Persona EG LTE | Mythril Moth Creations

Cannot connect to Canterbook...

Daytime

Everything is white today. We can't even see out the windows.

There's not much to do but sit around watching television, which is exactly what we all do. Twilight is reading, as usual.

"We're going to have to start on the cooking tomorrow," Velvet says.

"If the power doesn't go out," Cadance agrees.

The power goes out.

Everybody stares at Cadance. She blinks. "Oh, don't blame this on me," she says.

"That...was pretty freaky," Pinkie says.

Shining Armor pulls out his phone. After a minute, he grimaces. "Wow, the power company's outage map looks like a murder scene."

"Well that explains why Canterbook's been down all day," Pinkie says.

Twilight sighs and shuts her bookpad down. "I'd better save the battery," she says. She stretches and looks around. "So...any ideas?"

Maud stands up. "I'll be right back," she announces, heading upstairs.

"Wonder what she's up to," Night Light says.

"This would be an excellent time to learn more about Flash," Velvet says. "We still know so very little about you."

I shrug. "You actually pretty much know everything worth knowing about me," I say. "My life before Canterlot was...pretty dull."

"Yeah, to hear him talk, it's like he's some video game character who didn't even exist until the player pressed start," Pinkie says.

Maud thumps heavily back down the stairs, then disappears into the kitchen. We hear glass clinking and rattling.

"Do you need any help, Maud?" Pinkie asks.

"No thank you," Maud replies. The next sound is a plastic bowl filling with ice.

"What in the world is she doing?" Night Light wonders.

A minute later, Maud walks into the lounge carrying a tray, which she sets in the middle of the coffee table. On the tray are eight glasses, a bowl full of ice cubes, and a large glass bottle full of a dark amber liquid.

Velvet blinks. "Is...is that...rum?"

"Yes," Maud says. "This'll help keep us warm." She blinks slowly, once. "And entertained."

"Uhh...Maud? These three are, well...underage..." Cadance says.

"It'll be fine," Maud says. "I think they can handle it."

A particularly sharp blast of wind rattles the windows. It suddenly feels a good five degrees colder in the lounge.

"Pour," Night Light says. "Forget the ice."

Maud fills each glass slightly less than halfway with rum and passes them around. "Drink it slowly," she advises. "It's potent."

Once everybody has their glass, I take a sip of rum. It's spicy-sweet and feels like liquid fire going down, but in a good way—less "oh God I'm on fire" and more "this feels nice"—and has a strong afterbite.

I've had hard cider before, and a margerita once, but this is my first taste of strong drink...

Evening

I wake up feeling a bit numb and disconnected. My hands are also very warm. There's fuzz in my brain...

The lights slowly come on in the lounge. I look around.

Twilight's sitting on my left. Pinkie's sitting on my right.

I have a hand down each of their pants.

That's why my hands are so warm...

I hear a door open. I quickly pull my hands out of the girls' pants. Twilight stirs and groans softly. Pinkie snuggles up closer to me.

"Got the generator going," I hear Shining Armor call. "We can at least have a hot meal tonight."

"I'll get started cooking right away," Velvet calls from a different direction. "Are the kids awake?"

"I don't think so." That was Cadance. "I almost hate to wake them, it's so cute..."

"Not the word I'd use," Shining Armor mutters.

I extract myself from between the girls and stand up. "I'm awake," I say, looking around. Shining Armor is peeling off several layers of snow-encrusted outerwear. Night Light walks in behind him, also shedding hats and coats and scarves.

"Definitely gonna need some more rum," Night Light says.

Cadance walks in. "Aww," she says, snapping her fingers. "I missed the look on your face when you woke up..."

"What...happened?" I ask. My brain's a little fuzzy.

"The rum made you all horny," Maud says. I didn't even notice her there...

Cadance giggles. "You started making out with both Pinkie and Twilight, then decided their pants were a good place to keep your hands warm."

"Oh crap." I look at the girls, who are still asleep. "How dead am I when they wake up?"

Cadance shrugs. "They probably won't even remember it," she says. With a sly grin, she adds, "Besides, they were both pretty into it too..."

"Umm..." I swallow. "And...and everybody saw...?"

"Oh, the rest of us were..." Cadance blushes. "We pretty much...followed your lead actually," she says. "That's why Shiny and his dad just now cut the generator on." She hides a snicker. "At least the rest of us didn't pass out after one glass." She gives Maud a curious glance. "The rum didn't seem to affect you the same way it did everybody else..."

"I don't get drunk. Or horny."

"I can believe that." Cadance shakes her head. "Go wash up for dinner, Flash. I'll get the girls up."

At dinner, Pinkie is blushing and giggling like crazy. It turns out she remembers everything. Twilight doesn't remember anything except us kissing. I don't even remember that...what the hell was in that rum?

Velvet is giving me a look that's half-reproachful, half-amused.

Night Light coughs. "Flash, you're not...two-timing my daughter, are you? The way you and Pinkie were..."

"No sir, I'm not," I insist firmly. "I pretty much actively discourage Pinkie from—"

Twilight blushes. "Actually, at this point, it...doesn't really matter anymore," she says, looking at Pinkie. "I think Pinkie's crushing on both of us now. Aren't you, Pinkie?"

Pinkie has a small, silly smile on her face. "Yeah," she says. "I...yeah."

The others all blink at that.

"Um. Okay. Wow," Cadance says. "I...somehow totally missed that."

"What do you mean by 'it doesn't really matter'?" Shining Armor asks, eyeing Twilight with faint alarm.

Twilight ducks her head. "I don't know," she says. "It just...doesn't bother me." This draws raised eyebrows from Twilight's parents. Twilight shoots Pinkie a sharp glance. "That wasn't permission to sleep with my boyfriend," she adds.

"Aww," Pinkie whines.

"Or with me," Twilight stipulates, poking Pinkie in the nose.

Pinkie rolls her eyes. "I'll be good..."

After dinner, Shining Armor shuts the generator down again to conserve fuel. We all go to bed early to huddle up under blankets. Twilight spends the night with me again. I think Pinkie and Maud are sharing a bed tonight too.

"What was all that at dinner about Pinkie?" I ask.

Twilight sighs. "We've been talking when you weren't around. I just...get the feeling she kinda wants...us."

I think back over some of Pinkie's more earnest moments over the last couple of months. Even some of her less earnest moments. "Oh."

"Worry about it later," Twilight says. "Goodnight..."