A few hours later, I returned to my apartment, a little drunker than I'd intended, Frank had insisted on a round or two for old times sake after I'd calmed down, seeing him after so long brought it all back. My eye socket throbbed, whether the pain was real or brought up by old memories. I couldn't tell you. All I knew right then was that seeing Frank was precisely what I needed, that and the room was spinning like mad. I was going to be hating life tomorrow; I simply giggled into my pillow and passed out for the time being.

Fuck. Hangovers. Was my first thought upon regaining consciousness, the clock reading noon. I made a deal with God right there that I was never drinking again as I hauled my ass out of bed and headed for a cold shower. Like the rest of the apartment, the shower was obscenely large, with several heads at different angles, it made the otherwise painful morning somewhat bearable. From there, it was a tall glass of water and a shaky walk down to the front desk, where Star Chaser was reading the morning paper. Through my whiskey-soaked mind, I made out the headline.

"Russia and China strike a historic deal with the Griffon Empire. Three nations reach an accord for technological and military exchange".

Star finally noticed my presence, "Good morning Zack. What can I do for you?"

"Well, bud, I'm in terrible pain, and the only cure is something greasy."

Star's laugh was mercifully quiet, "There's a diner around the corner, should have exactly what you're looking for."

I winced as his head moved, and the light reflected off the glass behind him and straight through my soul. "Thanks, my friend, you need anything?"

His expression and the slight stutter when he answered made it clear that he wasn't used to the question from guests. "N-no, thank you though, that's very kind."

I finger-gunned the kid as I walked out the door, "No worries man, Catch you later."

The diner was a gift from God, which God didn't matter, couldn't matter, as I dug into a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon. The pretty Pegasi waitress smiled at me as she brought the check, wide hips, big pretty orange eyes, bronze-colored coat, and long black mane finished up the package. Maybe it was time for me to get out there, dating in Equestria hadn't been something I'd taken advantage of between being damaged goods and my work schedule. After everything, dating had seemed almost too normal, too mundane. But she smiled at me again as I tossed a few bills down, and she went to get my change, so I wrote my number on the receipt and hoped for the best.

I walked down the sidewalk back towards my apartment, smoke trailing behind me. The day had cooled, cloud cover moved in by the Pegasi had hidden the sun, but had left a pleasant balm in the mid-afternoon air. I continued walking, right past my apartment, and into the park a few blocks down, picking up a paper along the way, it made for some interesting reading once I found a bench. An opening night at the local theater by Octavia Philharmonica, I'd caught one of her shows in another life, she was fantastic, but I never had a taste for the classics the way my sister did.

I turned the page and was greeted by politics; apparently, the Griffons had crossed Equestria's border by mistake, the whole thing had been cleared up without incident. I wasn't sure about any of it, Russia and the PRC had been active in the Empire, sowing seeds about the joys of Communism and universal bliss. For the disenfranchised Griffons who had long lived under the rule of incompetent emperors, it was a piece of sweeter music to their ears than anyone in Washington would have liked. The other side of the Embassy had always talked about it in hushed tones; rumor had it that a deal had been struck between the Russians and the Chinese to consolidate power inside the Griffon territory, the ultimate goal? Who knew. I finished up my reading along with my fifth smoke since I'd sat down and made my way back to my apartment, that huge couch and TV were playing my song. After working so hard for so long for the incompetent jackass, I deserved a break.

The week went by without incident with the notable exception of a call from the waitress, Daisy; we agreed to meet for drinks that Friday, and before I knew it, the day had arrived. I shaved, showered, and dressed casually. I was nervous as I checked myself in the mirror, my longish hair covering the scar on my neck and green eyes staring back at me, you could barely tell the prosthetic from the real one. Hopefully, Daisy would continue to either not notice or not care. Equestrians were an unusually understanding bunch. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling of being broken, I guess, like half a man in some ways.

I shook it off. Tonight was about letting go and enjoying myself. An hour later, I stood out front of the Brass Tack, named for the owner, a trendy little spot frequented by both Ponies and Humans, plus the odd dragon or two. The whole place looked like another set from a fantasy movie, all rustic charm combined with something inherently adventurous. I checked my watch, ten minutes before Daisy was supposed to show, so I sat on the bench and crowd-watched, it was usual bar fare, drunks having loud conversations, a mixed group of Pony and Human girls dressed to kill, fending off losers while they smoked, it reminded me of a scene from a lifetime ago.

"Zack?"

I turned at the sound to see Daisy, looking for all the world like something out of a magazine, makeup applied in all the right places and a tight but not too tight dress that showed off her figure. I was speechless for a moment.

"H-hi Daisy, wow, you look great. I feel a little underdressed", I said, gesturing at my button-down shirt and slacks.

Yeesh, cringe much?

Thankfully she didn't seem to think so. A blush spread across her face before she found her voice. "Thank you. You don't look underdressed at all!"

Before things could cool off, I offered her my arm, "Shall we?"

She giggled, "My what a gentlestall- er, man, sorry."

I laughed, "No worries, hun, it'd be a little presumptuous of me to come to your world and get pissed if you didn't snap to."

A smile split her face, and she seemed to relax instantly, "Oh, thank Celestia, being honest? I was nervous I would offend you somehow. I've never gone out with a Human before, and I had no idea what to expect."

Feeling emboldened, I decided to fake it till I made it. I waved a hand as we crossed the threshold, the noise rising to a roar "Hon, you'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to offend me. Now let's have a drink." I shouldered my way to the bar, grabbing the human bartender's attention with a wave. "Hey, bud!" I shouted over the din, "Can I get a Lunar Reserve and-"I looked back at Daisy, who simply held up two perfectly manicured fingers. "Better make it two. Thanks, man!"

I watched the room and Daisy, mostly Daisy, while the bartender grabbed our drinks, the feeling was mutual; apparently, she barely took her eyes off me, biting her lip every so often. The spark was there, and instead of fighting it, I allowed myself to be swept away in the deep pools of her eyes, situational awareness was fleeing the longer I stared. Until the bartender nudged my arm and handed me our drinks, I grabbed the beers with a nod of thanks and motioned towards the Equestrian note mixed with the twenty sitting on the bar. He gave me a smile and a nod. I turned to Daisy, and instead of shouting over the noise, I jerked my head towards the patio door at the back of the room.

The fresh night air welcomed us to the, thankfully, sparsely populated deck. I sat along with Daisy, under the umbrella-covered table, I figured she'd take the seat across from me, so she caught me off guard when she slid in next to me, our shoulders touching, and flashed me a flirty smile. Bud, this mare right here was gonna kill me.

"So," she almost purred, all the hairs on my neck standing up. "Tell me about yourself."

I got it together quickly: "Nothing too extraordinary, I work for the State Department, moved to Equestria about a year ago, fell in love with this world and decided to stay as long as they'd let me. The adventure of this place never gets old."

She cocked her head, far too cutely for my heart to take. "Well, that sounds extraordinary to me, moving to an entirely new world to help bring peace?"

I shook my head and took a slug of my beer. "It's a lot less glamorous than that, more paperwork than peace among worlds, trust me. How about you? What's your story?"

"Now, there's a boring one, Canterlot filly, born and raised; I'm working at the diner while I get through school, hoping to commission into the Guard when I graduate." She finished with a sip of her beer.

"Military, huh? Not too shabby."

She poked me in the ribs, giggling as I almost spit out my beer, "Well, I'm glad I measure up to your high standards."

I smiled, enjoying our little repartee, "Oh, I'd say you surpassed them awhile back."

The beers kept coming, and the conversation flowed effortlessly, Daisy was hilarious and had an energy about her that I wasn't used to, but I liked it a lot more than I was prepared for. It was getting late, and the deck was filling up with smokers and groups of drunk friends. I turned as the table next to us got loud, someone laughing uproariously at some joke. When I turned back, she was staring at me. "Penny for your thou-"She suddenly lunged forward and kissed me, the heady scent of her perfume overriding my senses, and before I knew it, I was kissing her back with equal fervor, to loud cheers from the table next to us. I broke the kiss and opened my eyes to see hers still closed. They fluttered open as I watched, something reflected in them that I hadn't seen for too long.

Need.

A few things happened all at once, I took the initiative and kissed her again, a soft moan shaking her body. Then I moved forward, kissing her neck, making my way up to her ear, enjoying the sounds she made. Her lacquered nails dug into my shoulder as I tortured her; we both knew what we wanted. I bit the tip of her ear and whispered, "Your place or mine?"

"Whichever is closer," came the breathy response.

We were up and moving a second later, pushing through the crowd, I threw a hundred on the bar, and we were out the door in a flash. The walk was painful, her hands were all over me, and we shared soft kisses on the run, the closer we got to my apartment, the more desperate we became, that same need bouncing back and forth between us like lightning. After what seemed like an eternity, we walked into the lobby, past a Unicorn mare I didn't recognize, and up the stairs. We crashed the door. I'd have to fix that hinge later; right now, my whole world was this beautiful woman who was molded against me like clay. We went down the hall and into the bedroom, knocking pictures down and tearing at clothes the whole way. I was as nervous as a teenager fumbling through his first time, all but chucking the mare down on my bed, liking how her body moved as she bounced. I ripped off my shirt, scattering buttons as she peeled off her dress. I stalked forward, working on my belt buckle, she opened her arms, beckoning. Her now naked body silhouetted by the moonlight streaming through my window, I stepped out of my pants and overran her, kissing her like she was the last drink of water in the middle of a desert.

"Touch me," She whispered.

I obliged.

I woke the next morning more relaxed than I had in years, soft light illuminating the room, and the smell of something cooking wafting through the open door. I pulled on a pair of sweats and wandered into the kitchen to see Daisy hovering over the stove, flipping pancakes, wearing nothing but my undershirt from last night, it hiked up as she reached for the cinnamon that sat on the top shelf her wings giving her a little lift. I admired the view for a minute, thanking God I bought my shirts a little short. "Hey, good looking."

She jumped a little, dropping the spatula and putting a hand to her chest. "Celestia, you almost scared the life out of me."

I smiled, "Sorry Darlin, Gotta be honest; I figured you'd be gone by now."

She scoffed, "After the amazing night we had, do you think I'd just bail out on you?"

I shrugged, "Who knows? I gotta say, without being that guy, that I'm happy you stayed."

Daisy fluttered across the kitchen and kissed me softly, "You're not getting rid of me that easily Tiger. Now go wash up, breakfast is almost ready." She smacked my ass as I walked out of the kitchen and had me laughing all the way to the bathroom. I washed and dressed in some actual clothes, digging up a clean pair of sweats for Daisy. I made my way back to the kitchen, halfway down the hall I noticed one of the pictures I'd put up, the one of my family and I in a park from years ago, was crooked. I knew my mom would come flying across the dimensional barrier to straighten it out for me, so I gave it a nudge, the thing slipped the nail and landed on the floor, thankfully in one piece. It was what I saw when I really looked that froze my blood.

The bug was small, almost half the size of my pinkie nail, but there was no mistaking it, and it hadn't been there when I put the picture up the day before. I closed my eyes as I realized there were only two possibilities, and neither one was very pleasant. I plucked the bug off the back of the frame, tucking it into my pocket and placing the picture back on the wall, I took a moment to steady my breathing and wipe the look off my face. Then I walked back into the kitchen, returning Daisy's smile.

"That smells amazing."

A few hours later and Daisy had gone to work, she promised to call me when she got off if she didn't outright come over. Which led me to my kitchen table, pouring over the bug I'd found, it had been joined by five more, all in very sloppy places, easy to find. We'd had this kind of problem at State before, we all bugged each other, every nation had some manner of espionage in other countries Embassies, including our allies. This was something else, a hack job done by someone who valued speed over accuracy and had no idea what they were doing, which could only mean one thing.

Daisy.

It explained why she'd spooked when I walked into the kitchen. It explained why she'd been so aggressive last night; it had sure gotten my guard down. The background I'd done over a few hours revealed some uncomfortable facts, like her sick mom in Trottingham. I'd seen people turn traitor for much less than that. The pieces fit, and it hurt. Surprisingly so. But there was no way around what happened next. I sighed, closing my eyes, a hand reaching up to rub the bridge of my nose, fighting a sudden headache.

How could I be so fucking stupid? I knew better, I was better than this. In a moment of rage, I spun out of the chair and whipped my glass of water into the wall.

"FUCK!"

The call I was waiting for from Daisy came in around midday.

"Hey, trouble" Her voice was all warm and caring. I knew better.

"Hey hun, I was thinking, why don't you come over tonight? I'll make dinner."

"I'd love to, and I know I said I would. But I have to meet some friends, and it's too late for me to cancel. Raincheck? Tomorrow maybe?"

"Sounds good darlin' have a good time tonight, and we'll figure it out later."

"Okay, Tiger, have a good day, huh?" She finished with a kiss.

"You too."

I sighed, well there it was, I picked up the receiver and punched in a number. After a few rings, a familiar voice answered. "Hello?"

"Frank…I let a stranger into our house".

There was silence for a beat, "Give me the details."

I filled him in quickly.

"We'll handle it."

As I hung up the phone, I knew in my soul that Daisy wouldn't be making that dinner date with her "friends."

The night is dark and full of terrors.

Author's Notes:

The plot thickens!