Chapter Seven: The Boat
She didn't waste time. As soon as the receptionist dried her face and returned to her post she was packing for her trip. She chose a nondescript duffel bag, brown trousers, white shirt, and brown leather jacket for her dress of choice. Nothing was meant to stand out. She still had a handful of hours as 'Bless' and she didn't want anyone to notice 'Hex' dressed the same. The more forgettable the better.
Every beady eye looking down from lamp poles and shingled roof felt as if it were staring at only her. Perhaps they were. It wouldn't surprise her to find RavenCroft was using every bird in Last Harbor this entire time as his little spies. The why of such a thing was vague at best, but at this point she doubted the bastard had any limits. Killing was one thing, but that wasn't some clean assasination. It wasn't a merciful concussive spell at point blank or a clean decapitation. It was slow, excruciating, revenge. Perhaps she wouldn't return. Perhaps after this job it was time to find another bed and another workshop.
She didn't realize she was at her destination until the wood of the boardwalk gave way to marsh-covered earth. She had nearly passed the Winking Timberwolf and the small steam boat harbored nearby.
An amused black stallion stood on the gangplank of a small house boat outfitted with a large waterwheel and decently sized steam engine. The engine was magic put in the most unimaginative way possible. A dog-sized hunk of ice sapphire was placed near a fire Ruby within a steel chamber. Bolted on either side of the chamber were two synchronized clockwork pistons to strike the stones every 53.34 seconds to activate them. Of course, there were issues. The steam wasn't real steam. The magical effect would be short lived, meaning no accumulation of pressure. To keep the wheel turning the engine would have to run at full power. In less than a year the crystals would be too fragile and shatter into useless dormant quartz. Oh, and Goddess help you if those pistons go out of sync.
The boat itself was rustic yet well kept. By eye, she assumed it was three by nine meters of blue wood with a yellow stripe and steel plates along the sides for a bit of protection. Two meters near the engine was exposed with a mechanical crane for dragging nets or loading cargo. The starboard half of the ship was taken up by a small home on deck. It was just a single floor shack with a peaked roof, but it seemed cozy enough for a single person. Just the very last of the starboard side had an old tattered seat with a traditional ship's wheel.
The ship's owner was unexpected. The slender black stallion had a very feminine face with hazel eyes. His Maine was cut in a foehawk long enough to touch the left edge of his jaw. As for dress, his slender form was complimented by a dark blue Naval jacket, black sweater, and dark blue trousers held by a brown belt.
Arcane's heart skipped a beat. This was her contact and here she was standing in her 'day' form. She turned her head and walked off to the left side of the bar's exterior. The narrow alleyway was nothing but a slab of concrete made for drainage and a wall of dense foliage. It was dark and rarely tread, which was fine by her.
"Hey there"
Arcane didn't see Brick until she looked up from her own boots. The tall red mare leaned against the cool plaster wall of the Winking Timberwolf with cigarette in hand. Her long bangs hid her eyes well but Arcane could feel a tired look on Brick's face,
"You.. shouldn't smoke. You're pregnant.", Arcane didn't quite stutter, but her words didn't come out with Hex's confidence. She was being hasty and crossing lines. Her night-self knew Brick. Right now she may as well be a stallion in the ladies room at this point, utterly out of place.
Brick laughed.
"You are so different when you're like this. It's cute."
Arcane fell silent, her mind went blank.
"It's okay, I'm like that too sometimes. I'm not always the big buff bouncer, you know."
"It's… nothing like that. I can't help it. I…"
Brick surprised her with arms wrapped around her. The tall mare squeezed her tight."
"It never is. All we can do is use what we got as we have it."
They spent nearly two hours simply talking about their home lives and family, all the while with Bless in Brick's arms. Stalmare's were not rare, but few were open about their sex. They were practically a third of the population, but sexism and bigotry could make it a challenge to be public.
"Both of them were stall-mare, Huh?", Brick asked with a hint of derision for the word meant to describe her sex.
"Are. They're still alive in spite of themselves. But, yes. Both are out and proud Stallmares, but mostly because my dad was a country bumpkin that didn't know enough to feel 'shame' for what she was. Not to mention she is a third generation Military mare with little to no fear in her blood.
I remember the fight. Some upper brass with a troublingly conservative mindset tried to get her demoted for being 'unstable'. She loudly pronounced 'My ancestors eight generations back are Stalmare, My Wife is a Stalmare, and So is My Daughter. Sir, we've been winning wars longer than your last name existed and we will be winning wars for years to come. Only now have we been so brazen to let you know about it."
"How did he handle that?"
Arcane gave a gentle smile as she buried her face against Brick's chest.
"He tried to deck her, She threw him into a nearby wall. He was arrested and given a dishonorable discharge. What about your dad?"
Brick let out a soft sigh that made Arcane regret asking. It wasn't the nostalgic sort of sigh.
"I saw her from time to time. She was a lumberjack and my mom was a train conductor. They had one night and I was conceived. I wasn't allowed to call her 'dad', but I did live with her during the spring. She put me to work, then came winter I was Mom's little co-conductor. I honestly can't remember them being in the same room for more than a few minutes at a time. Mom was afraid of what her company would think, so she made dad promise to keep it all a secret. I think that's why we were never really a family,"
Hearing what Brick went through made Arcane miss her family. She would do anything to see them again. Not a phone call or a letter. She wanted to go straight to Everfield and her Grandmother's farmhouse where they now lived and hug them tight. She just couldn't do it looking like this, like she was now.
The sky grew darker as stars began to glimmer in the East. Arcane's hair smoothed out and shifted to a shade of lavender. Her fur grew dark until black. Tears still on her cheeks glistened as her gold eyes looked up into brick's camomile colored irises.
"So, are you keeping her?", she said as she gently touched Brick's stomach.
Brick covered Arcane's hand with her own.
"My sis back home will raise her. I'll visit time and again. I'm no mom, probably one hell of an aunt.", she said with a bitter sweet laugh.
"Shame, and here I was hoping to knock you up myself."
The words took Brick by surprise and pulled a genuine chuckle from the large mare. She gave Arcane's shoulder a tap that stung.
"Ha! In your dreams. I'm already having to quit these little fuckers for the kid", she said as she flicked her last cigarette for nine long months down into the drain canal.
Arcane gave a little snicker. "Well, we'll give each other plenty of practice when I get back."
"Well, you best go before I drag you upstairs." Brick 'threatened'.
'Hex' gave a smirk as she turned back towards the small ship and the task at hand. Thoughts of moving and the complicated things could wait. Money needed to be made.
-
Bless commonly suppressed her gift, but Hex used it casually. She walked up the gangplank to greet what Arcane now saw as a Celestial. The slender stallion's hidden wings were truly something else. A pale blue aura made out the shape of wings with lush feathers, both fluffy with down and long powerful primaries. Celestials had all sorts of wings; Sparrow, hawk, even non-avian ones like bats. These were more majestic than all of them, more like an-"
"Angel, pleased to meet you."
The black stallion's voice was smoky and feminine, in fact, it threw doubt of this Equis' sex entirely. She looked into a pair of bright blue eyes as Arcane took an offered hand. It wasn't just a handshake, the one called Angel pulled Arcane onto their ship with one hand and dipped down to retrieve the gangplank with the other.
The slender one gave a polite smile before turning to enter their home. After a few moments the water wheel came to life. The small vessel turned toward the center of the 'Grand Hope' River. She was left alone to watch the buildings and smokestacks of Last Harbor recede until all land sank below the horizon. She may as well be adrift in the ocean for all she could see.
"It's going to get cold soon. I can't imagine a bounty hunter can do her job while Sick, yes?"
Angel spoke from the open door of their small cabin. They were now minus the coat, just trousers and that thick sweater. Arcane obliged the suggestion and entered a small but welcoming space. To the left was a full sized bed, it's wooden frame secured to the floor with bolts. Over it were hanging baskets with various kinds of fruits and vegetables. On The far side was a locking glass shelf with a few preserved meats. To the right was a humble kitchen of sorts. A table with two chairs, a locked cupboard, and an old fashioned stove powered by a smaller fire Ruby.
Arcane chose one of the chairs and lay her duffel bag across the table. It only took a few moments to search through it as Angel looked on with a casual sort of curiosity. The Androgynous Equis didn't seem suspicious or nosy. They seemed to be more a fan of observing, talking life as it came.
"So, what is your quarry, If I may ask?"
Arcane pulled out the two wanted posters in her duffel bag. The first showed the picture of a proud Astral soldier turned deserter, the other was a round grey stone that barely looked valuable to the naked eye.
"Just a young mare that ran away from duty and an old rock the buyer thinks is powerful. The second has to be utter bullshit, but it's not really my place to question these things."
Angel gave a smirk, their eyes looking Arcane up and down.
"Sounds like a needle in a haystack. There are a lot of old magic rocks. Also a lot of creatures not wanting to be found."
"I have an advantage.", Hex said and kept it at that.
Angel gave the smile of one caught bluffing in a game of poker. They fell back in their bed and crossed their thighs, back against the headboard.
"So, why is it bullshit?"
-
Its cervine face glared with mania in her beady little hollows. Lilac fire flowed up and shifted hues of violet and cyan as she spoke, but Arcane drowned out the words, refusing to hear them. In its hands was a collar, a shackle large enough for her young neck. From it was a chain that went elsewhere and vanished from sight. That fleshless smile, that toxic sweetness in a voice that didn't belong to her.
Even before the collar was closed she could feel the fire. It wasnt true flames, but a magic that burned. Her flesh was like plasma. Her bones became visble under skin and muscle that began to ripple and flow like flame from a wick. Her vision grew so clear, so perfect. So terrifyingly sharp. Thirteen rivers flowed behind the madness. Called her home. The need grew greater than life, order, or sanity. It was a tender lust, right and evil. Beautiful and awe inspiring. Holy profanity.
Arcane was losing her mind, and what terrified her most was the fact she didn't fear it.
-
"Miss Hex? Miss Hex?"
She was being shaken by Angel. For just a moment she was back in her worst memory. Where a normal being would be screaming in horror, Hex only let out an exasperated sigh. She hated Bless's mental breakdowns.
"Yes?"
The cool exterior of the slender androgynous celestial was slightly disheveled. Long fur fur stood on end like a scared cat along the collar of their sweater. Angel was close now. Their blue eyes were half a pace away, nuzzle so close Arcane was only a small gesture away from kissing.
"For a solid minute you just sat in place muttering, and your eyes were dilated into pinholes. I thought you were having a stroke."
Arcane reached out and cupped Angel's delicate shoulder to find more power in those compact limbs.
"No, nothing like that. It's just PTSD, who doesn't have at least a little these days?"
Angel fell back to the edge of their bed and let out a long sigh of relief. She gave a nod and a soft chuckle before holding their hands up in a sort of surrender.
"Well, you have me there. Not all scars are visible, as they say. You still didn't answer my question."
"Ah. Yes. Why a Seventh element of harmony is utter bullshit. Well, first off, Celestia didn't make them. Equestria made them.
Nature made the elements of Harmony to preserve Harmony. Each one is made like parts of a machine to prevent chaos from taking over. Why would Nature make extra parts, and for what reason? There is no 'element of redemption'. What would be the point? The six we know are made to stop or redeem, it's just redundant."
"But those six energies are not alone.", Angel said with an oddly knowing smile.
"There are other energies. It's theorized that magic comes from an afterlife of sorts. Thought Is pure there and can 'pierce the veil' to make exceptions to natural law. Thoughts are emotion, sensory perception, and concepts. The strongest ones show up the best, and not all strong thoughts are safe to use. Anger and Fear are similar energies, but that's a path you don't want to go down.
Our world is the wisest and oldest being we know. If It made a seventh Element then we'd have it. We'd know by now."
Angel gave her words a moment of thought before cocking their head.
"Anger can drive us to push ourselves beyond perceived limits. Fear can save our lives. Dark, yes, but dangerous? Perhaps these other energies are wrong because we insist they are."
Arcane grinned. It made sense in an odd way she couldn't deny. Here she was mostly devoid of emotion and yet logic kept her from arbitrarily harming anyone. Some would call her a monster, but she was far from the unhinged types that tried to take over the world or cast it in a never ending night.
"I still doubt it, but I promise not to smash the stone if I find it… not immediately at least."
"Good, because I was worried my evil plan to form the Elements of Chaos was going to fail."
Angel gave a stupid smirk and waggled their eyebrows.
"I bet," Angel continued as they raised one eyebrow, "You're wondering what I am. You've been so very kind not to ask, but the curiosity in your eyes is very distracting."
Arcane smirked in return. Oh if she only knew.
"You're a Celestial. Lovely wings, by the way. I see why you're called 'Angel'."
Angel froze with a mixture of confusion and surprise in their gaze. Their jaws opened to say something yet there was some hesitation.
"How did you know-"
"I can see your wings, and the energy within those wings. You're an empath. I'd suspect you're a psychic or a fateseer, but that's more in the realm of Mundane powers. You're sensitive to the emotions of others. I'll admit, I've never met anyone like you before."
They made a dismissive wave at the mare that boasted of her powers and her unusual insights.
"Well, that's very interesting and yet not at all what I was getting at."
Arcane furrowed her brows, her turn to show confusion. A moment of silence stretched between them. For that moment the night had a chance to share its own sounds, once drowned out by conversation. The distant call of lonely cranes, the faint eerie howl of a wolf that wasn't truly a wolf.
"Oh!" Arcane's gold eyes flicked down to Angel's thighs and back up to their face, "I- you sensed I wouldn't be bothered by the answer, didn't you?"
Angel gave a proud grin, "You have your cheats and I have mine."
"Heh, well, you assume you know what's in my pants."
"And you assume I would care?"Angel leaned closer. Arcane leaned in until their noses touched.
"I could read your mind, but the last time I tried that I got a nosebleed and a migraine that lasted for an entire day. Never mind my assumptions, or what I can pry out of you."
"So you are psychic?"Angel dared to press in.
"No, literally read your mind, as in the energy running through your grey matter. Trust me, you may as well try to use vegetable soup to write a novel. "Arcane touched lips.
"I have no idea what that means, but fine. My pronouns are They/Them, and between my legs is of no concern."
She rose from her chair and pushed Angel onto their bed with a kiss. Tongues swirled as she sank her fingers into the waist of their trousers. The sleek curve of Angel's hips made it easy to slide them down. Their legs were slender yet toned. Between their thighs was a lovely ebony length.
Arcane slid her waist between Angel's thighs as she sat up. Eyes traveled down as her hand gripped their shaft to satisfy a curiosity. Below the black cock were ebony lips framed by a softly furred mound. What were the odds?
"Not too strange for you?" angel said, looking up with pale blue eyes from their pillow.
Arcane gave a warm smile, "Well, I know one thing for sure. You aren't psychic."
She pulled off her jacket and peeled away her shirt before undoing her belt. With a yelp she fell off to the left and knocked into the wall after a rather fumbled attempt at sliding free off her trousers.
"Soo graceful!" Angel mocked as they sat up and pulled their sweater off in one move, exposing a smooth and undefined chest.
She rolled her eyes as she threw her trousers to the side. Angel was finally lost for words when they looked down at Arcane's hips. The near-black plum length was already coming to full length between her hips. The slender Equis tilted their head to confirm they were actually of the same sex.
"Where in the hell have you been this whole time?", they said with a light chuckle.
Arcane walked on her knees across the bed sheets to draw closer. Their tips grazed one another with a casual teasing. She smoothed her hands up Angel's delicate form and up to their toned back. They felt both light and solid at the very same time, like a creature built for speed and agility at the cost of power.
"You need to hang around Last Harbor a bit more often."
Angel caressed Arcane's toned mundane curves, no jealousy in her eyes so far as Arcane could see. The non-binary beauty in front of her held a confidence in their eyes. It made her want to know what was happening behind that lovely face. Perhaps if she were 'Bless' it would be possible without the aid of abusing her gift. 'Confidence at the cost of empathy' was the definition of Hex.
If only she knew how soon that insight would come. In all the discussion and excitement the passage of time was forgotten.
Angel placed a hand on Arcane's chest and looked into her eyes. "Have you spent your 'bullet' recently?"
The reference wasn't hard for Arcane to understand, not between Stallmares. The space-saving lack of external genitalia was made possible by a particular adaptation. Whether it were natural evolution or some magical intervention was up to debate, but their reproductive cycle was unique. Unlike the wasteful gallons of sperm a Stallion produces monthly, the Stallmare produced roughly a fluid ounce of sperm weekly, the rest consisting of clear seminal fluid. To make such a small amount worthwhile this 'single bullet' consisted of just one fertile 'Ovisperm'. The rest are infertile guardians that guide and sacrifice themselves so that little genetic package can unite with another to create a new life. That's one fertile cell per gonad, one to inseminate, and one to travel into the womb to be inseminated. Naturally, if a Stallmare was to get pregnant, that cycle comes to a halt.
"You can tell if I'm lying, right? Yes, the cannon is out of cannonballs."
Angel fell back and hooked their thighs around Her waist. The power there came as a surprise, the grip on the thin edge of pain.
"It's not easy."
She lowered down to run her muzzle tip along the gentle slope of their chest, to the delicate neck and natural color of fluf about their shoulders.
"What's not easy?"
They rested a hand along the back of her head. It was tender, so loving for a stranger to give.
"Reading you. Normally, equi are loud even when their mouths are closed. It's why I live on the water. I can't deal with the feelings of others. Ofte I fail to see where my feelings end and where others began. It made me feel… faceless. But you? There is a wall between what you feel and what seems to affect you. Fear, rage, so many emotions screaming behind a thick door and you seem to be standing on the other side with your ears plugged.
She raised her head and hovered her face over Angel's. She looked into those pale blue eyes as her hips curled forward. Her tip kissed the ebony folds and slowly entered this curious angel.
"I… can't.", Arcane gasped inward as her hips began to sway.
Angel raised their hand to touch Arcane's dark face. Their thumb traced under a golden eye. In her own blue orbs was a sadness even Arcane's numb empathy could recognize. It wasn't sadness for her own sake, it was compassion. Words were left unsaid, an argument that would be placed aside for her sake.
It was enough to plant a seed of doubt.
Those slender legs twisted and threw Arcane over until she was on her back and the deceptively strong Angel sat on top. Her breasts were pawed at as slender hips rose and fell with a quickening pace. She was stunned for a moment by the display of dominance, but recovered after a moment of pure submission. Her hips moved to meet Angel half way. Angel closed their eyes and parted their lips to breathe out what could have been a moan.
By the quiver inside and all over Angel it was obvious the androgynous loaner hadnt been with another in quite some time. They threw their head back as light shot out from their back and weaved itself into a hologram of bones, flesh, and feathers. The wings didn't have the room to fully spread yet they did cast the entire space in a dim sort of moonlight.
"Control yourself." Arcane teased through thinly slit eyes. She felt her peak the moment her smart mouth began to open. Her voice squeaked out as heat rushed inside them.
"You know us Celestials, always with our hearts on our sleeves and heads in the clouds."
She pulled her hips back to free herself from their folds. One thigh slid over Angel's lap, followed by the other.
"Well, your head can go wherever it likes, so long as other parts of you know where they belong."
The invitation was received. She felt herself spread by Angel, the pressure behind her own dark length growing as the slender equis began to move inside. She could see a single eye, the other obscured by dark hair covering the left side of their face.
Angel lowered their head to the side of her neck. The sharp little canines threatened to pierce her skin yet she felt the restraint in their bite. It felt more like the grip of a mother cat holding one of her kittens than any sort of violence.
A spark of energy ran up her spine. She could feel her heart beating faster than it ever had at night. The only thing that could compare would be one of 'Bless's' panic attacks. It was strange and even a little terrifying, but any kind of emotion in this state of her's was like a single colorful object in a monochrome world.
Her hips twisted as Angel's had, throwing the slender Celestial down onto their back. Their wings unmanifested by instinct, blue light bursting into pieces and crackling with static across the bed sheets. Her strength showed as the muscles in her back and slender stomach flexed. Her spine curled before thrusting down. The bed creaked and complained.
Her head tilted up as she felt this surge of excitement. It wasn't just the raw pleasure of sex, it was the adventure and concern of taking such a magnificent risk with a beautiful stranger. Her skin quivered as the agile hands of her lover ran along her hips. Unseen by her, the light of Dawn creeped under the door.
Angel saw the change from the haze of near-climax. Arcane's fur grew pale before it was white. Her rigid length, lips, and lightly furred caps of her breasts shifted to a soft pink. Her long flowing hair grew wavy and pink.
She looked down at Angel with her own gentle blue eyes. Tears formed in them, but her lips curled in a tender smile. She was afraid, excited, full of doubt. Still, she embraced this moment for what it was. Even terrible memories failed to take this from her.
Angel reached out and Caressed her cheek as their own tears welled up before falling down the sides of their face. This was her confirmation, the smile on her lover said it all. When Angel moaned in climax Bless leaned back and took her time. She felt the hard twitch inside before the heat came.