Coming Together from Worlds Apart

by Nyxian

Rating: mature
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rarity, Romance, Original Character, Sex, Human, Anthro, Main 6
Length: 18210

A human student studying in Equestria spends some special time with his special somepony

Adam Murdoch is one of the few lucky humans selected to participate in the cross-dimensional student exchange program between Equestria and Earth. He's tall, not-so-dark, and only moderately handsome. He's also in a secret (he hopes) relationship with Rarity. They've managed to make their sort-of long-distance relationship work through school, crises, and even Pinkie Pie. This is the story of their anniversary and how they decided to spend it.

Published 2014-06-28 17:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-28 17:50:01 UTC

An Anniversary to Anticipate

There's a saying in Equestria: "The sun exists because Celestia loves us so much she wants all of us to know it every day." In my general, earthling, experience (and from what I've heard from Twilight), the saying would be more appropriate if rendered thus: "The sun exists because Celestia thinks everyone should have to wake up almost as early as she does to raise the damn thing."

In case you are wondering, no, I am not a fan of mornings.

Annoyingly bright sunlight pierced the drapes that offered only feeble protection from the vile solar orb. Still, there was no going back. Once I was up, I was up, no getting back to sleep for me, no, that's for people who have a body clock that doesn't constantly flash 12:00. Groaning like the two thousand year old man I stretched my arms, legs, and everything in between. My right knee twinged with pain, making me remember the time I'd fallen off a curb on my way to school and managed to get a bit of broken glass embedded in it, neatly severing my ACL. Then my lumbar spine popped loudly and sent its own, unique, wave of pain slithering up to my brain, triggering memories of the sledding accident in which I'd nearly broken my tailbone and been paralyzed and unable to walk for five minutes, and finally my ankles set up a protest regarding the cavalier fashion I had landed on them yesterday when I was nearly late for the train to Ponyville and ended up jumping a rail in order to skip a staircase (Parkour!).

"Ugh." I grumbled to myself, rubbing a hand over my hazel eyes and noting that my mud brown hair was getting a little too long to be comfortable. "I'm only twenty three and here I'm aching and griping like grandpa, and he was eighty when he went. Before long I'm going to start lecturing people on the 'good old days' and looking forward to lutefisk dinners...well, maybe not the lutefisk, but definitely the lecturing."

"Mmmph...what was that Darling?"

"Uh..." My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as a posh, if sleep slurred, voice to my left interrupted my usual early-morning grousing.

Belatedly I realized that I was not in my Canterlot University dorm room. In retrospect it should have been obvious, my bed was much smaller than the gigantic one I was currently sleeping on and the bedding was much lower quality than the silk-analogue I was currently swathed in. Plus, the room here was cavernous compared to the cramped dorm I'd been living in for two years, and to top it off someone (well, somepony) had gone to the trouble of actually decorating.Turning and looking at the other half of the bed I was graced by the bemused look of the white and purple mare with which I had spent the night. Rarity was pretty tall for an Equestrian, her head (not counting her horn) came up to roughly my eye level, which is nothing to sneeze at given that I'm six one and a half. It's rare that ponies even hit six feet, the average height being something like five seven for females and five five for males...except Big Macintosh, but then again, that seven foot tall muscle monster was the exception to a lot of rules.

"Bit for your thoughts?" Rarity asked, her diction becoming ever more precise as she woke up. Her purple mane was unkempt and a bit frizzy, and her short coat was in a similar state, though she somehow managed to make it look intentional. She was just gifted like that.

"I'm thinking...I can barely believe what happened last night." I answered truthfully, earning a laugh.

"Oh Darling, I assure you it very much did." She answered with a smile that was half amusement half wickedness. Then her arm extended and I felt her hand grasp mine."And furthermore, it was quite enjoyable, so do not start flagellating yourself over it."

"Flagellating?" I replied, the sarcasm center of my brain taking control of my vocal apparatus without permission from the common sense lobe, an occurence which is hardly out of the ordinary for me and has gotten me into more than a little trouble over the years. "Careful now, you'll get me all hot and bothered."

"I am serious Adam." She replied, ignoring my brain's attempt at levity. Stupid brain. "I have known you for almost two years and been your marefriend for a year and a half. Given a few minutes you would start convincing yourself that you took advantage of me or some such human nonsense."

"I...um, well, last night was fun, but-" A finger pressed against my lips and she shook her head.

"No. No buts. What we did was legal, consensual, and between two adults. I am happy it happened and it would be a shame if you went on to convince yourself that your first time was some kind of moral failing on your part."

"I-" This time it was her lips that interrupted me. She and I had taken the time to explore this sort of thing before the grand finale, but there was something different this time. It was quick, and closed mouthed (well, to be fair, things had started that way last night but boy had that changed awful fast), but it still felt good. Really good. After she finished I felt her rest her hand on the back of my head as she rested her forehead against mine, careful of her horn.

"I had a lot of fun last night Darling." She whispered, petting the back of my head softly. "Please do not ruin the memory for yourself."

"I'll give it a shot." I replied, tentatively resting a hand on her flank. "It's just that I didn't exactly expect my first time to play out quite like it did."

"They very rarely do Darling. Granted yours was more...adventurous than most." She smirked. "Still, we both had fun, and that is what matters."

"Yeah, I guess so." I smiled, though it may have been a little weak, and my cheeks were definitely red. "Um, what do we do now though?"

"Well, I believe we could both use a shower, and I think Pinkie Pie is planning on throwing a 'Congratulations on finishing your Finals' party, so we had best get presentable soon. The girls and I have managed to convince her not to initiate any of her surprise parties before ten in the morning, to save on potential embarrassment on the part of the guest of honor, but you never can tell with that mare."

"Please tell me she doesn't throw parties for losing your virginity." The sad thing was it was a legitimate question. Even short-term exposure to Pinkie dispelled any illusions I may have had about the Great Pink Terror being able to know things like that just by looking at you.

"She wanted to actually." Rarity laughed as she got out of bed, perfectly comfortable with her nudity. She was built like most Equestrians, thick limbs, a slightly barrel-esque torso, and noticable hips. Her C cup breasts were large for a pony but small for a human. "Though she may have been drunk when she mentioned it, it is impossible to tell with her. Poor Twilight and Fluttershy nearly died of mortification and it took a concerted effort from Applejack and myself to convince her otherwise."

"Applejack and you?" I asked, getting out of bed, or almost. I paused when I realized I'd have to forfeit the concealment offered by the blanket. After a pointed look from Rarity I got up anyway, trying to ignore how red my face was. "Let me guess, Rainbow was too busy laughing."

"She nearly passed out." Rarity confirmed, pointedly glancing between my legs and back again, gesturing me to follow her to the bathroom and stepping over the clothes strewn on the floor. "I would not worry about it though. Pinkie may be rather oblivious at times, but she knows where to draw the line, and she would not do anything that would truly distress you, especially since you are not a pony and there are diplomatic repercussions to consider."

"Speaking of, you don't think there will be any problems over...us, do you? Generally I mean, not just between us and the Bearers." I asked as we walked down an elaborately decorated hallway towards a partially open door through which I could see white tile.

"I should think not. We ponies have never had taboos about...transcending the species barrier."

"And the euphamism of the century award goes to..." I snarked.

"Well, 'rutting outside the species' just does not befit a lady, now does it?" She asked with an answering grin as we reached the bathroom and what looked like geodes set into the walls flickered to incandescent life. It was done in white tile with purple accents. I'd found that many Equestrian houses were decorated to match their owners' coloration and it seemed that at least part of Rarity's home followed that general rule, if no other part did. "Now, I believe your bag is still in the guest room, but while we are here we may as well get clean, no?"

She started the spacious, glass-walled shower with a flash of purple magic and promptly began rummaging around in a closet, pulling out numerous different bottles of what I assumed were soap and other such products that she used on her mane. I, not wanting to be totally useless, grabbed two neatly folded slate grey towels from a stack near the hissing shower and set them on a rack clearly meant for that purpose.

"Do you want to go first?" I asked as she finally grabbed all she wanted.

"Who said anything about taking turns?" She questioned back, amused. "I think after last night bathing together should hardly be an issue."

"Okay." I felt my face heat up again and reflected that I probably bore a passing resemblance to Fluttershy at this point.

"Good, I've always found it easier to wash with a partner." She winked and freed up a hand to lead me into the shower.

For the next half hour there weren't any words between us, it was all tactile. The water was painfully hot, but I got used to it quickly enough, and I helped Rarity wash her body, assuming (wisely, I thought) that her mane was something she'd want to do herself. She favored scented soaps, unsurprisingly, and the body wash she used was scented with lilac. It reminded me of late spring back home, when the ancient lilac bush in my back yard bloomed and for a few days each year perfumed the air with its subtle but permeating scent. I'd never washed someone else before, and I was a little nervous at first, not wanting to be too rough, but she never complained and before long I was able to scrub the sweat and sleep out of her coat with relative confidence. I was still careful to be gentle, and even careful about where I touched, but I was thorough.

There was a sensual pleasure to it that I didn't expect when I started. Something innately pleasing about washing someone else. It was probably the intimacy of it all. Human culture, or at least the Midwestern American culture I'd grown up in, was extremely non-tactile. You just didn't touch other people, and I was never all that touchy-feely to begin with even for a human, but deep down humans were just as much social animals as ponies were and the physical contact filled an aching need that I had not filled in the years after my parents' deaths and my relationship with Rarity. So I washed her back, her shoulders, her flanks, and her belly by the time she was done with her mane, and then I (carefully) moved onto her legs. One at a time, careful not to tickle, and finally her arms, which she held out for me.

Then it was my turn. When I finished with her she grabbed the sponge I was using, loaded it up with more soap, a neutrally scented one this time, and started washing me with the same careful thoroughness I had shown her. It was, for lack of a better word, euphoric. The plain fact was that I trusted her, more than I trusted ninety nine point nine nine percent of the humans I'd ever met, and the chance to lower my barriers and just enjoy the simple experience of being washed was a nearly intoxicating experience. There's a bone-deep, hindbrain level reassurance that comes with touch. It's proof that someone is there, and that they care enough to be close to you. Babies died if they weren't touched and cuddled, and while I doubt any adult human has died from lack of (affectionate) physical contact, it certainly never hurt anyone. I watched her through half-lidded eyes as she went about her task and even through the bliss I noticed the shrewd way she was studying my body as she went. As a tailor she had a good knowledge of anatomy, if not a formal one, and she was always looking for opportunities to further her understanding, especially since she had started doing business with humans. My legs in particular were scrutinized in exacting detail, as they were the single greatest point of anatomical divergence between our species, other than wings and horns that is. Pony legs were digitrade and ended in extremely dense circular hooves, so primate legs and feet were something of a shock to your average Equestrian. In Rarity's case it had been rather pleased surprise instead of disgust, but it was still something new to her.

Unfortunately, I was a young male, in close proximity to an attractive female who was currently washing rather sensitive areas, and before long a rather predictable swelling began to occur. My growing condition caught her attention immediately and she paused in her examination of my legs to smile up at me reassuringly. Then she went right back to it. No judgement, no jokes, just an acknowledgement, and oddly enough that comforted me more than anything else really could have. She wasn't angry that I was aroused, if anything she seemed mildly pleased, but it just wasn't a big deal, and that made me feel better. After that I was able to let go of my embarassment and enjoy the ride totally, which I proceeded to do as she finished washing me at the same slow and luxuriant pace I had washed her and she had washed the rest of me.

When she was done she stood up and moved out of the way of the water stream so I could rinse off. My whole body felt fresh, and I felt even better on the inside. Good enough that I was able to work up the courage to extend my arms to her as we stood in the steaming water enjoying the heat. She smiled and willingly walked into my embrace, returning it and nuzzling me gently. Our lips just sort of met without any conscious thought, at least on my part, and I found myself rocking us back and forth as we kissed softly under the heated spray. It was sensual and even mildly erotic, but more than anything else it was comforting. It felt so unreasonably good just to connect with someone else in such an intimate way that I may have even leaked a few tears, not that she could have noticed in the shower. We kissed slowly and unhurriedly, focusing on the raw sensual pleasure to be had rather than any possible outcome. She was the veteran, but I liked to think I did well for myself, and I knew for sure she liked it when I ever so softly kissed my way up her jawline to her cheek during one of the air breaks we took

"What happens now?" I asked eventually, when we were both breathing rather heavily and reluctant to let her go.

"We continue as we have been doing." She answered after a moment of thought. "I see no reason to change anything, aside, perhaps, for arranging a few open nights every week." She smirked.

"The more the merrier." I chuckled, earning myself a mild smack on the back of the head and a perverse smile. Then we kissed again, and it was good. We kissed for probably another fifteen minutes, long and hard enough that I began to think Rarity was getting ideas about something a little more than than showering. Unfortunately, it seemed that her water heater worked on an all-or-nothing principle, and it decided to give out on us just when things were getting interesting. The shower went from steaming to arctic in an instant, and we were left scrabbling to get out of the suddenly icy spray. Not the most dignified thing either of us had ever done, but probably for the best. If we'd gotten going we probably wouldn't have been able to stop quickly enough to avoid an unfortunate incident of the Pinkie variety.

"Oh, one question." I said as we were both drying off, trying not to shiver too much in the process.

"Yes, Darling?"

"Do we tell your friends, and if so, how?"

She paused in the middle of drying her mane.

"To borrow one of Rainbow's favorite sayings: we will burn that bridge when we come to it."

"Ah, good. Nice to know I'm not the only one without any ideas."

She playfully smacked with her towel. I laughed. Life was good.

The Previous Night

"Ha! Blackjack! I win again!" Rainbow crowed, flipping her two cards over to reveal the ace and king of spades, followed shortly by punching the air. This proclamation was met by groans all around the circular wooden table, and a laugh from Pinkie.

"You win much more and Ah'm gonna hafta think yer cheatin'." Applejack grumbled, aiming a halfhearted glare at the celebrating pegasus and flipping her own cards over to reveal the seven of diamonds and the ten of clubs.

"Statistically it's only unlikely that she's won so many times, not impossible." Twilight chimed in, sounding annoyed despite herself. She didn't flip her cards over, making me guess her hand was bad.

"Remind me again why I keep teaching her how to play card games?" I groused, flipping my own cards over. Two of hearts and four of diamonds. Pathetic.

"Because I'm awesome?" Rainbow offered, smiling widely as the other occupants of the table nudged brightly colored poker chips over to join her impressive, and hopelessly messy, pile. She was wearing loose grey cotton shorts and a matching pegasus-style t-shirt that were both obviously designed to allow for freedom of movement to provide mild protection from the elements instead of fashion. It would have been rather unflattering at the best of times, but her well developed, if still slim, muscles salvaged her appearance a bit. The way she constantly adjusted both articles of clothing only emphasized how uncomfortable and unused to them she was, though. Unlike Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack, who almost always wore clothing for various reasons, Rainbow often chose to exercise the Equestrian disdain for unneeded clothing and preferred to wear nothing but her coat and a utility belt, because everyone needs pockets...and she thought the belt looked cooler than saddlebags.

"No, I think I must be a masochist. That's probably it. Deep down I get some sort of sick enjoyment from losing." I said, looking at my own miniscule stack of poker chips, easily the smallest of anyone at the table. I had introduced my Equestrian friends to a few different human games so far, most of which involving cards since that was what I had on hand, though I was eventually able to borrow a chess and introduce them to the strategy game, which Twilight immediately fell in love with. Canasta, sixty five, and go fish had gone over reasonably well, but poker had been an unmitigated disaster once Rainbow and Applejack's respective competitive streaks got involved. What posessed me to think blackjack was a good idea after that debacle was beyond me.

I had to lean back and stretch, my back was giving me some trouble and it popped satisfyingly when I twisted in my chair. I also had to adjust my shirt, the collar was a bit too high and it dug uncomfortably into my neck. I was still wearing my Canterlot University uniform: brown khaki pants and a navy blue short sleeved polo shirt with a large 'CU' surrounded by six rayed stars embroidered on the left shoulder. The uniform also specified a tie, so I wore a red bow tie. Partly because bow ties were much more sanitary than regular ties, but mainly because they're cool.

"I'm sure you'll start doing better soon." Fluttershy said, carefully gathering up the cards and mixing them up. She was wearing a green sweater cut to accomodate her wings and modest white skirt. The shy pony had taken the longest to really warm up to me, but she was always unfailingly polite and after a while she was as outspoken around me as she ever was.

"I hope so." I replied, feeling, as always, like I had either kicked a puppy or needed to give her a big hug.

"Hey, we're all having fun, that's what matters, right?" Burbled Pinkie Pie. She was grinning happily and bouncing up and down in her seat. The hyperactive mare was just as likely to go without clothing as Rainbow was, but much more...direct, in her approach to communication. I'd probably acquired more than a few grey hairs from unexpected Pinkie glomps before I learned to ignore the inner alarm bells that went off when she hugged me naked in public. Fortunately though, she had decided to wear clothes tonight (probably for my sake). A relatively slim yellow t-shirt and sky blue shorts similar to Rainbow's.

"Yes, well, I am glad we took Adam's advice and did not start playing for actual money." Rarity said from my immediate left, her tone managing to be totally mild and yet conveying ladylike annoyance at the same time as she reached across me to push her chips over into Rainbow's pile, brushing her arm against my chest in the process. It was her shop we were currently sitting in, or rather above. In her living room actually. The floor was carpeted in white and the walls were painted a rich mocha, but hung with an impressive array of tapestries  depicting what I assumed to be parts of Equestrian history. Though, if I knew her, the decor was liable to change within the week. The large bay windows on the south wall offered a view of a residential part of Ponyville and the liberally star strewn night sky.

"Heh, I should go to Las Pegasus sometime, I'd never have to work again." Rainbow chuckled.

"Yeah, and when the house was done cheating you out of your money you'd have to fly back the whole way here on your own." I  pointed out, the gambling city in Equestria being just as corrupt as its earthly equivalent. The numerous points of congruence between earth and Equestria were the subject of much discussion and debate amongst those with many fancy degrees and (as is very often the case) little to know actual real world experience. The term they came up with for the strange coincidences was Cross-Dimensional Resonance and I had been bored to death reading a few essays on the subject for my required Comparative Cultures class.

"Says the one who hasn't won a round yet." Rainbow taunted.

"Shut'cher trap." Applejack admonished, predictably taking my side. The farmer was wearing hard-used denim overalls and a stained but clean (I hoped) white t-shirt. "Yer just gettin' lucky is all. Sooner or later yer luck's gonna run out."

"Thank you Applejack." I replied with a small smile. It had been interesting to see how the mostly female Equestrians dealt with the much more even gender split in humans.  In general they seemed to fall into one of three groups: the ones that were disturbed by it and were uncomfortable around guys, the ones that were extremely interested (Lyra Heartstrings), and the ones that treated human males just like Equestrian males. Applejack was one of the latter, and she could always be counted on to act amusingly chivalrous when I was around. I made a point of returning the favor partly to get the point across that I wasn't made of paper mache, but mostly because I'm Minnesotan and I'd feel bad if I let someone do something for me and I didn't immediately reciprocate.

"I want some more tea, does anypony else want some more tea?" Twilight asked suddenly, forestalling a squabble between Rainbow and Applejack.

"I would love some Darling." Rarity said gratefully as Fluttershy began stacking the cards back together.

"I'll take some." Pinkie chirped.

"Um, if you don't mind..." Fluttershy trailed off. She was our dealer since, by unspoken agreement, none of us could live with ourselves if we actually won against her, even if we weren't playing for real money.

"I would, thank you." I smiled at Twilight as she stood and made for the smaller side table that held the various foodstuffs we had each brought (or, in Rainbow's case, bought) for the pot luck get-together, her brown, red, and white argyle sweatervest bunching up a bit as it was slightly too big for her. It hung down partially obscuring the black skirt she wore, much to Rarity's unvoiced chagrin. Fashion was amusingly lost on Twilight, whose clothing habit was a result of her growing up in Canterlot where it was high enough and thus cool enough for clothing to be more comfortable than going skyclad. She was one of the first ponies I had ever met, and though she was a bit neurotic she was also the first friend I had made over here.

My first experience in Equestria was far from a pleasant one. Cross-dimensional travel wasn't the easiest thing imaginable, as you might expect, and the first thing I'd done when I stepped out of the specially shielded chamber that facilitated inter-dimensional travel was walk three steps to a convenient receptacle and vomit out everything I'd eaten in the past few days, plus my spleen. You know, just for good measure. I hadn't been the only one to hurl, but it still left an impression on me.

After everyone in my group was upright and no longer in danger of spilling our guts anywhere unfortunate, we had been lead by stoic Royal Guards out of the dimensional travel chamber and into the military base it was attached to, from there we were shepherded into chariots of the equestrian sort and we began the five hour flight to Canterlot where we were greeted by Celestia herself.

Now that had been intimidating. Most ponies were a bit shorter than humans, but Celestia dwarfed your average NBA player. She was completely courteous when she greeted us in her gold and marble throne room (packed to the gills with heavily armed guards) and gave a short spiel about welcoming us into her realm and about camaraderie between species, but she also warned us of the consequences of misbehavior while we were in Equestria, and after that I could see why Twilight was terrified of crossing her in any way. People back home thought caning was bad, Thailand had nothing on Equestria's judicial system.

After she'd sufficiently terrified the lot of us, we were set loose on Canterlot University and its unfortunate residents, which was where I met Twilight for the first time. While she wasn't a student at the university, she did apparently use their library a quite a lot in the course of her own research and education. As I was (as one of my fellow humans put it) bibliosexual, and spent almost all me free time in the library anyway I ended up meeting, befriending, and becoming the semi-willing test subject for her research on my species. Given our similar interests and her ongoing...friendship...thing it was pretty much inevitable that we became friends after that, and as I quickly found out, you don't become friends with Twilight for long without getting caught up in the infinite dramas that she and her friends got into on a bi-weekly basis, which was how I got introduced to the other mares at the table.

I'd since learned to run and hide when Twilight and the others were having one of their days, especially if I had homework to do or a test the next day (one close encounter with  a pack of Timber Wolves and a bag of freeze dried Poison Joke was enough for one lifetime thank you very much), but I was grateful for the friendships I had in the mares, since I didn't exactly get along with the other dozen humans I'd come over with.

Because Equestria was such a radically different world than earth, it was actually a very rare human that could survive here. Nine out of the first twelve humans to come here nearly died of anaphylactic shock and one of the others ended up with lymphoma because of a reaction to the ambient magical field which, obviously, had no analogue on earth. So when it came to the exchange student program I was a part of, people got selected as much for their ability just to survive the environment as their temperament, and as my luck would have it the other students were all from the east and west coasts, leaving me the sole Midwesterner, and our personalities just didn't mesh. I got along fairly well with a few of the Brits and the one German I'd met, but they were gong to different universities so our interaction had been limited.

As Twilight returned with the full jug of tea I smiled wider and thanked her quietly, reflecting that if it wasn't for her I would probably be spending the downtime between semesters alone in my dorm room or the library, killing time until it was time to hit the books again. As it stood, I was getting a sort of summer internship at Sweet Apple Acres. I was studying to be a botanist, and where better to learn about plants than on a farm? The idea had been conceived by Twilight, adopted by Applejack, and okay-ed (much to my shock) by Celestia. So, the day after my finals were all done I had packed myself onto the morning Canterlot/Ponyville train as I had done fairly often since I'd met Twilight and made my way to the Carousel Boutique, where I would stay for a night or two until Applejack could get the guest house at Sweet Apple Acres livable again.

"Thank you Twilight." Rarity said as her glass was filled with iced spearmint tea. "And thank you Adam, for making this, it is very good."

She smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder as she said it and I felt the skin under it warm up. Most Equestrians ran at about a hundred degrees, so it was an eminently noticeable difference. I'd first learned this little factoid in the course of my introductory Pinkie glomp, but it always struck me how warm they were on the occasions when one of them touched me or vice versa.

"It's no problem." I smiled and deflected the compliment in the classic Minnesotan style. "I'm not the best cook in the world, but it's passable."

"She's right Sugarcube, Ah usually don't like tea that ain't sweet, but this is nice, and so'er these." Applejack said, picking up a small brown nugget off the plate next to her cards and rolling it between her fingers. "Ah've never seen or heard of anything like 'em, mind, but they're good."

"Yeah, what're they called again?" Rainbow asked with her mouth full of cupcake (provided by Pinkie of course)

"Falafel." I replied, secretly doing a happy dance inside. My family was poor growing up, really poor. There had been times when I'd had to catch squirrels and rabbits so we had enough food to tide us over until our next batch of food stamps. Because of that I took great pride in my ability to make a palatable meal out of even the most scanty of resources, and living in Equestria, where being vegetarian was the only option had been an interesting challenge I had enjoyed conquering. Especially since the ingredients I had available to me over here were almost as different from their earthly counterparts as people were from ponies. Much ink had been expended documenting the much lower salt requirements Equestrians had (and the differences in their nervous systems that caused them) as well as their much more robust insulin-producing systems that allowed them to eat sweet food constantly without repercussions. "Ground chickpeas mixed with stuff and things, and then fried to get rid of those pesky health benefits."

"'Stuff and things' huh? That some kinda egghead technical term?" Rainbow asked with a grin.

"Oh sure." I said, my Minnesotan accent coming out full bore, which only made Rainbow (and Pinkie) laugh. Much fun had been had by the Equestrians at my expense until my accent had mostly faded over the years I'd been here. My long 'O's were still pretty pronounced though. "Anyway, they're not from my country, but the ingredients are cheap. Plus they're filling and eat least sort of healthy. Besides, my brother would actually eat them unlike ninety percent of everything else I cooked, so I got pretty good at making them."

"Well regardless of why, I'm glad you brought some. It's interesting to see what kind of food humans make. I still have a hard time watching you eat so much salt, I keep thinking you'll hurt yourself, to say nothing of those peppers you're so fond of." Twilight said, filling her own glass of tea. We'd spent a lot of time talking about food since it was one of the very few subjects on which I could lecture almost as good as her. Unfortunately her own taste in food could be summed up as 'Can I safely eat it while reading?', so there wasn't any great exchange of culinary ideas. Spike proved more fertile ground for that.

"If I ate as much sugar as you guys do my pancreas would go on strike." I replied, recalling the shock I'd felt when I'd seen the University cafeteria for the first time. The choices boiled down to plain salad or dessert, with no middle ground. I'd quickly started buying my own food with the modest stipend I'd been provided. I had rarely been more grateful for the experience I had macguyvering home repair projects after dad died and left most of the household tasks to me. Otherwise I'd never have been able to make anything resembling edible food with the pitiful cooktop and pathetic utensils the minuscule kitchenette my dorm room came with. As it stood, I'd had to...enhance the thermal power of the magic-based stove by splicing an additional power source into the conduits that heated the coils. Thankfully, despite the fact that it used magic as an energy source it was almost identical to a human electric cooktop in design and much easier to tinker with. Incidentally, The other human exchange students started trying to suck up to me a lot more once it got out that I could cook for myself "Besides, that is top quality hot sauce. Made from scratch with love, attention, and just a dash of sadism. You just can't appreciate true genius when you taste it."

"It tasted like I licked the sun." Twilight deadpanned, bringing back fond memories of her frantically scrabbling for a bottle of milk to quell the flames. It had made me laugh. I may or may not be a bad person.

"Wimp." Rainbow said, rather predictably. She'd tried the (moderately hot) sauce immediately after Twilight to prove how much tougher she was. To her credit, she wasn't as frantic as Twilight had been, but she didn't have much to brag about.

"You couldn't hold it together much longer than Twilight." Applejack pointed out. Neither she nor the others had tried the vividly scarlet sauce I'd brought with me along with the falafel and the tea, though Twilight assured me that Spike would probably like it.

:"Yeah yeah." Rainbow grumbled before quickly changing the subject. "Can we play the next round already?"

"Let me sit down first." Twilight replied, balancing a plate loaded with mini apple fritters, chocolate donut holes and mini-eclairs.

"Do they really eat that kinda stuff back on earth? 'Round here only Minotaurs eat food like that, so far as Ah know. They're the only ones Ah see sellin' peppers at markets anyhow." Applejack asked, gesturing to the glass jar sitting so menacingly amongst the otherwise benign foodstuffs on the side table. Growing food had been a given for my family back in the day. It was an easy way to supplement what we got from the government, and after I started working at Fiesta Rancheros I'd started growing peppers to feed my subsequent capsaicin addiction.

"Yeah, it depends on where you live but it's not at all uncommon. I developed a taste for hot food because I worked in a restaurant that mostly sold food that was at least a little hot for five years. Most people where I come from are rather notorious for making pretty bland food otherwise." I replied, always happy to talk about food. While I waited for Fluttershy to deal I took a bite of one of the apple fritters and listened to my tastebuds whimper in rapture even as my pancreas lodged a formal protest. I have no idea what kind of crack Applejack laced her food with, but I'd never had an apple pastry from her that was anything other than tongue numbingly good.

"Huh, there's no accountin' fer taste Ah guess." She said, scratching behind an ear. "Jist do me a favor and don't give Applebloom ideas when you get to the farm. The last thing Ah need is for her to start tryin' ta cook."

"Cutie Mark Crusaders personal chefs, yay!" My voice was too deep to properly imitate Applebloom and her pint sized terror squad, but I captured enough of the exuberance typical of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' adorable, if pathetic, catch phrase to make the others cringe.

"That's one thing they haven't tried yet, praise Celestia." Applejack said, rolling her eyes skyward in what could have been the first truly religious gesture I'd ever seen from a pony.

"I love my sister." Rarity said, looking like she'd bitten into an orange only to find it as sour as a lemon. "But please refrain from giving her or her friends ideas. I shudder to think what would happen if they were to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting kitchen."

"Fire, probably." I said, thinking back on my first encounter of the Crusader kind. They had been caught up in the human hype that temporarily caught most of Equestria when contact was made between our species and when they found out I was going to be in Ponyville they decided to try their luck at being 'humanologists'. Their efforts consisted of following me around to take notes for most of three days, trying, and failing, to be discreet. I briefly considered trying to lose them on a walk through the hedge maze in one of Ponyville's parks or similar such things, because I'm a bad person, but the choice was taken out of my hands when Twilight noticed them stalking me through the library while I was studying and promptly kicked them out after a lecture about respecting privacy.

:"At the very least." Rarity agreed, accepting the cards Fluttershy passed her. She  examined them for a moment and idly tapped a finger on the table before setting them down again and standing up to grab something from the snack table, using my chair to help herself up. I could feel her tail brush against my back as she went. Applejack frowned at me for a second, as if just uttering the Cutie Mark Crusaders' catchphrase was enough to summon them.

"You know, you could always tell them to try the army." I suggested with a grin, which I had to struggle to keep on my face when I saw my own cards. Five of clubs and seven of diamonds. The best starting hand I'd had all night.

"They would be kicked out before they finished training. I like Scootaloo, but there's no way any of them would make it into the Royal Army." Rainbow said dismissively, frowning at her cards. If there was one saving grace to her ego and competitiveness it was that she had absolutely no poker face.

"It would give them direction." I pointed out as I signaled Fluttershy to give me another card. Three of clubs. Of course.

"It would get them out of Ponyville for a while, when the came of age anyway." Twilight put in her own two cents, looking at her cards thoughtfully and taking another one before putting them face down on the table. "Stand."

"Ooh Ooh! Hit me!" Pinkie exclaimed, practically buzzing in her seat. There were times when I wondered if she was on some kind of pony stimulants or maybe just a constant sugar high, either way she made me tired just watching her.

"Hit me." I had a bad feeling the instant the words were out of my mouth and sure enough, nine of spades. "Dammit, bust."

"Hah! You really do have miserable luck!" Rainbow laughed.

"Statistically, some day, I know I have to win, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe all of my luck is being withheld until the end of my life, so I'll know when my time is coming when I suddenly start winning." I grumped, sliding three poker chips into the middle of the table, fully half of my collection.

"Probability doesn't work like that." Twilight said dismissively, completely missing the point.

"Maybe not, but it makes me feel better to think that way. It means there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

"Hey Adam, if you run outta chips I'll accept some more of those fall fall things instead." Rainbow said, cramming a few more into her mouth and hurriedly chewing them before she finished speaking. "Maybe with sugar on them instead of salt though."

"Rainbow, please. I do not care how you eat when you are at home but at least try to exhibit some table manners, would you?" Rarity scolded as she settled herself into her chair again.

"That, Rainbow, would be a crime against all that is good in the world. I would never be able to show my face in my old restaurant again." My face scrunched up just thinking about how that would taste.

"What? It's weird eating so much salt, besides, I don't want to retain too much water. I gotta stay light to be optimally aerodynamic." She shuffled her wings for emphasis.

"Well look at you and your three dollar words." I snorted. "Careful now, keep it up and we might start thinking you're a closet egghead. Gosh, just think of your reputation."

"Oh shut up." Rainbow shot back, stretching a wing out and thwacking me on the back of the head. The inside of her ears had colored slightly.

"That's not nice Adam." Twilight chided me mildly, before turning to Rainbow with an indulgent smile. "But those were very good words for-"

"Quiet egghead." Rainbow interrupted Twilight before she could finish, much to the amusement of everyone else and Applejack in particular.

"Well, as I believe we are all ready," Rarity broke in and changed the subject back to the game. "I have eighteen."

"Me too." Pinkie said, not sounding too upset about the tie, but then again she never really did, even when she lost.

"Nineteen!" Rainbow flipped her cards over with a smug smirk.

"Twenty." Applejack smirked right back, flipping over the king and queen of spades. Rainbow then interjected something about pinion feathers which, I was given to understand, was quite rude and not fit for mixed company.

"Rainbow, language!" Twilight admonished, blushing and glancing over at me as though I may have been gravely offended.

"Sorry, it just slipped out." The pony in question did not sound sorry at all, instead she begrudgingly pushed her bet over to Applejack, who looked inordinately pleased with herself.

"At this rate I'm not going to be in the game much longer." I grumbled, pushing my last three chips forward as new cards were passed out. No point in drawing things out any more than necessary.

"I might not be either come to think of it." Twilight said, glancing at the large clock mounted on the wall behind me. "It's almost half past ten and I have to work tomorrow."

"Ah gotta get up pretty early too." Applejack added. "Ah wanna get most of the junk cleared outta the guest room before Ah start mah regular chores."

"Maybe just this last round then?" I suggested, to general consent (though Pinkie looked comically sad for a moment before bouncing back to her usual poofy self). Then I peeked at my cards and felt a triumphant smile try to work its way onto my face. Ten of spades and ten of hearts. It had to happen eventually, and it made perfect sense that it was only the last round that I got decent cards...either that or I was right about my luck earlier and I was about to die of a massive coronary or something.

"Yes, we'd probably better. It's already past when I told Spike I'd be home." Twilight said, a touch of worry in her voice.

"Is somepony watching him?" Fluttershy quietly asked as she passed out cards to those who wanted them.

"No, he's getting old and mature enough now that I'm willing to trust him, sort of." Twilight replied, adding a card to a hand and frowning before signaling for another card, which was apparently more to her liking judging by the blink-and-you'll-miss-it smile on her face "I told him that I would let him go without a foalsitter this once but if he didn't do the chores I gave him I would go back to hiring somepony to watch him when I go out at night."

"Right, because you go out so much." Rainbow snorted. "You must be practically broke from all the foalsitting fees."

"Hey, I go out at least once a week for our get-togethers, and then there's the trips I make to Canterlot each week. Sparkler doesn't charge a whole lot but it adds up." Twilight defended.

"Sure egghead, sure." Rainbow was clearly unconvinced.

"Just wait until you have foals you have to take care of." Twilight shot back, slightly indignant. "Spike is very mature for his age, a typical foal won't be nearly as easy to look after."

"I'm not going to have foals for a long time. Not until I'm retired from the Wonderbolts. That way I'll have the money and the free time." Rainbow retorted like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which, in all likelihood, to her it was.

"My, if only I could live in your fantasy world." I deadpanned. Rainbow's ego was an acceptable target for sarcasm, I'd quickly learned.

"Hey, I'm gonna do it!"

"Sure ya' are, Sugarcube." Applejack teased, never missing an opportunity to hit the big red button labeled 'WONDERBOLTS' that was conveniently affixed to Rainbow's psyche.

"Just you wait!" The pegasus replied, half standing in her chair. Her wings flared dramatically and a slight flap almost sent the cards flying (and did send some crumbs flying). It would've been intimidating if she wasn't pouting like a two year old.

"If I may." Rarity interjected, keeping her (outward) amusement to a minimum and reaching over to wipe some crumbs off my shirt. "I believe we are all ready."

"Yeah, alright." Rainbow dropped her favorite subject only grudgingly and flipped over her hand. "Nineteen."

"I only have seventeen." Pinkie said, flipping hers.

"I have eighteen." Rarity said, unperturbed by her loss. Truth be told she didn't seem to be very interested in most of the card games I'd shown them, apparently considering them a little plebian for her taste. I assumed she was in it more for the conversation than anything else.

"Sixteen." Applejack said, ears flicking in annoyance. I'd noticed she was a pretty conservative card player, and often ended up with low hands because of it.

"Twenty." I announced, smirking at Rainbow, who took the news in good (if slightly disgruntled) grace. "Now whose winning huh?"

"Actually..." Twilight began, sounding almost embarrassed, prompting me to look over at her overturned hand. Jack of hearts, five of spades, two of clubs and four of hearts. Unbelievable.

"Oh you have got to be joking." I groaned, fighting the urge to drop my head to the table. Rainbow, not being quite so reserved as I was, practically died laughing. The one good thing about her temper was that it died down as quickly as it flared up.

"Remind me to bring you along when I go to Las Pegasus." Rainbow cackled. "You'll suck up all the bad luck and I'll make it big for sure!"

"Again, probability doesn't work that way." Twilight said with an apologetic smile at me as she lit up her horn and collected all the chips and quickly put them back into the box they'd came in, not before sorting them by color of course. She totally had some kind of OCD, but it was an adorable kind that didn't become annoying...usually.

"Maybe, but Ah gotta say Adam, Ah've never met somepony with worse luck than you." Applejack drawled, smiling to ease the blow to my pride.

"That's not very nice." Fluttershy said softly, then an uncomfortable look passed across her face and she added "Even if it is...sort of...almost...true."

"I inherited it from my grandfather." I said, feeling a distant pang of sadness as I remembered the old man who had taught me how to play (and cheat at) poker and blackjack and wondered what he would've thought of me, haring off into a different dimension and playing cards with pastel ponies. If the stories dad told were true he'd be bugging me about getting a girlfriend and having babies, but I still had to wonder. "The old man loved to play cards, but always had awful luck, so he, ah, 'made his own' if you get my meaning."

"He cheated?" Pinkie asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Constantly." I said, smiling as I remembered his 'lessons'. They consisted of him beating the pants off me until I figured out what he was doing. Then he'd teach me and go right back to beating me since he did it better than I could. Mom had hated it but the sleight of hand skills I'd picked up had served me well later on in life. "He always said that if you weren't cheating you weren't trying hard enough. He was...colorful."

"You mean like us?" Pinkie asked, cocking her head to the side. "Was he blue like Rainbow or orange like Applejack? Or maybe Purple? Or chartreuse?"

"No, Pinkie." I stopped her before she could start listing every shade of color she knew. "It's a euphamism for someone who didn't always play by the rules but wasn't really mean about it."

"Did he teach you how to cheat?" Applejack asked, her moral fiber having been chafed by the mention of cheating no doubt. I only had a vague idea of what the Elements of Magic were, as Twilight's response when I asked her had been predictably technical and flew over my head, but from what I understood the Elements corresponded to and heightened certain aspects of their bearers' personalities, and at least in Applejack's case it definitely seemed to be true.

"He did, yes." I'd learned that it was almost impossible to lie to her, so I didn't even try. "I don't though. You'll know the instant I do start cheating when I start winning. Unlike grandpa I don't get a kick out of the risk, and I'm nowhere near as good at it as he was anyway."

"Alright, just don't teach Rainbow. Ah don't trust her." Applejack said, mollified by my answer, or at least mollified enough to take another potshot at Rainbow. Honestly, the two of them were like siblings...or an old married couple, though I kept that thought to myself.

"Hey!" Rainbow took offense, as usual. "I wouldn't cheat! That is totally not cool."

"Ah'm just sayin'." Applejack responded. Tweaking Rainbow was her favorite passtime, at least as far as I could tell.

"Girls, girls, no one is going to be cheating." Rarity said, standing and smoothing her skirt. "However, I would appreciate it if you would gather your things. I love you all dearly, but I do not want your dishes."

For the next few minutes spare food was packed, half-eaten food was thrown away, drinks were hurriedly guzzled or emptied out, saddlebags were filled, and plans were made for the next meeting. I did my part, though I mostly helped the others since the tea I brought was gone, the hotsauce mostly untouched, and the falafel packed in a series of containers made by the Equestrian equivalent of Tupperware (and thank god it existed too, a house without Tupperware cannot stand as mom used to say). There were two full containers of falafel though, and I gave those to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow as a way of semi-apologizing for the crap I'd given her over the course of the evening and Fluttershy because she seemed to like them and I knew she wouldn't be forward enough to ask. Rainbow gave me an understanding grin and idly smacked my shoulder with a wing when she got hers and Fluttershy just smiled gratefully.

Once the remnants of the party were cleaned up the girls started to filter out after a brief period of good-byes. I got the usual enthusiastic hug from Pinkie that made my ribs creak, another idle thwack from one of Rainbow's wings, a wave from Applejack, and smiles from Twilight and Fluttershy. Fluttershy also may have said something to me, but if she did it was too quiet to hear and she was halfway out of the room before I could think to ask for clarification anyway, so it was pointless.

And just like that I was alone with Rarity.

We both stood, still and silent, until the bell attached to the Boutique's front door chimed five times and the voices (well, mainly Rainbow's voice) drifting in through the window faded away into complete inaudibility before we moved or spoke. After a sufficiently long period of time passed Rarity lit up her horn and the cords holding the drapes off the windows untied themselves. Gravity took its course and the windows were covered by the heavy cloth, and only then did she step into my personal space and wrap her arms around me. I sighed softly and reciprocated the action, the simple action of embracing her and holding her close causing a warmth to blossom deep inside my chest. The feeling was an almost narcotic balm to the loneliness that had plagued me for years.

"So," I began without letting her go. Her chin was resting on my shoulder and I could hear the deep, steady breaths she was taking. "Do you think they know?"

"Applejack suspects." She murmured softly, shifting to press her cheek against my neck. "Rainbow has no idea. The others I am not so sure about. Fluttershy would not say anything if she did know, Twilight is usually oblivious to matters of romance but she can be surprisingly astute occasionally, and Pinkie..."

"Is Pinkie." I finished for her, reluctantly drawing back so I could look her in the eyes. "How sure are you about Rainbow?"

"She is not the type to keep quiet about something like this."

"Point." I replied, starting to rock the both of us back and forth, something I knew she happened to like. Sure enough I was rewarded with a soft sigh, and she gently nuzzled my cheek. "Do you think there will be any problems when they do find out?"

"I highly doubt it. As a rule we do not interfere in each other's romantic and sexual lives, granted none of us has ever had an interspecies relationship before, or a serious one for that matter." She mumbled into my chest. It tickled a bit but I didn't let myself start laughing.

"Well that's good to know." I replied, softly stroking the back of her neck.

"What about you? Does your liason officer suspect anything?" She asked, referring to the agent Uncle Sam sent along to keep us exchange students in line. George Hanson (if that was his real name) was a thirtyish ex-military, branch unspecified...something. None of the students under his purview knew what he did before he was assigned as our RA/watchdog, but the general theory was that he was some kind of assassin or something. He did not find that funny. In fact, he didn't find anything funny. He was like one of those guards at Buckingham palace, except instead of ye olde soldier get up he wore cheap suits that did a very poor job of concealing the pistol he wore in a shoulder rig.

"Official rules are that we're free to 'interact with the local population as any other college student would if they were in a foreign country'. Translation: we'll decide what's okay for you to do or not to do and we reserve the right to change our minds at any time. There aren't any rules against...fraternization, but I get the feeling he would've spoken to me if he even thought I was doing anything remotely wrong."

"Mmm, well I suppose that is as good as we are going to get, no?" She wasn't entirely satisfied, for which I couldn't blame her, but then again neither was I.

"About, yeah." I sighed. "Still, happy anniversary."

"I can scarcely believe it has been an entire year." She laughed quietly. "Though I suppose when one's time with one's special somepony is limited to a few brief hours every weekend and holidays it does go by quickly."

"Tell me about it." I said, thinking back on our bizarre courtship. Maybe we didn't have to keep things as discreet as we did, but we had agreed that we were better safe than sorry. Still, I didn't have much to complain about. My first girl...marefriend, was kind, witty, and didn't hold my inexperience against me. Add in the expected (and unexpected) strains of a long-term, semi long-distance relationship with someone from a radically different culture and ours was an against-all-odds type of romance, to be sure, but I was quite happy with it. "Now, if you'd mind letting me go, I brought you a present."

"I imagine I could do that." She leaned back with a twinkle in her eye. "But not without compensation."

"Deal." I chuckled, then she cupped my face in her hands and moved in for a kiss. Our lips met and lingered for a long moment before we pulled apart, both smiling. Due to the nature of our relationship, the physical end had developed slowly (by Equestrian standards anyway). Our first kiss had been six months into things, and as it had been my first kiss ever, it had been...memorable. Rarity, bless her, hadn't laughed like she had every right to, she just told me not to worry about it and went back for more. That...sort of epitomized our relationship actually. We'd both (inadvertently) said and done some shockingly offensive things, but we talked things through and always came back to each other so the annoyances and fights that could've ended the relationship just kind of...didn't.

"There, I believe I will last until you get back." She winked. "Now shoo, I have to get your present as well."

Another quick kiss and we parted ways, me heading for the guest room where my bag was, and her for the staircase that lead upwards to her design studio. As I walked through the richly carpeted hallway I couldn't help but feel a bout of the warm fuzzies percolating from my chest downward. I would be staying here for three whole days, a long weekend. Sure, I'd be spending most of my time at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack, but my nights would be spent here, a thought that put a large grin on my face. When I got to the guest room, apparently tropical themed with lots of greens, tans, and light blues in the color scheme as well as wickerwork chairs and paintings of seaside landscapes, I walked over to the bed and started rummaging through my light blue duffle bag until I found the old wooden box that contained her gift.

Finding a gift for her had been a bit of a challenge. As much as I love her Rarity is, to put it politely, difficult to shop for. Add to that the way all the humans were being watched by both Celestia's agents and the agents our home countries sent after us and it became something out of a James Bond movie just trying to get my significant other a gift for our anniversary.

It says a lot about me that I enjoyed every second of it.

I had taken to spending at least one afternoon a week meandering around the shopping district in Canterlot, just to explore and revel in the newness of it all at first, but later on the habit had come in handy since after over a year of lots of window shopping it wouldn't seem that odd for any observers to see me actually start buying things. Having kept this in mind I made sure any gifts I got for Rarity wouldn't seem out of place for a college student. Small, practical, things mainly. A book here (I bought two others that I was more interested in just to make sure it didn't stand out), some high end sketching pencils there (a required art class was the perfect smokescreen for that one), but a one-year anniversary was special, and it had taken me quite a bit of puzzling out before I figured it out.

In the rather battered wooden box was a bottle of Equestrian liquor called rum, though it was distilled from wheat and in all respects resembled whiskey more than the rum I was familiar with. This particular brand was Noctis after the aristocratic family that owned the distillery and the line was called Silver Star. It was top shelf liquor, but since it was one of the few kinds of pony-produced alcohol that was safe for humans and the fact that I rarely drank and then only drank the good stuff I had felt it wouldn't look odd for me to buy it. I got it for our anniversary because Rarity's drinking habits were nearly identical to mine even if our tastes were more or less completely opposite.

Finding this particular brand and line of booze had been the result of my food-nerd tendencies drawing me to the culinary magazines and cookbooks in the Canterlot University library. Twilight had been a tremendous help as well. When she learned that I was interested in reading about food she had been kind enough to loan me a few books from her own library as well, including a few on liquors. Noctis had featured prominently in the books, being alternately lauded for its high quality and consistency as well as castigated for the numerous less-than-palatable bargain lines of spirit and for a number of ill-advised experiments. Silver Star, however, was a very highly rated spirit and known to be difficult to find, which would only make it appeal to Rarity even more. I had been lucky to find it in the liquor store, but I wasn't complaining. I got a great gift for my significant other for a good price.

When I got back to the living room Rarity was sitting on the couch waiting for me, holding a box of her own. I joined her on the couch and smiled as she slid over to me, melding her side to mine. I draped an arm over her shoulders and wordlessly presented the box to her. She kissed me on the cheek as she took it and flipped the lid open, revealing the squat bottle of clear glass inside, etched with the Noctis family crest of four full moons surrounding a stylized shooting star and the date of distilling and bottling clearly printed in silver along the bottom.

"Silver Star? My goodness, I do not think I have seen this in years, however did you find it?" Her eyebrows went up and I could hear surprise in her voice.

"I was tall enough to see the box gathering dust on the back of a shelf." I replied dryly. "I recognized the crest on the box and bought it after I realized it was Silver Star."

"This is twice as old as I am." She said, squinting at some tiny Equestrian script that had been burned into the inside of the lid. As she did she wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. I returned the gesture but restrained myself from kissing the top of her head, as I had learned long ago that she had very sensitive scalp and did not like anything being done to her mane without explicit permission. "A forty year old Noctis, my, that would be as much a conversation piece as a drink. I love it Darling, thank you."

Marefriend points achieved.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." I gladly accepted a brief nuzzle.

"I do Darling, very much, now it is your turn." She pushed the box she had been holding into my lap. It was a long, flat wooden case about as thick as my wrist with hinges and a latch made from what looked like brass, It was very heavy for its size but the mocha brown wood was varnished and polished to a mirror sheen. The latch opened with a metallic snap and I opened the case to reveal a sight I would have recognized anywhere. It was a chef's knife roll, or an Equestrian version anyway. My time in a restaurant kitchen gave me a deep respect for a quality knife, and these looked exceptional. I didn't know what exact type of steel they were made from, but judging by the lack of an oiled sharpening stone I guessed that they were some kind of stainless steel alloy, the blades themselves showed a rippling pattern that was a dead giveaway for a hand-forged tool, visual proof that the metal had been folded over itself multiple times during the shaping process, and the handles were made of a black lacquered wood of some kind and all had a full tang, each one set into its own indentation in the black crushed velvet backing of the box and held in place by a series of small elastics.

There was a ten inch chef's knife that resembled the french style, though there was a very slight curve at the end that gave it a slightly more scimitar-esque shape. A square bladed monster that was almost identical to an asian style cleaver meant to tackle mountains of vegetables instead of meat and bones, a paring knife that looked like miniature versions of the chef's knife, two serrated knives both with scalloped blades, one with a blade roughly five inches long with a thick heavy blade, essentially a half-sized serrated chef's knife and the other a full foot in length and much thinner, meant for slicing bread. There was also a filet knife of sorts, with a then and flexible six inch blade and finally another, smaller, chef's knife with an eight inch blade identical to the larger one. Also included in the case were an ovular honing steel and a whetstone.

"Rarity, these are fantastic." I said breathlessly, picking up the chef's knife and examining the blade more closely, cautiously running my finger over the blade to test its sharpness and almost cutting myself anyway. "Where did you find these?"

"I am a patron of the arts Dear, the culinary arts are no exception." She grinned. "Particularly the finer establishments in Canterlot, Phillydelphia, and Manehattan. I simply spoke to a few acquaintances of mine and they steered me in the direction of a forge in Baltimare."

"Well they steered you right." I carefully put the chef's knife back and pulled out the bread knife, my mind boggling at the skill it took to make the almost identical scallops on the blade without a mechanical forge. "These are orders of magnitude better than anything I had back home. I've heard of some Japanese smiths who still do things like this, but they were way out of my league."

"I am glad you like them Darling." She echoed my words from earlier with a gorgeous smile.

"I love them, but not nearly as much as I love you." I spouted the cheesy line before I had a chance to think it over, but I didn't really care, and apparently neither did she if the chuckle I heard was any indication.

"My, so cliched, I do not know if I can forgive that."

"Your radiant beauty overwhelmed my ability to speak."

"Now now, there is no need for that." She laughed.

"You started it."

"There is no need for immaturity either."

"It can be fun to be immature sometimes." I said, putting the knife back carefully and closing the box.

"Really." She said warily, catching the glint in my eye and recognizing it for what it was.

"Really." I replied with a straight face. Then I poked her gently in the ribs with two fingers and she nearly doubled over in convulsive laughter.

"Ack!" All semblance of ladylike dignity gone she laughed and tried (perfunctorily) to escape. I'd learned by accident how ticklish her ribs were, and how much she liked to be tickled, not long after we formalized our relationship. "Stop it you brute!"

"Why?" I asked impishly as she feebly pushed at my arm.

"T-this is unseemly!" She managed to gasp out before shooting one of her hands out and poking me in the side of the neck, which instantly got me going. "Ha! How do you like it?"

I responded by poking her in the ribs again. She squealed and poked my ribs. Things only devolved from there.

For about fifteen minutes we went back and forth. We knew perfectly well how to get each other, it was hardly the first time we'd played this little game, but it was always fun. She liked it because it was silly and uncomplicated. For a few minutes she didn't have to be a lady, or be dignified, or anything, she could just laugh and have fun. I liked it because I never had a chance to do things like this as a kid. I started fixing leaky faucets, plugging holes in the drywall, and cooking dinner for the family starting in junior high, and by the time I was in high school I was holding down a job and taking care of my brother and Mom in Dad's place. Furthermore, it was good for her to lighten up a bit. She was always preoccupied with being perfectly prim and proper, partly in keeping with her personality but also because it was more or less required to fit in among the aristocracy that provided her most lucrative contracts, and while I loved her all the same I thought this kind of thing kept her from getting so wrapped up in her public persona that she forgot how to be herself This kind of immature, childish fun was my guilty pleasure, and I reveled in it. I enjoyed seeing her scrunch her face up when I hit a particularly sensitive spot under her arm, I enjoyed the shock of sensation when she hit the same place on me and I couldn't stop the reflexive laughter, I enjoyed the heaving exertion it became as we both tried to tickle the other into submission, I enjoyed it all.

Eventually though, it had to come to an end. By the time we were sore from poking and prodding our breaths were coming in heaving gasps and the laughter had died down to breathless giggles. That didn't mean the enjoyment stopped though, it just became less frenetic, more languid.

"T-truce?" I asked, signalling my unofficial surrender.

"Truce." She agreed breathlessly. Then her lips touched mine for a brief moment and her hand pressed against my chest.

I didn't fight her as she pushed me down onto my back and then laid on top of me. Her entire body pressed against mine and as she moved in for another kiss her mane framed our faces and blocked out the world around us. I wrapped my arms around her and she carefully supported herself on her elbows to keep from crushing me as we softly kissed, parting for air frequently as our heartbeats slowly normalized. It had been weird at first, when she had taken the dominant role in the relationship. She wanted to pay for meals on the few sort-of dates we'd gone on, opening the door for me, that kind of thing. I'd had to explain to her why it made me uncomfortable, and after that she'd been happy to take a more egalitarian approach to our relationship, but there were some times when she unconsciously reverted to her old habits, but in cases like this I could hardly complain.

As we started breathing easier we started kissing more and more, and soon enough her tongue gently, almost timidly, pressed against my bottom lip. It was odd how she could be so forthright about touching me and telling me exactly how she wanted to be touched, but when it came to french kissing she was always a little hesitant, like she was afraid I'd be upset or something. As usual when she initiated it I tilted my head slightly and allowed her in, giving her free reign to do what she would. She started slowly, exploring at an unhurried pace, but I met her halfway out of impatience and before long our tongues were fully involved. She tasted like apples and sweet spearmint from the food she'd eaten and the tea she'd had. My hands started traveling up and down her back almost unconsciously and she hummed softly into the kiss, melting against me further.

I awkwardly shifted backwards against the arm rest so I could take more of her weight and let her rest her arms a bit. She nuzzled me briefly in thanks and then went right back to it. I could smell the lilac soap she preferred, the scent of warm fabric that always clung to her, and the mild sweat she'd worked up in the early summer heat. I began to smell something else too, something faint and unlike anything I could readily name. It seemed familiar to me, but only in the vaguest sense, and I had no idea where I had encountered its like before. The thought was put out of my head, however, by the soft and (probably) unconscious way she started grinding herself against me. Her entire body from the waist down started pressing against mine rhythmically, as if she was trying to start something right through our clothes. It had a predictable effect on me and she broke off the kiss when she noticed.

"I, uh..." I tried to come up with an excuse, but she forestalled me by kissing my jaw, and then my neck, and then I felt something warm and wet come into contact with my throat.

"Getting excited?" She asked, her voice husky.

"Y-yeah." I admitted. She laughed and kissed my neck again.

"I have told you before, I am ready when you are Darling." She whispered, and the feeling of her breath against my neck made me shiver. "Do not hold yourself back on my account."

"You're sure you don't mind that I've never..." I trailed off, my face getting roasting hot. She stopped kissing my and captured my eyes, her mane once again cutting us off from the rest of the world.

"I have never had a problem with that." She assured me quietly. "I told you that the day you told me I was your first marefriend."

"Sorry, I know I shouldn't worry, but-"

"But you have always been told it is shameful, and that you would be mocked." She finished for me with a wry smile. "Twilight has compiled a great deal of information about your culture Dear, and that was one of the first things she noted."

"What has she been studying exactly?" I knew the unicorn was studying humanity along with the sociology department at Canterlot university, but I'd never actually seen her at it, or known how she was studying us and what she was finding. To contrast with humans, the vast gender disparity and their method of reproduction brought about a very...relaxed view of sex in the Equestrians. When eighty percent of the population was female and could only get pregnant for a few weeks out of the year, why bother restricting sex? Losing one's virginity was seen as a milestone in life, much as in human society, but in the Equestrian's case there was much less stigma associated with virginity. Conversely,  the act of taking someone else's virginity carried a lot of added weight. If you were the experienced one it was your responsibility to make sure the newbie under your care felt safe, had fun, and learned something.

"Books, movies, census data, a bit of everything as I understand it. But that is beside the point." She kissed my forehead. "My point is that I don't care if you've never mated. I love you, and I want to be with you. If that means teaching you, well then..." Her eyes got intense and her voice dropped and became a smoky murmur that made my lizard brain think bad bad things and my heart do a triple gainer. "That is something I will just have to bear."

Then she tilited her head forward and very carefully touched her horn to my forehead. I felt the tingling warmth I associated with raw, unfocused magic gently flowing through the skin. It felt like someone had turned static electricity into cloth and was rubbing it against me. Odd, but not necessarily unpleasant. Doing this was a very intimate act with big implications, a unicorn who touched their horn to another's and channeled magic through it was opening themselves up to a cripplingly painful response. They would only do it with someone they trusted and cared for immensely. Not for the first time I desperately wished I could use magic. If I could I could I would be able to respond to her properly. As it was I had to settle for softly cupping her cheeks in my hands and kissing her slowly and passionately, trying to put all the love and affection I felt for her into it. As always, it fell short, but it was what I had.

"Rarity?"

"Yes?" Her eyes were bright and intense as they bored into mine.

"Do you want to go somewhere a little more, um, private?" I rested a hand on the small of her back, right above her tail.

"Absolutely." She replied, a radiant smile blossoming on her face. Then she carefully got up and offered me her hand. "Come on, let me teach you."

She stood up and held out her hands to me. I took them  and allowed her to help me up, trying my hardest not to look bothered by the uncomfortable bulge in my pants. Then she melded herself to my side again and began walking towards the bedrooms, restraining herself to a slow, steady pace. My heart was working triple time and my stomach was full of butterflies the size of the ones in Fluttershy's Cutie Mark. Rarity must have noticed because she took my right hand in hers and gave me a quelling look she usually reserved for Twilight when the purple unicorn was having one of her bad days.

"I'm-" My mouth was suddenly dry, this was getting more and more pathetic by the second. "Like I said, I'm a bit...I'm nervous."

"I can tell, Darling." She replied, leaning in to nuzzle my cheek. "Everypony is, their first time. My, I was so overwrought it took three tries before it all worked out."

"Three tries?"

"That is all the detail you are getting, a mare does not kiss and tell...much." Her smile turned briefly wicked, but it quickly softened as we made it to her bedroom and she opened the door with a flash of magic. "There is no reason to be nervous Darling. It is not nearly as big a thing as it is made out to be. Nothing changes, not really. Sex is just another experience in life. Granted, it can be a very pleasant experience, but it is not worth tying yourself into knots over."

"Academically I know that, but, well..." I shrugged jerkily as we entered the bedroom. One might assume, given any knowledge of Rarity's personality, that it would be the definition of opulence. Lavishly appointed in every respect and just as overwrought and flamboyant as she was herself. In that case one would be very wrong. Despite the enthusiasm she normally applied to all things decorative Rarity's bedroom was profoundly...simple. The carpet was tan, the walls were peach, and the ceiling was white. Two freestanding bookshelves made of some dark wood flanked the door and were packed to the gills with romance novels (each trashier than the last, by her own admission). She had no dresser, as there was none big enough to store her wardrobe, so instead there was a walk-in closet that contained the myriad variations of dresses, gowns, skirts, blouses, shorts, trousers and everything in between that Rarity owned.

There was a vanity along the left wall with a lighted mirror and well stocked with enough cosmetics to make a department store look puny. Next to that was a full length mirror with very plain wooden supports. On the opposite wall was a bay window with a cushioned bench built in. It was made of the same dark wood that apparently composed every furnishing in the room, and the cushions (of which there were plenty) were plain white.

In the center of it all was her bed, which fit Rarity's outward personality much better than the rest of the room. It was an honest-to-god four poster monster with white and silver bedding and purple privacy drapes. The mattress was elevated so high that it almost came up to my waist. In a moment of hormone-induced creativity I noted that if Rarity were to sit on the edge we would be at the perfect height to, well...

With another couple flashes of magic the door closed and the drapes on the window dropped. Within moments the room was lit by the crystal based light sources the Equestrians favored. Sconces with the light producing gems sat high on the wall in each corner of the room, emitting a white glow that quickly shaded to a warmer yellowish hue and dimming until it was still bright enough for me to see Rarity clearly, but dim enough to provide a slight feeling of privacy. I found myself embraced and drawn into another kiss, cutting off my previous train of thought. This time she was a bit more insistent, parting my lips quickly and caressing my tongue directly with her own and I couldn't help but shiver at the intensity of it. When she was done she pulled back slowly and didn't let me out of her arms immediately. When our eyes met I could see something stirring in hers that I hadn't seen before, something wild that was being carefully held back.

"I think," She whispered. "We can do no more while these are in the way." She tugged at my shirt lightly.

"Probably not." I agreed and grabbed the hem only to find her hand holding mine in place.

"No, let me. It will be much more intense this way, trust me." She said when I gave her a quizzical look. I nodded my assent and allowed her to do what she would.

With a grin she carefully removed my tie and slid my shirt up over my head, tossing it aside with a carelessness I never thought I would see her use with a piece of clothing. Next came my pants, my belt sliding out and the button and fly being undone at a frustratingly unhurried pace. As I stepped out of my pants I felt self-conscious of my legs and the scar on my right knee in particular. If she noticed she didn't say anything though.  My black boxers also must have looked rather ridiculous to her, but again she was silent as she pulled off my white undershirt, revealing my bare chest and the scars I was most worried about. Semi-raised blotches of irregular skin marbled my chest like some kind of mutant fungus, remnants of the house fire that had killed my dad. I looked like a half-melted wax statue. Rarity's eyes widened when she saw them and her fingers brushed over one of them, which I only felt as a sensation of light pressure, most of the tactile sensation on the surface having been lost to nerve damage. For a brief second she cringed in sympathetic pain and I waited for a comment that never came. When she glanced up at my face to I didn't see any pity in hers, only sympathy. Then she very deliberately kissed the worst of the scars, a patch the size of an apricot opposite my heart and moved on like nothing had happened.

After that I felt better about her stripping me. I knew that she loved me, but I had still been worried about the scars, and it was...liberating, to see how little attention she paid to them as she started to explore the rest of my body. As she moved up to my shoulders and moved onto areas of skin that escaped the nerve damage that numbed most of my chest I could feel her warm breath ghosting over me, and the intimacy of it made me tremble slightly. Her fingers trailed all over me, leaving tingling trails in their wake, and occasionally she pressed her palm against certain spots, leaving a remnant of its warmth when she moved on and sensitizing the skin to the chill that followed.

When she finally decided she was done playing around she slipped a finger under the waistband of my boxers and looked me in the eye, asking for permission. I nodded again and she smiled widely, pulling gently down and exposing my erect member to the chilly air. It was hard as a rock and it twitched ever so slightly in time with my elevated heart rate. Rarity paid especially close attention to this, kneeling down to get a better look and grinning happily as she very gently ran her fingers along my length, drawing an entirely unintentional gasp from me.

"Tell me if you get too close." She warned me gently.

"Alright."

Then she started to explore me. She was very careful, probably inferring from the state I was in that I was liable to blow if she tried too much, but she didn't shy away from it at all. She was also, to my relief, exceedingly gentle when she began handling my balls. Her nimble seamstress' fingers made quick work of mapping my entire lower regions and left me gasping for breath.  That seemed to please her, judging by the look on her face when she glanced up at me each time I made a sound. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, I had to tell her to stop before too long.

"I'm really close." I warned just barely in time to keep from passing the point of no return. She moved her hands away before I'd finished the first syllable.

"Alright." She stood up and took a step back. I closed my eyes and did my best to relax, doing my best to pull myself back from the brink. The sound of rustling cloth drew my attention and I opened my eyes just in time to see Rarity's blouse hit the floor along side her skirt, leaving her in a matched set of black lingerie with lacy frills along the edges. The material was just short of being see-through, but there was enough of it to provide an illusion of coverage...until you got close. It was very much in line with the Equestrian 'strictly decorative' view on clothing. When she noticed that my eyes were open again she preened, stretching in such a way as to highlight the muscle underlying her seemingly-round frame and draw attention to her hips and thighs. "Now it is your turn."

"Why do I get a head start?" I couldn't resist asking.

"I am getting, ah, what is that delightful human phrase? Ah yes, 'hot and bothered'." She replied with a grin. "Besides, it has been some time since I was touched by somepony else. So come here and let me teach you how to make a mare happy.."

It was nice to be with someone completely shameless and open about what she wanted, and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as I took a step forward into her personal space, Unfortunately, I found myself at a loss as to where to start. Thankfully she noticed and took my hands in her own. She pulled me closer and rested them on her hips. Her short coat was soft, but when I started stroking her experimentally I found that it was only smooth when I ran my hand with the direction of the fur, otherwise it was almost bristly, like a day old beard, if infinitely finer in texture. It never ceased to amaze me how much muscle she actually had. I knew she did at least some of her own prospecting for the jewels she loved to use in her designs, but I'd never known her to work out and yet she had more muscle than a lot of people I knew. The corded bands of tissue felt slightly alien, the structure wasn't quite the same as it would have been on a human, and that sense of strangeness was thrilling.

I began exploring her like she had me, copying the way she had stroked, pressed and palmed me on the assumption that she would have touched me the way she wanted to be touched. On the surface it seemed to have worked, since she almost immediately began making soft sounds of enjoyment that were music to my ears. Soft sighs of appreciation and the occasional moan dribbled out of her mouth, arousing me more than I had ever expected to be by mere sounds. She seemed particularly sensitive around her hips, and when my fingers grazed her cutie mark she actually jumped. I stopped and pulled my hand back instantly, just to be on the safe side, but she smiled down at me and let out a breathy laugh, dispelling any thoughts I had about her being upset.

"That was good Darling, just give a mare a little warning in the future. Cutie Marks are very sensitive." That primal light in her eyes was stronger now, and I rather liked seeing it there.

"How should I touch it then?" I asked, earning a smile. She took my hand again and pressed it, gently, against the diamonds on her hip, shivering as she did.

"Start like this, with your whole hand. Let the skin warm up and then, like this." She started moving my hand in a slow circle. I took up the motion and she pulled her hand away. "Yes, good like that. Some mares only need their Cutie Mark to be touched in order to finish, unfortunately I am not one of those mares, so you will have to learn a little more I am afraid."

"I've always been a good student." I replied with a grin, taking a chance and kneeling down to kiss the topmost diamond, the thick carpet making it surprisingly easy on my knees to do so. I was not disappointed by her reaction. Her back arched and she moaned happily, proving my intuition correct. After a moment I went back and did it again, slower this time. I was even less disappointed this time.

"Mmm, I can see that." She purred. "You can try sucking gently if you like, just do not bite. Some mares like that, but i do not."

Taking her advice, though I very briefly felt weird doing it, I started sucking gently on the flesh beneath her Cutie Mark. I could taste the salty tang of her sweat, a brief bitter remnant of soap, and something else I couldn't put my finger on or adequately describe. I moved from diamond to diamond at random, spending a few moments before moving on and enjoying the steadily increasing quantity and volume of the sounds she made. For a while I was worried about accidentally popping my cork, but I found that focusing on her distracted me from my own howling libido and I kept my hands occupied by their own exploration of her body, to keep the temptation to a minimum.

After a few minutes, when the area had been thoroughly explored, she pushed me back gently. I leaned back and stood back up when she motioned me to, and then I watched, enthralled, as she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. The straps went limp and she let the garment slowly fall off, finally revealing her breasts. They were C cups, which was large for Equestrians, and they were natural. Ponies didn't have breast enhancement surgery as far as I knew. Her nipples were dark pink points rising from large circles of smooth, furless skin. She took my hands again and brought them up to grasp them. Her breathing was getting increasingly hard and fast, and I could feel the rhythmic pressure of her heartbeat against my palms. I softly squeezed and rubbed the soft flesh, ignoring her nipples at first in favor of feeling out the rest of her chest. Again she seemed to approve, and I was only too happy to continue my exploration.

As I touched her, she started to touch me again. Trailing her hands over my flanks and hips, straying towards my thighs and crotch only rarely. Her ministrations made my slowly-softening member steel hard again, and while she was careful not to touch it directly it was obvious what she was doing. My whole body tingled with arousal and I had an increasingly hard time focusing on touching her until eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I captured her lips in a smoldering kiss that lasted for about ten seconds before I had to break it off.

"I can't wait much more, c-could we?" I tentatively slid a finger underneath her underwear in an unspoken question. The wild light in her eyes flashed and for a second I could have sworn that it was a literal light behind her eyes that illuminated the searing desire in her expression.

"I am ready if you are Darling." She rippled sensually, simultaneously pressing herself against me and shedding her last article of clothing in one fluid motion. Then she pushed herself up onto the bed and spread her legs apart, presenting herself to me. I couldn't resist the urge to look down at her exposed nethers. They were surprisingly human looking, if slightly wider than I had expected, and already glistening with moisture.

"Do you need any more time to get ready?" It took a serious effort of will not to just go ahead with things, but it would hurt her badly if she wasn't ready.

"Like I said Adam, I am ready." She replied with a grin. "Do you want to come onto the bed, or do you want to try this with me sitting?"

The way she shivered when she suggested sitting told me her preference. I had absolutely no problems with that.

"Sitting." I stepped forward and watched intently as she scooted further to the edge of the bed and repositioned herself so that I would be able to enter her easier.

It felt like my senses had never been sharper. Every slight sound, every smell, every tactile sensation was apparently heightened. I doubted I had ever been so intensely in the moment as I was right then. My mouth went dry as I closed the distance, only to find that at our relative angles I couldn't see her entrance very well. She must have sensed my slight pause because she reached down and grasped me, making me jump slightly.

"I will guide you in. Slowly now, come on." She whispered.

Who was I to say no to that?

I took one last half-step forward until my legs met the bed and pushed my hips forward slowly. Her hand guided me true and after a few seconds I felt something deliciously warm and wet at my tip. I paused again as a shiver went up my spine. Part of me wanted to push in and start rutting like I was an animal, but I ignored it. Instead I slowly entered her, an inch at a time until I was hilted and savoring the sensation of my first penetration. It was much...wetter, than I ever imagined it being, but that somehow only made it even better. A surprisingly gentle kiss broke me out of my reverie and I realized that I had closed my eyes at some point. I opened them to see perhaps the most radiant smile I had ever seen on Rarity's face.

"I love you." I murmured, wallowing in the feeling of being embraced in more ways than one.

"I love you too." She stroked the back of my head.

Her horn was glowing softly and she leaned her head forward until it touched the center of my forehead. The electric sensation of half-focused magic made me shiver from head to toe. Then we started mating in earnest.

The motion was almost unconscious at first, my hips started rocking without consulting my brain, but it was hardly going to say no at this point. Her position didn't allow her to move too much, but she wrapped her legs loosely around me and started squeezing me with her inner muscles, which was just as good. The rhythmic contractions of her core helped me set a sort of rhythm. It wasn't perfect, and when I got a little overenthusiastic I accidentally pulled all the way out of her, but she just guided me back in and that was that. It...was good, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. There wasn't any climactic music in the background and I didn't feel at one with the universe or anything, I was just moving in and out of my marefriend. It was good though, even though it didn't match up with what losing my virginity had been in my fantasy life I found myself smiling widely anyway. Rarity was grinning and letting out soft sounds of bliss on every exhale, and my own pleasure was quickly building. In fact...

"I'm really close." I warned her, slowing down.

"Go ahead, do it." She wrapped her legs around me tighter. "I want so see your face when it happens."

It didn't take me long to give her what she wanted. Maybe thirty seconds after she gave me the go-ahead I felt the familiar surge of pleasure building and a second after that my world dissolved into a moment of perfect carnal bliss. Without thinking about it I pushed myself all the way in, sealing my hips to hers. Then I moaned happily and felt myself twitch several times, splashing her canal. The sensation of increased warmth and wetness as our fluids blended was entirely unexpected but totally welcome, and I shivered at the intensity of it.

When my ride was over I felt myself sort of sag down even though I was still standing. I was breathing hard and overcome by the typical wave of exhaustion that followed the high, and I had to fight through it. Rarity hadn't finished yet and I was determined to be a gentleman about this. A soft touch on my cheek disrupted my thoughts and when I looked up at Rarity again she was smiling happily, the primal light still in her eyes but tempered with something else, something gentler.

"Sorry, I wish I could've lasted longer." I murmured, unable to feel too bad about it.

"It is alright dear, it is normal to finish quickly, and besides, you were beautiful." She whispered appreciatively.

"Hmm?"

"Beauty is my calling Darling, I exist to create it and appreciate it. In that moment when the world dissolves and there is nothing but you and the rapture, that is beauty at its most fundamental, and fleeting." She sighed happily. She could dramatize anything it seemed...and if I was honest with myself, I kind of loved it.

"Well, in that case, maybe you could let me help you, so I can see that fundamental, fleeting beauty." I suggested.

"If you insist." She chuckled and kissed me heavily, though that was not enough to keep me from shrinking enough to slide out of her and I heard a few drops of fluid hit the floor a second later. "Just hold on a moment. I try not to make a mess of my sheets whenever possible."

With that she reached up to the headboard and popped open a recessed door I hadn't noticed. She pulled a small white towel from the hidden cabinet and began cleaning herself off, mopping up as much of the leaking fluid as she could and then passing it to me. I took it and cleaned myself thoroughly, not liking the idea of being sticky and wet down there anymore than she did. As I was taking care of the mess she scooted back onto the bed and spread her legs, giving me a show. When I finished with the towel she waved a hand towards the laundry hamper and I tossed it in with a flick of my wrist, already focused on the next part.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, crawling up and carefully lying next to her. She molded the left half of her body to my front and grabbed my left hand, bringing it down between her legs and resting it against her slick petals.

"Close your eyes and do what I do." She commanded. I obediently closed my eyes and focused on her hand as it covered mine. She started slowly manipulating my hand, essentially masturbating by proxy. She pressed my fingers against herself and ground her hips against them. Under her direction I stroked her and probed her, never fully penetrating but rubbing against her outer lips and inner lips in a slow, circular fashion. Between her fluid and mine, there was plenty of lubrication so that wasn't a problem like I had worried it would be. While her left hand busied itself teaching me what she wanted to be done her right hand drifted down to her Cutie Mark and began rubbing it slowly and firmly. Her whole body shuddered and she let out a quiet gasp the instant her hand made contact. I was going to have to remember that for later.

"Tell me when you're close." I whispered. "I want to see it too."

"T-that will not be a problem, Darling." She moaned back, her voice distant and dreamy. "Oh my no."

I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I heard her like that. Opening my eyes briefly I saw that the fire in her eyes was burning brighter than ever and she was biting her lower lip in anticipation. It was, I decided, a very good look for her. I tilted my head slightly and kissed the junction of her neck and shoulder, drawing another happy sound from her that only increased in volume as I sped up the swirling motion of my fingers. I didn't push in any deeper than I already had been, or press much harder, I just took what seemed to be the next step, and was happy to see the results.

As we went I started taking a little initiative, stroking a little harder every now and then, changing up the pace occasionally, nothing earth shattering, just small stuff I thought would work. Judging by the breathy sighs and increasingly high-pitched moans she made I was on the right track. Her hips bucked rhythmically and I felt the muscular barrel of her tunnel contracting sporadically on my fingers as they slid in and out. Her lubricant ran freely and I was able to distinguish the smell from the others in the room. It was earthy and musky, and a distant part of my mind noted (with some amusement) that it vaguely resembled the smell of cooked eggs. That didn't matter to me at the moment, however, I was far more interested in the increasingly distant look on her face as her release approached.

I worked steadily, under her occasional moaned instruction, and I found myself getting hard pretty quickly. I ignored that though. It was her turn now. Her breath was coming in gasps, her chest heaving and her breasts moved in mesmerizing counterpoint. She was smiling and making happy, desperate, noises constantly. The squeaks were particularly enjoyable to hear.

"I-I am getting close!" She announced some unknown amount of time after we had started. I worked harder, ignoring the ache in my fatigued hand. I increased the pressure and speed of my ministrations, paying extra attention to the nub of flesh at the very top of her entrance.

She closed her eyes and abandoned all pretense of control, completely giving into her lower urges. She bucked and moaned and gasped wildly. The bed creaked as she writhed in pleasure. Her hand assaulted her Cutie Mark, rubbing it like it was a stubborn stain. Her horn fizzled and sparked with excess energy and if I had been in a better position I would've leaned up to kiss it. Then, without warning she suddenly pushed on my hand, making a soft, frustrated noise. After a moment I figured it out and slid my middle finger all the way inside her, using the heel of my hand to rub her clitoris.

The result was immediate. She shivered from head to hoof and went totally stiff as her inner muscles clenched me hard. She let out a drawn out, helpless, squeak and her face was rapturous as she was gripped in the throes of orgasm. It lasted for an impressive few moments before she finally crashed back to reality and sagged back against the bed, heaving for breath and cooing contentedly. I let her breathe a moment and then wrapped myself around her, snuggling up against her and savoring the warmth of our closeness. After a second she reciprocated, twining her legs with mine and draping an arm over me as I settled into a more comfortable position.

"You were right earlier, about that fundamental beauty thing." I whispered to her. "You looked amazing."

"I am glad you appreciated it." She laughed breathlessly. "And thank you, that was a wonderful way to break my fast, as it were."

Taking a risk I kissed her horn, as gently as I possibly could. She hummed in appreciation and nuzzled my chest, taking a deep breath through her nose.

"I'm about ready to sleep, are you?" I asked, trailing a hand up and down her back.

"Mmm. I have been looking forward to spending a night in your arms for a long time." She levitated one of her many quilts, a thin one, over us and tucked us in securely.

"Good night sweetheart." I murmured. "I love you."

"I love you too Darling." She whispered back, her eyes drooping already.

There were no more words then, they weren't necessary. We cuddled, safe, secure, and content in each other's arms until sleep claimed us. Come what may, we had each other, and that was enough.