to be sad about?”
Gravity yanked on him again, and his wings drooped. “Well, my best friend is miserable, for one.” Something about the words ‘best friend’ felt awkward in his mouth, like gum that had long-since lost its flavor and elasticity. “Gaffer would be able to help. If he was here. If he wasn’t the one that needed help.”
8-Bit’s ear flicked, and he stood straighter. “Yeah. He needs help.” A spark of energy got his hooves moving, and he trotted around the deck of his ship. “He wouldn’t leave me alone with myself if I was down like that. He never has!” He leapt into the air and flapped his wings. “He needs a hero! A big, dramatic rescue from the demons of sadness!” He picked up speed and flew circles around the masts of his ship. “He just needs me to swoop in there and—”
8-Bit’s wings locked up, and he fell like a bag of hoof-painted miniatures. He barely caught himself and, with a groan, swept down to the deck and knocked his head against a wall. “...and just keep leading him on.” He knocked again a few more times for good measure.
“Would he even want me there? He said he was trying to get over me.” He looked around, and his ears folded down. “Gaffer, I really wish you were here so I could talk to you about this stuff.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw a small stack of objects, hastily piled there as if they’d been left in a hurry. The small breeze tickled the top one, and 8-Bit recognized it even from across the ship: a worn, well-used pile of HocusPocus cards.
8-Bit walked over, picked up the deck, and looked through them. He recognized most of them from their countless games, but some were new. He turned the cards over in his mind, thinking about all the little ways they interacted, how they complemented each other, and how just a small change had made their games feel completely fresh. “Heh. What a combo.”
But as he thought about it more, it became so clear how easy that combo was to break. He could have done it himself, in fact, with hardly a thought. He remembered how happy Gaffer had looked this morning, how much it meant to him to succeed. He wondered if he’d ever see that smile again.
What would his future be, now that he’d broken Gaffer’s heart? Would they even be friends anymore? Would Gaffer forgive him? Or would they grow apart? And would they still have their semi-weekly sleepovers?
His forelegs went slack. “I still want to have slumber parties with you, Gaff.” He closed his eyes and thought to himself. He remembered all the fun they’d had over the decades of their friendship. He remembered the little smiles, the games of Ogres & Oubliettes, when Gaffer told him he was gay, when 8-Bit figured out who he was gay for… and how he’d ignored it for so many years, because of what it would mean for their friendship if they took a gamble like that.
Something twinged at the back of his skull, and his eyes opened wide. “I… chose to ignore it.” His mind bloomed like a flower, all while his heart sunk to the bottom of the sea. He took a short, gasping breath. “Oh, Gaff… I’m sorry. I… I don’t want to ignore it anymore.”
Carefully, he found a small box, opened it up, and set Gaffer’s cards inside, next to his own. With a little squeezing, he got them all in. He stood up and said in a clear voice, “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
From behind him, a deep fog — pink and sparkly despite the darkness — manifested and rolled across the deck, spreading across corners and growing thicker with each moment. 8-Bit glanced back and saw an amorphous, dark form approach from the fog, then slowly settle into the visage of a pony with a massive horn. The form spread its wings. It whispered, “Yessssss, 8-Bit?”
8-Bit turned to face her and quickly bowed. “Princess, d—” He cocked an eyebrow. “Actually, first things first: are you…” He rolled one hoof in the air. “...okay?”
“Never better,” she growled.
He scratched at the back of his head. “Yeah, gonna have to deal with that later,” he mumbled. “Princess, do you know where Gaffer is?”
Her wings spread wider, impossibly wide. “I know all things in this realm. I know that your carelessness has broken his heart.”
“Well, I want to make it right!” He stomped a hoof, and the mist curled around him in the rush of air. “I don’t like seeing him sad. He may not be a princess, but he deserves to be rescued, too! He deserves to be happy, and I’ve been stringing him along for too long. I want to go to him. Take me to him.”
The figure narrowed its glowing eyes at him. “That can be arranged, but I wonder… Will you truly repair what you have broken? You seemed so sure that you harbored no feelings for him.”
He nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“But do you love him?”
And 8-Bit hesitated.
* * *
Gaffer leaned on one foreleg, eyes half-lidded in boredom. He watched the ponies on an island in front of him and narrated with a tired voice. “Chance encounter at the bar for Turnip Truck… Cranky Doodle and Nightmare Moon stranded in the wilderness together… Oooh, Redheart got the hospital room confession. Eh, little on the nose.”
Princess Twilight hovered above the island, cackling. Her eyes glowed with a pink energy, and a halo of Cadance’s love magic encircled her head. She pulled page after page out of her collection from the Book of All Stories, wrote like a mad-mare, and then stuffed them into a folder at her side labeled “Secret Shipfics.”
Gaffer winced. “Oof. Big Mac got the love poison with Young, Hot Granny Smith. Yikes.” He searched for feelings of disgust in his heart, but he came up empty of anything at all. He blew air from his lips. “Well, time to get this show on the road, I guess.” His horn glowed, ready to conjure one last breeze to take him inland.
“Gaffer!”
He felt a swell in his heart, then icy needles in his brain, and he fought to kill them both. He didn’t respond.
The rusty sloop slowed to a stop next to his tugboat. 8-Bit quickly threw the anchor overboard and grabbed a familiar (if slightly wet) piece of wood to bridge the gap between the decks. “Gaff! C’mon, dude, don’t go over there. Twilight’s gone mad with love power. You don’t know what’ll happen.”
Bile rose to Gaffer’s mouth, but he swallowed it. “Maybe not, but… I gotta take my chance, right? If I can’t find that feeling out here, I might as well get it artificially.”
8-Bit frowned and shook his head. “You know that won’t be the same, and besides, I need to talk to you.”
Gaffer looked to the island, then back to 8-Bit. “Okay, but only because I just saw Lyra and Bonbon get turned into love-struck liches.”
8-Bit perked up. “That sounds kind of rad, actually.”
“Right!? But Twilight doesn’t repeat stories, so that one’s off the table.” He took two steps towards 8-Bit’s ship, but he didn’t move all the way. “What do you want?”
“You left something important back on my ship.” He held out the box of cards.
Gaffer’s expression flattened. “Is that it?”
8-Bit grimaced and looked between the cards and Gaffer. “I was really hoping you’d say, ‘Fine, then give it here’ or something like that. Anyway, you left something important behind.”
Gaffer rolled his eyes. “Fine, give it here.”
8-Bit dropped the box, and with a hop and two flaps, he landed on Gaffer’s ship, then held up one hoof and grinned like an overworked stage pony. He let out a weak, “Tada!”
Gaffer’s lip quivered. A laugh rose to his mouth and escaped before he could stop it, and tears rolled down the sides of his face. He looked everywhere else. “You’re such a dummy.”
“Yeah, I am.” He sat down, and he closed his eyes. The sounds and smells of the Shipping Sea washed over him, and as Cadance had instructed, he looked inside his soul, where he found a bright corner that seemed impossible to ignore. He held onto that light and looked back up. “But I’m a dummy who wants to love you.”
Gaffer sobbed, “Bitty, don’t do this to me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Gaff, but—”
“And I don’t want to guilt you!” He slapped a hoof to his face. “I should have said something sooner! Or not at all!” He smacked himself on the forehead. “Stupid! Stupid!”
He stopped when a gray hoof took him by the foreleg, and 8-Bit said, “You be nice to Gaffer. He’s a good pony.”
“Bitty…” he whispered.
“Gaff…” He gently took Gaffer’s hoof in both of his own. “Potential future sweetie pie, eventual maybe coltfriend, handsome probable—”
“Please stop.”
“Okay.” He gave Gaffer’s hoof a squeeze. “Look, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that love doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re telling me,” Gaffer said through a half-sob. “I just saw Rufus collect an entire harem for himself.”
8-Bit swallowed, “I’m really trying to focus on us, Gaff, and it’s—”
“Friggin’ Rufus, 8-Bit!”
“I know! It’s weird!” His wings flared out, but he brought them under control. “But so is everything else, right? Like…” He looked around. “None of this makes sense. I think that’s why I wanted love to be a feeling, right? Because feelings don’t have to make sense. You don’t have to ask hard questions or come back to reality, because it’s all so loopy and magical and unexplainable, and so you just go along with your heart and don’t think of the consequences.”
Gaffer’s brain filled with colorful thoughts that immediately turned gray, and his head lowered.
But 8-Bit reached out and lifted his chin. “I took you for granted. You were right. I wasn’t choosing to give you a chance. You’ve always been there for me, through thick and thin, and you’re literally everything I’ve ever wanted.” 8-Bit felt himself choking up, but he didn’t understand why. “I wish I could say that I see it now, but I’m still figuring it out. But there’s only one pony I’d like to figure it out with.” His vision blurred slightly.
Gaffer gulped. “You’re being… so cheesy right now.”
“Hey!” 8-Bit’s wings hitched up. “This from the guy with a years-long Ogres & Oubliettes campaign where we have to keep rescuing Princess Kidnapped-a-Lot?” They shared a quiet laugh. “I can try to be less cheesy if you want.”
A small smile curled on Gaffer’s tear-stained face. “I didn’t say that.” Gaffer looked down at his hoof in 8-Bit’s. He blushed and mumble-sobbed, “It’s actually really hot.”
“Heh. Heh heh. Well…” 8-Bit shrugged. “You’ll think I’m less hot when I tell you what happened with Cadance.”
Gaffer perked up. “What’d she say?”
“She asked me if I really loved you.”
Leaning in, Gaffer asked, “...And what did you say?”
“I…” 8-Bit scratched at his cheek. “...broke down and started bawling about never having slumber parties again.”
Gaffer threw his head back and laughed with all his chest and stomach.
8-Bit wrinkled his nose. “I mean like full-on wailing. She had no idea what was going on, and I think it was so off-putting that it broke her out of her little love trance. She turned all normal all of a sudden and dashed away, mumbling about ‘fixing everything’ or something. And I was just sobbing like a colt on my ship.”
Gaffer wiped away a tear with his free hoof. “That’s still hot.”
8-Bit went wide-eyed. “Really?”
“No.” Gaffer smiled and shook his head. “Not even a little.”
Looking into Gaffer’s eyes, 8-Bit didn’t see pity or judgment. Just the understanding humor of a decades-long friendship. “Heh. Dang. I was on a roll there.”
“But it’s very ‘you,’ and I like it.” He leaned in, closed his eyes, and rubbed his face gently against 8-Bit’s with a little moan. “More than like it, but you know that already.” His muscles suddenly tensed, and he pulled his face away, just a little. For several moments, the two of them felt their warm breaths on each-other’s necks.
Until 8-Bit leaned in and nuzzled him back.
Gaffer’s eyes fluttered, and he breathed in the scent of cardboard and feathers. Gaffer said softly, “How do we know this isn’t a giant mistake?”
“We don’t.” 8-Bit wrapped a wing around Gaffer. “That’s the feeling part of it, I guess.”
“We don’t even know if this world is going to exist tomorrow. It might all get rewritten, especially if Cadance wants to fix things.”
“Doesn’t matter,” 8-Bit whispered. He pulled back and rested his forehead against Gaffer’s. “We’re here now. I wanna choose to love you. I… think I always have, in a way. But maybe it can be more than it was.” He laughed. “I wanna keep playing HocusPocus and rolling O&O characters, and what if we got to have slumber parties every night? Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
Gaffer smiled. “More than awesome, Bitty.”
He sat up and looked at Gaffer’s soft face, with its slender features, beautiful mane that swept across his forehead, and the cream-colored path that ran from his horn to his lips. “I do want you to kiss me, Gaff. I want to kiss you back and see where it goes. Maybe we roll for love and get a natural twenty.”
Gaffer laugh-sobbed. “Dummy.”
“But we won’t know until we try. Wanna give it a go?”
Gaffer looked at him for a long, long moment, and the more he did, the more a smile grew on his face. “Only if you take the initiative.”
8-Bit smiled. He ran a hoof up Gaffer’s leg, across his shoulder and withers, up his neck, and to the back of his head. He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes as he pulled Gaffer face forward.
When their lips met, 8-Bit noticed every detail. The softness of Gaffer’s mouth, the warmth of his breath, the way his neck tensed and then relaxed with a little moan, the gentle caress of the lips that grew into a small sucking that threatened to go further still. How Gaffer leaned in, so that their chests touched and shared heat. How their bodies seemed to reach out for more contact. How his wings, all on their own, wrapped the two of them up together in their own cocoon.
Through his closed eyes, 8-Bit saw a brilliant glow all around them, but he barely noticed, because inside his chest, there was a blossoming warmth. The petals of that heat spread through his entire body, and for the first time, he felt like he could sense the comfort, the nerves, everything about not just his own body, but another pony’s as well. The sensation was like a rainbow, filling him with light. It was like a thread, tying the two of them together and binding them closer than he ever thought. It was a melting together that started at his lips and slowly enveloped his head, his neck, his barrel, his limbs, hooves, tail, and most of all, his heart.
In a word, he had a feeling.