Bucking Above Your Weight

Daylight knelt down, getting off of the bench, and her body shook. Featherweight leaned down, having no idea what to think. Before he could say anything else, she let out a torrent of deep, loud laughs, slapping her hands against her shorts over and over again. A couple tears dotted down her cheeks.

"Daylight, I..."

"Oh my God!" She stood up and put her hands on Featherweight's shoulders, her body still quivering a bit. "You-- are-- simply-- priceless!" She stepped back before burying her face in her hands, taking big breaths.

Oh, no. Oh, praise Celestia, no. I've lost her. That's it. He tried to keep from screaming, forcing himself to say still. He felt something like a stick, freezing cold mercury coursing through his insides. What the hay was wrong with me? For me, a loser without a shred of hope, to ask out a freaking alien temptress! His mouth ran totally dry. He stood up, lining himself up right besides Daylight, and he tried to concentrate. "Daylight. I have to say that--"

"I like you," she said, leaning down and massing his back with both hands. "I really like you. You're going to be a whole hell of a lot of fun to hang around with for a long, long time."

What? He simply froze in place. What! "Oh, thanks," he muttered, just managing to force those words out. He pressed his hooves against his cheeks as Daylight turned around. He looked up and saw a big green hoof sticking out of the window besides two plates and two glasses. Daylight reached over, and Featherweight just put his saddlebag into her hand. He felt numb. 'For a long, long time'? She said that! She meant it, too!

The whole thing finally struck him as Daylight slid over a batch of bits and clutched both plates. I did it! I won! She likes me! No idea why, by-- my goodness-- she actually likes me! He just beamed, feeling as if his mind would sail on out into space. Daylight silently put the plates down on the table, rested his saddlebag at the end of the bench, and went back for the glasses.

He gazed at the greasy sandwich before him, cheese dripping all over of a hunk of scrambled egg mashed in golden brown pieces of fried potatoes. He put his hooves around the ends and took a whiff. Oh, wow, this smells fantastic! He looked at the small cobs of corn on the side of the plate, and he grinned.

Two tall white glasses clinked down onto the table besides him. He watched as Daylight sat down, and he moved his hooves down below the tabletop. He looked up at her, wondering about the etiquette. Do I need a napkin? Do I need to cut stuff up into slices first? He looked up at Daylight, and she pointed down at both plates.

"Food," she muttered, "goes in here." She pointed over at her mouth. She chuckled at her own silly joke for a moment before taking a huge bite of her sandwich. Grease dripped down her neck onto her top, and she didn't care in the slightest.

He shrugged, and he munched through his plate. He heard Daylight nosily slurping, and he didn't hold back either. She sucked down some of her iced tea, and he attacked his own glass. He filled up his mouth, and he had to stop, his eyes almost bulging from the sudden taste. Holy moley! This is like a liquid cupcake! So-- blasted-- sweet! He gulped it down slowly. He looked over at Daylight, already about half-way done.

He let out a little sigh. Wow, she's like... where is she putting all that? He ate the rest of his sandwich, savoring the thick cheesy taste. I'll be she has like three stomachs. More than one heart too. If comic books have taught me anything, it's that alien anatomy is always freaky-deaky. She already finished off her plate, tossing it over into a nearby trash can. He shrugged, and he started on his cobs of corn.

She sipped the rest of her iced tea, gazing over at him. He felt very self-conscious, trying in vain to keep from blushing for the umpteenth time. He finally stopped, feeling full, and he thought about trying to toss the plate over through the air as well. He pictured missing completely and smashing the plate against a duck's head as a burst of quacks fill the air. He shuddered for a split-second, and he just got up and walked over to the trash can.

"So, M.W.," she said, rubbing her hands along her legs. "Thanks! That was great!"

"Sure!" He halted as she got up. Well, hold on a moment... is this it? This is really it? This is my first time asking a girl out? My first date? It was over so blasted fast! She stepped back over in the direction of where she came from, back over to the jewelry store in downtown Ponyville. He followed for a moment, sliding his head to the side. That can't be it!

He felt half crushed and half totally engrossed by Daylight's curvy rear, her jeans shorts fitting so tightly along her back. Her legs looked longer than flag poles, and he couldn't believe how her pretty rear swayed as she walked. He popped his hooves against his head, trying to snap out of things. No, stop it! The date is over, isn't it?

"Let's walk and talk." She waved back and motioned him to come closer.

"Oh, thank goodness," he whispered, sounding so quiet that he couldn't even hear himself. "That wasn't it." He sped over right by her side.

"So, you grew up around here," she said, leading him down a smaller, more out of the way path going around a bunch of trees behind storefronts. "Your parents did too. I'm just curious, but-- please-- tell me a little more about that." She held her hands together, looking all around at the tall, danging branches all over them. Her shoes mashed against the mossy gravel.

"Sure," he replied. He hesitated, but he leaned up and tried to up against her. She kept on looking up as he brushed along her legs moment by moment. "No problem." Wow! She's... she's let me be so intimate with her already... and we just really met. Where's she taking me, though?

"I've spent most of my life hanging out where my parents hung out. Which, I must admit, is both bogus and sad," he said, throwing a hoof in the air with mock melodrama.

Daylight made a 'whatever' sort of shrug.

"A sort of a second home is this one ice cream place. It's actually the same place where my parents first met," he said. "That's a funny story, actually."

"I dunno," she remarked. "Tell me all about it. Tell me everything."

"It is kind of a long story..."

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"And then my dad poised himself over Autumn, that bully's face all covered with nasty red marks. He was lucky to be still breathing." Featherweight popped up and made a pretend bucking motion. "My dad leaned over, offering a hoof to her. He said 'are you okay' with his usual meek voice. My mom pattered her torn dress, trying to look nice enough, and she magically gripped his hoof best she could as he pulled her up." She acted out the end of the scene. "My poor mom never did have strong enough magic to defend herself, but she said that my dad would always be sort of the superhero to always be there."

"Wow, it's like a soap opera when you look at it," Daylight remarked. She leaned up against a thick, old oak tree, idly kicking into the air.

"Sure," he said. He stopped walking as well, scratching his head. "Sorry that I've kind of rambled on." He took a deep breath. "It's also not exactly the sort of topic you'd usually talk about on your first date."

"Oh, no," she said, sliding over and running her hand along a long branch. "This is a hell of a lot more interesting than this 'what's your sign', 'what are your pets like', 'what's the last movie you saw, and stuff-- all that garbage I've wasted so much time hearing." Oh, Featherweight, or whatever you want to call yourself... you should stop putting yourself down so much. Think more of yourself. She smirked. I suppose I could help with that.

"Okay." He glanced all around at the end of the little mini-forest. "Where are we?"

"These," she said, pointing up at the generic white building with the occasional grey stripe besides her. "Are the 'Sunnyside Apartments'." She stepped backwards and made a silly 'super-star' kind of pose. "How glamorous! And, as you can see, they are neither in a sunny place nor at the side of anything-- not to mention looking more like trailers stacked atop each other than apartments." She put on an overly dramatic voice. "It's the place of the stars!"

He giggled.

"So, I'm home."

"Right."

"And that means, I have to say, thanks for walking me home," she said, stepping over to a set of metal stairs on the next wall. Featherweight followed several feet behind. "And thanks for everything. This was really nice."

"Right."

Oh, here we go again! "Remember our little conversation about the word 'right'," she said, suddenly looking very serious.

"Oh, Daylight, I didn't..." he murmured, starting to sweat as a cold chill went across his face, "I meant... something..."

"Oh, M.W. or Featherweight or whoever you are," she said, rubbing her back up against the blank concrete behind her. "You should have seen your face!" She let out her usual torrent of giggles, flashing her beautiful smile.

He nervously chuckled.

"Well, then," she said, stepping up a little bit onto the first few steps, "this is the end of all that."

He nodded, gazing up at her with those huge eyes of his. They looked like gigantic oceans of brown that she could just leap into and swim into forever, feeling so totally safe and secure. He seemed to take deep breath after deep breath, head swirling with emotions.

She nodded back. She looked up at the door to her second-floor apartment. Well, that really was nice. I got my wish. I met my 'nice guy'. And, here I am, back at my place. I'll get myself a glass of something good. She rubbed a hand against the wall. I'll get a good book. I'll go through the newspaper. I'll go through my to-do list for tomorrow. She dug her fingers into the concrete. It seemed so barren, so lifeless. She could almost feel the grooves in the cold concrete sucking the life-force out of her. I'll get ready for bed. I'll get to bed. I'll sleep. Alone. Again. She pictured the huge, always open window in her apartment, exposed to the moonlight that bathed her her figure night after night. Alone.

"Goodnight, uh, Daylight," Featherweight said. He started to turn around.

"Hey, wait a sec," she called out. She watched as he flipped over and sat down on the path. She opened her mouth again, making nothing intelligible. Are you really doing this, Melissa? She shut her mouth as she ran her hands down her sides and hovered them besides her shorts. Do you really want to do this? She felt her face scrunching, her breaths becoming short. Are you really going to do this colt? She closed her eyes. Melissa, do you really think he'll... he'll... be there for you, day after day later on? Especially if you'll go this far with him right tonight.

"Daylight?"

She held up a hand in the air. She felt a dark wave of something like itchy, scratchy sensations popping up inside of her head. "I..." She started to cry. She heard him trotting up the stairs over to her, and she sat down, her back rubbing up against those horrible, rusted metal railings. She smacked her hand against the wall. Alone! I can't freaking take it anymore! I can't live like this! I can't be like this! I can't be like a stupid painting or something just in the background, with ponies smiling at me and being all happy but otherwise leaving me alone. "Alone," she moaned.

She felt his hoof touching her leg for a second before withdrawing, not sure how far he thought he could go. Her eyes still closed, she immediately gripped that hoof with both hands. She heard him shifting about, trying to get a better place on the stairs, and she smiled. Are you really going to go through with this?

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She opened her eyes, and she took a happy sigh. "Nothing's wrong. Not in the slightest." The answer is 'yes'. She let him go and stood up. He watched with open eyes as she stepped up over to her door, fingered for a pair of keys, and clicked her apartment open. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Featherweight could hardly believe how far he had gotten. She could tell. With his mouth hung open like a fish, he moved up the stairs. He seemed to hover at his command with hearts bursting out of his head, reminding her of one of those Looney Tunes episodes. She glanced around at her spartan living room, with just some cheesy artwork and discount tables, lamps, plants, and such lying about.

He stepped in. He seemed so totally nervous, looking just as worried as back when they had first met. She shut the door and locked it. His eyes silently followed her movements as she walked across the room over to her refrigerator. She spotted a bottle of white wine, picked it up, and she poured two glasses. She sauntered over to the huge, fuzzy white couch, having a seat. He plopped down besides her.

"So, uh, have a sip," she said, pulling over the simple white table nearby. She put down her glass and folded her hands as she watched Featherweight down the drink. That was a lot more than a 'sip'. This guy needs to learn some kind of balance.

"D-daylight, I'm," he squeaked. He poured sweat onto the couch around him, his hooves shifting around. "I f-feel so h-happy to b-be here in y-your place." He stared down at the floor. "W-with y-you."

She leaned over, and she whispered into his right ear, "You can just go with 'Melissa' now, Featherweight." His ear perked up, and a shudder ran through him. She rubbed her hands against his shoulders, scooting herself closer. He clopped his front hooves against his bottom hooves, still looking straight down.

"S-sure." She laid down a little, moving her hands down from his shoulders onto his back. He slid over a little, looking up from the floor up to the table. He shot over, grabbed the other glass of wine, and he sucked that one down as well.

"Featherweight, may I ask you something?" She made little curls on his fur with her fingers.

"Yep." He went back to concentrating on the floor, trying to keep from breathing too fast.

"Will this be your first time?"

He closed his eyes, tearing up a little bit, and he shook his head up and down. His bottom hooves sunk down to the flat gray carpeting and scraped along it from side to side. His ears fluttered from side to side.

She smiled. She leaned over as her hands slid up to his neck and cheek, gently moving him in her direction until their faces lined up perfectly. Everything, from his blushing cheeks to his adorable freckles to his bright white toothy smile, seemed just perfect.

"I'm honored that you want me to be your first."

And she kissed him.

To Be Continued...