Tuesday, November 17, 2015

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Again...

"I must apologize...in my zealous haste to prepare you for what lies ahead, I overlooked a crucial factor. Your mind and body were not prepared for the strength of your new Personas.

"The power of those Personas is still yours to command as you will, but be warned: you must not overtax yourself when using them. You've seen the results. Drawing out an excessive number of Personas in a short amount of time will drive you into a berserker frenzy, in which you will continue summoning one Persona after the other until your mind and soul fracture completely.

"That you survived this experience is remarkable...you are more resilient than even I foresaw...but your resilience has its limits. If you damage yourself beyond repair, those close to you will suffer...remember that...

"You are asleep in the real world...rest now, for soon it will be time to awaken..."

Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Love is a unique thing that can take many forms. You should always embrace it, even if it seems strange.

Early Morning

I sit up in bed and glance at the time. It's a little early...

I have homework I didn't do last night. I decide to take a shower first, then take care of that.

I strip off my clothes, round up my bath stuff, and head for the bathroom. I open the door, walk inside...

...and collide with Principal Celestia, who just got out of the shower, and is dripping wet and naked.

She lets out a loud gasp, eyes wide. "Flash!" she cries.

"Principal Celestia?"

That's right...it's her week at the dorm...

She looks me up and down, cheeks red. "Um."

I'm not really awake enough to figure out what I'm supposed to do right now. As it is, I'm barely able to process the fact that I'm standing naked in front of the school principal with a serious case of morning wood.

A few jumbled thoughts enter my brain:

Celestia is smoking hot and has amazing breasts.

She also has a number of faint scars that mar her otherwise perfect body.

As my gaze drifts toward her crotch, Celestia wraps her towel around her body. "I, um..." Her eyes flick to the door behind me. "I believe I'd like to finish drying off...perhaps in my room?"

In her room...

Oh!

"Sorry!" I say. I duck out of the bathroom, letting her past. Once she's gone, I close the door, then duck into the shower, turning on the cold water full blast.

Masturbating while thinking about the principal is getting to be an unhealthy habit for me...

After doing my homework, I head downstairs. Applejack is up making breakfast, and Celestia is seated at the dining table, fully dressed, reading something on her tablet. She looks at me and smirks. "Did you enjoy staring at my body, Flash?"

"I am so sorry about that," I say, my face heating up. "I wasn't all the way awake yet...I just—"

"I'm not angry with you, Flash," Celestia says, laughing lightly. "Believe it or not, at my age, being openly ogled by a teenage boy is a real confidence booster." She smirks. "Just don't get any funny ideas."

"I wouldn't—!"

"Of course, if I were twenty or thirty years younger, I probably would have dragged you into the bathroom and screwed you on the spot," Celestia says. "You are quite attractive yourself. Twilight Sparkle is a very lucky young lady."

She did not seriously just say that. "Uhh...thank you?"

"I'm pleased to see you're so...healthy this morning," Celestia says with a teasing grin. "You looked terrible last night...may I ask what happened?"

"I, uh...just kinda passed out," I say. "It happens sometimes..."

Celestia frowns. "Nurse Cadance said you have a tendency to be anemic. Perhaps you're under too much stress?" She leans close and whispers, "It wouldn't have anything to do with Fluttershy's recent perturbed state, would it?"

I blink. "Fluttershy?" I frown. "She was...I mean, she looked pretty bad after the dance, but she won't say..."

"I've been listening in on the girls around here," Celestia says. "They seem to think Sunset Shimmer did or said something to her at the Fall Formal that upset her."

I frown. "I wouldn't put it past her," I say. "She was so sure she'd won the crown...taunted me about it, even..." I shake my head. "Whatever happened, she's been keeping to herself ever since. More than usual, I mean. And she seems to be pretty mad at Rainbow Dash..."

Celestia groans, facepalming. "That, I can understand. Apparently, Rainbow Dash took it upon herself to play rape crisis nurse. I commend her good intentions, but...she really should've left that to Nurse Cadance." She sighs. "I still think you and Luna are way off about Sunset Shimmer, but I'm going to be keeping a closer eye on her."

"Luna told me...about what she did to you," I say. "That landed her in prison."

Celestia pales. "I see," she says. "Then you should realize that she's projecting her own past onto Sunset Shimmer..."

"Funny, she says the same thing about you."

"I see..."

Rank UP! Justice Rank 3

The School Principal Social Link of the Justice Arcana has reached rank 3!

Your power to create Personas of the Justice Arcana has grown!

The others start coming downstairs. Before long, breakfast is served.

"How are you feeling this morning, Flash?" Twilight asks.

"Better," I say. "Sorry I worried you like that."

Twilight frowns. "Yeah, well...don't scare me again," she says. "I was up half the night worrying about you...I only managed to read one book before I went to sleep..."

"And she ate all the ice cream," Rainbow Dash grumbles.

After breakfast, Twilight and I walk Spike. "I'm...sorry," I say, hugging her. "Really."

She looks at me, worry in her eyes. "Ever since...all this Zodiac stuff started, and you explained to me about...why you have so many Personas..." She looks down at Spike. "I've seen some scary things happen in Zodiac, but...I've been keeping count. You had five different Personas before yesterday. Yesterday...you summoned eleven new Personas." She looks me right in the eyes. "I know what just having one Persona feels like. The pressure in my head when I let out Athena..." She takes a step back. "How can you..." She swallows. "I'm...a little scared of what I saw yesterday."

I sigh and wrap my arms around her. "It was just...a little side effect," I say. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"But...how do you know?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you, so I'm not going to let it happen." I smile. "Let's get ready for school, okay? We still need to go shopping for Rainbow's birthday." I sigh. "I'll skip Music Club today and we'll go."

"Okay," Twilight agrees.

After School

Twilight, Pinkie, and I go to the mall together after school. Pinkie looks as worried about me as Twilight is, but she's putting on a brave face.

After an hour and a half of shopping, during which we all find something for Rainbow Dash, we head for the food court to get something to eat. While we're eating, I suggest, "Let's watch a movie tonight. Just the three of us."

"A movie?" Twilight asks.

I shrug. "We're already here at the mall, might as well. It's on me. What do you say?"

"What, like a double date except without an extra guy for me?" Pinkie asks, a teasing grin on her face.

I point a french fry at her. "Sure, why not?" I say. "You can be both of our girlfriend. We can take turns playing with you, stick you in the closet when we're bored with you..."

"Oooh, sounds like fun," Pinkie says, giggling.

Twilight gives us both a flat, level stare. "You're both perverts, you know that?"

"Oh, we're just joking," Pinkie says. Then, with a coy blush, she adds, "But...I actually wouldn't have a problem with that..." She looks from me to Twilight shyly. "If I can't find somebody for myself...it's nice to know I have two really good friends...you'll always be there for me, right?"

"Of course we will," I say.

Twilight's eyes soften; she reaches out and puts her hand on Pinkie's. "Always."

Evening

It's almost curfew when we return to the dorm. The movie was okay...it was honestly more fun being with two of the people I care most about.

Fluttershy is sitting in the lounge, Spike in her lap. When Spike sees Twilight, he barks happily and runs over to us. His tail wags as he skips around Twilight's feet, jumping playfully up at her.

Pinkie yawns and stretches. "I had fun hanging out with you guys," she says. "I'm gonna go do my homework then hit the hay. See you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Pinkie," I say.

"Goodnight!" Twilight says. She giggles at Spike, crouching down to scratch his ears, then looks up at me. "Guess I'd better..."

"Yeah," I say. I look at the stairs, where Pinkie just disappeared.

Twilight follows my gaze. Her brow furrows. "Is she alright?"

"I think...she just needs us right now," I say. "We can't give her the love she wants, but...we can give her the love she needs."

"The love she needs, huh..." Twilight stands up. "We're not taking her on dates and stuff though, right?"

"Of course not. We do need our alone time." I pull Twilight into a kiss. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she says.

As I head for the stairs, I can't help but notice the stare Fluttershy is giving us, or the mild frown on her face.