Chapter Thirty-One: Baron of the Rings
I woke up a lot earlier than Twilight did, but sadly, it wasn’t just because of nightmares or something simple like that. My chest was itching something fierce where I’d been impaled, so I tried ignoring it to the best of my abilities. When that didn’t work, I decided to try meditating to see if I could escape from my irritation in my the depths of my mind. I closed my eyes and did the usual thing, but this time, it actually worked. I opened my eyes to find that I was standing in the inky blackness of the void and Noir was nowhere to be found, so I imagined her in my mind and willed myself to join her wherever she was at. It worked immediately, but when I tried to talk to her, she vanished. That frustrated me a little bit and I could still feel a little tickle around my heart, so I tried tracking her down again, but the same thing happened.
After ten minutes of teleporting to her and having her disappear into the ether, I thought of my old hangout and conjured up a cell phone so I could text her. In my months without one, I’d practically forgotten how to use it, but the memories came back quickly enough and I sent Noir a text. I wasn’t sure of how a six thousand year old grandma was going to handle the technology, but when she replied, I stopped worrying about it so much. Noir told me that she couldn’t bear to face me after letting me down so badly and I told her to suck it up and come and face me like the grown-ass woman she was. Noir replied by way of teleporting to my location and sitting down in my hammock while I took Maxwell’s. I couldn’t help that instead of her usual tunic and trousers combo, she’d gone for an old fashioned dress that looked a little on the heavy side. When the thought crossed my mind, she changed into something equally nice, but far less cumbersome.
“Look. My main problem is that you tried to take on the whole Zeal thing by yourself, and you know that. It’s not like you didn’t trust me enough to help, it’s just that you’re a stubborn fool sometimes and I, of all people, understand what that feels like.”
She sighed. “I know you do, but… I feel like I am starting to do more harm than good-”
“And you know that isn’t true. You’re keeping your magic in check, preventing me from doing evil shit, and I’m willing to bet that you’re the reason why my sternum is itching instead of burning.”
“I have to keep my magic in check lest I kill both of us, your morals keep you from doing most terrible things, and the last part is the least I can do for you. It is not every day one survives having their heart plucked from their chest.”
I sighed heavily. “Can’t you just bitch at me a little for turning my back to someone I was supposed to be killing?”
Noir pursed her lips. “I would, but I do not feel as though it is my place to scold you for your actions.”
I glared at her and cleared my mind, standing up and slapping both of my hands onto her thighs. Noir flinched before I kissed her for the first time. I let my lips linger on hers for a few moments while her breath hitched, and once I pulled away, I started gently rocking the hammock. Noir sat and swayed while I put my words together.
“Look, I’m difficult. I always have been, always will be. As my spiritual protector, it’s your place and your right to advise me when you can and to chastise me when I fuck up, so don’t feel like you have to hold your tongue just because we’re going through a rough patch.”
Noir looked at my hands and took them in her own. “... I suppose you are right. It makes little sense for me to cease my duties just because I failed you.”
“You didn’t fail me in the first place. You messed up by not asking for help, but I wouldn’t call that a failure. It’s an oversight at worst.”
“It nearly cost you your body…” She said quietly.
“And it taught us a valuable lesson in asking people for help, right?” I asked.
Noir played with my fingers, stretching and bending them. “I suppose it has. I am sorry I did not allow you to assist me, and I am sorry that I was too cowardly to face you before now, but I could not face you after coming so close to letting you down. Can you forgive me?”
I made her let go of my fingers so I could cup her face in my hands. I squished her cheeks together gently. “Say ‘I’m a pudgy bunny’.”
“I am a pudgy bunny.” Noir said dutifully.
I gave her another kiss. “Apology accepted, forgiveness given. No more barring me from the mindscape unless I’ve done something to upset you, okay? When you won’t let me see you, I get worried.”
Noir blushed. “I would say that your concern is flattering, but that would imply that it is not genuine. Thank you, Maximus.”
“You’re welcome, Noir.” I shifted the scene and our hammocks appeared on the beach. After erecting a canopy and pushing my hammock closer to hers, I laid down.
Noir followed suit. “Is now the appropriate time to tell you how foolish it was to turn your back on a foe?”
My answer doesn’t really matter. “Blaze blue tractor sand.”
Noir shook her head. “Regardless of your nonsense, you should have known better! Even if you wanted to avoid having Spike see something as soul soiling as murder, you should have finished your opponent before trying to speak to anyone else! How you could be so dim witted at to think you had more than a few seconds is beyond me, but I suppose that’s what I get for thinking that you are smart on more than the rare occasion. Honestly, that Dragon had no honor, but you had no brain!”
“Yes, let the hate flow through you.” I chuckled.
Noir huffed. “Rant over. You understand where you went wrong and you’re upset about it enough as is. I suggest you keep that thought in mind the next time something tries to take you from Twilight.”
“I will, though I think it’s just the whole ‘undying’ thing that’s getting to me. I’m not really that scared of anything any more.” I said
“You still fear the death of Twilight and Spike, so continue watching over them until the time comes where they can defend themselves. It will give you purpose until Twilight’s day comes.” Noir said cheerfully.
I rolled over in my hammock and fixed her with a funny look. “Why do you sound so happy about my girlfriend eventually dying?”
“I never said that I was happy about Twilight dying. We may address that later, but for now, we must speak about your status as a Revenant. Your guess is correct: Your body is being held together by a combination of Dark Magic and science at this point. If you take the time to look in a mirror, you will find that one of your eyes has turned grey, symbolizing the spread of Dark Magic through your body. If you keep dying, the magic will keep spreading.”
I conjured up a mirror and looked into it. Surely enough, one of my eyes was the same color as the Moon and the other was the normal forest green that I’d always liked. I made the mirror shatter since it’d shown me something I didn’t really want to see.
“So what happens if I die again? I’m guessing that the other eye turns grey, but what does that mean for my body? Hell, what does that mean for me in general?” I asked.
“If you die again, you will come back, but you will become paler. You have currently lost the ability to tan naturally, but you will no longer burn by the sun, and my magic should be easier for you to use. If you die too often, I will have to take over your body to prevent you from becoming a true Revenant, but for the time being, you could call yourself a Revenant reject of sorts.”
“That sounds like some shitty shithead’s gamer tag from middle school.” I commented.
“Be that as it may, you’re a being of Dark Magic now. Soon, it will be time for you to learn how to use my magic, but for now, your tools are adequate.” Noir sighed. “I truly wish that things had not turned out this way, but we have few options at this point.”
“I don’t want it, Noir. If you can teach me how to keep it in check for myself, then that’s all I really want. My powers are good enough as they are.”
“That option remains on the table, but it would be good for you to learn some of my more powerful moves, just in case Celestia or another ancient being gives you undue trouble. I want you to be to defend yourself without having to resort to murdering things.”
“Cool, I guess I’ll just use Dark Magic to trap whoever I want to kill for all eternity. Sounds like a fair trade to me.”
Noir reached over and swatted me. “Hush, Max. I’m saying that I could teach you how to seal powers indefinitely. You could not suppress Celestia entirely, but you could do something of the sort. You could likely stop her from using lethal moves against you, if need be.”
“Good to know. I’m pretty sure Celestia would find a way to kill me, so it’s nice that I have a defense against that.” I lay still for a moment. “Level with me, Noir. Am I turning evil?”
“No, but you are growing slightly darker in your demeanor. As long as you continue to counsel with Twilight and myself, you will be fine.”
I hopped out of my hammock and pushed it over to Noir’s before fusing them together. When I rolled in, I ended up on top of her with her furry fun bags in my hands. “You know, I think I’ve come to like fur on breasts. It was a little weird at first, but now it reminds me of a warm plush doll.”
Noir placed her hands over mine, holding them to her chest. I didn’t miss the light blush on her face. “I know that you did not mean to put your hands here, but could you remove them?”
I took my hands away and placed them on either side of her, leaning down so that out face were nearly touching, giving her the opportunity to lick my nose. I wiped off her slobber and said, “I’ll continue talking to you for as long as you’ll have me, Noir. You know that.”
Noir placed her hands on my hips and that felt weird. “I know, but I believe the time is coming for you to learn of my past. Perhaps we’ll see if you want to continue seeing me after that.”
“You already know how I feel regarding your past.” I sat back and gave Noir some room to prop herself up on her elbows.
“I know. Can I have another kiss?” She asked meekly, completely out of character.
I leaned in and gave her one because I’m nice and Noir had me lay down next to her since we had plenty of space with the hammocks being doubled. She asked me not to record any of the things she told me about, but I can say that she started out with with giving me a broad overview of the things she’s done in her life, and once she was finished with the summary, she started giving me examples of times she’d done said terrible things.
Noir has tortured a lot of people. Like, more than I would have thought possible, even with her long life. She’d committed more straight up murder than Celestia and Luna combined. War was her name and her game when she and her sister had their own country, but I couldn’t help but feel more pity than any kind of disgust for Noir. She beat herself up over her sins like I did, but she was far more self-hating than I could ever be. It was sad to see in someone who had been nothing but pleasant to me, and our time concluded with Noir crying softly into my chest, wondering why I didn’t hate her.
Honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything other than sorry for her. Noir wasn’t a victim of circumstance by any means: She’d fought hard to eventually get to her final position and to make the mistakes she’d made, but she was wholly repentant about what she’d done and I couldn’t really find fault with that. The woman had tried to change in her last few years on Equus, but a deal with a devil claimed Noir’s body, turning it into an artifact of some incredible power while rendering her completely ethereal. Noir’s soul had to be fused into her sister’s body for her to have a chance at survival, but in doing so, she’d basically ruined any chance of getting her body back. Noir had spent about three to thousand years as little more than a shade in the breeze, and when her sister’s body was destroyed as well, their souls bonded and they eventually found a host in Luna. Noir was shunted to the side and her sister began whispering insidious things into Luna’s ear, but Noir nearly shook me to death while trying to explain that she had only rolled over and given up because her sister was so much stronger than she was at that point.
Splitting their souls between Luna and I had given Noir much of her old power back, and thankfully, her passiveness had lead her sister to believe that she was weak and pliable. Much to Nightmare Moon's surprise, Noir took the opportunity to steal most of her sister’s power and carry it into me, and though she’d tried to reach me before, I needed to actively be searching for her to find her in my mindscape which was why I hadn't found her while I was in the Everfree meditating. I found the whole thing to be a little bit much to process, but I still listened patiently and may have coddled Noir a little bit. The woman could use some love and affection, and I was happy to give it to her. She soaked it up like she was Spongebob and my TLC was Patrick’s semen.
Fun Fact: When I’m alone now, I can hear Noir in my head if I focus. As I’m writing, she just told me that my analogy was terrible and that I should feel terrible.
Still, while I was stroking Noir’s hair, trying to get her to understand that I still liked her as much as I did before she told me her life story, I noticed that she smelled like blackberry cobbler. It was an observation that I shared with her that made her start laughing for some odd reason, so I figured that cheering her up was the way to go. I licked her face and told her that she didn’t really taste that much like blackberries, but then she hiked up her skirts and let me have another go at it.
Noir wants me to explain that she allowed me to do that because she knew that my love for her was solid and unwavering, not because I’d used neckbeard tactics to get into her pants. I would like to say that I tipped my fedora to her after giving her a few more licks than necessary, but what I really did was introduce her to the wonders of silk and lace knickers. She wasn’t particularly fond of either because they just seemed too feminine for her, but I convinced her to give the lace a try and she liked that they weren’t as soft as the silk, though she still preferred to go commando. I asked her why she’d bothered with the sports bra whenever we fought instead of just letting her wiggly jigglies flop about and she told me to stop being stupid, stating that sports bras were God’s gift to Human women and that I needed to talk to Rarity about having them made. I wrote it on my hand with a pen until I remembered that I was in the mindscape.
Noir made me leave shortly after that since I was starting to disconnect from reality, but we’d easily spent eight hours in each other’s company, so it was about time for me to go anyways. She closed my eyes for me, but not before she got one more kiss in. I woke up to find Twilight smiling at me dreamily, so I gave her a kiss on the forehead and wrote down a note, telling me to visit Rarity later in the day. Twilight followed me out of bed and started browsing through Roxy’s clothes until she found a navy blue skirt that stopped a few inches above the knee and a white blouse to go along with it. I felt like being cute, so I threw on some jeans and a white V-Neck so we could match and Twilight thought that was just the sweetest thing, so we hurried up and got coffee so we could do some morning snogging.
Spike was already up, but he was just sitting in the living room, staring at the bottle of bourbon I’d left out. That was a warning sign if I’d ever seen one, so I grabbed a seat next to him and asked Twilight to make some toast real quick. I knew she was going to fuck it up royally, but it was something I could console her over and probably squeeze a few kisses out of, so it killed two birds with one stone. Spike stared after her as she went into the kitchen, and once she was out of sight, he started talking.
“I’m okay, mate. I know what you’re thinking.” He told me. Please stop saying that.
“Astute observations. Mind sharing what’s on your mind?” I asked.
“Max, I’m pretty sure you’ve killed poni- people. I’m sure you’ve killed people before.” He turned to me.
I raised a brow. “I have.”
“...What’s it like?” Fuck you think, kid?
I sighed. “It’s bad, Spike. Killing people fucked me up something terrible. It destroyed a piece of who I was as a person, and it’s something you never forget, no matter how long you live. Don’t let what happened yesterday fool you: I wasn’t really in control of what I did, and if I was, the guy would still be dead, but not like that. No one deserves that.”
Spike interlaced his fingers and squeezed them together. “So you feel bad, even though that guy killed you?”
“...Things get complicated from there, Spike. They really do.”
“I’d ask what you mean, but that’s usually what you say when you don’t want to explain something.”
“If I thought it would help you at all, I’d tell you” I patted his back. “Is there anything else on your mind?”
He stared at the bottle in front of him. “...What was dying like?”
“Well… At first, it was really warm, like the Sun was beating down on me really hard, but then that warmth went away and everything got cold. After that, I remember hitting my knees, but after that, the next thing I remember is waking up at the bottom of the volcano. I’m lucky he didn’t toss me into the volcano, otherwise I would’ve stayed dead.” I shivered. I hadn't thought about how close I’d been to never being seen again, and Spike’s questions were starting to open doors to answers I really wasn’t looking for.
Spike looked at me. “Are you sure you're okay? I mean, seeing two po- people die was bad enough on me, but at least I didn’t see some… One? It’s some’one’, right?” I nodded. “At least I didn’t see someone with my heart in their claws.”
I gave him a crooked smile. “Believe it or not, I’ve bounced back from worse. Probably not that level of sheer physical damage, but the emotional aspect is something I’ve- Do you smell smoke?”
Spike sniffed the air. “Twilight! The toast!”
We rushed off into the kitchen to see Twilight freaking out next to the toaster. I don’t even know how she managed to fuck things up since I’d had it set to the correct notch for good toast, but somehow, smoke was pouring out of my poor toaster and Twilight was about to douse the thing with water when I just took the damned thing outside so she didn’t make it explode or some shit. When I came back, Twilight was on the ground crying about how she couldn’t even do something as simple as making toast, and Spike was doing his best to console her.
His way wasn’t working, so I had him step back and worked my magic like I usually do. After a five second kiss, Twilight straightened up a bit. “Cherry. Listen to me, okay?”
She wiped her eyes, but her chin was still quivering. “O-Okay.”
“Can you fix a book? Practically any kind of wear and tear?”
“D-Depend-Depending on the damage.” She replied.
“Can you not read twelve books at a time?” I asked
“Thi-Thirteen, but yes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Can’t you find any book in your library, no matter where it is?”
She wiped her eyes one last time. “Yeah, I can.”
“Do any of those things have to do with cooking?”
Twilight and Spike both gave me an odd look. “No. What are you getting at?”
“Just because you can’t cook doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything right. You do a lot of amazing things, but cooking just isn’t your bag, cherry.”
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but she just shook her head and smiled. I offered her a hand up and gave her another kiss once she was on her feet. “You know, amour, you really do have a way of making a mare feel better about herself.”
“When that ‘mare’ is my ‘mare’, then I pull out all the stops. Trust me, once you see the funds I plan on dumping into our wedding, you’ll be even more amazed.” I grinned.
Twilight looked at me funny. “My Dad said he was going to pay for my wedding.”
“Then I’ll match whatever he spends, bit for bit. I will give you the biggest wedding this country has ever seen.”
Twilight looked at Spike and he shrugged. “Max, how much money do you have?”
“Shit, I don’t know. I got rich off of the first Gryphonia job. Then I got rich off of the Kobolds. Then I got rich off of the second Gryphonia job. Now I’m making a small fortune with how well A Single Breath and A Thousand Moments are selling. Honestly, I’m not hurting for money any time within the next five hundred years by Celestia’s mark.”
She and Spike traded another look. “Yes, but how much exactly?”
“Aren’t you my steward? Don’t you take care of that?” I asked.
“I take care of your public persona and stuff like that, but since I’m your fillyfriend, I do that anyways.”
I grimaced. “Fillyfriend sounds terrible. I need to go ask questions. Spike, you mind letting Twilight watch you make breakfast so she can take in depth notes or something?”
He nodded. “Sure, but what questions are you asking and to who?”
They looked at me expectantly, but I fucked off too quickly to answer and went to grab my Dragon Fire and started asking everyone I liked what I should do for an engagement ring. I asked Fleur and Fancy if I should find something that I think Twilight might like, or if I should let her pick. Fancy said to let her pick and Fleur said to choose for her, so I asked Mary and she responded, telling me that I should pick for her. Apparently Onyx was with her, because he sent a note soon after hers and told me not to believe a word out of a woman’s mouth when it came to jewelry, so I took my not-dad’s advice and started making plans to head to Canterlot in the next couple of days.
When I came back to Twilight and Spike, she had found my egg timer and was using it to calculate how long Spike was leaving things to cook when I walked up behind her and palmed her bottom. Twilight jumped hard, but relaxed when I didn’t remove my hand, so I left it there for a little while. Twilight has a great bottom, so I wasn’t exactly complaining, but when she raised a brow at me, I gave her a grin and moved my hand up to her side. Much to my surprise (and pleasure), she put my hand back where it had been and moved her hips back a little like she was asking me to squeeze her bottom. I happily complied and she started giggling like a mad woman.
Spike eventually gave us the craziest look I’d seen him give. “Whatcha laughin’ at, huh!? You think I don’t hear ya laughin’ at meh!?”
I fucking died and Twilight followed suit, but she couldn't come back to life, so I held onto her so her soul wouldn’t float away. Spike got some chuckles from our antics and continued cooking breakfast until I washed my hands and put myself to work helping him set up a nice fruit salad for breakfast. Twilight set the table since she was officially banned from cooking until she could work out how to use the toaster, and I started plating once Spike got the eggs done. We didn’t have any toast for obvious reasons, but breakfast was still nice, and I asked Twilight and Spike if they wanted to go to Canterlot with me in a few hours. They asked why I was going and I said it was a surprise that I could bring back with me, so Twilight opted to go with me, but Spike wanted to go stay with Fluttershy for a little bit. I asked why he wanted Fluttershy in particular and he just blushed and tapped his claws together.
Twilight and I shared a knowing look and I just told him to keep out of Fluttershy’s room. He blushed harder and I broke out laughing again, though Twilight didn’t really know why. I told her that I would explain when she was older and I got hit for that, but it was worth it. Spike took off before I could embarrass him anymore, sadly. Once he was gone, Twilight asked me a question.
“So does Spike have a crush on Fluttershy too, now? And why did you tell him to stay out of her room?”
I gave her a grin. “I’m pretty sure he does and I’m willing to bet that he’s heard her during her alone time enough to be interested. He’s of that age right about now, anyways.”
Twilight jaw dropped and she hit me much harder than she did before. “And you were just going to let him invade Fluttershy’s privacy like that!? Max!”
I blinked at her and rubbed my pec. “Well now that you put it like that, I’m glad I told him to stop doing that. Dammit woman, can you fucking swing.”
Twilight looked at me, then at her still balled up fist. “Oh yeah. You kinda did tell him to stop, didn’t you?”
I gestured for her to come closer, and when she did, I flicked one of her ears. She flinched away and rubbed at it. “I wouldn’t tell him to go creeping on one of my friends, cherry. Have some faith, will you?”
“Sorry…” She continued rubbing her ear.
I rolled my eyes. “If you let me rub your tummy, I’ll accept your apology.”
Twilight’s eyes lit up like I’d told her that Christmas was on her birthday this year and that she would get quadruple the presents due to some unknown modifier in the universe’s matrix. She grabbed my hand and ran toward the couch, stopped, headed for the stairs, stopped, and finally decided to let my hand go and teleport half of a cigar into my house. She lit it up on our way outside and we sat on my porch swing, though I got a blanket for Twilight’s legs so she wouldn’t be flashing anyone that came outside. From inside my house. You know, I probably could have thought harder about that, but it was a little chilly for the morning anyway.
(Ctrl+F Scene is Over To Skip. Mild Tummy Sluttery ahead.)
I rubbed Twilight’s tummy for the better part of an hour and she even let me play with her ears, despite my earlier abuse. She let me put my hands wherever I wanted, like on her ribcage, over her squishy intestine-y bits, and near her sternum. I didn’t go too far south since I didn’t have explicit permission to do so, and Twilight really wasn’t in any shape to give it to me, so I kept things PG. Weird, but PG.
After I had my fill of her soft tummy fur, I started drawing circles into the fine follicles until Twilight snapped out on her reverie. She took my hand and held it just below her navel, biting her lip and giving me an apprehensive look. I gave her an encouraging smile and crept my hand down a little lower. She pushed it to the waist of her skirt, so I slipped it underneath and she gasped softly. I started to withdraw my hand, but Twilight pushed it down a little further until I could feel a familiar intimate heat radiating just below my finger tips. She left my hand there, so I figured that it was my move, and since I couldn’t kiss her, I decided to distract her by playing with her ears some more.
Twilight sighed in content and I took that as being the right move to make, so I continued doing it as I let my hand follow the set course and I found that Twilight was wearing panties with a bow on them. They weren’t from Roxy’s stock, so I assumed that they were some of her own. I’d made my move, so I waited for Twilight to make hers. She let go of the back of my hand in favor of grabbing my fingers, moving them back slightly so she could slide them under her knickers. Once my hand was under them, her breathing became a little erratic, so I took my hand away entirely and sat so that Twilight was between my legs, her back on my chest. We began the game again, but this time, I distracted Twilight by kissing and nibbling on her neck.
Unlike a lot of our intimate moments, I didn’t feel flustered at all, so I took my time inching my hand toward Twilight’s private area, though she seemed a little anxious. I put my free hand on her stomach to calm her down and it worked like a charm, so I tried nibbling on her ears and she melted against me. Twilight managed to keep the game going , but we were nearing the end of it quickly since she’d put my hand back under her panties. Her fingers lightly twitched against mine, so I made the final pushed and let my finger slide over one of my favourite things. Twilight started slightly against me, but her hand stayed on mine as I let my finger roll her sensitive little button around I took a moment to pop my finger in my mouth so it wouldn’t be as dry, but Twilight heard me do it and when I went to put my hand back where it’d been, she grabbed it and put my middle finger in her mouth, sucking my saliva from it like I tasted good or something. Once she was done sucking my finger, she allowed me to return to what I was doing.
Twilight let out a little moan and I bit her neck a little harder. She hissed and used her free hand to grab at my hair, pressing my face into her neck. Sadly, I couldn’t see anything that was going on below the waist since we’d opted to use the blanket, just in case anyone came out and caught us in the middle of something two legal adults were perfectly allowed to do. In any case, Twilight grew tired of me just circling her clit and pushed my hand a bit further down to the point where I could feel that she was already soaked. I had no clue that tummy rubs did so much for her, but I was glad that they did. I felt her slightly sticky nectar on my fingertips and used it to coat my thumb so I could still give her little button some attention.
She moaned softly as I tried to keep up three things at once, though I don’t think she could truly appreciate the level of ‘rub-your-tummy-and-pat-your-head’ going on at the moment. I’m rather sure she didn’t care too much either since she started shuddering when I teased her entrance, and soon enough, Twilight’s back arched and she let out a low, sexy moan. I could feel her release her arousal on my finger and I was pretty sure that she’d just ruined the skirt she was wearing, but I was totally fine with throwing it in the next time I did laundry. I didn’t have a reason to stop teasing her through her orgasm, so I kept doing what I had been doing, except I moved my hand from her tummy to her breast and continued from there.
My hand had been over her clothes, but Twilight was quick enough to correct that by grabbing my hand and placing it under her shirt. I found out that her bra latched at the front pretty quickly, but I didn’t really want to bother it, so I hesitated. Twilight pulled away from my kisses and unhooked it with magic, giving me all the permission I needed to let my hands wander a bit while I dipped my finger into her honeypot. She gasped a little louder when I did that, so I teased a little more as I tried licking her ear. She shivered and leaned into me, so I figured that keeping it to a minimum would do more for her than slobbering all over her head. I flicked and nibbled on her ear with my tongue occasionally and massaged her breast to the best of my ability, trying not to be too rough with the sensitive flesh, but when I pinched harder than I meant to and Twilight let out a cry that was somewhere between being thrilled and mild pain. I decided that she could do with a little more roughness.
I took her little nubbin in my slippery fingers and held it as well as I could before gently grinding around in circles, changing direction whenever I reached the end of a motion. Twilight squirmed and wriggled around against me until I tried pinching it a little harder, this time, causing her to cry out in a delicious voice that made me want to hear it again, but I held back and waited for Twilight to finish with her orgasm before starting to build another one. Twilight’s hand gripped mine for dear life, so I removed my hand from her panties and let her catch her breath. Twilight closed her legs, shivering hard and let them fall against the back of the swing, twitching hard on occasion. She turned her head to look at me and I made sure that I was visible in licking her nectar from my fingers. Twilight whimpered and grabbed my hand again, getting a taste of herself from my fingertips before I could clean them.
(Crtl+F Scene is Over to Skip. Tummy Sluttery Complete.)
“Max~” She sighed dreamily.
“Yes cherry?” I asked.
“Are we waiting until we’re married, or can we do it when we get engaged?”
I blinked my surprise. “Well, I was planning on waiting until marriage.”
Twilight sighed contentedly. “I can deal with that. It’ll be even more special when we finally do get the the real thing.”
“Since when are you so casual about sex?” I chuckled.
Twilight’s face was already flushed. “I did some thinking. You’ve been giving your mind over to me, and I know that’s harder for you than giving your body over to somepony, so why shouldn’t I give back? You don’t really ask all that much, and on the rare occasion when you do ask, it’s never anything that you think I wouldn’t be okay with.”
I thought about that. “Honestly, I just want you to be comfortable with me-”
“And I am. Taking things slowly has worked wonders.”
I chuckled. “I’ve noticed. When we first started, you wouldn’t even let me see you naked.”
She playfully slapped my leg. “I guess I just never thought I’d be close to a stallion like I am with you. Being around you just puts me at ease, and being near you constantly just… Besides making my heart do funny things, it makes me happier than anything else I do. When you’re not around, I think of you. When you are around, it’s so easy to just be the me I don’t usually let the girls see.” She lazily used magic to fix her bra.
I kissed her cheek. “I’ve heard that true love tends to do that. When I’m around you, I know my heart skips a beat everytime I look in your direction, and that I can’t help but want to touch you in some way. Even if it’s just holding hands or having you lay on me like you recently started doing, it’s all like reaching up and taking the Moon in your hands. It feels like it should be impossible, but when I see you, I feel like I can do anything.”
Twilight chuckled. “I know you remember the bonfire you had not too long ago. You were so nervous that night, I thought it was so odd to see you anxious about something for once. You’re usually so good about hiding it.”
“I remember. You told me to relax, and we had some fun from there.”
“Which I would like to do again sometime. If we can’t have actual… Well, you know… Then doing it as girls is the next best thing.”
“You’re so naughty sometimes. I love it!”
Twilight beamed and pulled the blanket up to her chest. “I know. That’s a part of the reason why I’ve started to be more forward.”
“And the other parts?” I asked.
Twilight coughed, her blush returning. “Well… Maybe it feels good too.”
“What about the taste?” I grinned.
Twilight slapped my thigh again and giggled nervously. “Okay, so I like the taste a little.”
“I haven’t seen you spill so much as a drop yet.” I teased.
“Oh hush! Let’s stop talking and go take a shower or something.” Twilight said, scooting so that she could sit upright.
“Am I invited this time?” I asked hopefully.
Twilight’s eye twitched. “As much as I’d like that, I don’t think I’m ready for that level of intimacy quite yet.”
I shrugged. “Can’t blame me for trying. I guess we can take some time for showers since we didn’t bother with them this morning.”
Twilight gave me a look. “Of course we took showers this morning.”
“No we didn’t. You got dressed, so I got dressed. I figured one day wouldn’t kill me since I took one last night, but you never did get in the shower. Last night or this morning.”
Her face lit up bright red and she covered her face. “Ohmygosh! I can’t believe I had you do that when I didn’t even bathe! And I wore your clean clothes without taking a bath!”
I rolled my eyes. “I’d kiss you anywhere you asked me to, regardless of your shower situation. Go ahead and get your shower done with. The blouse should be fine, but the skirt is probably in need of some washing, so I’ll grab you the royal blue one. It’s a little shorter than that one, but I have some striped socks that match.”
Twilight uncovered her face and gave me a weird look. “You know I have my own clothes, right?”
“Yeah, but I like seeing you in blue.”
She rolled her eyes. “The trains to Canterlot usually leave at noon or at two. I can teleport us there, or I can teleport us home.”
I pursed my lips and ran a few scenarios through my head. “How badly do you want to talk to Celestia?”
She blinked at me. “How did you know I was thinking about talking to Celestia” I didn’t.
I gave her a droll look. “I glean things on occasion, cherry. You know I learn about things I shouldn’t just through observation alone.”
“That tells me nothing about how you know.”
“It wasn’t supposed to.” I patted her knee and stood up, doubing over when I realized the Ol’ Chap was resting against the zipper. “Okay, ow.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and stood up. We both looked at the damage she’d caused to my porch swing’s padding. “Okay, I knew it was good, but I didn’t think it was that good.”
I grinned. “Glad to know I can surpass your expectations. Come on, cherry. Shower time.”
“I just want you to know that I haven’t had somepony pick my clothes out for me since I could dress myself.”
“I’m sure you haven’t.”
“And the last time somepony made me take a shower, I was still learning magic.”
“Glad I can be your boyfriend and your boss.” I said drily.
Twilight tried to pinch my tricep, but she couldn’t find any purchase on the muscle. “Why are your arms so hard?” I take my pushups very seriously.
“I want to look good for you, and on humans, muscle is pretty noticeable.”
She patted my stomach. “You know, you’re awfully thin…”
“I swear I don’t know how. Once I get meat into my diet, I’ll probably fill out some more, but it’s not like the vegetarian diet I have is doing me any favors. Seriously, I eat everything in my house on a weekly basis and I still spend fifty bits on shopping whenever I go.”
Twilight gaped. “You eat fifty bits worth of groceries a week!?”
I nodded. “Less awe, more shower. Shoo.”
“Where does it all go?” She stared at me, raking over my form with her eyes. Into the toilet after about six to eight hours.
I shrugged. “I don’t really know. I think a lot of it gets burnt up by Dark Magic.”
Twilight gave me a worried look. “Are you sure you can’t die from starvation? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like you in any shape, but I don’t think a line is very healthy.”
I patted her shoulder and started steering her inside. “Like I said, I’ll change up my diet soon. Once we get back from Canterlot, I might go hunting or something tonight.”
Twilight stopped and grabbed my hand. “...Can I come with you?”
I gave her a sad smile. “I highly suggest that you don’t.”
“You do give good advice most days. I guess I can wait for you until you come back.”
“It’ll be a pretty drawn out process, cherry, and I’ll need to store what I get in my house.” That, and I need to set up the smoker in my shed.
Twilight didn’t look too happy about that. “Can you at least tell me why your eyes are different colors?”
I blinked. “Oh yeah. I forgot that happened. When I died, a little more of Noir’s magic had to fill in the gaps, so it took the green from my right eye and replaced it with grey. I’m not going blind or anything, it’s just an aesthetic change.”
She didn’t look convinced, but I’d basically told her the truth. I may have omitted the fact that if I kept dying, that I would eventually turn into a full blown Revenant. It wasn’t like I needed to worry her with that at the moment, so I focused on looking up her skirt while we were walking up the stairs until Twilight made me walk beside her. I thought that it wasn’t terribly fair since she’d given me no form of release after I’d gotten her off twice, but I let it slide because love allows you to do that for time to time. Once we were upstairs, I showed her the skirt and socks that I’d told her about and she agreed that they were quite cute together, so she took them into the bathroom and I did some pushups while looking in the mirror in different positions to make sure my form was correct. I had to adjust once or twice, but I was getting the most out of my diamonds when Twilight strolled out of the shower and into my room. She might have been trying to be funny, but she sat on my back and had me do a half set after laying a towel on me so she wouldn’t get wet. I was a little worn out since she’d taken her time in her shower and I hadn't taken much of a break, but I was able to get it in with few enough difficulties. Twilight rose from my back and I got off the floor, borrowing her towel to clean up the droplets I’d left behind.
Twilight’s eyes were glued to me, though whether it was because I was glistening with a good sweat or because I was only wearing boxers, I don’t know. Either way, I gave her a wink and a smile before heading into the shower. I heard the door creak open behind me as I headed into the shower, so I whipped around and did the helicopter until I heard Twilight burst out in giggles. Once the door was shut, I got my shit done and got out because I’m a goddamn man and I don’t need an hour in the shower.
I took the time to actually examine how Twilight looked this time around and gave her a wolf whistle. She looked rather good, and I had to admit, the socks were just an added bonus to the overall effect of the outfit Twilight giggled at my whistle and tried to walk over to me with her hips swaying, but it came off as a little goofy and very sexy. She stopped a handful of centimeters away from me and gave me a peck on the cheek. I brought her in for a hug and she threw her arms around my shoulders, which I thought was a greenlight for me to grab her arse with both hands. Her eyes shot open and she stood up a little straighter.
Twilight bit her lip and gave me a look. “I just put on a fresh pair!” But do they match the outfit? That’s the important part.
“Who says you need them in the first place?” I grinned devilishly, giving her a squeeze.
“I do! They even match the socks!” Fucking yes!
I stepped back and lifted her her skirt as she crossed her arms, her face a rosy red. “Well would you look at that. They really do match."
When I continued appraising her apparel, Twilight gently swatted my hand away. “I’ll let you have a better look later, okay? We still have to go to Canterlot sometime today.”
I shrugged and grabbed her hand. “Then let’s get on with it. The train station waits for no one.”
She gave me a look. “We’re teleporting there. I’m sure Celestia wouldn’t mind teleporting you back if you asked. I can get us there, but getting both of us back is something I haven’t tried in a little while.”
“Haven’t you teleported all of the girls from Canterlot back to Ponyville before?”
“Yes, about a year ago at the last Grand Galloping Gala. Like I said, it’s been awhile.”
I shrugged. “Then let me grab a jacket or something, just in case you get cold.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Why would you need a jacket if I get cold?”
“So I can give it to you, duh. I thought you were smart, cherry.” I gave her a lopsided smile.
She shook her head at me. “I love you, but you’re such a foal sometimes.”
I squeezed her hand, preferring not to mention her creepy pedophilia. I went and put my checkbook in my back pocket, grabbed the crap I’d taken off for my shower and told Twilight that I was ready when she was. Without further interruption, we appeared in Canterlot, just outside the castle gates. I started off toward the artisan section to find a jeweler and Twilight started asking questions that I didn’t really answer all that well, so she tried asking me different questions that were more specific and I kept giving her the verbal slip as we went from jeweler to jeweler until I saw some stuff that I thought she might like. Twilight didn’t strike me as a terribly gaudy gal, so when she started asking if I was looking for a ring for myself, I took the opportunity to take one of the clerks aside and asked if he could make me something special. I had found the perfect ring, but I wanted the stones to be sapphire and amethyst: our favorite colors.
While Twilight was looking around for a man ring she thought I might like, the clerk and I hashed out two variants with different cuts: One with purple agate that had a pink band in it paired with a blue topaz, or the original set up. I paid for both with some quick scribbles on a check and the guy told me that they could have them ready to go in about thirty minutes, so I let Twilight point out ring after ring until I saw one that I actually liked. I ended up trying to draw out the process for as long as possible until the clerk from earlier caught my attention. I left Twilight a little confused as I grabbed the rings and pocketed them before coming back to her to finish up with my own ring. She asked what I’d gone off to do and I told her that I’d spoken with the clerk earlier about having something custom made since I didn’t like the predominantly diamond displays.
Twilight bought it for the time being, so I took her to lunch at one of the establishments, though we'd left without actually buying me a ring. I slipped one of the waiters a ten bit tip to put the agate ring into a glass of white wine once we were finishing up with lunch. It had taken some planning in advance, but the fellow I’d payed off pulled through and Twilight spotted the ring as soon as the glass was brought onto the table. She mentioned it to the waiter, but he walked away before answering any questions, so Twilight was left to look at me. I was grinning my arse off, gesturing for her to magic the thing out of there already, and once she did, the ring was a little too big for her ring finger, so she put it on the middle finger of her right hand.
“Max, is this why you were so scatterbrained in the jewelry shop?” She asked, beaming brilliantly.
“It might have been. "
She tried to dim her smile down a little bit, but she failed miserably and settled for giving me a hug as we stood up. “Amour, you’re the sweetest thing when you want to be!”
I returned her hug. “I know. That’s why I’m such an arse all the time: To make moments like these even sweeter.”
She rolled her eyes and gave me a nice kiss for my efforts. “Still, thank you. I’m guessing this isn’t my engagement ring?”
I gave her a look. “Hell no. Your engagement ring is going to be way shinier. I told you I wasn’t going to spare any expense on you and that includes the rings. I just thought the agate looked nice since it matches your hair.”
Twilight curled a lock when I mentioned her hair. “You know it’s called a mane on Ponies, right?”
“You know I still say ‘everyone’ and ‘anybody’, right?” I quipped.
She just shook her head and grabbed my hands.”So where to next, my handsome little Human?”
“Well, I got you a ring and we ate lunch, so now we go see Celestia, I guess.”
Twilight’s face soured a little bit. “Okay, can we not do that and say we did?”
I shrugged. “It’s up to you. You’ve got to talk to her eventually, cherry.”
She sighed. “I know, amour, I know. It’s just… Why ruin such a great day when we could just wander around Canterlot and see some stuff? I heard the new curator at the Canterlot Museum of Art and History put out some new old artifacts from one of the couples around us.”
“If that’s how you want to spend the day, then I’ll be glad to look at old stuff with you. In fact, Why don’t we start with the show and tell while we’re walking?”
Twilight gave me and odd look, but she still stuck next to me when I started going. “What do you mean, ‘show and tell’?”
I whipped out the Warbling Blade and showed it to her. “This knife is from the ‘Reign of Discord’ or whatever. It’s supposed to be about-”
“Two thousand years old.” Twilight finished breathlessly. “Max, you can’t be serious. This thing belongs in a museum if that’s true!”
I crafted my most shit eating grin. “You wanna hold it?”
Twilight’s face lit up. “Can I really!?”
I flipped the blade so that the handle was toward her. “I wouldn’t have offered if I was going to say no.”
Twilight brushed a finger along the handle, but that was as far as she got. She cringed hard at the eerie silence and every Pony in the vicinity covered their ears and looked around. “What was that!?” Twilight cried.
I struggled to keep a straight face. “Freak accident. It should be good now.”
Twilight glared at me. “You knew that was going to happen!”
I bit my lips and sheathed the blade, though Twilight had the sense to wait until it was out of my hand to whack me. “Okay, so I might have known that little trick. The thing that makes it better is that you probably wouldn’t have done the same thing to me.”
“Of course I wouldn’t! That was awful!”
I let a chuckle escape and Twilight glared at me some more. “I love you.”
Twilight huffed and started walking away, leaving me to follow her. She didn’t walk all that fast, so I didn’t have to do much to catch up to her, but I still tried to get on her good side on the way to the museum. She ignored me until we were there, but the reason she stopped was because I licked her tongue a couple of times. Twilight was more flustered than mad after that, so I paid the entrance fee and we spent some time looking at boring history shit. Well, she looked at boring history shit; I looked at her. I had a nice time and an older couple even came by to compliment us on how cute our matching outfits were, though the old guy kinda just stood there and waited for his wife to stop talking so they could go play shuffleboard or something. I couldn’t blame him, and we ended up standing together while our respective ladies talked to each other.
“Do you even like museums, son?” He asked after a long silence.
“No, but I like her, so I deal with it.” I replied casually.
“Good stallion. Keeping her happy makes your life a lot easier.”
“It does, but you can’t keep ‘em happy all the time. You have to do something stupid every once in awhile so they think they’re your guiding light in the face of adversity.”
The old guy raised a brow at me. “She isn’t that for you?”
“Never said she wasn’t. I just said she had to think that she was. Little reminders don't hurt.”
“Smart too. She caught herself a good one.”
I scoffed. “I got the better end of the deal, trust me.”
“A lot of stallions say that, but few enough of them are engaged to Princess Celestia’s personal student.”
I levelled a calm eye at him. “And? I’m not with her because of who she knows.”
The old guy chuckled. “I like you, son. You got moxie.” I don’t know what that is, but okay.
I shrugged. “Keeps me alive more often than not. Except for the last time. Wanna hear about the time I went toe to toe with a dragon?”
He looked at me like I was crazy. “Why the buck would you do that? Too much moxie, son.”
“I’m an Operative. I have to have it in spades if I don’t want to die.”
“Really now? Okay, you’ve got my attention.”
So I talked to the old dude for a little bit and told him about some of my exploits, though I changed the Dragon story to fit something more believable, though it’s not like I cared whether or not a stranger found my tales to be more than amusing. The old guy found the Dragon story pretty funny since he was old and thought death was amusing since we were young or some shit like that. Old people suck sometimes.
Twilight and the old lady finished up with their conversation while I was telling the old dude about the time I helped Crimson out with his problem, so they listened in since I was just starting the story. I had a captive audience when I told them about the twelve hours inside of a secret compartment on a moving wagon, though the ladies were put off by the mention of the nose ending reek Crimson and I picked up on the way to Mexicolt.
I finished up the story on a happier note than it really ended on, though I’m pretty sure everyone already knew that it was bullshit. I wasn’t going to say that I still didn’t know if he was alive or not, so the ending stuck and I took Twilight out of the museum and bought her a bouquet from one of the fancier florists around town. She asked why I’d been spending money on her all day and I just shrugged, stating that I should’ve done it sooner in the first place. Twilight didn’t like my answer, but I didn’t have another one for her, so she had to be happy with the one she got.
Twilight actually did have enough juice to get us back home without having to take the train, and she told me that she had plenty to spare, so we could go anywhere else if I wanted. I asked if she knew of any beaches, but she didn’t, so we ended up going back to her place. Spike was already there and he had a handprint on his face, so I asked Twilight to get some tea started while I had a word with our little peeping tom.
I had him accompany me into the living room/library. “Fluttershy?” I asked in hushed tones.
He rubbed her face. “Applejack.”
I grit my teeth. “Ooh. You fucked up.”
“I don’t even know how she knew I was listening!” He hissed.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. Did you already apologize?”
“Before and after I got slapped.” He grumbled.
I could hear Twilight coming in, so we straightened up to face her. She gave us both a look before asking, “What are you two being so secretive about? It’s not more of your stallion stuff, is it?”
I raised a brow at Spike. “Uh… Yeah?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Oh really? What about?”
“Uh…” Spike looked at me for some assistance, so I looked between him and Twilight, shrugging. “...We were talking about good times to listen to girls.”
The lavender wizard blinked. “Oh. Is that why you have somepony’s handprint on your face?”
“Yeah.” He said easily. “I wasn’t careful with my listening.”
Twilight gave him a confused smile. “I don’t know why somepony would slap you for not listening, but I’m sure you learned your lesson.”
Spike tactfully left out the fact that Applejack slapped his shit for listening. “I sure did. I don’t think it’ll happen again.”
She shook her head and came over to hug him. “Good, though I think I’m going to have a talk with whoever slapped you. Even if you feel like you’re not being listened to, it’s wrong to put your hands on somepony.”
“You hit me all the time!” I objected, stepping in so Spike could delay facing the music.
Twilight blushed. “That’s different.” Right. And I’m fucking Rainbow on the side.
“It sure is.” I replied flatly. “Haven’t we already had the abuse talk with Fleur and Fancy?”
“Oh hush! I don’t abuse you!” Twilight huffed.
“You’ve hit me at least five times today.” I countered.
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she cast a quick glance to Spike. “We’ll talk about this later.”
The kettle went off in the kitchen and Twilight went to go grab the tea. I hurried Spike upstairs and greeted Twilight with a lazy smile when she came back. “Hullo cherry. Spike would’ve said goodnight, but he was afraid that you were going to hit him.”
Twilight glared at me. “And who put that thought in his head?”
“Whoever slapped him, apparently. It must have been someone he trusted, otherwise I don’t think he’d be worried about it.”
She sighed. “I know it wasn’t Fluttershy, at least. She wouldn’t put her hands on a Manticore, let alone Spike.” She would if she could fuck him. Wait, that’s mean.
I nodded. “Fluttershy’s just too nice for all that. I’ll bet he was watching Rarity change or something.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right. My little Spike is peeping on my friends. That’ll be the day.”
I was so tempted to laugh then and there, but I held it in and told Twilight that I was smiling because the mental image was funny. It really was, though imagining Spike get chewed out by Rainbow for watching her shower or something was too funny to keep to myself, so I shared the news with Twilight and she didn’t think it was all that funny at first. She eventually came around to the idea, however, and agreed that Spike peeking in on Pinkie or Rainbow would be equally hilarious, if nothing else than for their reactions. I was tempted to put it to the test, but I wouldn’t make Spike do something that stupid.
Twilight and I sipped our tea, but she spent most of the conversation looking at her ring with a little smile on her face. I asked her if she was really that fond of it, and she said that the gemstones fit her perfectly, though she didn’t like topaz for me. She said that I should go with an emerald and a tungsten band so that my engagement ring would match my eyes and I told her that dudes don’t get engagement rings. I saw a certain Twinkle in her eyes when I said that, so I assumed that I was getting one, whether I liked it or not.
Since Twilight had plenty of magic to spare and Spike was already prepared for the slumber, she popped upstairs and gave him a kiss goodnight before we teleported back to my place so Twilight could get her dirty clothes. I just sat back and watched as she looked around for them since she’d forgotten where she put them earlier. I knew exactly where they were, but I liked Twilight’s outfit and she didn’t ask me until she’d scoured the bathroom and my room. I reached under my bed and pulled them out of where she’d kicked them earlier and Twilight gave me the most adorable glare, so I booped her nose and waited for her to hit me.
The blow never came, but once Twilight had her stuff, she grabbed my hand and teleported us back into the library. I wasn’t asked so much as ordered to sit on the couch while she went to dispose of her clothes, and so I sat. Twilight came back down and sat on my lap, crossing her arms and pouting hard.
“What’s wrong, cherry? Should I have said something earlier?” I asked cheerfully.
“You’re just awful sometimes, you know that.” She puffed her cheeks out and twisted her ring around her finger.
I kissed her neck and her breath caught. “When I’m good, I’m very good…” I paused for effect and Twilight looked at me. “But when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Twilight gave me a promising look. “...Don’t I owe you for your… Attention, on your back porch?” Thank you Miss Moxxi!
I shrugged casually. “I wouldn’t ask anything of you that you don’t want to do.”
Twilight gave me a sly grin before giving me a great kiss. We sat there snogging for a good while, but eventually, Twilight wanted to taste my peppermint stick, so we headed into her room and before she loved me long time. I asked if we could take a picture to mark the day. Twilight happily agreed and we set the camera on a timer so we could get a decent picture. I was feeling more relaxed than I had been for awhile, though my chest was still a little itchy. She helped me keep my mind off of it by giving me the best of distractions, but by the time I reached a climax, Twilight was ready for some attention of her own. I doubted that Spike would be that much of a pervert, but I still locked the door and closed the shade before taking care of Twilight.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual, but Spike stayed in bed longer than Twilight did for once. My lover was awake minutes after I was, but Spike didn’t come out of his room, even when our visitors came. Fluttershy and Applejack asked to have a word with him along with Twilight, which worried the Hell out of the purple Unicorn. When Twilight went to go collect Spike for their talk, he played being sick until Applejack stormed in there and carried him out over her shoulder. Spike just gave up halfway down the stairs and accepted his fate, but when Applejack set him on the couch, he suddenly seemed a lot less resigned to his fate.
“S-So... “ He laughed nervously. “It sure is a good morning, right?”
Twilight wasn’t amused. “Spike, why would you say you’re sick if you’re not? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Oh, our little eavesdropper hasn’t told you?” Applejack asked facetiously.
I tried to catch Spike’s eye, and when I did, I gave him a solemn nod. “A-Actually Applejack, why d-d-don’t I t-tell her?” He offered meekly, his voice rising in pitch as he went along.
The cowgirl cut him a dark glare. “I think you had your chance last night, bud.”
“Applejack, cut the kid a break.” I requested. “No harm done, no one saw anything, and you already got him for doing it.”
Fluttershy piped up. “F-For what it’s worth, Max is right. Y-You hurt him m-more than he hurt us.”
Applejack set her jaw. “I ain’t budgin’. Twilight, your little brother decided that it would be a good idea to listen in on me and Fluttershy.”
Twilight looked at her blankly. “What’s so bad about that? Pinkie eavesdrops all the time and you don’t slap her.” No shit. That’s really unfair and kinda sexist.
“Damn straight.” I said harshly. “If you’re not going to reprimand an adult for doing the same damn thing, then you don’t have a leg to stand on, Applejack.”
“Like I said, I ain’t budgin’ on this!” She said stubbornly.
I rolled my eyes. “Applejack, look me in the eyes and tell me that.”
Applejack stepped out of the semicircle and faced me. “I. Ain’t. Budg-”
I rushed forward to catch her before she could hit the floor and dragged her onto the couch, laying her next to Spike. Twilight stomped her foot. “Max! What did I tell you about knocking out friends!?”
I shrugged. “She wasn’t being friendly toward my brother. I could have punched her for being a twat.”
“I might not be happy with her, but you need to stop doing that.” Twilight said severely.
I nodded. “I’ll stop knocking out friends. Spike, say your peace.”
Spike looked at the three adults in the room and took a deep breath. His eyes focused on Twilight and he started to spill his side of the story. “Alright. So I was in Fluttershy’s bathroom, hiding from the Cutie Mark Crusaders and waiting for Fluttershy to come and get me. I don’t know how long I was in there, but I heard Applejack and Fluttershy coming up the stairs, so I thought Apple Bloom was probably nearby, so I stayed in there for awhile. I got bored and came out when I started hearing some noises, so I followed the noises and it lead me to Fluttershy’s room.” He blushed brightly.
Fluttershy’s eyes were glued to the floor and Twilight was looking between the three of us. “Alright, that can’t be the end of the story. What happened after that?”
Spike cleared his throat. “Well, I listened to the noises longer than I should have, and the next thing I know, Applejack’s at the door and she slapped me.”
“You shouldn’t have been listening at all…” Fluttershy admonished softly.
“I know, but I was curious!” Spike protested.
Understanding dawned on Twilight’s face and she lit up. “Fluttershy… Are you telling me you did that with Spike in the house?”
The yellow mare clasped her hands together and ground the tip of her hoof into the floor. “I-I… I forgot he was there…”
Twilight covered her face with her hands and counted to ten. “Okay. I see why Applejack slapped you now, but she still shouldn’t have done that. Spike, you’re grounded until further notice, and Fluttershy?” Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s shoes. “Don’t do that with my brother in the house, please?”
“In Spike’s defense, most boys around his age start picking up an interest in things like that. It’s only natural for him to be interested.” I said neutrally.
“M-Max is right… I had colts interested in me when I was around Spike’s age.” She said, looking up at Twilight.
“That doesn’t make it okay.” Twilight said firmly.
“That’s not what we’re saying, cherry.” I said softly. “Just trying to help you understand the motive behind it.”
Twilight sighed and nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I get it, I just don’t approve. Spike, I don’t need to lecture you on why it was wrong, right?”
“N-No… Applejack made it pretty clear.” Spike said.
“And believe me, Applejack isn’t getting away with putting her hands on you. “ Twilight said, steel entering her voice. I raised a brow and she turned to look at me. “Don’t tell me you of all people have a problem with that.”
I raised the other brow and pursed my lips. “I’m just proud that you’re so protective of Spike. You know I’ll back you up, no matter what.”
Twilight patted my arm. “Spike, room. Max, please wake Applejack up.”
Spike sped off into his room to avoid Applejack some more and I walked over and tapped her forehead before coming back to Twilight’s side. Applejack roused from her slumber, holding a hand to her head. “What in tarnation just happened?”
I cleared my throat and she looked at me. “You were being unnecessarily prickish, so I made you take five while we handled Spike.”
Applejack stood and started to march over to me, but Twilight forced her back down with magic. “Twilight, what the hay!? Are you just gonna let him get away with knockin’ ponies out willy nilly!?”
Twilight stared Applejack down. “Unlike somepony, Max hasn’t put his hands on anypony, so I’ll talk to him later. We have a problem.” Oh shit, I’m glad I’m not AJ.
Applejack looked confused. “What do ya mean, Twi?”
Twilight strode forward and leaned down to look Applejack in the eyes. “The problem is that you hit my brother. I don’t give single buck about what he did, he is still a colt, and I swear to Celestia, if I ever hear that you laid another bucking hand on him, I will cut them off.” Oh. Oh shit.
Fluttershy sidled closer to me and I laid hand on her back. Applejack just sat there and stared at Twilight like she’d turned into Nightmare Moon right in front of her. “S-Sugarcube, I-”
Twilight wasn’t having it. “No. Are we clear?”
Applejack swallowed hard and nodded.
“I don’t speak nod.” Twilight spat venomously.
“We’re clear, Twilight. I hear you.” Applejack said shakily.
“Good. Now get out of my house.” Twilight backed off and Applejack rose, still staring at her.
I could see fear and sadness in her body language, and I didn’t doubt for a second that Twilight would follow through on her threats if Applejack didn’t get gone real soon. Fluttershy followed the child abuser out the door and Twilight waited until they were out the door to start crying, but I was already holding her since I’d been expecting it. I murmured promises that things would be okay and let her work her frustration out on my shirt, though it wasn’t like I minded at all. Being there for Twilight through thick and thin was exactly what I was trying to sign up for, and moments like these were bound to come. It’s a little fucked up that I was happy about Twilight being upset, but it was solely because she chose me as her source of comfort, so I didn’t feel like a complete piece of shit.
I wasn’t paying attention to how long Twilight cried because I didn't care enough to look at a clock or try to measure the time myself, so I have no clue how long I stood with Twilight’s face buried in my chest. It did strike me that I’d forgotten to go hunting the previous night, but that was completely unrelated to what was going on, so I continued holding Twilight until she pushed me away.
“I-I don’t wanna y-yell at you too.” She hiccupped through her tears.
“You don’t have to. I can yell at myself just fine.” I said cheesily.
Twilight cleared her eyes and tried to give me a look, but her lips were trembling too hard for it to stick. “Are y-you really gonna do it?”
“That would make me look ridiculous. So maybe, if it cheers you up.”
Twilight laughed a little bit and rubbed her eye. “Why d-does it feel like I n-never have to yell at you?”
“Because you do it so often you can't tell the difference between that and a normal conversation already. I haven’t even proposed and you’re acting like we’ve been married fifty years.” I gave her a muted smirk.
She weakly swatted my chest before walking over to the couch and plopping herself down. I joined her as she sat with her chin in her hands, looking rather like she’d rather be anywhere else right now. “Yesterday was so good! Why did today have to turn out so bad?”
I rubbed her back. “Because we’re not allowed to have nice things.”
Twilight shook her head. “I feel like I should be yelling at you for helping Spike lie to me.”
“He didn’t lie. He said he got slapped for not knowing when to listen and it was true. Spike didn’t tell you the whole story, but he didn’t lie to you Twilight.”
She gave me a tired look. “Is that your definition of telling the truth?”
“When it involves people that aren’t you, yeah kinda.”
Twilight buried her face in her hands. “I want to be mad at you, but you’re the one who got Spike to tell me himself. It doesn’t matter since he had to be cornered to tell the whole story, but you still made him face his punishment like a young stallion.” If I made him face it, then he wasn’t really acting like a real man.
“I didn’t make him own up, I gave him the opportunity to do it himself.” Twilight’s shoulders sagged and she looked disappointed. “Don’t look at me like that yet. I agree: He should have been upfront with you about it. When he had trouble answering you last night, I was giving him the chance to tell you the truth, and believe me, I plan on telling him off for not owning up then and there. I’m just saying-”
“You just said that you gave him a chance and he blew it.” Twilight said softly.
I let out the rest of that breath. “You’re right.” I laced my fingers together and leaned forward.
After a few minutes of Twilight choking back more tears, she asked, “What do I do, Max? I’ve never had to punish Spike. I’ve never really had to parent him. How am I supposed to do this alone?”
I took her hand and held it to my lips. “You’re not alone, cherry. I’m with you from start to finish, and don’t you forget that. I might not be the best parent myself, but I’m that between the two of us, we can manage to do the right thing.”
Twilight laid her head on my shoulder, so I lowered her hand. “I appreciate that and love you for it, but that doesn’t tell me what we should do.”
“We start by taking his comics from him. He loves them like they’re his own children, so I say we keep them at my place for a little while until he’s ungrounded.”
“Alright.” Twilight wiped her eyes. “How long do we keep them?”
I thought about it. “I think two weeks sounds fair. My dad used to use two weeks as a baseline whenever I got into trouble. I’d say one week since Spike’s a better kid than I was, but he screwed up his chance to come forth himself with the information, so I’d say a one week penalty for trying to get away with it is good.”
“Okay, that sounds reasonable. What should your punishment be?”
“I’m your future husband. Punishing me is ridiculous.”
“You had plenty of chances to tell me about Spike eavesdropping since you knew within minutes of us coming home. You’re guilty too.” She said, lifting her head from my shoulder
“If he didn’t tell you, then I wasn’t going to spring it on you out of nowhere. I was hoping that he would tell you himself in the morning after being eaten up by guilt, but I guess I just gave him too many chances.” I looked at Twilight while she finished up fixing her face.
She gave me a sad look and twisted her ring. “Don’t deflect back onto Spike. It makes you seem like a foal.”
I was tempted to tell her that I was laying the facts out, but now didn’t seem like the time to antagonize her. “I’d be insulted that you’d even think that, but you’re having one Hell of a day. If you want to punish me, you’re going to have to stay away from me, but that would defeat the purpose of me promising to have your back on this.”
Twilight sighed. “I don’t really want to do it anyway. No favors for the rest of the week.”
“Are kisses still fair game?” I asked, honestly worried.
She gave me a little smile. “I’m punishing you, not myself.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought you might be going crazy for a second. Glad to know you’re still kinda sane.”
Twilight patted my knee and went off to the kitchen. I figured she needed some time alone, so I leaned back and closed my eyes, thinking of how shitfully the day was starting. I felt Twilight plop down next to me again, so I opened my eyes and saw that she was levitating a cup of tea at me.. I took it from her magic and we sipped in silence for awhile. I didn’t really want to fuck anything up, but my curiosity got the better of me.
“So what made you threaten to cut Applejack’s hands off?” I asked casually.
Twilight set her tea on its saucer and stared out into the ether. “It wasn’t a threat. Applejack keeps hurting too many ponies for me to threaten anymore.”
“So it was a promise.” I said softly. Twilight nodded. “I hope you don’t have to fulfill it.”
“So do I. You know, I thought of what you might tell Applejack to get your point across when I said that.” Twilight replied.
“I don’t have to tell you that it’s not the way you should handle things. I do it because I’m not a good person. You are a good person, Twilight.”
“So what?” She looked at me. “I’m supposed to let ponies hurt Spike because I’m too nice?”
I took put my finger under her chin. “No. You’re supposed to let me handle people that hurt Spike. “
“It’s too personal, amour-”
“When I spilled my soul to you, I offered myself to you, Twilight. I gave up being a separate person to become one with you. What’s personal to you is personal to me.”
Her eyes hardened. “But when it’s your problem, it’s yours to handle?”
“...I already gave my burdens to you. Name one thing that I’ve kept from you, Twilight Sparkle.” I said firmly.
“What’s really happening with your Dark Magic?” She challenged.
I gave her a look. “You already know it’s eating away at me.”
“So your eye is Dark Magic?” Twilight asked.
“It is. I also told you that.”
“But there’s something you’re not telling me.” Twilight put her tea down and put one hand over the other.
“If you mean the fact that if I keep dying, Dark Magic will eventually turn me into something I don’t want to be, then there. I said it. I thought you connected the dots already.”
Twilight shook her head before burying her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this.”
“It won’t be a problem if I stop doing dumb shit. Noir already told me to stop being a fucking pillock so I can keep watching over you and Spike” I said.
“No, I can’t believe that it’s physically eating away at you!” Twilight shouted.
I made a noise of disgust. “It’s not. It literally changed the pigmentation of one eye. Noir’s still protecting me from the actual harmful stuff. How many times do I have to tell you that I will never lie to you?"
Twilight calmed down a bit. “You swear you’ll tell me if the Dark Magic starts hurting you?”
I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I swear I’ll tell you, cherry. Again, I have no secrets from you.”
Twilight let out a breath and laid down. “I just want this day to end already.”
There was a knock at the door and Twilight groaned. I patted her shoulder so she would let me up to answer the door, and it was none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I gently told them that Spike was in some deep trouble for the next two weeks and that they weren’t allowed to visit him until that time was up. I got a collective groan and some mutterings about how adults were always being super unfair, but I didn’t think it was terribly worth my time to explain that kids were always doing dumb shit to get grounded.
I returned to Twilight and filled her in on what I’d told the girls, though she wasn’t sure that I should be banning Spike from seeing his friends. I asked if her brother had ever been grounded and she told me that he’d always been a straight edge kind of guy, and she’d never really done much other than study, so they were bad examples of bad kids. The only real experience we had with punishments were from my world, and I thought we were letting Spike off pretty easily since I’d been beaten by my mother for less on multiple occasions. I suppose it’s a matter of perspective.
Once Twilight got her bearings, we went to talk to Spike in his room, explaining his punishment and why it was being given to him. We left out the part where we barely knew what we were doing and told him that Applejack had been dealt with for slapping him, so at the very least he had that. Spike gave up all of his comic books willingly, but he didn’t seem that upset about not being able to see his trio of girls in the next two weeks. I was willing to bet that his feelings would change with a little bit of time, however, so with the rules of the punishment in place, we went about reorganizing the Bridleland trip so we could still take it with Spike. At least, we would have if it we could get ahold of any of the girls. Pinkie wouldn’t stop by, Rainbow was AWOL, Rarity had heard about what had happened earlier from Fluttershy, and the buttery mare herself was too scared to face Twilight. Applejack wasn’t really welcome at the moment, so we were pretty much the only two slated to go at the moment.
It sucked something fierce, but the rest of the day passed without incident. Twilight didn’t feel like doing anything other than some mild cuddling, so I stroked her ears for hours on end until night fell. Twilight went to bed without saying much and she told me that I could go home if I wanted to. Some people might have been stupid enough to leave, but I told her that I would be with her until she didn’t want me anymore. That put a small smile on her face, so I considered it a victory for the day and joined her in bed after a quick visit with Noir.
During the visit, Noir told me that I’d handled the Spike situation pretty well, though she agreed with Twilight that I should have ratted Spike out from the moment he tried pulling a me. We both knew that I understood why I should have done it, but that I’d wanted him to man up and I thought that giving him the chance would be a good time for him to show his worth. We argued a bit about how I’d handled the argument with Twilight, but Noir’s main point was that I should’ve been supportive throughout instead of making that one noise that I barely even remembered. I asked her about the last time she’d had someone call her a liar to her face and she gave in to my point.
I didn’t do anything with Noir that I wouldn’t have done with Twilight since I was on ‘punishment’, but even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have initiated anything. My libido had taken a hit with Twilight’s mood, so I wasn’t up for much beyond some sparring and some archery practice. Noir mentioned the mind numbing effects of video games and their therapeutic qualities, but I wanted the clarity that came with working with my hands instead of the haze that came with playing things until my eyes hurt. Noir praised me for finding a healthier way to work out some of my frustrations than dumbing myself down and I told her that I was finally starting to learn.
We parted ways after a few hours and I joined Twilight in bed. She was still awake when I got in, so I slid into bed next to her and hummed an old lullaby that I barely remembered the words to. Once her breathing evened out, signalling that she was out cold, I allowed myself to drift off right behind her.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight woke up before me, but I was only a couple minutes behind her, according to her own accounts. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I wanted to do was kiss her and the second thing I wanted to do was go punch Spike for starting all of this nonsense. She looked better than she had the day before, but it was painfully obvious to me that Twilight just wanted to stay in bed all day and forget about what had happened. I broke our usual rule of no kisses before coffee to put a smile on her face.
“What happened to the rule?” Twilight asked quietly.
“Anything to see you with a smile.” I replied, still half asleep.
Twilight went to grab my hand under the blanket and missed terribly, waking us both up the rest of the way. I knew better than to ask her to give it a tug or two, so I kept my mouth shut and told her that her apologies weren’t needed. I got up and checked outside; it was still dark. I was willing to bet that Spike wasn’t up yet, so I offered to make breakfast and Twilight reminded me that I could probably stand to clean up before doing anything for the day. I felt some stubble on my face and agreed with her, but as I grabbed the Warbling Blade to go shave, Twilight pulled me back into bed and closed her eyes, teleporting us into my bed.
I sat up on my bed and gave her an odd look. “What’s up with the teleportation so early in the morning?”
“You need to grab more clothes and I know you like shaving in your bathroom better than mine.” Twilight explained. She crawled under my covers and got comfortable.
I rolled my eyes. “My dearest beloved, my sweetest cherry, await my return and I’ll give you my pitch black love so we may join lips in bliss as is our custom.”
Twilight teleported a handkerchief into her hand. “Be brave, my fair warrior, and return to me with something dark, hot and sweet.”
“I could give you a taste of my personality on a spectrum.” I replied blandly, going through my crap to find an adequate outfit for the day.
“So what color are you thinking of wearing today?” Twilight asked.
“I was thinking of going with something that matches my eyes, so a green shirt and that charcoal grey windbreaker. Did you have something else in mind?”
Twilight made a face. “Green isn’t my color and grey only looks good on you and Rarity.”
“Well, most of my wardrobe is blue in different shades, so pick something out for me.” I suggested.
She pouted adorably. “I don’t wanna get out of bed yet.”
“Pick a shade you like and I probably have it.”
“Do you have anything purple?”
“Not for Max, but I do for Roxy. No, I don’t want to be Roxy.” I said quickly.
Twilight rolled onto her back. “But I’m taller than you when you’re Roxy!”
I sighed. “If you take me off of punishment, I’ll give you two days as Roxy with as many matching outfits as we can squeeze into the day.”
Twilight rolled back over and looked at me. “That’s pretty tempting…”
“What else do you want on top of it?”
“Can we wear matching skirts? I’m sure you have something in purple.”
“I have some some knee length stuff that’s not too bad, but the miniskirts I have are more for me than for anyone else.”
“Have I ever mentioned how strange it is that you find your female form attractive?” Twilight asked.
I shrugged. “A couple times. If it makes any more sense to you, it’s probably because you and Roxy have similar figures, so it’s kind of like cheating for me.”
“Is that why you don’t want to be Roxy?”
“No, I don’t want to be Roxy because Noir let me know that I was partially using her as a crutch because I hate myself. She said that it wasn’t at an unhealthy level so I should be fine, but I just don’t like the idea of not facing my problems since I’ve been with you.”
Twilight folded the pillow she was laying on to get a better look at me. “I wondered why you’ve been so quick to change back recently. I trust Noir’s judgement, though.”
I nodded. “So do I. That’s why I offered in the first place.”
Twilight smiled and her horn lit up. Thankfully, I had time to grab my sleeping trousers before they could fall, and my shirt was loose enough that it didn’t hurt my chest. Still, I sighed and walked over to the other side of the room and picked out a purple skirt, some black lacy knickers, and a black V-Neck to finish the job. I ran the outfit by Twilight and she had something similar enough, so I grabbed a shower and returned to bed so Twilight could help me brush and braid my ridiculously long hair. As Roxy, I’d pretty much just let it grow out and occasionally had someone clip dead ends for me whenever they popped up, so it was down the length of my back at this point.
Once I was done with my morning routine, I went downstairs and made the coffee I’d promised, though I made Twilight get out of my bed after the first couple of sips since coffee still stains navy blue. We made it through a mug and Twilight took us back to the Treebrary once we got our typical morning kiss out of the way. I was happy that I’d remembered to get a skirt with belt loops so I could take the Warbling Blade with me, but it wasn’t like it had to be my first line of defense.
I made breakfast while Twilight took her time in the loo and Spike showed up before Twilight could get out of the bathroom. He asked if was really going to be stuck in the house for the next two weeks and I told him that it would be up to whoever wanted to watch him. Spike was understandably dejected by this, but I reminded him that he’d done something I’d warned him against anyway, so he really had no grounds to make an argument on his behalf, though he did say that getting slapped by Applejack was a punishment all in itself. I agreed, but then again, I probably would have slapped him if I’d caught him actually peeping on me, Twilight’s promises be damned. Shit was incredibly disrespectful.
When Twilight came downstairs, she found it awfully difficult to make eye contact with Spike, so I took her aside and explained that he was still the same little brother that she’d always known and loved, but he’d just made a mistake. Twilight eased up after that, but she still didn’t know how exactly to handle Spike and looked to me for advice when Spike asked if he could leave the house with supervision. I said that we would chaperone him to wherever he wanted to go, but all he wanted to do was get out of the house for a little bit, so we agreed to take a few laps around Ponyville. I knew from experience that it was bad enough to be cut off from friends, but to be locked up inside was a whole different matter.
Once we finished up with breakfast, we took our walk, though Spike was happy enough when we came back home. He spent the rest of the day browsing through the Treebrary’s books, but as an added punishment, Twilight told him that he could go hang out with some of his friends if he wrote a book report for her. One visit for one report, but it actually had to be good, so I thought it was a pretty fair deal. I mentioned that we shouldn’t change up the terms of Spike’s grounding too often, so Twilight said that we would handle it as the problems came.
The rest of my day was spent trying to keep myself covered, but Twilight wanted to appreciate my outfit for most of the day. She told me multiple times that I was super cute, but I maintained that Twilight was infinitely cuter, much to Spike’s chagrin. He said that it was like a different form of punishment that he would never get away from.
Other than that, Spike’s two weeks passed pretty quickly. Applejack came over the day the first week was done with and hashed things out with Twilight, apologizing for putting her hands on him. Twilight didn’t apologize for promising to cut Applejack’s hands off, but everyone knew that Applejack would have done the same for either of her siblings, so that was left to lie where it was.
After Applejack and Twilight cleared the air, the girls started coming back over. I had to put Rarity in check during her first visit because she was going overboard with warning Spike against peeping on her. I made sure it was known that Spike understood where he went wrong and that she was just beating a dead horse at this point, so Rarity got the idea and backed off, though I’d had to remind her of the same thing I had told Twilight.
On the last day of Spike’s punishment, he handed in seven book reports that were all pretty decent, so when the Cutie Mark Midgets came by to collect him for a day of fun and whatnot, Twilight and I gave him our blessing to enjoy himself. I rather thought he’d earned it since he’d been quite the trooper during his entire punishment, even going so far as to approach Applejack and Fluttershy himself when they came over so he could apologize for his rudeness. All was forgiven and shit went back to normal, but that wasn’t really the important part to me.
Twilight and I had successfully done some parenting, and we were plenty proud of ourselves for not going overboard or being terribly lenient, though it wasn’t like Spike had given us many if any problems. Still, we’d bonded over the experience and now Twilight would stay in the same room as me to change clothes, though she still turned a bright red whenever she caught me looking.
We postponed our Bridleland trip until the end of spring since the girls collectively agreed that we would need more time to prepare due to the rough patch we'd just gone through. Unfortunately, postponing the trip meant that when I got a letter from Celestia, I had no reason to avoid doing the task she was asking of me.
Twilight and Spike were visiting with me at my place when I got the letter, though both of them were nose deep in a book. I cracked the seal and read through the note, feeling my heart drop when I got through the majority of it. Celestia was calling in the favor I owed her from way back when she’d given me my first house. I couldn’t deny it to her since I’d promised to repay her, but the subject of the letter was what worried me. Celestia wanted me to track down a rogue Operative and put them down for good before they could leave the country and sell Equestrian secrets to the highest bidder. There was no room for deliberation in her letter, and she’d mentioned three times that I had to kill the agent, no matter what, even if I managed to take them alive. It was my sole duty to exterminate the fellow and bring back his ears so that Celestia could confirm the death. Normally, I would have been reluctant to take someone down just because I was told to, but when I sent back a letter asking why I had to perform the task in the first place, Celestia said it was because there just wasn’t any other option. The Operative was simply too dangerous to let live.
I had to prepare immediately, and once I accepted the fact that I didn’t have a choice in the matter, Celestia sent me a magic map that told me where my mark was. After paying close attention to it, I noticed that the target seemed to be heading in my general direction, so I asked Celestia if she was springing this on me because she knew he would come to me for help. She simply sent back an apology and I told Twilight and Spike to go home. Twilight had questions, but I told her that I’d explain later and grabbed Nacht off of my mantle. She got the hint after that.
With a heavy heart, I stared at the name on the map for hours until it stopped moving in a nearby town, which I assumed meant that he’d bedded down for the night. I tried to do the same, but every time I tried to go to bed, I was drawn back into my living room to stare at the map for just fifteen more minutes. I willed the name to change. I prayed that there was just something wrong with the map.. I hoped that Celestia would see reason before the mark arrived and just take him into custody.
No matter what I tried, Crimson’s name was still on the map. It was still his name in Celestia’s letters, and he was still a wanted man in Equestria.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I stayed up for the two days it took for Crimson to arrive in Ponyville, though I meditated and took breaks from staring at the map to talk to Noir and Twilight whenever the opportunity arose. Noir said that I had to fulfill my duty as an Agent of the Crown, and reasoned that Luna would have told me if one of her own Operatives was after my life. I wasn’t even worried about that, but she’d been trying to get my mind off of the fact that I was slated to kill someone who’d never caused me harm. Twilight asked that I at least let her cast a truth spell on him so that we could know for sure whether or not he was really a traitor, and that was something that I adored her for, so I agreed.
Twilight worried about me since I hadn't slept in some time, but I assured her that I could go for at least a week as long as I kept my meditation up, so she relented and kept me company when Crimson hit town. I watched as the map suddenly zoomed in and showed hundreds of little dots milling about. Crimson had just arrived via the train station and was now heading in my direction, so I waited until he was at the halfway point between my house and town to tell Twilight to hide. She straight up ignored me and declared that we would face him together, but I reminded her that Crimson already didn’t like her.
I got an eye roll and a womanly look for that. I think Twilight was upset that I’d thought she would balk at the mention of someone disliking her, but when I explained that a rogue Operative could be unpredictable, she stood firm and essentially told me to protect her if I thought she was really in any danger.
When Crimson’s knock came, I rose to meet him at the door and slipped on a facade. Upon greeting him at the door, I invited him in, though he froze when he spotted Twilight on the couch. “Oh. Hello there.”
Twilight waved shyly. “Hi. I’m Twilight, Max’s special somepony.”
He waved back. “Crimson Tide, one of Max’s Operative buddies.”
I patted him on the back. “Have a seat, mate. I just got some tea ready.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I can’t stay long.” He said quickly.
“You come all this way to visit, and you don’t even take your time? You’re not in trouble, are you?” I asked casually
He sighed. “We rarely meet when there isn't trouble. I’ll explain everything, but it’s best said in private. Operative business and all that.”
I shrugged. “Like the woman said, she’s my special someone. She’s going to ask what we talked about later, and I’m not going to lie to her, so we may as well just talk it out between the three of us.”
Crimson didn’t look too happy about that. “It’ll be a conflict of interest for her.”
I raised a brow. “If you’re talking about her relationship with Celestia, it’s kind of in shambles. Celestia pulled some serious shit with me, so we’re not exactly best friends at the moment.” Half lie, half truth. Nice blend right there.
Crimson looked between Twilight and myself. “...I trust you enough to take your word for it. I’ll go ahead and get comfy.”
I nodded and grabbed the tea, pouring everyone a cup before sitting next to Twilight. “So, Crimson.”
He took a deep breath. “Max, what I’m about to tell you is going to be hard to hear, but I think you of all people need to know.”
“Celestia and Luna are gracious, utopian tyrants that crush individual liberty so that they can make the perfect society?” I said flatly.
Crimson stared at me. “...You knew?”
I scoffed. “Mate, I’ve known from the first moment I met them that they were borderline evil. When you look at Equestria compared to a lot of other countries, it’s fucking obvious that dark shit is going on in the background that no one ever let's the average citizen see, and I thought you were aware of that.”
Crimson face slowly contorted into fury. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”
“You’re an Operative, mate. I seriously thought you knew and agreed with their methods.”
Twilight coughed before Crimson could speak. “Max, what are you guys talking about?”
“The inner workings of your home land.” I summarized.
“I can’t believe you’re just okay with this! I mean, how can you just sit by and let ponies take freedom like it's their right to decide what ponies do!?” Crimson shouted, rising from his seat.
“Because I’ve seen the alternative. I don’t know what Ponies would be like in general, but I know that Humans are naturally selfish, hateful beings. Look at children for example: Selfish arseholes by nature.” I shrugged. “I like Equestria, even if it is a sham of a nation. There are worse things for it than having Celestia and Luna in charge.”
Crimson’s chest heaved as he stared at me like I’d grown antlers. “You’re just okay with two ponies deciding your life for you?”
I raised a brow. “You must not know me that well, The reason Celestia and I are at odds is because she interfered with my life. What’s stopping you from just leaving Equestria so that she doesn’t do the same to yours?”
His breathing calmed. “It’s not just an individual basis, Max. We’re talking an entire country's citizens who are being controlled by Celestia.”
“Beyond the Elements of Harmony and encouraging pleasant behavior, what has Celestia done to control the populace?”
“She gets rid of anypony who doesn’t agree with her!” Crimson argued.
“Every leader does that, dumbass.” I said coldly. “How the fuck do you think they stay in power? It’s not because they’re good at conversation.”
He just looked at me. “...What kind of monster are you?”
I tsked. “One with a good mind for the bigger picture. I thought you might be the same.”
He shook his head in disgust. “I really thought better of you, but now you’re telling me that you support a totalitarian regime because it’s convenient for you.”
“I support Celestia because she’s doing a good job of keeping her people happy. There’s little to no crime in Equestria, and what little there is rarely tends to be malicious. When shit is malicious, she takes care of it. You act like Celestia is straight evil, but she’s really not. She does what she does for the good of the populace, and frankly, your idiocy and narrow thinking is going to get you killed.”
“If that’s what you really think, I’m sorry I even came. Have fun with your eternal infernal monarch, Max.” Crimson turned to leave, but I caught him with my tentacle.
“So what now, Crimson? What’s your next move?” I asked softly.
“Make Twilight let go of me.” He said in a low tone.
The Unicorn in question looked confused and turned to me. “Twilight’s not the one holding you. Her horn’s not even lit.”
He gave me an odd look. “Horns don’t glow.”
“They do when a Unicorn is about to or is using magic. Do you honestly not see that?” He shook his head slowly. “Huh. My question still stands.”
“...We’re on opposite sides here, Max. It’s best you don’t know.”
I let him go. “I’m sorry to hear that, friend.”
He gave me a sad look. “We can’t be friends after this. You may as well be my Nightmare Moon.”
I stood up and stood in front of Twilight, blocking her view. “No. Nightmare Moon could never finish the job.”
He gave me an odd look, but realization dawn on his face after a moment. “Celestia told you to kill me.”
“I figured I owed it to you to hear your side. I don’t think you should have to die for disagreeing with your leader, but you’re not giving me a choice.”
“...If you strike me down, I’ll come back stronger than you could ever fathom.”
I groaned. “Shut up and run away already. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have bothered giving you good tea.”
“You know Celestia is going to track me down anyways. If she asked you, then I know she has at least three failsafes in place.” He stated.
“So what, you’d rather die by my hand?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Fight me one on one. I’d rather die fighting a friend than getting stabbed in the back by a stranger.”
“Mate, that’s incredibly fucked up.”
Twilight grabbed both of us with magic. “Nopony is killing anypony. I think we need to talk to Celestia and sort this out.”
I saw Crimson’s horn light up and Twilight’s magic faltered for a second, dropping both of us. He took something small and spherical from one of his pockets, throwing at her head. I heard it bounce off in the grossest way and Twilight fell back onto the couch. Crimson looked me in the eye, so I gave him a Black Eye and he fell like a sack of potatoes. I may have decked him a couple of times for hurting Twilight, but that’s not the important part.
I wrote Celestia a quick note, telling her that I couldn’t bring myself to kill someone I still considered a friend and she showed up seconds later. “Maximus.”
“Celestia.” I replied.
“I gave you a simple task.” She said softly.
“You asked me to kill a friend.”
“I asked you to take down a traitor.”
I shook my head. “You asked too much. If I didn’t know him personally, it wouldn’t have mattered, but you know Crimson and I have a history.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples. “I know, it’s just that Crimson is one of our best Operatives. There are no guarantees that anyone else would have even been able to talk to him in the first place.”
“Then why not have Luna clean up in house? He was under her jurisdiction.”
“Luna had the same problem you do, but she actually agrees with him. Luna wants things to go back to how they were a thousand years ago, but it just… There was too much bloodshed back then, Max, and I can’t let Crimson make a push to ruin all of my progress.”
“Then put him down yourself.” I said, my tone frigid. “I’ll still owe you that favor, but know that unless someone turns truly evil, I’m not killing one of my friends.”
Celestia raised a hand and I heard a little ‘pop’. She waved the same hand and Crimson body disappeared. “Then it’s done.”
I shook my head and went to sit next to Twilight. I touched the dark blue blotch that was quickly forming on her forehead and she flinched a bit, but didn’t wake up. “That’s going to smart when she comes back.”
The Solar Monarch sighed. “It will unless you let me heal it.”
I pursed my lips. “How badly is your day going?”
She shrugged. “I’ve taken a pea off of my plate, so things are looking up. Then again, I just got chastised by one of my very limited number of friends for asking him to do something unreasonable, so you tell me.”
“Sounds like it’s a toss up so far. If you make Twilight wake up so you two can have the talk she’s been putting off, I’ll go down on once you whenever you ask.”
Celestia raised a brow. “You mean I get to have an incredibly awkward, extremely emotional talk and get my private parts licked by my hairless ape ex boyfriend in the same day? Oh happy day.”
“One of those is supposed to be a prize for getting the other over and done with.”
Celestia cast a furtive glance at Twilight. “I’ll tell you what; model for me as Roxy and I’ll wait around until Twilight wakes up.” I raised a brow. “Then I’ll heal her.”
I shrugged and agreed since it was a reasonable enough request. Celestia cracked a smile and we went upstairs to my room where I allowed her to pick out ten different outfits for me to wear and let her take pictures from whatever angle she wanted. I felt like a bit of a slut, but if it meant that she and Twilight could finally have that word without me literally forcing them to have it, then I considered it worth it. That, and Celestia made copies of the pictures she took and we may or may not have done some scrapbooking. When we each had a copy, I hid mine and Celestia sent hers back to Canterlot so we could go downstairs and wake Twilight up.
Celestia put a hand on Twilight’s head and my lover’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up, wincing at the pain in her head. “Oh dear Celestia, did anypony get the name of that Bull?”
“I heard it was Bill.” I commented.
Twilight shut her eyes tight and moaned. “What happened?”
“Crimson thought you sounded like you were crazy, so he knocked you out.” I explained.
“Is that an Operative thing or something? Why do you always knock ponies out?”
Celestia cleared her throat. “It is often easier to knock a pony out than to talk to them. Some guards have the same problem, but they don’t get away with it.”
Twilight’s eyes shot open at the sound of Celestia’s voice and she started staring daggers at her. “When did you get here?”
Celestia’s horn lit up and Twilight’s bruise faded. “I came when Max told me that he wasn’t going to do my dirty work for me. I shouldn’t have asked in the first place.”
“There are a lot of things you shouldn’t have done.” Twilight spat.
Celestia gave her a sad smile. “Mistakes are easier to make when you think you’re making them for the right reasons.”
Twilight’s lip curled and she looked at me. “I told you I didn’t want to talk to her.”
“I still think you need to. You two have too much to let it just rot away like there was nothing there in the first place.” I replied calmly.
“I wasn’t the one who lied.” Twilight spat.
Celestia’s shoulders sagged slightly. “I never lied to you, Twilight. I admit that I hid the truth, but-”
“You wiped my memory and my friend’s memories multiple times. By your own laws, you should be in Tartarus!” Twilight shouted.
Celestia bit her lip and looked down. “...I can restore the memories, but other than that, all I can do is apologize.”
Twilight snorted. “It’s a start.”
Celestia looked to me and I nodded, giving her the go ahead. She rose and knelt next to Twilight, touching their horns together and making their magical auras mix and mingle until it was an awfully gross color. When Celestia pulled away, Twilight grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. I was completely fucking lost at this point, but I assumed that Celestia had done something worthy of getting a hug. Celestia returned it after a moment and Twilight started crying, gibbering about how much it had hurt when she’d learned that Rarity had date raped me and would be sent to Tartarus.
I asked what the shit was going on and apparently Twilight had consented to having her friend’s memories wiped of her own volition so that Applejack and Rarity wouldn’t be arrested, though I knew that was a crock of shit. Twilight knew it too, but she finally understood why Celestia had wiped our memories in the first place. The princess offered to restore my memories too, but I didn’t really need any emotional baggage to add onto the heaps I already had. It didn’t mean that I was okay with the fact that I had gaps in my memory, but I felt like it was wiser to avoid bringing more pain onto myself.
Celestia and Twilight did a lot more hugging and a little more crying, but for the time being, it seemed as though things would be okay, so I took solace in that instead of focusing on the fact that I’d just lost a friend to differing ideals. I figured I could vent to Noir if I really needed to, so I asked Twilight and Celestia if my presence was needed any longer and they told me that I could go grab them some more tea if I felt like it. Since I ain’t no hoe’s bitch, I told them to go and get it themselves since they knew where my kitchen was. I took my leave and headed into my parlour to parlay with Noir for a quick moment.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a typical psychiatrist's office with Noir wearing a grey pantsuit, holding a clipboard. “Maximus, I see you have decided to make your appointment for once.”
I walked over and had a seat on the couch thing. “Sorry Doc, I’ve been awful busy. Wanking and worrying keep me occupied most days.”
She murmured some words and wrote something down on her clipboard. “Funny. So I heard that you watched a friend pass away recently.”
I decided to play along. “Try within the last hour. I was supposed to put him down myself, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
She nodded and scribbled some more things down. “It is good that you did not compromise your morals for the sake of your job. How does his death make you feel?” Like a ray of fucking sunshine.
“Guilty. I walked the guy straight into the fire, and the only thing I can really say in my defense is that he was asleep when it happened. At the very least he didn’t suffer.”
“It is my understanding that he was going to try to take down the Equestrian government and dethrone Celestia and Luna. He could have found a much more painful death, and you offered him an escape. Crimson was going to die today, whether or not you had a hand in it.”
I laid back. “Doesn’t make me feel any better. The only thing I’ve ever been mad at him for was knocking Twilight out.”
“Which you would have killed him for if he had caused lasting damage.”
“And? Doesn’t really excuse me for taking his life.”
“You did not make Crimson do anything. He chose his path, and it ended as he should have expected. You have little to feel guilty about, my friend.”
I closed my eyes. “It’ll take time to digest that. I really need to stop killing people.”
Noir coughed and I looked at her. “You have a long life ahead of you, and you had better believe that there will be more bloodshed.”
“I know that. Doesn’t mean I like it.”
She teleported over and made me scootch over so she could sit next to me. “No one would ever tell you that you have to. All I ask is that you try not to dwell on it.”
“Already trying, not really succeeding. Have I ever mentioned how convenient it is to have someone who can counsel me whenever I need it?” I asked, cracking a smile.
Noir patted my cheek. “A few times now. I’m happy to lend a shoulder whenever you need one.”
“Can you lend me a bit of ass so I don’t keep looking at Twilight’s? If mine were nicer, I’d spend more time looking at my own.”
“Add squats to your routine. Your bottom is plenty pleasant for a man, but it could do you some good as Roxy. Since you have added meat back into your diet, your body is filling out again, but do remember to keep a stock in the future. You may be able to live without it, but that does not mean you should. It will do you some good to have more protein in your diet.”
“Blah blah blah, I’m a vegan, blah blah blah, murder is meat or something.”
Noir tapped my sternum. “If you were a tree hugging vegan, we would not get along.”
“Do vegans eat pussy, or do they think that’s wrong too?” I chuckled.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure that they avoid it due to the smell of their flatulence.”
“Speaking of, do you fart?” I asked, genuinely interested.
“Not since I hit puberty. Women do not pass gas. You know this.” Noir said factually.
I cracked up at that, so she gave me a hug and a kiss, ending the visit. I returned to reality to find that we’d passed the time pretty accurately. It wasn’t like I’d been with Noir all that long anyway, so when I returned to find Celestia and Twilight giggling, I figured something happened while I was away, so I asked what up. Twilight managed to tell me that they were laughing at my face when I orgasmed, and they broke out into another round of giggles.
I wasn’t having it.
With a predatory grin, I told Celestia that if you rubbed Twilight’s stomach, that she could almost have an orgasm from just that and the white princess bit back some chuckles while Twilight blushed up a storm. Since fair is fair, I told Twilight that Celestia liked it when you put a finger in her butt during sex and oral. Once everyone was nice and embarrassed, I broached a subject that I’d wanted to talk about ever since I’d claimed Twilight as the first woman in my heart.
I asked if Twilight remembered me telling her about Celestia’s request concerning her, and she did. Celestia, however, forgot up until I reminded her that she’d asked me not to sleep with her student. I asked what their current relationship was and they looked at each other for a moment before Celestia asked if they could go back to the student/teacher thing. Twilight agreed, though she asked that Celestia not lie to her again, but the princess said that she wasn’t even completely honest with me. She said that she would tell her information that she thought Twilight needed to know, but that any national secrets would stay hidden since they were fucking secrets. Twilight was understandably wary, but she said that they could give it a shot if Celestia agreed to never outright lie to her. Celestia agreed and uttered a magical oath that bound her to her word, so I asked why she hadn't done the same for me. Her paltry excuse was that magic oaths basically barred trust from the equation in a romantic relationship, but Twilight had some questions about that.
Twilight wanted to know how long she would have me to herself as far as our relationship and Celestia and I said that we would base our arrangement on what Twilight was comfortable with. My favorite lover said that it was up to us and that she would deal with our decision no matter what, so Celestia and I agreed on the terms we’d already set up, though something was off about Celestia’s words. There was a twitching on the corners of her mouth that nearly made me go straight into interrogation mode, but when I asked, Celestia just said that Twilight had a pleasant future ahead of her if she had anything to say about it.
I really hoped that future involved me.
Celestia took her leave shortly after cryptically answering questions about what in the exactly fuck she meant, so Twilight and I spent some time theorizing on what she’d been talking about. I said that she was probably going to give her some personalized boon that she’d love as a way of apologizing and Twilight thought that she might elevate her family’s position in the Canterlot scene or something like that. Neither of us could really come up with something that seemed like it would affect the rest of her life, so we eventually let the topic drop and I asked Twilight how she felt about socks and stockings. She liked them, but she just didn’t wear them very often, though she was confused as to why I asked in the first place. I could feel my face heat up when I told her about my mild leg fetish, but Twilight didn’t really think it was strange at all since she liked the definition on my arms. She agreed to wear more things of such nature since she wore a lot of skirts and dresses during the warm months anyway, and I agreed to get some tighter shirts because Twilight liked the few that I had.
We decided to spend the day shopping for each other due to there being nothing else to do, and I was grateful for the distraction. Spending time with Twilight took my mind off of the fact that I’d just lost a friend, and she even offered to let me pick out some thigh highs for her, which was fucking radical, though Crimson’s death was still niggling at my heart. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten when Twilight tried on a pair of stockings that drove me a little crazy.
I let her browse through shirts that were a size too small and had her pick out everything for me since I would be wearing them for her anyways. I told Twilight the colors I liked and added purple to that list since I may as well have a few different colors to wear. We finished up after spending a couple hours in Blue’s shop, though we’d only stayed so long so I could introduce Twilight to Blue properly.
Once we were gone, Twilight mentioned that it was a little strange that I was so close to someone I’d only known for about a month and a half, but I couldn’t really tell her why I was so drawn to Blue. Maybe it was her matronly nature or the fact that she genuinely cared about me despite only knowing me for a short amount of time, but either way, Blue was kind of like a mother to me in the same way that Onyx was a father figure. In fact, I dragged Twilight back to Blue’s shop and asked the older woman to set up a double date for us so I could introduce Twilight to Onyx as my girlfriend, and both women were delighted to have an excuse to show off their men, or something of the sort.
Twilight and I went back to her place and we waited for Spike to get home so we could inform him of our plans for the night. He didn’t give a single fuck, though he was a little confused as to why we’d go on a double date when a normal date would work just as fine. I told him that I just liked Blue and Onyx, and wanted to have Twilight on my arm and see them both at the same time. Things just worked out in the fashion of a double date.
Twilight asked me what she should wear for the date and The Fear gripped me. I suggested that she wear whatever she thought was appropriate and she gave me a womanly look before making me search through her closet to find something with her. There was a pale purple dress that I was particularly fond of, but Twilight brought out another that matched the topaz in her ring, so she chose that one. I was a little annoyed that she’d had me look in the first place if she wasn’t going to look at my suggestions, but I kept my mouth shut and Twilight teleported us to my house so she could pick out a shirt for me. She went with the one purple button up that I possessed, and I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised.
We actually walked back into town since we had plenty of time to spare and we met up with Onyx and Blue at the Lock Pad. Onyx had chosen to go with something casual, but when Blue arrived, she made him change into something a bit nicer so that was funny. I received a glare when he caught me chuckling, so I straightened up and kept it to myself. Onyx was his usual sullen self, but he actually tried to appear like he gave a damn about what we were doing, so Blue wasn’t on his back all the time. She still chastised him for being a poopy butt diaper baby from time to time, but it quickly became evident that it was common for her to correct his bullshit.
Dinner was nice. That’s about it. Blue and Twilight found random things to talk about and occasionally had Onyx or myself chime in, so I tried to be active when I was asked to take a part. Twilight rewarded me with cheek kisses when I said things that weren’t retarded and punished me with pinches until I did it back to her. In my defense, I’d let her get four in before retaliating, so I thought it was fair. Blue noticed that we were torturing each other and playing footsie under the table, but she just gave us a knowing smile and patted Onyx’s arm when he told us to quit our teeny-bopper bullshit.
The night ended with Blue and Twilight suggesting that we do it again sometime, though Onyx mentioned to me that Mary was much more relaxed. I told him that bringing a woman that we’d both been shagging would be incredibly stupid and I think that was the first time I ever saw Onyx blush, so I locked the memory away and reminded myself to give him shit about it the next time he had a talk.
Twilight lead the way home and asked for a tummy rub that I was happy to give her. We’d decided on my place since I figured Spike wouldn’t want to hear his sister do anything other than talk in a conversational tone and things got fun when we arrived. I gave Twilight her tummy rub and she offered to reciprocate, but I let her know that touching a Human’s stomach was just something we weren’t that fond of, so she settled on getting some more practice in lining her mouth with icing.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I chilled out at my place the next day because I didn’t feel like doing anything, though the girls had invited me to a picnic. With some much appreciated silence and alone time, I decided to get more of the Midnight Stroll book done, but it just didn’t come to me as easily as writing harlequin romance does. I was throwing a recently acquired bouncy ball at the wall when I heard my door being thrown open and the clopping of hoofbeats down my entrance hall. I ducked behind my couch and prepared myself for the worst when I saw that it was just a pissed off Twilight being followed by the girls and Spike.
I stood up from behind the couch and hopped over it. “Twilight, you should know better than to storm into my house. God forbid I stop thinking and maim you or something.”
She didn’t stop marching and gave me a tight squeeze, burying her face into my chest. ”My brother sucks!”
I hugged her back. “I know that, Twilight. I’ve been telling you that since I met him. What made you change your mind?”
Rarity cleared her throat. “It would seem that Shining Armor got engaged and planned on getting married without saying a word to Twilight.”
“Oh. So can I kick his face in, or are we just going to shout at him for a little bit?” I asked.
“We’re shouting.” Twilight said from my non-breasts.
“Damn. I figured that would be a good enough excuse. When’s the wedding and are we actually going?”
Twilight lifted her face and looked at me. “Of course we’re going, I’m just going to give Shining a piece of my mind!”
“We all have a part in the weddin’, so everypony kinda has to go.” Applejack added.
I shrugged. “At least Night Light and Velvet will be there.” Maybe I’ll convince Twilight to let me lay Cadance before the ceremony. Heh.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Twilight said bitterly. “If my BBBFF wouldn’t even send an invite to me, I doubt he’d send one to our parents.”
“The fuck does BBBFF mean?”
“Big Brother, Best Friend Forever.” Everyone present chorused.
“Please tell me you don’t still call him that.” I asked Twilight, deadpan.
She blushed. “Why wouldn’t I?”
I gave her a look. “It sounds like something a sweet six year old would come up with.”
Twilight abused me for saying that, but it was still true. Once she’d gotten the news off of her chest, she calmed down a lot, though she was still plenty upset about being excluded from her brother’s personal business. I couldn’t blame her, and I didn’t exactly try to make her stop being mad at him because fuck that guy. Seriously, the prick had never been anything but unpleasant to me.
The girls told me that they were all responsible for different parts of the wedding. Fluttershy was in charge of a choir made of songbirds, Applejack was catering, Rarity was making dresses, Pinkie was planning the reception, Rainbow was supposed to do something called a ‘Sonic Rainboom’, and Twilight was supposed to make sure shit went well. I figured that I’d spend my time with Twilight, but she told me that Celestia wanted me to attend to Princess Cadenza during the whole affair. I made a noise of distaste at that since I’m no one’s fucking errand boy, but Twilight told me that Celestia would be calling in that favor. I was quite tempted to tell her to shove her favor up her arse in a choicely worded letter, but I did owe her.
The girls hung around and babbled their excitement for the wedding in a constant buzz that seemed to drone on and on, so I talked to Twilight so I could get a better idea of why she was so salty. Hell, she never talked about her brother unless I brought him up, and the girls all said that they didn't even know she had a brother, despite knowing her for some time now. I told them I’d figured it out after turning Twilight’s parent’s house into a maze and Twilight abused me some more because she still hadn't told them that it was me who’d done it. I found that amusing and promised her that I would let them know when we saw them in two days.
When all was said and the girls had raided my pantry for more snacks and tea, they left and I spent some time with Twilight, trying to assuage her further. She wasn’t having any of my shit, but she did consent to a nice ear massage and some light petting that got adorable when she fell asleep on my chest. It was even more adorable when she started drooling, but I didn’t want her to wake up with slobber on half of her face, so I woke her up and wiped it off before she could realize she’d put it there in the first place. She still put it together after a moment, but my nonchalance about the incident made her less embarrassed than usual.
We did some cuddling and I wrote in my journal for the first time in a while, catching it up to right about here. At the moment, Twilight has her head on my shoulder and continues to lift her hand up to look at her ring every five minutes. She touches it all the time and looks at it whenever the girls aren’t around, so I can’t help but feel that I made the right choice for her. She’s still talking about getting me a man ring to match hers, but I’m still not terribly fond of jewelry, if anything then because it was a clear indication of an easy mark for me back when I worried about such things.
Putting those thoughts aside, the next time I pick this journal back up will probably be for the wedding. Hopefully I’ll get some ideas for my own wedding while we’re there, but you never know.