Chapter 21

I wake up to a nuzzle from Moon Shadow, having immediately passed out beside her sleeping form when I came to our shared room this morning. She whispers into my ear, "Wake up, sleepy-head. It's time for you to rejoin the land of the living."

"Ugh," I groan in reply, cracking one eye to glare at her. She just laughs at my ineffective look.

"So... how'd it go?" she asks me, a mischievous smile playing at her lips.

"Fine," I answer, a tad groggy still. "Actually, a lot easier than anticipated. It was almost anti-climactic."

"Oh, I know all about the mission. That's not what I'm talking about," she smirks.

"Huh? Then what do you mean?" I ask, my confused mind refusing to process.

She licks her lips lasciviously, "How about your drive back with Lightning Dust? Just the two of you?"

"I-- it... it was fine," I stammer, turning noticeably red.

"Uh-huh. So, fine is the only word you have to describe a four hour drive, with just the two of you? What did you two talk about?"

"We talked some, mostly about our pasts. She's rather easy to talk to..." I trail off, smiling slightly as I think about Dust.

"Is talking all that went on?" she teases me.

"Y-y-yes. I swear!" I sputter. She starts laughing uproariously at me.

"You should see your face right now! You've always been such an easy mark!"

Shaking my head, I transform and pull on a pair of camo coveralls. "I noticed something off about the 442 this morning when we pulled in, but I was too tired to investigate. I'd better go check it out now," I mutter, fleeing the bedroom with my tail quite literally tucked between my legs. Her laughter follows me all the way down the stairs, and out the front door.

As I cross the front porch, I notice Flash basking in the afternoon sun. I catch his eyes with mine, then motion with my head for him to follow me. He catches my meaning, slowly gets to his hooves, and trails behind me.

At the car, I gesture for him to take a seat, while I get the small toolbox that I brought along with me. I pop the hood, and bend to the task of finding the problem I'd heard on the return trip.

After a few minutes, Flash has finally screwed up his courage enough to speak, "So... Hi."

"Hello."

"Irony... I'm sorry. About everything," he hangs his head.

"I told you before, everything has been forgiven. I love you, little bro, so let's not rehash this again. Why don't we talk about something new, instead?"

"Like what?" he asks, confused.

"Well, why don't you tell me about our host?"

"You mean Dust? What do you want to know about her?"

"Just tell me what you know."

"Dust is pretty great. She was a man before this all went down, just like you. Her wife has been really supportive, and her kids are pretty cool, too.

"Wait, she has kids? Wow, that has to be tough on them. How old are they?"

"Her son, Dylan, is 15, and Hannah is 10. They--"

"Hold on a sec. Her kids are 15 and 10? How the hell is that possible? We were all banished for 25 years, which means that everypony turning back is 25. Something's not adding up here," I interrupt, dropping a wrench as I turn a questioning look at him.

"Yeah, well, when she was human, she was 35, not 25 like the rest of us."

"Now that you mention it, she said something about being 35 last night, but I didn't make the connection. How in the fuck did that happen?"

"You remember she mentioned her time-displacement bolts?

"I do. I just chalked that up to her being a bit nuts," I say, twirling a finger around my ear in the universal sign for crazy.

"Well, she's not. She could really cast them, back in Equestria. They make anything they hit phase out of time. Whatever it is disappears, never to be seen again.

"Where does it go?"

"I don't know. I don't think anypony knows. They just go away. Forever."

"What, like in that Jack Black movie, Envy? Like his spray, Vapoo-Rize? That is weird as hell!"

"Yeah, kinda, but hey, they work. That's all I really know about them. As for why she was 35, that I was actually witness to. She charged up her power for a massive blast, but when she unleashed it, Discord's curse mingled with her magic, then hit her. The only thing we've been able to figure is that the two magics combined, and changed her curse from 25 to 35 years, but also made her be born 10 years earlier than the rest of us."

"Damn, and I already thought this situation was fucked up. I guess hers is even moreso than ours," I say, shaking my head a little sadly.

"DINNER!" we hear yelled from the front door, interrupting our thoughts.

Flash jumps to his hooves and is off like a shot. He always did hate to be late to a meal, I laugh, then hurry to follow him. We go inside and take turns washing up, then sit down at the table with Dust, her wife, and their kids. Moon Shadow sits next to me, and I pull her into a side-hug.

I glance over at Dust's plate and notice she has a steak on it, something I used to enjoy very much, but now fills me with disdain.

She catches me looking, and asks, "Problem?"

"Meat? Are you serious?" I say, shaking my head.

"Well, sure! We've found that pegasi can eat meat without any problems, and I always loved it as a human," she replies.

"I loved it too, but I can't eat it at all anymore," I lament.

Smirking at me, she leans down and takes a bite of the meat her son has just finished cutting up for her. A grimace spreads across her muzzle, and she finally spits the meat back onto her plate.

"What the hell?" she cries, taking another bite, shortly spitting it out with the same look of distaste on her face. I can't help but return the smirk she was so recently giving me.

"I had a chicken sandwich just the other day, and it was fine!" she turns to her son, "What kind of steak is this?"

Looking confused, Dylan answers, "It's beef. Should I have done something else?"

She shakes her head, then gingerly sniffs her steak. By the look on her face, I don't think it smells very good to her at all. Her ears wilt, "This sucks!"

"Tell me about it. I had the same reaction when I realized I would never eat bacon again," I commiserate with her.

"So, chicken, fish, and venison don't bother you, but this beef steak does?" Helen asks, quizzically. She takes a bite of the steak off Dust's plate and pops it into her mouth, "Nothing wrong with it, honey."

I can see Dust thinking for a moment, slowly she replies, "In the show, cows can talk, but chickens and fish can't... maybe it has to do with their sentience? Like we wouldn't eat other people here? At least, most wouldn't..."

* * *

I turn back to the car, slip behind the wheel, and crank the engine. She roars to life. I lever myself out the door and stand over the engine once more. I listen carefully, I still hear something off. I reach in to adjust the carb a little more, and suddenly she's back to growling like a tigress on the prowl. I smile to myself, realizing that when I was human I wouldn't have heard the problem until it had gotten worse. We ponies really do have it better than humans, I chuckle to myself.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know what is so funny!" Trixie expounds, leaning against my side. I drop a hand to her shoulder, smiling at her over-acting.

Glancing over at Flash, I notice him grimacing, "Something wrong, Flash?"

He shakes his head, a little too vigorously to be believable, "N- n- no nothing's wrong."

I shrug, "Okay, well, I'm done here. She's purring like a kitten now." I reach in to turn the car off, then spin on my heel and head back toward the house. "Either of you coming?"

"No, Trixie is going to stay here and talk to Lightning Flash," the pale blue unicorn states.

I look back at Flash in time to see his ears wilt at her tone. Guess not everything is perfect yet.

"Suit yourselves," I guess it's time to face Moon Shadow, and admit to her what I've been feeling toward Dust... I hope she can forgive me. I really, really wish I understood why that mare is having such an effect on me.

I drop down to all fours on the way up to the room that Shadow and I are sharing. Every step takes me closer to having to confront my feelings. I push myself to keep going, not letting my fear stop me from facing the mare I love.

I pause for a moment at the door, take a deep breath, and enter the room.

"The carb was out of tune. Not a problem to fix..." the rest of what I'm going to say is forgotten when I notice Moon Shadow and Lightning Dust are both in the room. And they're both crying. I turn to Dust, about to say something unpleasant, when Shadow jumps up, and kisses me very thoroughly.

We finally come up for air, and Dust reminds me of her presence, "Uhm... Hi..."

I sit back on my haunches, looking at her, "Hello, Dust. Is there a reason you're in my room?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Shadow give her an encouraging look, confusing the hell out of me.

"Yes," she finally replies, quietly.

I wait for her to continue. Finally, when she doesn't, I ask her, "And, that reason would be?"

Instead of answering, she suddenly rushes forward, pressing her lips to mine.

* * *

*Author's Note: 3rd Person Following Lightning Flash and Trixie*

Flash watches Irony leave. Every step she takes away from he and Trixie fills him with dread. Dread of what he is going to say to the mare that he loves, at least when they were both human. What if she doesn't want anything to do with me? What if I hurt her more than she's been willing to admit? I... he wallows in his self-pity, his ears lying completely flat against his skull; his head sinks down between his front hooves, touching the ground. He ashamedly hides from Trixie's gaze.

Unseen by Flash, Trixie watches him, every moment her demeanor becoming more flaccid, more depressed. When five minutes pass, without him so much as looking up at her, Trixie turns to leave, her head hanging low, her heart breaking.

She stops, one hoof still in the air. Trixie cannot leave it like this. She brings her hoof back to earth, raises her head high, and turns, with as much of a haughty air as she can muster. Tri-- no, I! I must know if this is the end. I won't let our love just fade away. If this is to be the end of us, then I will face it the best way I know how.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie must know! Do you still love her?" she can't help the way her voice quavers, trailing off almost to a whisper at the end.

Flash's head shoots up, he gives her a hard, but confused look, "Of course I still love you! I will love you forever, no matter what!"

"Then why do you avoid Trixie? Why do you hide away? You won't even look at me!" she wails.

Flash's head sinks again, "Because I am so full of shame. I am lower than low. I hurt the one I love more than anything else in the world. I am a most worthless pony. I--"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie orders you to stop bathing in your own self-pity!" she commands. "Trixie would not fall in love with a craven pony, so do not act like one! I love you! I wish to be with you for the rest of my life. Every moment without you, tears at my heart. The longer I am away from you, the more I hide behind my stage persona. Standing here before you, I can finally let it slip away, if only for a moment. If I must lose you, then so be it! But, I will not let you throw our love away because you made a mistake!"

"B-b-b-but..."

"NO! No buts. Do you love me?" Flash nods quickly.

"Do you want to be with me?" again, he nods.

"Do you believe that I love you?" tears dripping from his muzzle, Flash nods once more. "Then you must accept that I have forgiven you, and come to me."

Sobs wrack his entire body as he hiccoughs his way to his feet. He stumbles to her. Trixie wraps an arm around his neck, pulling him to her chest, as he wails.

"Truh-t-t-Trixie, I love you, with all my soul! I'm so sorry that I messed up so badly. Thank you for your forgiveness. Please be with me forever!" Flash blubbers into her fur.

"Shhh..." Trixie shushes him, after a time, "A very wise pony once told me that there is magic in forgiveness. Magic to heal, in forgiveness given, and forgiveness received. Of course I forgive you. Trixie loves her Lightning Flash." She smiles lovingly upon the pegasus, tears silently dripping from her own eyes.

* * *

*Author's Note: First Person, Following Lightning Dust*

My lips are pressed to hers, but she's not responding. Her entire body stiffened up in response. Oh no, Moon Shadow was wrong. I pull away. I can't even look at her now. I just stripped myself bare for her, and she's not interested.

"I…" my ears fall, I hang my head, and head to the door, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." Just as I'm about to open the door, I feel arms around me. She picks me up and then kisses me back, aggressively. All I can do is open my mouth to her ministrations, I melt against Irony's body. For what seems like forever, and also seems like no time at all, our tongues intertwine. I feel my body responding, strongly. My arousal starts to leak from my marehood. And she hasn't even touched me down there yet. My wings extend to a painful state. I don't care, her kissing me feels so damned good.

I wrap my forehooves around her. I can feel full breasts under my chest, she apparently changed so she could easily pick me up. Everything she is doing feels awesome. I've only been female for about a week, and I've had to deal with the fact that this pony I am is attracted to mares as well. Though, in retrospect, becoming attracted to stallions would probably be weird for me. All thought blasts from my mind, as she shifts one arm to hold my weight by placing her other arm underneath my rear. So close, and yet, so far. I pant heavily into her mouth. I want everything this mare will do to me, and I want to do everything I can to her. I feel the sensation of movement and then I'm placed on the bed. As I'm sat down, her body ripples again, and she's back to her normal self. She hops onto the bed with me, and kisses me again.

"I'm sorry about not responding immediately. You caught me completely by surprise," she whispers in my ear.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm good at catching ponies by surprise. I'm just glad you want to," how do I tell her I'm aching for her touch? I feel another body join us on the bed. I look over, and my eyes go wide, "Moon shadow?"

She giggles, "Is there enough for me too?"

Irony and I say in unison, "Of course!"

Dammit, my first threesome, and I had to lose my penis to get it. My wings are painfully erect. I turn to Irony, and use a hoof to gently push her onto her back. I climb half on top of her, tasting her lips once again. I shift my ministrations down her neck, feeling her body respond with every caress of my tongue and lips. I am getting so aroused, I had better be careful, I'm leaking. I get to the bottom of her chest, heading to the south, when I feel a soft tongue on my inner thigh. All I can do is moan in pleasure, as Moon Shadow plays gently with my marehood, simply teasing me, but damn, it feels so damned good. I find Irony's teats, gently bringing them into my mouth one at a time and sucking them. I hear her suck in her breath as she twitches underneath me. This is a nice feeling.

Then a tongue enters me. It's like pleasurable lightning throughout my body. Moon is deliberately avoiding my hypersensitive clit, she's just focusing on my folds and the entrance. I can barely stand. It's time somepony else feels this amazing. I gently spread Irony's lips with my tongue, and get my first taste of her marehood. My wife had mentioned that alien pony mares taste way different than human women. I get to find that out first hand. Irony tastes amazing! I push my tongue in as far as it will go, feeling her body twitch as the pleasure I'm giving her arouses her further. Moon Shadow then gets a heavy gasp out of me by switching to my swollen clit. She runs the entire length of her tongue against the sensitive nub. Then I have to scream out in pleasure, as she takes it gently in her teeth, and rubs the tip of it with her tongue.

My first orgasm of the night washes over me. I swear, we took less than five minutes to have me screaming! After it finally subsides, I can finally let my eyes focus. Irony needs her first one too, then I'm going to have to work on Moon Shadow. I push forward to do to Irony what Moon did to me. Long, slow laps of her clit, and then finally teasing the tip of it with my tongue, as I gently hold it in my teeth. In a matter of moments, Irony is bucking underneath me, her orgasm taking hold. I can feel her arousal gush from her, all over my lower jaw. I lap up what I can, this pony tastes better than anything I could ever imagine. After her orgasm subsides, I look over at Moon, she's grinning and looking at me.

"It's pretty nice to be a mare, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," I advance on her, she ends up on her back again as I kiss her. I'm lost in Moon Shadow's taste, we share the taste of Irony's juices for a long moment. Then, I start working my way down her body. Shortly, I'm down at her folds, my rear in the air, and my tail lashing from side to side. I feel a set of teeth on my wing, right where it joins my body. Apparently somepony knows pegasi erogenous zones better than this pegasus. A hoof gently parts my lips, and teases my clit. My entire body shakes as another orgasm takes me. I have a feeling that I'm going to break any personal records when it comes to orgasms tonight. My moans of pleasure turn into screams, as the second orgasm intensifies. The first one left me weak, this one is threatening to make me comatose. God, I hope the kids are asleep right now. I fight to remain coherent enough to keep playing with Moon's marehood. She tastes almost as good as Irony does. And all I can do is keep on trying to pleasure her. Though, in moments, her rear legs clamp around my head and she bucks against my face as her first orgasmic cries pierce the air in the room. I keep up playing with her clit as she rides the wave of pleasure. The lights in the room are overwhelmed with the brightness coming from her horn. It sparks and sputters as she finally comes down from that high. I finally let her go.

"I hope we aren't being too loud," I mumble.

Moon giggles again, she's got a cute giggle, "I've got you covered, Dust. I cast a sound deadening spell around the room, nopony can hear us."

"So, you can scream your lungs out and the only one to hear you is us?" Irony asks.

She nods.

"Good," Irony leans forward, kissing Moon Shadow. Now I get to watch them for a minute. Irony and Moon have moved into a sixty nine position, though it's a bit of a stretch for the smaller unicorn. I watch them for a minute, then I gently push Irony's marehood away from Moon, replacing it with mine in a more comfortable position for the unicorn, then I dive in on Irony. For at least the next hour, we are all tasting each other. Our moans only interrupted by the occasional scream as one of us peaks. Though we flip several times, both of them taking their turn at me, and I get to play with both of them. Irony shows Moon some of the erogenous zones on pegasi, and she shows me how sensitive the horn is on unicorns when they are aroused.

We finally fall asleep in a heap, the bed is soaked with our arousal and sweat. Now that is the best way to fall asleep.