It was done. The fight was over, the battle won, Nightmare Moon vanquished and the eternal night foiled, and all of Ponyville had gathered together to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration as had always been intended. Twilight Sparkle was glad to see it, of course, and relieved that she and her friends’ efforts had successfully put a stop to Nightmare Moon... but it was the reunion of Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna, that was the real cause for celebration. One thousand years was a long time to be gone, and Celestia had entrusted Twilight to the task of bringing her back, which she’d accomplished… she should feel proud. Happy, even.

But…

“Why so glum, my faithful student?” Twilight blinked and looked up in surprise to see her teacher, her princess, her mentor approaching with a gentle smile on her lips. “Are you not happy that your quest is complete, and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?”

Twilight looked up for a moment, contemplating her answer, but she couldn’t lie to her princess, not ever. She turned her eyes to the ground as she spoke. “That’s just it… just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them.”

The Princess’ smile widened just a little bit as she spoke again in a regal tone. “Spike, take a note please.” Twilight glanced over to see her companion Spike whipping out a quill and parchment alongside her gathered friends, who were watching with curious, worried expressions of their own. “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings, from her new home… in Ponyville.”

Twilight’s heart leapt as she broke out into a grin, and quickly found herself surrounded by her new friends, chattering excitedly and moving in around her. “Oh, thank you Princess Celestia! I’ll study harder than ever before!”

“I expect you to do just that, my student…” Celestia turned away from her with a soft smile and a wink. “That and so much more…” She turned to head off across the grass toward her younger sister as the celebration broke out again with renewed vigor.

There was so much to celebrate today it was almost overwhelming! So many new friends in Ponyville to hang out with, and so many new friends in town Twilight hadn’t even met yet! She hardly knew where to begin!

She trotted up to one filly standing near Sugarcube Corner, whose doors were standing wide open to let party-goers in and out with ease. It was a cream-colored filly with a pink and purple mane. “Hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle! Nice to meet you!”

“Oh, hey there! I’m Bon-Bon, and likewise!” The filly replied with a giggle. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a party like this! It’s so awesome!”

Twilight nodded in eager agreement. “Hah, yeah! It kind of reminds me of the party in ‘Pony Wars: the Novel! Though I don’t think this party can be quite THAT big! After all, we only have one planet! Hahahahaha!”

“Um... heh, sure, yeah.” Bon-Bon coughed into one hoof. “Great to meet you, Twilight Sparkle, we should hang out sometime, but I kind of have somepony to meet. See you around!” Her tail swished behind her as she rushed across the grass towards another small circle of mares nearby.

Twilight stared after her with a frown. “Gosh, was it something I said…? Well, no matter, there are plenty of potential friends here! I’ve just got to keep being friendly!”

One after another Twilight did her best to approach her new potential friends. She really wanted this town to be different from her time in Canterlot. She was finished with being alone, it was time for her to have some friends, and while her five best friends were great, there was nothing wrong with being friendly with the rest of the locals.

“Starswirl the Bearded and the Prisoner of Asskaban is one of my favorite books of all time, even if it’s not entirely historically accurate! Those evil jailer donkeys were just so creepy!”

One pony wanders away with a cough and a faint excuse.

“Hey, you ever read Daring-Do and the Mammoth Cockroach? It’s probably my favorite in the series, even if it’s a bit… grown-up!”

Another pony excuses herself suspiciously quickly.

“For a good reference guide, you just can’t beat Soft and Slippery: The Wonders of Nature.”

Yet another pony hurrying elsewhere, leaving her standing with her tail between her legs.

“Gosh, I don’t think I have anything in common with anypony here…” Twilight sighed.

“Oh, don’t feel too bad, this is a small Earth Pony town after all. Too much to do to sit around reading all the time,” a light and cheery voice broke through her glum haze. “Personally though, I prefer Daring-Do and the Tests of Truth. I just never saw that happy ending coming!”

Twilight spun around in surprise, anxious to greet the owner of this new voice. It belonged to a maroon-coated mare, as it happened, with a two-toned pale pink mane and a trio of blossoming flowers for a cutie mark, each sporting a smiley face.

“Heh, yeah, I really like that one too! Hello there!” Twilight greeted her with a relieved, happy smile. “I don’t believe we’ve met yet.”

“We haven’t, no. My name is Cheerilee,” the mare introduced herself. “I’m the schoolteacher here in Ponyville. It’s lovely to meet you, Twilight Sparkle, we’re all very grateful to you and your friends for saving our little town.”

“Oh, there’s no need to thank me!” Twilight said with a modest blush. “And just Twilight is fine. It’s nice to meet you too! So you’re the schoolteacher around here?”

“That’s right! I just love passing on years of knowledge to bright, eager young minds.”

“That’s so wonderful, Cheerilee!” Twilight beamed. “I’m something of a student still myself, but I wouldn’t mind getting into teaching as well someday. I’d love to hear about it from a first-hoof perspective!”

“Really? Oh, but, don’t you have Princess Celestia for a teacher?”

“Well, yes, but that’s different, she’s the Princess, and she’s not literally a teacher, not the way you are. Education as a career, that’s what I’d like to hear about!”

Cheerilee smiled and blushed modestly. “Well, if you’re that eager, I wouldn’t mind sharing some stories…”

“Oh I’d love nothing better! After all, I do love a good story.” Twilight smiled happily as she and the teacher turned to walk together through the crowded pony party.

Cheerilee, it turned out, was one of the kindest ponies Twilight had ever met by far. Her bright attitude and enthusiasm made even the most upsetting of times a small hill to be hopped over, much like Pinkie Pie, but far less annoyingly random.

---

“No offense.”

“S’alright!”

---

There were still so many ponies to meet in Ponyville; her five best friends and Cheerilee were only the first of dozens. But none quite made their way into her heart like they did. Over the first year Twilight had gone to Cheerilee for a variety of things while her best friends were busy. It seemed like the cheerful filly was just always available, no matter what else was going on in town or in her life. It was like she just lived for the ponies she cared about.

More than that, though, Cheerilee was the closest thing Twilight had ever found to an intellectual equal. Princess Celestia had always been the teacher, and Twilight the student; the flow of knowledge was always one way. But with Cheerilee, it was a much more level ground. The two found themselves exchanging thoughts, knowledge, and ideas on a regular basis; and although Twilight’s experiences to share were more of a strictly academic nature, compared to Cheerilee’s background being more suited to practical application in a work-with-your-own-four-hooves town like Ponyville, there was never a point where they weren’t fascinated by what the other had to say, or felt especially superior (or inferior) to the other. Every conversation brought something new, and they always had an idea to help one another with their problems.

“That dear Pinkie Pie always does so much work planning parties, it must be exhausting. I think it would be a lovely idea to throw her a surprise party for her birthday, just to give her a week off from all the works she puts into her parties,” Cheerilee had insisted last year when Twilight had been thoroughly stumped over how to throw a party for the town’s number one party pony.

“If you’re not getting through to them with charts and numbers, try visual aids. That always helped me. Nothing makes division more engaging to a bunch of little foals like slicing apples in half out of nowhere,” Twilight had once suggested in early autumn, when Cheerilee was having trouble with a particularly stubborn math class.

“Rainbow Dash is going to go stir crazy in that hospital bed by herself for days. You know, I bet she’d just adore the Daring-Do series, I’m sure that would keep her occupied!” Cheerilee had said just last week, an idea Twilight couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of herself.

They had grown to depend on one-another’s insight so heavily that Twilight spent the early part of that Hearts and Hooves Day looking for her peppy pony friend, but to no avail. They had promised the year before that if they were both still single they would spend the day hanging out together, and here Twilight was, with more Ponyvillian friends than she’d ever imagined before, but still just as single as she’d always been.

Oh well, Twilight Sparkle thought to herself. Being alone wasn’t so bad… or at least, that was what she’d thought that morning. But now here she was quite alone, and a bit miffed. The only friends she’d seen all afternoon were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had borrowed her book on Hearts and Hooves Day and taken off like bats out of Hades. Everypony else she tried to go visit was busy with work; who knew Hearts and Hooves Day was such a business oriented holiday?

Twilight stopped and gasped in surprise when she finally spotted Cheerilee walking down the sidewalk with a soft smile on her lips, but a somewhat tired look in her eyes. Twilight cocked her head curiously and approached her friend. “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Cheerilee,” Twilight told her with a broad smile. “Are you doing alright?”

“Of course!” Cheerilee smiled as brightly as ever. “It’s a wonderful day, and I just have so many ponies who care about me…” The luster in her smile faded slightly, but remained on her lips nonetheless. “How has your day been, Twilight?”

“Wonderful,” Twilight replied genuinely. “And you look like you could use a friend to hang out with, if you don’t mind my saying so.”

“Oh, heh… yes, I suppose I could. Thank you so much.”

“No problem. A promise is a promise, after all,” Twilight reminded her.

“Oh, Twilight, I didn’t really expect to hold you to that promise,” Cheerilee said with a vague blush. “I was actually quite sure you’d have found somepony to spend today with ages ago.”

“Aheh, afraid not. But it’s really not that big a deal. Besides, it means now I can spend time with you! How about I make us some dinner back at the library?”

Cheerilee hesitated and, for some reason Twilight didn’t fully fathom, blushed a bit harder. But a moment later she smiled. “That sounds lovely, Twilight.”

---

“Wow Twilight, you and Cheerilee had a Hearts and Hooves Day date? That’s super-sweet!” Pinkie cooed excitedly.

“Yeah, Ah think Ah can see where this is headed…” Applejack added with a grin.

“Cheerilee recommended Daring-Do, huh?” Rainbow wondered aloud, and smiled at Twilight. “Well, guess she can’t be too bad, then. Come on, Twi, skip ahead to the good stuff!”

“Oh, please don’t,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Yes, I agree with Fluttershy, I’m much more interested in how they got together than the dirty details…” Rarity nodded.

“Even if I did skip ahead, there’s not really that many dirty details to share,” Twilight admitted. “But anyway…we went back to the library and I made us dinner…”

---

“My goodness, Twilight,” Cheerilee smiled broadly through eager mouthfuls. “This daffodil sandwich is absolutely wonderful.”

“Heh, thanks, it’s… actually the only thing I know how to make.” Twilight sat across from her with a soft blush as she munched on her own sandwich. The last rays of the sun were shining on them both through the window, signaling the end of Hearts and Hooves Day. Cheerilee’s gaze was drawn towards the window, where they watched the sun slowly fade down beyond the horizon, covering both fillies in a softer orange/pink hue.

“Have you ever had a Very Special Somepony, Twilight?” Cheerilee asked suddenly, turning back to her with a soft blush on her cheeks.

“Me? Nah…” Twilight giggled. “I’ve always been far too busy with my studies. So much to do, so much to learn, so much to see. H-how about you?”

“Oh no, never, my students have been my life for years now,” Cheerilee smiled softly. “But it… does get a little lonely, you know?”

“Not really. I haven’t been lonely since I came to Ponyville!” Twilight smiled more broadly. “All of these friends I’ve made since I got here, to me they’re all kind of like Very Special Someponies… because they’re all special to me.”

---

“Aaawwwww…”

“Ptooie…”

---

“Heh, yes, yes of course, you’re right…” Cheerilee looked down again a bit nervously, pulling her sandwich to her lips to take a nibble, as if simply seeking something to keep her mouth closed. Something was bothering her…

“Is everything alright, Cheerilee?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh… I suppose so,” she finally responded after a long pause. “It’s just that… well, I really mean it when I say my students are my life. I don’t really have much else. I don’t have a whole big group of friends like you do, Twilight. You and Big Macintosh are the only ponies even close to my age I ever seem to interact with outside of parent-teacher conferences, and Macintosh…”

Twilight tilted her head with renewed curiosity. “What about him?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just… my students, they’re so silly sometimes,” Cheerilee sighed, shaking her head. “They spent all of Hearts and Hooves Day today trying to set me up with him. And it nearly worked.”

“Oh!” Twilight gasped in surprise. “My, you… don’t sound terribly happy about it.”

“Well, I can’t say Macintosh would be a bad mate, not at all, but the way the girls went about it was a bit… extreme. Love potions and borderline mind-control were involved. We just barely escaped being disgustingly, hypnotically ‘in love’ forever. That’s hardly a good way to find somepony special.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “No, I wouldn’t think so…”

“Anyway, Macintosh is a good friend, but that’s all, honestly. He’s just not what I’m looking for in a special somepony. And besides, when it was all over, he admitted he’d already been seeing somepony…”

---

“Wait, WHAT?!” Applejack abruptly yelped, leaping to her hooves.

“Eeep!” Fluttershy squeaked and darted under a blanket.

“Applejack, be quiet, that’s hardly the point of interest right now!” Rarity scolded.

“Ah ain’t heard of Big Macintosh seein’ nopony! Who is it?!” Applejack demanded, ignoring Rarity.

Twilight sighed. “Cheerilee didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. That’s the honest truth. May I continue, please?”

Applejack fidgeted and shuffled her hooves, grumbling, but finally sat back down. “When Ah get home tonight Ah’m gonna tan his hide…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyway…”

---

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Cheerilee… that sounds so terrible,” Twilight cooed sympathetically.

“It’s alright… as I said, he’s not really what I would be looking for in somepony special…” Cheerilee blushed.

“Who would you be looking for?” Twilight asked curiously. “Maybe I can help you find him.”

“Well…” Cheerilee fidgeted for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I’m… not really interested in colts, to be honest… I never have been… I mean they’re great friends, but…”

“Oh! I’ve read about this!” Twilight beamed at the chance to show off knowledge gleaned from her books. “You’re a lesbian! A filly or mare who is sexually attracted to other fillies or mares! That must be why you weren’t into Big Macintosh!”

“Er… ah-heh, yes?” Cheerilee chuckled nervously.

---

“Smooth, egghead.”

“Hush, you.”

---

“It’s nothing you have to be ashamed of, Cheerilee, everypony has the right to love whoever they choose and find their own happiness, this was one of the first lessons Princess Celestia ever passed down to me.”

Cheerilee shook her head quickly. “I’m not ashamed. I’m just a little nervous because I’ve never really… approached anypony about it…”

“Oh? Well you absolutely should, it’s Hearts and Hooves Day after all, and if being with a Very Special Somepony would make you happy, you should be!”

“I’m glad to hear you say that… you see, I rather like you…” Cheerilee blushed again.

“I like you too, which is why I’m perfect to help you find somepony!” Twilight beamed.

----

“… Seriously?”

“Continue hushing!”

---

“No, Twilight, I…” Cheerilee began again, but seemed to lose the willpower before she could go any further, shaking her head and suddenly looking far more depressed. “Oh, what’s the use…?”

“Sorry?” Twilight asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a teacher, Twilight, and sometimes my students are literally my entire life,” Cheerilee said with another dejected sigh. “Even if I were to catch the eye of somepony special, what good would it do me when all my time is spent in the schoolhouse, teaching classes day after day and grading papers night after night…? I love it, Twilight, I really do, but… sometimes it seems like I don’t have time for much of a personal life at all, let alone a special somepony… before I know it I’m going to look up one day and find myself an old mare, and I’ll be as alone then as I am now, and I’ll have no idea where the time went…”

Twilight hesitated, decidedly stricken. She’d never thought that way about school before. She herself had overdone it for so long that she’d had no friends at all until moving to Ponyville… was it a similar relationship when it came to… well, relationships?

“Cheerilee…” Twilight began. “You don’t need to be afraid of that. Being single isn’t the same thing as being alone… and I promise you, you’ll never be alone. I’m your friend, and I’ll always be here for you.”

Cheerilee’s smile flickered across her dejected face for just a moment. “Oh… Twilight, you always know just what to say…”

Twilight smiled kindly back. “And as for finding time for somepony special, well… if they’re special enough, I’m sure you and he… er, you and she, will make time for each other.”

Cheerilee sniffled softly and wiped away the tears that had just crept from her eyes. “Oh, my, I’m sorry. I always get this way on Hearts and Hooves Day…”

“Oh, it’s okay…” Twilight reached out and wrapped her up in a gentle hug, holding her tightly up against her chest. Cheerilee sniffled and leaned against her, leaning her cheek into Twilight’s neck. “It’s okay, you let it out, you let out everything you need to.”

“Heh…” She heard Cheerilee giggle softly into her ear. “There are some things I’ve never let out… just too… awkward.”

“Oh…? Like what…?” Twilight asked. For several long second there was no answer, until Twilight was afraid she’d said something wrong. “Er, I’m sorry, it’s wrong of me to pry into your personal life… but you know if you need anything I’m here for you.”

---

“Good Goddess Twilight, how can a filly be so clueless?”

“It gets worse…”

---

“Twilight are you… attracted to fillies?” Cheerilee asked at last.

“Hm? Oh… I guess I’ve never thought about it before. I mean I… oh… oh…!” Twilight felt a tremendous blush sweep across her cheeks. Cheerilee was talking about her… wasn’t she? Oh Celestia, Twilight was sure she was. What was she supposed to do? Should she say yes? No? Wait, what did she really think? How could she not know what she was really thinking? Thinking was what she was good at, if she wasn’t able to think how could she act?

Wait, act? Was Cheerilee talking about ACTING? As in mating? Right here and now? With her? No, no that couldn’t be, it was just plain irrational, and besides, how could Twilight commit to an act like that if she didn’t even know what to think? Come on brain, think!

“Twilight?”

Twilight Sparkle finally blinked at the sight of a maroon hoof waving in front of her face, behind which a pair of kind eyes was watching her with a worried look. “If you’re not you need only say so… it’s perfectly alright, really.”

“I-I…” Twilight stammered, her thoughts tumbling out of her mouth. “I haven’t… r-really considered it before, I guess. To be honest, I-I never really thought about it in a sense of… whether I like fillies or colts. I just thought that I’d want to be with somepony I felt an emotional and mental connection with, whatever their gender was. Somepony that I could relate to and talk to and share interests with, that challenges me on an intellectual level--”

And then it clicked in Twilight’s brain. She knew what the answer was. What it had to be. What should have been obvious much sooner.

“Twilight…?” Cheerilee pressed.

“…I guess the best answer I can give, Cheerilee, is that I’m not attracted to fillies so much as I’d be attracted to a… particular filly…”

Cheerilee stared at Twilight with wide eyes. “Really…?”

Twilight nodded and blushed. “One that I… hope was talking about me earlier…”

“I was…” Cheerilee nodded in confirmation, smiling nervously. “Aheh… I suppose I should have been more obvious…”

“No, you were perfectly clear, Cheerilee, I was just being dense… heh, as usual…”

Awkward, nervous giggles filled the small dining room, and quickly vanished into silence as the two mares gazed at each other for a long, long moment.

“So… what happens now…?” Twilight asked.

“I… don’t really know,” Cheerilee admitted. “To be honest, I’m afraid to even start anything… school is going to get busier than ever in Spring, I… I’m afraid to ask you to start a relationship that I just don’t know if I’ll have time for…”

“I understand… but that doesn’t mean you always have to be alone…” Twilight smiled and pushed a hoof against her shoulder in a gentle, comforting gesture, but her hoof remained there, longer than she intended, looking into Cheerilee’s eyes. “Not that you are alone, of course, I mean--”

Cheerilee planted a hoof over her lips to stop her with a happy smile. “I understand, Twilight… thank you so much…” Their faces were only inches apart, so close Twilight could feel Cheerilee’s breath on her lips. Her eyes flicked down to Cheerilee’s mouth, then back up in time to see Cheerilee doing the same. Her heart quickened, her breath deepened, and her mind raced across so many possibilities that could come from this… but only one interested her more than any others… a kindred passion…

Twilight leaned in at the same time as Cheerilee, slamming her horn clean into her forehead and forcing the Earth Pony’s head back like a whip. “Aaugh!”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Twilight grabbed her friend’s head and pulled it down to look at it. “Oh, good, whew… you’re not bleeding.”

“Hehe, it’s okay, really… no real damage done,” Cheerilee told her with a nervous smile as she brought a hoof up to rub at the small wound on her forehead. They stared at each other for a few moments before coming closer again, Cheerilee reaching up with her hoof to shield her head from Twilight’s horn as they closed the distance between them.

This time their lips met properly, their eyes drifting closed and their hooves sliding around one another’s shoulders. It was a nervous, tentative kiss that neither mare seemed brave enough to deepen, but that both found enjoyable nevertheless. They eventually inched closer together, their confidence building back up after the initial mishap… only for both ponies to slip right out of their chairs and crash to the kitchen floor in a tangled heap of limbs.

“Agh!”

“Ow!”

Twilight flushed in embarrassment once again, finding herself staring down at Cheerilee beneath her. “Oh my gosh, I am such an idiot, I’m so sorry…!”

“I-It’s okay, that was both our faults,” Cheerilee managed to say, sounding just as embarrassed as Twilight, but also oddly short of breath. For a moment Twilight began to panic; if she’d hurt Cheerilee in that tumble she didn’t think she’d ever forgive herself. But then she looked around to get a better grasp of her surroundings, and realized Cheerilee was on the floor on her back, and Twilight was lying chest to chest right on top of her.

Twilight’s own breath felt short and tight suddenly. “O-oh, jeez, I-I’m sorry, you can probably barely breathe, I-I’ll--”

“No, no, you don’t have to…” Cheerilee stopped her, her breaths a bit labored but still steady as she lifted her front hooves and put them on Twilight’s shoulders again. “This is… nice.”

Twilight stared at her for a moment, then looked further down at Cheerilee’s body pressed against the floor, flattened there by the weight of Twilight’s body. Her body was so soft, Twilight thought to herself. She was right, it did feel very… nice. So she reached out and slipped her hooves around her body, moving down to once again press her lips to Cheerilee’s.

Her teacher friend responded immediately, kissing her back and stroking her shoulders with both hooves. Their lips mingled as their hooves explored each other’s bodies, stroking along the length of their flanks and backs, but each too timid at first to know what to do next, until Twilight felt Cheerilee’s lips open against her own. Twilight had read enough books to know how to kiss, she could at least do that properly…

Twilight let her tongue slip from her lips, sliding inside of Cheerilee’s mouth, pushing inward and resting on the bottom of her mouth. She wasn’t entirely sure where to go from here, so she simply left it laying… it felt strange, a bit good… but mostly strange. She could feel Cheerilee’s saliva on the bottom of her mouth, covering her tongue. Was that a good sign?

Apparrently not, as Cheerilee giggled and nudged her head back slightly. “Oh my goodness, that felt like a slug in my mouth…”

“Haha, s-sorry… wow, I didn’t know how bad I was at this…” Twilight blushed deeply.

“It’s okay… we can figure it out together, just… here…” Cheerilee kissed her again, this tongue invading Twilight’s mouth with her own tongue. Twilight could feel it stroking around her mouth, tentatively exploring her own tongue, licking and wrapping. Ah yes, Twilight realized. That felt much better. Twilight quickly followed her example, her own tongue coming to life and licking back at Cheerilee’s, a playful game within their locked lips that Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at… and then wince at as her tongue was pinched by Cheerilee’s teeth.

“Mmhhh…!” Twilight tried to say, panting breathlessly now.

“Hmmhh?” Cheerilee murmured back. “S-sorry, did I get you…?”

“Just a bit, it’s fine, I’m fine, don’t stop…” Twilight insisted, getting right back to kissing her as quickly as possible because it was fast becoming the best feeling the unicorn had ever felt. Or the best physical feeling, anyway. Their hooves were still shifting somewhat tentatively and never quite reaching for anything especially suggestive, but they seemed to have mostly figured out the kissing part now, and Twilight would have been entirely content to just lay there on that kitchen floor kissing Cheerilee forever…

SLAM!

“Hey Twilight, I’m home! You’ll never guess what happened today! I wanted to do something really special for Rarity for Hearts and Hooves Day, so I took her out to the--AAH!”

Twilight’s head jerked up and away from Cheerilee’s lips to stare wide eyed and horrified at her young dragon assistant Spike, who was now standing in the kitchen doorway looking similarly shocked.

“…U-uhhm…” Spike stammered unhelpfully.

Twilight blushed hard enough to turn a darker shade of purple. “S-Spike… um… we, um…”

Spike’s eyes darted slowly back and forth between the frozen Twilight and Cheerilee, and finally seemed to unfreeze himself. “You know, uh, the Crusaders were planning a slumber party tonight! I, uh, think I’ll go and, uh, do that. With them. And not be here.”

“…Yes. Yes, that’s a good idea, Spike,” Twilight agreed almost mechanically. And in a flurry of motion Spike spun on his heels and bolted out of the library again.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to kick him out of the house…” Cheerilee frowned. “I hope he’ll be okay…”

“Of course he will… he has really thick skin… er, scales,” Twilight assured her with a nervous giggle and a smile. The two looked at each other again, then went in for another kiss, Twilight’s horn slamming into Cheerilee’s head and knocking her back against the floor with a BANG.

“Guah!” Cheerilee yelped in pain and clutched at her head with both hooves.

“Gah! I am so sorry!” Twilight moved off of her friend quickly and pulled her up to a sitting position. “Are you okay?”

“Mnnnhhh… I have a bit of a headache but I think I’ll be fine… it’s okay, really.” Cheerilee took a deep breath and glanced over at her. “Why don’t we find someplace a bit… softer?”

Twilight shivered at that and stood up immediately. “Come on, my bedroom’s upstairs!” Twilight turned to rush upstairs with an eager rush of excitement, hearing Cheerilee pacing right behind her.

Twilight’s bedroom door had barely slammed shut before they met again, Cheerilee’s alert hoof narrowly preventing another horn-poke as they spun their way toward the bed on their hind legs, their forelegs too busy being wrapped around each other. They soon toppled onto Twilight’s bed, this time with Twilight on the bottom…

“Ow!” Twilight yelped, and swiftly shoved the textbook her head had landed on aside and to the floor. “Really need to stop leaving books in bed--mmpphh…!” Twilight gasped and fell silent as Cheerilee renewed the kiss without hesitation, and this time her hooves dared to be a little more adventurous, grazing just over the edges of Twilight’s cutie marks and making Twilight shiver once again.

“Twilight…” Cheerilee pulled her head back slightly to look into the unicorn’s eyes. “Are you really sure about this…? I can’t promise you much of anything after tonight until summer, at least…”

Twilight nodded swiftly. “It’s okay, Cheerilee, I’m sure… I-I want this… and I’ll wait for you if I have to…”

“Oh Twilight…” Cheerilee whispered, and slammed her lips down on Twilight’s again, the words apparently just the spark she needed to push forward and grope Twilight’s cutie marks directly, leaving no doubt in either of their minds where this was heading.

Twilight meanwhile hissed and moaned into Cheerilee’s mouth, the pressure on her cutie marks a strange and alien feeling to her and yet immensely satisfying. So satisfying in fact that the only thought still in her head that wasn’t about how amazing it felt was a desperate, burning desire to make Cheerilee feel the same pleasure. And so Twilight’s own hooves ventured over Cheerilee’s body and came to a rest on three smiling flowers each, pressing into them and stroking them just as Cheerilee was doing to her.

She felt Cheerilee’s body stiffen and shiver on top of her own body, with a soft moan from deep inside her throat that only made Twilight stroke yet more firmly. This was getting really serious, Twilight realized when she felt Cheerilee slide even more firmly up against her body, her pelvis moving up between Twilight’s hind legs, pushing softly against the sensitive region contained therein. With a whimper Twilight wrapped her hind legs around her waist, even as her front hooves pressed more firmly into the flowers on her flanks.

Twilight shuddered as she felt Cheerilee move her hips up against her own, a soft, sensual thrusting motion, a simulation of what they both wanted that turned Twilight on more than anything she’d ever known in her life. Her grip on Cheerilee’s cutie marks only tightened, pulling her pelvis down against Twilight’s leg, which bent upward just slightly. Twilight gasped into Cheerilee’s lips when she felt the wetness of her slit press against the fur on her leg.

“Uughnn…” Cheerilee groaned in pleasure at the motion, breaking the kiss with a soft pant. “Is… something wrong…?”

“No way…” Twilight replied in a breathy whisper as she gripped Cheerilee again, pulling the teacher’s slit harder against her own leg and shifting to rub it against her partner’s slit in a slow, vertical motion. Cheerilee panted even harder, holding herself over Twilight with a hoof on either side of her body, her face a mask of almost helpless pleasure.

“Goddess… Twilight… nopony has ever touched me like that before…” Cheerilee told her with a deep full-body shiver.

“Well… it’s their loss…” Twilight assured her with her best sensual smile as she pressed her knee harder up against her slit, getting another small squeak of pleasure out of her partner… and then let out a surprised squeak of her own when Cheerilee pushed her leg down between Twilight’s, and began returning the favor, her knee digging into Twilight’s crotch with surprising strength. “A-Aahhh…! C-Cheerilee…!”

Immediately she stopped. “S-sorry…! Too hard…?”

“J-just a little bit…” Twilight gasped out. “D-don’t stop though…! Just… more gentle…”

Cheerilee nodded her agreement and slowly resumed grinding her leg into Twilight’s slit, more gently this time, and the Unicorn let out a much more satisfied moan. The pressure was still intense, but not painful anymore, just a good, hard rubbing of a firm limb right where she needed it, and with the added bonus of the limb not belonging to Twilight herself for once. It was all she could do to simply close her eyes and relish the feelings for as long as she could. Her front hooves gave up trying to massage Cheerilee’s cutie marks, too worked up to focus on much of anything other than their intertwined hind legs, and flung them around the Earth Pony’s neck desperately for something to hold onto.

“Ahhh!” Cheerilee yelped. “Twilight! Mane!”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and realized that her hooves had indeed grabbed more mane than neck and were tugging on it rather tightly. “Oh jeez, sorry, sorry…!” she gasped, immediately letting go.

“It’s okay, just….oh Twilight, don’t stop just yet…” Cheerilee panted in her ear as she laid down on top of the Unicorn. She was struggling to breathe now, her fur was slick with sweat, and she was thrusting her slit against Twilight’s leg about as much as she was pushing her own leg into Twilight’s slit. She looked like she was really close.

“Cheerilee… oh gosh Cheerilee… it feels so amazing…” Twilight panted heavily and finally managed to wrap her forehooves properly around her neck, holding her close against her front and continuing to grind in a steady rhythm up against her. Finally they were finding a plateau they could both enjoy, a steady, gentle rhythm that both mares found immensely pleasurable, though it was a rhythm that was steadily picking up in ferocity.

The bed began to squeak as Twilight felt the sensations beginning to rise towards a previously unknown peak, though enough books had told her what it was. She could feel Cheerilee’s body trembling in her grasp, a sure sign that she too was beginning to rise towards an orgasmic climax. Their motions grew harsher, moving as one against the sheets until their combined movements grew to such strength she could hear the bed smacking firmly into the wall.

“Twilight… T-twilight!” Cheerilee gasped out in pleasure and gave her a deep, longing kiss, her tongue slipping sensually into Twilight’s mouth once again. Twilight accepted it eagerly, pulling Cheerilee even tighter down against her as their mutual orgasm began to sweep over them, as if they were sharing one single climax.

Twilight’s eyes shot open in orgasmic pleasure right when the bed smacked into the wall one more time and a large tome tumbled off the bookshelf right over their heads…

---

Twilight’s blush was mortified as she stared down at the floor, shuffling her hooves together. “I-I nursed her in the living room until she woke up… she wasn’t seriously hurt.”

“Good gravy girl…” Applejack said pityingly. “That’s gotta be the worst dang luck Ah ever heard of.”

“More like stupid furniture arranging,” Rainbow argued. “Who puts a bookshelf right by their bed? Honestly… it was good luck you didn’t bring the whole thing down on top of you.”

“Don’t be silly, Rainbow, you can’t place all the blame on that last moment,” Rarity said. “Really, that was just the most atrocious of luck from start to finish… I do hope your bumps and bruises all mended, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded reassuringly. “Yes, we were both fine… I guess we couldn’t all have amazing first times, right?”

“So have you two, um, stayed together, then…?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sort of… we haven’t done anything since then, Cheerilee’s been swamped with the end of the school year coming up, but we’ve talked when we get a free moment here and there, and… hehe, well, let’s just say we’re both really looking forward to the summer…”

“Wow, congratulations, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie cheered her. “It might have been a rocky road, but it looks like you’ve got the happiest ending so far! You’ve got a tough mark to beat, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy jerked in place. “O-Oh, um… t-that’s okay, you can go first, Pinkie, I, um…”

“No way, I’m going last! Birthday girl calls it!”

Fluttershy found that difficult to argue with, though her eyes kept darting quite nervously toward Applejack for some reason. “Well… I guess it had to come out sooner or later… but, um… Applejack, please don’t be mad…?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Mad? About what?”

Rarity gasped, understanding instantly. “Oh. My. STARS. Fluttershy, it was you?! Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“What?! What’re y’all gabbin’ about?!” Applejack demanded.

Fluttershy shrunk down flat to the floor, now avoiding looking at Applejack entirely. “Um… well… that… pony that Big Macintosh was, um, secretly dating…? It’s, um… it’s me…”