You are so gone... (Spotlight, Eloquence)

[Hurricane]

Eloquence sighed faintly to herself as she emerged from the bar, tugging at the mare upon her back. The chilly night air around her was quickly harshing her buzz, and sobering her up to the point of gruff grumpiness as her hooves clattered upon the flagstones beneath her.

"You are impossible, you know that," she said quietly, as she stepped carefully through the alleyways. "I know you are not one to run from competition, and that was no contest. You could have wiped the floor with that pegasus, had you truly wanted to, you are a temptress of the worst order. Tell me, why did you insist upon this charade?" she asked.

Truth be told, the zebra was grateful for the sudden excuse to leave. She disliked the loudness of those kinds of clubs, and the idea of competing with lips as a prize made her uneasy. She would definitely not admit it to Spotlight, but she had a significant place in her heart for the mare, and the idea of competing against her, for some other mare who she barely knew at all, made her shudder.

Eloquence halted in her walk to look across at the still waters of the bay. The reflection of the moon and the stars, combined with the fortune of the nearby street light having blown out, gave the mare and her passenger an eerie blueish glow as they stood in silence. Eloquence could feel the mare's heart beating against her back, and couldn't help but blush at the closeness of her. More and more, she wanted to say 'to hell!' with her tribes custom, and throw herself fully at the mercy of Spotlight and her magnificent ways, but every time she came close to making the choice, a little part of her reminded her that this was not the point of her journey.

"Sometimes I wish I had never embarked upon this accursed quest..." she mumbled to herself with a sigh. Of all the stories she had read, all the skillful prose and elegant, coquettish similies, magnificent metaphors, all the delicious deescriptives, nothing she had ever read had prepared her for how heartache could feel, how it sucked at your very soul and left you a wanting, needing, aching nothing. "Spotlight..." she whispered, "if you're awake... would you... kiss me?" she breathed. She knew it was a silly request, and felt stupid just saying it out loud.

[Apolline Allura]

Marvelous.

A unicorn's white head resting in her lap, snoozing attentively with a fatigued yet peaceful smile on her face. A zebra's nibbling attentively at her left wing, and a cyan pegasus on her right, staring up at her through glazed over magenta eyes as she nuzzled the warm of Spotlight's belly. The mare in question stroked at the unicorn's royal purple mane, drinking in the sight of her prey, right where she wanted her. Rarity had given up after trying to pick from the litter of equine beauty that had assembled to fawn over her and compete for her affections. Rainbow Dash was easily overcame by Eloquence's deft and wise tongue, and quickly swayed to join them. El herself curled up faithfully against Spotlight, sampling the taste of her silky downs and giving the diva pony a wonderful little jolt of electricity.

Marvelous. Marevelous even.

This victory was nothing short of one of Spotlight's greater bedroom escapades. So great was it, that she couldn't resist--

--a sleepy kiss on the side of the zebra as the lucid dream continued. In her own little world now, Spotlight was still impressionable by the little things that managed to creep through the cracks in her mind from reality.

[Hurricane]

Eloquence blushed faintly as she continued to gaze out over the starlit bay. Had that kiss been genuine, or had the mare simply displayed impeccable timing within her dreamstate. After a few moments of stunned silence, she winced, the mare's faint movements upon her back sending a mild stab of pain through her body.

"You may have the grace of a feather, but you still have the weight of an entire pegasus," she muttered with a smirk, leaning down slowly to prop the mare up against the stonework guarding that prevented ponies from simply walking over the edge of the promenade, into the waters below. A few little adjustments were done, and the Zebra had the pegasus propped up, sat almost upright in her drunken stupor.

The mare looked across at her, heart heavy against her chest. In the eerie light of the stars, the mare practically glowed, a pale blue that mimiced the light of the moon itself. El glanced around cautiously, making sure that no-one else was around, before taking in a soft breath.

"Your beauty radiates to me, your hidden self is plain to see. When I think of you, my heart beats, listen close, for there will be no repeats. My journey takes me far and wide, but with the troupe, I can feel pride. Before I met you, my life was a chore, now it is anthing but a bore. Now witness here, with stars above. I declare, to you, my feelings... my love," she spoke, her voice waivering a little as she struggled through her Unyasian accented verse.

"I... i just wish... you could see my problem... I cannot... I cannot act upon these feelings until I am an adult... Spotlight... I..." she stammered, fighting back tears as she leaned in closer to the mare. Gently, she pressed her lips to the pegasus's cheek.

[Apolline Allura]

Her eyes were glassy and unfocused when she opened them. She could have sworn somepony was speaking to her. But she only saw stripes. Nopony was speaking to her right? Nopony at all? Well of course, it must've been some ONE else...

To the zebra spilling her soul out to her, Spotlight appeared very much out of sorts, but apparently just out of it enough to think her confessions would go unheard. Her unconscious mind collected this information but did not process it.

In fact, she was still fading in and out of her dream into total unconsciousness. One second, her legs were entirely slack, and the next second, her hind legs were wrapped around Eloquence's waist and her fore legs were set over the striped shoulders, thrusting once or twice.

[Hurricane]

The zebra sighed loudly to herself as the enamoured mare began to rub at her in her sleep. Struggling slightly, she pulled herself up onto the stonework barrier, and sat.

"Forgive me, Hyena, but this is for your own good. You will not hear my words unless you are sober, and you will not be sober unless you receive a sudden shock," she said, wriggling free of the mare's hind legs, pushing her backwards with a heavy shove of her bum. Slowly, the pegasus toppled backwards, and fell the short distance to the icy cold water beneath her. She turned as she heard the splash, and couldn't help but giggle.

"Little Hyena, splish splash, swimming in the sea! Hope you wake, hope you break, you cannot catch me!" she cried out, wiggling her bum over the edge once she was sure the pegasus was at least not sinking and drowning. She knew that the mare would be angry, confused, and likely still stunned from the alcohol, but the deathly cold water would certainly wake her up, if nothing else did. She just hoped that it would not douse the fire in her loins too much, which was of course the reason she hopped down from the stonework.

"If you catch me, you shall get a treat,' she teased loudly, tail dreads shaking about with a rustle.

[Apolline Allura]

At what point in her dream she had decided to rehearse Moby Dick sans Writer, Pierrot, Tap or Brace, she knew not. But plainly, undoubtedly, she had to entertain the idea that things weren't as imaginary as she had wanted earlier. It had something to do with coming to the life in the middle of spluttering and coughing and gurgling through water rushing into her lungs via her mouth and snout. Pained cries were shouted and turned into infuriated screams of anger as she clawed at the night air with her hooves, which had not been kind to her coat, given the temperature of the fountain water.

Spotlight's ears perked up, catching the rhyme patterns and playful mocking of Eloquence. Tilting her gaze upwards to the source of noise in the question, she only felt herself become even more frustrated when watching the rump teasing her over the stone railing.

Wading out of the water, she glared through slightly red and definitely somewhat glassy eyes in Eloquence's direction. Spotlight wiggled, shaking the water from her fur and feathers until she was sure she could sustain a few seconds of flight at least. She jumped and flapped once, twice, and then threw herself onto the Zebra, keeping her forehooves still and straddling her midsection. "WHAT. And answer carefully." she growled.

[Hurricane]

Eloquence giggled loudly as she watched the mare emerge from the water, shaking herself like a bedraggled little puppy, clutching at her belly from the laughter. She did not anticipate the mare taking to the air so quickly, and let out a loud, surprised little squeal as the pegasus bore her to the ground, pinning her there as she glared down at the chortling zebra beneath her.

"Hehehe, uhmm..." she began, the alcohol in her own system now beginning to have a little effect on her, making her giggle like a madmare. "The thing is... hehe, well.. I forgot," she said with a smirk, looking up at the mare.

After a few moments staring up at her, she blinked, blushes spreading across her cheeks as the irate pegasus glared on, her sodden mane dripping spots of water onto her face. She shuddered, taking a deep breath, her heart pounding against her chest.

"I am sorry... that was a lie. I know what I want to give you,' she said softly, unable to look the mare in the eyes as she spoke, "But... I cannot give it to you yet... I wish I could, but... Spotlight, I think... I..." she continued, stumbling over her words, a rare occurance for the narrator, who was able to recite from memory many hundreds, thousands of stories. She shifted about beneath the pegasus, trying to form what she wanted to say in her head, but everthing was reeling now, she felt dizzy, and a little nauseated.

"Every time I think about you, something in me changes. Just by being near you, I am able to draw upon your confidence, your attitude, to enhance my own. I smile, just to think about you, and... I... I wish that I could give my gift to you... I just... I am scared to. If any of my tribe were to find out, I would become N'ylet, cast out, no longer considered a Zebra..." she said, reaching a hoof up to the mare's cheek, feeling the prickle of tears in her eyes.

"You are the most important pony in my life, Spotlight. And... I want to give myself to you..." she said quietly, cheeks becoming more and more flustered.

(Continued at )