Author's Note
This story has been adapted from a collaborative format and with the amazing participation of my great friend, MissSpells. Please enjoy the story, and if you would like afterwards, leave your questions and comments.
-Ink
Chapter One
During a frosty spring morning, Bon Bon flips the sign inside of her shop's glass front door from, “Sorry! We're Closed,” over to, “Come In! We're Open,” welcomingly hoof-painted on either side. She yawns a little into the back of her foreleg, looking with a peaceful tiredness out at the open street: not too far from town center, nestled comfortably between two other buildings, but with a little flowerbed out before its porch that shows them both up. She turns back in and finishes her last preparations. She's already swept the floors as of the night before—when you stand inside it's a bright birch floor, but to the right it turns to a clean white-and-blue linoleum tile that denotes the section devoted to shelves of candies, bowls and packages and baggies and wrappers, all kinds of bright colors and flavors advertised. To the left the hardwood continues, and a few clean, round tables topped in cloth offer cafe-style seating with a lovely view outside of the wide, bay window. Toward the back wall is a display counter, one normally containing many pastries ... but, well, she's just about to get to that. Beside the display is her register and her bookkeeping; there's a door frame that leads to her kitchen and pantry, and then a small door that leads to the way upstairs. There are no decorations on the walls, but that's because the walls are all painted with mural work, commissioned from a local artist. Everything exudes charm above all else: charm, bright and mellow. She clicks on her little box radio, letting some gentle Prench Jazz permeate the air. It's still too bloody cold, but it's a waste to keep the heating on in the Spring; the coffeemaker quietly gurgles from the other room, and she's going to drink it scalding.
Only a few minutes after the sign is flipped, an Earth Pony steps in with a back-mounted bag, she slowed by its weight. Roseluck is, as ever, wide-eyed and awake, with mane and tail only brushed but her coat ignored, making her a bit fluffed, and she goes over to the table right at the bay window, lowers, and scoots the bag off her shoulders onto the table, taking off the straps. Her shoulders pop and she takes a big breath that leaves with a sailing "whew." She hopes to turn to the counter, a certain pop to her step that makes her hooves especially tappy on the birch floor.
"Bonnyyy! I need your help waking Bluebell up so she can write another romance! Y'ere, Bonny Lass?"
Bon Bon stops at the sound, turns on her back hooves and wobbles, blinking at the first customer of the day. Ah ... about who she should have expected. She'd know that face from miles away, scope or no scope. A pleasant, half-sleepy smile creeps over her face.
"Rosie! Good morning, sugar. Go on and sit where ya like, I'll ..." She pauses to yawn again, keeping her lips tight. She is normally this tired, but, of course, she'd been working on her report. By their very nature it keeps her late. "I'll getcha your usual?"
"You know it!" The usual being a quad-shot giant latte. She doesn't go back to setup her typewriter, but wavers and wobbles a little, standing at the counter. "Get enough sleep?"
Bon Bon ducks for a moment, opening a cabinet under the counter that holds her coffees; she gets the good stuff out, the espresso blend that's roasted dark as a new moon's night, yet laced with sweet vanilla. This, she reserves. The machine gets a nice cupful and a bop on the side before it rattles to life.
"Yeah! I was just up late with a book. You know how it is, once you start ... " She snickers a bit, swishing her tail. "You need a hoof with ol' Blue there?"
"Heh, I know how it is. If I had a bit for every time I fell asleep with my face in a page ... but naw, all's good with Bluebell! Oh! I got something awesome added to it! Alright, so I guess Unicorns have been going up into the Crystal Empire ... turns out, enchanted crystals are a LOT cheaper now since the Crystal Ponies are great at cutting them ... got somepony to fuse this little crystal, and now, Blue takes freakin' dictation! Not that I'm going to look like a crazy pony talking to my typing machine, but eeeee!"
"Woah!" Her eyes actually do widen at that as she slips a shallow cup under the espresso nozzle. "That's really cool, Rosie! Heh, and you've got such a nice voice, too … Have you tried it out yet?"
Roseluck gives a conspiratorial grin.
"I tried it out last night ... I wanted to see just how flexible the enchantment is and I got some awesome results! It'll make a difference during the more exciting parts of the books coming up ... but it's so awesome! I can just walk or dance around and go all stream-of-consciousness and no more white-out, Bonny! No. More. White Out!" At this, she grins like she came down to the perfect gift under the Hearth's Warming tree.
"Hmm … " Bon Bon comes over to the counter and leans against it, smirking thoughtfully. "I think it's great for you, Rosie. You always start squirming in your seat after the quad hits, being able to really get those wiggles out'll help … but ... does it only listen to you, or is it gonna start picking up anypony?"
The rose-maned mare blushes a little at the mention of the wiggles, mussing her own mane with a forehoof.
"Heh ... N-No worries, it's tuned to me, so Blue isn't going to turn into a portable automatic court reporter on us … But yeah, working on something new today, get away from tropical intrigues to something a bit more ... I guess ... Maybe something to show off some of the regional qualities around here?"
“Oh?" A little gurgle behind Bon Bon notes that the espresso is done—she turns smoothly, swirls it, pops it on a saucer and brings it back around to the counter between them, then goes to pour herself something from the ordinary pot. "Well, I'm all ears, sugar. You know how much I love it here! What've you got in mind so far?"
"Alright ... here's my concept ... a designer-worshiping Manehattan mare comes to Ponyville for a quaint weekend ... you know, to come down to someplace quaint and safe, but not so rustic that what's she's got is lost on us. Only, this little ego-trip backfires on the fancy mare when she gets here during the Ponyville Carnival, and everypony is having so much fun being themselves, she starts to feel silly in her slim-fit blazer, especially when she's two mugs of cider in and gets sucked out to the dance floor and actually starts to have fun. Now ... I know that concept -- actually, that's a premise now that I think about it -- is standing on trope a little, but this is the first act. The mare goes home, comes back, and starts finding herself getting into things you don't just see during a Pinkie Party. She gets to know the smell of our mornings, gets to run under oaks and actually stops for a while at the river, that clear, cold water, so rare in her native concrete jungle, and starts to wake up to the shallow parts of her life that she's let slide."
Bon Bon listens quietly as Roseluck pitches the idea, taking a slow sip from her mug while she does, a little shiver going through her at the burn.
"Heh... if that's a trope, then it's a close one to life ~ Then what happens? Does she come back, or...?"
"She starts to kinda ... question her gig overall, and wonder if her special talent isn't better used in a place where she actually feels awake. Now, I'm not sure if I'm going to make this a long one or split it up, but since I really want all this to happen without all the sexy stuff going on, I want to keep a love interest out until this point of questioning, because the second half of this is getting into questioning intimate assumptions now that the worldview assumptions are kinda going along. Now ... I'm not too sure of the love interest yet, and how I could really make it feel right instead of shoehorned. I'm thinking they'd be a native to the town that assumes that the Manehattan Mare is enviable for being rich and urban and successful. Because you have this romantic conflict between the native that takes things for granted and the foreigner that's been-there-done-that with the skyscrapers, I'm hoping that shakes off trope and cliché and lets the characters take more focus while the Ponyville setting acts as a really nice lens."
Bon Bon considers this as well on her second drink of the mug—she looks up at the slowly turning ceiling fan for a moment, then down at her coffee, her eyebrows furrowing ... then she looks to Roseluck, and leans an elbow on the counter.
"I think it's a good idea to keep the romance back till this point, and I like this idea here ... especially that tension with the native and the city gal. It sounds like the story could use a little more tension for the first part, though... you don't usually go for such slow starts. Maybe this Manehattan Mare has a relationship back home that's totally dead in the water, but she can't see that yet, too settled, and she's gotta learn to see it for what it is by the time the second part—and the native—come around to help her re-examine, rebuild her assumptions? Might not even be romantic issue behind her, like a controlling best friend or a toxic boss."
"Huh ... y'know, I dig it! The rough relationship back home's definitely a strong element to keep in mind … But yeah, as you can see, I'm playing with this a bit. Sometimes, I really need a breath between serious manuscripts, but sometimes, something catches and I just get drawn in! Thank you, though, Bonny!"
"I know! And I'm no writer, so don't take me seriously." She flashes a toothy grin at her, getting a bit more perk going. "I've just gotta live vicariously through ya ~ right now, you should totally be playing. Benefit of takin' this one early is that you've got the room to."
"Living vicariously through me? You can't be that busy. What's been going on? Haven't been out on the town lately?"
"Oh, psh, not like that! Though it has been a while since I got out, I guess..." She shakes her head, snickering softly. "You know what I mean, though. You write for a very particular audience, sugar, to which I just so happen to belong … "
Roseluck’s ears give a wobble as she puts a foreleg behind her own head sheepishly. "Yeah … think that's why I go by a pseudonym ... don't want everypony to think that I'm trying to flirt at my audience or anything like that ... "
"Aww! I don't think you'd mind if ya flirted with your audience a bit." She gave the mare a sly little wink. "You want a hoof setting up, by the way? Doubt anypony'll come in for a little bit ... "
Roseluck’s tail gives a couple of nervous wags then settles, and a tint of strawberry meets the cream of her cheek.
"Yeah! I'd dig that ... if you don't mind … Please and thank ya, Bonny!" She bites down on the saucer to take the espresso, not making any note of her having ordered a latte originally as she walks over to the table at the bay window. The other mare leaves her mug at the counter and flips up the little board separating her from the shop, following Roseluck to her table of choice. She straightens up the cloth for her and pulls a chair over, it being a comfortable, cushioned wood, light in color to fit with the clean decor of the place.
"Want any snacks to start off today? Was just about to get on the fresh baking, but I've got some of the old standards around, if ya don't wanna wait."
"Hmm ... I think I'm feeling just a good ol' fashioned big blueberry muffin … OH CRAP, I forgot to pay you! Um, how much would I owe you for everything?"
"Oh, psh." She waved vaguely, stepping around to help her with the bag on her back. "On the house today, sugar. Consider it an investment in my future romantic fulfillment … !" Roseluck starts to unpack the typing machine from its bag, its frame cast in brass, the bearings all a little damp with oil, the ribbon hovering over the spool, a page yet to be loaded.
"Well ... thank ya! I'll make it a worthy investment. I'll convert muffins to makeouts for you … !"
"Sounds like fun! Though, don't you have some writing to get to, too?"
"Oh h-ha ha ha … Um ... but yeah … ! Writing, rocking, rolling, all that good stuff ... " She picks a blank page from the bottom of the flat-based bag and spools it into the machine. "By the way ... a thought just occurred to me. By any chance, is there something you'd like?"
"Something I'd like?" She raises an eyebrow, an amused little smile on her lips. "What do you mean by that, Rosie?"
"Yeah …! I mean ... you're the only pony in town that knows that I'm Bluebell Brush, so ... it's an opportunity to ask you if there's something in my work or the genre that you haven't seen yet that you'd like to …!”
"Ooh ..." Bon Bon thinks about that for a minute, biting the inside of her cheek in consideration. " ... Ha, it's a little early in the morning to offer me a dream come true, isn't it? Lemme think about it over coffee, I've gotta make sure I got this right …!"
"Sure thing, Bonny … Figured it'd be something awesome to try out … !"
"It sounds like fun … but I mean, I read your books 'cause I like them, not just cause you're a friend. So, long as you're writing what gets you excited, I'll be happy!" She flashed Roseluck a grin and made a quick trip to the counter to retrieve her coffee. "Mmm ... that said. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure thing!" As she tears open a couple of sugar packets and pours them into the espresso. "What's up?"
"What is it that gets you writing, anyway?" She comes by the table and leans on the other side of it, careful not to tip Roseluck's surface. "I mean, not like what you want to say in the stories. But what is it that gets your butt in the chair every day? I love reading, but I think writing all day would drive me bonkers."
Roseluck starts to think on it, relaxing her shoulders as she sits.
"I know this is going to sound totally cynical, but ... it's actually disappointment that gets me writing. I mean ... as fillies, we think that our little town is the launching point for adventure, but when we grow up, we tend to realize that ... we're kinda stuck. I mean ... we can't just go off into romantic adventures and stuff ... and even just getting into a nice romance might as well be fantasy for some ponies. Guess there's a filly inside that still wants things to be possible somewhere, and the page doesn't give lectures on maturity … "
Bon Bon rests her hoof on her chin, watching her and taking a slow, thoughtful drink of the coffee.
"... Doesn't sound cynical. I get where it's coming from. It's cool if you aren't just sitting and mooning over that, though. You get down and make something out of it …! I feel like I can take nice, safe adventures with your stories, you know?" She smiles, setting the mug down. "Hey, think I know what I wanna see now. If you're up to it."
"Alright …! Shoot, Bonny!"
"I've read a lot of stuff in the genre. And, y'know, everything ol' Bluebell's put out … but ... I don't see a lot of mares themselves who've had the adventures in the past. It's always the love interest who's done it, but not the heroine." She smiles a bit. "How about somepony who's been there—you know, they did all those things we dream about as li'l fillies, and now she has to figure out ... well, the mellower life. Put a little reverse on it …! Not realistic, I know, but ... what if, right?"
"Huh ... the hardy adventurer settling down, changing mindsets, figuring out the veracity of trying to take on a new life while having the old one still around in a way ... I bet I can work something out for that …!"
Bon Bon makes a discreet glance out the window, just to make sure nobody's about to step in.
"Some light bondage in the sack wouldn't hurt either. There's something a little freeing about being tied down, you know?"
The tint swells in the writer’s cheeks; she doesn't fluster, but take on a thoughtfulness.
"It's makes a lot of sense, actually. The protagonist has been used to exercising control over events, even when unpleasant, so the bondage is thematically relevant because even in sex, there's a time to trust others, to relax, to put away the old proactive approach and learn to ... um ... anticipate rather than preempt …"
"Exactly …! Plus ..." She has a little hint of red on her own coat as well, but she's smiling in a way that suggests a thoroughly pleased imagination. "It's a really tactile thing, isn't it? Kinda makes you aware of eeevery bit of you. Maybe she's used to dulling her sense of body, and this ... well … helps her get reacquainted."
Roseluck blinks and smiles even past her growing blush.
"That makes a lot of sense! I mean, if you're the adventuring type, you're always trying to dull sensations since there's ... what ... soreness from the road? From getting hurt now and then? With this, the protagonist gets to reacquaint with the sensitivity of every square centimeter …!" She sways a little, green eyes lit up like rose petals in the sun.
"Ooh, yeah …! And what better way to do that than with the trust of a very close somepony, eh?" Bon Bon grins unabashedly, her tail making a couple swishes behind her. "Heh... I'm excited …! I love all your writing, Rosie, but there's something special about how you write the intimate stuff ..."
"Aww …! That's always the part where I get really into it and then get REALLY freakin' nervous. Like ... the whole country is reading my imagination ... Sometimes, I really want to play it safe and conventional, but ... eh, it's not fun to write safe, so ... y'know, so much for embarrassment, right?"
"Well, as a reader, I love it when you don't play safe. Safe I can read in nine out of ten books, but yours rev my engines like one in a thousand!" She tips back the last of her coffee and snickers under her breath. " ... Heh. I guess this makes us a little even for embarrassment, huh?"
Roseluck glances to the side, biting on her bottom lip a little, and then she shrugs happily, her tail giving a swish as it hangs off her seat.
"Maybe, but heck, this is really exciting! I mean, there's pretty much no higher encouragement than what you just put out there! Pretty much makes the caffeine redundant at this point …"
"Does it, now … ?" She glances at the window again, then leans forward on the table a bit, her grin taking on a softer edge. The blush remains, though; if anything, deepens. "Well, I'm always a fan of encouraging the arts! Yours especially. But if it's getting to ya that warmly ... maybe we could drum up a little extra inspiration, hm?"
At first, she makes to keep talking from the standpoint of the energetic writer, but is only oblivious in the reflex of a second, then pauses ... and then blushes deeply, eyes going wide and ears pointing out! She looks to Bon Bon with a little modest smile, as if trying to lie that her mind didn't immediately go someplace ... intimate.
"W-Wha-er-I-mean-um-hi. Like ... writing exercises?"
The flirty mare giggles a little, her tail swishing a little further out, like the pendulum of some saucy clock. Her smile, however, is anything but modest.
"If you'd prefer those … but I was thinking more ... take you over to that counter and snog you so hard even your little magic typewriter'll blush."
The other mare draws in two little seizures of air, her ears standing straight up and tail outright smacking the floor.
"T-Take me over ... like ... l-lift?"
"Hmm. I think I could haul your cute butt over there. But if we only make it to the floor, I wouldn't be too upset." She taps her chin.
"You ... use a r-really good wood oil ... " Her nervous voice sounds nasal and a bit geeky, and a fidget bounces from her hip to her chest, where she raises a foreleg in front of herself and just a little, paws towards Bon Bon.
"I do …!" Bon Bon leans a bit more over the table, her hoof just nearly touching with Roseluck's … nearly ... but letting her decide whether or not to close that distance. "But I think I'd enjoy yours better. Only if you want, though, Rosie … No pressure, and still pals, yeah?"
Roseluck gives a soft nod, and looking away a little, puts her foreleg out and caresses her foreleg under Bon Bon's.
The other mare strokes Roseluck's foreleg gently for a moment, just holding it there with her and letting it settle for a second ... then reaches the other over out to her cheek, trying to turn her face to look at her again. Her expression's softened from that sly, flirtatious look to one of simple, eager fondness.
Roseluck’s head turns to the guidance of the touch, and though her eyes shift a little, they look up and rest in line with Bon Bon's. She doesn't look away anymore as she pulls just a little with her foreleg and brings the other up, caressing along and over the candymare's neck to her shoulder, supporting them both as they near. Her tail continues to sway nervously, but her eyelids and ears softly lower together. She takes a soft nasal inhale, and … guides their lips together.
Bon Bon lifts the rest of the way to meet her, the hoof on Roseluck's face sliding around to cradle the back of her head just as their lips meet—her tail is steady, but her ear twitches, and Rose feels the curve of a smile on the lips that brush against hers. And after the space of a couple breaths, she draws closer around the table and kisses her more fully, her cheeks growing warmer by the second.
Just the greater closeness drives a breath from Roseluck that she immediately reclaims through her nose; her ears stay low and her tail stills. She pulls the other mare more, but doesn't necessarily hold her there, caressing down Bon Bon's back with her freed foreleg. She leans further in with the kiss, her eyebrows arching up, but her face perhaps the expression of some sad anticipation.
Bon Bon follows Roseluck's pull with an easy shift, coming closer to her from around the round edge of the table. One is still propping her up, but the foreleg on Roseluck's head drapes down over her shoulder, and Bon Bon presses gently into the kiss with the kind of eager calm that comes with a desire being fulfilled, still smiling, still tasting of sugary coffee. She strokes the back of Roseluck's neck, mussing her mane a little, and so-softly parts her lips ...
The calm caressing along Roseluck’s neck sends a wave down her, relaxing her shoulders by making her ears perk for just a moment before sinking back down. As Bon Bon parts her lips, she does too, but starting to tense again, at her lower back, the tension of one that has come onto stage, but realizes that they have so little certainly of how to act.
Bon Bon’s gentle stroking motion continues down, rubbing at that spot between her shoulders and back up, finally getting to touch that patch of fur she always admired bent over the typewriter ... and then she feels that tension creep over. For worry of overwhelming her, Bon Bon backs off a little, and the kiss parts, but she doesn't draw away ... Her eyes open half-lidded, and she gives a little reassuring nose-nuzzle to Roseluck, still smiling even as their breaths mingle between them.
Roseluck slowly ... halfway opens her eyes, her head lowering but angling up a little to look up into Bon Bon's blues as another ripple of touch rides gently down her nerves.
"... Bonny ..." The whisper comes from a trembling lip, a ray of the morning highlighting hairs standing on her ear. "... By ... the highnesses' thighnesses ... who'd ... you kill for ... eyes that ... blue ..."
"...Highness's—snrk." She can't help but snicker, tipping her head down for a second while she composes herself. When she looks back up, her blues eyes are squinted from so many smiles, nearly glittering. "Heh... classified information, Rosie …! I'd ask ya the same, but ..." She pecks her lips again, hardly able to keep herself from it. "I know that ..." Another kiss, by the corner of her mouth. " ... You stole those emeralds right outta the Crown Jewels ..." And she nuzzles her cheek, taking in a deep breath of that vanilla-cream fuzz.
With the sugar-scent mare’s touches, kisses, she warms enough to flash boil a blizzard, and with soft, but heightened breath, turns her head and nuzzles behind Bon Bon's cheek and lets out a hot breath into the top of her neck, not deliberately, but from an urge in her breath that seems to surprise even herself, her back arching, the fluff of her chest bared. She backs a little, the overwhelm quiet and clear on her face.
The sudden charge in Rose's breath sends a not-unpleasant tingle down Bon Bon's back, causing the fur on her neck to prick up and her tail to twitch, swishing back against her legs … But she feels the response to that, and Rose's little retreat, and she eases off a little more; the hoof at Rose's back goes to her forehead, and she gives their faces a bit more distance, her eyes open wider. The blush on her face has spread halfway down her neck, her lips are wet and her breath clearly coming in soft pants, but all in her look is concern. She brushes her hoof on Rose's cheek again, soothing.
"Hey... ok there, s-sugar?"
Roseluck looks up, but her eyelids lower and her lips start to smile at the stroke. Again, a long breath eases out of her.
"... 'm al ... alright ... just ... there's ... a f-first time for ev ... everything ... right?"
Bon Bon’s brow creases a little bit, but she doesn't take the hoof away.
"Wait ... that ... oh, Rosie, was that ...?"
Roseluck starts to say something, but stops without making a sound, slowly giving a sheepish smile and nodding, her eyes glanced to the side.
"Y-Yeah ..."
Bon Bon leans over and pecks the tip of Roseluck's nose, a smile half-apologetic on her lips.
"Sugar ... shoulda told me. You're a great kisser, for a first, but ... can't tell me this is how ya pictured it going down."
"I ... didn't expect it going down at all to ... be honest. This ... " She starts to smile again. "This is ... better than ... I ... ever dreamed ... I ... w-well ..." She glances to the typewriter. "You ... k-kinda know that I ... dream a lot. Like ... a LOT."
"Yeah ... yeah, I do know. But, hon." She dips her head down to peek into Roseluck's line of sight again. "If I'd known, I would've made it extra-special. But we still got time! Quick, tell me a dream about your kisses. Or a fantasy. Somethin'! I'll do my best to swing it, here and now."
And ... at all the times, Roseluck’s sideways little smirk comes back, and she takes a drink of the espresso, again, at all of possible times.
"... I ... don't remember the fantasies, Bonny. But ... I'd challenge Celestia herself to make motes of dust drift in morning rays like so many flecks of cotton candy around these curls ... I dare Luna to show me a morning with more cream and sugar than the taste of your cheek. Get Princess Cadance out from the wedding bed and have her make the sound of passionate perfection, and it's deafened by the sound of you simply being alive. Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. Without betraying the logic of those words, I can say that truth kisses sweeter than fiction. I ... don't plan on something made-up snuffing out this ... lingering warmth on my lips, the memory ... Um ... me being a goofy pony aside ... this is already extra-special, Bonny ..."
The red crept back onto Bon Bon's face. ... And then went up to the tips of her ears. ... And then it soared down her neck and made her feel like she'd half-swallowed something, and it took a couple of breaths before the grin spread across her face again.
"I ... I j-just meant if you, if you wanted me to ... put on music or go kiss under a tree or ... or something?" She shakes her head, the grin fading, but the blush only darkening. " ...Holy hay, Rosie. That's ... the sweetest thing a-anypony's said to me in my whole damn life. No exaggeration ..."
"I've ... kinda wanted to say sweet things to you for a while ... especially ... when you ... I guess I could say that I've noticed things since I started writing here. Towards the end of the day, somepony and their kid will come in, and you'll be your wonderful self as always, with this sweet smile as they leave that probably has Pinkie Pie off somewhere turned into Greenie Pie with envy. But ... as your smile eases up, you get this faraway look if you aren't too busy. A sunset beam reflected off your counter gives a contrast to your eyes, and ... I feel that for an instant, I'm seeing the play of something precious to you in your thoughts, and ... well ... I usually take a coffee break, 'cus after a sight like that, I've usually forgotten what in the name of Cadence's cleft I was even writing for a while ... heh ..."
That quiets Bon Bon for a long moment. It's anything but faraway, though, as she looks down at Roseluck's chest and gently strokes her foreleg. The words hit her someplace the kiss hadn't quite reached, and ... if she didn't know better, she'd think she was about to cry. She takes a breath and lifts Roseluck's hoof, placing a small, affectionate kiss on it, looking back up to her again.
"You're... not wrong about that, sugar. I thought nopony was lookin'. ... I feel like when you come in here, and you put your soul down with that ..." She nods her head to the typewriter. "... Maybe it's dumb to think this, but I feel like you choosing to do it here, asking questions and bouncin' ideas... being frustrated, excited, bored, blushy ... it's like I get to share in it a little." And she smiles again, but not sly, just warm. "Seeing you get excited makes me excited. Seeing you get serious... it makes me wanna get serious. And ... heh … do I even need to say what happens when I see you do that cute, sexy little wiggle in your seat ...?"
"That wiggle is why I ... try not to write the really intimate parts of something here, especially 'cus ... um ... Spring is a thing, and ... um ... yeah! So ... I mean ... just ... this ... this really matters to me ... it's okay if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but ... I feel danged lucky ..."
"Well, not gonna lie to you. It was a bit spur when I offered ... but I've wanted to do it for I don't even know how long." She reaches over and smooths down some of Roseluck's mane where it has gotten mussed up. "Worth the wait, though ... worth it and then some. ... Do you wanna go again?"
"Yes please." Roseluck nods rapidly and grins, but her expression softens, the humor of it having had its own little moment. "I ... um ... don't suppose there's a spot that's ... more comfortable, but still close enough to hear the door?"
"Hmm..." Bon Bon looks around the shop, making a quick analysis. Unfortunately, she had made a candy shop and a café environment; she never sprang for any loveseats or extra cushioning … the counter was hard plastic ... but there was a simpler solution right overhead. "You know what? I think I could stand to open late today. If you'd like to join me upstairs …"
Then it's Roseluck’s turn to turn red practically everywhere, but she makes her ears and tail stay calm and takes a breath.
"I'd l-like that, Bonny … ! I'll go take care of that sign and the lock for ya!” The owner shakes her head, tapping a hoof to Rosie's lips.
"No, no. You let me handle the shop. I want you to head up there, and pick wherever you think's cozy, and get comfortable … " She raises a brow, a little playful. "Unless ... you're into the danger of stickin' down here and being sneaky … anypony could walk in."
"M-Maybe ... maybe another time ... I'd love to do it ... but ... I ... just want ... someplace soft where ... it'll just be me and you, my Bonny lass …" She straightens up and hugs around Bon Bon's shoulders gently, nuzzling under her jaw and breathing warmly down her neck for a long exhale before resting a kiss on the nuzzled spot before returning a calm, but entranced smile before letting go, getting up, and stepping softly to the flap of the counter, her exceptionally fluffy tail swaying just enough that the more imaginative of minds can perhaps picture the softest contours of her body just barely hidden by the strawberry strands, as she starts up the stairs, and the whole way to the stairs she could enjoy the feeling of blue eyes drinking her in, a goofy smile on Bon Bon's features.
"Y'know that phrase? 'Those who can, do, and those who can't, teach?' It's ... felt like that's been my ... fate or something ... it's not the amount of rejections I've had, but ... how those rejections came at different times ... every last time. I know ... this is ... totally different, but ... yeah ... it's nerves ... it's the biggest swell of nerves I've ever had in my whole dang life. When you write yourself off, you start to feel freer to just do whatever, but ... when ... suddenly the sorts of things you've dreamed about actually come up, your head's been out of it, out of thinking that it's actually possible ... Bonny, I'm just ... r-really freakin' nervous ... like ... like ... like if ol’ Sizzling Sunbutt herself came over to ask me about the parallels in 'The Shivering Secrets of Queen Solara ~'”
Bon Bon quietly takes a deep breath in at that, and—knowing this is going to feel weird—scoots herself off the pillow, her movements a little wobbly as she turns around one-eighty, only to put the pillow aside and plop down next to Roseluck where they can look at each other. Even the Sizzling Sunbutt remark, normally a sure-fire way to get her to snort, doesn't poke through the serious look on her face this time.
"Then, Rosie, we're gonna take a deep breath and keep it simple. I don't want you to feel scared or nervous with me. Not now, not ever, especially not about sex." She blushes a touch deeper, glancing down to the sheets. "I ... want you so bad, Rose, I don't even have words for what ... what you do to me ... but it's important to me that your first time—heh, ours—isn't anxious."
"... Ours ..." The one word is said as if she is trying the word, sampling it, considering such a basic meaning. As the timing comes for her next breath, she takes control of it, letting it be slow and as deep as possible, and after holding it for just seconds -- her eyes closed -- she lets it go as unhurried and gentle as she took it. She scoots that her and the other blushing mare are nearly nose-to-nose. "... Ours ... I ... really understand ya, Bonny ..." She reaches out, she on her side, and just strokes Bon Bon's shoulder and side, that little sideways kink of a smile coming back. " ... Everything's okay ... really okay, even ... heh. ... Our first time both, huh ... that switches up the lenses for the better, honestly ..."
Bon Bon shifts on the blanket and settles again, having tried—and failed—to get to a comfortable lie. But ... that little poke of her nose, the touch on her shoulder, gentle as anything ... it made her neck relax a little, her head dipping to rest in front of Rose's. Her cheeks were already red, but ... for the first time, it looked a tiny bit sheepish on her.
"What do you mean? Does that ... change things for ya, sugar? Cause ..." She leans forward, poking Rose's nose with hers, a little playfully. "Doesn't for me. I want you like burning, but I want you to be relaxed even more. If it happens, oughta be a happy thing to happen."
"... Dang right it oughta ...!" She gives Bon Bon's nose a little kiss. "Things ... really are different. Feels like we're going to be trusting each other with an experience that'll be ... well ... pretty new for us. Means that we're looking out for each other and making sure it's fun and ... good for us. And y'know ... it will be. Sorry ... for ... kinda getting lost there ..." Bon Bon smiles again, the serious look finally breaking, melting off her face like wax before a candle. The kiss makes her wiggle her nose a bit.
"Hey, I can't blame you, Rosie. This morning's been like a roller coaster that's all rise, y'know? ... And, yeah, that's the ideal. But ..." She nuzzles their noses again, making a couple shakes that seem like held-in laughs. "... Got a confession here. I do have one advantage on ya ..."
"Only one? That means more than the sexiest voice in Ponyville, a cute little booty that turns me into a mute with a balance problem ..."
“Not that kind … cause, cute as my boot is, your buns're so warm they bake the oven. But, no ... see ... I've read your books quite close, sugar. So I may already have a guess or two about what gets you ... wigglin'." At that, Roseluck actually snickers and starts giggling on her back!
"Or three or five or fifty! I'm in some real trouble here ... you practically have a multi-volume instruction manual to me!"
"Ha! I knew it!" Bon Bon’s tail does a slow swish, and she turns up to her fours, grinning. "So, be honest. That novella with Lady Luck and her 'friend' ..." Roseluck continues to giggle, pawing at the air above her.
"Sugar Sweet? ... Okay! I admit it! That started from a cabernet-fantasy in the bathtub about you! I went for the names as a little nod to the fantasy, but I'm not sure if I could ever do what Lady Luck was all about ...!"
Bon Bon props her chin on her hooves, just grinning and watching her. Luna's beard, if she wasn't the most adorable pony to ever grace the earth.
"Knew it! heheh. Since I got one of your secrets, you want one of mine?" Roseluck stops her wiggling and rolls a full rotation so she's looking up at Bon Bon from her back, flipping her fluffy red tail up between her legs and hugging it with her forelegs.
"Only if you tell me in a ... creative way ...!"
"Creative, eh?" Bon Bon grins, wiggling over on her tummy and letting her back legs stretch out comfortably. "I'm no writer, though. I'll do my best, but think you can help me out on the details?"
"Heh ... okay, I'll come clean, I'm just hoping you'll whisper it in my ear ..." She says while smiling, wobbling side-to-side on her back.
"Oh, I will. But..." She leans down and pecks Roseluck's forehead, her tone lowering sultrily. "I want you to ... How should I put it? Fill in a few of the blanks? Feel out the nooks and crannies ...?"
Roseluck shivers and squeezes her tail with a squeak, but still smiling, albeit with warming cheeks.
"N-Not a problem! I'm at your service, Sweet ..."
"Ooh, getting into character, are we?" Bon Bon snickers a little, leaning down and lowering her voice further, to a half-whisper. "Alright. When I read that story the first time ... well, I had a little inkling in the first few pages. Like this might be one I save for the right ... atmosphere. So I decided I'd put it down until work was done. And I worked hard that day, you know, had a new couple appliances come in and an order of flour ... lots of carrying and lifting and fixing, made my back so sore and tight. So ... heh, it's funny you mentioned how you got the idea. I drew a bath after it got dark. At that, Roseluck’s tail tries to wiggle from her grasp a little, and a hind leg stretches out for a moment.
"Y-Yeah?" A hoof starts lazily stroking Rose's mane.
"I made it really nice for myself. I got out some bath oils I got for my birthday, I opened the window for some fresh, chilly air ... I drew it just a little too hot, so it shocked me at first, and then I relaxed so much once I got settled. Then ..." Her voice drops another level, eyelids a hair lower, her lips so close to Rose's ear she can nearly feel the shape of them. "I got out that story of yours. And, Rose ... the more pages I turned ... the more I read inside your little fantasies ... I started picturing you in there. And I could've set that water boiling." Rose’s back arches and eyes close as she gives a squirm ...
"I ... know what part of the ... the story you were on ..."
"Oh? Why don't you tell me ..." She kisses her cheek, brushing her mane up, then back down again. "I wanna hear your guess what words first made me really start feeling that water."
The squirmy mare turns her head and nuzzles the hoof.
“If … I remember … ‘The light went up in Sweet’s eyelids, and she opened them to see the shower curtain drawn, looking into Luck’s grassy greens gone gleaming emerald and entranced, the noble’s shoulders bearing heavy, her gown from the gala gone, yet those sheer sable silken stockings still remained. Pounds of anxiously brushed and braided mane unfurled as she stepped over the wall of the pale ceramic, the steam of the water slipping around her nethers, a negligee of naked heat …’ About there?”
"Mmhm. You've thought about that one a lot, eh?" She smirks a little, the hoof at her mane coming around to brush some of the fur down on Rose's neck, just where throat met collar. "So did I. And ... every word I read—heck, every word I felt ... I touched my belly, at first. Told myself it was just an itch... but then, 'sheer sable silk', and I touched a little lower ... and then lower ..." In the still air of that pause, Roseluck pushes a hind hoof into the covers, her thighs rubbing together, squeezing her tail.
"And ... a-and ... '... then Luck slid into the hot water like a slow motion of a swan entering her pond, craning her neck closer and closer to Sweet, who still couldn't come up with a single word or thought as the noble's body covered hers, water spilling from the top of the tub, splattering on the tile. In this livelong moment, the first thought of it all was the acknowledgement that as Luck breathed into her ear ... h-her breath chilled the steam ...'" Bon Bon’s tail swishes over the bedsheets again, she laughing softly through her nose.
"Jeez! You keep quoting this, I'm gonna have to take a bath tonight, sugar. 'Her breath chilled the steam' ... and then that next line ... " She leans in closer, whispering warm into Roseluck's ear. "That's when my breath got low, and ... I felt something soft ... warmer than the water ... and I felt just a little guilty, but I kept feeling, and kept reading ..."
At a gasp, Roseluck pulls her own tail tight, twisting her hips as no-doubt, her tail is tight against the very place it's seeming to protect, and something of an urgent sigh sails from the slightest parting in her lips.
"... ‘The noble Lady's lips tasted of the stain of ... of wine ... and her body pressed into it, the friction warmth of her coat and the all-encompassing heat of the water both becoming like one caress for the confectioner's surrender, though she'd hardly wanted to ... m-make it stop ... s-so much ... much that ... when the hot s-soft of a hoof reached her, gave the slightest squeeze on Sweet's swollen little strawberry, the ... trapped mare squeezed ... s-seized on it. They ... w-were both trapped ... the ... the sh-shower tile echoed v-voices with ... without the ... slightest note of denial ...'"
Bon Bon smiles wide and crosses her hind legs, wiggling a little, but keeping still quite close. The hoof at Rose's collar pets down, stroking her chest as she speaks, feeling the vibrations of every word ... and Bon shifts again.
"...A-and I only felt more. I thought of you... your lips on mine in that warm, steaming bath... your touch between my legs ... feeling me the way I felt myself ... I kept so quiet, the window was open ... but I let myself let out one little, passionate sound ..." She breathes out, slow, and her voice drops. "...'Roseluck'..."
" ... B-Bonny ..." She lets her tail go, the fluffy length of it yielding to Bon Bon's hoof, and again, Roseluck paws with a shaky foreleg, caressing Bon Bon's neck, looking up to her with eyes of dreamy wanderlust.
"...Mhm?" She leans her head back enough to get a good look at Rose, her face a full flush, but a calm and smiling one, tipping her head a little towards Rose's touch. "Got... somethin' on your mind, cutie?"
"... M-Mmm ... mmm ..." Her tail still over her, the tip resting on her belly button, she arches her back again, and her hind legs open a little. "Bonny ..." she whispers, with an oh-so-trembling, smiling lip ... "Can ... y-you ... show me ... wh-what that ... f-felt like?"
Bon Bon glances down the length of Roseluck's form, then back over it again, taking her time to drink in every detail ... lingering on her tail, and what the strawberry strands may cover ... and her hind legs squeeze together, slow, she biting the inside of her lip before her eyes settle back on Rose's. ... She leans down and kisses her, sweet and warm, the hoof on her chest petting down her fluff. And then she draws back with a sultry grin.
"I'll do my best, Rosie. Just remember, I felt only so relaxed ..." Her hoof traces lower on the mare, drawing slow circles down to her belly. "... Because a part of me knew. Sometime ... you, out there ... you thought of me and did the same. Didn't you?"
"I-I ..." She softly, slowly pants already, her tail yielding a little more, the tension of the bend overpowering the lessening weight of the tip of the tail, and it flops away onto the bed, and then … the only thing obstructing is the insubstantial, the return of that sweet, heady bouquet scent renewed. "I ... c-couldn't get ... comfy in the b-bath ... I rolled out, soaked on the b-bathroom floor. I ... I ... I was n-nervous to say your n-name even as I ... if I s-said it, w-would you know ... w-would it jinx a-any hope ..."
"Mm... the name doesn't matter. What matters is you ... writhin’ on the floor, thinking of me doing all the things I'm going to do to you ..." She made a slow wiggling motion down, kissing the dip of Roseluck's throat, her chest, her hoof petting down her lower abdomen, then tracing down to her leg again. She feels the other side of where Rose's cutie mark should be ... "... And all you ever had to do, was kiss me and ask for it."
Roseluck’s hind legs yield and tense wide enough that Bon Bon feels a bridging, deep muscle go taut beneath the warm, creamy coat, two little points hidden in the softest tufts of fur below her belly firming. As if Bon Bon's statement was a command, her head rises from the bed a little, but she can't lift it, her mane splayed and tousled as her back arches, forcing rose and softest pink highlights into the comforter. If there's a reply in her, seems to be lost, but her eyes still rest on Bon Bon's, her lips still faintly parted. Bon Bon eases off at the tense, and presses in again at the relax; wherever Roseluck firms her muscles, Bon Bon finds where she's released them and goes there, following the waves of her body... but not to their conclusion. Not yet. She presses down a little on the mare's lower abdomen, though, just above that place, and she scoots around to lie more parallel, her own legs held closely together. She meets Rose's eyes again and leans in, smiling warm, steadily increasing her pressure downward...
The mare at Bon Bon’s touch doesn't take her eyes away, as just at Bon Bon's closeness ... the glint of those soft hoops of blue ... her back starts to calm but her breathing is so slow and heavy ... but she smiles and closes the distance between their lips once more, her eyes not completely shutting. Her hip squirms softly, trying to get a caress from the soft of Bon Bon's hoof once more ... and to that, Bon Bon breathes in sharp through her nose at the kiss, for a second tensed as a little sensation in her belly turns over ... and then she relaxes again, leaning into it, into Roseluck. Her other foreleg tucks in around Rose's shoulders, and she shimmies a little closer, just as her hoof begins to dip down ... and caress the inside of her other thigh, but in so reaching, she occasionally brushes something far warmer.
Roseluck’s lips vibrate to the sudden volume of a short moan, and still with the zap of even that slightest brush still reverberating throughout her, she wraps her forelegs high around the other mare's neck and pulls her into the kiss deeply. A short shock of sound comes out of Bon Bon—but she follows wholeheartedly, the foreleg at Rose's back pulls her in tight, and she turns herself a little bit over the mare, propping up with her hip and leaning her weight down. Her lips part, readily slipping her tongue through to further bring them together as her own hind legs squirm against each other, tight and needful ... but it doesn't slow the ministrations on Roseluck as they finally come back again, drawing close ... and she takes in a breath to steady herself, relax her grip just as she brushes over that most tender of places, bringing slow, full contact …
The hold on Bon Bon immediately jerks into a squeeze, a squeak pushing from her throat as far down as her lower back that's immediately followed by voice sailing between them. Bon Bon simply follows the motion, breaking the kiss briefly to catch her breath and let Roseluck get a bit too—slowly, but steadily moving her pressure around, feeling out that tender shape. She watches Rose's face for response, her own beet-read and a little goofy with desire. The response from the blush-maned mare is powerful, an almost regular little twitch at her left leg, the continuing squirming of her hips, and the fluffing of her chest as takes in heavy breaths. At the soft exploration, every other breath ends in a soft note, the eyes belonging to them wandering, not from any lack of focus on Bon Bon, but her ability to focus at all under softest siege and every little vocal, every heated breath just spurs Bon Bon onward, sets her heart rate up another beat. Her own hind legs tremble, but nothing being there but the half-cover of her tail, she can only squeeze, and take what small outlet that provides; her hooves are occupied. She leans in again and kisses the hollow of Rose's throat, touch following the twists of her hips and rubbing down on her harder, sliding up to find where she might be able to brush that secret pearl ... With urgent force from Roseluck’s chest, she pants for a few breaths and lets out a louder, longer moan, her head tilting back and pressing into the covers.
"... Bonny ..." The end of the moan becomes the word, and the ones to follow are expressed in gliding notes. "Oh ... B-Bonny ... " The word means so little its recipient, but the way she says it—the way her moans sound so thick, how they quaver every time she pushes down, the vibrato against her lips ... it shoots straight to Bon Bon's core and spreads out through her like a series of electric jolts through a system of circuits. She lifts up again, a little more upright, and stops her strokes—she just holds the pressure on her, making only tiny circles, one way, then another.
"L-like this, Rosie ..." ... They quicken a little, slick sounds as Rose's arousal tastes occasional licks of the air. "Just like this ..." Roseluck turns her head aside, then slowly to the other, her left foreleg stretching down at nothing for a moment. There is certainly a world of difference in this, a world gently colliding with her own.
"J-Just like ... l-like that ..."
"Mm..." Her head sinks low, pressing a kiss into Rose's chest. ... Then she chuckles, her ministrations slowing again to a gentle, lazy rhythm. "... And ... heh ... then I dropped the book in the bath."
"W-Who ... who ... who blame you ..." She rests her eyes on Bon Bon, her slow pants only at a precipice of calm.
"Hmm ..." Her head reaches up again to kiss Rose's lips, a brief, tender reminder. "You're just saying that cause you know I bought another copy ..."
The panting, but calming mare cranes her head and softly takes another kiss, and nuzzles behind Bon Bon's cheek before relaxing her neck back down on the bed.
"What ... h-happened after ... after you dropped the b-book ... ?"
"Well... I was bummed that I ruined the book, for a minute." She nuzzled the exposed neck, scooting up to snuggle Roseluck fully by the side, her movement growing slower and more intimate. "But I didn't... need it anymore, with you in my head. ... So I just enjoyed myself for a while ... nice and slow, like this..."
Roseluck doesn't hug back on, not wanting to obstruct Bon Bon's reach, but she does nuzzle over the mare's neck and cheek, kissing firmly and giving a heavy breath with every little shudder.
"Mhnn ... nnnhh ... g-gentle ... a-always ... gentle ..."
"Mmn ..." She gives a little quake, but starts to calm more ... closing her eyes and letting herself lie as gravity and Bon Bon would have her … and Bon Bon finds, despite herself, that the urgency in her body calms as Rose does ... still present, still needful, but she starts to soak in the feeling rather than being galvanized by it, settling and expanding to fill a more patient depth of lust. She kisses Rose again and carefully moves closer, one hind leg settling over hers, to feel as much of the soft mare at her side as possible.
"Bonny ... ?"
"Yeah...?"
"Let's ... take a rest ... I ... th-think I want to just ... feel this ... this warmth with you ... close. I ... w-would really like you to ... just be close ..." Bon Bon slows to a stop, but doesn't take her hoof off.
"... Y-you sure? I thought ..."
"Don't ... want you to strain your foreleg ... and w-who ... said we were ... c-calling it a morning ... ?" She smiles at that.
"... Heh." She relents, softly taking the hoof away and wrapping it around Roseluck. "Fair enough …! ... I knead dough a lot harder than that for longer, though, sugar ... don't worry about me.” Roseluck pulls them into one, turning on her side.
"I know ... b-but ... you ... sh-shared ... think ... we can ... we can change things up ..." She opens her outside leg and gently slips it between Bon Bon's a little. "We can both share at once ..." Bon Bon takes in a slightly shaky breath, tense for a moment, then slowly breathes back out, trying mindfully to relax. Her eyes seek out Roseluck's, and she smiles a little, drawing her closer until they're nearly chest-to-chest in each other's warm hold.
"I ... think I can roll with that, Rosie ... but, could you, um ... d-do one thing?"
"Mmm hmmm … ?"
"Move your tail up ... a little ..."
"S-Sure ..." She raises her tail up and back on the covers a little. "Is this good, or ..."
"Mmhm ..." She swings her own tail forward and over Roseluck's, pulls it back, and after a few tugs, they're gently entwined. She smiles warm. "There ... much better …!" Roseluck looks down at their tails, fluff and curl intertwined, and starts to give little kisses on Bon Bon's cheek
"You're … freakin' adorable … you know that?" Bon Bon giggles, squirming in the embrace!
"P-pot calling kettle!" Roseluck nuzzles up Bon Bon's cheek ... and lifting her leg a little, just above the knees, starts to nuzzle the lower rim of Bon Bon's ear ...
"Mmm hmm … ?”
Bon Bon’s giggle turns into a little gasp, her ear twitching pleasantly.
"Mmhmm ... you sweet, fuzzy ..." Her muzzle nestles into Rose's mane, places a tender kiss on her temple. " ...Cutie little Rosebud ..."
“I ... kinda ... want to change my name now to that ... but ... right now ... feeling pretty lucky ..." She brings her leg back from behind Bon Bon's, drawing Bon Bon's leg between her own, then returning her own leg as it was, rises it up a little more, pushing just a little with her hip. "Bonny ..." She sighs, smiling. "I ... can't wait for everything that's coming ... I ... c-can't wait to hear the first rumors about us ... can't wait to see how well I get along with your bestie ... can't ... wait to share so many things ... this ... this is practically a little deal ... right now ... compared to how much I can't wait to give your sleeping face the softest little kiss I got ..."
Bon Bon rocks back a little at the hips, shivering a little in warm anticipation. But her eyes never leave Rose, and her hold on the mare shifts, hugging her chest-to-chest. " ... We got time for all that, sugar ... the rumors, the f-friends ... but ... heh." She chuckles a little, burying her face in Rose's neck. "S-speak for yourself …! I ... can't wait for all those things, either, sweetie, I know you'll m-make my whole life brighter, but ... this is no li'l deal to me, ya know ..."
"Heh ... sorry, didn't mean to ... make it sound small ... This ... this is just beyond words right ... right now ... still a little nervous ... j-just a little, though, I promise."
"S'okay, me too." She smiles, trailing a few more kisses up Rose's neck, tilting up to her jaw. "But ... nice nervous ... in-it-together nervous, right?"
“We’re in this together … I’ve never felt more safe and sure of that phrase … you … and me …”
