There's nothing quite like your dick being soaked in marecum after a deep, thorough rutting. The warm, relaxed sensation that had spread through every inch of my body made me smile as I rolled my head to the side to glance over at Fluttershy, the collar around her neck jingling while her chest heaved with each deep, exhausted breath she took. We'd both made good use of whatever we could get our hooves on from her little toy chest, and once again, several very exotic-looking tools of the carnal trade were scattered over the bed and the floor.

Mmm...lounging in the aftermath of sex was a good way to make you feel good about life. Well, with a pony you know you can trust, anyways. I didn't take the opportunity to really lounge that often. Different partners every time and all that.

"Hmmn..." I heard her groan, still panting as she rolled on her side towards me, snuggling up against me.

"That good, huh?" I mumbled, slowly beginning to catch my breath as well.

She responded by lipping at the fur under my jawline, her unpinned wing fluttering against her side and blowing a small gust over us. The cool air was more than welcome, and I used my magic to open up the window in her room. We'd closed it once we'd gotten upstairs so her little bird friends didn't come flying in intruding on us, but now we needed a breeze both to air out the stench of sex, and cool us off.

I mean we also closed it because she really has a set of lungs on her when she's getting fucked, but that's neither here nor there. Seriously, for how shy she may be anywhere else, in the privacy of her own bedroom, she doesn't know the meaning of shy.

"Definitely in the top five," she said with an airy sigh into my fur, giggling quietly. "Not better than Tree Hugger though."

"Ooh, I'm contending with a mare? I'd best step up my game and break out the sexy magic tricks next time then," I teased, reaching over to run a hoof along her primaries. "Or perhaps I should just make a point of studying pegasi anatomy to identify all the sensitive spots so I can turn you into a big pile of melted pegasus...."

She wriggled and sat up, stretching herself out like a cat that had just woken up from a long nap. "Maybe you'd like to preen me then? It's been forever since somepony else preened my wings."

"Kind of an intimate thing to suggest," I noted, sitting up as well and stretching out my neck. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"Having sex isn't intimate enough?" she teased, her breathing slowing down as she hopped out of bed.

"Point taken. Still, that sort of thing's usually meant more for...you know, lovers, and family?" I offered, my horn lighting up as I gathered all of the scattered toys into a pile.

"Are we not lovers?" she asked, smiling faintly and motioning to the bed. "Could you pull the sheets off too? We really made a mess, and I have some spare sheets in the closet."

I did as she asked, pulling the sheets off the bed and tossing them in a balled-up pile into the corner. "Well it's not that, it's just...it depends on what you mean by 'lovers', I guess. I'm not really used to repeat performances."

"Well...does that term bother you?" she asked, fidgeting a little where she stood.

"It...I mean, kinda?" I said, feeling rather sheepish. "I'm just not used to this."

She shifted a bit to get a better look at me, then stepped up and nuzzled my cheek with hers. "Okay...then what did you mean when you mentioned repeat performances?"

"I don't really have sex with the same pony twice," I said slowly, returning the nuzzle almost on reflex. "I'm clean, no worries there. I always get my check-ups."

She stepped back and stared at me for a moment. "You mean...not even once?"

"Well no, there was one mare a long time ago, buuuut...she got married, and we ended our little flings," I said, shrugging. "Never done that since."

"Well," Fluttershy started, smiling and pressing her head under my chin. "I don't plan on getting married anytime soon, so that shouldn't be a problem. Did you feel abandoned by her?"

"What are you, a psychologist?" I asked, tilting my head down and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "Nah, never felt abandoned. She and I are still friends, in a certain fashion. I'm generally too busy to spend much time with her though."

"Aww, that's unfortunate."

"Eh. I've gotten along just fine without."

She looked at me for a moment before reaching up and cupping my cheek with her hoof. "You know, there's a difference between rutting and being intimate."

"Could've fooled me," I said, quirking a brow. "Sounded like we were being pretty intimate earlier."

"Maybe...." she whispered, leaning up until our muzzles were inches from each other.

I blinked a few times and leaned back on reflex. She caught that and threw her forelegs around my withers, holding me in place. The sudden shift in behavior was a bit unnerving, admittedly, but not...entirely unwelcome.

"Are you afraid of being intimate?" she asked so innocently, staring into my eyes.

"What? No, of course not. I just-" I tried to say, but she bumped her snout very gently against mine to shush me.

"Then kiss me. Kiss me like you mean it."

"Uh...what?"

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if I were more than just a friend," she said, smiling a little more. "Which is what we kind of are, already."

"What-" I tried to say, jerking my head back. "What are you trying to get out of this?! I already said we aren't a thing!"

"I know we're not. I'm fine with that. But I'm a very sensual mare when the opportunity presents itself," she said, squeezing her forelegs around my withers a little tighter. "So, kiss me. Or I'll kiss you. Which would you prefer?"

"This is getting kinda weird....!" I blurted out at her.

Instantly, her forelegs were gone, and she stepped back, giving me my space. Her ears were laid back and she looked...sad. Concerned, perhaps. I didn't know what to make of it.

"You are afraid...I'm sorry," she said, scuffing the floor with her hoof. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I took a moment to calm myself and shook my head. "You didn't scare me...I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

"Twilight. I don't want to be your mate or your marefriend or anything like that. I just want to be a friend that you can be...you know," she said, wiggling her backside. "Intimate with. Not just rutting, but intimate."

I ran my hoof over my mane, sighing. "I still fail to see the difference here."

"The difference is that one way, you take me to bed because you want my body," she said, smiling. "Which is a nice compliment, and I appreciate it."

"You're, uh...welcome?" I said slowly, tilting my head.

"But the other reason, that's what I really want from someone I get this close to. Not everypony understands that," she said, lowering her head in irritation. "They think I'm looking to be with them permanently. They're afraid of getting too close. It's such a problem with ponies these days...."

I tried to understand, but it wasn't coming to me all at once. I mean to be fair, it was a radically different mindset than what I was used to. Your average pony doesn't grow up thinking that getting fucked by your close friends is totally the normal and mentally stable thing to believe. It's all a matter of perspective I guess.

"I'm not sure I understand," I admitted, looking her over for a moment. "We need a shower."

"Yes, we do," she said, walking past me. "Come on."

I took a moment to remove the collar around her neck, then she led me into her bathroom and used her mussed-up wings to turn the water on, leaning in to test the water before stepping into the shower. I followed behind her and let the warm water rush over me, soothing vague aches I didn't even know I had after such a rigorous endeavor. In particular, the heavy pumping of blood had my muzzle throbbing a little, and I didn't notice it until after I'd spent a minute under the shower water.

Fluttershy and I took turns washing each other, hooves going wherever we wanted them to, brief teases here and there, but all good things must come to an end. We didn't say much while we were in the shower, aside from small talk about the goings-on in Ponyville, which I happily listened to. I was particularly curious about the bit involving the zebra, but I didn't want to press on it at the time. It felt too good to feel her hooves working soap over my back.

"This. This is what I want." she said suddenly, once we were out of the shower and toweling off.

"Hm? What?"

"This! This...closeness. Comfort in someone else's presence," she said, smiling widely. "This and more."

"I still don't understand." I said, running the towel between my hindlegs.

"Have you ever been on a date? An honest-to-goodness date?" she asked, setting her towel aside and spreading her wings, going to work on preening them.

"Can't say I have. It's never really been my thing."

"It wasn't for me either," she said, in-between running feathers between her lips. "So much caution and leading questions and posturing and trying to get past those walls you put up between yourself and others...I hated it."

"Not really surprising. You seem like an entirely different pony when you're not out in public." I said, setting my towel aside as well.

"Everypony does that. Even friends. Every time I look at ponies talking, all I see is the distance between them. Nopony's ever really open with one another anymore," she said, switching to her other wing. "But that's what I want to find."

"You want...closeness? Emotional closeness?" I guessed.

"I want friends that I can walk up to and kiss, and they won't shy away," she said, standing up after finishing her other wing, stepping closer to me. "I want friends that I can hug and they'll return it without hesitation."

I pulled back as she walked up to me, her chest pressing to mine while she planted a soft kiss against my lips. Nothing deep or drawn-out, just a quick peck on the lips that, admittedly, was quite pleasant. I looked down when I felt one of her forehooves curling around my own, pulling it off the ground and holding it in a tender embrace.

"I want friends that I can say 'I love you' to without them thinking I'm weird."

The way she was looking at me...there was so much warmth in those eyes. Beautiful, genuine, and unrestrained. Was this how her animals felt, whenever she took care of them? What had I gotten myself into?

Element of Kindness indeed.

"You really shouldn't love me. Save that for somepony that can give you what you want." I uttered, trying to pull my hoof away.

She tugged my hoof forward and scowled at me. "Don't you ever say that about yourself again! Everypony deserves to be loved, they deserve to be told they're loved!"

"But-!"

"No! I don't want to hear such...such self-deprecating trash!" she stated firmly, that warm gaze turning steely and determined. "Do you want to be loved, Twilight Sparkle?"

The question was so simple, but I had a hard time answering it immediately. It wasn't something anyone had ever asked me before, and it wasn't a question that I'd ever asked myself in all my years. A foalhood spent wandering, eating lonely meals, coming home to an empty house, no one to greet me...in that moment, it hurt. The betrayal of my parents hurt all the more. If it weren't for Spike, I don't know if I'd even know what love feels like. There's my brother as well, but he wasn't around hardly at all back then.

None of that answered whether or not I wanted such a thing.

"I don't know?" I offered, sounding entirely unsure about my answer.

"Well, either way," Fluttershy said, shifting towards me and throwing her forelegs around me again, hugging me tight. "I'm your friend, and I love you."

I didn't know what to say to that. I was beginning to understand what Fluttershy wanted, but I wasn't sure if I could really...do anything for her, in that regard. The way she was holding me was so foreign to me, despite the ways I often hugged Spike. There was intimacy here. Something warm and soft and welcoming laced with a hint of passion that made me feel happy and comfy.

I didn't have the heart to slip away from her. I just sat down and slipped my forelegs around her in return, hugging her close while she buried her muzzle against the fur of my neck. Her wings reached forward and rested over my withers as well, and that feeling of warmth only increased for me. I couldn't tell you how long we stayed there like that, really. Time didn't matter while she was holding me like that.

"You know...you kinda remind me of Cadance," I muttered into her mane, my face buried in that luxurious hair of hers. "Sweet as candy and wiser than most would expect for your age. Also lots of love-talk."

She just laughed and pressed against me more, humming pleasantly while we held each other. I could feel her every movement and every breath against my chest and my neck, and I had no intention of getting away from such a wonderful embrace. I felt light...at peace, for the briefest of moments.

"I want to feel loved, too."

She slowly let me go and stood up again, reaching for her brush and running it through her mane, looking over at me through the reflection in her mirror. I offered to do her mane for her, and she hoofed over the brush to me while I stepped around behind her, working the tangles out of her moist mane in long strokes.

"I want to feel warmth and intimacy from others, and receive the same in kind," she said quietly, smiling at me in the mirror. "But if this makes you uncomfortable, it's okay."

"...It does make me uncomfortable, I'll admit that," I said slowly, frowning a little. "But I'd like to understand."

"And why do you want to understand?" she asked, tilting her head a little.

"Because...I don't know," I said, shrugging a little and setting the brush aside once I was finished with her mane. "I want to make you happy."

She turned and gave me a long look, before grinning and planting a quick kiss on my lips. "That's all I can ask."

"I'd like to make you happy." I muttered, feeling strangely bashful.

What was I doing? This wasn't me. This warm fluttering sensation on the inside was about as foreign to me as eating meat. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I mean, I felt it sometimes with Spike, but not...quite the same way. I felt thoroughly outside of my own boundaries, and I was only hoping I wasn't making a mistake.

She grinned and walked past me. "Thank you, Twilight. I promise, it isn't as complicated as I make it sound."

"I sure hope so."

We left the bathroom and I made a point of taking the toys and the sheets where they could be cleaned. Turned out she cleaned both up in the basement. Probably the best place for the toys, all things considered. Or the bathroom. Can you imagine washing something you sometimes shove up your ass in your kitchen sink? Let alone multiple somethings?

When all was said and done, I got ready to leave. Two hours had passed without me realizing it, and like any good mother, I was concerned for the welfare of my son. Outside of foalsitters, I'd never left him alone with other children this long, and while Applejack could usually be taken at her word, that didn't change the fact that I felt worried. Fluttershy, however, did not miss the chance to grab me and pull me into a kiss before I left. A deep, sensual kiss that had my worries fading into the back of my mind until she released me.

I was not dizzy from the intensity of it. You can prove nothing. I was merely disoriented. There is a difference.

To say that mare can kiss isn't doing it justice. She has a way of moving and pressing into you and filling you with warmth that made pretty much everypony else I've ever kissed pale in comparison. It was a parting gift and a promise for later, I felt.

I walked down the path away from her house considerably more cheery than I'd ever been before. The moments after killing ponies like Charlatan Muse were different from this. I felt light and giddy inside, and in no time at all, I was back at Sweet Apple Acres just as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon.

I couldn't hear anyone bucking trees, so I went straight for the farmhouse. When I arrived, the door was open with only the screen door keeping the bugs out. I knocked on the doorframe, and Big Mac eventually came to let me in. He seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with me, not that I blamed him. He wasn't exactly the same brand of shy as Fluttershy was, but he really didn't much like to talk with ponies he didn't know very well. That and I'm still pretty sure I made out with him last time I was in Ponyville.

With a quick inquiry as to his injury and whether or not he was okay, he let me inside and led me into the dining room. I walked past the kitchen, where Granny Smith was cooking up something that smelled like pure deliciousness distilled into some paltry physical matter instead of the glorious abstract it once was. Apple family home cookin', nothing compares, I'd wager.

Spike was sitting at the dining room table with Apple Bloom, listening to her talk about life in Ponyville. A stallion in a distinct brown leather vest and a similar stetson to AJ's was sitting across from them, just staring out the window. I didn't recognize him, obviously. I figured he was just one of the farmhands, another member of the family.

"Hey Spike." I said when there was a pause in their conversation.

His face lit up as he turned to face me, hopping down from his chair and rushing over to hug my foreleg. "Hey Mom! Where'd you go for so long?"

"Just visiting with Fluttershy," I said, patting him on the top of his head. "Turns out we'll be staying there while we're in Ponyville."

"Aww...but Apple Bloom was gonna show me how to make s'mores!" he whined, hanging his head while letting me go and stepping back.

I looked between the two for a moment as an idea formed. "Well...it's not like we can't camp out at least once while we're staying here, hun."

"Okay...." he said with a small pout, tapping his claws together. "You promise?"

"I promise."

I didn't like disappointing him, but at least he was the understanding sort. We wouldn't be camping out that night, but maybe tomorrow. Maybe Fluttershy or AJ would want to join us? I wouldn't have minded Apple Bloom camping out with us. She was probably more suited for it than Spike and I combined.

"Well howdy there!"

I glanced over to the stallion again, who'd taken the time to remove his hat and set it on the table. The de-saturated color of his fur was almost a perfect match to Applejack's, though the two-tone mane and tail were distinct, an inter-mingling of his coat color and a softer orange-ish hue. Despite his scrawny appearance, he had clear muscle definition, more than your average earth pony. Not unexpected, since he probably worked on either this farm, or a farm somewhere else in Equestria.

"So you're this lil' guy's Mom? Ain't that somethin'!" he said, looking between Spike and I. "Ah was half-expectin' a dragon to show up!"

I turned to face him. "Uh, hello. I don't think we've met. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

The moment I raised my hoof more than an inch off the floor, it was grabbed between his forehooves and shaken a bit too vigorously for my liking. Before he could shake anything loose however, a spoon came sailing through the air, hitting him square in the side of the head. I jerked my head around to see where it came from, and it was Granny Smith, standing there holding an apple pie and a butter knife while Braeburn was cringing and holding a hoof against the side of his head.

She gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry 'bout that, miss Sparkle. Some ponies just don't remember their manners."

She walked slowly over towards the table, and I could tell that her hip was bothering her. After spending many evenings walking home awkward on my bad leg, I'd come to recognize an off walk, and her steps were nothing if not shaky and labored. It didn't seem to slow her down too much though, as the moment she set down that pie, she turned on Braeburn like he'd just commited the gravest of sins.

"Yer mama raise ya like that, colt?!" she barked at him. "Ya don't go grabbin' ponies' hooves an' shakin' 'em up like they're a soda bottle! You best be apologizin' fer not treatin' her like a lady!"

He recoiled as if he were physically struck. Not just by the spoon, but by her words. His ears wilted and he seemed to shrink in on himself, a deep sense of shame etching itself into his features. I almost felt sorry for him, but at the same time, the way he'd been scolded and the way he looked now reminded me of a young colt that'd just been scolded by his parents for making an innocent filly cry.

"S-sorry, ma'am," he said after a moment. "Sometimes my excitement gets the better of me. Ma always said I had a problem with that."

I waved it off. "It's fine, Applejack did the same thing when she met me. My name's Twilight Sparkle."

He sighed with relief and nodded. "Name's Braeburn. Braeburn Apple, of course! Just visitin' from Appleloosa, checkin' in on mah cousin."

"Oh, so Applejack did that too, huh?" Granny said, scowling. "She's lucky she's off in the northern orchard right now, or ah'd tan her lil' bee-hind!"

Big Mac walked in with a plate of steaming broccoli, setting it down on the table. "Applejack's a grown mare now Granny. Can't be doin' that to 'er."

"The hay ah can't!" Granny stated with a stomp of a forehoof against the table. "Applejack might run this here farm, but this farm was started by my ma n' pa, an' what I say still goes until I'm six feet under. Ah'll tan her hide if'n I gotta! You best remember that, colt."

Big Mac looked like he sighed, but he hid it well enough. "Yes, Granny."

"Darn tootin'." she muttered with a 'hmph', sitting down at one end of the dinner table.

"Heh! Well, glad to see things never change around here," Braeburn muttered, looking to me curiously. "So, Twilight Sparkle? That mare that saved Equestria from eternal night and all that fancy horror?"

"Er, with a lot of help, yes," I said, just as I felt Spike climbing onto my back. "Ponies seem to keep forgetting that."

"Most papers don't mention it. They seem to like focusin' in on you," he said, taking his seat at the table once more. "A noblemare from a minor noble family, becomin' the student of Princess Celestia herself, then goin' and savin' the whole world when she's barely sixteen? That's headline news right there."

"They mention all of that? Talk about exaggerating how impressive I actually am," I said, shrugging it off. "So. Appleloosa? Isn't that one of the frontier towns down south? Like...two-hundred miles or so away from Las Pegasus?"

"One-hundred and eighty-three miles now! That town's growin' like a weed," he said, practically glowing with pride. "It's hard work, but it's comin' along."

"Yeah, it's starting to intrude upon buffalo lands," I muttered, frowning. "I'd imagine it's tough. They aren't known for their reasonable diplomacy."

"Don't I know it," he said, slapping his hat back on his head. "They keep tryin' to sabotage our apple orchards. That's why I'm here. Apple trees from Sweet Apple Acres are particularly hardy, an' we need hardy down on the frontier. I would've called, but...no phone lines out there yet."

"Makes sense. Not a lot of good soil to grow crops in the desert."

"Yup. Found a good spot in this new area we're expandin' into, but the buffalo are right ornery 'bout us growin' trees there," he said, leaning his weight on the tabletop. "They ain't been attackin' us directly, but I feel like it's only a matter of time. We don't know where they keep comin' from, and none of 'em will come an' talk to us."

"Yeah, that's buffalo diplomacy for you. Not that we have a good track record dealing with them," I said, grumbling a little. "Can't believe our predecessors treated them like savages...."

Braeburn snorted at that. "Well if they behaved the same way back then as they do now, it doesn't surprise me at all!"

"I suppose," I said with a sigh, running a hoof over my mane. "Best of luck with that."

"Thanks." he said, shuffling in his seat as Big Mac came back in the room with another plate, this time full of cut-up apples and other fruits.

Granny Smith looked up at us from where she sat, smiling. "You two wanna stay for dinner? Ain't no problem if ya do."

"While I would love to," I said, glancing back at Spike. "It would be rude for us to show up late at Fluttershy's when we could go get dinner with her instead. If she's not cooking something already, that is."

"A'right, sugarcube! Least ya got some manners about ya," Granny said, eyeing Braeburn. "Unlike some ponies."

"Ah said I was sorry, Granny!" Braeburn said, exasperated.

"Ya better be! Now, pick up that spoon an' help Big Macintosh out in the kitchen."

I took that as my time to leave. Spike said goodbye to Apple Bloom, and we headed out as the sun began to disappear over the horizon. It was actually starting to get darker out, and I could only hope we'd get to Fluttershy's before it got too dark. I'd left my luggage at her cottage, and all I had was my magic. Sure, that would probably be enough way out here in the countryside, or...well, the rural area of Equestria, but still. Once you get used to carrying a weapon, you feel a bit naked without it.

I knew that Ponyville wasn't like the big cities. Not even close. That didn't mean there weren't muggers out here somewhere, especially after this place got some publicity after the whole Nightmare Moon thing. Ponies that don't really lock their doors very often and walk around thinking they're completely safe? Any smart cutpurse or mugger would move out here within days to get some really easy scores. I could only hope Ponyville's police were ready for it...which they undoubtedly weren't.

When we got back to Fluttershy's cottage, it was getting dark and I could hear a television show playing from inside. Her windows were open to let the soft breeze in. I think I'd seen it before, but I couldn't put my hoof on the name of the show. She let us in when I knocked, but we didn't stay long. I offered to take her out to dinner with Spike and I, since it didn't look or smell like she'd begun to cook anything just yet, and she readily agreed.

So it was that two ponies and a dragon headed off down the darkened paths towards Ponyville, with the diminutive hatchling hoping they can get some ice cream on the way back. I didn't know any of the local restaurants, but Fluttershy pointed us towards a pretty nice place a lot of ponies in town went to late in the evening, but she was hesitant to go there. She didn't like the big crowds.

Instead, we settled for a smaller place nearby, just around the corner from it. The street layout of Ponyville was a bit confusing to me back then, with such wide streets lacking in sidewalks or any distinction of where a pony should be walking and where carriages can move. I suppose that's just rural towns for you.

When we settled into a booth and got our menus, Fluttershy began to talk more about her animal friends, at my insistence. I was genuinely curious, especially since she could converse with them in the same way I would converse with a pony or a griffon. Spike just wanted to know about all the different animals she had on her property.

It was pleasant. Peaceful, lacking in any sort of ulterior motive or hidden agenda. I could just sit down and talk with someone without worrying about my status as a noble, or whether they're planning on using me for their personal gain...I felt good. I felt happy.

I felt warm on the inside.