The lights in the boutique were still on, though slowly dimming through time and some starting to flicker wildly. The inside was filled with uncovered mannequins, torn dresses, and spare pieces of cloth with sewing needles still thread through them. The room looked lived in, muddy tracks followed underneath some of the clothes along the solid tiled floors. There were also a few scattered cans and bags against one corner near the sales counter. Sunny poked through the forgotten suits and ripped dresses, sighing at the sight of one of the pink dresses burnt to a crisp. She picked it up, seeing that the dress was only long enough for a filly, probably a dress for that filly’s birthday. She dropped it on the floor where she found it, going through the rest of the litter.

Graphite was watching Sunny sort through the mess, watching her smile start to fade away. He thought for a moment, looking at the suits that were hanging on some racks in the corner. His eyes traveled up the line of suits on display up to a doorway in the back, most likely supplies or maybe some extra dresses. He decided to go check it out - maybe he could fix the flickering lights. He turned his head, Sunny was looking at herself in a mirror; she was holding a ruined dress over her body to see how it looked.

Graphite strolled around as she was distracted, moving quietly into the back room without Sunny’s noticing. He closed the door, keeping it open just a crack so it didn’t clank when it closed. There was barely any light, just enough to spot the power box. He popped it open with his magic, using his the magical surge around his horn to illuminate the panel. He fiddled around with the switches on the panel; flipping switches up and down, trying combination after combination. Eventually, he ended up tearing the cover off the panel and looking directly inside the power box. There were some cables loose and others unplugged completely. He snapped one cord back in, jumping back as the box sparked a bit. The lights faded out completely before slowly coming back on.

“Graph- Graphite, where are you? What’s up with the lights?” Sunny shouted from back in the main room.

“I’m working on it, Sunny!” Graphite shouted back.

The lights ceased flickering after another couple of switches flipped. The room he was standing in suddenly lit up, one little light bulb on the ceiling came on after finishing with the power. In the light, Graphite noticed he had turned the power to the emergency setting. Everything seemed to be working fine now, so he just shrugged and moved on. Graphite was about to go back to the main room when he noticed something on a table against the wall - a yellow pile of fabric, folded into a very neat square. Graphite decided to unfold it and see what it really was.

It was a yellow dress -- or maybe more of a gold. It was medium cut with the sleeves folded. The dress was waved with pleats that went from the bottom of the v-neck down to the bottom of the dress. To finish off the design, there was a black belt that was secured in the back by a thread - it was obviously there just for the looks. He decided to take the dress to Sunny; after all, it might be just what what she was looking for.

Graphite took the dress with his telekinetic spell, shaking out the dust and straitening out the creases as he trotted through the door. Sunny was near the counter, filing through some burnt socks and sweaters. There was an old mattress underneath her behind the counter, probably where the previous owner stayed for the night. Graphite came up beside her, tapping her on the shoulder.

“Hey, Sunny?” Graphite called as Sunny continued sorting through the junk, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Sunny turned to Graphite. As soon as she noticed the yellow dress floating in Graphite’s spell she dropped the shreds she was holding with a gasp. Her eyes beamed with excitement and she smiled wide, then proceeded to hug Graphite tight, “It’s better than anything I imagined!” She shouted.

Graphite was a bit stunned at the sudden show of affection, but he let his agitation go to the point of hugging Sunny back. Sunny slipped out of his hug, taking the dress from Graphite’s levitation. She looked up and down the pleats and running her hoof down the fine silk threads. She fiddled around with the belt, checking if it still buckled after all the years its been sitting in a dusty room. She held it over her chest and looked down to see how she would look wearing it.

“Maybe you should just try it on,” Graphite suggested, undoing the belt on the dress it had lightly buckled.

“Yeah! Of course, I’ll just slip it on now-”

“-Oh,” Graphite turned around, covering his eyes with one hoof as he looked away from Sunny. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Sunny, covered her mouth and giggled, “You can be really silly sometimes, Graphite. I hope you realize this.”

“I just don’t want to be rude,” Graphite said, still covering his eyes.

“We’re both mature ponies here, Graphite - I don’t see why you have to worry.”

“I thought you wanted to try out that dress - I don’t see why you keep stalling.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m changing now,” Sunny asserted, sliding her saddlebag off her body and letting it fall on the floor.

“Good, I’m curious too see you in that dress just as much as you,” Graphite mentioned.

She unzipped her jacket and shook it off, letting it hit the floor while the things in the pockets rattled around. She slipped the dress over her head, pulled the sleeves down, and slipped her arms through. Sunny pulled the belt tight and locked it in through the buckle, “It fits perfectly!” Sunny exclaimed with wide smile.

“You can look now, Graphite,” She mocked, striking a pose like a portrait just as Graphite turned around.

Graphite was awestruck, almost speechless until Sunny asked, “What do you think?”

“I love it! What about you, Graphite - what do you think?” She said smiling a mile wide.

Graphite struggled to ease out his words, “You- you look gorgeous, Sunny.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes. If there was a dance happening now, It would be an honor to take you there with me,” Graphite grinned. He felt unsettled, nervous over what Sunny would be thinking. He could have just said ‘yes’ and left it there, but he was overcome with feelings. He scratched the back of his leg using the other one, waiting for a response.

“Why don’t we make a dance of our own?” Sunny proposed, turning forward to face Graphite. “This store seems big enough, and your Pip-Buck has a radio in it!”

Graphite paused, happy from the response but worried by the proposal. He paused; he wanted to avoid the situation, but also dearly wanted to follow along, “I dunno Sunny, it’s been a very long time since I’ve danced and I’m not sure if I can still do it.”

“It’s okay. I’ve never really danced before in my life,” Sunny grinned and grabbed Graphite by the hoof. “Now, lets go and get you out of that armor and into something more fitting.”

“I think that I’ll find something myself,” Graphite said with a bit of a worry in his voice. He was a grown stallion and it would be very awkward for him if a mare helped him to pick his clothes.

“Okay, I’ll just wait for you over here then,” Sunny replied, sitting down on a pillow laying in a corner, still adoring her new dress.

Graphite went along the shelves. The suits for stallions were deeper in the store and there were more left than he had imagined. They seemed to be in better condition than any of the scraps near the front, maybe the ponies that came here first were too lazy or too scared to venture into the back of the store. There was also a wall separating the suits from the rest of the mare’s clothes, this probably stopped the scorch seeing that all the dresses beside the suits were burnt and brittle and the suits were simply covered in soot.

He dusted a few of the blazers and overcoats down with his hoof, swatting away the ash that came off after the sweeping. They were all sizes too big and too small for Graphite; so, Graphite pressed on, shuffling sideways as he scanned the suits. He shifted aside the suits on the hangers, sliding them away as he looked at the size and colour. He filed through one by one until one suit finally caught his attention.

It was a light blue suit, almost faded blue. It was matched with the same colour tie that was stripped in a darker blue. The was also a button up shirt tagged along with it, a peachy colour all the way through. Graphite instantly remembered his graduation, this suit was almost completely identical to the suit he wore during that day. He snagged the suit, grabbing the button-up from falling as he pulled the suit from the rack.

Graphite peeked over to Sunny, who was waiting patiently for Graphite. She was rubbing the dress down, fitting it over arms more comfortably and dusting out the last patches of dust on the dress. Graphite moved over to the backroom, still keeping his manners in line as he shut the door to change. Sunny chuckled, slumping down against the wall.

The light was still dim in the room, it was only enough to light up from his body up, his legs lost somewhere in the shadows. He unstrapped his backpack, pulled off his duster, tugged off his chest-plate, then slipped out of his cargo pants after undoing the extensive belt. He grabbed the suit from the table, shaking out the wrinkles using his telekinesis. He glared at the blue suit and peach button-up, thoughts of his parents moving into his mind. Graphite slipped the wallet he had in his duster’s pocket, sliding his old wallet out and opening it up. There was still an aged photograph of his parents and himself with Graphite wearing his blue graduation suit. He sighed a deep sigh, tossing his wallet back on the crumpled mess of his armour.

First went on the peach button-up shirt, then the blue blazer that went over it. He tied his tie after a few attempts. After he saw he had his suit all in order, he trotted back through the door - Sunny jumping to her hooves when the door opened.

“Wow! Gee, Graphite, I’ve seen you in armour and I’ve seen you naked, but this is probably the best you’ve looked by far.”

“Umm, thanks for the compliment, Sunny-”

“-Oh, hold on a second,” She reached her hooves to Graphite, fixing the pads on the suits of the shoulder, straightening out his tie, picking off the bits of dirt still stuck on the sleeves, and finally doing one last check over him.

“There,” Sunny admired, “Perfect, just like one of those stallions in the posters.”

“I guess so,” Graphite grinned with an uncomfortable amount of glee. “Well, we can’t have a dance without music, right?” Graphite brought up his Pip-Buck and turned the dial on the side until the volume came up enough so both of them could here music throughout the main room. It was playing something a bit classical, so Graphite flipped over to another station. He didn’t have this station back in the bunker, it was 89.2 FM.

The station was playing rock n’ roll, something easier to dance to than the slow tempo of classical. Graphite stepped into the middle of the room with Sunny, starting to choke up when he realized he had to dance when he had completely forgot how.

Graphite sighed over the music before turning to Sunny, “Neither of us can dance, you know.”

Sunny just giggled, grabbing Graphite by the hoof, “Well, it’s never to late to learn. Besides, it can’t be too hard - just move around with the beat!”

They got closer together, making sure they could both keep each other up as they started to move one hoof after the other. It started out as a few out of sync skips and steps, followed by one tripping over the other. The two got right back up after their falls, helping the other up as they shared laughs and continued dancing around. They started improving, the skips starting to match along with the beat. They tried a few kicks, going no higher than their elbows, taking all caution not to kick the other. The songs flipped through more and more upbeat rock with plenty of rhythm. Graphite was bouncing around while Sunny skipped about, the both of them giving their all in their dancing. Graphite was moving into the song, grabbing Sunny and swinging her around. She lost her grip, but was amazed at the daring move. She jumped at him with a quick hug, going back to keep moving her hooves.

Graphite was getting exhausted, but kept going thanks to Sunny’s encouragement. She would swing him around every other beat, and he would just perk up and keep dancing. They were just at the peak of their excitement, then the songs switched to something slightly different. The pace was slowing down, the rhythm was smooth and mellifluous, the tone a lot quieter. Sunny slowed down with the music, almost to a stop when tempo changed from swinging around to a two step. Graphite almost stopped as well, but when he recognized the song, he began to hum the tune. He came up to Sunny, humming the tune with passion. The chorus sprung up and he couldn’t help but continue humming along. Sunny was adoring the soft tone in Graphite’s hums. Graphite grasped Sunny’s hoof and lead her back to the middle of the room.

Sunny’s eyes couldn’t be any wider, the pupils catching the flushed lights on the ceiling. She rested her hoof on his shoulder, Graphite holding her side as they came close to dance an easy sway. They moved their bodies with the steady beats in the music, keeping close while they slowly spun around in an even circle. The song faded out, but Graphite and Sunny were still held close bobbing to the imaginary beat.

Graphite looked down to Sunny, her head lying on his other shoulder, “Sunny,” He whispered.

Sunny was almost dazed, probably just tired from the intense swinging and shaking from earlier. She looked up finally, her innocent eyes staring into Graphite’s more hardened looking glare, “Yes, Graphite?”

“Let’s... let’s get something to eat,” He murmured to her.

“Oh, sure,” Was all Sunny replied with.

She released herself from Graphite, going for the counter at the end of the shop. Graphite let her go, raising his brow when he noticed her bag wasn’t behind the counter but just aside his hooves. He trotted after Sunny, finding her with two glass bottles of some Sparkle Cola, “I found these buried behind the socks,” Sunny mentioned, setting them on the counter while she moved over to grab her bag. Graphite bent over to stare at the what else was hiding under the counter. He saw a start of a stockpile for Sparkle Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla. There was one water bottle, but it was drank a long while ago. He reared back over, seeing Sunny laying out a box of potato crisps on the dusty counter top. It was about half full, but nothing could go better with crisps than the bottles Cola and Sarsaparilla.

They spent just a few minutes crunching and munching through the salty crisps and drinking away the fizzy bottles of Cola.

“I can’t help but to think about before the war whenever I eat food like this,” Sunny said just before tossing in a few chips into her mouth.

“It seems to happen to you often, Sunny,” Graphite said while he popped a chip into his mouth too, keeping a bit a table manners with him when he chewed as calmly as he could over the crunchy crisp.

“I know it does, but the pre-war days are so interesting - and a lot happier.”

Graphite took a sip of his cola, using the bottle to emphasize his words, “Well, everything back then wasn’t all parties you know.”

“Yes, but at least you had parties. A luxury like that doesn’t come around when there’s almost nothing to celebrate.”

“Of course. Well, after the hard work was finished, there were some parties held for special events at the high school in Carnen.”

Sunny stopped silent for a short moment, then she remembered what Carnen was, “Oh. So, did you ever get to go to one?”

“No, never. I- uh- never had any pony to go with, so...” Graphite lost his words. He twiddled with the almost empty bottle of cola, spinning it around on his hoof quietly.

“Aww, I’m so sorry, Graphite,” Sunny reached over, holding Graphite’s hoof still with hers, “Well now you’ve been to a dance with me.” She smiled, keeping pure eye contact with Graphite.

Graphite took in a gulp, almost big enough for Sunny to notice. His hoof was warming up under Sunny’s. He tried to grip the counter, but his hoof would just start to slide towards himself. Sunny slid her hoof away and held it to her chest, “You feeling all right, Graphite?” She asked, troubled.

“I-i’m fine.” Graphite lied and looked down at the counter.

“You seem awfully nervous about something. Don’t worry, it’s just the two of us here, you can tell me.”

“Okay,” Graphite sighted, “Before the war I... I could never imagine that I could go up to a mare and talk to her... and now I’m here - dancing and dining with you.”

“Graphite are you nervous because of the dance?”

“No. Well, yes but not only because of that. For the last few days we’ve been together and you’re like no other pony I’ve been with. You’re the first pony which really makes me feel well. I-” Graphite stopped and Sunny gently grasped his hoof.

“I know what you’re trying to tell me,” Sunny smiled, “I know how hard it is to tell some pony else a thing like that.”

“I-i-i-” Graphite went on like a broken record. His cheeks went bright red, his arms were quivering just enough to feel the vibrations, and legs were shaking just the same. Sunny just smiled and kissed him on the forehead, paralyzing and silencing him completely. She pressed her own head against Graphite’s and they both looked down at their hooves clutched together on the counter.

“Do you remember that day back in Rossmore, when you first arrived?” Sunny murmured softly.

“Uh-huh,” Graphite gently nodded.

“It seemed so strange for someone like you to just wander into a bar and end up saving my life,” Sunny smirked.

Graphite grinned and chuckled shortly, his hooves gripped Sunny’s tighter as he smiled.

“And when you were there to bring me up when I heard that holotape. I would’ve stayed trapped in the alleyway drowned in my own tears if you weren’t there to cheer me up. Then you took me to see those movies at that big, grand theatre downtown - that was quite amazing.”

“Just...” Graphite paused; finding the words, then the focus, to utter those words to Sunny, “Just trying my best to make you feel like normal: happy, bright, and always charismatic and amusing.”

“You’ve caught me when I fell, you’ve found me the dress of my dreams... you’re always there for me, Graphite.”

She looked up from the criss-crossed hooves holding each other dearly. Graphite looked up with her, catching her eyes once more as she looked at him.

“It’s because I love you, Sunny,” Graphite divulged with his heart almost missing a beat at the sound of him saying ‘I love you.’

Sunny’s eyes widened, her heart stopping, and her cheeks turning from yellow to red in a hurry. Her huge pupils were shining with the reflections of all the lights in the room. Graphite was just waiting, waiting for some notion to show that Sunny hadn’t suddenly petrified. They’re eyes were caught on each other, not even a blink to rest their gaze.

Sunny’s heart began to beat again, a faint smile slapping her face. She leaned into Graphite, planted her lips right on his. He was staggered at the sudden passion play, still dazed in the intensity. His body eased where his mind couldn’t, his hooves making a lighter stand on the floor. His hoof was traveling up to Sunny’s head, resting it on the side of her head, tangled in her soft mane. His eyes closed as his mind settled on the tender kiss. He moved in closer to her, pressing his lips deeper into Sunny’s and letting the embrace flow between their lips.

After a long and very warm caress, Sunny pulled away, smiling at Graphite with her eyes relaxed and full of affection. Graphite nearly had to catch his breath, but he was relieved now that he had finally told Sunny of his feelings and found that hers are very much alike.

Graphite knew Sunny could make any pony smile, but he never knew she could make them giddy as a filly. He was stuck with a smile, a smile that warmed his heart even if it was frozen on his face. It was like doves had escaped in his stomach and were flying about in his body and tickling at his heart.

Sunny got up from her side of the counter and held Graphite by her hoof. She walked around to the other side and lied down, gently pulling Graphite together with her. Graphite came down with Sunny, both of them landing on the mattress behind the counter. Sunny pressed herself against him, hugging him tight as Graphite just held her arms tighter around him. Sunny and Graphite lied together on the mattress, keeping each other warm with their gentle clutch.

The night went along with the two cradling each other for a long while until Sunny interrupted the soft fondling when she slid her snout right over Graphite’s ear and whispered to him in a lustful voice, “Perhaps you would like to... ‘enjoy this night to the fullest’?”

Graphite tilted his head back just enough to see Sunny in the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat then whispered, “What do you mean, Sunny?”

Sunny looked at Graphite with her eyes just open enough so her wide pupils could stare into Graphite’s. Her smile was a mischievous grin, something you’d expect with an evil cackle. She stroked Graphite’s neck with the back of her hoof, making a humming noise that almost sounding like purring. Graphite knew then what she meant by ‘enjoying the night to the fullest.’

His cheeks turned a vivid red - any brighter and the whole room would have been lit with a rosy red glow. He turned over to face Sunny, laying his hoof on her shoulder lightly. Sunny pulled herself close, pressing her chest against his. Graphite tried to pull back, but his body was too snug along the edge of the mattress and the small divots that made up the padded design. He was reluctant to start anything; he had already managed through his first kiss, now Sunny was offering him even more.

Sunny began slowly stroking his mane with her free hoof, “Is that alright with you?” She asked, a noticeable amount of allure still in her voice.

Graphite was lost for words or any other noise, Sunny’s lips beading down towards his made those lack of words even harder to speak out. Sunny slid her hoof the hairs of Graphite’s mane one last time before her hoof slipped around his neck and down to his tie, where she tugged at it and pulled Graphite into another kiss. Graphite’s eyes were wide with more surprise, but he couldn’t help but enjoy the love in this kiss. His tie slowly came undone in Sunny’s hoof, soon she pulled the tie off the collar and tossed it somewhere over the counter top. She moved up his shoulders to slide off his blue blazer. Graphite didn’t notice, but his arms had moved down to let the blazer slide from his arms. An almost completely unconscious move that he was both happy to make and worried had happened.

Sunny moved her hooves down his chest to his buttons on the button-up shirt. She popped out one by one until the shirt came open; his bare chest now being caressed by Sunny’s hooves with his turquoise necklace exposed and hanging loosely from his neck. Graphite was starting to sweat from nervousness, knowing his growing ever closer to that moment - that moment when they would start. Graphite was still stuck in a kiss with Sunny, her lips locked in a hot embrace. She worked her hooves around his chest until she managed to get his necklace away from his neck. The feeling was soon lost when she pulled back, leaning up and sitting straight. She slowly removed her dress after undoing the belt strap and pulling over her head with her hooves. Graphite caught himself helping this event along again when he used his magic to help pull that dress off of Sunny’s body faster and helping her head out of the v-neck. He wasn’t sure what to do now, he was expected all his moves to be controlled by Sunny at this point forward.

She came back down over him, holding his sides as she pressed her lips back against his. Graphite let her lips lock, letting that warm and exciting feeling come back to him. He was beginning to enjoy it - enjoy it a lot. He closed his eyes, letting the feeling take over his motions like in his first kiss. The feelings soon came over his arms which came up to Sunny’s head and gripped the back of it tight, pulling her snout in more to intensify the kiss even further.

He could feel something hot lower down his body. He couldn’t move his head away from the kiss to look, but there was a warm and soft something rubbing along some part of his body. Sunny pulled off his lips again to whisper to him again, “I know this is your first time, but I’ve been with stallions before. Perhaps you would like me to show you a few things?”

Graphite was bewildered; Sunny had only spoke of being with Sierra, who was a mare. Now she’s talking of having been with stallions too. How many ponies had Sunny been with in her time, and were they all either gender? Graphite had too many questions to answer the one he was just asked. He nodded his head, the simplest answer to a question just being yes. Her eyes followed his body down, bring Graphite’s eyes with it. They both looked down his body, where his erected stallionhood was standing tall near his thighs.

Sunny’s hips were rearing against his stallionhood’s shaft, the furs of her thigh brushing along it. Graphite bit his bottom lip, looking back at Sunny who was looking at him with those half opened eyes she’s been flaunting Graphite with all night. His head feel back, his view towards the ceiling as Sunny started to shift around along Graphite’s chest. Soon her arms were being used like nails to drive his arms against the mattress and keep them steady. His head bobbed up, now in view of Sunny’s body raised over his. Her flank was hanging right over Graphite’s aroused penis, swaying right above it like she was teasing it.

“Just hold still...” Sunny sighed with fervor.

Her body slowly drooped down; with her chest first, then her rear end. A damp pressure came down over Graphite’s long shaft. It was tight, almost soaked with a slick juice that was flowing down Graphite’s rod. There was a feeling inside Graphite’s body that just felt like a fire was warming his senses. His eyes winced as the tight squeeze of Sunny’s marehood continued down his thick staff.

He could just see Sunny in his squint, her eyes were closed and she was letting a soft moan escape her lips as she went down. His head hit the mat again, a heated breath of air came from his mouth while his hooves gripped the edges of the mattress. His eyes were completely shut together as the soft furs or her flank hit his groin. Soon the damp pressure of her began to ride up his shaft, and the warm feelings just flowed back in him.

Her motions were repeated again and again, the slow bobbing of her flank gradually growing in speed. She was now bouncing against Graphite’s groin, the wet walls of her genitalia stroking up and down his strip. Graphite was panting from the ecstatic pounding along his throbbing hard pole, Sunny sharing in the sounds with her constant moaning and grunting.

Graphite could feel a build up of his pleasure starting to broil inside him. His panting was turning into soft groans of ecstasy as Sunny pushed on with the never ending sliding up and down his cane. He started to moan again and again until finally the build of excitement was released in a broad flow of his love. Sunny screamed, probably in both the same amount of shock and pleasure. She slid all the way off of Graphite’s now viscous stallionhood and drooped down with a bit of a daze next to Graphite.

Sunny wrapped one hoof around Graphite’s chest, and rested her head on his arm. She was still for a while, a bit of content beaming from her smile. Slowly, the smile dimmed, her eyes opening as her grin turned to a frown. She looked to Graphite, who was recovering from the moment, “I- I’m sorry...”

Graphite turned his head to the mare on his arm, “For...?”

It took her time to respond, but she finally answered back with a short sigh, “I just, haven’t been with anyone in a long time...”

Graphite reached his hoof over her, holding the mare’s head as she lay on his chest, “I... I think I can understand.”

Sunny pressed her face deeper into Graphite’s chest, holding him tighter with her hooves, “It’s just- I can’t help myself... this hasn’t be my first time with a pony - not even my first stallion...”

Graphite’s eyes widened just a bit, his exhaustion preventing them from getting any bigger, “But weren’t you with Sierra most of your life?”

“I was,” Sunny pulled away from Graphite’s chest, “But occasionally, Sierra and I would go to the bar. After a few drinks we would... we would, uh- invite some of the visitors to come home and sleep... with her and I - some of them stallions.”

“Oh,” Graphite muttered, receiving his answer but not expecting it.

There was another short silence, Sunny’s pitiful frown starting to leave her snout. She spoke up again, “We were easily excitable, if you know what I mean,” Sunny chortled a quick laugh. She looked back to Graphite’s eyes, his stare glued somewhere above, “How did you manage it in war? You were miles away from any mares and-”

“You didn’t. Even if there were some mares they were there to fight for their lives and those of your friends - just like you were. Of course when soldiers got a leave to the ‘civilized lands’ they were horny as hell. The officers tried to keep them in shape, but that didn’t matter that some of them didn’t manage to find some pony for the night.”

“And what about you?”

“I never had the time to look for a mare. First there was high-school in which I had to keep up my grades if I wanted to make it into a proper jewelry school. When that failed, I had to work in the grocery store to help and feed my family. Then came ‘Camp Sequoia’ where we were drilled from dawn ‘til dusk and we never got to see anyone accept our drill sergeant. After that was war and then...” Graphite sighed, “While everyone else got a leave home, I got sent to special operations training. After that there was just more war and... I don’t remember. I did get frozen at some point afterwords.”

“Life has been rough for you too,” Sunny sighed as she started to play with Graphite’s mane.

“Yeah, but there are the lighter moments,” He beamed and pulled Sunny closer, “Like this one.”

Sunny didn’t respond, she just giggled and hugged Graphite tighter. Yet another moment went on where they simply kept silent, holding themselves in each others embrace, until Sunny disrupted it again.

“Maybe you’d like another go?”

“What? You mean now?” Graphite wondered with hysteria.

“The night is young and so are we. Let’s not waste the opportunity.”

Graphite was troubled, he needed another while until he could do anything like that again. His heart was pounding at his chest, preparing Graphite for what was about to come. His body was telling him to go, so he followed his gut and maybe even his instincts.

They were as close as two ponies could be, getting closer every moment. They made love through that night, until their bodies finally gave way to the over bearing work. Sunny dropped on the mattress next to Graphite, breathing heavy as she rested down on the bed. Graphite let her lay down while he picked himself from the floor.

He used the walls and any clothing racks to guide him along his way, walking slow from the pains in his lower body. He made his way to the front of the store and near the door, where he leaned himself on the door frame and stared out into the wasteland.

The street lamps were shining across the damp roads. Some of the lights were flickering, others simply refusing to turn on. It looked as if the city had experienced the results of their love making. There were puddles from the rains from the evening; they were clear, normal rain water that almost cleaned the city of its dust and fires. There was a smell of rain Graphite liked. He had forgotten why he came up to the doorway in the first place. Perhaps it was to take a smoke, and his own habit had taken control of his movements.

He was standing, waiting to take the cigarettes out. He realized he didn’t have any on him -- cigarettes or clothes. Graphite looked about at the back room, groaning he noted the walk to get there. Usually, he would already be halfway there by now, taking any risk to get his smoke, but he had no feeling to do so. He flared his nostrils, a bit distraught when he didn’t get his cigarettes, but also relieved. This was the first time he didn’t have the urge to smoke, perhaps the better feeling he received from smoking was fulfilled after his tiring moment earlier.

Graphite started to feel cold so, he soon stepped back into the boutique and closed the door. He pressed against the wall and stood there, looking at the mare laying on the mattress. She looked so delicate, also a little broken because of their moment. He was still baffled at her. Somehow, this one pony had changed his outlook on life. She singlehoofedly gave him a reason to continue life in this awful world he had awoken to. There was no one he knew any better than her, no one him better than her, and now it seems they are the perfect pair. If he needed any reason to push through tough obstacles, his only reason would be to see Sunny again.

He slid down the wall slowly and came back down on the mattress, Sunny instantly wrapping her hoof around him once more. He wiggled himself in closer to Sunny, getting warm as he began to rest.