Twilight Sparkle… the ever-enthusiastic friendship scholar… the most powerful unicorn Equestria’s ever known… the egghead (says Rainbow Dash)… the lovely, lively lavender librarian… and possibly the best girl Scratch that; FILLY-friend anyone— pony or human— could ask for. It’s been quite a while since she and I met under what could be the most random, accidental circumstance imaginable. Like, “Poof-here-I-am-now-let’s-be-friends” kind of random. Literally. It happened such a long time ago, and I was sure I’d never experienced the things I’d experienced with her in my life.

Over time since our sudden encounter, we’d taught each other about the customs of our respective worlds, spent time together, and became friends… and even a step beyond. I’d be inclined to delve into every miniscule detail of how something as… unorthodox as a relationship between a human being and a sentient purple unicorn from an alternate world would even work. But nobody likes being bored to death with a collection of tedious, mind-numbing details (especially when they’re supposedly not scientifically possible), so I’ll simply say this instead: It WORKS!

Starting today however, she’d been acting a little… unusual.

“Heeey, Ty!” the radiantly gorgeous mare of the hour greeted as I stepped in through my doorway after a long day of work. “I see you’ve gotten a haircut. It suits you well!”

“Helllooooo, Twi! My goodness have I missed you!” I excitedly responded as I took off my shoes and callously cast them aside before picking my vibrant purple filly-friend for a hug. “Funny you should say that, though. Most others tend to like me better with shorter hair. I think i’ss more suitable for me too. But anyway, where you been all my life?” I jokingly asked.

“Busier than usual, unfortunately,” she answered before planting a smooch on my cheek.

“Is that so? Wha’ss been tyin’ you up?” Rather than put her down right away, I carried her upstairs into my room before sitting down on my bed with her on my lap.

“A LOT…” she emphasized as she made herself at home.

"A lot, huh?" I dared to question in interest. "Like what?"

“Well first, my friends and I recently had to save this thousand-year-old Crystal Empire so I could pass a test of my magic ability."

"Ooh... Sounds rough," I consoled, already knowing she was about to let me know exactly the types of stress she'd been under.

"Believe me, it was. It took a lot out of all of us to rid the place of the evil king who'd been keeping it under shrouds for the last thousand years."

"Wow..." was all I could think to respond with. She'd already told me more than I could imagine.

"As if things couldn't get more extravagant, a couple weeks later, Pinkie Pie came up with the bright idea of utilizing an enchanted pool in the Everfree Forest to clone herself at least one hundred times simply because she couldn’t fathom the idea of not knowing everything her friends were doing..." she explained.

"Jeez, what'd I miss?"

"Believe me, hon, it gets better. A short while after spending an entire day deciphering the real Pinkie from the clones she conjured up and sending every one of her carbon copies back to the mirror pool they were spawned from, Trixie decided to return to Ponyville, corrupted by an evil Alicorn amulet. Using said amulet, she exiled me from Ponyville over a grudge against me I personally believe was entirely misplaced..."

"Who's Trixie?" I asked, as thoroughly intrigued as I was comprehensive of the understandably distraught unicorn mare. "An' what grudge?"

"Ah, right... I forgot I haven't ever told you about this before. To explain that," she began with the enticing, yet professional flair of an experienced schoolteacher. "...I'd have to give you a little bit of a definitive background first. Simply put, she's a professional magician who formerly had an ego twice the size of my library. On her first visit to Ponyville, she fabricated a story about defeating an Ursa Major, which, thanks to two colts who wholeheartedly believed her, was unraveled at the seams, as the two had inadvertently lured an Ursa Minor-- which despite being only the cub of an Ursa Major, is still very sizable-- into town. I just happened to be the one to have to clean up that mess after doing some impromptu studying on the Ursa as a species. Hence, the misplaced grudge. She took me saving her flank from certain doom at the expense of her reputation as me humiliating her! How absurd!"

"Got that right..." I sympathetically concurred. "What happened when she came back?"

"She challenged me to a magic duel, coercing my participation through low-brow extortion and mean-spirited threats against my friends."

"I take it you whupped her ass, right?" I inquired, not paying much attention to my diction in my investment in Twilight's story.

"Unfortunately... I didn't," the mare sadly admitted to my shock.

"You... LOST???"

"Hard to take in, I know... That amulet increased her powers far beyond my own, while at the same time feeding off of her resentment toward me. That was enough to give her the edge she needed to defeat me..."

"Wow... So what'd you have t' do t' get rid of 'er?"

"I had to devise a convoluted plan involving a similar variety of parlor tricks and optical illusions to the kind she's made herself famous for in order to trick her into taking the thing off. From there, she would come back to her senses in time for me to demonstrate my power to some delegates from a far-off land by the name of Saddle Arabia… Luckily for both of us, Trixie and I made amends before she fled town once again. I'm at least happy to say she's learned her lesson."

"Interesting..." I pondered the unicorn's most recent trials and tribulations. "Anything else you wanna share?"

"Much more than I care I even think about at this point!" she practically announced through an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, I need a break…” she complained, her unhappiness evident.

“Jeez… what a hassle that sounds like… no wonder you been M.I.A. the last couple weeks or so…” I sympathetically replied. “Anything I can do to cheer you up?” At that, she smiled.

“I… don’t know…” she answered, feigning an endearing sense of cluelessness as she stretched herself over my lap before lying down to get comfortable. An instant later, her horn glowed, followed by my right hand. She willed my appendage to rest itself on her back. “Any ideas…?” she winked.

“I… might-a came up with a couple…” I slyly answered as I fulfilled her implied wish by running the hand down her back, eliciting a purr from her. Music to my ears, if I do say so myself. I followed up by rubbing her again and again, eventually switching hands so as to gain the ability to gently run my fingers through her mane alongside momentary sessions of scratching behind her ear as I stroked her soft, velvety lavender body. Ever since the first time we met, she always enjoyed being rubbed down in this manner. This time proved no different… at least, not at first.

“Mmm… could you… rub a little lower…?” the lovely mare innocently requested.

“Lower? Sure,” I answered, thinking nothing of the request. Normally, being the gentleman I am, I’d rub her as far down as an imaginary limit line I’d set on her lower back. But I guessed that I’d be crossing that line. “How much lower?”

“To my tail is fine…” I raised an eyebrow and blinked.

“Uh… are you sure? I mean, I don’t want you t’ get the idea that I—!”

“Ty… we’re both adults here. Plus, we’ve been dating for approximately eight months, three weeks, and six days now… it’s perfectly fine if you touch my rump…” I exhaled in shock.

“Oh well, when ya put it that way…”

“You know what I mean… such a naughty mind you have…” I chuckled.

“Got me there… You been countin’ the days, though?” I asked as I fulfilled her wish.

“Yes... All the way down to each magnificent hour… I only wish we could've celebrated a bit sooner... but please, don’t stop now.” Wordlessly, I complied with a shrug and continued my massage, rubbing her from her neck all the way down to where her tail connected as I moved a hand to brush softly against various parts of her face. She was really getting into it this time… joyfully moaning and sighing more profusely than usual, blithely wiggling and squirming into every rub, topped with the occasional gasp of delight… to be curt, I was getting VERY uncomfortable in a certain kind of way.

“Not now… not now… not now…!” I thought, trying to keep myself under control. I took a deep breath, gulped, and clenched my legs together, all the while still massaging my special someone. “Stay down…! Please...?”

“Oh, is that your girlfriend…?” came a thought from a deep, dark part of my mind I'd been trying to keep silent in my time with Twilight.

“Y-yeah…?”

“I’mma poke it!”

“Don’t you do it...”

“I’mma do it!”

“Don’t you do i-!” Twilight wiggled into my stomach, causing me to inadvertently let out a quiet grunt as I felt her abdomen grind ever so gently against my...

“Dammit…”

“Is there something wrong, Ty?” Twilight asked, snapping me out of my mental conflict.

“O-oh nothin’, honey. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a little... tense…”

“Tha’ss one way o’ puttin’ it…” I offhandedly remarked.

“Do you want to stop?”

“No, not at all!” I lied against my better judgment, not wanting to disappoint her. “Jus’ need some stretchin’ room is all. Why don’t we lay down?”

“Sure…” with that, the unicorn got up off of me so as to allow me to stretch out before getting comfortable on my bed and allowing her to lie down on my belly. Once she got comfortable, she gave me one of those glazed, half-lidded smiles I so VERY much adored. “You know, I’ve missed you a lot…” she dreamily informed as she leaned in to kiss me. "It feels like forever since we've done this..."

“As have I, Twi… As have I…” I concurred, restarting my efforts in making her comfortable by rubbing her again. She laid her head down on my shoulder, allowing herself to fall into a state of bliss as I massaged her. I have to say, she definitely felt warmer than usual… like, a pleasant kind of warmth one would feel if they were awoken by the early morning rays of sunlight or relaxing in a hot tub once their body became accustomed to the temperature.

I wondered if she was getting sick again or if it had been a hot day in Equestria and the heat hadn’t fully radiated off of her yet. Or possibly that her excitement in seeing me again, coupled with this rubdown, had made her so comfortably warm. But then, as the quiet air around us set in, I could feel and faintly hear her heart thumping against my chest as if she were rhythmically tapping me with a hoof.

“Mmm… how’ve you been since last time, Ty…?” she managed to ask through her pleasured moans and sighs.

“More or less the same… nothin’ exactly worth notin’ happened…” I replied. “Gotta admit though: It gets pretty lonesome ‘round here without you.”

“Oh, I’m… sorry. I wish I were able to… *sigh* to visit more often…”

“Don’t sweat it. You’re a busy mare. A VERY busy mare, as far as I've heard… Don’t let me slow you down.”

“I love your consideration for my cumbersome… mmm… schedule… but really… I’d like nothing more than to spend time with you…” she countered as she picked her head up, her eyes still half-closed. Before I was able to say anything, she kissed me again, this time much deeper. Though taken by complete surprise, I hardly tried fighting her. I allowed her to take me into the realm of luxurious satisfaction that she’d been in since I began her massage. As the two of us lip-locked, she became steadily more aggressive. She wrapped her fore hooves around my head, taking control over me and deepening her smooches to the point where she may as well have been trying to suck air directly from my lungs. The unicorn was writhing and grinding very slowly into my belly as I rubbed her. A red flag raised in my head as soon as I began to pick up a most unusual, indescribable, yet faint, musky scent. As exciting as it all was, she’d never gotten THIS much enjoyment out of a massage. In addition, she was beginning to feel very hot. I pulled away and stopped rubbing her to catch my breath, much to her disappointment.

“Whoo… hah… hey, you feelin’ okay?”

“Yes… wonderful, even. Why?”

“That’s great! But… you’ve NEVER done that t' me before. Not while I was rubbin’ you…” At that, she blushed.

“Oh! Well… I guess I’m just really happy to see you again after such a long time…”

“And you feel a bit warm… Are you comin’ down with a fever?”

“No, no, I’m fine… trust me, there’s nothing wrong with me. At all.”

“At all?” I skeptically asked.

“At *gasp* mmm… all…” she shakily replied. Her reply was shaky because I took the liberty of slowly dragging the tips of the fingers on my right hand from her ear all the way down to her flank, causing her to shudder with what I could tell was delight.

“I ain’t so sure… you’ve never been so sensitive to the touch before…”

“Y-yes I have!” she hurriedly rebutted, taking on a look of alarm. “What makes you say I haven’t been?”

“A lotta things… specifically, you vocalized your comfort a lot more than usual."

"And?"

"That an' you were kissin’ me while I rubbed you."

"And that's suspect to you?" the mare shot back in a tone of disbelief.

"No. What's suspect t' me is how much effort you was puttin' into it. Much as I enjoyed it, I didn't ever really mark that up as your type o' thing."

"I fail to see how THAT would be unbecoming of none other than your significant other... If you don't want to continue, you can just say so," she answered me in a sudden tone of irritation.

"Relax, Twi. I'd love t' continue. I'ss jus' that you never usually show this much... arousal during a massage..." I thought about mentioning the unusual smell coming from her, but I refrained from doing so for fear of hurting her feelings further.

"Well I'm just really happy to see you," she defensively explained, sounding a bit more irritated. "I mean, give a mare a break, Ty. I'm sorry if I came on a bit stronger than usual, but is it really worth interrogating me for? It's not like I'm trying to harm you or anything..."

"Okay, okay, I understand. Sorry t' upset you. I was jus' a li'l worried is all."

"It's okay. Now where were we?"

"I believe we were at th--!"

*grrrrrowwll*

"...the part where I go get somethin t' eat. I kinda skipped lunch at work today. If you'll excuse me..." With that, the unicorn took her sweet time in getting off of me so I could get up. Before heading downstairs into the kitchen, I turned to look at her. She looked so sad. She looked like I was leaving and never coming back or something. "Are you sure there's nothin' wrong with you? Why you lookin' all sad all of a sudden?"

"Sad?" she inquired, fixing her face into a smile. "I'm fine, sweetie. Please, go and get your lunch," she added, lifting her hoof and giving me the 'shoo' gesture.

"If ya say so," I responded before going downstairs.

"Ohh, Twilight... What are you doing? You're supposed to control yourself at a time like this... You need to take into consideration his feelings on such a delicate matter... What if he freaks out and tries to avoid me? What if he wants to help, but can't because of a probable conflict in him pertaining to the difference in our species?? I need to tell him... but how?" My thoughts raced in anticipation on how to break the news to him...

"I'm back!" Ty shouted, startling me out of my train of thought.

"Well that certainly was fast," I replied, flashing him the brightest smile I could muster in a desperate attempt to shroud my insecurity. He seemed to have bought it as he nonchalantly walked over and sat down next to me. As he approached, I could just feel the butterflies practically erupting from my stomach with such ferocity that I might've been able to spit a few out. It was almost as if we'd just met for the first time, but I couldn't understand why I was suddenly so unnerved...

"Yea, I jus' decided on a slice o' cake. Especially since I don't want Pinkie Pie maulin' me again..."

"Heh heh, yeah. Gotta remember not to break that Pinkie Promise..." I concurred.

"Yep. Heh..."

"Yeah..." A tense (for me) moment of silence passed over us. It felt like an eternity before either of us would do anything to shatter this inexplicably insufferable air of crushingly awkward timidity. I needed to tell him something, but I couldn't build up the courage to do it. I was so afraid of his reaction that I didn't even know how I would bring up a casual conversational topic that would appropriately divert into what I wanted to tell him...

"...Well, I'mma go t' the bathroom. Then we'll continue that massage, okay?" he suggested as he stood up to depart once again. Before he left, I went on a wild impulse to stop him, as I felt I suddenly conjured up the mettle to discuss the urgent issue with him. With that, I managed to say something.

"Um... Ty?"

"Yea?" he asked as he sat back down.

"You… like me, right? Like like me like me?" As expected, he gave me a facial expression of confusion at my inquiry.

"…Er, is this some kinda trick question? Cuz if it ain't, then I'm pretty sure there's solid evidence that you already know the answer t' that."

"Excellent. Just making sure. But anyway, um…" I was having trouble configuring my thoughts into a coherent verbal display of my feelings. Already, I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment. "I was wondering if you've ever thought about the stipulations of our relationship… You know… How you've been feeling about us…"

"...To be honest, I have," he answered. "I mean, a few months have gone by, an' not a single day in those months have thoughts about me bein' intimate with a unicorn from a whole different world not crossed my mind. But then I realize that you're just as, if not MORE intelligent than I am. Ah, who am I foolin'...? You ARE more intelligent than I am. Plus, it'd be stupid for me t' keep dwellin' on those things if you could move past 'em. At this point, I think I'm completely fine with my relationship with you, Twi."

"That's great!" I happily exclaimed and smiled. He returned the gesture by moving in to hug me; an embrace I was more than willing to accept.

"Still, I get the feel that somethin's botherin' you," he theorized to my shock as we separated. He looked me right in the eye and laid one of his big, soft, wonderful hands on my cheek. "Y'know, if there's anything: ANYTHING at all tha'ss botherin' you, you can tell me." I just wanted to tell him right then and there that I'd... well... that I'd begun my estrus cycle. For whatever reason, however, the reserves of my courage to do so were already veritably dried up like a tomato in the hot sun...

"N-no, nothing at all!" I impulsively lied, already bucking myself for it. "I was just wondering if you were still okay with being with me after so long. In any case, why don't we head off to Equestria now, hm? I'm sure the others will be excited to see you again."

"Sure! I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't miss the ol' crew."

"Great! Let's go then!" I commanded, channeling energy into my horn. Within seconds, we were on our way to Equestria...

Author's Notes:

Reuploaded and revised, yet incomplete as of now.