Flashes of flame, the same shade of red as the apples adorning the many trees of the orchard, briefly flickered before dying rather pathetically. Lyra sighed, her patience slowly draining.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon, a full week since she had met Kye. She’d wanted to ditch work early so she could spend the full evening with him, but her agent had thrown her a ‘last minute’ new starter.

“How about that?” Asked the optimistic stallion. “It was pretty awesome—right?”

Lyra gave him a pitiful smile, whilst trying to think of something nice to say. Young Dark Fire here had a rather uncharacteristic ego when it came to still way, but no actual talent to back it up.

“Well?” The stallion smiled… and winked. “You like?” He raised his eyebrows a few times, emphasising the provocative tone.

Lyra blinked, raising an eyebrow herself. You have got to be fucking kidding me… Sounded like Dark Fire was ‘hot for teacher’, which was rather tragic, seeing as Lyra wouldn't be interested even if she was single. The stallion had a rather ridiculous colour scheme. A black coat that clashed horribly with a red mane and tail. It was almost as repulsive as his huge ego.

“Are you hitting on me?” She bluntly asked.

“That depends, you want me to?”

“Hmm… No. My stallionfriend probably wouldn't approve.” Lyra satirically replied.

“Oh, you have a stallionfriend?” Dark Fire asked, blatantly feigning nonchalance. “What’s he like?”

Lyra frowned. “I don't see what this has to do with you learning still way.”

Dark Fire smiled, holding up his forehooves in mock surrender. “Just making conversation.”

A faint ‘click’ came from a nearby bush, causing Lyra’s ears to swivel towards the sound. Something—or somepony—was hiding in that bush. Dark Fire seemed to notice Lyra’s sudden change of demeanour, for the overconfident expression on his face vanished.

Lyra sent a low charged energy bolt at the bush, causing the Earth pony hiding in it to yelp loudly, fall out into view and drop her camera. The unicorn telekinetically grabbed a notebook from the fallen mare. It was blank, apart from a title:

“What the fuck is this?” Lyra snapped.

“We’re just doing what we’ve been told to…” The trembling mare squeaked.

Lyra wasn't really that angry, she’d expected the big town paparazzi to show up eventually but she needed to make a point. Dark Fire began to slowly edge away.

“Where d’ya think you’re going?”

The stallion froze. “Umm, I-”

“She put you up to this, didn't she?”

“Yes! She bribed me, said she’d give me five hundred bits if I got you to talk about your freaky alien stallionfr-”

Lyra nickered, turning to buck him in the face with her hind legs, he hit the ground with a satisfying thud, sleeping like a newborn colt. Her anger was now very real. She glared at the camera mare, who let out a loud yelp as she was hoisted up into the air by her tail.

“You and you annoying little friends better stay the fuck away from my stallion, otherwise I’ll shove this-” She levitated the camera alongside the trembling mare. “-so far up your ass you’ll be shitting negatives for a month.” She let the mare and the camera fall to the ground. “Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

Kye’s right hand twitched on the throttle as he flicked his left foot down—prompting an overwhelming sense of deja vu. He’d done the exact same thing a week ago, only this time he would be racing against two pegasi; one on a little blue scooter, and the other on her hooves. Yep, Rainbow Dash actually thought she could beat him without using her wings. Fat chance.

Applejack had kindly postponed some of her chores to set up a slalom course for them on the farm, using old barrels and bales of hay as waypoints and boundaries. The farm pony was currently sitting on the sidelines with Octavia, Vinyl, Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle was perched on top of the tank between Kye’s arms, sporting a set of aviator goggles and holding onto a tether attached to the steering yoke.

The little unicorn had insisted on riding everywhere with him over the last couple of days, it was like having an adorable little mascot. Kye had suggested she sit the race out though—incase he messed up and she got hurt—but she’d given him the most adorable little pout that had instantly eradicated his ability to deny her. Oh well, guess I’m gonna lose. There was no way he’d go all out with Sweetie along for the ride.

She smiled up at him, pressing a hoof to the lap time primer button next to the tachometer. Hehe, clever little filly. Kye was still rather impressed by her understanding of human technology.

“Be careful.” Octavia warned.

Vinyl snickered at her words—the DJ had taken it upon herself to tease her friend about joining Kye and Lyra’s herd at every opportunity. Octavia promptly clipped the unicorn between the ears.

“Oww! Enough with the whacking already!”

Applejack pointedly cleared her throat. “If’n y’all are ready—Pinkie.” She looked to Pinkie Pie, who gave an enthusiastic nod.

“Alright—mark, seeettt, go!” Yelled the party pony, waving a black and white checkered flag.

The bike lurched, struggling to find traction as Rainbow Dash shot out ahead. She was quickly overtaken by Scootaloo, the filly’s little wings propelling her along at an alarming speed, effortlessly weaving between the obstacles. Damn, that’s impressive!

“Kye, barrell!” Sweetie Belle yelped.

Kye had been so surprised by Scootaloo’s agility that he failed to notice the cider cask blocking their path, he twitched the bars. The bike barely missed it—but his right knee wasn't so lucky.

“OWW!” Kye yelped. Sweetie Belle didn't hesitate to laugh her vacant flanks off at him.

Scootaloo had left them in the dust, but Rainbow Dash wasn't as agile on her hooves, so she hadn't built up much of a lead over them. The pegasus had managed to clip three barrels in the space of ten seconds, knocking two of them over. Kye drifted the bike around them, the rear tyre spraying the hay bale boundaries with dirt.

By the time they’d reached the chicken coop the front tyre was right on Dash’s multicoloured tail. She kept throwing nervous glances over her shoulder whilst trying to prevent them from passing.

Kye drifted the bike sideways around the water well, following Rainbow into the barn and once again throwing the back end out in order to circumnavigate a stack of barrels placed in the centre. The enclosed space amplified the animalistic roar of the Akrapovic cans, causing the pegasus to jump a good three feet into the air before bolting back out into the courtyard. Sweetie Belle giggled, hitting the timer reset button as they too exited the barn and crossed the start line, still right behind Rainbow Dash.

On the third and final lap, Kye managed to overtake the cyan pegasus by the chicken coop, earning a rather loud nicker. He even managed to gain a small lead—but it didn't last long. Just as they were drifting around the barrels stacked in the barn, the engine spluttered, before dying altogether. He glanced at the fuel gauge. Shit.

“Go! Go! Go!” Sweetie Belle chanted, flicking the power source switch to ‘electric only’ as Rainbow Dash galloped into the barn and rounded the barrels, a devilish grin on her face. Kye opened the throttle, the motor giving a loud whir and spraying the pegasus with grit.

They crossed the finish line neck and neck, not even an inch between front tyre and muzzle. Scootaloo was already there waiting, a bored expression on her face.

“I won!” Rainbow Dash panted, flopping down onto a hay pile next to Pinkie Pie.

“Hate ta break it to ya n’all, but Scootaloo won.” Applejack chuckled, passing her a water bottle.

“I mean I got second.” Rainbow corrected, taking a few gulps.

“Hmm… I dunno Dashie, I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye.” Pinkie Pie chimed in, before giving a rather loud giggle-snort. “Hey that totally rhymes! I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye! I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye!” She chanted, until Applejack had the good sense to shove a hoof in her mouth.

“We would have got second if the bike hadn’t ran out of juice.” Kye muttered, flicking the kickstand down and dismounting. He knew it would happen eventually, didn’t make it any easier to accept though… This sucks. Sweetie Belle telekinetically turned the ignition off, her cute little face bearing a sombre expression

Rainbow Dash gave a loud snort of derision. “Excuses, excuses. You guys got last. Deal with it.”

Kye smirked, sitting down on the hay beside his Earth pony marefriend. “You always this butthurt?”

“What was that now?” She retorted, giving him a scathing look.

“You’re being a bit of a sore-”

“Don't you dare call me a loser!” The pegasus nickered in mock anger, a strange little smile on her face.

That was all the warning Kye got before she launched herself at him, knocking him flat on his back. He gave a muffled yelp, one of her wingtips had somehow found it’s way into his mouth.

“Who’s butthurt now, huh?” She chuckled, keeping him pinned with her hooves.

Unfortunately for Rainbow, Kye had some practice when it came to dealing with ponies trying to manhandle him. The pegasus was strong, but nowhere near as strong as Octavia. He eventually managed to roll her onto her back, pinning her wings with the palms of his hands.

He spat out a few blue feathers. “You were saying?” He casually taunted.

She gasped, glancing down at his hands. Her look of surprise turned into something he couldn’t quite discern. Kye frowned. It felt like he was missing something here… Her tail twitched. Oh…

“Sorry!” He yelped, pulling his hands away and rolling off her. “I… uh… sorry…” He trailed off, suddenly unable to form a sentence. How the fuck could I forget about that? Lotus had made it very clear that a pegasi’s wing joints were extremely off limits. He glanced at Octavia. She and Vinyl were both looking at Rainbow Dash, clearly trying not to laugh.

“Yo Dash, do me a favour and go bust that one cloud up there.” Vinyl somehow managed to say, pointing a white hoof up at a solitary cloud in an otherwise clear sky. “It’s been buggin’ me like, all day.”

The pegasus glared at the DJ. “Yeah, I’m good here thanks.”

“Would you… would you like to borrow him darling?” Octavia said, her tone dripping with mirth. “I could go ahead and ask Lyra for you…”

Rainbow Dash scowled, fidgeting slightly and avoiding Octavia’s gaze. Vinyl and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, even Applejack failed to hide her amusement, the farm pony covering her face with her stetson.

“What in the hay’re they laughin’ about?” Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo.

The orange pegasus snorted, raising an eyebrow at her friend’s naivety. Sweetie Belle however, looked furious. The little unicorn filly launched herself from the motorcycle, bounded over Rainbow Dash, landed in Kye’s arms and snuggled into his chest.

Kye blinked in surprise, before wrapping the filly in a hug. Well this is just too damned cute… She probably didn’t want him going after any more mares, lest he forget about her sister. So frickin’ adorable.

“D’awww, hugs!” Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing over and throwing her forelegs around Kye and Sweetie Belle. Octavia smiled.

“C’naa help you sir?” Applejack suddenly said.

Kye swept Pinkie Pie’s bushy mane out of his face, his eyes eventually settling on Applejack. The farm pony was glaring at a unicorn stallion trotting up to the paddock. He was brown, with a yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark appeared to be what looked like a vintage camera—and bore a striking resemblance to an actual vintage camera he was levitating in front of his face. He ignored Applejack, instead choosing to snap a few pictures of Kye.

Not. Fucking. Cool. Kye glared at the photographer as Octavia got to her hooves, along with Applejack.

“Get off ma farm, ya varmint.” Yelled the orange mare.

The stallion smirked. “Gladly,” He retorted in a snotty tone. “got what I came for anyway.” He turned tail and galloped away. Octavia looked furious.

“Want me to take the shot?” Vinyl casually asked, lowering her head to aim at the fleeing stallion.

The cellist took a moment to consider, before giving a sigh of resignation. “There’s no point. If there’s one of them, there’ll be more.”

Luna stood on the balcony of the north tower, enjoying the pleasant afternoon breeze flowing over her coat. Canterlot was a beautiful city—a fact that many ponies seemed to take for granted nowadays. Luna always took any given opportunity to just stop and appreciate the grandeur of the brilliant white metropolis, despite her royal status.

She stretched her wings, yawning. It was a little ironic—seeing as she was the princess of the night—but she never seemed to get enough sleep, having to battle nightmares for hours on end didn't usually make for a good night’s rest.

The sound of hoofsteps reverberated from somewhere behind her.

“Ponies are talking, and I don’t know what to tell them.” Said a regal voice, coupled as always with an undisguisable undercurrent of power.

Celestia trotted out onto the balcony, gazing out over the city. Luna closed her eyes, still attempting to savour the faint breeze. She knew what her sister was about to say, she just hoped it wouldn’t turn into an argument. All of Canterlot would be able to hear.

“He had good reason.” Luna said, still not looking at her sister.

“I know, all I’m suggesting is he could have handled it better.” Celestia explained. “Word of the conflict has now reached far beyond Ponyville. Several of the nobles are demanding he be incarcerated, saying he’s a danger to poni-”

“Do you even know what Ace did to her?” Luna snapped, finally turning to face her sister. “Tartarus Tia, it took the full extent of my restraint not to beat the living shit out of him myself. I saw what happened. It was all there, in her mind. In her nightmare.”

Celestia sighed. “Lulu…”

“I don’t wanna hear it. The nobles give you any shit, then you send them to me. Kye is not a monster, and I will not see him locked away.” Luna said, in a tone that left no doubt the matter was no longer up for discussion.

Celestia frowned. “You really thought I was going to oblige them? Actually send him to Tartarus?” She said, a wry smile on her face. Luna knew that smile, having used it many times herself.

“No.” Luna lied. Thousands of years, and Celestia still had the ability to make her feel like a naive little filly.

“You’ve taken quite the interest in him ever since you pulled him out of his own mind, haven't you?” Celestia paused for a second, running her tongue over her teeth and silently contemplating. “You do realise you’d probably scare him half to death if you actually attempted to have intercou-”

“Yea—can we not talk about this?” Luna said, lowering her eyebrows.

Celestia smiled. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Luna ignored the question, instead parrying with one of her own. “What are we gonna do to appease the whiny shitheads?”

Celestia tilted her head to the side, her multihued mane flowing as always regardless of the breeze. “I was thinking something along the lines of a summons. A court appearance of no consequence, purely to give the ‘whiny shitheads’ the impression that they achieved something.”

“Even though they won’t have actually achieved anything?” Luna added, levelling her sister with a stare.

Celestia grinned, a dead giveaway that she was up to something. “Don't worry sister dearest, you’ll still have your little boyfriend when all of this is over.” She winked. “That reminds me, I think I’ll go pay him a visit. He is rather interesting after all…”

Celestia teleported, but not before hitting Luna with a spell that made her horn spark and frizzle. Luna attempted to teleport herself, but was unable to do so. Celestia had temporarily incapacitated her.

“Fucking Sunbutt!” She yelled, before launching herself from the balcony and soaring toward Ponyville at breakneck speed. Her sister was going to pay.

The whir or the electric motor droned, taunting Kye in the process. He’d only went and ran out of fucking fuel. The bike was now a hell of a lot less powerful—and would soon be nothing more than a dead weight if he couldn't find more. It felt like he had a terminally ill relative, unable to do anything but watch as they withered away. He was already experiencing the five stages of grief.

The denial hadn't lasted long, the engine cutting out had been a pretty clear indicator that the fuel gauge wasn't lying. The anger was spurred on by that pompous assed photographer violating his privacy, causing him to nearly flip out on his friends. Thankfully he’d managed to grunt ‘I gotta go’ before hopping on his ride and getting out of their way before he started raging. He had now progressed to bargaining, and there was only one pony he wanted to see—a pony that lived in a tree.

He pulled up outside Golden Oaks, eagerly dismounting and knocking on the door three times. After a few moments, Spike answered. Fucking great.

“Hi… uh, is Twilight here?” Kye asked, running a hand over the back of his neck.

The dragon blinked. “Hey Twi, the human’s here.” He said, stepping aside to allow Kye access.

“Spike, he has a name.” Twilight scolded, as Kye crossed the threshold.

“Sorry, Kye.” The dragon corrected, closing the door.

“Don't mention it.” Kye said. He wasn't sure if Spike was being sarcastic or not. Either way, he probably deserved it, what with him stealing Rarity away from the dragon.

“Why don't you take the rest of the day off?” Twilight suggested, putting down the book she was reading and getting to her hooves.

Spike didn't seem too pleased at her words, but agreed anyway. “Okay.” He sighed, before ascending a flight of stairs.

Kye glanced around at the circular room. It was rather large considering it was enclosed in the spatial capacity of a tree trunk, there had to be some sort of magic at play. The walls consisted of book shelves. Not book shelves against walls, no—the book shelves were carved into the bark of the tree. A round coffee table sat in the center, next to a rather comfortable looking couch. Overall, the room had a rather eccentric feel to it—reminiscent of the unicorn now gazing up at Kye with a rather familiar expression of polite interest.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Twilight asked. “Would you like some coffee?" She added without waiting for a reply, before gesturing to the couch with a hoof.

“Um… yea, sure.” Kye replied, sitting down.

Twilight disappeared into the kitchen, returning after a few minutes with two floating cups. She set them down on the coffee table and sat down next to Kye.

“So what can I help you with?” She asked.

Kye cleared his throat. “Well I was wondering if you knew anywhere I could get some more fuel.”

“You ran out didn’t you?” Twilight said, smiling. “I thought you’d show up eventually, so I did a little research on the subject. It turns out-”

There was a knock on the door, accompanied by a sudden wave of power—and radioactivity. Kye flinched. He had a pretty good idea who was on the other side.

“Excuse me, just one moment.” Twilight said, trotting over and telekinetically opening it. “Oh, Princess Cel-” The unicorn faltered at the alicorn’s expression.

Princess Celestia strode over to Kye, her muzzle suddenly inches from his face. “Have you been fooling around with my sister?”

Kye’s insides squirmed, his heart seemed to stop beating. He dropped the coffee cup he’d just picked up. It landed on his foot, spilling all over the floor. He tried to say ‘no’, but all that came out of his mouth was a muffled squeak. Twilight gasped, her jaw practically falling to the floor.

Celestia slowly smiled, raising an eyebrow. “So. You’ve got a thing for Moonbutt?” She chuckled.

Kye was still so terrified that he failed to grasp the fact she’d just been messing with him. Celestia’s grin faded, a concerned expression taking it’s place.

“I’m sorry. Couldn’t resist.” She sheepishly said. Her horn flashed, the spilled coffee vanished, along with the slight pain in his foot. “If you’re going to be having ‘relations’ with my sister then I’m afraid you’re fair game for a prank or two.”

Kye finally managed to recover from the shock. Celestia was scary enough at the best of times but her little ‘prank’ was beyond a fucking joke. He gave her a look of disapproval.

“What? You think that because I’m a princess I don't have a sense of humour?”

“I thought you were gonna kill me or something…” Kye trailed off.

“Or something? What’s the something?” She asked, along with that damned wry smile. Kye glared at her. Fuck you Sunnybutt.

“Umm… I’m gonna go make some more coffee.” Twilight hastily said, hurrying into the kitchen and leaving Kye alone with the goddess.

Princess Celestia sat on the other end of the couch, still smiling away at him. Kye could tell she was blatantly enjoying his discomfort. When she didn’t say anything, he attempted to break the silence.

“So… um, how’ve you been?”

“Oh y’know, the usual. Listening to nobles complain all day, resolving petty disputes in court—actually, your name has been mentioned a few times.”

Kye blinked. “What have peop-um, ponies, been saying about me?” He nervously asked.

“Oh nothing much. They want me to send you to Tartarus for grievous bodily harm.” She casually replied.

Kye paled a little. “You’re not actually gonna-”

Celestia cut him off with a laugh. “You think I’d waltz in here cracking jokes about you having the hots for my sister if I was going to send you to pri-”

The goddess herself was cut off—when the front door was suddenly blasted off it’s hinges. Kye jumped, falling into Celestia’s side. The dust cleared, revealing a very pissed off princess of the night. She trotted over the front door—now lying in splinters on the floor—and stopped in front of her sister.

“What the hay was that?” Twilight exclaimed, now standing in the kitchen doorway. “Oh… nevermind.” She quickly added upon seeing Luna’s furious expression.

Kye realised he was still leaning on Celestia. He hastily scooted over to the other side of the couch, trying to ignore the immense amount of magical radiation now blasting through the room. It was beginning to make him nauseous.

Luna leveled Celestia with a stare that could rival Fluttershy’s. The sun goddess however, merely smiled. “I forgot how fast you could fly.” She said to her sister.

“You pull that shit again and I’ll send your lily white ass to the sun.” Luna said, her voice laced with with a dangerous magnitude of cosmic energy. Kye shivered. He’d never thought anypony would dare to speak to Celestia like that.

The sun goddess blinked. “Wow, didn’t know you liked him that much.”

Kye suddenly became very interested in the stitching on the arm of the couch. Hmm, I wonder how long it would take me to count them… He thought to himself, determinedly keeping his eyes locked onto the thread.

“Shut up.” Luna snapped. “Have you told him yet?” She quickly added.

Kye looked at the two alicorns, curious as to what Luna was referring to. Celestia sighed, before turning to him. “As much as Ace deserved what you did to him, violence isn’t tolerated in Equestria.” She began. “We cannot let this matter go unchecked.”

Kye looked at the floor, desperately trying not to vomit everywhere. Here it was—his punishment, his temper had ruined his chances of ever fitting in. What if everypony thought they’d be better off if he wasn't around? What if they called for him to be banished? What if-

“Will you do the damned spell already—looks like he’s gonna puke.” Luna suddenly shot at her sister before sitting on the couch next to Kye.

Celestia grinned. “Of course—your highness.” She remarked. Her horn flashed, the nausea instantly receding.

Luna ignored the sarcasm, instead wrapping a soft warm wing around Kye’s shoulders and levelling him with a rather skeptical look. “Now, I can’t read your mind while you’re awake but I’ll go ahead and take a guess anyway.” She gave him a squeeze, along with a friendly smile that instantly made him forget the fact she was a goddess. “You’re probably overthinking things right about now, am I right?”

Kye cleared his throat, intending to disagree in an attempt to save face, but he was rather distracted by the bodily contact—now rather pleasant without the constant blast of radiation. Luna didn’t wait for an answer.

“You needn’t bother. Basically you just need to show up at court, tell Tia you’re sorry for kickin’ Ace’s ass in front of the nobles, take the metaphorical slap on the fetlock and promise everypony you won’t go on a violent rampage.”

Kye let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, before frowning. “Who’s Tia?” He asked.

Luna gestured a hoof to her sister. “This filthy troll right here.” She said.

Celestia gave an affectionate grin. “Aww you still mad at me? You’re not gonna go all edgy and try make it eternal night again are you?” She said in a mocking tone of voice.

Luna froze, a deadly silence suddenly piercing the atmosphere. She glared at her sister with such intensity that Kye was quite surprised the sun goddess didn’t spontaneously burst into flames.

“Oops.” Celestia said. “I should probably get going.” She teleported, leaving the two of them alone on the couch.

Luna didn’t say anything. Kye was beginning to wonder why—until he realised she didn’t know he already knew about her past.

“Umm… I know about… y’know…”

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. Kye tried to think of something worth adding but couldn’t find the right words. After a short while, the goddess spoke.

“I’m not that pony anymore Kye.”

She sounded different. It took a few seconds for Kye to acknowledge he was hearing the shame in her voice. She’d obviously been living in regret ever since. Kye wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

“I know.”

A small ‘ahem’ came from the kitchen doorway. Twilight was leaning against the frame, levitating three cups of coffee. She gave the slightest glance toward the shattered remnants of the door lying on the floor.

Princess Luna smiled. “Sorry Twilight, but you know how infuriating my sister can be.” She sighed. With a flash of her horn, the door instantly repaired itself and flew back to it’s frame, prompting an thought to occur to Kye.

“Can anypony repair stuff that easily?” He began. “Because my ride’s a bit of a mess.” Not to mention empty… He thought.

“Your strange steed?” She asked.

Kye snickered. “I've never heard anyone call it that before.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I could probably fix it.”

“Hey that reminds me, what were you gonna say about the fuel, y’know, before Sunnybutt interrupted us.” He asked Twilight.

The unicorn blanched, almost spilling the beverages as she set them down on the table. She threw a nervous glance to Luna. The goddess however, chuckled.

Twilight relaxed a little, sitting on the couch next to them. “I read that there’s supposed to be an oil well up near Neighagra Falls. If we can get some of it then I’m pretty sure I could create a distillation unit that could extract the hydrocarbons usually found in petroleum-”

Kye snorted. He couldn’t help it. “Neigh-agra Falls. Are you serious?” He laughed, clutching his sides. Luna looked confused. “These pony puns are Killin’ me…” He snickered. “Sorry…” He added when he spotted her look of disapproval.

“As I was saying,” Twilight continued in a stern tone. “we’d have to go there ourselves to get some, as nopony has bothered pumping any of it to the surface since it was discovered.”

“That’s not a bad idea, maybe you could stop by Canterlot on the way.” Luna chimed in.

“That’s the capital, right?”

The goddess nodded. Kye smiled. He’d never been to a capital city before, who would’ve guessed he’d end up visiting a pony version.

“Cool, we going now?”

“I think it would be best to plan in advance, maybe take the train as well… teleportation has it’s uses, but don’t you want to see more of Equestria? Plus I think Lyra and the others wouldn’t be best pleased with us if we agreed without consulting them first.”

Kye smiled. She was right. Equestria was a beautiful place, and he wanted to experience as much of it as he possibly could.

“Your vitals are stable, have been for a while now in fact. We’ve managed to fuse the damaged cartilage in your wings but they’re still healing so no flying for at least a week or two. We just need to run a few more tests tomorrow morning but after that you’re free to go!”

Nurse Redheart smiled, clearly under the impression she was presenting Tink with good news. She wasn’t.

Tink was homeless. She had been dwelling on what she was going to do when the hospital said she was well enough to leave ever since she’d woken up. She sure as Tartarus wasn’t going back to the Chrome herd.

“Something wrong dear?” The nurse asked, an expression of motherly concern falling over her features.

“No.” Tink lied. She didn’t want to be a burden. The doctors and nurses at this hospital had enough to deal with as it was.

Nurse Redheart smiled. “Okay then dear, I’ll let your visitors know they can see you now.

“What visitors?” The pegasus asked, but the nurse had already trotted out of the ward.

After a few moments, Princess Luna emerged from the corridor, her mane as always a shimmering illusion of the night’s sky. She was quickly followed by… Kye?

Tink was surprised the human was here after she’d refused to tell him what happened. She’d regretted not being honest with him; thinking that he’d probably assumed she’d been trying to protect Ace. He flashed a small smile before sitting down in the bedside chair.

There it was again, that odd feeling of longing. It usually only happened when he said her name but now apparently all he had to do was smile at her. What was wrong with her? She shouldn’t be feeling this way about an alien, should she? ...Great. Now she felt guilty about calling him an alien again, even just in her head.

“Tink?”

The pegasus shivered. She could feel herself blushing but couldn’t really do anything to hide it. “Hi.” She squeaked, deciding to look at Luna instead. The goddess had a rather sly looking grin on her face.

“You feeling better now? how are your wings? They still hurt?” Kye asked, suddenly talking a mile a minute. “Have they asked you to do physical therapy yet? Or are they just letting you go right away-”

“Slow down there Casanova, let the mare talk.” Luna chuckled, playfully clipping him with one of her wings.

Tink didn’t know what to say. Once again she was overwhelmed by the concern of someone who had no business giving a damn about her. Stallions just… weren’t this nice… Of course, Kye wasn’t really a stallion. But still, his caring nature was something not many ponies were lucky enough to come across.

“Well?” Kye prompted.

“Better…” She replied, blushing yet again.

The human smiled, before a somewhat guilty expression clouded his features. “Look, I…” He began, before running his oddly shaped hoof… hand over the back of his neck. “I kinda lost it the other day… I may have put your stallionfriend in a coma.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “Long story short—he’s here… somewhere. I dunno if you’ve seen him or-”

“He’s not my stallionfriend anymore.” Tink stated. She’d already decided there was no way she’d go back to Ace, even if she had to live out on the street.

“That’s great!” Kye said, sounding relieved, before seeming to realise he’d been a little too enthusiastic. He hastily cleared his throat “I mean that’s… good.” He corrected, idly glancing around the ward.

A somewhat awkward silence followed. Tink was more confused than ever by Kye’s odd behaviour and hadn’t the foggiest of idea’s as to what he was trying to accomplish. Thankfully though, Luna decided to speak.

“So, when are they discharging you?” She asked

“Erm… tomorrow… I think.” Tink replied, suddenly rather nervous. She tried to think of something to steer the conversation out of dangerous waters, but unfortunately she wasn’t quick enough.

“Where will you be staying?” Luna asked, knowing full well Tink had nowhere to go.

“I um… with friends?” The pegasus squeaked, failing to exclude the upward inflection. Damn it!

“Uh huh…” The goddess replied, pointedly raising an eyebrow. “To whom do you refer?”

Tink had nothing, so she said nothing. Luna waited a solid thirty seconds before speaking again. “You haven’t made any arrangements yet, have you?”

Tink shook her head, her ears drooping in shame. It was true—she had no friends, and now the nice human knew she was a homeless loner…

Luna smiled, she promptly turned to Kye. “You've managed to get some furniture now haven’t you?”

“Yeah… Rarity loaned me some bits… said if I didn't accept them then she’d get Lyra and Octavia to withhold certain… activities… as well as withholding said activities herself…” He trailed off, his face reddening.

Luna chuckled “So you have a sofa?”

“Yeah, picked up a few quills as well…” He vacantly replied. “That is one weird-assed shop.”

Tink was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. She knew what the princess was hinting at and really didn't want her to present Kye with the obligation. She was about to interrupt them but froze in horror instead. The door to the ward was ajar, Lyra was clearly visible through the gap.

“Well why doesn’t Tink crash at your place for a while?” Luna casually suggested.

“That could work. What do you say Tink?” He asked her.

Even in her current state of paralysing fear, the odd feeling still swept through her, only this time she knew what it was. It was desire, true desire. She could deny it no longer, she had a crush on him. It was a shame his alpha mare was probably going to kill her…

“You okay?” He asked upon seeing her terrified expression. “Y’know you don’t have to-” Kye stopped rather abruptly, he’d clearly just spotted his alpha as well. Oh dear.

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7Op86ox9g

Sorry...