Excuses... Excuses...

by pertelote345

Shipping and Handling

"OH MY SWEET AUNTS YOU HAVE TO TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!" The pink alicorn cried, squeezing me so hard I could barely breathe.

I admit, when I'd sent my 'coming out' letter to Equestria's newest power couple I had to admit I was not expecting Cadence to immediately teleport directly into my library.

Shining appeared moments later in a flash of blue light. He was panting and covered in sweat. "Could... Could you please, for the sake of those that do not have access to alicorn magic, take the train..."

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Shining sweetie, you're supposed to use the ritual chamber. It'll cut down the mana expenditure by half."

"I did..." He sputtered. He lifted up a noodley fore hoof. "Hi sis... Congrats on the date by the way... Super proud... Why is your room so green?"

I wanted to tell him his vision was fuzzed and offer him a glass of water, but come to think of it the room was rather green. Had I painted...?

Cadence finally realized I needed oxygen to live, blushed and loosened her grip. Precious air filled my lungs and the embarrassed princess placed me gently on the couch.

"Okay, so maybe I got a bit over excited," She conceded, "but you have to admit this is huge! I know you've been Princess of Friendship for a while and you had some slight attraction to that handsome empty head in the human world, but dang! You've shed a big pile of sexual repression and found someone who you have an actual connection with! Hay, even Spike approves!"

She blinked. "Speaking of which, where the heck is the cute little guy?"

Said "cute little guy" was currently standing in the doorway with (to my shock) Applejack in tow. The earth pony was staring at the scene before her with a look on her face like she was unsure whether she should try to enter the conversation or hop the nearest train to the griffon kingdom.

She was also carrying a bouquet of roses... I would have thought that was super romantic if I had more oxygen in my system.

The second Cadence spotted her she pounced. "OH CELESTIA! APPLEJACK I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!!!" She snatched up my marefriend in another one of her bone crushing hugs.

AJ was made of stronger stuff than me and just sort of blushed at the attention. Spike, on the other hand, looked rather unnerved. "Uh... Cadence, should you really be bouncing around like that? You're a couple months pregnant, right?"

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Please... Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not ready to take on a few giant monsters. Besides, some exercise is good for you when you're carrying a foal, it's an extreme sport." She pointed to AJ. "Seriously, if you two are ever deciding who's going to carry my vote's for Miss Muscles over here."

I blanched. Even the magically exhausted Shining had the good sense to balk at that. "C-Cadence!"

The pink alicorn blushed. "Okay, okay... That was a bit over the line this early, I'm sorry..." She noticed AJ's shaken look. "Okay, I'm really sorry. Are you okay?"

Applejack shook herself. "Oh, pardon me Princess... I was stuck in my own head for a bit. So, what brings ya to Ponyville? Don't y'all have a lot of work to do back in the Empire?"

Cadence nodded. "Oh we do, it's just that when I read Twilight's message I absolutely had to come over and congratulate her. I've been trying to get her to dip her hooves in the dating pool forever... Speaking of which..." She gave me a playful shove. "Why didn't you tell me you liked mares! I would have been sending so many hot ladies your way!"

I blushed. "I... I guess I didn't realize it until recently..."

Cadence smiled. "That's okay little sis..." She let out a breath, finally noting the pile of dazed and exhausted ponies around her. She scratched at the back of her head awkwardly. "I... I guess I got a little carried away here huh?"

"A little?" Shining asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, maybe a lot. Like you've never gotten really excited about something."

He shrugged, he was finally managed to readjust and picked himself up with a chuckle. "Seriously though, we're really happy for you two. How about we treat you to lunch to make up for barging in like this?"

I smiled. "Sounds great! AJ do you have time?"

She grinned. "Shoot, I was about to ask if Twi wanted some grub... Ya know?" She gestured to the flowers.

I blanched. Oh no...

This was it. Applejack and Cadence and Shining were going to get into a really awkward struggle over who would take me out. It might even be reversed with Applejack insisting they come along and Cadence saying she wanted to give us privacy... But it wouldn't end there... The feelings would fester and-

"Wanna make it a double date?" AJ asked.

"Okay!" Cadence agreed.

I blinked... Or, you know, that could happen.

#

A good meal and some easy going conversation later, I got to watch the three magical ponies do some kinda crazy ritual to send the Crystal Empire's political leaders back to their palace. There were lots of... Pretty lights? I guess? I dunno much about magic.

I had to say, it was a relief. Don't get me wrong, I'd always liked those two, but having them out on our second date was a bit of a doozy.

Twilight gave me a nuzzle. "Thanks for putting up with that. They're just excited is all."

I chuckled. "They're not the only ones... I mean, yesterday y'all were scared to be seen with me in public and today we walked right out into a restaurant with your family. You really know how to make a girl feel less broken Twi."

Twilight blinked. "What do you mean?"

My smile fell. Horse apples. I'd actually just said that hadn't I? "It... It's nothin' sugarcube, don't worry about it."

She narrowed her eyes. "Applejack, I thought we were past this. You aren't dragging me down, and you aren't broken."

I shook my head. "Twi it's not that! I... I can't..."

I winced. If there was anything I was good at it was hiding my feelings, but... I'd be a liar if I said Cadence hadn't dug up some dark thoughts.

I bit my lip. There was no way I was going to cry about this. She already knew it, she just hadn't connected the dots yet... No need to make it a big secret. Time to woman up and spill the beans.

In a second...

Finally, when twilight's expression had turned from annoyed to concerned I let out a breath. "Twi, I... I can't have kids."

She stared at me. "Wait you... And you were just around Cadence." She looked completely at a loss. "Oh Applejack!"

I held up a hoof. "Twi... It's really not that big a deal. Thanks to some... Tissue storage... I can even have a couple biological kids. It's just... I can't get pregnant." I touched my stomach with a shudder. "There... There's nothing there."

Twilight hugged me, suddenly and tightly.

Part of me was... angry. I wanted to fling her off, to tell her how it didn't matter, but...

There was something different about this hug. What she was feeling now... It wasn't pity. She was just sad... Sad that I was sad.

It was long past time I stopped prickling at every slight and took her at face value. I hugged her back. I didn't cry though. I do that inside.

She let me go, for some reason she had a tiny little smile on her face. "So... What you're saying is, if, completely hypothetically, please don't think I want to rush things... If we did ever want a baby... It could be both of ours?"

I stared at her I... I hadn't thought of it that way. I smiled. "I guess we could." I let out a short, sad laugh and plopped myself on the couch. Heavens above this had been an exhausting day. "Let's save that for later sugarcube. We haven't even Prench kissed yet."

Twilight smirked. "Do you want to?"

I stared at her. "I... I... Oh who am I kissin- kidding!" I corrected rapidly. "Kidding! I mean, I'm not kidding that I'd like to kiss you! I mean, if you'd like to that-"

She plopped herself down next to me and kissed me.

I was terrified at first, but... Oh heavens those lips, the smell of Twilight, the feel of her against me... Her tongue.

Before we'd just been brushing lips together. It was exciting, but not much else. Still, I knew what mouths were like. I'd always thought kissing like this would either taste weird and be terrible or it would feel so good that I'd feel bad about doing it anywhere that wasn't behind closed doors...

But this was different. I felt close, connected. It felt good, but not like I was doing something wrong. It was like... It was like hugging where you wanted to be even closer, where you needed to be together with someone and just be.

And in that moment, I realized something. There wasn't anyone in the world I wanted to be with more than Twilight.

Comments

[Crescent Minor]

Well ... If the story were to end here, I'd be satisfied. Unless you want to get into their romance further, or possible have Applejack come out to the rest of the Mane 6, I'd say all your suspense debts have been paid off by this point. But this story is still listed as Incomplete. I'm interested in where the story might go from here (largely because I can't think of anything).

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

I love this story, I'm not sure it's the best story to read while being as emotionally screwed up as I am right now, but it's cute and feelsy and happy, and I just love these gays horses!

[pertelote345]

6542466
I have some plans, and I don't want to spoil anything, but there are still some things to cover in terms of Applejack seeking to accomplish things and get comfortable with herself, and a few things that were brushed over that deserve more attention where it comes to Twilight's coming out and the acceptance of her relatives.

6543288
I'm glad you like it! I should warn you there are a few pitfalls to come, but I think you can handle it. After all, you have discovered the power of baby bats. The cutest things in the universe!

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

6543365 Amen, baby bats may have more power than they should...
Naw, it'll be fine.

[ididntthinkidlikethis]

"Let's save that for later sugarcube. We haven't even kissed yet."

Um... they did, though... A few chapters back.

"How do you feel about kissing on the first date?" She asked with a blush.
I smiled. "I'm easy."
Twilight leaped on me and our lips met. We had no idea what we were doing, but skies above did it feel nice...

[pertelote345]

6544381

....

HOW DID I FORGET THAT!

be right back, revising.

EDIT: Now it is prench kissing...

Not quite the same impact, but it kind of works...

I'm going to go hide under a rock for a while.

[Atom Smash]

I blinked... Or, you know, that could happen.

Twily, sweetie, you worry too much, way too much.