“What was what about?” Twilight asked, shifting self-consciously on the bed as she tried to ignore the sudden sensation of prickly warmth that had spread through from her horn to her forehead when Fluttershy had kissed it.

        “This-” Fluttershy insistently touched her lips to the tip of the unicorn's horn again, eliciting much the same reaction from her “-is what. Why do you … react … like that whenever I touch your horn?”

        “Well,” Twilight's eyes met those of the pegasus and she couldn't help but feel exposed and vulnerable. She sighed softly. “Like your wings, my horn is quite sensitive. Not quite as much, since it wasn't designed to aid unicorns in any way except to provide a focus for our magical powers, but, um, direct stimulation of it can still cause pleasurable feelings due to the number of nerve-endings within it. Most non-unicorns simply assume that it's nothing more than a solid mass of bone or cartilage, but that's not the case.”

        “Oh, I didn't know any of that,” replied Fluttershy attentively, pleased to be learning something new. She was also glad to know that she wasn't a freak, that other ponies had parts of their bodies that could be used for something other than what nature had originally intended for them.

        “Well, it's not exactly something that they teach you in school. Hey, unicorns, whenever you perform a spell you'll experience the most intense thrill imaginable.”

        Fluttershy giggled suddenly, covering her mouth with a hoof.

        “What's so funny?” asked Twilight, narrowing her eyes.

        “I've always wondered why you look so, er, happy whenever you're doing a spell.”

        “Happy?”

        Her muzzle split into a silly grin, but Fluttershy managed to avoid any further spells of laughter. “I suppose ecstatic would be nearer the mark.” Ever since she had known her, the pegasus had just assumed that Twilight's expression of joy had come from the act itself; the unicorn loved magic, almost as much as she loved caring for animals, and there was always a certain delight that came with doing what one was best at. Knowing now that it was also another sort of release for her, too …

        Setting her jaw, trying to fight the blush that threatened to break out across her cheeks, Twilight said grudgingly, “I'll settle for happy.” It was true, though: performing magic – and it was a performance, almost as much an art as it was a science – was the cause of feelings that were eerily similar to those of other, more intimate sorts of activities. She couldn't help but wonder if that was why most unicorns could become bad-tempered and cranky whenever something prevented them from completing a spell, or why they would get frustrated and irritated when they hadn't done any magic in a while.

        At least, that was how Twilight had always felt, anyway.

        “Can I tell you something, Fluttershy?” asked Twilight, her muzzle reddening.

        “Of course. I hope you know that you can tell me anything.” She shot the unicorn a look. “Especially after what's just happened between us.”

        “I do,” Twilight said, taking Fluttershy's hoof in her own and kissing it softly, hoping that the pegasus wouldn't feel any residual guilt or shame about the events of tonight. “At night, when I know that I'm alone and unlikely to be disturbed by anypony, even Spike, I'll sometimes enact a few simple spells just to … well, just to take the edge off.”

        “You poor thing,” Fluttershy said sympathetically, gripping Twilight's hoof in her own. “Do you feel edgy now? After what just went on?”

        “A little,” Twilight said falteringly. “Fluttershy, what are you-?”        

        In-between her first and second statements, Twilight found herself brought back to reality by Fluttershy's lips brushing over the tip of her horn again; she shivered inwardly, her eyes closing just as a soft gasp escaped her muzzle when she felt a tingly surge of energy tickling at the point where the base of her horn met her skull. “Fluttershy?” she asked again, more subdued this time.

        “I was just curious,” Fluttershy said.

        “About what?”

        “Well, you said that it felt good when you performed magic and when your horn was stimulated but … my lips are neither magical nor do they exert that much pressure, so I was wondering how it was that you got pleasure from that?”

        “Although the horn is quite hard,” replied Twilight, stifling a giggle at her choice of words, “as with your wings, there are a significant number of nerve clusters close to the surface. Whenever something touches them, it, um, feels nice.”

        “I see. How about if I do-” Fluttershy allowed the tip of her tongue to press firmly against the base of Twilight's horn, and slowly, her eyes half-lidded, she dragged it across its length, leaving a thin film of saliva on the rough, stiff surface “-this, then?” Surprisingly, the horn didn't taste nearly so weird as she'd been expecting; whether it was because of her arousal or some side-effect of Twilight's magic, though, she couldn't be sure, but while it had an almost shell-like texture, its flavour was rather sweet.

        “Oh, Celestia,” said Twilight, panting agitatedly at the feelings building up in her horn as Fluttershy's tongue flicked daintily at it; the sensation was almost one of a blockage stopping up the plumbing, and like all blockages that had enough pressure applied to them … it would eventually burst. Suddenly all too aware of what was happening, she stood up and backed away a few steps. “That feels so good, but you don't have to do anything-” her babble was silenced by a hoof pressing against her muzzle.

        “It's okay, I want to,” replied Fluttershy, moving slowly toward Twilight, smiling softly at the unicorn. “Don't you want me to?”

        After a moment's hesitation, Twilight finally nodded her assent. She didn't want Fluttershy to do anything that she was not comfortable with, but … she also really, really wanted the pegasus to finish what she had started. Twilight bit her lower lip softly, not able to fight off a slight feeling of selfishness that gripped her. She knew herself well enough to realise that there were times when her rationality would fail her, and this was one of those times.

        As somepony who communed with nature often, Fluttershy was no stranger to courtship and mating practices of every kind; she had heard the rumours and innuendo – and the jokes, too, of course – about unicorn horns, and knowing that they hadn't all been lies was very interesting to her. After what Twilight had done to her, she figured it was only fitting that she repay the … favour. “It might be easier if you sit down against the headboard, though.”

        “Huh? Oh, right, sorry.” It took Twilight a moment to realise that she was still in a standing position on the bed after being startled by Fluttershy's earlier assault on her horn. She sat back down, taking a few quick breaths, trying to settle herself into a supine position against the bulk of the wooden board behind her. “Really, only do this if you want to.”

        “I do want to.” Fluttershy found herself taken aback when she realised she actually meant the words that she was saying. Three months might be a long time, or it might not be, but in this moment she knew that she wanted to make Twilight feel as good as she had made her feel earlier. There's nothing wrong with feeling good, no matter what anypony says. “Just relax, okay?”

        “Okay,” said Twilight, doing her best to do just that whilst shooting Fluttershy a reassuring smile.

        Fluttershy leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the unicorn's muzzle before raising herself up on her hind legs. “Just let me know if it feels, well, weird or uncomfortable at any point, okay? Obviously, I've never done this before. I don't want to hurt you.”

        “As if you ever could,” Twilight said, placing a series of deft kisses along Fluttershy's chest as she felt the pegasus' hooves brush reassuringly against her shoulders before she placed them on the headboard, using it as a way to prop herself up without having to lean on her; the unicorn was painfully aware of the fact that Fluttershy's warm midsection was directly above her own, but she chose not to comment on this. Doubtless, Fluttershy knew already if the way her cheeks flashed bright red for a moment was any indication. “Comfy?” asked Twilight, hoping to defuse the awkwardness.

        “Mm-hm,” Fluttershy said, giggling and resettling herself so that she was pressing less firmly against Twilight's abdomen. Her long tail covered the unicorn's hindlegs, giving the impression that she was being covered by a thick pink blanket. “You?”

        Twilight nodded.

        “Good.”

        Twilight's eyelids fluttered, half-closing, when she felt Fluttershy's moistened lips wrap around the tip of her horn; the tingling pressure returned to her forehead, and she released a soft moan as the pegasus' mouth enclosed the first third of the protuberance, the tip of her tongue finding and exploring all of the little nooks and crannies of the hard flesh. Fluttershy's mouth soon descended to the little indentation a couple of inches along its length where the horn began to flare out, and Twilight's already ragged breathing came just a little bit quicker. Her hooves scrabbled at the covers, bunching them up. The shallow depressions were where of several of the mostl densely-packed concentrations of nerve-endings could be found, and feeling Fluttershy's lips on them only served to increase the throbbing excitement flowing through her.

        As gently as she could, Fluttershy allowed her teeth to graze against the sensitive cavity until she heard a noise coming from the back of Twilight's throat. “Is it okay?” she asked, concern tempering her desire.

        “Uh-huh,” was all Twilight could say in reply, her own teeth grinding together.

        Fluttershy scraped her incisors from the indented groove to the tip of Twilight's horn, and involuntarily the unicorn bucked her hips upwards against Fluttershy. Startled, the pegasus gave a strangled grunt before Twilight was able to recover her composure. “Sorry, I … sorry.”

        “That's all right,” said Fluttershy, her hoof stroking Twilight's chest tenderly as she favoured her with a smile. “I'm just glad that you're enjoying it so much.” Leaning down, she kissed Twilight on the cheek. “Do you want me to keep going?” she asked sweetly, breathing hotly into the unicorn's ear.

        Feeling that warm, moist air tickle her ear, all Twilight could do was blush furiously and nod, feeling a tremor of excitement surge through her being; this time, she managed to stop herself rocking her hips, however. That particular pleasure would have to wait for another day, much as she might wish it were otherwise.

        Once more wrapping her lips around the tip, Fluttershy swirled her tongue in circles around it, enjoying the sounds of appreciation uttered by Twilight every so often whenever she happened to hit a particularly sensitive spot on the appendage; the unicorn had closed her eyes and leaned back fully on the headboard, letting it support her weight entirely, giving herself completely over to the sensations emanating from her horn. Fluttershy's mouth, she knew, would do all of the work and her purpose now was simply to enjoy the proceedings, and to occasionally voice her gratitude.

        Fluttershy soon increased her speed, bobbing up and down on the horn even quicker than before; the headboard started to bump up against the wall, uttering a squeak of protest as it did so, but neither of them minded this additional noise, even though a little voice at the back of her mind told the pegasus that some of her animal friends might not be quite so keen on being interrupted in the midst of their slumber. Fluttershy suddenly giggled around Twilight's horn when she heard the unicorn trying to utter her name in a passionate frenzy.

        Whatever small part of the appendage she didn't have in her mouth at that moment, Fluttershy pumped it with her hooves; it was interesting to her how the horn was both stiff yet also yielding, able to be manipulated to a degree despite its seeming solidity. She worked the shaft up and down, drawing yet more impassioned sighs from Twilight who, she noticed, was really struggling to contain herself. Curious as to what would happen if she did so, she let her mouth sink to the base of the horn until her teeth were skimming gingerly against the flared base where it met Twilight's head.

        “Oh, Celestia!” Twilight's moan caused Fluttershy's ears to twitch. The most sensitive part of the horn was, of course, the root where it connected to the head; it was where most of the nerve-endings where centred, and a feeling much like the surge before the release of magic was building up within her. It took a supreme effort of will to stop her tongue from lolling out of her mouth, but there was nothing she could do about the deep red colour her flesh had taken on.

        Fluttershy's response was to take the entire horn into her mouth again, but she didn't even stop when it hit the back of her throat; thanks to its thin, pointy tip, the pegasus was able to take the saliva-lubricated appendage into her throat, and Twilight could only listen in mute fascination at the squelchy noises her oesophagus made as she forced the horn down, her tight neck muscles constricting around it and sending another wave of pleasure surging through her.

        Once she'd gotten used to the thickness filling her, Fluttershy was able to move up and down on the horn with considerable speed; Twilight watched, wide-eyed, as her neck bulged out slightly when her horn was taken into it, impressed that the pegasus was able to do so without gagging, even if it wasn't really that big to begin with. The blocked feeling within the centre of her head started to ease and she quickly realised what was coming. “Fluttershy,” she said quickly through gritted teeth, other parts of her body equally desperate for release “you'd better-”

        But the warning came just a half-second too late for the pegasus.

        A spurt of magenta light coruscated out of the tip of her horn, shooting directly into Fluttershy's mouth while Twilight's muzzle expressed a fiery roar; the pegasus coughed and gasped, and the unicorn quickly shot up from her prone position, pushing all other considerations aside as put her hooves behind Fluttershy and started thumping on her back firmly. Thankfully, it only took a moment for her to spit the glowing purple ball back up. Twilight looked at it, while Fluttershy continued to convulse. “Are you okay?” the unicorn asked quietly.

        Once she'd recovered enough from her coughing fit, Fluttershy wiped away the drool that she'd hacked up with a hoof and nodded shrinkingly at Twilight. “Sorry about that.”

        “That's okay,” said Twilight, placing a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. “I should've given you more warning.”

        Brushing aside her apology with a wave of her hoof, Fluttershy asked “Is that …? What is that?” Her eyes were held rapt by the floating orb.

        “That-” Twilight took the ball in her hooves and held it up to the pegasus' amazed glance “-is magic. In its raw form, I mean.”

        “Can I touch it?” she asked tentatively.

        “Sure,” said Twilight, offering it to her with a lopsided smile. “It doesn't bite.”

        Fluttershy took the glowing sphere in her hooves and gasped softly as she felt a surge of electricity flow through her. “Whoa.”

        “Yeah,” Twilight said in agreement, giggling softly. It didn't even seem strange to her have, in effect, handed Fluttershy a piece of herself. In fact, it felt … normal. She wondered if that was an indication of something. They'd just shared themselves so intimately, but it was still too soon to say that they were meant to be.

        “What'll happen to it now?” asked Fluttershy, hoofing the orb back to Twilight as if they were playing some bizarre, magic-based version of Pass the Ball.

        “If I don't transmute it into something else, it'll just dissipate into the air after a few moments,” Twilight said, easily slipping into lecture mode despite everything that had gone on. Despite how tired she felt. She had been ready for sleep long before all of this had happened, and the sudden drain in her magical reservoir only served to add to her feelings of lethargy. She was never so exhausted that she couldn't explain how stuff worked, though.

        “Transmute …?”

        Twilight's horn lit up and the glowing orb fizzed in the air for a moment before suddenly taking on the appearance of a bunch of flowers. Flowers with bright purple and yellow petals. She directed them into Fluttershy's outstretched hoofs.

        “They're beautiful,” the pegasus said, leaning forward to kiss Twilight on the cheek. “You're beautiful, and so is your talent.”

        “Thank you,” Twilight replied abashedly, flushing.

        “So. How did I do?” asked Fluttershy, placing the newly-created bunch of flowers on the bedside cabinet.

        “You did amazingly well, Fluttershy,” replied Twilight, wrapping her forelegs around the flushed, sweaty pegasus, a feeling of inexpressible joy flowing through her. “I really didn't expect you to, uh, go all the way, but you did, and it was wonderful.”

        The pegasus bit her lip. “You don't think this, the whole night, I mean, was too much too soon?”

        Twilight shook her head, her violet mane brushing ticklingly against Fluttershy's nose, as she hugged the pegasus even tighter. “No, I don't. I think it was perfect for a first time. We both did only what we were comfortable with doing, right?”

        Fluttershy nodded, leaning into Twilight's embrace and wrapping her own forelegs around the unicorn. “I've never … I mean, I never thought I'd want to do things with anypony, but with you … I really, really wanted to.”

        “I'm glad,” Twilight replied, warm feelings filling her heart. “Sleep now?”

        “Sleep now,” said Fluttershy in agreement, closing her eyes and yawning loudly. The last thing that she felt before falling into a doze was her head being placed gently on the pillow and a pair of lips touching her own. “I love you,” she said, murmuring the words drowsily.

        “I love you, too.”