Writings and Stories

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Ethereal Forest
----

Pebbles shift and crunch under my feet, the sun is sinking over the snow dotted mountains in the far off distance. The wind is chilled for a time that is supposed to be late summer. Not that I'm complaining, I can feel the wind through my hair and the scent of snow filling my nostrils.

The pebbles began to glow blue.

"The sun has set."

Out of the corner of my eye I glance towards Nightmare and Esdeath, the air crackles. The glow softly dances up at us, illuminating us into sweet radiance. Leaves delicately rustled by chilled wind.

"Where do we go now?" I ask, my senses are alive. Their hair flows around them like wings meant to carry them higher, the moon so ripe and full. My body so energized I feel like I could leap towards it with one push of my legs.

"The forest, of course," Esdeath answers. She brushes a strand of silky blue hair out of her face with a precise finger.

"There is nothing to fear," Nightmare reassures, stepping forward, pebbles crunching underhoof. The illumination is especially flattering on them. Purple, blue and white mingling together.

"I know," I replied simply, turning my gaze back to the forest itself. The trail leading into it, with its towering trees and leaves. I see that the leaves have shift in color. Purple now. Glowing too. Casting jagged shadows across the ground, over the blue pebbles. Up the trees they seem to climb to reach for the highest point they can achieve.

I can still smell the snow from the far away mountains. They're close to me as we proceed on. Esdeath lovingly grasps my hand, squeezing it lightly. The tree bark glints gently with white sparkles. My right arm instinctively pulls Nightmare closer to me, warm fur greeting my skin. It's familiar, intimately so after all these years together but it never ceases to be sweet to the touch. She nuzzles my cheek affectionately, smiling.

The forest is familiar, somehow. The air tingles and there's soothing warmth. Bathed in purple, blue and white. Flowing hair caressing my arms with the breeze.

"What's on your mind?" Esdeath questions sweetly, I can feel her pretty blue eyes boring into me even before I look to her.

"This place feels familiar," the path is straight. Unmarred by vegetation, and the pebbles appeared to be completely undisturbed. Waiting for us the entire time.

"Like we're-"

"Supposed to be here." Nightmare Rarity finished for me, punctuating her declaration with a graceful swish of her tail. Shadowy tendrils dance from it before dissipating in the air.

"Yes."

"Because we are supposed to be here," Esdeath agrees, "I feel it. Instinctually."

We're going up now. From the distance the hilltop is completely full of color. The ground shifting from various shades of seductive purple and ethereal wintry blue.

I do not ask where it goes from here. I know my loves are with me, as I am with them. I am unafraid. Rather I am engrossed in the beauty of it all.

There is a sweet bliss over the three of us. A fountain of endless love so powerful I can feel vibrating throughout the environment. Every shifting light sings it.

Joyously we go on. I wonder what is at the top but I do not break the serenity with my voice. The soul tells me what is waiting at the top and senses await patiently to experience it first hand.

Embraced, we'll see it together.

[Pacifist]

The beauty of love is that it turns the unknown into an adventure.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Summer's End
----

A leaf fluttered just past my nose, a delicate combination of green slipping into orange; making me think of someone gently dipping it into two separate paint colors. Autumn was almost here, yet it was still grossly warm outside most days. Far too hot for my tastes, today was cooler at the very least.

A familiar hand slipped over my left shoulder, entering my peripheral field of vision. Offering a cone of fresh ice cream, to which I gratefully accepted.

"I don't know why you insisted on vanilla when there's so many other flavors to choose from," Esdeath came around the side, joining me on the bench. She was dressed in casual attire today, a pretty yellow sundress to be precise. Stopping above her knees, ending in black. Reminded me of a sunset for whatever reason. If one were ignorant as to her identity one would think she was an ordinary, albeit extraordinarily beautiful young woman out enjoying her day. She'd chosen strawberry today. Ripe pink in contrast to the shadows provided by the trees. Carefully licking away the cold treat with her tongue.

"Better stop staring, otherwise yours will melt," she quipped knowingly, a smile tugging at her lips. Clearing my throat I began to start steadily devouring my own, the familiar but welcomed taste sweeping over my tongue and pleasantly chilling my insides.

"One of the few good things about summer," I mused aloud before taking another quick lap at the vanilla. Tips of blue hair swayed in the breeze, leaves rustling in a way that was almost musical.

Looking around the park itself caused memories of my earliest days with Nightmare to come rushing back in vivid, colorful mental explosions. The warmth they elicited within melding with the chill of ice cream. That had been four years ago now. And now here we were. We sat in continued silence, by back resting against the wood of the bench, my posture relaxed. Esdeath sat with her legs comfortably crossed, the muscles in her thighs moving beneath the pale, beautifully smooth skin as they shifted. She was such a contrast to me. Smiling frequently and easily untroubled. More reasons to love her.

Finishing off what was left of our ice cream followed swiftly by the tasty cones we stood. I looked around in question as to where to go next. Sunlight creeped through the branches of the trees overhead, half in shade and half in the light gave her silky hair an ethereal glow. The wind shifting the black edges of her dress, her tongue swept away a trace of strawberry on her upper lip. Sometimes it truly stunned me as to how attractive I found her and how drawn to her I was. It'd been love at first sight on my end of things. And amazingly she'd responded in kind shortly after.

Her fingers gently stroked my bearded chin thoughtfully. "You know, at first I wasn't sure as to how I felt about this, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it," in turn I reached up to delicately touch the bare skin of her arm. I could feel the muscle, the power of her limb contrast with the gentleness of her sweet touch.

Her lips engaged mine decisively, her tongue carrying the taste of cold strawberry, my arms slipping around her hips. Had anyone else even attempted such a gesture it would have resulted in the loss of said individuals arms one way or another. The dress' fabric somehow paled in contrast to the sensation of her skin. Slowly she pulled away, hands squeezing my shoulders affectionately.

"I wonder how fast your heart is beating. You're much less shy about physicality."

"Thanks to you."

"Well," a finger moved with careful consideration over my chest, "I wouldn't give me all the credit," she was smiling now.

"It's been awhile since I've been here," she held my hand as we began walking, insistently pulling me closer. The path remained unchanged, only difference now was that I was seeing it in full light rather than the darkness. Weaving its stony path throughout the area, between the grass and the trees and currently inactive light posts. Uninhibited by nature, harmoniously existing alongside it. My shoulder grazed against hers.

"I haven't seen you this relaxed in awhile," Esdeath remarked, her eyes locked onto my face. Happiness sparked in them with ambient radiance.

"That's why you insisted we come here right?"

"Hm," she looked off into the blue sky for a moment, a few leaves blew by; green complimenting all encompassing blue. "I wanted to create a memory here with you." Her voice was a bit quieter, sweetly earnest. Her cheeks turning pink. Now it was my turn to kiss her.

Our lips together, my fingers running through her hair, we basked in summer's end. The burst of memory's creation to stay with us for all time, its echoes to sing from the trees, the grass and stone and sky.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Amethyst
----

The sky was smeared gray with wavy clouds. I noticed there was something about the color gray in the dawning autumn that seemed so lovely. Not like gray spring and summer days. There was tranquility in this gray. Tranquility waiting to give way to higher and far more radiant sensations. Wind ruffled my hair, make it look wilder than it already did. I stood at the center of a field, the seeming incredibly small from so far away. A blur of darkly colored bark and leaves of multiple colors. Hues of reds and oranges and yellows.

The grass swayed endlessly in the increasingly chilly wind. My skin embraced the cold without reservation, in the eye of my mind I could see it seeping in like water into the soil of the earthly plane. Merging with my muscles and bones. My innards. Empowering me.

Unmoving I still looked skyward, the beautiful gray continuing to slowly inch along leisurely.

Then there was a boom.

It reverberated from the heavens and unto earth. Rumbling through my body, starting with my skull and shooting out of my soles. The gray exploded into ethereal purple, clouds swirling and spiraling joyously away and everywhere. To travel for miles and grace the world with its astounding beauty.

A streak of purple descended from the active sky.

Nightmare stood inside of it. Encompassed in the light of the higher plane. Now my eyes were on her. Purple lapped at my peripheral vision from all sides. Her sapphire eyes peered at me with the greatest love, taking all that I am into them and to her heart.

"Ready?" She spoke, the light intensifying and her sharp teeth gleamed in the wake of her eager grin. Purple, white streaked shimmering hair ebbed and flowed continuously. Starry locks in eternal rhythm.

"I always am."

My feet had swiftly pulled me to her and I eased myself onto her back. At the beginning she'd have to reassure me that mounting her in such a way was alright. Now I knew what she wanted and what I needed to do. Everything was purple, black and white and gleaming. It too seeped into me. Drenching my being and embracing my soul, warmth inside as they melded.

There was a rush as we took the sky, over the amethyst and into the star kissed night. Strands of hair caressed my cheek and my hands massaged at her shoulders. The muscles shifting subtly at the touch.

It was time to fly.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Light
----

Footfalls spread out over the concrete path, the wind was cold but our mutual warmth countermanded that to a degree. I glanced down at the pink haired beauty, nestled securely at my side. Pink hair and scarf danced with the chill in equal measure, strands of sweet scented locks grazed my cheek and tickled my nose. Bare trees reached out over us and we moved from shadow to light and light to shadow, speckled by spots of light.

Across from us, to our right, was a railing. Beyond that railing was water, stirred only by the implacable wind. The water spread outwards and stopped at the banks of the city. From this distance we could make out the distant artificial glow of lights and the silhouettes of buildings not dissimilar to that of endlessly still shadow puppets.

"What's that, darling?" Zero Two spoke, pointing a gloved finger at a lone tower viewer. It's face flat and immaculate, it's eyes brought to mind some cybernetic owl from a far off point in the moving future. It stood in eternal vigilance watching the land.

"A tower viewer, it'll let you see the city," I fished in my pocket for a quarter and pinched it between my forefinger and thumb to pull it out. It's circular side shone in the light that crept past stretching claw branches.

She smiled and accepted it in her palm, with a cheerful curiosity she approached the device. Inserting the coin and lowering herself to properly peer into its open eyes. Her hair blew with the wind and from my angle I could see her lips form a smile.

"I can see the city much clearer now, oh! I can even see the cars driving across the road," she giggled after that, using her hands and turning with the device. "Why I feel like a bit of a voyeur."

I snorted in my amusement. "Of course you'd make a crack about voyeurism."

She swiveled her eyes over to me, her smile shifting over to wry and mischievous. "Oh you know you love it," she brushed a few strands away and back behind her right ear.

"Do you want to look darling?" She asked thoughtfully, rising and gesturing to it like a presenter on stage.

For a moment I acknowledged the distance city, it's light an artificial hole in the darkness. The buildings looming, unjudging. The stones and metal and glass that which formed them taking in the sounds. The zoom and honks and screeches of cars, the voices of people and cooing of pigeons. It was all there. Unbeknownst by the lifeforms and the machines alike. The echoes would be held within their embrace long after the makers of the noise were gone.

"The poetry of existence."

I looked back at her and met her teal twinkling eyes.

"No thank you, Zero Two. The light I need is right here."

A moment of silence past and I savored the notion that the vibrations of our words and the energy we weaved through our actions would become part of the environment around us. The tower viewer itself had certainly seen hundreds of people and would likely see hundreds more. But somewhere it would hold a space for us.

In one bound she was in my arms, many would be surprised to see her speed and strength. Her legs finding their way expertly around my hips and warm lips finding mine without restraint. The taste of honey and sweet lollipop.

Another moment crafted and another to be remember with sweetest permanence.

Her boots resounded quietly on the path and my bare hand touched her rosy cheek. Soft and smooth, I slipped my arm over her shoulders and allowed her ease back to side. Her arms hugged my midsection.

We went on.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Medals
----

Lying on my back, my feet dangling over the edge of the bed I rested with a sweet ease. The distant cadence of water rushing through pipes and the steamy hiss of the shower were the only genuine noises at the moment. Drowned out by the rhythm and color of my thoughts, joined by the subtle creak of the bed as I hoisted my upper frame to an upright position. A certain curiosity snapping my body into movement, my feet touched the immaculate floor. The bedroom was always a bit chilly and it certainly did not slip my notice it was not only fitting, but likely intentional to motivate me to be closer to her physically.

Making my way over to the dresser my hands softly pulled open the top drawer, with such care I laid eyes on them. Displayed in a flat case the glass reflected my bearded face lightly.

A multitude of medals of contrasting shapes, sizes and coloration. She'd informed me offhandedly that she had them but I never felt any true motivation to look or even ask until now.

"Snooping are we?"

To my credit I didn't jolt in my place, I held the case like a cup brimming; fingers beneath it's flat back and thumbs on either side. I did not wish to potentially smudge the glass.

Esdeath stood garbed only in an oversized shirt the same hue as her hair. Skin freshly scrubbed and pale, hair shimmering and lightly damp. Strands fell across her shoulders and generous cleavage.

"Whimsical curiosity bested me again," I replied in a coyly false ruefulness. "I've never seen them until now."

"I fight because I like it, but it would be rude to not accept the Emperor's rewards in some way."

My eyes returned to the large assortment, some were in the shape of stars, there were so many they were comparable to a tiny pristine metal galaxy with a deep red backdrop. Some were circular with soft colored cloth. The most notable to me was a purple serpentine dragon in the center. In a rising position, each little scale painstakingly detailed and rippling pines trailing the length of his spine like little mountaintops down to the pluming tail. Mouth open and lined with teeth and a thin mustache.

She padded over to me, left arm around my midsection and back against her chest. Her wintry scent mixed with the fresh shampoo and soap.

"What does the dragon mean?" I smile as we kissed.

"Valor."

I pressed back against her when she nuzzled at my neck.

"What about this one?" I pointed at bottom right, small with a red cloth and a single silver star attached to it.

"That one is my first. I went back and saved a small platoon of my soldiers during a skirmish. I was a Major then."

The glass reflected us and I could see a shred of nostalgic reminiscence in her blue eyes.

"I don't wear them much. I'd rather not clutter up my uniform but I still value them," she held it now in her free hand, smiling.

"Marks of strength."

She chuckled approvingly, kissing my cheek and returned the case to the drawer. Given the seconds of silence that lingered before the audible thunk of the wood closing I knew she was reflecting over them. She normally wasn't one to linger over the past too much, at least not in the way I did.

"I'll answer your questions tomorrow, but for now I'd like to get some sleep."

Sweeping past me she took my hand and guided me over to our shared bed. I knew right away she was still reflecting in that quietly happy manner one does late at night in their privacy separate from judging eyes and the noisy irritants of the outside world. It was something in her I'd never seen.

We still found ways to surprise each other.


----
Giving
----

Lupusregina stirred sweetly from sleep, bare arms stretching and loose red hair splayed out over the pillow and a little grunt as she steadily began to rise. Her adorable wolf ears twitched, shifting in angles and hands rubbing incessant remnants of sleep from her eyes. She wore a tight fitting red tank top and pajama pants, a surprisingly modern getup from one who traditionally wore a medieval themed maid outfit. She had a liking for modern clothes I had discovered. Likely a trait from her creator.

I sat on the edge bed, my hands holding the soft gift out of her line of sight.

"How long have you been sitting there?" She laughed with her familiar energy, blowing a strand of pretty hair out of her face.

"I didn't want to wake you," I murmured pleasantly, she leaned forward and I noted the subtle movement of muscle in her arms. Her smile grew wider and eyes narrowed in pinpoint understanding.

"That doesn't quite answer my question."

A beat lingered in the atmosphere before we both laughed in the quietly dimmed bedroom. Her eyes glinted like small twin amber moons and from the way light met her hair it gave her the appearance of having a fiery red halo.

I clutched my gift a bit tighter as her stare shifted to arms and my half turned body. Her lithe figure leaned in more and her grin grew knowing.

"Sooooooo?"

"What?" My response playing innocent.

"What do you have there?"

"A present."

Lupusregina's cheeks flushed with a splash of red, half crawling towards me now in a stance ready for springing onto to me. The fingers of her right hand tapped expectantly on the bedspread.

My body moved to fully face her and I held out the offering with both hands and with speed I hadn't expect she seized it eagerly. Giggling and cooing excitedly at the wolf plush I bought for her. It's posture would allow it to sit comfortably on its haunches, mouth parted to reveal a bright red tongue, pointed ears and a fluffy tail. Its eyes reflected pinpoints of light. She held it firmly against her chest, chin nuzzling the top of its head just between the ears not too dissimilar to her own. Delighting in the softness of its rainy day gray fur.

"It made me think of you, for obvious reasons."

"C'mere!"

She launched at me in one move of her legs pinning me to the bed and lips clamping onto mine ecstatically and my return was instantaneous. She still clutched the cuddly wolf to her bust with her arm, her free hand busying itself with my hair; my own running up and down the length of her back and gripping her bare shoulders lovingly.

Breaking the kiss I licked my wet lips, our breathing intermingling and her knees on either side of my hips. A hand traversed the length of her arm.

"You like it?"

"I love it," her face grew sly and her nails shifted to claws, "and now I think it's time for your gift, sweetie."

The fabric of my shirt being shredded open was not a surprising sound anymore these days.

"Lupu."

"Hm?"

"...That's the third shirt in a week and a half."

She shrugged. "Fastest way I could think of. Besides," she moved closer, "I know you love it."

I grinned again before kissing her once more.


----
Eternal Rose
----

Nightmare's teeth closed over the caramel filled chocolate heart with predatory grace, enjoying the flavor. The opened heart shaped box sat nestled between us on the darkly cushioned couch. The orange crackling hue of the fire contrasted nicely with her pitch black fur and sapphire eyes.

"Hm...," she mused, looking at another of the candies like a stage actor pondering the timeless skull. "Sometimes you can't go wrong with a classic."

It was one hour into Valentine's Day, my fingers held the blue rose I had gotten her. It had occurred to me it had been awhile since I had gotten her one.

"Blue roses partially represent attainability."

"Symbolism is rarely lost on you dear," her lips pulled into a charming, teeth lined smile as she extended her tongue and carefully placed a heart on it and retracted it back into her mouth. Never breaking eye contact, continuously holding me in the entirety of myself.

"We defied the impossible."

"It was never impossible my love," her regal hoof tapped the tip of my nose in a corrective manner.

"You're right Nightmare."

"I frequently am."

We both had a laugh over that. It was a comfortable one. The sort only attainable when you've been sharing your being with someone for years.

"I think blue is fitting either way. Unique and beautiful. We pave our own way just as we're supposed to."

I leaned over and kissed her, a punctuation of a certain crafted moment to make it its own.

"I really have rubbed off on you."

She laughed quietly, her nose touching mine and her flowing starry waterfall of hair sheltering us.

"We pick up on each other's best attributes. There's plenty of me in you."

Pulling her in we kissed again, the scent of the blue rose embracing us together.

"Happy Valentine's Nightmare. I love you."

"I love you, Michael. Forever and always."

Forever is such a powerful word. And one we happily experience in union.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Wings
----

The crimson leaves of the tree rustled with a teasing breeze. Its trunk ancient and powerful, the bark bearing the marks of its existence like tallies left here and there. The setting sun burnt the sky orange and dyed it a sweet purple layered among the puffy clouds.

"Not quite a sakura, but it'll do."

"Oh hush darling, it's beautiful," she flicked my forehead to dash away any bashfulness I may have possessed in that moment. She wore a simple but pretty white dress that stopped above her knees and she had insisted on taking her shoes off to enjoy the feeling of the grass on her bare feet.

"I found it a few days ago and I thought of you."

She squeezed my at that, smiling brightly and just enough for me to sneak a glance at those adorable sharp fangs.

"How old is it?" We were beneath it's long branches now, beams of leftover light steadily eaten away by the dark.

"I can't say for the life of me, not a scrap of information about it anywhere," with my free hand I touched the bark. Fingers dipping into a mark left on it from some unseen phantom source.

Zero Two raised her nose to the air and inhaled deeply, teal eyes clenched shut in focus.

"It smells nice, like some sort of spice."

A final remaining beam of light spilled across the bridge of her nose, making her lips look particularly enticing and eyes glint.

In that moment my instincts informed me it was the perfect opportune time. Fishing about in my pocket I retrieved the little box holding a gift, her eyes lit up just at the sight of it alone. An excited, touched gasp of breath escape her and her cheeks began to turn the same color as her beautiful hair.

Opening the box I delicately up a necklace, two spread metal feathered wings hung from it.

"When I bought it I was unsure if the wings were a bird or angel's, but I think either one is fitting."

Quickly she swiped budding tears away, laughing joyously. Zero Two had never genuinely received a present of any sort, barring the picture book of her childhood. Cupping her hands together like one trying to keep water from slipping between their fingers she held it. With one finger she traced the engraved patterns of the feathers, wonderfully detailed and eternally spreading to limitless freedom.

I caressed away a single tear of happiness from her cheek, it clutched briefly to my finger before falling away to the sea of grass.

"Darling, would you do the honor?" Now a bit shy it seemed, she held it out for me to accept and once I did she shifted her back to me and swept her pink hair aside with her hands.

Unlocking the necklace I closed the distance, my arms lowering until her neck was between them. It was comfortably dark now but despite that I had no trouble clipping it back together. She leaned into me and I lowered my nose to her sweet hair, inhaling the scent of cherry blossoms and fresh honey and the subtle undertone of the tree's spiced aroma.

"Darling?"

"Hm?"

Zero Two turned to face me now, her strong grip pulling me closer.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Happy birthday Zero Two."

Our lips met tenderly, and in the shared eye of our minds we could see our wings spreading.

"I love you."

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Starbirth
----

The observatory was a circular structure high atop the castle. Walls aligned with books so old they were in another tongue entirely. A small metallic staircase led upwards to a powerful telescope. An iridescent glow of blue and white pulsed with the tempo of a beating heart as Nightmare loomed over a small metal box. Despite how pristine its surface and detailed as it was it thrummed with an ancientness that few things could match.

Locks of purple hair blew back and flowed as her shining horn manipulated whatever it was that she was developing in the confines of the metal. Whenever I closed my eyes I still saw color. Light splotched up the walls and blinked repeatedly on the ceiling. Her long horn glowed with nearly as much magical power as what was in the box, a supernova filled the room. Not an inch was spared of light. From the space designated to the telescope light exploded outwards, shimmering tendrils ever reaching freely into the galaxy before vanishing.

My eyes remembered the burst for several prolonged, blue and white seconds. Like remembering the tunnel of life's physical beginning.

Now the glow was smaller. Stable. Nightmare breathed out in satisfaction with an underlying pinch of exhaustion. Mane charmingly disheveled and her body shivered in suppressed excitement. Holding the box in a magical grip she at last turned to me, white fangs oddly bright in the tango of shadows and light.

"What just happened?"

Her hooves moved with swift airy grace and the box made it's way to my hands. The metal was warm as flesh. Inside was a small orb, not unlike that of a shaped gem. Bluish white in color hue.

"I just created the core of a star. It's been quite sometime since I have done so." An endearing, subtle giddiness to her sultry musical voice. She exhaled once like someone finished with a lengthy but elating run in a cool evening.

"This is a star core?" I wondered verbally, not even bothering to conceal my awe.

"Stars in Equestria are not like the stars of your world."

"Considering we can survive on the moon here I'd guessed as much."

"True," she chuckled and we smiled at one another like lovingly dazed teenagers, the energy of the moment crackling with matching intensity of the born star core. "Here, each star is created. Once there was only one, you know."

Together we witnessed the first light of a budding star, the warmth traversed up my arms and filled my heart with the fact she had brought me here with her for this event.

Delicate in precision she lifted the core out of its metal cradle. She indicated with a tilt of her head to follow her. Her hooves clinked and clanked there way up the stairs, shadowy trails of her tail wisping out and vanishing faster than a blink. Eyes following the core's slow ascension it locked into place for a moment before she sent it flying out beyond the telescope. So fast it was simply there for a moment and gone the very next. Traversing an inky black ocean of distance to begin its long lasting life.

She peered with one blue eye into the telescope and called me forth with a wave of a black hoof. Giving way for me she instructed me to "Look" and so I did.

The vision of a single eye projected countless leagues away to the depths of space as the star came into its own. The orb burst like a dazzling balloon, energy spreading out into cosmic nebulousness. Blue and white and purple and red. Splashes of pink decorated the tips and filled the eyeglass and I found myself slack jawed and laughing joyously. The core became a permanent blue, giving way to the color seamlessly. The star still burning in a mixture of captivating colors. Formless and bright. Shimmering. Light flying across the galaxy and it did not escape our knowledge that some would not see it's light for an incredibly long period of time. Implacable the energy would carry on to touch where it was needed.

"We're the first to see it, you and I."

A foreleg slipped around my midsection and I could swear the fresh star was imprinted on my eye. I leaned back against her as the final rushes of what I had witnessed left me weightless. Her lips brushed my ear as she leaned in and kissed my bearded cheek.

Clutching her hoof we looked out beyond the artificial viewer and into the twinkling recess of space's infinite canvas. There were many stars, but the direction of there newest addition was easy to find.

We both knew where it was. The map was our experience.

Turning her face to me with a hand the only stars I saw now were her eyes, and in her radiance she exceeded them. We punctuated the moment with another lingering, soft kiss.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Spring's Rain
----

Rain sprinkled from the dark skies outside the safety of the home, pattering against the structure with an indifferent persistence and nourishing the land with motherly care. I was awake, the warmth provided by the blanket slipping off my shoulders to feel the familiar chill of the endless spinning of the ceiling fan. Blades rotating in an endless and unbroken cycle.

"Are you awake?" Zero Two spoke from the place beside me. Nightmare was still at the castle, overseeing royal business. Esdeath and Lupusregina had decided to take a hunting trip together, so for the time being it was just us.

"No. Are you?"

She smirked. "No."

Moment of silence.

"Are you okay?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. It's important to get your sleep, darling."

My head sunk deeper into my pillow as I adjusted my position to looking over at her. She was looking at me now. Kindheartedly.

"You're letting your horns grow out a bit," I smiled, the tip of my forefinger tapping the crimson tip of her left horn. She blushed and playfully swatted my hand away.

"I know you like them," her cheeks nearly the same color as her hair. "Though filing them will take just a bit longer now."

"I can help you with that. I think it'd make for a good bonding activity."

"It's a date then," she giggled.

We both lay on our backs now. The rain seeming louder in the silence. Looking over at Zero Two I saw her hair spilled out over the pillow like pink wings. Thoughtful, intelligent teal eyes and soft lips. She wore a dark red tank top and my eyes couldn't help but appreciate the bare skin of her shoulders and clavicle. Her demeanor relaxed, graceful in her ease. An angelic sight.

"Darling, you're being a pervert again," she laughed, shoulders moving in that unique way they do when the body is shuddering from a laugh.

"You stare too," I replied knowingly and unable to prevent a small smile. I didn't hate my appearance anymore. In fact in that regard I was overall comfortable with myself. My smile was less one of egocentricity than so much as a quietly happy feeling that such lingering looks were mutual.

"C'mere," she beckoned me into her grasp, nestling herself against my bigger frame. Fingers trailing invisible marks of affection along my back. These movements had no obvious pattern but were determined entirely by the feelings and the atmosphere of a moment in the progress of life. My own fingers busied themselves with her lustrous hair, lifting a few strands in contrast with the dark and allowing them to fall back into place. Her breathing tickled my neck.

"Seriously darling, are you okay?" She moved her head to look me in my deep brown eyes.

"Of course, I just woke up is all. Nothing at all out of the ordinary, my sweet," I purred reassuringly to her, my fingers caressing her jaw and earning me a cute smile. I loved being able to make her smile. I never wanted her to feel unhappy or distressed.

"No dreams?"

"No dreams."

More silence. Shorter this second time. "I feel as though I should inquire the same, Zero Two. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just woke up to the rain and thought I'd listen to it. I love the rain."

Thunder rumbled and I turned my head to look up towards the ceiling. The ceiling fan blades still spun. I remembered something that elicited a tugging smile that came with recalling something from childhood.

"When I was a kid my mom told me thunder was just angels bowling."

Zero Two giggled again.

"I remember the first time I heard thunder," she said in an tone that was vulnerably anecdotal. "Funny enough I wasn't scared. I just remembered how powerful it sounded. I wondered what it'd be like to fly through it. Through the rain and the wind and the clouds." Thoughtfully her fingers stroked my beard and from the glint in her eyes I knew she registered the softness and it was pleasing and soothing. Her thumb found my bottom lip and tenderly pulled at it for a sweet moment before releasing it. The sound of it meeting my upper lip was a little pop, barely noticeable like the clicking of a blinking eyelid.

The rain still fell and I could paint in the portal of my mind a stretch of grass, raindrops glittering on them like earthly stars. So green and soft. A forest. Bark a darker shade and full leaves. Serenity left in the wake of the rain as the sun's morning pilgrimage to create the day began as it had for eons.

"I associate you with water now, you know." Her fingers moved now to my neck with feather care down my collarbone to my chest. She smiled at me and clearly wanted me to continue.

"I almost drowned once so for many years I never liked it all that much," her face became serious at my speaking of nearly drowning but I went on. "Seeing how much you love it makes me think of it differently. Times like these remind me how special it is. It's a gateway to an altered state of being."

She was smiling again.

"My pink water nymph."

"I'm hardly a nymph," she moved a knuckle over her lips to conceal a widening irresistible smile and again she giggled and it colored the air the sweetest shade.

"Well if I saw you basking on the rocks I'm absolutely certain I could not resist. I wouldn't want to either."

"You're so sweet, darling," she kissed me. I enveloped her in my arms, her warmth melding with my own. I felt the tip of a fang with my tongue and my lips were sweetly wet. My hand found a place over her beating heart and love louder than the greatest thunder resonated against my palm.

Affectionately she touched her horns to my forehead, clutching my hand. Hers were petite and pretty. Soft and deliberately gentle.

"We should really get some sleep."

"Yeah."

Settling ourselves down and pulling the blanket back over us I looked again at her beautiful face, her eyes guiding me into peace. The sound of rain faded and my mind swam in teal hued slumber.

"Good night darling. I love you."

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

I: The Sea
--

The waves of the sea repeated the frothing process of sloshing up onto the shore, back and forth and back and forth to an extent that was oddly hypnotic in its ceaseless recurrence. The sun perched in the clear sky but was not at all unpleasant. Off to the right, a considerable distance away was Nightmare Rarity's private beach house. Resting upon the seaside bluff, small from our standpoint.

Said beach was occupied by we five. It was, after all all, Her Majesty's property.

She and I sat under the umbrella, watching the other's at play for the time being.

"Why not go swim?" She flicked a hoof towards Esdeath and Zero Two enjoying the water.

"I'm enjoying the peace of it all, love," I replied, the corner's of my eyes crinkling in a smile. Nightmare returned the smile, but I knew her intimately enough to detect that knowingly sly sparkle in her eyes. That look that proclaimed "I know something you don't."

I looked back at the ocean for a moment-

"Wait where's Lupusregina?"

"You catch on fast!" She appeared beside me, not there one moment and there the next. Invisibility. I should have known. Grinning and enormously satisfied with herself she snatched me up from the shade and for a flash of time the blue sky and the yellow sun and the water were a blur as she hoisted me over her right shoulder, laughing and whooping jovially and I had to scramble with my hands to keep my glasses on my face. My gaze flitted to Nightmare and she too was chuckling, more to herself than to anyone else. I couldn't help but smile back and charmingly she winked.

I submitted myself to their intentions. I planned on going into water at some point though they clearly had "sooner" in their minds rather than "later." Still, I did take the time to appreciate my werewolf lover's shapely rear end; her leather bikini complimented it enticingly.

"Here he comes!" She hollered to Esdeath and Zero Two and, cradling me ceremoniously in her arms for a moment; she pitched me into the water.

Beneath the waves my world became bubbles for several seconds. Quickly I made my way back to the surface with a few decisive movements of my arms and legs. Taking a big breath I felt my hair pressing against the back of my neck and my glasses were decorated with bright droplets.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked, my voice breaking up into sporadic bursts of laughter.

"Well sometimes you need a little nudge is all," Lupusregina responded cheerily as she got into the water.

"If by 'nudge' you mean 'toss Michael into the water like a sack of potatoes' then sure it was a nudge."

Zero Two gracefully shattered the sea's surface in a dazzling arch. Pink hair flung water droplets into the breezy air until they rejoined their greater body. Her joy magnified my own.

Esdeath had yet to speak but she still smiled, happy to see me having fun with them.

"Soooo," Lupu spoke up again, running a finger up my bare back and assuming a place beside Esdeath and Zero Two; that look of mischief still on her lovely face. In fact it seemed to have intensified. "Which of us do you think has the best bikini?" She cooed teasingly.

"Oh, now there's an answer I'd like to hear," Esdeath purred out seductively, placing her hands on her hips and deliberately sticking out her ample breasts a bit further. Zero Two giggled at my predicament. Esdeath's swimwear was simple but complimentary, snowy white and delightfully sexy. The triangular top concealing her nipples and with coy deliberation she lightly fiddled with the strings of the bottom half her two piece.

Lupusregina wore her stunning red hair down, the tips lightly dampened and darkened by the water. Her wolf ears stood at attention atop her head and she was grinning widely at my situation. Her attire was more elaborate by contrast, her top black and crisscrossing strings over her bust conveying a feeling that was subtly that of a dominatrix. Slowly she made her way towards me, her thighs gleaming from the water.

"Awwww c'mon, you can say mine is the best no one will blame you," she almost cackled.

"Darling hasn't properly seen mine yet," Zero Two piped up, ever feisty. She spun with the grace of ballerina, pink ponytail flowing like a comet; droplets of water its starry trace. Her suit was more "conservative" by contrast, a crimson one piece. It left much of her back visible and a diamond opening exposed her navel. Her skin wet and free and playfully she ran her fingertips along her collarbone and down to her breasts.

"Weeellllll?" Lupusregina prodded.

"I'm not falling into that deathtrap," I laughed, my heart thumping wildly against my sternum like a bird flapping in the first moments of flight.

They all fixed me with good-natured glowers but I could still tell that Lupusregina had piqued their collective curiosity. Zero Two splashed me and insisted I give an answer.

"If I choose only one you'll be upset."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're allowed to have your own opinion."

"None of are you going to let this go are you?"

"No!" They said in a state of near unison.

"...Lupusregina."

A beat. Then Lupusregina joyously laughed, pumping her fists into the air.

"I knew it! It's the leather getup, isn't it?" She winked.

"Yes. Not that all of your selections aren't-,"

Zero Two pounced, arms engulfing my shoulders and her face leaning to mine and lips half parted. My eyes began to close in preparation for a kiss, only to be jolted back into the world of sight when a tongue made it's way up my cheek.

"Were you expecting a kiss?" Zero Two chuckled, tapping my nose with a finger and savoring the mixed flavors. "I've always wondered what you'd taste like after a dip in the ocean."

"Can you dive? It shouldn't be too deep."

"I'm up for it," I let Zero Two back down gently and acknowledged Esdeath's question.

"Good. I've got something I want to show you," she took a breath and took the plunge. One by one the other two followed. Taking one tactical gulp of air I too dove under. Rays of sun broke the surface giving the sea an otherworldly quality of heavenly blue hues mixed with sunbeams. Peering down I followed them, Esdeath's long hair danced and defied gravity with every motion; passing in and out of soothing blue and light. She was even faster than Zero Two in regards to her speed. I almost laughed at the thought of General Esdeath snatching up a fish in her mouth for fun.

The sandy bottom of the ocean in this case was not too far down and even I, as inexperienced of a swimmer as I am, was able to reach it not long after they did.

It took me a moment but I saw was Esdeath was indicating. Shells in a plethora. Glimmering faintly in the few bits of light that truly reached this level, akin to water jewels. Acting fast we all seized one, not paying attention to what color or size we took, in the moment that was part of the idea. Sand floated as an underwater cloud leisurely back to the floor, our fingers talon like leaving temporary gouges in its once undisturbed surface.

I gasped when I pierced the surface and my lungs gratefully embracing air. The shell concealed in my left hand. I felt its presence, subtle and ghostly as I unclenched fingers. Shiny with water I took in the detail of it. White with wavy patterns of purple, holding it delicately I turned it over with my fingers; sunlight winking across the immaculate and tiny surface. A crab had once made this his home and protection. It had rested on the sea floor, waiting for the day it was to be claimed again.

Lupusregina had taken one of a sparkling blue as though she had made a small piece of the ocean's collective a solid and taken it for herself. One wolf ear twitched sending three droplets of water soaring, the sunlight filling them balloon like with a burst of indescribable color as they returned from whence they came.

Esdeath's was a metallic gray. Her face bore the vision of quiet satisfaction. She ran a pretty finger over its surface for it had but a single scar that was not an imperfection but a contrasting enhancement.

Zero Two's was, befitting enough, pink. Pink as her silky hair. I could deduce the connection was not lost on her, her smile bared all.

"I think Nightmare has something to show us," Esdeath stood tall, long hair like reaching tendrils of eternal blue in the water.

From the shore Nightmare Rarity beckoned us with a black hoof. Collected and graceful.

Sensing something of significance, we returned to the land. Glancing back I could witness the water eating away some of our footsteps. Scrubbing the beginning away and were some new lifeforms to simply appear on the beach our footprints would deliver the impression we'd simply popped into existence in the middle of the beach.

--
II: The Turtle
--

Nightmare led us to a trail between the bluff and a rocky spire that sightlessly watched over the ocean. Hooves and feet silent and the scent of salt and rock. The wind blew our hair and in the shade of the spire it created a chill.

"So where are we going?" Lupusregina piped up, cheery. The wind blew her hair and strands of red tickled my face. I couldn't resist a smile.

"Shhhh, not so loud," Nightmare warned, an eye fixing on the werewolf punctuated her sincerity in the declaration and in the spire's portal we saw a beach. Smaller. A sandy island separated from prying eyes and tucked in the safety of shadow and sun.

On the beach further from us was a single life form. A turtle. A concoction melding quiet excitement and the color of wonder beat in my heart. She was a sizable specimen, not overly large in size but well into adulthood. Speckled flippers of seaweed green and sky blue. A rounded shell of dazzling color. In its center was purple spilling out into multiple colors: Red, green, blue, brown. Expanding and entropic. With her paddle flippers she was digging a hole in the sand. Left, right, left, right. Sand flying in clumps and and landing indifferent of its new location.

Nightmare sat first, with the careful serene poise of a sculpture given life. I sat next. Resting a hand on her back an ear flicked and she smiled pleasantly, the muscles beneath her pristine ebony fur solid and strong. Zero Two took her place in my lap, a quick kiss shared. Esdeath sat beside Nightmare and Lupu to my right. She sat crisscross and rested her face in her small hands curiously watching the turtle dig her nest.

She halted momentarily, head lifting slightly. Slowly and in a manner not too dissimilar in the way Nightmare had seated herself the turtle turned to us. She held us in entirety in opaque universal eyes. The flesh of her neck crinkling in her fixed position.

We remained as this. Looking at each other. The sun and the waves the only movement and only one of those was obvious in its activity.

She returned to her instinctive and hallowed work. Sea turtles return to the beach they were born to lay their eggs. She and hundreds of others had been born here. Breaking through the sand void that acted as their cradle and pulling themselves to the tide. A meridian that one of them would repeat in time's passage. They would return to this place as their mother and her mother before her, never once laying eyes on each other but their essences would occupy the same space forever.

"How old do you think she is?" I spoke quietly, my arm hooked around Zero Two's waist. The warmth of her body a constant. Esdeath reclined, stretching her pale, strong legs and easing some her weight to her elbows.

"Difficult to say," she answered, watching as the turtle lay her eggs. One after another. Trance like in her vibrations of creation. "She's old, but far from ancient."

"Do you think she's done this before?"

No answer. I wasn't sure if that was rhetorical or a quizzical wonder. We watched for awhile.

"In the world I was born, a turtle's shell represents Heaven, its body the Earth, and its underside the Underworld."

Zero Two nodded, ponytail bouncing. "I think I read something like that. I don't know if turtles exist anymore in the world I came from."

"Turtles was viewed as magical creatures who's power united Heaven and Earth."

"I've heard similar tales," Esdeath murmured gently. She spoke no further.

The outer ocean was the color of fire.

"Do you think they get scared?" Lupusregina asked thoughtfully. "After they hatch I mean, they start off so little."

"I would imagine so," Nightmare replied, looking over at her, brushing a purple strand from her face. Her teeth gleamed in the sunset. Her tail touched my back in a sweeping gesture of silent affection. I rubbed her back.

"I used to think it was sad that they never get a chance to know their mother." I whispered. The wind carried my voice over the burning sea.

"Fear is temporary. The ocean is vast and they'll never compass it entirely, but should they survive long enough they'll reach a state where practically nothing can hurt them. In the long run turtles have little reason to be afraid." Esdeath said, unflinchingly watching the turtle continue her work before she looked at the comparatively delicate vacant crab shell in her hand. She ran her thumb over the scar and smiled.

"Turtles are very close to time and change. They live for centuries watching things go by and transform. Never scared and they know it all. Who do they tell?"

It was almost dark now. The turtle had begun to bury her precious eggs. We did not know how many she had laid. Meticulously as she had began she completed their nursery. Her final act of love and devotion as a mother was to cover her babies so that they will grow. They will never know her, they will go into the vast and open waters never seeing her face, but they will have grown from her love. The sand will know their heartbeats and their dreams. The rocks and the sand and the water will know. She would remember this. As would we.

Slowly she dragged herself back to the water. Never hurrying and possessing an ancient grace about her. Serenely white froth washed over face and she did not flinch nor shy away. When the sea receded again she was gone.

Lupusregina dug her fingers into the sand and held up a clump of it. Pensively she allowed to drop.

"Do baby turtles remember the first time they see the sky? Human infants can't consciously remember such things. Can turtles?"

No answer. We sat for a minute or two.

"It's almost dark and we haven't eaten yet, have we?" Nightmare asked. She stood and from below she was a dark, gleaming hair and sapphire eyed colossus.

"Good thing you brought that up, I'm hungry!" Lupusregina said. The statement was mutual and we trekked back to the house on the bluff.

--
III: Sleep
--

It was late now. My stomach still warm from food as I looked out from the balcony. My forearms resting against the cool, smooth wood of the railing. In the distance I could see dark storm clouds drifting ever closer. An invisible rumble acting as its arriving trumpet. My mind was tenderly called back to the present when my general pressed up against me from behind, her arms enclosing around my middle.

I jolted when she playfully bit my earlobe.

"You're still up."

"You're not surprised are you?" I laid a hand over one of hers. Small and supple. Delicate when compared to mine but infinitely surpassing me in power. I squeezed once.

"The rain is coming," Nightmare spoke from the doorway. A bolt of ragged blue shot spontaneously from the gray clouds. Electric fingers reaching for nothing and existing in little else than the eye's blink.

"Come on, you need your rest," Esdeath whispered in my ear and it suddenly hit me that I was indeed tired. Our feet padded against the wood, past the circular table and into the comforting dark of the bedroom. An ethereal glow pulled the pristine glass door shut. Another soft rumble.

Lupusregina and Zero Two were already asleep. I smiled when I saw my werewolf holding to her chest the wolf plush I'd gotten her for Valentine's day. Her fingers lightly touching Zero Two's in a gesture of familial bond. Zero Two shifted for a moment, the bed sheets crinkling beneath her lithe form. I pulled the drapes shut. Gray. Like the rain clouds.

Nightmare's eyes shined. Lighthouse beacons of sapphire in the dark. I found her lips with my own out of pure familiarity. Nothing else was needed at this point.

With care I climbed into the bed, pausing when I heard a faint and breathy murmur before all was silent again. I laid down on my flank, the bare space to my back becoming occupied by Nightmare. She became a shadow before solidifying at my behind. Her warmth there like something popping into existence. A back hoof stroked my leg and she pulled me closer with her forelegs. Esdeath resting somewhere behind her.

I breathed out.

"Goodnight, Michael," Nightmare said softly. Nuzzling into my hair.

"Sleep well my loves."

Sleep reeled me in further and further. In one last gesture I reached for Zero Two's hair, finding it with my fingers. Warmth and softness and love following me into slumber.

Rain gracing the outside the world. In the dark the family slept in love and safety. They would be there when I opened my eyes and I would be there when they returned to the waking plane as well. Serene silence in the pouring rain.