Liked and Faved automatically.  Let's see where this is going!

Edit: Yep, this is great.  I liked the extra peek into the nudity taboo in a manner which wasn't excruciatingly embarrassing for all involved.  It flowed well and fit perfectly within the style of the 'verse.  Nice job!

Edit 2: Aw, who the hell down-voted already?  I'm hoping somepony just clicked the wrong button by accident!

I never get sick of Xenophilia stuff. It also seems that none of it is bad, despite it being passed between more people than Hemmingway's whore.

Good job!

Heeeeh, cute ending...

For anyone curious, this was posted up on the Xenophilia comments on the Clopfic Archive, and was the inspiration for the chapter "Breaking Taboos".

Good job on the story man

A delightful little story based on the Xenophillia works. You captured the portrayal of the characters well and I have to admit I enjoyed reading a less wordy version of the setting for once. I did feel you could have gone into more detail at certain points. Like, the lead up to the social taboo being breached and then the scene where he was actually there was very disproportionate. It felt like a let down. All that build up for very little happening once it comes.

Ah well, that's Slice-of-Life for you I guess. Not a genre I normally care for. My rambling aside, well done on this, and thanks for sharing it!

>>16031931603193

Haha, I hear you there! I'm hoping it becomes a trend.

You've nailed it! This was a truly enjoyable read - your story fits perfectly in the Xenoverse.

A definite MOAR + fav + thumbs up + watch from me :].

Thanks, everyone, for enjoying this story.

>>16034551603455

I agree. I made a big deal of the nudity taboo in the description, but didn't really deliver in the story itself. It was more about Twilight being conscientious of Lero's differences, and going out of her way to make things easy for him than it was about the nudity taboo. Thank you for the criticism.

Hmmm... No point in parroting what >>16034551603455 said, so I will add a new idea:

The "penis size incident" sounds like it would make for an interesting side story in and of itself. We've never seen a falling out between Dash and Lero, and this would be a good way to start off.

You know what's really creepy?

When somebody uses the word "ladies" once every few seconds.

Ladies.

A very fun story! It was well-written, knew its purpose and audience, and got its point across. A very solid contribution to the budding universe that is Xenophilia.

There were a couple of minor details, however, that I thought I'd point out:

1) Frottage. Noun. The act of obtaining sexual stimulation by rubbing against a person or object (from the French frotter, or "to rub"). Innocent frottage is a bit of an oxymoron, considering its definition, and when it came up in the story it made me raise an eyebrow a bit. I had a sudden, sinking feeling about the way in which you might be planning to portray Pinkie. Of course, I realized that wasn't what you meant after reading the surrounding context... but you may want to consider a different word choice, there.

2) When Lero just leans over and simply picks up Twilight it broke my immersion a bit. Xeno very clearly states that Dash is not much lighter than Lero (I imagine on the order of about 120 lbs... maybe more) and that she is both shorter and slimmer than Twilight (hence, the librarian we all know and love is heavier). I had a hard time imagining Lero (a fairly average dude) just leaning over and slinging her unto his arms like that, considering her weight and the rather awkward shape of a pony. Actually, it made for a fairly amusing image in my head, trying to figure out how one would even go about doing that (ever try to do that to a full-grown Saint Bernard? Don't). Normally, I wouldn't bother nitpicking such a seemingly minor detail... however, Xeno kind of made its name on exactly those kinds of little world-building details (well, that and the lewd bits), so I figured I'd mention it.

Like I said earlier, though: Overall, this is a good slice of life fic that adds to the universe it's taking from, rather than simply rehashing what was there before. I can only hope further additions to the Xeno lore will be as enjoyable as this one.

Second reading, it was as enjoyable as the first. A nice, simple slice of life, and a nice play on the characters of the mane 6 too. All their reactions were pretty much spot-on. Yes, even Pinkie. That girl has absolutely no sense of personal space

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Pinkie_Pie_lolface.png

I saw another story i want to check out read later

>>16056461605646

Yes, I was pushing it with the frottage thing. It does need to be changed.

In the Xenophilia comments page at the clopfic archive, AnonAuthor says Dash is about 120 pounds whereas Lero is in the 170-180 pound range. Also, the first chapter states that Lero had put on a fair bit of muscle from playing Rainbow Dash's physically punishing games. Picking up and carrying Twilight Sparkle (in my mind) shouldn't be that big a deal for Lero.

However, her body shape does make it an awkward carry, at least when she righted herself in his arms. I imagined it as his hands between her legs while her legs dangled freely from the seat, one hip pressed against his body while the other faced outside. Maybe I should have explained it better (or admit that I'm wrong).

>>16067161606716

Oh, yeah, a fit guy picking up a solid weight (such as a bar with dumbells) should be able to pick up 75% of his body weight without too much issue. The problem is, that people and animals aren't solid steel bars. When they're not expecting it, they squirm around... even more so if you're tickling them. When that happens, 75% of your body weight suddenly feels a lot heavier. And, in fact, trying to carry 75% of your bodyweight in your outstretched arms like that when it doesn't want to be carried is an Olympian feat.

I'm not saying that Lero should have dropped Twilight or broken his back or anything. But I expected it to have strained him a decent bit to do what he did, while the text gave me the impression that it required about as much effort as picking up a chihuahua.

Again, this is not a point against the story overall. It's just something that jumped out at me as incongruous in a story that otherwise flowed really, really well.

Actually, a fairly good indicator of whether I liked a story or not is how much I nitpick it... I'm not sure what it says about me, but take everything I'm saying with that in mind. I'm just nitpicking because I like it.

You folks should also note that this was what inspired me to write the bit dealing with the nudity taboo.  That author's note, thanking "An anon on the Clopfic Archive"?  It was Goat Licker.  I'll message AnonponyDASHIE and get that changed to give proper credit.

I loved reading the parts of how cultural norms and character reactions to how they differ from human to ponies in the original story. More of it in another fanfic? Yes plz. The unusual lore the author gave in that story and how it applied to the story was one of the most fascinating things I've read in some time.

>>16070111607011

I certainly appreciate your nitpicking!

>>16092931609293

Thank you for the credit! I was glad just to have given you an idea for Xenophilia, no matter how minor.

LOL @ that ending

A wild PINKIE PIE appeared!

LERO used QUESTION!

It's super effective!

PINKIE PIE fainted!

The Xenophilia universe is by far my favorite in terms of making sense of the show, while still being creative.

good story indubitaly

Next up the ponies learn to be comfortable around him eating meat.  Seriously, why is he the only one that needs to respect the other culture

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Derpy_Hooves.png

Thumbed and Fave'd first thing. I regret nothing. Srsly, just read it, no regrets.

I normally have words that I think compel how I feel.

For what I have read here, Xenophilia, and it's side stories, for quite a bit of time, I was simply speechless.

I have read thousands of stories.  I love reading.  Not all of them were good.  Alot made me laugh, quite a few have made me cry.  An even fewer number have made me think.

None but this one was had me do all of the above, as well as analyse myself deeper than I ever remember doing.

Some of this review may not make people happy if they read it.  It is by no means the fault of the story, but of the circumstances at the time I happened to read it, as well as my own coming to terms with myself.

To get the "shock" value out of the way, for about two days after reading all this I was almost literally emotionally incapacitated.  Now, to explain this, most of that was not the fault of the story or even of me reading it.  I have recently deployed overseas, and although I have had a 14 year military career prior to that, I find myself in a position where for a time, I felt like I had no support network.  Technically, this is not true, as I have a phone, I can call my family, I have a wonderful girlfriend, and I can stay in touch with anyone I need to.  But in my prior military career, I had closer coworkers, and enough work to keep me occupied so I never really had anything like this happen to me before.  Basically, as far as I can tell, I got homesick.  Really badly.  I'm much better now, but I happened to read this story right near when all this hit me at once.

Now, to explain a bit, I am the type of person that believes far more in personality, connection, and emotions.  Although I don't mind if someone I am seeing "looks good", their intelligence and the emotional and intimate connections between us is what makes me happy, as well as "turns me on", per se.

At the moment when I felt most alone in the world, I read a story about such perfect relationships, ones that span an incredible amount of empathy and details the possibility of nearly unlimited happiness and love.

Something I feel may be out of reach for one such as me.  Not to say I wouldn't try.  But is perfection ever reachable?  And to want that type of connection so badly that to even think about anything related to it brings tears to your eyes?

I was not doing good.  But I'm doing much better.  I am strong, and I will move past any personal problems I have.  I have a number of friends and family that love me.  I am happy with my work, what I do, and how I have led my life.

Thank you for giving me something I can reach for, even if sometimes I feel I have to cry because I may never get there.  There is always hope.

>>16141931614193

With as impassive a poker fast as he could muster

Should be poker FACE.

>>17804381780438

Thank you! It has been fixed.