Using clouds for cover, two pegasi slowly approached one of the larger buildings along the beachfront of Manehatten, large glowing red letters spelling ‘MAREIOTT’ pointing out into the Bridle Shores. In the city streets below them, ponies of all kinds and ages were partying away, the celebrations from the opening ceremony still in full swing.

With any possible witnesses otherwise preoccupied, the pair approached the roof of the building and checked it was clear, then dropped to the rooftop. They pulled out a sharp, blackened blade each and checked them over, then the slightly smaller one of the two got something else out from the pouch around their waist.

“No more flying from here on in, we don’t want this accidentally going off because of the magical effect our wings create,” said the larger pegasus, strapping his wings up with thick leather bands to fight any urges of flight he might have within the next part of their task. “This is your first time using the stuff, so wait until we’re set up to take them. How is the device?”

“Intact… and activated. What… what happens if there are other pegasi?”

“It shouldn’t go off, as it’s tuned to a certain type of pegasi magic. If it goes off because of another… Collateral, and we can use that distraction to ensure the kill. Now, try to look like we belong here.” Getting a nod from the small one, the large pegasus pulled open an access door and stuck his head in, checking it was clear.

The top five floors according to the information supplied were supposed to be docks for airships of various sizes, which is why the two pegasi ventured down several flights of stairs before they saw a door marked ‘VIP SUITES FLOOR TWO’. They pushed through, emerging into a lobby area for several elevators, stepping onto a thick carpet.

The corridor flooring to the left and right turned to polished oakwood floors with marble columns every couple of metres, reaching to the ceiling where lights hung down from recesses. The pegasi didn’t know within which room their target resided, but had a surefire way of making it known, so walked along the corridor, trying each door to see if they were open or not.

They found luck with the seventeenth one, slipping into the room and finding it empty of any other living beings. A check of the bedroom revealed the owners’ luggage, the two making jokes about whether it was a mare or stallion wearing the lingerie they found.

Leaving the fleeting distraction behind, they walked back into the main room and looked for a good hiding place for the device they carried. They ended up agreeing to place it behind an utility hatch, then carefully stepped out of the room. Now they had to hide far away enough from the room so as not to be caught in the blast themselves, so trudged their way back down the corridor.

They found a small room housing cleaning linen and cleaning materials, one which wouldn’t be seeing any more use that night, and provided them with a place of solitude. The smaller pegasus watched as his partner pulled out a small plastic bottle and popped the lid, pouring several small pills out.

“First time using these?”

“First job.”

“That’s right, you killed that stallion in ‘self defence’. Doesn’t matter now, you’re with us now, to pay back the debt of getting your charges dropped. Take the pills.”

The smaller stallion did as instructed, taking out his own pot and downing the contents, awaiting the adverse effects. He was pleasantly surprised when none came, and he copied the example of his partner, taking the time before they struck to relax, sitting on the side and closing their eyes.

A pleasured yet frustrated moan filled one of the penthouse suites on top of Manehattan’s Marriot. The noise had come from a unicorn mare, lying atop the bedcovers, adorned in a simple pair of black panties and a sheer black babydoll with pink trim and pink bow on the front, the cups designed so that the wearer's breasts could show; this mare’s certainly were, her nipples on display.

Feeling another tingling sensation along her thighs, she tried to close her legs, even though she knew it was futile. Wrapped around each wrist and ankle was a rope, pulled taut to the four corners of the bed and tied around the posts. The creeping feeling moved further up her body and she writhed about as much as she could, giving a soft gasp when the attention moved to a more intimate area.

Then, just like a dozen times before, it stopped completely, making her groan in disappoint once more and lift her head, looking for her tormentor. Of course, this achieved nothing, for across her eyes lay a black satin blindfold, denying her a view of the room. She heard a chuckle from one corner of the room, then turned her head away with a huff.

A few moments later she felt fingers running up her legs, her own wrapping around the thick ropes the led from her wrists to the headboard. The wriggling digits of her ‘captor’ reached the hem of her panties, teasing pulling them down then back up.

“You know, I have to untie your legs to get these off.”

“Or you could just tear them off.”

Blueblood, descendant of the Platinum line and Royal Guard officer, was given pause by that statement, staring down at his mare with a raised eyebrow, even though she would not see it. He was a little confused, as he knew just how precious Rarity’s creations were to her, yet a wiggle of her hips, the signal she was growing impatient, caused him to reach for the waistband on one side and rip it apart.

It tore too easily, prompting Blueblood to take a closer look. Thanks to spending so much of his free time around the mare, he knew the quality of Rarity’s works usually held. A smirk came to his face as he realised that she had made these with being destroyed in mind, and thus he reached for the other side of the waistband and tugged hard, pulling the panties free.

Throwing the ruined item of clothing over his shoulder, Blueblood leaned in close and began to kiss around Rarity’s crotch, the mare panting in anticipation. Finally giving in, Blueblood gave Rarity the attention she craved, dragging his tongue from the bottom of her slit up to her clitoris a few times, then sent his wiggling muscle into her slick pussy.

Gripping the ropes tighter, Rarity let out a needy moan, rolling her hips and sliding her marehood up and down Blueblood’s muzzle. The stallion took his time, enjoying every little squeal of pleasure coming from the trussed up mare. Taking ahold of her hips firmly, he held her in place. All of a sudden, the bed began to vibrate in time with a rumble surging through the building.

“What is wrong, darling?”

Blueblood was about to reply when the wall started to distort. Things happened too fast then, as the concrete exploded into the room, followed by a fireball. With a flash of his horn, Blueblood threw up a shield between the bed and the encroaching doom, but this didn’t stop the air displacement from the explosion hitting the bed. The double bed flipped to its side, sending Blueblood flying through the air. The unexpected trip cost him his concentration, and the wall of flames rushed in as soon as the shield dropped, filling the space.

All Rarity knew that had happened was intense heat and the bed being moving strangely, and she found her left arm and leg being pulled tightly upwards as she hung towards the floor. Lighting her horn, she reached for the rope around her left ankle and slowly untied it, twisting her body so that her foot was on the floor, then freed the other three parts.

Sitting on the floor, Rarity reached up and moved the blindfold from her eyes, which went wide when she saw the chaos around her. Something began to sting on one of her ears, and when she brought a hand back from wiping it, she discovered her own blood staining her fur.

“Blue… Blueblood?”

Now she looked around the room properly, she discovered she was alone. Crawling to where part off the floor had fallen away, she looked below at the debris, gasping as she saw limbs of the room below’s occupants under the rubble.

From her new position, she saw that she was trapped behind the bed, the corridor outside having collapsed as well, and she could see several rooms away as well. Sitting down with her back against the upturned bed, Rarity looked at the torn up edge of the outer walls, and that’s when she saw it; the sleeve of a white undershirt, torn, bloodied, and burnt.

Ever so slowly she scooted closer to the edge of the hole, looking to the streets below as tears gathered in her eyes. Blueblood was nowhere to be seen.

A gentle breeze drifted up to the rooftop of a house in the outskirts of Manehatten. Spread out across several double deckchairs were three couples. One was a unicorn stallion with a female dragon pressed against his side, another had an earth pony mare with a large stomach wrapped in the wing of a young pegasus stallion, and the final one had a unicorn mare and a drake side by side, with a baby dragon asleep between them

Sweetie Belle had her head tucked under Spike’s chin as she watched Sapphira sleep, the little dragoness’ chest steadily rising and falling. She thought of the tantrum she threw several days ago and came to a startling realising; she was still too immature to be a parent.

Looking over to her friend, she could see how Applebloom had grown, Rumble alongside her, as she went through her pregnancy. Of course, there were some… emotional outbursts during the last several months, but nothing too recent.

A few weeks ago, Sweetie Belle would have felt a pang of jealousy about her friend’s situation, but now she only felt happiness for her. Sure, she didn’t have a foal on the way just yet, but she did have a wonderful husband, who seemed to sense what she was thinking and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“What do you think Scootaloo is doing right now?”

The sudden random question from Spike shattered her thought process, and she tilted her head back, looking up at the stars. “Probably Pipsqueak.” That got a snort from where Applebloom lay, a sign that the pregnant pony was still awake. “But after a show like that, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s giving her a massage or something.” A flash of light from the city made Sweetie Belle carefully sit up, so as not to disturb Sapphira. “I thought the fireworks had stopped now.”

Her eyes widened when she heard the bang, watching in horror as the red letters of the Mareiott sputtered, the screams audible even at that distance as they began to fall from the building.

“Did ya see him? Did ya? Did ya?”

“Yes, Pinkie, I saw him.” As much as she loved the hyper pink pony, Fluttershy sometimes found her to be too overbearing. Coupled with being stuck in a confined space with her, an elevator in this case, was one of those times that she felt that way. Fluttershy knew Pinkie was as concerned as her as to why this was the first time in several weeks they had seen their stallion, but they had agreed not to approach him whilst he was on duty. “Let’s give him a little longer, okay?”

“Okay…” Upon hearing the dejection in Pinkie’s voice, Fluttershy glanced at the floor indicator to see they still had half of the hotel’s height to traverse, so grabbed the other mare and pushed her against the wall, pressing their lips together. There they remained until the elevator pinged and the doors slid open, revealing a teenage colt, dressed in the red uniform of the hotel’s bellhops. A blush came to his face as his brain put the scene together, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie giggling as they walked past him.

Down the corridor and around the corner they went, Fluttershy reaching into her purse and bringing out their room key and opening the door. She was actually looking forward to continuing their enjoyment from the elevator, but once they stepped in and saw the two crossed roses on the table, both of them grew quite confused, especially as each one had a blindfold on top.

Fluttershy glanced at Pinkie Pie and a silent agreement was made between them, each one picking a rose up and then slipping a blindfold over their eyes. They didn’t have to wait long as they each felt a hand taken, knowing full well the grip of Arctic Halberd, and they followed him willingly.

He took them back to the elevators, and when they got in it started to go up instead of down, Fluttershy giving a giggle as she could nearly feel Pinkie vibrating with joy. After several moments of travel the elevator pinged and the doors opened, both mares shivering at the unexpected cold that greeted them.

Halberd guided them along once more, then let go of their hands. Knowing that Pinkie would keep the suspense for as long as she could, Fluttershy lifted her blindfold, then gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

He had led them up to the patio roof, where a round table had been set up for three, the chairs equally spaced apart. Upon the table sat two vases, containing eleven roses each, bringing the mares’ total to a dozen. Fluttershy nudged Pinkie, the earth pony lifting her own blindfold, and, for one of the rarer moments of her life, fell silent as she gazed upon the setting.

Arctic Halberd, dressed in a well fitting tuxedo, stood behind two of the chairs and pulled them out, smiling softly to the two mares. They walked over, sharing a slow, passionate three way kiss before taking the offered seats, Halberd moving around to his own chair. Giving him a moment to settle, Fluttershy went to speak, but Halberd held up a hand and bid her pause.

“My dears, I must apologize for my behaviour as of late. I know I have been… distant., but I wanted to make sure this went right.” As he said this, a door opened to the side and three of the hotel’s staff walked out, each carrying a tray, which they set down on the table and lifted the lids, filling the air around the table with the aroma of delicious food. “I’ve already ordered for us, I hope you enjoy.”

In front of Halberd and Fluttershy lay a plate of steam cooked fish, accompanied by various vegetables, something of a delicacy for pegasi. Pinkie Pie’s meal consisted of grilled fruits and peppers, stuffed with cream cheese, onions and chives.

The conversation ranged from what parts of Equestria Halberd had visited whilst travelling with Scootaloo to how things, no matter how small, had changed in Ponyville. Once done with their main meals, the three servers appearing once more, clearing the empty dishes and replacing them with more trays.

Fluttershy and Pinkie watched in confusion as Halberd ignored his next course and instead stood, walking around to between their chairs, and dropped to one knee, taking their hands and giving them a squeeze.

“I have been thinking about this for some time, and although my duties will often take me away,” he let go of their hands, reaching up to the two trays set in front of them, slowly pulling them up. Through the gap the two mares saw slices of cake, and once the lids were almost off, could just make out glinting metal resting on the icing. “I wish to ask the both of you if you would give me the honour…”

A rumble through the building along with the reflection of a fireball in the next highrise over, followed by a loud boom, cut him off. There was a strange creaking sound, and if not for Halberd’s high reaction speed, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie would have fallen along with the rooftop to the streets below.

After bidding good night to her guards, and good luck to Arctic Halberd, Scootaloo entered her room, Pipsqueak closing the door as he joined her. Kicking off her shoes, Scootaloo began to undress herself as she walked towards the bathroom, not caring where her clothes fell, and all she had on when she reached the door was her panties.

By the time the shower was warmed up, Pipsqueak had joined her once more, completely naked. Stepping into the steaming downpour, he offered her his hand and pulled her close, tilting her muzzle up and kissed the tip softly.

Turning her back to him, Scootaloo leant against the wall and spread her wings, letting the water run through her feathers. Fingers followed a moment later, Pipsqueak lathering some washing gel into her wings whilst massaging her taut muscles.

“You didn’t spend long enough going through your routine, did you?”

His response was a low moan as his fingers worked at a rather tight knot in her wing joint, a smirk on his face as she seemed to go limp, but remained standing upright. Slowly, he helped her wash, and once done she returned the favour, the pair wrapping towels around themselves.

Scootaloo let out a gasp as Pipsqueak suddenly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She giggled at his antics as he carried her into the bedroom, where he lay her down on the bed, then rolled her onto her front.

With her bare back to him, Pipsqueak started to ease the tension in the muscles where her wings met her shoulders, something he noticed would take more attention than a simple touch in the shower. He watched with a smile as her wings gently spread once more and slowly fell to the mattress.

Leaning in closer, Pip took the edge of her left wing between his teeth, sliding from the base to the tip, coating the feathers in a thin sheen of saliva. He had read up on the old way pegasi preened their wings, and with some assistance from Rainbow Dash and Boreal Spear, had a physical demonstration as well.

What surprised him after he had done a few feather clusters was the small sparks running across them. Of course, with Scootaloo’s unique magic, a lot of things was possible, and they weren’t causing him any shocks, so he ignored them and continued.

Once he had finished, Scootaloo lazily pulled him to the bed and climbed on top of him, kissing him passionately. Pulling away, she sat up on his lap and pulled her wings in, smiling down at him. She then flung her wings out, showering the room with a few bolts of harmless electrical energy.

And that’s where things went wrong. A deep rumble further in the building made them both frown, and then the whole room shook. The floor below gave way, the wall to the outside world and one side of the room following a moment later. A table crashed into the room, roses falling to the floor, accompanied by three slices of cake, two of which had rings resting upon them.

A slightly quieter rumble followed, and more of the floor started to crumble. This included the area under the bed, Pipsqueak quickly using his body to shield Scootaloo as he rolled so that she was underneath him.

With a spine-jolting crash the bed hit the floor below, sending the occupants flying through falling derbis. Scootaloo was lucky, only being hit by smaller pieces, and falling out of the other side of the concrete downpour. After shaking off her disorientation, she looked for Pipsqueak. She let out a scream when she saw him partially buried, blood pooling at the floor underneath him.

Just as she was about to attempt to help him, the door to the room, which had fallen from its hinges, was pushed out of the way. Two dagger wielding pegasi, covered from head to two in black, entered, their gazes taking in the scene. The larger of the pair pointed at Scootaloo, tensing himself.

“There she is! Kill her!”

Author's Notes: