Celestia's sun had risen into the sky as the morning came. Its rays drifted into Twilight's window, bathing the room in a warm, bright light. The said unicorn remained asleep for some time, curled up under the blankets, sleeping on her side. Her legs twitched ever slightly and little squeaks flew from her mouth in soft whispers.

The unicorn stirred a bit, before her purple eyes slowly fluttered open. Twilight yawned, rubbing her eyes with her hoof and then rolling onto her back. Stretching her limbs, she then sat up and blinked the sleep away from her eyes. Trying to adjust to the waking world, it was then that Twilight discovered two things.

Her sheets smelled and needed to be changed and washed. Then she felt a strange tenderness around her hips, most especially between her legs. Nothing painful, just a mild tender tinge of discomfort.

Looking around her bed, it was empty, but clear that there once had been a second occupant.

Twilight's cheeks heated up.

“Last night actually happened?!”

No response.

Getting out of bed, slowly, Twilight stretched her limbs once again. She tried not to dwell too much on the events of the night before as she went about her morning routine, and yet, it refused to escape her mind. It certainly was a whole new experience she never expected, and hard to believe actually happened.

Using her magic, she levitated her hair brush over, proceeding to smooth out her matted, messy mane. As she looked into the mirror, Twilight sighed at the sight of how messy she looked. Last night's events combined with her sweat surely had taken their toll on her mane and tail, and her cheeks were rosy.

'So, last night actually happened... Ascentia and I not only shared a kiss...more than one kiss...but she became...sexual with me. I offered to do so as well, but she refused, since she was uncomfortable with it... Wow...' Twilight thought, staring with wide eyes at her reflection. 'I can't believe it happened! I practically had sex, made love, rolled in the hay, bucked, all that stuff! And with...Ascentia...a different species! Isn't that kind of frowned upon? A pony and a Val'Kyr? Has that ever happened before? No, probably not...'

The unicorn exhaled, finishing up in brushing her mane, then moved on to her tail.

'Okay...so last night, she pleasured me... And it was amazing. I never felt anything like that in my life! It felt so good! Wow... I guess now I'm wondering what's next, aren't I? Didn't we talk about that? Kind of, but she said we could talk more about it later... Well, I guess that's what I'll do. I should think about it first, really give it some thought, and then we can talk more about it. For now, we'll just see what happens. At least now I have something to think about when it comes to my report...'

Finishing up, Twilight left her room, coming to see Spike just heading toward her. When he caught sight of her, he grinned.

“Hey, Twilight! I was just coming to wake you up! We have some pancakes ready if you're hungry.”

“We?” Twilight tilted her head.

“Yeah, Ascentia's still here! She was helping me out.” Spike gestured to the kitchen area. “So come and eat!”

Nodding, she followed him to the kitchen. Sure enough, Ascentia was kneeling next to the table, setting down three plates and utensils alongside some syrup and a jug of orange juice. Upon their arrival, she looked up and gave Twilight a small smile.

“Good morning, Twilight,” she said, nodding toward her.

“Good morning!” Twilight greeted, sniffing the air. “Mm, sure smells good in here!”

Chuckling, Ascentia gestured to the baby dragon as she finished setting the table. “You can thank Spike for that.”

Spike grinned at them, winking. “You're too kind, ladies! So let's sit down and eat these pancakes! A good breakfast is the foundation of a good day!”

“And a bad breakfast?” Twilight quipped, snickering as she sat at the table.

“...Indigestion.” Ascentia deadpanned.

This made Twilight laugh, along with Spike. Before long, Ascentia broke her straight face as well, beginning to smile and laugh a bit along with them. In doing so, she retrieved a plate of pancakes and placed it on the centre of the table. They served themselves, proceeding to eat mostly in silence, aside from the occasional request of passing something.

Twilight occasionally glanced over at her Val'Kyr companion, for no real reason she could think of. There was nothing out of the ordinary, no more than usual. Ascentia merely sat there, taking occasional bites of her food or chewing, sometimes glancing out the window. After a moment or two, she glanced over at her with a mildly curious stare. Shrugging, Twilight went back to eating her food.

“So, what's on the agenda for today, Twilight?” Spike asked with his mouth partly full.

The question caught the unicorn off guard for a moment. She hadn't even checked her daily planner, let alone had an idea of what needed to be done today. In fact, she hadn't even double-checked it the night before, considering how...busy she had been.

“I...well, haven't even checked my daily planner! I'll take a look after breakfast.” Twilight responded.

Ascentia gave an amused chuckle. “That would be a first, wouldn't it?”

Twilight stuck her tongue out at her in response. Ascentia poked her on the snout with a finger.

“Eat your food, you silly filly.” Ascentia told her.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight nodded. “Yes, mommy.”

They went back to finishing up their breakfast, while Twilight was lost in her thoughts yet again. She had a lot to think about, but wasn't sure what to do next. Thinking it over was going to take time, but what was she to do about it in the meantime?

'I can't exactly ask Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, they might flip if they knew... What about Cadance? She has experience in-wait. No way! I don't want think about my brother doing all that! Ew!' Twilight made a face. That was about the equivalent of hearing her parents sharing their love life tales. 'Okay, scratch that idea. Who can I talk to about this?' The more she thought about it, the more other aspects of last night came back to her mind. It began to dawn on her. 'Of course! Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, they must have been sleeping together for a while now, right? Maybe I can ask them! Well, maybe Rainbow might be willing to share advice. Fluttershy is usually reserved about this kind of thing, I guess. No wonder they didn't tell any of us about their relationship. Perfect! I'll just ask Rainbow!'

“Hey Twilight,” Spike suddenly said, interrupting her train of thought. “I told Pinkie about Cadance's pregnancy! She wants to know when the baby shower's going to be, and that she'll throw it for her.”

Twilight wiped her chin with a napkin, “It's been less than a month, Spike. Isn't it usually customary to throw a baby shower when the mare is at least, I don't know, between five and nine months pregnant? Usually that's because it's around then that they know the baby's sex and are able to pick out the right kinds of clothes and nursery decorations.”

“Well...I guess you're right...” Spike said thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “But I guess we can just let Cadance know that the offer's on the table ahead of time!”

“Good idea,” she said, finishing her pancakes. “I'll run that by Pinkie later on when I go buy some donuts. I still have to write back to Cadance, anyway.”

Twilight got up, taking her dishes to the sink and running the water.

“Spike, can you get my saddlebags and my daily planner, please? I'm going to head out for a little while. Do you guys need anything while I'm gone?”

Spike shook his head, as did Ascentia while she was beginning to help Spike clear the table. Afterwards, the baby dragon left the room and then came back with the requested items. Twilight placed her saddlebags on her back, and quickly flipped through her daily planner. Sure enough, she didn't have much planned today aside from brushing up on her studies and writing a letter back to Cadance. The only thing she really had to do was make a quick delivery to Fluttershy's cottage, then stop at Sugarcube Corner on the way back.

As the unicorn headed to the door, gathering up any materials she needed on the way, she felt a presence following her. She then turned around to face Ascentia. Neither spoke a word, but the woman approached and gently ruffled her mane. Twilight gave a smile and giggled a bit, especially when her ears were being scratched.

“You know, um...thanks again for last night, Ascentia.” Twilight murmured, looking away a bit.

Smiling a bit in return, Ascentia nodded. “You don't need to thank me, Twilight. But regardless, you're very welcome.”

Twilight smiled more and nuzzled her before she opened the door, heading outside.

As planned, Twilight headed out to Fluttershy's cottage first. A few animals were frolicking about in the area, some of which stopping to look at her curiously, while a few others scampered off. She caught sight of Fluttershy coming out of her garden shed, which was built some ways off from the cottage. To her surprise, Rainbow Dash was coming out behind her, wearing a tool belt around her torso and a pair of protective construction goggles on her forehead. They were talking about something Twilight couldn't hear, given the distance.

Fluttershy nuzzled Rainbow before she flew over to the cottage and went inside. Rainbow Dash meanwhile, turned to face the shed and placed the tool belt down onto the ground. Twilight saw this as a great opportunity, where she could make her delivery and talk to her friend at the same time. With that in mind, she trotted over toward the shed, coming at an angle so that she wouldn't surprise Rainbow with her sudden presence.

“Hi, Rainbow! What's going on?” Twilight queried.

The cyan Pegasus looked at her and grinned. “Hey, Twilight! Fluttershy asked me to tear down her shed, since she wants to build a new one. NOT because I'm having issues with her and am tearing down her property because of it!”

Rolling her eyes, the unicorn decided to ignore that. “Right.”

“Anyway,” Rainbow brought her goggles down, “what's up?”

All at once, Twilight realized she hadn't planned how to approach this. She didn't even expect to see Rainbow this soon, on top of that. But how was she going to get around the very fact that she wasn't exactly ready to share the fact that she'd gotten sexually involved with someone? Much less a different species? As supportive as her friends were, she knew they had limits, and would need a lot more time to let this sink in.

Maybe laying it all out wasn't the best of idea. Twilight bit her lip, thinking of a way around it. Eventually, it then hit her. She sighed in relief, knowing just the thing to do.

“Well, Rainbow... You know how Princess Celestia has given me a new assignment, right?”

“You mean about the other stuff about relationships? Yeah. What about it?” Rainbow looked at her quizzically.

Twilight cleared her throat, thinking of how to approach this tactfully. “Actually, it's something I have to confess. Just hear me out, okay?”

Already, Rainbow's smile faded. Clearly, she didn't like where this was going. Maybe beating around the bush wasn't the best idea, either.

“One time, I....well, I caught you and Fluttershy...” Twilight's cheeks pinkened considerably. “You and Fluttershy were in bed together...h-having sex... I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I swear! It was an accident!”

“You saw us?! Aw man, you have got to be kidding me!” Rainbow yelled, looking embarrassed and a bit upset. “Why didn't you say anything?!”

“I didn't want to disturb you guys or put you in an awkward position-okay, that came out wrong...you know what I mean!” Twilight cleared her throat again. “But look, what you two do behind closed doors is your own business. That's not what I'm trying to get at here, okay?”

Rainbow tensed a bit more, then exhaled once. “Still, now you know! Just...don't tell anypony, okay? It's not exactly something we talk about.”

“Rainbow, you don't have to be ashamed. If you two are together, that's okay! You know you can tell us that-”

“Wait, together?” Rainbow cut her off, wide-eyed. “Uh, Twilight? We're not together. N-Not in the way you think! We're just...we...well...ya know...”

Now Twilight was a bit confused. “What do you mean you're not together? I saw it clear, you guys were-”

“Just because Fluttershy and I are having sex doesn't mean we're together!” The cyan pony responded with indignation, looking away.

In a way, Twilight realized that she had a point.

“Well...” The lavender unicorn began again, looking around them for a moment. “What does that mean, then? Are you two what they call 'friends with benefits'?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, “Yeah! I mean, Fluttershy's my best friend, but I'm not in love with her! We're not in love, we're not together...we just like sleeping together, that's all! Look, just, don't tell anypony about it. It's kinda our secret.”

“Rainbow, don't worry. I won't tell anypony. It isn't even my place to do that, anyway!” Twilight shook her head. “But just for the sake of curiosity, how long? When did this happen?”

“Er...” The prismatic-maned mare looked around nervously before adjusting her protective goggles to her forehead again. “You remember that one night in Applejack's barn, we were all having one of Pinkie's parties, and AJ brought in alcoholic apple cider?”

“Yeah...you and Fluttershy were drunk and all over each other.” Twilight giggled at the memory. “You two were flirting, calling each other cutesy names and dancing. It was hilarious!”

Rainbow blushed immensely, looking away with a scowl. “Yeah yeah, you get the point. When we left, I took Fluttershy home, and she invited me to stay with her for the night. You know, she didn't want me flying home while drunk. I was all protesting and saying I could do it, but boy she didn't let me go. And so we went upstairs to her room, then we...kinda sorta might'vestarted making out. Then she was saying all these sex puns...didn't think she knew those, and was looking at me funny. Before I knew it, Fluttershy pushed me down onto her bed, we got real wild and we started doing it. She topped me...”

Unable to help it, Twilight laughed a bit at the image. The very idea of Fluttershy of all ponies actually going on top against Rainbow Dash was a pretty hilarious notion, to be sure.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up!” Rainbow stuck her tongue out childishly. “So we got up the next morning, had hangovers, all that jazz. But we remembered pretty much everything that happened the night before. Fluttershy kept acting like she committed a crime and was blaming herself for it.”

Twilight let it sink in, despite how surprising this all was. “Okay, so then what?”

The speedster didn't respond for a few moments as she seemed to gather her words. She then looked toward Fluttershy's cottage, then back at Twilight. “It's hard to say. We just knew what happened, and we liked it. Since then, we just...kind of do it sometimes if we want to. So yeah, friends with benefits!”

'Wow. It's almost the same, isn't it? Except with different circumstances. Is that what we'll be? Friends with benefits?' Twilight thought, not facing her friend. “Okay, well what made you guys decide to keep going with it?”

“...Why do you want to know?” Rainbow asked, frowning with confusion.

“Well, I'm curious. Not to mention, you guys are my friends and I honestly never met anypony who's been in this kind of situation before. At least, not to my knowledge, anyway.” Twilight inwardly thanked herself for coming up with a quick save.

“Twilight, did you have sex with anypony?” Rainbow asked bluntly.

“NO!”

“Are you sure?”

“I promise you, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied, “I didn't have sex with anypony.”

That was technically true.

Whether she was suspicious or not, Rainbow Dash didn't show it, “Fair enough, I guess. It just kind of happened after that. Once we were over it and didn't feel like louses because of it, Fluttershy said she really liked it and said she wouldn't mind doing it again. Well, I kinda felt that way too! Fluttershy's my best friend, we'd gone through a lot together, you know? I guess it just kinda felt pretty awesome to sleep together on top of that! So one night, I had her over, and we just hung out, then we decided to try it again. It was kinda weird at first, since we were sober, but it was fun! Once we got the hang out of it, we just do it whenever we feel like it!”

“...Wow...” Twilight murmured, taking this all in. Two of her own friends were doing the very same thing, deciding to just have sex together whenever they wanted. It was no wonder, they weren't in relationships, so there wasn't any cheating involved. They trusted one another, were very close, and were now comfortable with that kind of physical intimacy. “You sure you're okay with it?”

“I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't. Same with Fluttershy. If she told me that we shouldn't do it, you know I'd back off.” Rainbow replied, not looking at her.

That was a good point. The unicorn paced a bit as she mulled this over. The facts at hoof were that it could work, but what if it really didn't? As far as she knew, sexual intimacy could make or break any relationship, most especially if it wasn't of a romantic sort. Would it be risking too much? So many questions buzzed in her mind, not letting up until she hand answers.

“What would happen if you two fell in love?” Twilight wanted to know.

Once more, Rainbow's cheeks tinted bright pink. “Twi, come on. Don't say things like that. I don't feel that way about Fluttershy, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't feel that way either. It's just...it can't happen!”

“Why not?”

“Fluttershy is my best friend! Don't you see? There's some kind of unwritten rule about falling in love with your best friend! It just can't happen! It would screw everything up! And I don't want to lose her, Twilight!”

Unable to help it, Twilight smiled a bit. “Really, and having sex together doesn't mess things up?”

“You know what I mean!” The daredevil shouted with indignation. “It's fine, really! There's nothing to worry about!”

“Right...” Twilight rolled her eyes a bit, shaking her head. “Well, regardless, this does make for some good information to use in my report!” At Rainbow's look, she said, “Don't worry, I'm not going to reveal it's the two of you. I'm just reporting on the findings. I wouldn't do that.”

Relieved, Rainbow nodded. “Fine. And still, don't tell anypony, and don't try to get Fluttershy to talk about it. Not unless she's ready to.”

Twilight nodded, “Don't worry, I won't,” she said, and turned away. “Well, I'll let you get back to work. I have to drop off a couple of books for Fluttershy, anyway.”

“Sure. See you later!” Rainbow waved her hoof, and then darted into the shed to get on demolishing it.

Heading toward the cottage, Twilight yet again mulled over what Rainbow as talking about, trying to make sense of it. Now exposed to friendship with benefits first and second hoof, she just wondered how to even go about it all.

Later on, Twilight arrived at Sugarcube corner to get some treats. The walk around had done her some good in getting her thoughts straight, as well as relaxing from the comfortable morning air. Upon arrival into the bakery, she was greeted with the fresh smells of baked goods. She would be lying if she said her mouth wasn't beginning to water!

Sure enough, Pinkie Pie jumped up from behind the counter, a washcloth in hoof. Upon seeing Twilight, she grinned widely and bounced over to her.

“Good morning, Twilight! I had a feeling you'd be here! Lo and behold, here you are!” She giggled, ruffling the unicorn's mane. “So! What can I get you? I'm sure you're in the mood for some super duper yummy treats!”

Twilight giggled a bit, nodding. “Actually yes, I am. I came to get some donuts, but I guess I might as well stock up on some other treats. It'll sure make Spike happy!” She levitated a list from her saddlebags, giving it to Pinkie. “I'd like an order of everything on that list, please.”

Pinkie nodded, taking the note into her mane. “Okey-dokey-lokie! I'll be right back!” She bounced off into the kitchen.

The studious unicorn waited patiently as she sat on her haunches, occasionally tapping her hoof along the floor. Eventually, she began to whistle a tune. A strange tune she sometimes heard Ascentia humming, sounding much like a strange marching tune.

At the corner of her eye, she saw another pony walking in, so she looked toward them. It turned out to be a gray Pegasus with a pale blonde mane, a mailbag strapped to her torso, and the ever prominent crossed golden eyes. She looked over at Twilight and gave her a warm smile.

“Hi, Twilight Sparkle. How are you this morning?”

Twilight smiled in return “I'm pretty good, thanks. How are you, Derpy? What brings you here?”

“I'm buying some muffins for the post office.” Derpy replied, shrugging a little bit. “It was my turn to do it, so I'm getting that going before I make my rounds.”

“Good, good.” Twilight nodded, facing the counter again.

Derpy looked her over for a moment, blinking. “Um, Twilight Sparkle, if you don't mind my saying, you look different today!”

Confused, the lavender mare faced the Pegasus. “What do you mean? I haven't really done anything different to myself.”

“I don't know, I could just be seeing things. But you look, well, really healthy. Like you're glowing.” Derpy inspected her more, and smiled. “I don't know, you just look really nice.”

“Well, I don't know what it is, but thank you anyway!” Twilight smiled, flattered.

Pinkie returned then, giving a box and a paper bag to Twilight. “Here you go, Twi-Twi! Super yummy treats all for you!”

“Thanks, Pinkie!” Twilight took them onto her back. “I'd better get going now.”

“Sure thing! Bye bye!” Pinkie said, and turned her attention to her next customer. “I know what you want, Derpykins!”

Derpy giggled, then waved to Twilight's retreating form. “See you later, Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight giggled and waved back. “You too, Derpy.”

“Oh! Twilight! I just remembered!” Pinkie suddenly said from the counter. “I'm going to be looking after the twins tonight! You know Pumpkin loves to see you, so why don't you come by?”

“Sure, I'll come see you guys for a while!” Twilight nodded. “See you then!”

She exited the bakery, making toward her destination of the library.

“I'm back!” Twilight announced as she came inside, shutting the door behind her with her magic.

She came to see Spike dusting the bookshelves, looking over at her as she entered the library. In doing so, he paused, then burped loudly. Sure enough, a small spark of flames escaped his mouth, and a scroll fell into his hand. But it wasn't the same kind of scroll that consisted of letters from the Princesses. It was a different kind of parchment, one Twilight couldn't quite discern at the moment.

“What's that, Spike?” Twilight asked.

“I don't know!” Spike unrolled the parchment, looking it over. “Oh! It's from Ascentia! She's sending you coordinates to some location...” He read them, and his eyes went wide. “Whoa. This place sounds really heard to get to! Not to mention really high up!”

Curious, Twilight levitated the note over to her and read it through. Sure enough, it was a little note from Ascentia, as well as consisting of coordinates.

Dear Twilight,

I've returned to my alcove some time ago. I have had this message sent to you through Spike. The following coordinates shall lead you to my abode. Where I live is impossible to get to, even if you are a Pegasus or an alicorn. It is specifically designed for teleportation. You are welcome anytime you wish.

Ascentia

“I didn't know she had a place around here in Equestria...” Twilight remarked, amazed. “I always thought she just went back to the capital.”

Spike gave a shrug, then looked at her questioningly, “Beats me! When are you going to check it out?”

Twilight thought for a moment, and then tucked the note away into her saddlebags. “Well, I guess I'll go after I do my studying and writing back to Cadance.”

Seeing the box and bag, Spike eagerly took both to carry to the kitchen, “Okay, Twilight! Let me know when you leave, okay? I'm going to head over to Fluttershy's later on to help her and Rainbow Dash with her new shed!”

“Okay, Spike! Sounds good, you'll be keeping yourself busy!” The unicorn giggled, nuzzling her assistant before she headed off to her bedroom.

That was of course when she remembered that she had some laundry to do.

She only hoped Spike didn't spot the problem while she'd been out.

COLD.

Twilight knew that the coordinates led to a mountain range within Equestria's outskirts. Not to mention higher up than she'd ever expected it to be. But the unicorn knew that she had no time to enjoy the view. The very moment she reappeared in the given location, she found herself falling.

Trying to scream, she was all the more terrified to realize that she could barely even breathe. But even that was overshadowed by the fact that she was falling. Twilight couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't hear. She felt. She felt a drop, she felt the updrafts of wind rushing past her body, the ice-cold feeling of the frozen, snow-peaked atmosphere.

Falling.

Much like when she would dream that she was falling, and would feel as if her body was plummeting. Her stomach rising and churning, butterflies cramping the walls, filling her with the feeling of vertigo.

Vertigo.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. All she could feel was the cold, and the vertigo.

Then something changed. She felt lighter. Warm. Her body wasn't falling anymore. Or did she think she wasn't? Twilight tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. She could barely move, she was restrained somehow. Yet, despite that, she didn't feel scared. All Twilight felt then was relaxed.

She was moving. She felt her body being moved. Slowly and gently, guiding her. What was going on? All she could manage to think was that somepony had caught her in their magic. But what unicorn could make it up here? The only alicorns she knew of were the Princesses and Cadance, and they couldn't have known she was coming up here.

Unless Spike told them? But why would he? Had she been gone too long, somehow? He had already left before she did.

No longer cold, no longer falling, she felt confused.

Her body was placed upon a surface. Twilight gained footing, opening her eyes and looking around her. Where was she now? Clearly she wasn't outside, it didn't feel cold, nor did she have any difficulty breathing. Ahead of her was a doorway, which she managed to slowly walk toward.

The room she came into made her jaw drop.

Most of the walls in the room were made of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all of which were fully stocked. There were so many books in the room that it made her head spin. She wondered if it was bigger than her own library! Well, somewhat. She knew of one library that was the biggest she'd ever seen, possibly bigger than the Canterlot library, but that was just featured in a work of fiction. But still her biggest dream to have, ever since she was a filly.

Twilight gaped as she took it all in, feeling a surge of excitement. A mountainous range of books to choose from! There were likely some she'd never read yet! She could spend hours here, just looking through them! Her stomach leaped, her heart soared, and her lips stretched into a huge smile.

“Oh my gosh!! I've never seen so many books in all my life!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the spot. “This is wonderful! Woohoo!! Look at all this!” She clapped her hooves like a school filly.

A chuckle was heard somewhere to her right. “I thought you'd like it, Twilight.”

“This is amazing! Look at all these books! You're the best! You know that, right? Well, I'm telling you again! You're the best!” Twilight squealed with glee, much like a child on Hearth's Warming. “What a library! This is wonderful!”

Almost immediately, the excited unicorn hopped over to one of the nearest rows of shelves, already scanning the titles of spines at eye level. Given that her smile never once left her face, it was obvious that she found a literary goldmine.

“WOW! You have Memoirs of a Geisha?! Get out of town! I love that book!” Twilight squealed, clapping her hooves as she replaced the book where it was. She used her magic to pull out another one. “Wow! A limited edition of Twelfth Night! Amazing! And wow! You have all these volumes of the Equestria Encyclopedia! I don't even have some of those! I'll have to read them sometime! Awesome! Oooh! No way! You have Ponies of War?! I can never find that book! A historical look on the times of pony wars, that should be very interesting to read! Oh, going to put that on my Read Later list! Eee! Wow! Look at that! Oh, and this one! Wow!”

Ascentia chuckled as she came over to the eager pony, “All right, you silly filly. You can calm down, now.”

But Twilight ignored her. “Wow! Look at this! You have those medieval classics you talked about! I want to read those, they must be fascinating! Oooh! Classic mystery novels! Yes! I want to read those, too! Detective Sparkle is on the case! The Pony Sutra? Get out of town! I'd carry that book if I could find it, but I don't know, I feel hesitant about owning a book like that for others to borrow. Would that be a good idea? Maybe not... I don't know! Ooh! What's that? Pet Sematery? Why is there a misspelling on the word cemetery? And for pets?”

“It's a horror novel, Twilight. Not quite what you think it is.”

“Right... Moving on! Ooh! Daring Do books?! Yay! I haven't read some of the newer ones! Oh, Rainbow Dash will flip! Woohoo! This is a goldmine! Ooh! What's that? Wow! A Little Princess! What a lovely story! I have to read it again! What's that? Oooh! ...Twilight? Hey, that's me! Let's see it!” Twilight pulled that particular book out. “...A story about vampires?”

“Oh, you won't like that. It's terrible.” Ascentia shook her head. “There are so many things wrong with those stories.”

“Why do you have it, then?”

“Guilty pleasure.”

“Oh...” Twilight replaced it. “Yeah, the summary didn't even sound that promising. Who talks like that?! 'I'm so irrevocably and unconditionally in love!', come on! It sounds like the writer was playing with the Thesaurus!”

“Trust me, the purple prose and dialogue is only scratching the surface for how bad it is.”

Twilight shuddered, and went back to scanning the titles some more. “Let's see what else there is! I haven't even finished these rows yet!”

Ascentia chuckled, sitting down on a chair. “You're going to be a while, aren't you?”

“Maybe,” the unicorn gave a squeeing grin.

Afterwards, when Twilight settled down (and picked out some books to place aside to read later) in her excitement, they sat down for some tea. Upon seeing a deck of cards, Twilight challenged Ascentia to a game of poker. Considering that they'd played card games before, it felt like a good ice breaker, so to speak. Now that Twilight had her mind off the books, she now had the very subject she was uncertain about at the forefront of her thoughts.

So they sat at the table, across from one another, a deck of cards between them. Twilight held her cards to her face with her magic, studying them carefully as she made an exchange.

“Well, Twilight, how was your morning?” Ascentia asked, looking at her the cards in her hand.

Twilight swallowed a bit, taking a breath. “Um, good! Pretty good. I uh...went to see Fluttershy... She's having her garden shed renovated! And Rainbow Dash was over there, helping out! Kind of like that one time she was helping Applejack demolish the barn! So it was, interesting... I'm sure the new shed will be great!”

“I see.” Ascentia looked at her hand once more, then back at the unicorn.

“Oh! It looks like we were wrong! They're not actually dating! They're friends with benefits!” Twilight blurted. “Yeah, I kinda confronted Rainbow about it...just because I was curious! No real reason, I just wanted to know! Not because of anything, just because I wanted to know!”

The woman glanced at her again, her brow rising a bit. “Twilight, is something troubling you?”

“Yep! Fine! So uh, that's uh...good, right? I mean, sure, I know friends with benefits is all about having casual se-intercourse! With uh, no emotional attachment! Heh heh...right?” Twilight smiled nervously.

“Well, if it works for them, I don't see the problem.” Ascentia shrugged. “There may be consequences if they're not prepared, but that will be up to them to face.”

Twilight shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “Yeah, I guess so. Rainbow kept denying that she liked Fluttershy that way, and I don't know about Fluttershy, I didn't ask.”

This made the Val'Kyr chuckle. “I see...”

“So, yeah! Then I went to Sugarcube Corner, to get some treats! Pinkie was being Pinkie, as usual!” Twilight decided to leave out the part of how she was told she looked. “And then I went back home, did some studying, wrote back to Cadance... And then I came here! And nearly fell to my death!”

This was good, at least now she had a subject change.

Ascentia looked at her again, shaking her head. “You missed the mark.”

“I know I did! But how did I get in here?”

“I sensed your presence, and I realized you were still out there. So I teleported you onto the platform outside.”

“I was falling for quite a while,” Twilight replied.

“You wouldn't have struck anything solid for about a minute in a half,” Ascentia replied, “I was in no rush.”

“Oh...” Twilight blinked, whistling a bit, idly wondering just how confident of her own abilities Ascentia was that she could be so casual about rescuing someone like that. “Well, thank you for that. I might have been done for. Um, how high are we? The coordinates stated that much, and I know we're in the mountains, but how high?”

“I can't stay exactly, the terminology of your atmosphere and measurements is not something I am familiar with, but we're high enough that there is little oxygen in the air. I have to adjust the oxygen levels here because of it. As you can see, this was specially made in which you can only come in here through teleporting.”

“What about flying? Is the air too thin for it?”

“It is, yes. Technically a Pegasus could reach here, but the air is too thin at this altitude. They would suffocate before locating my home. It does not exactly stand out.”

“How do you manage to create an atmosphere in here?” Twilight asked, pondering the nature of such a trick.

“Using telekinesis, it is easy to gather the loose oxygen molecules from the surrounding area and gather them into this hut,” Ascentia explained, “Add psychic barriers, and a few plants to partake in air exchange, and a breathable atmosphere is easily maintained. The only giveaway that a Val'Kyr or similar creature is here is that the surrounding spherical mile is comprised only of nitrogen.”

“Isn't it a challenge to maintain those kind of barriers?” Twilight asked, having researched magical terraforming during her studies.

“Twilight, you have seen me in combat,” Ascentia replied, “Any indication of difficulty should no longer be in question.”

“Oh...” Twilight murmured, and then lay down her hand. “Straight, in diamonds!”

Breaking her poker face, which she pretty much held all the time, Ascentia lay down her cards as well. “Royal Flush.”

“Darn it, you got me again!” Twilight stuck her tongue out at her.

The Val'Kyr chuckled, taking the cards and shuffling them, “I'm just lucky, I guess.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two. Or so it seemed. Twilight's mind was jumbled with flashbacks and memory-sensations of the night before, not to mention the inevitable factor of what they were going to do next. How would they proceed? What would happen then? How were they going to talk about it?

She felt nervous and uncertain all over again, as if pressured. Her stomach churned, her heart seemed to be trying to get her chest's attention, and her mind was about to burst. What what she going to do?

“Twilight, about last night-” Ascentia began.

Twilight cut her off, “More tea?”

Jumping up, Twilight reached for the teapot, her mind racing a mile a minute. Before she had a chance to pour it, though, Ascentia took the teapot from her. Placing two fingers over her horn, Twilight felt a cool sensation rush down her horn, through her mind, and down her spinal column. Her mind slowed, and she found herself in a more relaxed state.

“So... more tea?” she asked again.

This was going to be a very long afternoon.

Author's Notes:

Hey y'all, I bet you're wondering what the heck is going on here, right? Well, THIS happened. You know I said I would write a follow-up if I could think of anything, right? Well, more or less, I had ideas floating around in my head, but I had still intended to keep this as a one-shot. But then some time ago, Bhaalspawn and I were talking about it, and he offered some ideas on what could work in following it up. And they were good ideas, which really planted some good seeds, and so I started to write it.

Now we're going to keep on going with it! It's a bit of a collaboration in some way, a little different than how I usually do it with someone. But it all works out and we get a lot of good things going with it. So we're still working on it together, of course.

Overall, we'll see where it all goes and we hope you guys enjoy it!