“Never... let me do that... again,” Sarah groaned as she leaned almost drunkenly against Luna while the mare supported her on the way back to the carriage. “That... goes for BOTH of you!”

You’ll find no argument from me, Sarah, Nim replied with a groan of her own. She’d had to taste and feel every bit of the vomit as it left the woman’s stomach. Not to mention the convulsions and the horrible hacking along with the awful burning as the half dissolved sugar and stomach acid had raced up her throat.

“It just didn’t occur to me that you’d eaten too much,” Luna said while she gave the woman a worried, and highly sympathetic nuzzle. “You did space it out over three hours so I wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to it as I normally would have.”

“It’s fine,” Sarah muttered as Luna wrapped a wing around her and pulled her closer to her body. “Like I said... never again.”

Luna was about to reply when a voice spoke from behind her. “Hey, Lu, think you can handle getting back to Canterlot without me?” Jackdaw asked. Luna frowned and turned back to see the thestral hovering beside her, somehow silent on his bat wings.

“I suppose so, ‘plans’ for the night?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Damn right, Ma’am,” Jackdaw replied, a grin on his face.

“Very well, report back when the sun rises,” Luna said with a straight face. Jackdaw blinked twice and gave her a long look with such a gobsmacked expression that Luna burst into snickers. “Oh, hehehehe, your face, Jackdaw.”

Sarah blinked uncertainly and then gave up trying to see and instead focused on leaning against Luna’s side without falling over... she felt incredibly weak now, all energy having been used up through the process of getting her new clothes and worse, the puking that she’d done.

Jackdaw scowled at Luna and shook his head. “You’ve got one sick sense of humor, Ma’am.”

“Oh, I know,” Luna replied with another giggle.”Seriously though, you are fully entitled to a night of fun, show up at some point before noon okay?”

“Okay, that I can do, Lu,” the thestral said, a wide grin on his face. “Heck, I’ll bring you some hay bacon if you want.”

“I think the palace kitchen would be able to manage that by itself,” Luna replied with a small shake of her head. “Get out of here, Jackdaw.”

“Aye, aye, Ma’am,” the stallion replied before flapping his wings and taking off in the direction of the Boutique.

So what service does he provide as your guard, Luna? Nim asked with a frown. I know that you’ve said that he’s very good at his job, but I fail to see what you could possibly need a guard for.

“That’s a good question,” Sarah agreed as she leaned against the mare.

Because even I can’t see everything at once, Luna answered simply. He’s there to watch my blind spots or to see things that I’m just not looking for.

“Makes sense,” Sarah replied, then she frowned. “Fuck this, I don’t care what they think.” Without warning the woman mounted Luna and then slumped down against her neck. “If anyone says anything... I’ll shoot them.”

With what gun? Nim inquired curiously.

“This one,” Sarah said, bringing up a finger and miming shooting it like a pistol. “Duh.” Then she let out a massive yawn and slumped further against Luna.

Luna glanced around the well lit streets and found that there were several night owls staring at the woman who’d just mounted their Queen in public, but none were saying much.

Is she asleep? Luna asked Nim with a frown.

No, she’s just well and truly exhausted, Nim replied. Do not make her dismount.

I wouldn’t dream of making her dismount, Luna replied, directing the thought towards Sarah.

Thanks, Luna, I love you... so much right now, Sarah replied slowly.

I thank you for that, though I can’t help but feel that in this case, you are just saying it so that you don’t have to walk, Luna commented wryly before she leaned back to face the woman and gave her face a loving nuzzle.

... Maybe, Sarah replied as she leaned into the nuzzle, closing her eyes happily, a smile on her sleepy face. And I’d kiss you but... you know.

Indeed, you need a good tooth brushing first, Luna said, nodding her head as she looked back at the direction of the carriage.

Sarah perked up slightly. “Wait... you have toothbrushes here?” she asked in surprise.

“Why yes, of course we do,” Luna replied with a small chuckle.

“Then the moment we get back to the castle... I want one!” Sarah said, putting more emphasis into it then Luna had heard her put into her voice since before she’d been kneeling in front of the toilet. “God it’ll feel nice to have clean teeth again.”

Should I be worried that that’s what she’s looking forward to the most? Luna asked Nim privately.

Well, she’s looking forward to bedding you as well, Nim replied neutrally. But she and I have been doing that for these last six months... mostly... so she is not quite so deprived of it as she is of the feeling of clean teeth.

Ah, Luna replied before she glanced back at Sarah again who was smiling at her.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been missing you too,” Sarah said with a small chuckle. “As much as I love Nim... sometimes you gotta do it in real life too...”

Luna blinked as she realized that Nim had been transmitting each and every word that she’d said to Sarah. Then the mare blushed darkly.

“Sorry, Sarah,” the alicorn said as they approached the carriage, causing the pair of thestrals who had moved to a lighted cafe table with their cards to jump to their hooves, though she saw them staring at Sarah on her back. “Take the carriage back to the Castle, I have my own precious cargo,” she called to them.

“But-but, your Majesty- we can’t just let you fly by yourself!” one of the thestrals exclaimed worriedly. “We could be relieved of our duty, Ma’am, not to mention the danger that would place you yourself at!”

“Don’t worry boys-” Sarah started before she was cut off by a loud yawn. “-I got this.”

The thestrals exchanged a look, neither appearing any more convinced than before.

“Ma’am, you don’t even have anything to keep her on your back if an assassin attacks!” the thestral on the right exclaimed.

“Nor if a dragon becomes enraged and attempts to chase you out of the sky!” the one on the left replied.

“I’m teleporting,” Luna said flatly, cutting off any further protests. “And when I get there I will send a notice to your commanding officer about the situation, have no fear.”

Heh, good thinking, Nim commented with a mental chuckle. Why did we take the long way down in the first place?

Because I didn’t know what we would encounter here and I wanted to have as much energy as possible on reserve, Luna replied as her horn began to glow.

Please tell me you’re not going to make your mane turn white again like what happened in the Wasteland, Sarah said as she started to cling to Luna a little tighter. That was... that was really bad. And that’s not even mentioning everything else that happened...

Luna shuddered at the memory her words awoke within her but she shook her head. No, I have more than enough energy to teleport both of us there, the guards and the carriage would be too much though, which is why I’m letting them make their own way home.

Well are we going to stand around here all night discussing this teleportation or are you going to do i- Nim was cut off by a bright flash of light before they appeared in a light blue room. -t

Sarah blinked as she looked around the room. A large bed was placed against one wall and a dresser with a large mirror leaned against another. In addition to that, there were quite a few bookcases as well with a smattering of book types.

“Your room?” Sarah asked as she levered herself off of Luna’s back and stumbled over to the bed.

“Yes,” Luna answered as she used just a little bit of magic to keep Sarah from overbalancing before she fell face first into the comfy bed. Sarah let out a low, happy moan as she pulled herself fully into the bed, it made the bed in the hospital room look and feel like a pile of blood and piss covered cardboard by comparison.

A most apt comparison, Nim agreed. Though I don’t believe you will be staying in it very long.

Why? Sarah replied before Luna’s magic pulled her back to her feet.

“Did you not want to brush your teeth?” Luna asked her, a small smirk on the alicorn’s face at her lover’s forgetful mind.

Sarah blinked and then nodded her head as her tongue tasted bile on the back of her teeth.

“Hell yes I do,” the woman said as a smile grew on her face. “Though... do you just have spare toothbrushes lying around or am I going to have to use yours? Because no offense Luna but that’s kind of gross.”

Says the woman who has spent the last six months of her life doing all kinds of horrible disgusting things to survive, Nim commented wryly.

“Well yeah, but it wasn’t sharing a toothbrush,” Sarah said with a blush. “That’s just fucked up.”

Luna stared at her for a moment before a giggle broke through her guard and before Sarah realized it, she had an alicorn hugging her, wings wrapping around her back as she was pulled against the soft furred chest. Soon, the pair were giggling and laughing like a pair of fools while Nim observed it all with a small grin from within Sarah’s mind.

“So you’re sure that you smelled ‘chocolate milk?’ in here Sunset?” Celestia asked the Archmage with a frown as she walked around the room. The white alicorn looked... anxious, not at all unlike she had on the night Luna had been set to return except now there was not a hint of happiness about her.

“Yes, I’m sure of it Your Majesty,” Sunset said, nodding her head. “I cast several investigative spells but I couldn’t come up with anything to track the energy I felt or the source of the smell.”

Celestia’s horn flashed several times as her eyes glowed a brilliant gold before she shook her head. “All of the wards seem to still be in place and none of Clover’s trap spells have been triggered... furthermore, I do not want to tear a hole through the floor to see if it’s still there myself... doing so could release it...”

“Release it?” Sunset inquired with a frown.

“Yes, it,” Celestia replied distantly as she continued to scan. “There is a reason why this room is so sturdily built and shielded.”

“I thought it was simply to contain experiments,” Sunset said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she thought over what Celestia had said. “You don’t mean to tell me that Discord is trapped down here?!”

“Your mind is as astute as ever,” Celestia said with a small frown. “Yes, this room was originally designed as both Clover the Clever’s Private Chambers where she could practice whatever spellwork she wanted without fear of hurting anypony, as well as the prison for Discord.”

“Why in Equestria would she want him so close to her?” Sunset asked. “Everything I’ve read about her, including her journals, indicates that she hated him with a burning passion.”

“Oh, she very much did,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “And I can’t say I blame her... Discord was an utter monster. The things he did...” she trailed off before shaking her head. “At any rate, she wanted him where she deemed the best pair of eyes in Equestria could watch him, namely right beneath her chambers..”

“I see...” Sunset said before nodding. “Yes, that does not surprise me considering everything that I’ve read.”

“It shouldn’t,” Celestia agreed. “She was a very ‘hooves on’ kind of mare, just look at the way she died.”

“Right,” Shimmer said, nodding her head. “But back to the issue at hoof... has Discord broken free without setting off the wards?”

A humorless laugh left Celestia’s lips. “I very much hope not Sunset, you’d never have actually made it to me before you were twisted into a pretzel and eaten,” the alicorn said dryly. “I think he was simply flexing his ‘muscles’ so to speak, not that it will help him any, he’s trapped, I helped pour the mortar myself.”

“Good...” Sunset stated, a shiver running through her coat, she actually had read several accounts of those who’d found themselves directly beneath Discord’s baleful gaze and she knew precisely what happened to those unfortunates. “Sorry to trouble you over nothing my Queen.”

“Think nothing of it,” Celestia replied, leaning down to give Sunset a light nuzzle. “I’m just glad that you noticed it, I’ll return tomorrow and reinforce the wards. Maybe add a few more.”

“Thank you, Celestia,” Sunset said, giving her a single nod. “Would you care for some tea?”

Celestia pursed her lips for a moment before shrugging slightly. “Sure, why not? A little tea never killed anyone.”

“You are an ass,” Sarah grunted, shoving Luna to the side. “Where is the ass? There she is!”

“Who, me?” Luna asked with a smirk as her horn glowed and Sarah’s hair began to dry. “It’s not my fault that you got your hair all wet.”

“Oh no, no, no I guess it was entirely my fault that the faucet glowed blue before it splashed water all over me,” Sarah replied as she glared pointedly at Luna.

“I guess it was,” Luna stated, a grin on her face. “But look on the bright side Sarah, now your face, hair, and teeth are clean.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Sarah stated flatly, though she couldn’t quite keep a grin off of her face, Luna’s happiness was infectious.

And here I thought that was what she had you for, Nim snarked from within Sarah’s mind as the woman sagged against Luna and the mare started back towards the bed. I guess you’ve given up that position have you?

Sarah snorted. “Not on your life Nim,” the woman said as they reached the bed and Sarah fell into it, beginning to take her clothes off. Damn it felt good for the woman to do that again at last. “Though, not tonight... too tired.”

“Well at least we can snuggle,” Luna said, assisting Sarah with her magic and enjoying every bit of it, there was something very special about clothing that made the process of simply removing it enjoyable. And that was coming from somepony who wore practically nothing other than a crown and a pair of ‘shoes’.

“Yes, we can do that,” Sarah agreed as she pulled her bra off and leaned against the alicorn’s soft fur. “This is nice... I think I’ve missed this the most Luna... just lying against you every night.”

“Oh Sarah, please don’t say such things,” Luna replied, a small smirk on her face. “It makes you sound as if you’re a character from one of those cheesy romance novels that Jackdaw reads when he thinks I’m not looking.”

“Fuck that, it’s the truth,” Sarah replied with a grin as she began to softly run a hand through Luna’s fur. “You’re so... soft.”

Luna smiled and cradled Sarah against her with her hooves. “As for you... I have missed every single part of you.”

“And you say I sound like a romance novel character,” Sarah retorted as she snuggled closer to Luna.

“Wait... they have romance novels in the Wasteland?”

Butch brought a few of his ‘favorites’ out of Vault 101 when he snuck out, Nim answered, Sarah’s mouth too close to Luna’s furry neck to speak. We tried one, it was boring.

“Whatever,” Sarah stated, as she pulled her face against Luna’s neck and placed her head down against the pillow. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay-” Luna frowned as she glanced down at Sarah, the woman’s eyes were closed and her body was already beginning to slowly rise and fall. It seems she acquired every soldier’s favorite skill in my absence.

Indeed she did, goodnight Luna, Nim said before the alicorn sensed she too fell asleep in mere seconds.

Well then, I may as well make the most of this, Nim thought to herself and pulled the sleeping woman closer as she shut her eyes.

“What an eventful day,” Nim said quietly to herself as Sarah leaned against her side.

“Yep,” Sarah agreed, she really was tired but she felt that Nim deserved a little love before she actually drifted off to sleep, after all, she had been feeling ‘neglected’ of late. Besides, it wasn’t as if Luna wasn’t getting to snuggle up against her in the ‘real world’ anyways. “But I’m glad it’s over,” she added as she ran a hand down Nim’s neck, luxuriating in the feeling of the alicorn’s soft fur.

“Oh, as am I,” Nim agreed, leaning down to give Sarah a tender nuzzle. “Any longer and I was beginning to think it would never end.”

“You and me both,” Sarah said with a smile as she leaned up to place a soft kiss on Nim’s lips. “And we wouldn’t want that would we?”

“Oh, no indeed,” a new voice, distinctly male and not at all familiar said to their right. It was a voice that made Nim’s blood run cold. “Because then, I never would have gotten the chance to see my little Nightmare, all grown up.”

Sarah got to her feet, frowning as she turned to the right. She found nothing. Nim’s eyes began to glow and she rose from where she’d been laying, horn a blistering blue.

“Oh come now, over a thousand years and that’s how my own creation greets me?” the voice asked, this time to the left. Sarah and Nim both whirled only to find nothing there. “That hurts, that REALLY hurts me Nightmare.”

“I know not of what you speak foul creature, but I know this, you shall regret such wo-” Sarah whirled to see a nightmarish mismatched creature holding Nim’s jaw closed with a single taloned hand.

“Oh hush my dear Nightmare,” the creature said with a small chuckle. “You know, you took a lot longer to appear then I thought you would, and you’re not exactly where I thought you’d be.”

Sarah didn’t really think about what she did next. There was some freaky thing handling her mare, there was only one real way to react.

“Let her go you bastard!” Sarah roared, charging at the creature.

“Such foul language,” the creature said, standing completely still as Sarah ran at him. Then just before Sarah’s fist connected with his face, he snapped the fingers of his free hand and her forward momentum stopped, her feet trapped in sticky pink tar. “I think a punishment is in order, what do you think my little Nightmare?” he asked glancing down at Nim who was doing her best to break his hold on her, struggling back and forth and trying futilely to bite him or flap her wings enough to get away. “Is that a yes? Sure, why not!”

Sarah’s eyes had barely a millisecond to widen before the creature brought his free hand forward and gently flicked her with a finger. The woman’s world went black as she felt herself being jerked out of the sticky tar and sent flying in the opposite direction.

“There, now that that’s out of the way, you and I have some things to talk about Nightmare,” Discord said as he lowered himself to the ground, dragging Nim down with him, hand still on her jaw. “More specifically, what my daughter is doing inside of this pathetic little alien instead of powerful little Lulu where I planted her.”