> Rivet's First Love > by StormLuna > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Introduction: About Rivet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rivet, the world's last remaining Alicorn worked construction for the city of Las Pegasus. Because of how long he had been working, he was easily the highest paid construction worker in Equestria and was held in very high regard by his co-workers. There were many occasions where he could have escaped working in the sweltering heat but chose against it because at heart he was a blue collar pony and was dead set on keeping it that way. He had no desire to do any kind of office work that would keep him from associating with ponies with his mindset, a more rough and tumble mindset where ponies can make off color remarks among one another and not get reported to some higher ups by a nosy individual who was too easily offended. Rivet had even been offered the crown of Equestria after the death of the Alicorn princesses yet he refused. He refused because that would not only take him away from the type of work and co-workers that he loved but he viewed being a royal as a curse. He had seen first hoof everything they had gone through. He knew of the stress they had and he knew of what would happen to them after they retired....death within ten years of retiring or assassinations by pro-republican extremists who despised the monarchy. Rivet was perfectly happy being a construction pony and attributed his longevity to the very fact that he remained a blue collar pony. The extremists looked over the fact that he was an Alicorn and simply let him be. He never had to face any assassination attempts nor would he be cursed with what some called the "retirement curse" that the princesses had to go through. One thing that Rivet had never had though was a marefriend. He had had plenty of mares show interest in him over the past two thousand years but all of them had always only wanted to be with him because of him being an Alicorn. All of them thought that by being with him they could be a princess but once they found out that he was not of royal blood and would never give up construction work, they would bolt. What Rivet wanted in a mare was one that would love him for him, not because he had both wings and a horn. Because of that, he had never been in a relationship and was perfectly fine with that. > An Unlikely Meeting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another summer day had arrived and like he had been for longer than he could remember, Rivet was woken up by the buzzing of an alarm clock. It is something he had grown used to a long time ago. After waking up, he turned on the news to see what was going on in the city and the country but most important to him, the weather forecast. When they reported that the high temperature that day was going to perhaps hit 110 degrees, he sighed in frustration. Yes he had long ago grown accustomed to that kind of heat but he still hated it. "Ugh, it is going to be another hot one." After finding out what affected him the most, he showered and then headed off to work. Even early in the morning, not even an hour after sunrise, the temperature had already eclipsed 80 degrees. The mornings were normally when most of the tourists were outside. By the time midday arrived, most were already inside the resorts and the casinos. When he arrived at work, he would be greeted by his co-workers. "Morning Rivet," questioned Anvil, "How's your day treating you so far?" "Same old, same old. Looks like it is going to be another hot one." Jack Hammer said, "Yeah, another hot day with hardly anypony out and about." Hard Hat added, "Yeah, there probably won't be any hot mares out and about." Out of the four, Hard Hat tended to be the one that always eyeballed the mares, seeing if any of them were attractive and contemplated approaching them and trying to get to know them. Rivet laughed, "You know Hard Hat, if you worked even half as hard on improving your magic as you do on checking out the mares, you'd probably be able to handle that jackhammer with your magic alone!" "Hey, I'm working on improving it!" He then decided to make a comeback, "You know if you didn't have such high standards, maybe you wouldn't still be a virgin!" This was one thing that always irritated Rivet, his co-workers always bringing up the fact that he had yet to lose his virginity. While he did get irritated, he didn't let it show, "Well when you're an Alicorn, you have to weed out the ones who want to take advantage of you and unfortunately for me, they all run off when they discover I'm the son of two unicorns and have no royal blood in me." The four got to work after their discussion and soon they would be distracted by two mares speaking rather loudly off in the distance. It was already midday and the temperature was well in excess of 100 degrees. Rivet looked their way and commented, "That isn't something you see very often, a unicorn and an earth pony walking together." Hard Hat added, "And they look like they're friends." He then got a smile on his face and added, "And that unicorn is a little hottie! Think I should ask her out?" Rivet sighed, "Hard Hat, you don't even know her." He then noticed something about the earth pony, he noticed that she smiled at him. Something seemed strange about her though, the smile seemed more genuine. He then commented, "Did you see that, the earth pony gave me what looked like a genuine smile." Hard Hat gasped, "Wait a minute, are you falling for an earth pony?" Rivet would be quick to defend himself, "I'm not falling for her, I just noticed that she smiled at me." Hard Hat along with the others began to chuckle a bit but they would all go silent when the mares began to approach them. As they approached, it seemed like the earth pony had locked eyes with Rivet. As the mares got closer, Rivet began to feel a bit nervous. He had never been overly good at communicating with those outside of his co-workers, family and closest friends and wondered what she would have to say. When they finally arrived Hard Hat was the first to say anything, "Hi ladies, it is kind of hot to be out and about today isn't it." The unicorn replied, "Yeah, it is like totally hot and stuff but we are from out of town and want to do some sight seeing." The earth pony ignored Hard Hat and approached Rivet, "Uh, hi. Hot day isn't it?" Rivet replied, "Yes, very hot. It is one of those days where I honestly wish I had the day off but the water main isn't going to fix itself." The two went quiet before the earth pony introduced herself, "I guess I should introduce myself." She extended her hoof and continued, "My name is Sunny Starscout." He extended his hoof out and shook hers, "My name is Rivet, head construction worker here in Las Pegasus." She knew that such a question was likely not polite but decided to ask it anyway, "I see you're an Alicorn. I didn't even know there were any Alicorns left." Normally such a question would frustrate Rivet but the fact that Sunny did not seem to be hitting on him over it made him much more opening to continuing to communicate with her, "Yeah, I'm a natural born Alicorn and the last one remaining." Sunny gave him a smile and while she knew this was a question that was not polite to ask to anypony, she was too curious not to. She asked, "I know Alicorns are immortal. I know this is kind of rude to ask but how old are you?" Rivet laughed a bit, "Older than dirt." He saw a bit of a disappointed look on her face and could tell that she was genuinely interested, "Let's just say I'm so old I remember back when harmony and friendship were the norm. I'm old enough that I remember back when Celestia was our princess." Sunny's eyes grew wide when she heard this. Never did she imagine that she would run across a pony who had been alive that long. She gasped, "Wow, you must be a walking history book! I bet you could be a history professor!" Rivet chuckled, "I probably could but I love my job too much to leave it. I'm a blue collar pony at heart and I plan on staying that way." Sunny did not respond and suddenly she fainted. Very quickly Rivet knew what was going on, she was starting to go into heat stroke. He yelled, "Guys, I have to get going, I have to get her inside now!" Izzy saw what was going on and said, "Sorry guys but I like totally have to get going!" Rivet grabbed Sunny in his aura and quickly got her inside the public works office. He had handled ponies with heat stroke before and took her into the cool down room for workers who go into heat exhaustion or heat stroke. He quickly got her laid down and put some pillows under her legs to restore blood flow to the heart. He turned to Izzy and said, "I'll be right back, I need to get some cool towels and get her some water." Izzy nodded as Rivet headed off to get the things he would need to help Sunny get through this. She looked down and asked, "Sunny, are you like going to be ok." Sunny smiled slightly and nodded her head, causing Izzy to get a grin on her face. "You're like totally crushing on him, aren't you?" Sunny gave her a smile, "Mhmm!" Very quickly Rivet returned with some damp towels and some water. He asked, "Could you help me get these rags placed on her? We need to get her body temperature down." Izzy grabbed some of the towels and began to place them on her friend. Once the two got her sufficiently covered, he offered her some water, "Sunny, I think you should have some water." She smiled, grabbed it and began to guzzle it. She would quickly be stopped by Rivet. "Sunny, take small sips. You're not supposed to just down water like that in this situation." Sunny began taking smaller sips and Izzy questioned him, "So do you think she'll be ok?" Rivet gave Sunny a smile before turning to Izzy, "Yes she will be ok but I do think it would be best if we kept her out of the heat. We don't want her body temperature getting too high again." Izzy was watching Rivet and noticed something about the smile that he gave Sunny and couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was crushing on her too. She pointed over towards the other side of the room and asked, "Do you think I could talk to you alone for a minute?" Rivet nodded, "Sure." He then turned to Sunny and asked, "Will you be ok alone?" Sunny nodded and he continued, "This should only take a minute or two at most." Sunny smiled before Izzy and Rivet headed to the other side of the room. Rivet asked, "Is everything alright? Are you feeling a little bit light headed?" Izzy gave him a smile, "No but I do have an important question for you, it involves my friend." Rivet blushed slightly, "Yes, what is it?" Izzy questioned in return, "Do you like have a crush on my friend?" Rivet again blushed a bit causing Izzy to gasp, "You do, don't you! You are like totally crushing on her aren't you?" Rivet had turned beet red by this point, "I'll admit this, she does seem like a really sweet mare and she is the first mare ever to not just hit on me the moment we started talking." Izzy became excited as she suggested, "You like totally have to tell her you're crushing on her cuz I know she is crushing on you too!" While many stallions would simply tell a mare that he was crushing on her, especially if he found out she was crushing on him, that wasn't how Rivet operated. He still had the mindset of Imperial Equestria in him, a time when stallions didn't go hitting on mares so quickly. He replied, "I just now met her, I can't do that! I don't want to make her think that I want to get in her coat!" Izzy wanted to reassure him, "She wouldn't think that and I can tell by the way she is watching you" the two then looked over towards Sunny to see her focused intently on Rivet and continued, "that she is totally crushing on you! You could like offer to take her out to supper." Rivet looked over at Sunny with a smile, "Alright, I'll do that. That won't make me look like I'm trying to force a relationship." Izzy gave him a smile, "You are a true gentlestallion aren't you?" Rivet nodded before the two headed back over to where Sunny laid. He knelt down and placed his hoof on her forehead and noticed that she had begun to cool down. He gave her a warm smile, "Good news Sunny, you're starting to cool down but" he saw Izzy motioning for him to continue, "I do have a question?" Sunny's eyes lit up when he said this, "Yes?" "I was wondering if you'd want to go out to supper tonight?" Sunny leapt up, embraced him and exclaimed, "Yes, oh yes! I'd love to, I'd love to go out with you more than anything!" Rivet gave her a smile, "Alright then. I'm going to stay in here with you until five and then I can take you and your friend out to supper." Sunny asked, "Well do you think she could sit at a separate table? I want it to be just us so we can get to know one another better." This was something that Rivet had never experienced before, a mare actually wanting to get to know him rather than simply deciding they were meant to be together because he was an Alicorn. He replied, "Of course, I'd love it if we could get to know one another more too." He smiled again before continuing, "Now we probably should get you laid back down so we can get your temperature back to normal." He turned towards the door and added, "Now I'm going to go tell the guys I'm staying in here with you until five. This should take just a couple of minutes." Once Rivet left the door, Izzy gave her an embrace and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, he's taking you out to dinner! You have got to be so totally excited!" Sunny gave her a huge smile, "I am. I can tell he genuinely cares about my well being and he is so hot! Unlike the guys back home, he is so much more mature. He is what would be classified as a real stallion back in imperial Equestria." Izzy giggled, "Well he is an imperial Equestrian silly so of course he would!" When the two heard him coming back, the ended the conversation. Once he got back over to where Sunny was laying, he gave her a smile, "Well the guys understood and I'll be staying with you making sure you cool down," he then blushed before adding "and taking you out to supper." Both of them blushed as Izzy watched them with a huge smile on her face. She watched the two and could see that they were already developing a connection by the way they were looking at one another. She couldn't help but wonder if her friend might be off the market by the time the day ends. > Rivet's Date > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The afternoon had passed and five o'clock had arrived. When Rivet noticed this he felt Sunny's head to check and see if she had cooled down enough and she had. He gave her a smile, "Well good news Sunny, you've cooled down enough I think you should be alright." Sunny quickly asked, "So we can go out for supper now?" Rivet extended his hoof out to pull her up and replied, "Yes, we can. I want us to get there before the supper rush so your friend can have her own table and we can have some privacy." Rivet led the two out of the public works building and led them to a restaurant that was not too far away from where he was working. Luckily the three arrived before the supper rush and given that it is a place where the construction crew eats on a regular basis, the host immediately greeted him, "Rivet, it is good to see you." He then saw he had two guests with him and asked, "Table for three I take it?" Rivet pointed his wing towards Izzy and replied, "Well she will need a table for one and then" he turned to Sunny and blushed, "we will need a table for two, preferably one with some privacy." The host gave him a smile and replied, "Alright, follow me." The three followed the host and he got Izzy sat at a small table, one that is normally designed for two. As she got seated, Rivet said, "And make sure the waiter knows that anything she orders is to be put on my bill." The host replied, "Very well." He then led the two to a table that was in a more enclosed area in the back, one that was behind a curtain of beads. He gave Rivet a smile and added, "Your waiter will be here shortly to take your drink order." The table was a circular one with a semi-circle seat on the back side of it. Rivet initially sat along the front edge of it but Sunny got in the back and motioned for Rivet to join her. He blushed and joined her in the back, where she would soon put her leg under his and grabbed his hoof. He blushed deeply and asked, "You really like me, don't you?" Sunny was kind of unnerved by the question but knew that honesty was the best policy, "I do Rivet, I do. You are so sweet, so kind, so caring," she then leaned up to his ear and whispered, "and so sexy!" Rivet blushed deeply and his wings spread wide out of shock. He put one wing around her and gasped, "Really, you think I'm sexy?" Sunny gave him a smile, "Mhmm, I think...." She would be interrupted when the waiter arrived to take their drink orders. He saw that the two were holding hooves and that Rivet had his wing around her. He gave them a smile and asked, "So Rivet, you're finally off the market I see." The waiter was one that had waited on him and his co-workers plenty of times before so he felt more comfortable talking to him about things like this, "Well I don't know if I'd say that exactly." He then turned to Sunny and smiled before continuing, "Although I do think I'm on that path." "Well I'm happy for both of you. So what do you want to drink?" Sunny replied, "I'd like a raspberry wine." The waiter asked, "A what?" Rivet said, "Sunny, unicorns don't drink alcoholic beverages and since it is pretty much all unicorns out here, nopony serves it." Sunny sighed, "Well I guess I'll have a large cider." Rivet added, "I'll have a large cider as well." The waiter nodded and Sunny seemed to be surprised over what Rivet had said. She asked, "Really Rivet, unicorns don't drink alcoholic beverages?" Rivet replied, "Nope. They didn't exactly consume them that much in Imperial Equestria and I've never touched the stuff." While Sunny would have the occasional drink, she had seen what excessive alcohol consumption would do to ponies, something that seemed to be a major problem in Maretime Bay. She then became curious about something, "I have a question, did ponies have problems with alcohol consumption back in Imperial Equestria?" Rivet replied, "Outside of an occasional glass of wine, ponies back in the day simply didn't consume much alcohol. Many of us believed that it could fracture friendships and out here we still believe that and when we see the problems you guys out there have, we simply went away from it entirely." Sunny gave him a smile and commented, "Well I'd much rather be with a stallion who doesn't drink at all," she then smiled and added, "a stallion such as you!" Rivet blushed, "You're really dropping hints aren't you?" Sunny was beet red by this point, "Mhmm!" Before Rivet could respond the waiter arrived with their drinks. He then took their orders, "So what would you two like?" Sunny replied, "Well I'd like a daffodil and daisy sandwich and a bowl of grapes." He turned to Rivet and asked, "The usual?" "Yep, the usual." After the waiter left Sunny couldn't help but be curious what his usual was, "So what is your usual anyway?" Rivet replied, "A bowl of corn and pork chops, medium rare." Sunny gasped in shock. Never before had she heard of ponies eating meat. She asked, "Really, you eat meat?" Rivet gave her a smile, "Most unicorns do. That used to not be the case but when the tribes fractured not long after the end of Imperial Equestria, each tribe did something to set themselves apart from the others. With us, that happened to be eating meat, well that along with working out more. We didn't want to be seen as physically weak, especially once the paranoia set in along with the distrust of the physically stronger earth ponies and the militant pegasi." Sunny began to scowl upon hearing the comment until he continued, "Well most of us did. I don't see any of the other tribes as a threat and I remember admiring the earth ponies for their work ethic back in the day. Before unicorns learned agricultural magic, we would have starved without the earth ponies." Sunny smiled again, "You know, I wish there were more ponies like you out there, ponies who didn't distrust others because of the tribe they come from. Outside of you, I feel like Izzy and I are the only ones who embrace the values of Imperial Equestria, values centered around friendship and trust." Rivet could tell that Sunny wasn't like every mare he had met since the fracturing of the tribes, she had values that match his more than that of other ponies. He replied, "Well maybe a day will come when the tribes will come together again although it won't be through any kind of necessity since we all know agricultural magic and weather magic. Our part of the country can pretty much make it on its own." Sunny sighed, "I know, I wish the earth ponies could say the same thing." She then became more cheerful, "Now about me dropping all those hints!" Rivet knew what she was thinking and during the time they had spent together that day, he had begun to feel a true attraction and connection to the mare. He turned beet red and out of the blue without even really thinking about it he asked, "Sunny, would you be my marefriend?" Sunny's eyes grew wide when she heard the question. This was something that she didn't expect, especially so soon from the ancient Alicorn but was really hoping for it. She embraced him and exclaimed, "Yes Rivet yes! Yes I'll be your marefriend!" The two gazed into one another's eyes and moved in for a kiss. Unfortunately for them, the waiter arrived with their meals. As he sat their food down he chuckled, "Oh yeah Rivet, you're definitely off the market!" Both Rivet and Sunny blushed before turning to their meals. Rivet suggested, "Maybe the restaurant isn't the best place for you to give me my first kiss." Sunny's eyes grew wide over the statement. She gasped, "You've over 2,000 years old and you've never been kissed before?" "Nope and had we not been interrupted," he then blushed deeply "you would have been my first." Sunny could hardly believe it but she could tell that Rivet was an honest pony, he did not remind her of the type that would lie about anything so she decided she would fix that. Before he could say anything further, she pulled him into a deep passionate kiss. As he experienced his first kiss he was in a state of shock and would be even more so when he felt Sunny's tongue make contact with his. He parted his lips and immediately she slid her tongue in. For Rivet, that was like fireworks going off and he pulled her close. At that moment, for the first time in his life, Rivet felt love. After a couple of minutes of kissing, Rivet broke the kiss and gasped, "Sunny, that was amazing! I never felt anything like it before." He paused for a minute and asked, "I take it you have a lot of experience kissing?" Sunny blushed deeply, "Well the only other kissing I've ever done is when Izzy and I practiced kissing each other so we'd be able to be good kissers when we finally met that special somepony" she blushed deeply, "and now I have that special somepony!" Rivet laughed, "Well it looks like she taught you quite well." He looked down at their food and suggested, "Think we should eat before our food goes cold?" Sunny nodded and the two began to eat their meals. The two had spent so much time focusing one one another that their food had gone cold. Sunny let out a sigh, "Well it looks like we'll have to eat this cold." Rivet flared up his horn, grasped their food in his aura and cast a spell to heat it back up. He gave her a smile, "There we go, we won't have to eat it cold now." Given that the only other unicorn she had ever been around was Izzy Sunny found this amazing, "Wow, I didn't know you could do that!" Rivet gave her a smile, "Well it is pretty much something every unicorn, and in my case Alicorn, knows how to do." He looked out towards the main dining area and added, "I'm surprised you haven't seen Izzy do it." "I'm sure she does it but I haven't seen her do it." She paused for a moment before continuing, "But then again I haven't seen her eat hot foods that much to start with." They gave one another a smile before digging into their meals. While Sunny was casually eating her sandwich, Rivet seemed to be devouring his pork chops. Sunny looked over to see a bit of blood dripping down his lips given how he had his chops cooked. One part of her found it kind of gross but another part of her couldn't help but find it a bit attractive. So many stallions back in her hometown would never be caught dead with blood running down their face. She figured that perhaps it was part of how ponies were in the past. As they were eating the meal, the waiter brought them the check for their meal. Rivet grabbed it in his aura and took a look at it. Like he wanted, Izzy's meal was on there as well. Sunny too took a look at it and couldn't help but feel bad over how high it was. She apologized, "I'm so sorry Rivet, I didn't mean for it to be so much and I'm sure Izzy didn't either." Rivet gave her a smile, "No need to apologize, I offered to take you two out to supper and I'm glad both of you got what you...." Before he could finish his sentence Izzy joined them at their table and saw how they were holding hooves and how he had his wing around her. She immediately became excited, "Sunny, are you two a couple now?" Both smiled at one another a smile before Rivet replied, "We are, I asked her to be my marefriend and she said yes." Sunny exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, I'm like so happy for you two!" Her mood changed as she sighed, "Rivet, you wouldn't happen to like know any mares that are looking for a special somepony would you?" Rivet shook his head, "I really don't. We do have a mare on our crew who will be working tomorrow so if you want, you could come over and meet her. I don't know if she's single or not but I suppose it is worth a shot. The worst she could do is say no." Izzy replied, "Alright, but if she says no but I could like always try to meet some other mare." Sunny chuckled, "Izzy, don't go feeling like you have to find a special somepony just because I have Rivet." Izzy replied, "I know, I know." Before we all knew it was approaching eight o'clock and Sunny was getting tired. She let out a loud yawn, "I don't know about you two but I'm getting tired." Izzy too yawned, "I'm tired as well." Sunny then turned to me and apologized, "Rivet, I just want to let you know that I've enjoyed today so much and that I love you but I think all that heat really did a number on me. I'm wondering if it would be ok if Izzy and I went back to our room?" Rivet replied, "Sunny, you don't need to ask something like that! If you need to go and rest, go for it. We can spend more time together tomorrow since I have the whole day off." Sunny clung to Rivet and exclaimed, "Oh I'd love that Rivet! Would you want to wait for me in the lobby of the Flim and Flam resort tomorrow morning?" Rivet asked, "Would eight be good?" Sunny replied, "That would be perfect!" The three got up and headed towards the exit. After paying, Rivet commented, "Well I will see you tomorrow morning." Sunny pulled Rivet in for a passionate kiss before replying, "I'll see you tomorrow Rivet. I hope we can spend some more time together." She saw that Izzy had a smile on her face before adding, "I'm sorry Izzy but I really want it to be just Rivet and I tomorrow." Izzy sighed, "I understand Sunny, you two like want to be alone tomorrow." Rivet said, "That would be for the best." He then turned to Sunny and added, "I love you Sunny, see you tomorrow!" Sunny exclaimed, "Oh I love you to Rivet! I can't wait until tomorrow!" The three then parted ways. As Rivet was heading home, he never once imagined that he would find love, especially in an earth pony from back east. With the way Equestria had become and how other mares just seemed to fawn over him, he never thought he'd find true love. One thing he was sure of though was that the future was looking bright, a future filled full of love with Sunny. > Epilogue: Departure Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Five days had passed and while Rivet did have to work on all but one of those days, he had been able to spend a fair amount of time in either the resort although on one day the two spent one day in Rivet's house watching movies. One thing he was certain to do was keep her out of the 110+ degree heat since she had heat stroke on the day that he met her, which was the day they decided to be a couple. When the day arrived that Sunny and Izzy were set to return to Maretime Bay where they were going to college, Sunny felt depressed, very depressed. During their final breakfast her depression was clearly visible and Rivet was going to ask her about it, "Sunny, are you ok? You seem really down this morning." She put her leg around him as she began to have tears running down her face, "No, I'm not ok. It is just that I have to go home and leave you, the pony I love." Rivet returned the embrace and replied, "I know how you feel, I'm going to miss you too. For the first time in my life, I have love and now you're going to be going back home." Izzy threw in a suggestion, "I have an idea. Sunny, after we finish this semester maybe we should like totally transfer to the university here in Las Pegasus. That way you and Rivet could be together and I like wouldn't be away from my only non-unicorn friend because you know that nopony else out there likes me since I'm a unicorn." Sunny liked the idea but knew that it wasn't just one of those things that could happen easily. She sighed, "Izzy, I love the idea but I don't know if we'd just be able to get into the dorms just like that during the middle of a school year." Rivet had an idea cross his mind, one that caused him to smile, "Sunny, Izzy, I'm not hurting for money so I could buy a three bedroom house and all of us could live together. Nopony would have to be parted from one another, each of us would have our own bedroom and I'm sure transferring to the university here shouldn't be too big of a problem." Both mares were in a state of shock over his suggestion. Sunny asked, "Really, you'd do that for the two of us?" Rivet replied, "Of course I would." He looked deep into Sunny's eyes and continued, "Sunny Starscout, you have brought something into my life that I never imagined, you have brought love into my life. The very thoughts of us being parted like that are heartbreaking and I do not want to see you and Izzy be parted if you were to move out here to be with me." Sunny's eyes grew wide as she took in everything he offered, especially the part about a three bedroom house. She threw another hug around him and exclaimed, "I love the idea and the very thought that you want us to each have a bedroom makes me happier! It shows me that you aren't just wanting to get me in bed, it shows that you truly love me." Rivet replied, "I would never even think about trying to get a mare into bed with me." He paused for a moment before continuing, "To be honest, I don't think a couple should sleep together until their wedding night. I know I may sound old fashioned, very old fashioned but that is how I believe." Sunny again hugged him, "And that is exactly what I'm looking for in a pony, an old fashioned pony who believes in true love, not lust!" Izzy then chimed in, "This sounds wonderful Sunny but aren't you like worried about what your parents will think about you hooking up with somepony other than an earth pony? I have a feeling that they'll totally not like it. They are upset enough with me being a unicorn and we're just friends." Rivet added, "Sunny, I really don't want to drive a wedge between you and your folks so I'd understand....." Sunny interrupted, "Rivet, if they can't accept the fact that you're the pony I love then they'll have to deal with it. All the males back home are colts who want to get mares into their bed the night they become a couple but you're a stallion, a stallion who holds the same beliefs I do. Even my parents did the deed the night they became a couple, most ponies didn't do that in Imperial Equestria." Rivet felt bad that she was going to choose him over her family but could tell that she was being dead serious, that she truly was going to pick him even if it meant that her parents would be upset with her. He replied, "Well maybe someday I can meet your parents and they might not think so bad of me once they meet me." Sunny was a bit skeptical of this though because her parents were racist, very racist. She sighed, "I wish but they are horribly racist. They hate pegasi, they hate unicorns even more and they don't even want the names of the princesses of the past mentioned in the house because they were Alicorns. I brought them up one time and they referred to the Alicorns of old as a cancer that deserved to either die or get assassinated." Rivet sighed, "Wow, that is bad. I know a decent amount of the unicorns here in Las Pegasus distrust the other tribes and the unicorns up in Canterlot are filled with hate but that much hate? That sounds downright terrible." Before Sunny could respond Izzy would interrupt, "Sunny, it is ten. Our train back to Manehattan leaves in like an hour, we better get there so we don't like miss the train." Sunny sighed, "Ok, we better get going." Rivet offered, "I can walk you two over there so that we can spend as much time together as possible." Sunny embraced him again, "Oh thank you Rivet, that means so much to me!" The three then headed to the train station and arrived a half an hour before the train was set to depart. As they were waiting for the time to board, Sunny and Rivet stood there in a tight embrace. Neither one wanted to part ways but when the train pulled into the station Sunny knew she had to leave. She broke the embrace and began to cry, "I'm going to miss you so much Rivet. The rest of this semester is going to drag by because all I'll be able to think about is you." Rivet replied, "Sunny, you have to do your best if you want to get accepted to the university here. It will only be a couple of months and by then, I'll have a place for all three of us and the two of us can begin a new phase in our lives, a truly wonderful phase." Sunny kissed him and said, "I really look forward to that but I'm going to miss you a lot." Rivet replied, "I'm going to miss you too Sunny. You have no idea how much I love you." Sunny exclaimed, "I love you too Rivet." The conductor then yelled, "All aboard, next stops are Omareha, Baltimare and Maretime Bay." The two gave one another one more kiss before Sunny yelled, "I have to get going, I love you Rivet." Rivet yelled, "I love you too Sunny." As Sunny and Izzy boarded the train, Rivet felt a great amount of sadness. The one mare that truly loved him and saw him as more than just a chance to become royalty had headed home. He knew that the next two months would be tough on not just him but Sunny as well. He did know one thing though, he knew that he was going to have to buy a house for him, Sunny and Izzy within two months so they'd have a place bigger than his current one bedroom to live in. He thought to himself, "Being apart is going to be tough but it will give me the time to make sure our lives are perfect, patience is a virtue."