Author's Notes:

The Usual Disclaimer:

The following is a work of parody, and is protected as Fair Use under section 17 U.S. Code § 107 of US Copyright Law. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are property of Hasbro Inc.

I own nothing. All characters, settings and other belong to their respective owners. This is purely a fan-work with no intent towards profit, slander or harm towards the characters, settings or other, or their respective owners. If the respective owners feel that this fan-work in any way, shape or form threatens or besmirches their property, please let me know so that it be can be removed asap.

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I've always felt that Night Light never got any attention paid to him. Fair enough, MLP:FIM is not a show designed 'for' families, even if the intent was to make a show that parents could sit down to watch with their little kids, it's nominally aimed at little girls.

So here's my take on the character. Everyone is the Hero of their own story. And Night Light has stories of his own.

And in regards to Trixie and Sunset Shimmer ... this wasn't exactly my cup of tea to write, but I think it describes their characters, if not well, then lends itself to a slight mutation of those characters.

And yes, those are wings. Sunset Satan in the house, yo!

CHAPTER 13

“Another one, Night? You sure you’re gonna be okay getting home?” The bar-keep, a fat, burly steel-grey Earth Pony with a black eye-patch and two ears that looked like they’d been chewed down to nubs asked, the Stallion he was speaking to drinking, who was the sole patron at the bar, with only a few score other Stallions drinking in the booth set around the wood-panelled walls of the small, smoke-filled tavern.

“Yeah, keep ‘em coming, Spud. Velvet’s been struck by a bout of ‘inspiration’ tonight.” Night Light sighed, draining the last dregs of dark ale from his pint-glass. “Don’t suppose I could crash behind the bar tonight?”

“As I see it, Night, I still owe you for covering me arse back at the border. You can have the couch up-stairs, and waffles for breakfast.” ‘Spud’ replied with a laugh, filling a fresh glass with dark ale before sliding it down the bar.

“Damn, you’ll make a fine bride someday if you keep that up, Spuds.” Night Light chuckled as he caught the glass with a hoof.

“Me brides agrees with you.” The burly bar-tender replied with a grin. “Nothing makes me lovelies feel like the princesses they are than breakfast in bed and a bit of pampering at the start of every day.”

“And saves yourself an earful at the end of the day?” Night said, returning the grin.

“Damn straight. If I’ve a choice between another tour of duty along the border or somehow irritating me brides, I’ll take the tour of duty.” The burly bar-tender sighed as he ran a rag around the inside of a pint-glass and put it onto a drying rack. “The Gryphons will only eat me alive. My lovelies would make me suffer for weeks and never tell me what I’d done wrong.”

“May Celestia grant us the wit to understand our loved ones, or failing that, protect us from the great and terrifying mystery that is the minds of the fairer sex.” The dark-blue Unicorn muttered, taking a rather large chug from his glass.

Most of the evening had passed in easy silence or tall tales with the other regulars of the Bronze Leaf tavern, but his own part, Night Light was merely enjoying a night of peace without his adventurous wife driving him up the wall asking questions no sane Stallion would have the answer to, or having some nosy reporter hammering on the door, demanding an interview.

Two of the Royal Guard, from the dozen that Celestia had assigned to watch over Night Light and his wife, had followed him to the tavern, but had refused to ‘let their manes down’ and join him for a drink inside, instead standing stoically outside the building.

Good Stallions. A bit stiff-necked for their age, but good Stallions. Night Light thought as he drained the last of his pint, soaking in the atmosphere of good booze, cigar smoke and softly playing music from the battered jukebox in the corner, before he heard the door-bell tinkle. Odd, the regulars are all here, and it’s almost midnight. Maybe the Guards have finally given in and come in for a pint or three?

The Bronze Leaf wasn’t the most popular tavern, being tucked so far out of the way behind alleyways and old warehouses, it was all but impossible to find without directions, but for the regulars, not having to deal with snobby Nobles ‘slumming it’ or the bass-loving youth coming in looking for a party was well worth navigating the maze of alleys and narrow roads every night.

“There he is.” Somepony said, loudly, behind Night Light. “You lot know what to do.”

“Damn, all of this for one old codger? Is the boss being paranoid or what?”

“Hey, Nickle, do the words ‘shut the buck up’ and ‘right the buck now’ ring any bells?”

“Oi, Night, I thought you had two bodyguards?” Spud asked in a low voice, the burly Stallion’s face twisting into a grimace.

“I do.” Night Light replied, turning on his bar-stool to see just who’d walked in the door, and felt a ripple of annoyance as he saw who had entered. “Or maybe I did.”

Six Stallions, all of them young, fit and hard-eyed, with the bodies of trained soldiers, but wearing un-adorned leather armor, including large haunch-plates that completely obscured their Cutie Marks.

Either mercenaries, or some Noble’s thugs. He though sadly as he looked the Stallions over.

And they were looking for him, apparently.

“Right, you, the blue Unicorn.” One of the leather-armored Unicorns asked loudly over the softly-playing music. “You’re Night Light, aren’t you?”

“I am. And your names, gents?” Night Light asked, not budging an inch off his stool.

“None of your business. You’re going to come with us, right now.”

“I’m happily married, gents, and thus not in the habit of ducking out into the night with strange young Stallions without a damn good reason.” Night Light joked, hoping for a reaction with which to gauge the newcomers’ intent.

Two of the Stallions merely blinked, otherwise stone-faced. The other four immediately snarled or took a step forwards, mouths open to reply angrily, when one the two stone-faced Stallions coughed loudly, and they fell silent.

“Charming. Regardless, you will accompany us, Night Light.” The speaker, a lanky Unicorn with a dull blue coat and grey mane, said slowly, tapping a hoof, an iron-shod hoof at that, on the wooden floor of the tavern. “We’d prefer willingly, but our orders are ‘by any means necessary’.”

“And dare I ask about my two friends outside?” Night Light asked in the silence as the juke-box’ song finished, the ancient machine slowly switching to a new record.

“They’re taking a nap.” One of the ‘angry’ Stallions replied before the stone-faced, grey-maned Stallion could reply, a wicked grin on his face. “Royal Guards, my plot. Apparently Celestia doesn’t think much of your safety, old man, if that’s the level of security she thinks you need.”

“For the love of Faust, Nickle, shut up.” Grey-Mane hissed, kicking his mouthy companion in the side with one of those iron-shot hooves and earning a pained yelp from the mouthy stallion.

“Lads, do you understand the meaning of the Bronze Leaf?” Spud asked loudly, the thick-bodied Earth Pony leaning onto the polished wooden bar and giving the leather-armored ponies an evil grin.

“Nobody gives a toss about what this place is called, mud-pony.” Another of the ‘angry’ Stallions snapped, spitting the insult with obvious venom in his voice.

Oh, you did not just say that! Night Light thought angrily. The scowls on the faces of the rest of the patrons, and the evil smirk on Spud's face, echoed his sentiments.

“Dime for buck’s sake, shut up.” Grey-Mane hissed again, lashing out with a hoof when the other Stallion turned to protest. “Look, enough of this. Night Light, you either do this on your own hooves, or we sling your unconscious arse across one of my associate’s backs here and we carry you out. Which one will you choose?”

“Answer my friend’s question, and I’ll give you a third choice.” Night Light replied calmly, leaning back onto the bar and hooking a hind-leg around thick wooden leg of his stool.

“….Fine, you hick. No, I don’t know, what’s the meaning of the Bronze Leaf?” Grey-Mane asked as his ‘associates’ moved out in a semi-circle around the aging Stallion, completely ignoring the other patrons in the tavern.

“The Bronze Leaf is the medal awarded to Ponies who distinguish themselves above and beyond the call of duty to Equestria.” Night Light explained, a sudden grin crossing his face. “Normally, it’s only given to Ponies within the Royal Guard, but recently, six Mares received it for their help with a few recent events. Princess Luna’s return, the capturing of Discord and the restoration of the Crystal Empire. My daughter, Twilight Sparkle, was one of those Mares. I was so proud to put her medal up on the mantle-piece, alongside my own.”

“Wait … what?” One of the ‘angry’ Stallions whispered, blinking rapidly. “Nobody said anything about tangling with the father of an Element Bearer…”

“Penny, I swear to Faust …” Grey-Mane muttered. “And your point?”

“Do you know how I got my Bronze Leaf?” Night Light continued, that same grin on his face. “Surely your employer didn’t send you out here with any information one besides my appearance?”

“Oi, Night, mind the windows this time.” Spud muttered, taking a step away from the Unicorn.

“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell us.” Grey-Mane snapped, looking bored, when there was a sharp crack noise, and the ‘associate’ nearest to him flipped backwards, landing hard on his back on the wooden floorboards.

The air in the Tavern was still for all of five seconds before the leather-clad Stallions started panicking, two of them rushing to their friend and checking for a pulse, the other three staring open-mouthed at Night Light, who appeared to have done nothing at all.

No aura of magic around his horn, no weapon in his hoof, just a smug Stallion, past his prime, with a half-empty empty pint-glass next to him, the ice inside it clinking together.

“Dime, Nickle, what in Tartarus happened to Pound?” Grey-Mane hissed, his eyes twitching from his fallen associate to the smugly grinning Night Light.

“Dunno! He’s out cold … got a lump on his head the size of a walnut!” One of the Stallions muttered.

“Alright, you do that again and I FAUST DAMN IT!” Grey-Mane started to threaten, before flinching away as the air was split by another crack, and the Stallion next to him spun sideways in a circle like he’d taken a hoof to the face, before collapsing in a boneless pile.

“Bet you’re wishing your employer had given you some more information, eh?” Night Light said loudly, grinning still as the other Patrons started chuckling, a soft current of mocking humor towards the leather-armored Stallions in their midst. “Allow me to enlighten you, gents. Night Light, formerly of the 205th Equestrian Ranger Corps, Captain of the sniper-unit, bearer of a Bronze Leaf for my efforts during the last border-skirmish with the Gryphons. I’m also a Black-belt in the ‘Silent Horn’ school.”

Tapping a hoof against his horn, Night Light levitated his pint-glass under the dispenser and poured himself another round, while his horn remained completely and utterly devoid of the normal tell-tale magical aura.

Point his hoof towards the grinning, one-eyed Earth Pony behind the bar, Night Light continued. “Introducing my former C.O., Major Red Norland, aka ‘Spud’, formerly of the 205th Equestrian Ranger Corps, awarded the Bronze Leaf three times and the Purple Heart twice, as well as the only Pony in living memory to beaten a Gryphon Sword-Sage in close-combat and walked away afterwards.”

Paling, the four Unicorns still standing looked to the fat, sneering Earth Pony behind the bar, whose eye-patch and mangled ears suddenly looked more menacing than before.

“The Pegasus over in the corner, that’s Star Streaks, formerly of the 12th Scouting Corps. Received his Bronze Leaf for flying a tear-gas bomb directly into the face of a Dragon that was attempting to strafe a small farming village on the outskirts of Equestria after the farmers refused to pay it tribute. The Unicorn next to him is Bronze Gong, formerly of the Intelligence division, received his Bronze Leaf for infiltrating and single-hoofedly destroying a cult of lunatics intent of summoning Tirek from Tartarus.” Night Light kept on pointing out the other patrons of the room, taking a perverse delight in watching the armored Stallions whom had come swaggering into the tavern, looking to drag him off, turning white under their fur.

“So lads … your names?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Arses. What a buncha pansies.” Spud muttered as the Royal Guards shoved the would-be kidnappers into the back of a paddy-wagon, made of thick plates of iron bolted together to make a crude box-like shape on four thick, heavy wheels with small, barred windows in the sides, while a medic tended to the two Guards who had been beaten to unconsciousness and then dumped in the skip-bin next to the tavern. “I give them a couple of taps, and they start wailing for their mothers.”

“To be fair, Spud, you did sort of smash three bar-stools over their heads and threaten to insert the broken-off legs of the stools up their plots when that ‘Nickle’ pulled out a knife.” Night Light replied, holding an ice-pack to the head of one of his bodyguards, the young Stallion moaning from the pain of his dislocated horn. “Ah, suck it up son, you’ve had worse.”

“Be that as it may, sir, I think this is the end of my career.” The young Royal Guard moaned again, his horn tilted at an uncomfortable angle. “Getting my ass handed to me by mercenaries is not exactly going to win me any praise from the Captain.”

“Pffft. I’ve been AWOL plenty of times, lad, gotten caught with my C.O.’s daughters, twice, eloped with them while I still served under that same CO, and punched out an Ambassador’s lights after she made a pass at me brides.” Spud laughed, slapping the sorry-looking Guard on the shoulder hard enough to make the Stallion cough in pain. “Your Captain’ll ride your arse good and proper, but you’ll be fine. Just remember to watch your partner’s back next time, and you’ll come out smellin’ like a rose.”

“Speaking of roses, Spud, I’m going to go back with the Guards to the castle and report this to Captain Rosebush. She needs to know that Duke Bluebone is up to his old tricks again.” Night Light sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the weight of his years, and a belly full of booze, once again. “Also, the prospect of having enchanted stone walls, and possible a cell-door of solid adamantite between myself and Velvet when she hears I’ve been in a fight again sounds positively delightful right now.”

“Hmm, I see your point. Me lovelies are likely gonna have me hide for breakin’ the stools like that.” Spud commiserated, earning a startled look from the unfortunate Guard between them. “Still, was nice to see you do that horn-trick again. Smarmy bastards didn’t know what hit them, did they?”

“I was going to ask for the other guys to help, but the ‘mud’ comment derailed that.” Night Light added as a second paddy-wagon rolled up, pulled by four Royal Guards, although this one lacked the iron construction of the previous wagon, mere wood and canvas this time, albeit plastered with the emblem of the Royal Guard and the Night Guard over every possible flat surface. “Ah, looks like our ride’s here, son. Sorry about the mess, Spud.”

“Ah, it was getting dull anyways.” Spud waved off the apology, then grinned wickedly. “You do owe the rest of the lads a round as an apology for not letting them get in on the fun.”

It took hardly any time at all for Night Light and Spud to get the injured Royal Guard into the back of the wagon and settled comfortably on the bench, but his partner, a Pegasus, took much longer, with a broken wing and likely several ribs in the same condition, to get into the wagon’s interior before Night Light realised they’d be there till dawn, wrapped the Stallion in his magic and ignored the pained yelp as he lifted the Guard inside on his own.

“Thanks again, gents. Spud, give my love to the Brides, alright?” Night Light yelled out as the back of the wagon was sealed up and began the long trip back to the Castle.

“Celestia’s Beard, the Captain’s going to be ropeable.” The wounded Pegasus groaned, wincing as he shifted awkwardly in the seat, his broken wing taped to his side to prevent the broken pieces of bone grating against each other. “First we get our asses kicked, then her predecessor’s father has to save us from his own kidnappers. We’re going to be busted down to privates and sent out to the Border Guard!”

“Faust, you two are worst worry-warts I’ve seen in ages...” Night Light sighed, staring out the back of the wagon, watching the quiet, cobblestoned streets of the old part of town slowly give way to the asphalt and concrete of mid-town. “Trust me. When Captain Rosebush hears about Duke Bluebone’s involvement, she’s going to kiss your cutie marks. She’s been looking for an excuse to take that snake down for years, and you’ve just handed it to her on a silver platter, courtesy of six inept mercenaries and a hoof-ful of old soldiers.”

“I can’t believe that Bluebone would make such a clumsy play.” The injured Pegasus muttered, holding a hoof to his comrade’s head to hold the ice-pack in place. “I mean, sending in six Stallions to kidnap you right out of a tavern, in-front of a score of witnesses?”

“You’re fresh to the ranks, aren’t you … sorry, I never did catch your name, son.” Night Light asked, feeling a twinge of guilt. These were other Ponies who had sworn the same oaths as he had, who were protecting his family with their own lives, yet he’d never bothered to ask their names.

“Flurry, and this is Oat Cookie.”

“Dad wanted me to be a baker, like him, but I’m allergic to flour.” The Unicorn explained, rolling his eyes as Night Light tried to not laugh at his name.

“Right, well Flurry and … Oat. Little bit of a history lesson for you. About ten generations back, Princess Celestia got rid of an old law that allowed only Nobles to hold the highest ranks within the military, which allowed her to promote commoners to the upper ranks without having to go through all the rigmarole of marrying them into the existing Noble families, which didn’t sit well with the Noble families that had made their wealth from control of Equestria’s military.” Night Light began to explain, using his magic to create the illusions of several coat-of-arms, belonging to the respective families. “It didn’t make much difference to the bulk of the Noble houses and families, like my wife’s family, the Twilight House, but for families like the Blues, the Steels and the Brazens, it meant they were no longer guaranteed positions of high rank and great influence. While it served the country of Equestria much better than the old way, their respective Families were diminishing quickly in the eyes of their peers.”

“The Blues, out of all the military Houses, were hit hardest, given that their family has practiced marriage-contracts within their House that come perilously close to institutionalized in-breeding, trying to keep the ‘line’ of Princess Platinum alive in case Princess Celestia ever stepped down from the Thrones, as ancient laws first created when Equestria was founded stated that if either Princess was unable or unwilling to perform their duties as Princess, then the descendants of the three original Monarchs of the Three Tribes would step up to fulfil the roles.”

“Celestia’s reformation of the military ended up with many of the Blue House’s more valuable and traditional postings going instead to Ponies whose allegiance was to Equestria and its inhabitants, rather than their own family-members who were more interested in politics and receiving bribes for letting certain things or persons pass through their protectorates than fulfilling their oaths, which put an intense pinch on the House’s finances. And the Blues’ lack of blood-ties to the other families meant that if the Blues fell into ruin, they’d have little impact on the other Noble houses, who are very tightly interwoven with marriages.”

“Fascinating, but what does this have to do with forcing a marriage-contract on your daughter?” Oats muttered, no doubt not appreciating all the noise with the thundering headache his dislocated horn was causing.

“Sorry Oats, I’ll make this as short as I can.” Night Light apologised. “Basically, the Blues have spent the past five generations rebuilding their House from a Military Noble House into a Mercantile one, and during that period they have rebuilt their fortune and bought out massive shares in the media, namely papers and magazines, to help push their agendas. The Blue House has been trying for generations to get back at Princess Celestia for ruining their little nest-egg with the military, and with all the other reforms she’s been introducing over the past two hundred years, there are a lot of other Noble houses who have likewise had their purses pinched and their influence curtailed, and have been giving their backing to the Blue House.”

“So Bluebone is the head of a faction of Nobles who have been trying unsuccessfully to unseat Princess Celestia, mostly through trying to sway public opinion and attempts to cause civil unrest, since before any of us were a twinkle in our parents’ eyes. If he could forcibly marry Twilight to Blueblood, Bluebone would score a major point off of the Princess, earn a lot of respect from the rest of this so-called ‘Shadow Court’, and if the Princess attempted to annul the marriage, it would cause all kinds of legal snarls, as she’d have to give up a lot of political favours to get the Court of Nobles to support her decision.”

“So marrying his son to your daughter isn’t his goal, it’s just one move in some big political fight against the Princess?” Flurry asked, looking paler than before. “I knew the Nobles were a bunch of vipers, but that just sounds …”

“Well, that’s what Celestia and I believe, anyways. Velvet and the members of the Twilight House that are still speaking to us believe that Bluebone wants to inject a stronger magical bloodline into his own, but that runs counter to generations of the Blues rejecting valuable marriage-contracts to keep their bloodlines ‘pure’ in the exceedingly rare case that Celesita steps down from her Throne.” Night Light nodded in sympathy as he watched the Pegasus try to work his way through the confusion he no-doubt felt now. “So needless to say, when Captain Rosebush hears that you’ve helped deliver exactly what she needs to get Bluebone officially charged with a crime that he can’t wiggle out from or bribe his way free from, she is going to be ecstatic. My son, Shining Armor, and his predecessor, Silver Bolt, both tried and failed to catch Bluebone with his pants down. This is going to be the mother of all feathers in her cap.”

The three Stallions lapsed into silence, Night Light wondering if this would finally put an end to the Blues attempts to meddle in his family, the other two Stallions no doubt wondering what the new Captain of the Royal Guard would have to say to them.

They were almost to the Castle itself when Flurry finally spoke again, making Night Light jump in surprise as he had almost believed both Stallions had given in to shock from their injuries and fallen asleep.

“My daughter is going to be so frightened when I come home with a broken wing.” The wounded Pegasus sighed, wearing a worried expression that Night Light knew intimately, that every Father must have surely worn when worrying about their child.

“She knows you’re a Royal Guard, yes? It’s all part of the job.” Night Light offered, but Flurry shook his head.

“Oh, she knows, but my partner and I adopted her. Her … mother … abandoned her after not taking precautions during estrus, and Snowflake got teased about it relentlessly at the orphanage.” The Royal Guard explained, fiddling his hooves together nervously. “She’s always fretting over me when I come home, like she expects me to walk out on her.”

“Well, given that’s a full fracture of your wing-bone, I’d say you’re going to have a good three or four week ‘vacation’ from your duties till the bone fully heals. Plenty of time to stay at home and bond with her, then.” Night Light said, then grinned. “Maybe work on a little sister or brother for her with your wife?”

“Two Stallions can’t make a foal, sir.” Flurry muttered, coloring slightly.

“Ah, so that’s why you said ‘partner’. Odd to see two Stallions together these days, given how few of us there are these days.” The older Stallion chuckled. “Still, congratulations on a successful adoption, Flurry, and finding your Special Somepony.”

“Uhm, yes, thank you Sir. Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, Mr Night, sir …”

“Oh Faust, ‘Mr Night’ is my father, Flurry. Just call me Light.”

“Errr, right. Well, erm, Light, is it normal for a Filly to want to play dress-up with her father? Fathers, rather?” Flurry asked, suddenly looking very nervous. “She keeps wanting us to play dress-up with her, wants us to cook with her, and my partner and I are a little bit … we’re not ‘sissies’, Light. We’re not effeminate. We don’t regret adopting our little Snowflake, but we’re also worried she’s … we’re worried that Snowflake is going to, well, ‘miss out’ because she doesn’t have a Mare in her lfie.”

“Flurry, from one father to another, let me tell you this: You’re going to play dress-up with her if she asks. You’ll cook with her, read her sappy fairy-tales before she goes to sleep, go to her school plays and generally get sucked into whatever she’s doing.” Night Light sighed after several moments of thought. “This is a battle every father goes through, and let me assure you, you’re not going to win that fight, and you don’t want to. Sooner or later, your little girl is going to grow up, and then she won’t want to spend time with her father. It’ll be study-time, or following the latest rock-bands, or trying to flirt with boys, and she won't have time for her daggy dads.”

As the wagon passed into the gates of the Castle itself, Night Light gave the wounded Flurry a wan smile. “I lost my daughter to her own potential, to the Princess and to Equestria itself. I missed out on so much because my little girl had too much potential to let her have a normal childhood. Next time your Snowflake wants to do something girly with you and your partner, Flurry, you do it, because when you’re my age, and you look back on your time as a father, you don’t want to be filled with regret because you were too ‘manly’ to just be with your little girl, damn what other Ponies think.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bitch.”

“Whorse.”

Trixie and Sunset Shimmer glared at each other across the divide of their ‘cabin’ in the train-carriage.

Getting onto the train in their cloaks had been a trial in and of itself, but thankfully the night-shift Ticket-Pony for the ‘midnight express’ train-trip was more interested in stamping tickets and trying to remain awake rather than asking two patrons to take off their ratty cloaks.

Each blamed the other for their situation, and each was possessed of overwhelming pride in not only their abilities, but their own self-worth. And weeks of travel with only each other from company, with the unfortunate side-effect of the spell that had drawn them together in the first place, causing them to need to remain within a short distance of each other, their enforced partnership always ended each day with a contest for dominance of their little two-pony show.

Sunset Shimmer’s horn glowed, a deep red aura with golden highlights, and Trixie moaned, biting her bottom lip and squirming as the magic dug into her body under the cloak, causing the light-blue Unicorn no end of torment, before Trixie’s horn lit up in retaliation, and now it was two Unicorn mares squirming and moaning on the padded benches.

“Tw-Twilight will … fix this … and Trixie will be rid of … of you!” Trixie hissed, the magical aura surrounding her horn pulsing wildly, making the Mare across the small space from her buck her hips wildly, even as the two glared hatefully at each other.

“Sssstupid she-mule!” Sunset Shimmer spat back, her own magical aura stretching out into long, spike-like waves, making Trixie cry out in both pleasure and pain before shoving a hoof into her own mouth to muffle her shout. “Twilight is … going to … save me, and then she’s going to drive you away again!”

“Nuh-never! Priiiiincess Twilight will save Trixie and send you back through that mirror!” Trixie spat back, alternating her horn’s aura again and assailing Sunset’s body in a new manner that caused the golden Mare to jump off her seat, leaving a small damp spot on the padded cushions, before Sunset’s counter caused her to leap off her seat in turn, the two Mares grappling with each other before falling heavily to the ground, hissing insults at each other even as their bodies slapped together under the rough hemp cloaks, each desperately trying to straddle the other, the junction of their loins the source of a furious contest of flesh before the Mares hissed in unison, baring their teeth at each other in a pained, victorious grin.

“Mine!” Trixie hissed, rolling Sunset onto her back and viciously pounding her hips down as the other Mare squirmed and fought back, denying their shared pleasure before a dark, leathery wing swept out, startling the blue Show-mare and giving her rival a chance to roll both of them over again.

“MINE!” Sunset snapped, chuckling darkly as she gave Trixie a taste of her own medicine, luxuriating as much in the sense of dominance against her erstwhile partner as the heady sensation of warm, wet flesh pulsing against more of the same, two dark, leathery wings more at home on a Thestral or a bat than a Unicorn Pony flapping unsteadily as she struggled to keep her dominant position over the struggling Unicorn.

Back and forth, with each reversal, the two Mares became more animalistic, more determined to be the one on top at the end of their contest as their bodies quaked and shuddered, their hatred for each other rapidly being eclipsed by a deep, burning need for release, held in check only by their need to be better than the other Pony, locked in sexual combat against each other as both wielded their magic against each other, using weeks of hard-won knowledge of each other’s bodies to try and make the other come first, to be the one that endured the longest.

Phantom tongues licked at their nipples, their genitals, illusory mouths pulled at each other’s manes or suckled on their horns, disembodied hooves pressed and stroked Cutie Marks or slapped at the other’s plots, the steady stream of curses and “Mine!” never ceasing to flow from the Mares until their bodies could no longer hold out, the two sitting on their haunches, wrapped in each other’s legs, glaring into each other’s eyes as they gritted their teeth against the pleasure-filled cries welling up inside them, desperately trying to deny even the slightest hint of the pleasure they felt from the other as they came with force enough to make white spots dance before their eyes, their bellies and haunches flooded with sticky wetness as their bodies clenched as tightly they could, before the two fell onto their sides, panting heavily for several moments before pulling apart from each other in unspoken agreement, their bodies separating with a wet squelching noise.

Re-wrapped themselves in their cloaks to hide the shameful magic that had trapped them together, the two Mares denied themselves the warmth of the afterglow rather than risk giving the other even the slightest hint of victory.

Exhausted, the two still managed to cast cleaning spells over their own bodies, and then begrudgingly did the same for the musky pool they had left on the floor before a window was pulled down and the magical bubbles of bodily fluid were flung out the window to land in the abandoned night.

“Twilight will … save Trixie … first.” Trixie hissed, fighting to keep her eyes open.

“Bitch …” Sunset retorted weakly, leaning heavily against the side of the carriage.

“Whorse …” Trixie shot back before fatigue dragged her down into the comforting darkness.