Twilight stuck her head into the huge cardboard box, looking all across every inch of it. “Nope, I guess I got all of them,” she muttered. She popped herself out and took a deep breath. “If I could only save just one of them, then I’ve made a difference.” She smiled as she glanced around at the books, all perfectly shelved and categorized in her library shelves.

And, to think, the Hoofington library system was just going to shred all these so-called ‘unwanted’ books. Shred them. Seriously! Twilight shivered at the very thought of even one lonely book shoved into a giant pair of metal teeth, a dark chill going up her spine. She looked back at the empty box, smiling once more.

Twilight stepped over to the nearby table, magically lifting over a little glass of lemonade. She had just enough time for some easy-breezy recreational reading before Spike came from his little date with Sweetie Belle. She plopped herself down on a fluffy green pillow, feeling the light lace edges almost tickling along her flanks, and she made a happy sigh. Time to devour all these new works!

Without even looking at the shelves, she magically lifted over a thin novella and slid it into her hooves. She took another sip of her lemonade. She sped through the first page, stopping at an ugly black stain besides the binding. Ugh, what are ponies thinking? She muttered a short cleaning spell. The stain vanished, making her grin. The rest of the letters suddenly started to disappear, and her heart started to race.

“No, no,” she called out, throwing the book out of her hooves. That was one of those rare first editions! She rattled off an ‘undo’ spell. The book glowed with her purple aura. The letters started to jumble up into some kind of senseless letter soup. She blinked. The letters flicked once again. “What, did somepony curse these books or something?”

Just this book… if there was a problem with the other ones, I’m sure that my senses would have picked that up. Twilight saw the book change color and inflate to twice its size like a balloon. Her aura disappeared from over it, and the letters lined up into some new story. Okay, it’s back to normal now. But now it’s a different book, though… no title?

She felt a little rush of suspense, just wondering what the book said inside post-concealment spell. It had the oddest cover— an image of two pale white hooves holding a bright red apple all atop a solid black background. Twilight picked the book up, sitting back in her pillow.

She spotted a little note written atop the first page. “Every girl in Equestria’s got this under a dresser somewhere, why not you? Forget what the critics say, and obey that little feeling in between your legs. Love, Fleur De Lis,” Twilight read aloud.

Well, that’s odd to say the least. Twilight took a little breath. She started reading the story itself, taking yet another sip of lemonade.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

He saw me. I saw him. It’s almost funny how simple those moments in life can be, and how powerful they eventually become. My mother told me several times that one Hooftington saying: “It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches. It only takes one match to burn a thousand trees.” Those words stuck around with me forever.

I saw Jack Bolt. I can’t describe the feeling to anyone. I can’t even describe it to myself. My eyes feasted upon every last inch of his flowing, bluish grey mane. It wiggled and curled in the wind, looking as if it just naturally beckoned to me. I took in his handsome face. Oh, praise Celestia, that face! In another life, wars would have been fought of kingdom against kingdom over that face.

I fell completely in love with those wonderful, big blue eyes. My gazed traced down the sweat going along his muscular shoulders down his hooves. His coat had such perfect, cuddly grey fur. His wings shot out proud and strong. Even his name was so strong. Jack Bolt. Bolt. He had “winner” written all over him.

I always had it in for the champion fliers. Oh, sure, other colts kept telling me it was weird when I grow up. I paid some attention to girls, just as expected for a stallion. “Hey, Cherry Fields,” my friends would say to me, “check out that hottie over there: little miss _____.” And then they’d rattle off the name of the bimbo of the week.

I always wanted something more. The best friend that wasn't distant. The one that would always be there for me. That knew me, my heart, and my very soul from the get-go. I guess mares just passed me by like yet another stupid poster on the schoolyard wall.

Everything that I ever wanted in a girl, I saw in Jack Bolt at that very moment on Hearts and Hooves Day. I saw safety. Trust. Honestly. Strength. Those hooves could hold me and protect me while never letting go. Bolt had a crowd of admirers around him. I overheard him taking about going to Spring Step’s place for an afternoon party. I have a break, I thought. That’ll be my chance.

Of course, I had to spend Hearts and Hooves Day doing more mindless bucking at my cousin’s apple orchard. That’s farm life. You’re born, you’re used up like a tube of toothpaste being squashed flat and curled up, and you get discarded into an old pile of trash. You have no life and no worth other than as a little puzzle piece that makes up the big picture of “family communities with family values”. There’s no strangers allowed and no sinning allowed in farm life. So much as spit in the wrong spot, and you know somepony will complain to your aunt. Farm life. It’s like death, only you’re living it.

As Bolt walked away from the edge of the Cherry orchard, the weight suddenly just slammed on me. He was a… a… colt. Colts don’t kiss colts. That just doesn’t happen. It’s like a river running upwards or the sun rising in the west. It was such a silly thought of mine. Boys kissing boys.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

“Ugh, not another melodramatic lovey-dovey story,” Twilight muttered. Her eyes went up to the top of the next page, pausing. She curled around in the pillow. It’s just so poorly written in every way. Everything is so cliché. It’s such obvious pandering. The mare reading is supposed to put herself in the hooves of the lonely farm colt, and the changed perspective makes it even more titillating than just a normal reader self-insert. I’ll bet Bolt is the worst Gary Stu imaginable, too. Totally perfect, handsome, kind, and everything…

Twilight started to stand up, setting the book on the nearby table. She felt some kind of little sensation deep inside of her. It almost seemed like being rubbed up with sandpaper inside, only it actually felt kind of good. I guess I can… give it a shot. I’ll skip ahead a little. She went over to a page a while in, and she went back to reading. She kept on sipping the lemonade.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

And as Jack Bolt gently lifted the pantyhose upwards on the stallion’s soft, supple things, he leaned over and buried his face along the warm flesh of his back. He breathed in deep to take every last drop of that enchanting musk from a hard day’s work bucking at the apple orchard. Bolt quivered in anticipation— every touch of the stallion’s throbbing red flesh shooting electricity into him. Oh, there would be bucking tonight. Guaranteed.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Twilight opened her mouth up wide, lemonade dripping along the sides of her mouth. Oh… my… Celestia… She closed her eyes. She magically flipped over to the end of the book. She took a gulp, and she opened up her eyes again.

“Young Colts, Tight Bondage by Ms. E. I. Xirt?” Twilight read aloud. She felt her heart racing and her hooves shivering. “Why am I wasting my time with this trash?” She magically lifted up the book over her head, picturing hurling it against the wall.

She stopped. She sighed instead, delicately placing the book back on the appropriate shelf. I'll just deal with it later. It's our policy, clear as crystal. We do not refuse any donations. Period. No matter how... stupid the book is. I'll have to keep it away from Spike for the time being, though. She magically picked up her glass and headed over to the kitchen.

Spike popped through the front door, positively beaming. He strutted down the floor like a king, shoulders held up high at every step. Twilight, head leaning out of the kitchen door, gave him a blank look. Spike swung up his left paw and ran it over his head.

"Have fun?" Twilight asked. She knew the answer, of course.

"Sweetie Belle is everything that... she's just..." Spike said, twirling around and collapsing onto a pile of blankets against the wall, "she's the world. She's everything I could ever need. Her... it's... and all the..." He trailed off as he flapped his arms, almost like he was making an imaginary snowdragon in the blankets. His face glazed over at the thought of Sweetie's hooves on him once more.

"Spike!"

The baby dragon flipped his head over at Twilight.

"And..." She pointed a hoof over at the mound of dishes besides her.

"Yes, Twilight," he muttered, heading over.

It's not like I have time to waste frittering about in dates. Neither does he. Not when we need to go through all of those neo-classical macro-economic projection reports Celestia sent us, sheesh! Twilight walked over to her bedroom. She heard Spike whistling, and she froze at a middle step. Oh, of course, it's... well... I had time to read "Young Colts, Tight Bondage" or at least part of it today, for Pete's sake. I shouldn't run him so ragged. And do I really just... feel sad to see him happy?

She glanced up, looking at her reflection in a big framed picture of her alongside the Hooftington pegasus memorial. She had a gigantic frown plastered on her face, ears drooping. It's so unfair of me to think like that. He's happy. I should want him to be happy. She shook her head and kept on heading to her room.

I guess it's just that he's bounced from Rarity to Apple Bloom and now to Sweetie Belle. She jumped up into her bed. And I've got... I've had... She shut her eyes tight. "Nopony," she whispered.

"I saw safety. Trust. Honestly. Strength. Those hooves could hold me and protect me while never letting go."

Twilight shot upwards. She was about to ask who was there, but she immediately had that same odd feeling inside of her from just a few minutes before. Oh, great!

"Ugh, book, get out of my head," she muttered, clutching her hooves against her temples.

"I always wanted something more. The best friend that wasn’t distant. The one that would always be there for me."

"Ugh!" Twilight bounced out of her room and joined Spike in the kitchen. He idly looked up to see her grabbing the things for dinner. She engrossed herself in the whisks, cups, and plates. It hardly made a difference.

"It was such a silly thought of mine. Boys kissing boys."

Twilight mashed the enormous pot into the oven. She popped backwards, almost slamming her head into the refrigerator. Spike opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head and just pointed over at the bag of powdered sugar.

"Oh, there would be bucking tonight."

Twilight slid over a fork, knife, and spoon to Spike's spot. The baby dragon smiled, and he started babbling on again about his date. He might as well have been reading the phone book for all Twilight cared.

"Boys kissing boys."

"Boys kissing boys," Twilight muttered.

"What was that, Twilight?" Spike asked, barely looking up from his plate.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing!" She suddenly stood up straight, eyes fluttering all around the room. "I'm just... uh... thinking about... needing... when... uh, would you like some ketchup?"

"You want to put ketchup on the macaroni and cheese?"

Twilight locked eyes with Spike. She felt her eyelids wiggling. Her teeth clenched, as if by instinct.

"Oh, there would be bucking tonight."

"Twilight, are you--"

"What-I-meant-was-to-say-that-I'm-feeling-weird-and-I-need-to-use-the-restroom-ASAP," Twilight rattled off, spinning around the kitchen table, "Excuse me!" She sped out the room and over to a library shelf, almost slamming into it. She shot a quick glance behind her, seeing Spike just shrug and go back to his dinner.

Twilight magically lifted out her new favorite book and hurled it at herself. She caught the book in her mouth and sped up to the upstairs bathroom. She slid across the floor tiles into the bathtub. She let out a little happy sigh as she magically shut the door and locked it.

"Now, then..." she said, smiling as she flipped around to the page she left off.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Oh, there would be bucking tonight. Guaranteed.

I walked up behind the two lovebirds, eager to join in on the fun sooner rather than later. My hooves naturally ran to Buckle Berry's back, curling around his side. He felt so strong, so powerful as I embraced his whole body. Jack, for his part, had already positioned himself around Berry's flank. I shifted to the left and let my face rub up against Berry's back up into his mane. I loved how it tickled my nose. He had the most wonderful scent. The farmer's scent. He'd take anything physical that the world could throw at him, and buck the world senseless for it.

I moved my face along behind Berry's ears. They flickered, looking so unbelievably cute. I gave them a little nibble. Berry let out a huge whinny, and I smiled even wider. I leaned back, taking in that stallion's whole wonderful face. I immediately shot forwards and put big, sloppy kisses around his neck.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Twilight suddenly stopped herself. She curled her head to the left, still holding the book up just inches from her face. She become conscious of her left hoof, rubbing down her belly and making a beeline right for the place in between her legs. Her hoof, almost looking embarrassed for acting by instinct rather than conscious thought, flew up into the air.

Twilight wiggled her head around, sliding upwards in the tub. "I'm... I'm..." She glanced back at the book. That weird, warm feeling from deep inside of her had spread to every inch of her body. She somehow felt so hungry, so needy in a fundamental sense. "I'm not one of those mares." She wanted to punch herself in the face. "Doing weird things to myself. Wasting my reading time with such... such... Chick-lit!" She hated that last word-- the very concept behind that word-- with the burning fire of a thousand suns.

She stood up in the tub, gritting her teeth. She picked up the book and held it over her head. She hurled it right across the room into the trash can. She slid back down, and she breathed easy. That's the end of that. Glad, too, that was a close call. If only Celestia was watching me. She'd feel so sad that I got so close to the line. Of course, I'd never, ever be so indecent with myself.

"It was such a silly thought of mine. Boys kissing boys."

"Nope, not gonna listen," Twilight said, kneading her hooves against her chest, "No way."

"Boys kissing boys."

Boys.

Twilight stood up, face drained of emotion like an automaton.

Kissing.

She stepped out of the tub and walked across the room.

Boys.

"Buck it!" Twilight called out. She tossed herself face first into the trash can. She curled about on the ground for a second, holding the book up in the air above her like a trophy a second later.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Bolt kept on smothering Berry's flank with kisses. I did the same thing all along Berry's neck, shoulders, cheeks, and just about everywhere in between. He clearly loved it. Goodness, his stomps and whinnies just seemed like a symphony to my ears. I couldn't take it much longer. I gazed into those superbly deep eyes of his, and I stuck out my lips. We kissed.

And I entered heaven. He immediately stuck his tongue along the sides of my teeth, and our lips just flowed in and out of each other. We breezed through kiss after kiss. I'd never made out before. It was everything, I'm being cliche but I can't help it, that I had possibly imagined.

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Spike walked up to the upstairs bathroom, worried about the muffled moaning and slipping noises. "Hey, Twilight," he said, "do you want me to... do something?" The torrent of sounds just went on. "Twilight?" He banged on the door.

To Be Continued...