August 18th, 1000 Domina Solaria
“Nnngh!” Twilight moans through clenched teeth as Doug presses her barrel into the bed, his hands digging into her back. She squirms against the legs on either side of her, trapping her and keeping her locked in place.
“You okay there?” Doug asks as he lets up, his hands lightly caressing her shoulders. He goes to back off, though the raspberry aura around his hand keeps him from pulling away.
“It’s okay, that one just really hit the spot,” Twilight says with a touch of exasperation as her horn flares, a quill shading in another section of the unicorn musculature diagram next to them. Most of the pony is already hashed, or stippled, or lightly dotted, just a few more sections around her neck remaining.
“There is a spa in town, you know,” Doug says as he moves a little further up, starting off with gentle kneading. “I’ve never gone, but Rarity and Fluttershy both swear by it, when they have the bits to spare.” Doug leans in to whisper in Twilight’s ear, “And, for Rarity, even when she doesn’t. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Gossip? Ooh, what a naughty stallion,” Twilight smirks, though she is quickly rewarded by a harsh pinch. She dots in the second to last section, that spot not nearly as pleasant as the previous.
“It’s not gossip, it’s a way for the two of you to bond, and if you just happen to pay for her, I’m sure she’ll forgive you eventually,” Doug says with a cheeky grin. “And it’s not like she has a monogrammed towel and/or robe for you at the spa already.”
Twilight raises an eyebrow, “You sure? That seems like something Rarity would do.” She crosses off the last box, leaving the recording of the outcome of her neck massaging for the next time Doug spends the night at the library.
“Eh, she probably has it at the Boutique.” Doug’s hands slip to Twilight’s flanks, now working down her legs. “So,” he says seductively, giving her a light squeeze, “was there anything else you wanted to do before breakfast?”
“Again? Rainbow was right about you.” Twilight smiles as she gets up, “Besides, I think twice was just fine, don’t you?”
Doug rolls his eyes, releasing a slight groan, “You aren’t going to start every day with that, are you? It just seems like you’re, I don’t know, tempting fate a little too much.”
“Mm, well, if tempting fate got us together, then I say we could use a little more of it.” Twilight nuzzles Doug before turning back, “Besides, I was thinking that we would head out and find Spike.”
Doug chuckles as he motions to the small pile of scrolls Twilight has next to the bed, “I’m sure Celestia is eagerly awaiting your every word. Although, did you have to go into such detail? Even I got a little prudish towards the end.”
Twilight shakes her head, “Nonsense! It’s nothing that she hasn’t seen or done herself, I’m sure, except for the parts where it involves you.” At Doug’s diverting whistle, trying to conceal the grin on his face, she rolls her eyes, “Nice try there, Casanova. Now, do you want to stop at Sugarcube for some breakfast, or head straight to the Boutique?”
“I could go for some grub,” Doug says, stretching his arms and legs before striding to the shower. Twilight joins him for a quick rinse; while she has heard it is customary to leave the stallion’s musk on a mare, to let everypony know what has occurred, the whole town was there yesterday. So they should have a pretty good idea of what the two of them were up to last night. And again this morning. She prefers smelling like lavender, though she would concede that she doesn’t mind his musk too much.
Doug grabs his light pack, Twilight her saddlebags and letter to Princess Celestia, the two setting off. Sugarcube Corner, while packed, has Lemon seat them right as they walk in and then hoof deliver a massive breakfast. Twilight receives a large purple muffin with pink sprinkles, enough hay browns to make a meal all by itself, a bowl of mixed fruit, mostly apples, and a cup of steaming coffee, black, that Twilight quickly takes a sip from. Doug has hash browns, the same bowl of mixed fruit, a weird lumpy orange and yellow concoction that Doug explains is scrambled eggs and cheese, and a glass of orange juice.
A card is included, fancy dark pink writing on light pink paper. Twilight’s raspberry aura opens it up, Sweetie Belle’s hornscript reading,
‘Twilight, I hope this breakfast helps get back some of the energy you lost yesterday at the Iron Pony competition. Congratulations on winning, and I hope you can teach me how you got so strong at magic!
Sweetie Belle’
“Aww,” Twilight says, pulling out the picture and taking another long slurp of her coffee. Doug is sitting in the middle, Twilight and Trixie laying next to him with an arm around each. The foals are arranged to the sides, sitting in front of their dams, all beaming at the camera. “This is so thoughtful! But, how did they know we would eat breakfast here?”
“They didn't!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she refills Twilight’s coffee, appearing out of nowhere. “Each of the fillies made one, then we shuffled them around to everywhere you might eat breakfast!” Her head draws even closer to Twilight’s, “So, you like it? Do ya? Do ya?”
“Aww, you didn’t have to do that,” Twilight says with a grin, fondly tracing a hoof over the picture and envisioning a tiny Twilight laying next to her. “And I do like it! Thank you so much!”
Pinkie Pie nods furiously, “Yes we did! Otherwise you’d be going to the Carousel Boutique, and you’d know Sweetie Belle’s present would be there! This way there’s still a prize and suspense! And you get to collect them all!”
Twilight, her smile still on her face, slowly shakes her head, “Oh, Pinkie, I don’t think it’s necessary to-”
Pinkie Pie reaches a hoof forwards, grabbing Twilight by the neck, the unicorn immediately ceasing her shaking as she glances down warily. Pinkie Pie glares at Twilight as she drawls out, “Collect them…”
“Okay, Pinkie, I’ll collect them all,” Twilight says hurriedly, breathing heavily as the pink mare releases her.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she pronks back behind the counter, a number of the ponies waiting in line starting to get a little agitated.
Twilight quickly makes her way through her breakfast, rereading the card and smiling again at the picture. “Do you think Princess Celestia will be as happy to read my report as I am to read this?”
“I think she’ll be even prouder,” Doug says, a hand reaching across the table to rub Twilight’s ear. “Speaking of, how do you think your parents took the news?” Twilight’s smile, while normally an excellent gauge of the mare who wears her emotions on her withers, seems to freeze in place. Doug glances over, raising an eyebrow as he appends, “Will take the news?”
“I didn’t tell them!” Twilight exclaims, her hooves coming up to the sides of her head to peel her face back, stretching her skin taut. “How could I forget to tell them?”
Doug shrugs as he leans back, “I just figured you ponies were way more independent, or you were far apart, or something. Never made a big fuss when any of the other mares joined the herd, just sent a letter. Everypony’s family is either out in Las Pegasus, stuck in their ways on a rock farm, or Cloudsdale, or Cloudsdale again, or constantly traveling. Or, um,” Doug coughs awkwardly, “Not with us any more.”
Twilight scrambles around, looking for any sort of spare paper to write a letter to her parents. And Shiny! And her old foalsitter, Cadance! And a few of her favorite professors! They would all want to know about this huge development in her life, and she hasn’t told any of them! She hasn’t even thought about telling them!
Could she just duplicate her letter to Princess Celestia? Ooh, but all those details, scattered through the entire thing! Her parents probably wouldn’t mind; well, Velvet would get a kick out of it while Night Light might chastise her a little for her adventurousness. And she shared everything with Shiny. But her professors wouldn’t be as appreciative. Maybe she could put it off, write them a separate letter later?
“Hey.” comes Doug’s voice, firmly and a little exasperated, like it isn’t the first time he is saying something. “Hey.” A hand returns to her ear, fingernails scratching into her scalp and breaking her from her trance. “You doing okay?”
“O-oh, I’m doing just fine,” Twilight ekes out between gasps. “Maybe we should just head back to the library! I’m sure there’s a note waiting for us, there in the kitchen! E-heh.”
Doug slightly shakes his head, “Hey, we’ll end up there. Now, we were going to see Spike, right? I’m sure there’s a letter for us at the Boutique, too!” He gets up, leaving enough bits as Lemon comes by to bus the table.
“Aww,” Twilight says, dreading having to send a letter that isn’t perfectly tailored to the recipient, though she gets up to follow Doug out anyway. Well, maybe if she just adds a cover letter or something short to her parents, then they’ll forgive her for her delay. Or is she better just taking the delay? But a normal letter would take a day or two, and while she doesn’t like using the Princess as a courier it might save enough face to have something delivered from the Princess. And they would appreciate it being the same report she gave to Princess Celestia, right?
The two arrive at the Carousel Boutique, the store not yet open for business. The front door opens regardless, Spike waving at them. “Good morning, Twilight!” the young dragon calls, beaming. He turns to Doug, “And, um… Should I call you Doug? Or dad? Sire seems a little off, since, you know…”
Doug squats down, almost able to look Spike in the eye, reaching a hand forward to rest on Spike’s shoulder. Spike glances down at the limb before turning back to Doug. “Spike,” Doug says with a smile, “You can call me whatever you are comfortable with.”
Spike says with a few halting pauses, “Okay, um, dad,” though he smiles at the end. He perks up as he says, “Breakfast is waiting inside!”
“Thank you, Spike!” Twilight says with a smile, though it gets a little forced as she continues, “But, we already ate at Sugarcube, so…”
“Oh, you got my card then!” Sweetie Belle calls from just inside the Boutique, pushing past Spike to beam at the two. Rarity is standing behind them, her purple mane and tail still in curlers, a wide smile on the mare.
“I did! Thank you so much,” Twilight says, though her expression drops a little at Spike’s disappointed frown. “It’s okay, Spike, I’m sure I have room for all of your delicious breakfast! You know exactly what I like!”
“Heh, that I do!” Spike says with a glance towards Twilight’s saddlebags. “Speaking of which, is there anything else you’d like me to do? Oh, and I have something for you, too!”
Spike pulls out a scroll as Twilight pulls out her letter to Princess Celestia. She quickly scribbles a note on the first page, telling the Princess to please forward a copy to her parents, Shining Armor, and Cadance, figuring the Princess would know how to get their addresses. The two swap papers, a gout of green flame scattering ashes to the wind.
Twilight rips open the ornate scroll, a shorter letter than she imagined Princess Celestia sending coming out. She gasps at the elegant hoofscript, the Princess having taken the time to write it out by hoof instead of dictating it, or writing by horn?! She beams, opening to the first line:
‘My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
It has been one of the greatest of joys in my life to watch as you’ve come such a long, long way in your studies. Since that very first day that I met you, I eagerly anticipated your every growth. Watching you, to see what you might do, how you took on every challenge you’ve been through. And every time, every way that you have made me proud of you.
As you will no doubt come to find in the coming night, you will embark on a new change in your life. You are a grown mare, a new life beginning. I look forward, with the gladdest of hearts, as you go where you will go, and see what you will see, and for you to find what you will be.
May you find every destiny you desire fulfilled,
Princess Celestia’
Twilight stares at the letter for a few seconds before she sinks to the floor, sobbing, her hooves covering her face.
Doug reaches over, one hand softly rubbing against Twilight’s withers as he picks up the letter, reading through it. “Wow,” is all he can manage.
“She’s proud of me!” Twilight forces out through her tearful smile, turning to wrap Doug in a crushing hug. Rarity, Spike, and Sweetie Belle quickly join as she continues, “Best Day Ever!”