Starlight awoke at dawn the day she and Anon were to leave for Fillydelphia. Anon’s stay in the hospital was short, a few days. Though he protested, Starlight gave him another day to recover. Anon professed repeated admiration for Equestrian medicine. He told her that, in his world, healing was in large part left to the body alone. Starlight imagined without magic, humans could be incapacitated for weeks or months. What kind of strain might that put on individuals and herds? It was a disquieting thought.

But as she felt his arm’s weight around her barrel and the steady, unlabored expansion of his chest against her back, her mind was at ease. He was safe.

Starlight rolled to face him. He was still locked in deep, abiding slumber.

Anon was the first creature she’d met undisturbed by her snoring. She even woke herself sometimes. She remembered the worried knocking when she led Our Town. The ponies there thought she was being mauled. She wondered why it didn’t bother him. At times the human had a bat’s ears, even a sniffle was a nuisance. But never from her. It was a strange quirk, one of many. They’d grown on her.

He had another quirk. It presented itself now through his boxers. Starlight felt it poking her stomach. She shuddered. Her heart rate rose, from “all clear” to “slight problem”.

Were humans in perpetual arousal? She was sure he he’d been flaccid the night before. They’d snuggled and chatted, and he fell asleep as she was writing to Twilight. Her quill and parchment were still on the nightstand beside his bed.

Maybe he was feigning sleep? She pressed her nose to his chin. He grumbled, but didn’t stir. She did it again, this time into his neck. Nothing. Well, almost nothing. Starlight felt his tip twitch. She thwapped her tail.

Oh, no. Was it Chloride’s potion again? That should have passed through her system days ago. Her excuse was gone. Starlight pulled back her ears. It was her. It was him.

Starlight felt her cheeks warm. Did this mean she was… She was attracted to Anon? But why? Just two weeks before, she… He… But that was a play on a different stage, a retired script. Now, their pressed bodies, his gentle breath and strong grip... Her tail thwapped again.

She shook her head, her breath caught. What would ponies say? What would her dad say? What would Sunburst say?

Starlight wiggled backward, away from Anon’s bulge. Sunburst, that’s right. After their reunion, she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t be involved with another pony until he was ready. Sunburst‘s perpetual distraction and consummate disinterest aside, she wanted to keep that vow.

Anon’s arm tensed. He raked her in like a bear to a fish. His shaft was sandwiched between them now. It felt warm through his shorts’ thin fabric. Starlight couldn’t control her breathing. Should it have been faster? Slower? She dipped her muzzle against his chest.

She was getting ahead of herself, this was an involuntary biological response. A pulsing, tinder, frim biological response. She shivered.

She shouldn’t have been here, shouldn’t have been in his bed. It just happened. Well, kind of. She’d meant to change beds after he’d fallen asleep, but…

Starlight lifted her head and tucked her muzzle beneath his chin. It was nice to be held like this again. It had been years. She pressed into him and closed her eyes. This much was okay.

She brushed her body upward. Anon’s dick trembled. She whined, then brushed downward. It twitched. Starlight bit her lip. Her labia felt warm. Sisters help her. She needed to stop.

But maybe if she were to just… Just for a bit. Starlight pushed backward enough to lower her hoof. She dragged it across Anon’s boxers. He groaned. She stopped. He settled. She rested it on his shaft and pressed down like a leaf on a pond’s surface. It required the barest force. It was already right there…

Anon’s penis plopped out through his fly.

Starlight’s ear twitched. It was so different from a stallion’s. She placed her hoof atop it and pushed it against her stomach. How much would it fill? How deep could it go? It throbbed and a moan slipped past her lips.

Anon shifted and Starlight’s heart jumped into her throat. She snapped her eyes shut. She felt him rustle, heard a querying hum, and then his fingers traveled up her back. She opened an eye like a foal peeking for monsters.

Anon was looking at her through weary lids. He smiled. “Morning,” he said in a rasp.

“Hi,” Starlight squeaked.

Anon adjusted, his dick brushed across her belly, then he froze. He looked down, then wrenched away from her and turned over. “Sorry! I didn’t realize…” He fumbled to stuff his cock into his boxers.

Starlight ached. She wanted to say “don’t” or “it’s okay,” but her mouth refused the words. She tucked her tail between her legs. She felt wetter than she’d realized. Her ears flattened against her head. She slid out the bed.

“My bad,” Anon mumbled. He was looking in her direction, but avoided her eyes.

Starlight nodded and looked at the ground. “I’m going to take a shower.” She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. She leaned against it. Her legs felt like overcooked noodles. She felt a trickle down her leg and looked down.

What she really needed was a jump in a frozen lake.

--

Anon groaned, sat up, and knocked on his skull like he was testing a melon. The way she left the bed, her lowered head, her disappointed eyes. Starlight was furious, he was sure of it.

He had done well before then, at least during his recovery. He’d kept his hands above her croup, restrained his words, his eyes; he’d danced atop glass shards. But J.P. Willy couldn’t stick to his tent.

Anon dropped his head in his hands. He remembered Burning Heart’s words. Why would someone like Starlight fall for a flank chaser like him. He knew the answer: She wouldn’t.

He rose from bed and walked to the bathroom door. He heard water running. He lifted his arm to knock, but his fist was a sponge. He returned to his bed and sat and thought.

Starlight emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later. Her mane and tail drooped, wet. Water glistened across her coat. Droplets traveled her sinews, outlined her curves. For the love of Christ, J.P., keep your head down.

Starlight hid her face from him. Her horn glowed, her coat dried and her mane frizzed. She pulled a brush from her saddlebags. “We should get to the train station early.”

Anon realized he was staring. He looked anywhere else. “Yeah, sure.”

Anon washed too, a somber affair, then dressed. When they checked out, Swift Service prodded them with ten thousand questions. Starlight pushed through the conversation in her usual, affable way. Anon admired her penchant for awkward small talk. He was no more interested in discussing the last few days than her. Thinking about it, they’d shared few words about it. It wasn’t that they were avoiding the events, or at least he wasn’t. Maybe they shared an implicit understanding.

He thought about what they understood as they walked down Baltimare’s cobbled roads. Something was different, or maybe a lot of somethings.

“Do you want to say goodbye to your friends?” Starlight’s words snapped him from a daze.

Anon mulled for a second. He looked at Starlight. She was still avoiding his eyes.

“Nah,” he admitted.

“Why not?”

Anon shrugged. “It’s not something I’ve ever done.”

“You should communicate with your friends better,” Starlight said.

“I guess.” Anon kept and discrete eye on her. She was the one he wanted better communication with.

They entered Baltimare station as the sun settled on solid course to midday. High arches, stone columns, and a large clock. Now this was a train station. Anon grabbed a bench seat while Starlight grabbed their tickets. He knew he had to say something, but every thought fell apart. Be honest, sure, but that was like saying virtue meant doing the right thing to the right degree. A lot to be imagined there.

He was still flummoxed when Starlight sat beside him.

“At least our seats are together this time,” Starlight said as she handed him a ticket.

Anon fingered his ticket and stared at it as though it were interesting. “About this morning…” It was go-time, Anon. He just had to say what was on his mind and hope it was witty and reassuring. “It’s not that you aroused me or anything.” No, that… No…

“What?” Starlight looked at him, her face a mix of shock and disbelief. But at least she was looking at him, even if it was in the way one would look at a suicide attempt.

One of those would go down well right now.

“I, uh. What I mean is, well,” his brain scrambled. He had to pull it together. “You did, but that’s not why I was hard.” Better, but reel it back. “I mean I didn’t mean to touch you with it. I’d never do that.”

“Oh.” Starlight’s ears drooped. Wait, was that back too far. He just had to spit it out.

“I mean I would! But not like that!” Alright, this was self-immolation. He squeezed his ticket “What I mean is, this morning was an accident.”

“You’re ruining it,” Starlight said, looking at his hands.

“I know. This is even harder to say than I thought it would be.”

“No, your ticket.”

Anon paused. He unclenched his hand and looked down. His ticket was wrinkled. “Oops.”

Starlight laughed. The sound emptied anxiety from him like the release of a jammed tap. She placed her hoof on his leg. He felt his heart float. She was looking in his eyes.

“I didn’t mind it,” she said.

“You… didn’t?” The morning reran through his head. “I thought that… I mean, you seemed like you were upset with me.”

Starlight’s nose gave an almost imperceptible wrinkle. “I wasn’t. I’m not. To be honest I sort of, kind of, liked it just a little.” Her words shrank as she spoke.

Anon opened his mouth, then closed it. He placed his palm atop her hoof. They both looked at it.

“Your hand’s warm,” Starlight said after a few moments.

“Oh, sorry.” Anon moved to lift it, but Starlight pinned it with her other hoof. He looked at her face. Her eyes were twinkling. Did they always do that?

“Inns in Filly are expensive,” Anon said softly. His heart beat was perceptible. “It might be cheaper to get a room with one bed.”

“It could get cramped,” Starlight said. She kept his gaze.

“Would it bother you?”

“Not if it doesn’t bother you.”

Anon shook his head.

Their train arrived on time. The ride was just as loud as the trip to Baltimare. Anon didn’t notice.