Chapter 73

After leaving the hotel lobby, Sunset stopped at the car to get some cash, and then made her way across the parking lot past the Applebee’s, heading back the way Fluttershy and Golden Arrow came from when they met her after crossing the border. As she walked along the sidewalk, making a mental checklist of all the things she needed to get, she passed by a little shop that she noticed had some cheap digital cameras in the display case.

She had been unable to take any pictures ever since giving her phone and leather jacket away to the decoys back in Arizona. At the current point in the trip however, she figured it would be easiest to wait until she was home to get a new phone, so an inexpensive camera would have to work for what she was planning.

With new camera in-hand, Sunset made her way down the sidewalk to the casino, which she decided to cut through so she could have a look at the inside. Upon entering the front doors, she was met by a large water fountain, above which was a large domed ceiling, vividly illuminated by an array of coloured flood lights.

The red-head stopped briefly, taking a few pictures before continuing onward.

She made her way through the lobby and into a mall corridor, checking out a few of the shops for a few minutes before making her way back to the lobby and down a large set of steps that led to a large, quiet carpeted hall lined with auditorium doors on both sides. Between the doors were pictures of famous singers, magicians and performers who had been at the hotel in the past, some of which Sunset recognised, and some she didn’t.

Before this mission, the red-haired Equestrian thought she had a pretty good knowledge of the pop-culture in this world, but after spending a month with Golden Arrow, she realised how little she knew about famous musicians and actors from as recently as even twenty years ago. It struck Sunset as odd that Golden Arrow and Pinkie Pie hadn’t become best buds already, since the pink party-animal was known within the group as being a serious movie buff.

At the end of the hall was an exit that led to a suspended walkway above the street to a plethora of other attractions, as well as a staircase that led down to the sidewalk below, which is the path Sunset chose. She had full intentions of seeing that massive waterfall up close, and it was not a difficult task to locate it with the inescapable rumble that droned on endlessly throughout the area. She followed the roar of falling water like a beacon, walking down the sloped sidewalk, unaware that Fluttershy and Golden Arrow had just made their way up that very stretch barely half an hour ago.

She continued straight ahead, eventually crossing Niagara Parkway to the railing that lined the edge of the gorge. She lifted the camera and snapped a few shots of the Bridal Veil Falls on the American side before continuing to the right, heading for the larger Horseshoe Falls.

It was a fair walk, taking about ten minutes before she neared the large waterfall. The sidewalk was soaking wet before she even got close to the railing, and she closed her eyes as she stepped along, enjoying the tingling feel of the cool mist on her face. When she made it to the edge at last, she marveled at how quiet it was; given the fact that the rumble of falling water could be heard throughout the area, Sunset was incredulous of how eerily quiet it was right next to the brink as she leaned on the fence with her forearms, gazing down into the rushing water.

It hypnotised her to watch the smooth, blue fluid, slithering over the edge in near silence. A minute or two had passed before she snapped out of it, finally remembering to raise the camera and snap a few shots of the curved edge of falling water sprawled out before her.

She turned her back to the railing and aimed the camera at herself to take a few selfies with the falls only a few feet behind her, wishing in her mind that there was a way to send pictures through her book for Princess Twilight to see.

It wasn’t all she wished for, however.

“Too bad Flutters and Golds weren’t down here with me,” she thought to herself as she turned back to face the water, putting her camera down to rest her chin on her forearms after folding them on top of the railing. “Hopefully she pulls through this funk that she’s in…this would be really cool if I had them around to enjoy it with.”

The thought of her friends made Sunset think about home, and she found herself longing to be in her apartment at that moment, playing Grand Theft Auto with Rainbow Dash. It was fun living so close to the rainbow-haired girl; having someone who could come over and just hang out at a moment’s notice had been a life saver during the past few difficult months of trying to find work.

Work.

“Ugh…” Sunset groaned, wondering how she was going to return to a normal life after spending a month on the road with a 2500 year old commando, looking for her friend who was being held at the bottom of the ocean in a secret facility belonging to a super-secret organisation owned by the world’s elite. It seemed all too ridiculous to think about now, and Sunset had to remind herself that yes, it actually happened.

She suddenly remembered her last night at home when she'd bought groceries, deciding that it was time to set out the next day to find an entry-level job to make ends meet while she watched for an opening in the field that she’d gotten her degree in. She shook her head while keeping her eyes on the water slinking past, disappearing over the edge while she ruminated on the life that was waiting for her back in Canterlot. “How the fuck am I supposed to work in a coffee shop after breaking into the CIA?”

Sunset reflected on some of the things she’d seen and learned during the rescue mission. Some of it was stressful and even scary, but there were also times that she learned valuable skills and lessons, and admittedly, she enjoyed spending time with Golden Arrow; especially during the last week of endless sex. She sighed deeply when she was suddenly reminded of the warm glow between her legs that still hadn’t completely faded yet.

“Damn, I wish it would go away faster when I get away from him,” she complained to herself. “Oh, what I wouldn’t do to have him shoot another load of his cum in me…”

Sunset snickered to herself, shaking her head as she thought about her unusual problem. “Fuck, that stuff is like crack,” she thought. “The problem is now that Flutters is back, it’s gonna be impossible to get him to take me somewhere for a quickie. I'm just gonna have to deal with this on my own from now on.”

She raised an eyebrow suddenly, turning around to look up the hill behind her, scanning the skyline for their hotel. “Maybe with a little luck, he’ll get her cheered up and they’ll be getting it on when I go back to the room, and maybe they’ll invite me over for a little three-way action and voila! I get a free dose of relief.” She grinned as she pictured it in her mind. “Golds will be on top of Flutters, and when he sees me come in, he’ll wave me over and be like: ‘come on over and join us, Sunny!’”

Sunset snorted at the sitcom-like imagery and turned back to lean on the railing, staring lazily at the softly trickling water while listening to the quiet roar from below, muffled by the cliff in front of her. She rested her chin on her forearms again, sighing deeply as she stared longingly into the endless blue flow.

“I love it when he calls me Sunny…”

The mist had made her hair and clothes damp by then, but she paid little attention to it. Her mind was elsewhere; thinking about that week alone with him, having amazing sex non-stop for six days straight, and how she needed even more.

It had become an addiction.

After a moment of quiet observation, she mentally slapped herself. ”Fat chance of getting Flutters into any action tonight,” she thought. “That girl is in a bad way. I wonder what’s wrong with her? There has to be more to it than just losing her friend…”

Sunset’s thoughts were brought back to the chase on the road, when she watched in awe as the shy girl took out seven of the eight bikers with a casual precision that was both frightening and admirable, and the red-head couldn’t help but shake her head at the irony of how she used to bully such a fearsome warrior. It was nothing short of absurd how helpless Fluttershy once was; weak, unconfident and perpetually frightened, although she was always sweet and loveable, but now look at her…

“Man, Flutters just wiped those guys out like it was nothing,” she thought, chewing her lip as she watched the scene replay in her head. “The whole thing was so precisely calculated and effortlessly deliberate. It was…” --she paused for a moment when she realised something else -- “…it was fucking hot.”

Sunset closed her eyes when she realised the truth.

Fluttershy turned her on. Very much so, in fact; especially after seeing the pink-haired girl put on such a display of deadly skills. Her thoughts returned to that night at the motel in California, when Golden Arrow held her down and fucked the daylights out of her from behind, and she began to imagine the shy girl giving her a similar treatment.

Her thoughts traveled even further back in time next, to the night she became an immortal, when she tasted the shy girl’s saliva in her mouth and held her down while putting on her mean bully routine. What if Fluttershy turned the tables on her and gave her some payback?

“I wonder if Flutters is strong enough to hold me down? She could straddle my bare ass and fingerbang my puss-“

Sunset shook her head frantically when she felt the tingling heat rapidly returning to her loins. “Damn it, Sunset! What re you doing? You came down here to cool off, not make yourself even wetter thinking about being raped by your friends!”

She struggled to think of something else, but her depraved mind only brought her thoughts to the proposal given by Golden Arrow, a proposal that involved her reading his thoughts while he was having sex with Fluttershy. The idea of it was bizarre to Sunset, but at the same time it was far too intriguing to walk away from, and she had eventually become borderline obsessed with the idea of Golden Arrow sharing the experience of having Fluttershy bring him to climax inside her.

Sunset closed her eyes and shook her head again to clear her thoughts, and then rubbed her eyelids firmly with her fingertips. There was no escape however, in the blackness of her mind she saw Fluttershy and Golden Arrow appear from the behind the Applebee’s when they met her in the Oakes Hotel parking lot. All she could see was that image of the shy girl wearing Sunset’s own red shirt with the sun on it; soaking wet and stuck to her skin, leaving almost nothing to the imagination as she approached with a sexy grace that could never be matched by anyone. The absence of a bra had put her breasts on display, jiggling with each step, her hard nipples completely visible through the shrink-wrapped shirt, her slender waist below emphasizing her beautiful bust even more.

“Damn, I NEVER looked that fucking good in that shirt…” Sunset thought as she drew in a deep breath. Her arousal had almost returned to full force again, but this time it couldn’t be blamed on the magic. Her panties were flooded, and she regretted having such intimate thoughts right there at the edge of the majestic waterfall, since she would now have to run her errands with the discomforting nuisance of wet fabric rubbing against her slit.

The sun was quite low by then, and it would be dark soon, so Sunset took one more look at the waterfall. After a deep sigh, she decided it was time to busy herself by finding a store to get some clothes, hoping to keep her mind off of her friends, waiting upstairs in the hotel room.

*****

“Look Flutters, they have a pretty damn decent Jacuzzi in here,” I called out from the bathroom to my girlfriend, who was still perched at the window watching the falls. She turned away from the scenery, giving me a blank stare as I stepped out of the bathroom door into the hallway that led to the front door.

I waved her over. “Come on. It’s time to clean you up before you get skin cancer from all that shit on you.”

Fluttershy scowled a bit, and although I couldn’t tell if it was a real scowl or if she was being playful, I found the look adorable nonetheless.

I rolled my eyes and started nodding, waving my hand around in a circle to motion her to come over. “Yeah yeah, I know, you can’t get cancer. It was just a joke, Flutters. Come on.”

She stood and slowly made her way over to join me in the bathroom, where there was a large counter with a sink on the left side, and a stand-up shower stall with glass doors on the right. Next to the shower was a large, L-shaped Jacuzzi tub with mirrors mounted on the surrounding walls.

I reached into the shower and turned the water on, then adjusted the temperature to a comfortable setting. After turning back to Fluttershy, I saw her standing motionless with her hands folded in front of her lap, her clothes still damp, her dull eyes locked on me.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll feel a hundred times better once you're all cleaned up, Flutters. I promise."

She shifted her eyes downward, studying the backs of her hands as if she hadn't noticed before how filthy they were. After a moment of silent observation, she looked back at me with a blank stare.

"Look," I said, taking a step closer to her. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't really want to stop, but you need this. It's just for one night, then we'll be on our way home. That's what you wanted, right?"

Fluttershy shrugged, catching me off guard.

"Didn't you say in the parking lot that you didn't want to stay here? " I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You wanted to go straight home, I thought?"

She paused for a moment, and her eyes began to dart around the room before she finally gave a reluctant-looking nod.

I cocked my head, confused by her answer. "You didn't look too sure about that, are you worried about going home?"

She quickly shook her head in response.

Fluttershy's contradictory replies had me somewhat worried. What could be going through her mind to make her act so strangely?

I took a deep breath and turned to look back at the shower stall. "Wow, she is messed up," I then noticed the glass walls had already become clouded by the hot steam, so I decided I should try to get her inside. "OK, um..." I started, unsure of how to handle her. “You want me to leave you alone while you have a shower?” I asked.

She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, to my surprise. And relief.

“OK then,” I continued, trying to get her moving without being too forceful. “The shower’s ready to go. It's all nice and steamy, just for you. It's gonna feel amazing, trust me.”

Fluttershy sighed, and then hooked her fingers under the bottom of Sunset’s shirt to peel it off of her moist skin. While the shirt was over her face, I was given a prime view of her breasts when her arms went up over her head to pull the shirt the rest of the way off.

Her skin was still dirty, covered in grayish-black blotches, making me wonder about the shit they must have put her through as she dropped the shirt to the floor. Her hair fell around her, still damp and stringy, tinged a darker colour due to the toxic contaminants that stained the normally beautiful pink locks.

She hooked her thumbs over the elastic of the gray pants next and pulled them down over her hips, letting them drop to the floor, revealing the fact that she hadn’t been wearing any underwear whatsoever under her clothes.

I had forgotten what lovely figure she had. It was as though she was sculpted by a god; a god who happened to have a profound understanding of what would drive a man like me completely crazy. Even while covered in all of that filth, her true, natural beauty could not be hidden, and I was determined to free it once again.

I suddenly snapped out of my daze when I realised she’d walked past me and stepped into the shower. She tipped her head back as the warm water sprayed and trickled down her skin, and I was left realising that she almost certainly hadn’t felt anything as soothing as this for almost a month. It was plainly obvious that they hadn’t allowed her to shower while she was imprisoned, and the feeling of the warm water on her skin must have been as close to heaven as she’ll ever get.

After a moment of soaking in the sprinkling water, she rested forehead against the glass wall and stood in motionless silence, letting the water pelt her shoulder blades with its soothing warmth.

“Poor thing,” I thought, trying to think of a way to get her to start cleaning herself.

Then, an idea sprang forth. “You want some help? Like, with your back and stuff?” I asked, to which she gave me a glance, followed by a small nod.

I quickly peeled my own clothes off and stepped into the warm shower with her. The room was becoming steamy already, and the hot water felt amazing on my skin. I couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for her.

I decided to start with her hair. “Just relax, OK? I’ll look after you.”

All that was provided were those little tiny shampoo bottles that hotels always had, so I poured the entire thing over her head, hoping it would be enough to get all the crap out of her surprisingly full head of hair. As I began to run my fingers through her pink locks, I was heart-broken to see how bad of a state she was actually in; I was constantly hitting snags and knots, stopping me from being able to run my fingers through her hair as I tried in vain to straighten out and organise it a bit. Eventually, I gave up and resorted to simply picking the entire mass up and massaging the shampoo into it.

It was gritty. I started pulling out little bits of what looked like concrete pebbles, making me wonder what kind of war she must have gone through when she fought her way out of that place. After working at it for a bit, there was finally a lather beginning to build up and I was eventually able to run my fingers through her long hair, working the cleanser in deeper to bring out the sugary pink hue that was her natural colour.

When I glanced down at the floor of the shower, I shook my head at the sight of the dark gray water swirling around the drain as the filth was washed away from her.

After aiming the shower head to rinse out the shampoo and grime, I swung her hair around to her front, then picked up the bar of soap and began to wash her back and shoulders. With a thick lather worked up on my hands, I set to the soap down and ran my fingers around her neck and throat, then down her arms to her hands, wiping away the greasy darkness, erasing the evidence of her imprisonment forever.

I stopped to re-lather, and then I reached around to run my hands along her slender belly, cleaning the grime off of her soft skin, eventually working my way up to her breasts. I cupped them gently, feeling the full, slick masses slip between my fingers, massaging the soap into her soft flesh. The hot water had made her nipples soft and supple, and I could barely feel them sliding under my fingers as I gently rubbed her clean.

I rinsed her off again, marvelling at how vibrant her custard-toned skin had become already. I decided to take a break and see how she was doing, so I wrapped my arms around her midsection and hugged her, pressing her back against my chest as I rested my chin on her shoulder.

“Does that feel better?” I asked.

She nodded silently.

“Do you wanna talk at all? Like, about what’s keeping you so quiet?”

She shook her head.

I sighed, disappointed by her answer, knowing I couldn’t force her to talk about it until she was ready. The last thing I wanted was to drive her away.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?” I asked. “Am I bothering you with all this touching?”

She shook her head again, which gave me at least some relief. After stepping back and looking down at her slender body, I realised what was next to be cleaned when I saw the round little cheeks of her ass waiting to be treated.

“I’ve gotta do your, uh…” I stopped to clear my throat, “nether regions next. Did you want to do them yourself, or…?”

She turned slowly to glance at me with one eye for a moment, and then she faced forward again and brought her hands up to place her fingertips on the glass. She slowly shifted her left foot outward, followed by her right, positioning herself to allow my hands access to every nook and cranny of her anatomy.

“Well, that’s a pretty clear response…” I thought to myself, smirking as Fluttershy presented herself to me, leaning forward on the glass with her feet apart.

I took a deep breath as I lathered my hands up again, looking down at her waiting body, thinking about how I was going to go about starting this stage of the cleaning process. I set the soap down and paused for a few seconds before cupping my hands over the cheeks of her ass, gently massaging the soap into her soft, smooth skin. Once I was satisfied with that, I slid my hands around her hips to her front, running my fingertips down over her mound to her slit, where I cupped my left palm over her soft lips to rub the fragrant cleanser into her flesh.

It became clear to me very quickly that although she was very despondent and had obviously been deeply affected by the recent events in her life, her ability to become aroused had certainly not been inhibited.

Her breathing deepened and her hips swayed gently, responding fervently to my touch as I massaged her slit with my left palm while trying to decide what to do with my right. Eventually, I slipped my other hand under the bottom of her ass, dipping my fingers into her crease from the rear, meeting the fingertips of my left hand in the process before trailing my right hand upward between her cheeks. I made sure to run my fingers all the way up the crack of her ass, working the soap into every detail, making sure there was no filthy residue remaining anywhere on her body.

She let her head lean back suddenly, resting it on my right shoulder as she enjoyed the feel of my fingers caressing her most intimate areas, bestowing her with a feeling of freshness that she hadn’t felt for what seemed like an eternity. Cleanliness wasn’t all she felt however; there was a steadily increasing heat building in her loins, sparking her desire with increased fervor every time my fingers passed through her sensitive folds.

With the back of her head still on my shoulder, she turned slightly and began to gently caress my jawline with her lips, planting slow, loving kisses on my wet skin as she worked her way toward my ear. Satisfied that she was clean, I held my right hand up to rinse the water off before reaching around to her front to hold her right breast.

I tilted my head down to meet her lips with mine, feeling butterflies in my stomach as I was reminded of what it was like to kiss Fluttershy passionately for the first time in over a month. I knew she was just as excited about it, judging by how hard her nipples had gotten since the last time I had my hands on her breasts, accompanied by the rhythmic swaying of her hips that seemed to be happening without any conscious input from her.

My body had mind of its own by then as well, commanding my length to harden rapidly and rise up to poke her ass cheek, prompting her to instinctively push against it in response, sending a shiver up my spine from the sensation of her soft, smooth skin firmly rubbing against the tip of my erection.

Temptation got the better of me after realising that her arousal had set in. With my fingers still nestled between her folds, and after the water had washed away much of the soap from her, I took the initiative and plunged my middle and ring fingers inside her.

I let them sink in deeply, feeling the details of her hot interior as her hips jerked in response, accompanied by a soft moan emanating from her throat. Her tongue crept into my mouth; slowly, but with intention, sliding it gently alongside mine, where they slowly began to tangle and spiral around one another. It was an unusually tame sort of kiss for her, but she was in an unusual mood, so I didn’t think much of it. My right hand massaged her breast gently while I drove my fingers in and out of her, stroking her tight interior as my palm rubbed itself against her swollen folds, grinding her hood against the sensitive clit underneath.

She broke the kiss to exhale her enjoyment against my cheek, followed by a sudden lunge of her hips in response to the jolts of ecstasy she was receiving from my strong, yet nimble digits. I increased my aggressiveness as a reward for her passionate response, knowing that she was ready to receive it with wanton hunger. With my fingers remaining inside her, I squeezed them toward my palm, mashing her clit into the heel of my hand while my fingers pressed firmly against her G-spot, and I gyrated my hand around in a circular motion, drawing a sudden, sharp gasp from the shy girl in response.

Her hand quickly found itself on my abdomen, sliding downwards until her slender fingers wrapped themselves around my fully-charged erection. She stroked the entire length of it, stopping briefly to squeeze down on the sensitive head with her thumb and forefinger, extruding a bead of clear, slick fluid from the tip. She promptly used her thumb to spread it around before the shower washed it away, delivering quick, circular caresses to the tip, causing my knees to buckle when the intense sensations radiated up my spine.

Now fully slicked with my juice, Fluttershy stroked her fist up and down my length, pumping the head vigorously in her tight grip, shocking me with wave after wave of mind-numbing bliss. I repaid her service with extra vigor in my own thrusts, driving my fingers into her with such force that her feet lifted off the floor of the shower stall, keeping her steady by holding onto her breast as I stimulated her aggressively in mid-air.

Overwhelmed, she threw her head back, crying out a soft howl of delight before turning her head to breathe against my neck, using her hand to continue stroking me with a moderate, steady rhythm. She gasped sharply once again, reaching out with her free hand to plant it against the wall to steady herself, her head swimming with euphoria as she brought her right leg up and pressed her trembling foot against the glass wall.

Our assaults on each other were intense, our bodies both quaking under the effects of the heavenly sensations, savouring the warmth of our ragged breaths hitting each other’s faces, accentuated by the warm water trickling down our sensitive skin.

I was the first to capture her orgasm as usual, and her body convulsed violently as it remained suspended above the floor of the shower stall, held up by my one of my hands between her legs, the other by my arm wrapped around her, holding onto her right breast.

“Ooooohhhh…” her soft voice moaning next to my ear was like a beautiful piece of music, and the supple flesh of her interior clenched tightly on my fingers in sharp pulses; an intimate deed that I always considered to be a gesture of gratitude, communicated directly to me by her satisfied womanhood.

After coming down from the peak of her pleasure, I let her feet touch the floor again and she spun around suddenly to wrap her arms around the back of my neck, pressing her naked, wet body tightly against mine while kissing me deeper, dipping her tongue in between my lips in search of mine. She found my tongue quickly and latched onto it, wrapping it in hers as she mixed our saliva together in each other’s mouths.

As the shy girl pushed her abdomen forward, tightly pinning my erection between us, she separated our lips and began planting rapid kisses all over my face, showing me a new level of affection every time her soft lips came into contact with my skin again.

Suddenly, just as our bodies had reached complete arousal, she stopped her barrage of kisses to stare into my eyes. Something seemed to spark within her, reminding her of her imprisonment, or possibly the loss of her friend; whatever it was, I could see the desire in her eyes give way to worry and hopelessness, bringing our romantic encounter to a screeching halt, and she silently let her head rest on my shoulder with a deep sigh.

I wrapped my arms around her, trying my best to avoid feeling dejected by the unexpected cessation of sexual advance from the shy girl. “What’s the matter?” I asked.

I didn’t expect an answer, but to my surprise, I got one. “I…I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. What must she have been put through to have her spirits be so beaten down? I hugged Fluttershy tightly and rocked her gently from side-to-side, trying to bring some comfort to her. “It’s OK, Flutters,” I replied. “We should finish cleaning you up anyway.”

I released her from the embrace and dropped to one knee, grabbing the soap to lather my hands up again. I ran my hands up and down both sides of her thighs, then her calves and feet, rubbing the soap into her skin to remove the last remaining grime from her body.

Her slit was at eye level with me in my kneeling position, and I wanted badly to lean forward to kiss it, but I knew after she’d put the brakes on once already that I should just leave it be.

Instead, I stood up and re-lathered once more.

“Close your eyes,” I instructed quietly.

She complied, and I proceeded to clean her face by rubbing her cheeks and forehead with my fingertips, followed by gently running my fingers along her eyelids and down the sides of her nose. I worked away with my hands and fingertips, cleaning off every intricate detail of her pretty face before finally rinsing her off one last time with the hot water from the shower head.

After she was completely clean, we held each other under the hot water for what felt like hours, thinking to ourselves about where we were and how we'd gotten there, what had happened already, and what might be coming our way next.

*****

Sunset returned to the room some time later, carrying several bags with her as she rounded the corner to find me sitting on the bed in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.

I stood quickly when I saw her enter the room. “Hey Sunny, did you have fun?”

“It was pretty cool,” she replied. “Would have been better with you guys though.”

I nodded, understanding her sentiment.

After we stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, Sunset looked down at the bags she’d carried in with her. “Um…so, I got you a couple T-shirts and jeans. I know you don’t really wear anything too fancy, so…”

She held one of the bags out to me.

“Yeah, no problem. Thanks,” I replied, taking the bag from her. I rooted through its contents, looking for my new clothes when I pulled out a tiny, lacy white thong.

I briefly held the garment up to study it, then looked at Sunset with a cocked eyebrow. “This for me?”

She snorted, setting the other bags down before folding her arms. “If you want,” she chuckled. “No, those are for Flutters.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “She doesn’t usually wear stuff like this.”

“I know,” Sunset replied, shaking her head. “I don’t really know what I was thinking.”

As she spoke, I pulled a matching white bra out of the bag. “Wow. Where the hell were you shopping at?”

“That’s uh…” Sunset mumbled, pursing her lips nervously, “…a push-up bra. Again, not really sure what I was thinking. Sorry Golds, Flutters probably won’t even wear this stuff.”

“Well, we’ll see what happens,” I replied, stuffing the underwear back into the bag after pulling out my new T-shirt and pants.

I heard Sunset draw in a shaky breath, then I noticed her staring at my shirtless chest while she hungrily bit her lower lip.

“Is your sexy time kicking in already?” I asked.

She snapped out of her trance and nervously locked her big green eyes on me. “Yeah,” she answered, shaking her head as she turned away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said, slipping the shirt on over my head. “Jeez, I forgot how fast it happens.”

She nodded. “And how slowly it goes away when I leave.”

“Really?”

“Yeah well, the problem is once I’m turned on, I keep thinking about sex and I can’t stop,” she replied. “It’s not the magic keeping me horny at that point; it’s my dirty mind, and just keeps me going and going if I don’t have anything to distract me from it.”

I stopped for a moment to look at the bag again, thinking about the racy underwear she’d bought for my girlfriend. “Is that why she bought that stuff? Cuz she was horny?...Wait, she wants to see Flutters wearing those things?”

I shook my head of the thought and stepped into my new jeans. “These fit good, Sunny. Good job, thanks. ”

The red-head smiled at me in response.

“If Flutters won’t wear that underwear, then you can have it,” I teased.

Sunset snorted. “What? Those won’t fit me right. My boobs are too small.”

I shook my head in disagreement. “No they’re not,” I frowned. “Your tits are almost as big a Flutters’.”

“Really?” she replied, looking down at her bust.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I replied with a smile. “You could pull-off that bra easily.”

She blushed a little, letting out a long exhale as she ran her fingers through her hair. “Is she still in the bathroom?”

I nodded. “Yeah, she just finished blow drying her hair right before you came in. Speaking of which…” I picked up the bag and took it to the bathroom, opening the door just enough to pass the bag to Fluttershy.

I came back to the main room to find Sunset at the windows, looking at the falls.

“What do you think?” I asked.

She smirked. “I can’t believe you can hear them all the way up here.”

I nodded. “You can feel them.”

Sunset snickered a little, turning to me. “Did you feel anything else?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. ”What do you mean?”

She pointed at my hair. “You obviously showered with her; your hair’s wet.”

“Oh,” I replied, shifting my eyes upward for a second, acknowledging her observation. “Are you asking if we got into it in the shower?”

“Duh.”

I shook my head. “No, we didn’t.” I tilted my head her way slightly. “Well…I mean, we started to, but something happened, and she just stopped.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “She stopped?” she repeated, rubbing her chin. “That’s an unusual move for Fluttershy.”

I nodded, running my tongue along the inside of my bottom lip as I stared out the window. “Yeah. She uh, kinda got me going, then put the brakes on.”

The red-head sighed, shaking her head. “Jeez, she must really down if she walked away from a romp, especially with you. Poor thing. I’m really worried about her.”

I glanced at the bathroom door for a quick second, then leaned closer to Sunset, speaking quietly so only she could hear. “If she wasn’t in the next room, I would totally use you to get off.”

She snorted. “And I would totally let you.”

I smirked, once again enjoying this dynamic of the relationship that Sunset and I shared, where we could make these kinds of comments to each other and have a carefree chuckle over it.

After a moment of silent rumination about the shy girl, I asked Sunset about her excursion. “Well, did you get a close look at the falls?”

“Yeah,” she replied, perking up a bit. “I was right at the edge, right there by the railing.” She pointed to the spot right by the edge of the brink where she had been standing, taking pictures. “It’s a good thing I went down there first,” she continued. “You can’t really see them in the dark very well.”

I glanced at her, smirking at her state of trance as she stared at the dark water. “You know they put spot lights on them every night, right? With different colours n’ shit.”

She looked at me suddenly with wide eyes. “Do they really??” she shook her fists with excitement. “I have to get pictures of that!”

“Pictures?”

“Oh,” she replied. “I bought a cheap digital camera while I was out.” She pulled the camera out of one of the bags and turned it on. “Here, look at what I got so far.”

I scrolled through the pictures. There were some shots of the American falls, then a bunch of the Horseshoe Falls, taken right from the edge where she’d just indicated, near the building that Fluttershy and I exited the tour from. After that, there were a few selfies that she’d taken with the falls in the background.

“Who’s the hottie?” I chuckled.

She looked at the camera, wondering who I was talking about, then giggled when she realised it was her. “Oh stop,” she blushed, giving my arm a flirtatious elbow. “You’d better be careful saying stuff like that now that your girlfriend’s back.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled in reply.

Sunset folded her arms and looked out the window again, chewing her bottom lip. After a moment, she looked back at me. “What do you think about us doing that mind thing…you know, with Flutters?” she asked timidly.

I looked at her, surprised that she’d brought it up right then. “Uh…” I started, unsure of how to respond. “I’m uh, still game for it, but I haven’t asked her yet, obviously.”

Her eyebrows went up after a moment, then she nodded quickly. “Oh, right. Of course. She needs time, you know…to get over all this. I-I was just asking, is all.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, Sunny. We’ll do it sometime, but it’ll have to wait.” I looked down at the floor, awkwardly shoving my hands in my pockets. “I didn’t realise you were so interested in that.”

She sighed, feeling slightly embarrassed now for bringing it up. “I, uh…I was thinking about it while I was out; when I was still turned on.”

My mind instantly jumped back to the underwear. “She totally bought that stuff on purpose.”
“It’s fine, Flutters comes first,” she said, giving me a little smile of reassurance. “We should be concentrating on figuring out what’s got her so depressed.”

I agreed. “We’ll figure it out. She’ll come around eventually, I’m sure. Hopefully the shower and maybe some dinner and relaxing for a night might do her some good, then tomorrow morning we’ll head for home.”

My red-headed friend nodded, then she and I stood together for a few moments, watching the dark scenery outside.

Sunset finally spoke up again. “Imagine how weird it would be for the people who’ve lived here their whole lives if that water ever stopped. It would be so fucking quiet.”

“It’s happened,” I replied.

“Really?” she asked, turning to look at me again.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “In the winter of 1848. It was like minus forty degrees out and a bunch of ice chunks floated here from up river and plugged the brink and stopped the flow…for the most part, anyway.”

“And I suppose you were here for that?” She smiled at me.

I cleared my throat, reaching up to rub the back of my neck somewhat sheepishly. “Um, no actually. I uh…Googled it.”

She began to laugh softly at my answer, but was cut off by the sound of the bathroom door opening.

We both turned to see the shy girl.

“Oh…my…god…” I thought, taking in the sight of her.

Sunset had bought her a pair of dark, teal coloured tights that literally looked like they were painted on. Her top was a light blue, long-tailed shirt with a large, square neck opening, showing off most of her chest. The bra that the red-head provided certainly did serve its intended purpose; heaving Fluttershy’s breasts upward, almost to the point where I thought they were going to spill out of the lacy-collared shirt.

Her skin was clean now, practically emitting a visible glow compared to its pervious state, and her hair was back to its vibrant pink hue, along with those natural hooked curls at the ends. She had no make-up on, but this didn’t stop her from being one of the most beautiful things I’d ever laid eyes on.

I glanced over at Sunset for a second, looking back at Fluttershy afterwards; but then I quickly looked at Sunset again when I noticed she was furiously chewing her thumbnail, watching intently as the shy girl slowly stepped towards us with a pair of dark red cheeks.

I shook my head as I turned back to my girlfriend with a smile. “You look like a million bucks.”

Sunset snapped out of her daze and quickly removed her thumbnail from her mouth. “Uh yeah...damn Flutters, you look good enough to eat!”

I paused again, raising an eyebrow as I looked inquisitively at the red-head.

“Um…thanks,” she replied softly, dipping her head, letting some of her hair fail over her right eye.

“THERE she is,” I thought to myself, falling in love at the sight of the shy girl all over again. “God damn, I missed her.”

Our excitement was short-lived however. Fluttershy quietly walked over to the bed and crawled up to the head board to sit quietly by herself. Obviously, she still felt the same way, even though her outward appearance was more or less back to normal.

“I know you’re still not feeling right, Flutters,” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed. “But hopefully looking like yourself again will help you feel like yourself before too long.”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “We should do something together. There’s lots of cool things to do here. There’s the Ripley’s Museum, the waterpark, the ferris wheel, some place called Nightmares Fear Factory…”

Fluttershy looked up at Sunset suddenly, stopping the red-head in her tracks.

“Oh, yeah. Well, maybe that’s not really your thing,” she said with a little cringe. “Wait, didn’t we get vouchers for the Applebee’s next door with the hotel room package?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You wanna go have something to eat?” I asked the shy girl.

She quietly brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, resting her chin on her knees as she stared down at the bed. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

Sunset shrugged. “It’s up to you, Flutters. Whatever you want, you’re the boss.”

We watched the shy girl for a moment. Her brows furrowed as she reluctantly gave her answer. “I’d rather not go out anywhere, if that’s OK. You guys should go though, and um…have fun.”

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “We’re not doing that,” I said, shaking my head as my hand flopped back down to my side.

Sunset shook her head as well. “We’re not leaving you alone up here.”

“I-it’s OK,” Fluttershy insisted. “I’ll be fine.”

Sunset and I wondered what to do as we looked helplessly at each other. After a short moment, the red-head finally looked back at Fluttershy and sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“OK well,” Sunset continued. “How about you let me read you? That way I can get an understanding of why you feel the way you feel, and you won’t have to say a word. Once we know what’s wrong, then maybe we can help you through this. I know you’ve been through a lot, but we’re here for you, and we wanna help anyway we can.”

Fluttershy remained silent.

Sunset was unsure of what to make of the lack of response, so she decided to take a chance on reaching out to touch the shy girl.

When Fluttershy saw Sunset’s had coming towards her, she quickly shifted sideways on the bed to put distance between them. “NO!” she scolded loudly, making both Sunset and I recoil in surprise. “Don’t touch me, Sunset!”

The red-head put her hands up in retreat. “OK...sorry Flutters,” she said calmly. “If you don’t want me to see, then I understand.”

Fluttershy slowly settled into herself again.

“But you have to let us help you,” Sunset tried to continue, until I put my hand on her knee to stop her.

“It’s OK, Sunny. She just needs more time.”

Sunset reluctantly nodded after a moment. “You’re right,” she said, returning her eyes to the shy girl. “Take all the time you need, Flutters. We’ll be here.”

There was no response from Fluttershy as I turned my head to look outside through the large window. “Hey Sunny,” I said, getting the red-head’s attention. “They have the lights on the falls.”

Sunset turned quickly to see, then jumped off the bed to grab her camera and started snapping pictures. I smiled at Fluttershy, trying to bring her attention to our friend’s excitement, but all I got was a blank stare back.

“Hey you guys,” Sunset called to us. “How about a picture of the three of us with the falls lit up in the back ground?”

I looked at the redhead for a second, then back at Fluttershy, who was looking over toward the windows where her friend was standing with a hopeful look on her face.

“Come on, Flutters,” Sunset pleaded. “You don’t have to say anything. You don’t even have to smile, just come over here and be a part of the memories. This is a good thing; we’re here together, and tomorrow, we’re going home!”

The shy girl took a deep breath and slid off the bed, then took my hand as we went to join Sunset at the window. We turned our backs to the glass so the falls -- which were illuminated in red, yellow and green lights at the time -- were behind us in the picture. Fluttershy was in the middle, and Sunset and I snuggled in close to her, pressing our cheeks against hers as the red-head held the camera up in front of us.

“Say cheese!” Sunset sang, with a smile.

CLICK!

Author's Notes:

That photo of the dome in the casino was taken by me in January of 2012; Niagara Falls is the only location in the story that I've personally been to myself.