Twilight drew the quill away. "I'm sorry."

Noah blinked. That was a sudden turn. "What?"

"For pushing you. I'm getting carried away." She took a slow deep breath. "I don't think you realize just how big this could be though, but you are a friend." She bobbed her head a little. "And that's more important."

Had Twilight actually talked herself down? That was a big thing, for her. "Thank you, Twilight. I appreciate that."

She smiled with obvious pride in her maturity. "However." Uh oh... "I'm afraid the measurements I took of you earlier weren't nearly comprehensive enough. Are humans even physically compatible with ponies?" She raised a brow. "Do you intend to attempt breeding, or will this be... just extra close friends?" She pointed at him. "With your permission, I'd like to do a comprehensive measurement."

"Twilight!" Alright, even Noah had his limits. "Do you even know what you're asking?"

She blinked. "I want to know the length, girth, density, and shape of your insemination organ." She tilted her head just faintly. "I wasn't even thinking about it before, but I wonder how similar it is to Equestrian species... You have a lot of other things in common, and other things wildly out of place. Why, considering the anemic amount of thaumic energy your world seems to have, I wonder how your body copes with impregnation without it." She perked her ears up as she sat. "Of course, a female would be more directly useful for that, but we work with what we have."

He decided to give being forthright a try. He couldn't just let her walk over him, again. "Twilight, no."

She blinked at his abject refusal. "Is something wrong?"

"A lot of things! Twilight, you're making me uncomfortable." Uncomfortable seemed a bare s-- His thoughts skipped a beat as he felt Twilight's magic give his rebellious erection a squeeze.

"You appear to be entering a state of arousal," she noted as if that wasn't an embarrassing thing. "Oh!" She smiled brightly. "Were you being deceitful before, Noah? It's very important that you tell me only the truth." Her magic gently felt along his sensitive length despite the pants in the way. It... kind of felt fantastic, if he ignored the situation in which it was happening. "If I seem like a suitable breeding partner, there's no reason for you to say otherwise.

It didn't help to know she could feel him through it. It was just as if she had a hand on him directly, stroking him slowly as she gazed up into his eyes. "Now, I meant what I said. This is obviously upsetting to you, and I think I might know why, now." She hadn't stopped touching, or pulling carefully. She was teasing him, and it was working quite well. "You weren't ready to disclose your feelings for me. I'm flattered! I mean, really." She raised a hoof over her snout. "You're the first stallion to express that specific... Well, that isn't true, but we're not here to discuss my sexual history. We're here for you, and I accept your affection, even if we're not going to become a bonded pair."

Why was she still stroking him?! He was as stiff as steel and ready to do... something. He wasn't sure what, but his body was ready, mind be damned. "Twilight, I already have a mare chasing me."

She bobbed her head. "And I want to know all about that." She gave him a firm squeeze from the tip to the root all at once. "You seem to be compatible in general dimensions. Assuming you're as careful as you usually are, you won't cause any injuries to any consenting mare. Now, just how much thaumic energy do you have... here." Her magic slid down his shaft and gathered around his sac, teasing all along it as she felt and weighed it with a look of concentration on her face. "Hmm..."

On one hand, he was being a bit violated. On the other, it felt kind of amazing, and it wasn't that he had NO attraction to Twilight, just that he was happy with it being purely as a friend. Before Blood Rose, he was happy seeing all ponies as friends, not anything more than that. Maybe it was all a mistake. Maybe he should just... let Rose down gently.

"Your arousal is diminishing." Twilight frowned as her magic flowed back upwards and began pumping him directly, getting his tool to harden and twitch under her attention. "There we are. How do you feel?"

How did he feel? He... wasn't sure entirely. A growing part of him wanted to throw Twilight to the ground and show her how to use his cock properly. More civilized parts were horrified at the idea for a number of reasons. "Twilight, as a friend. Stop."

Twilight blinked. Her horn stopped glowing and the feeling of her on his member faded. "What's wrong?"

He hadn't expected that to work. He sat up. "The choice of who to be touched, like that, is private and very important to any human. Hell, would you want some alien to hold you down and start probing your sex for its science?"

Twilight went a dark red at the very idea proposed. "O-oh! Oh... But... I'm..." She glanced away and back. "Am I just an alien, Noah?" She raised a hoof to her chest. "We've become friends, I hope. Do you trust me more than... just an alien?"

Noah picked himself back up to his feet, awkward stiffness ignored for the moment. "Twilight, I like you, as a friend. I do trust you." There were limits to that trust, for sure. "But you're asking me to accept you as a lot more than a friend."

"And how does that make you feel?" Twilight raised a brow. "Be honest. You won't hurt my feelings, promise."

She said that, but he was sure she would be crushed if he came down on her too hard. "Awkward, to start."

"Mmhmm."

"I'm just getting to the idea of letting a pony that close, to have another pony that I thought was just a friend ready to push past it. Even if there wasn't a damn thing wrong with me and Rose, this would be cheating."

Twilight blinked with wide eyes. "Oh! Well, that was silly of me. Did you already agree to a mating bond with Blood Rose?" She tilted her head. "I had no idea you'd already gone steady or I would have been more careful. Congratulations!"

That wasn't... "Not exactly."

"Oh? Then... what would you be cheating on?"

Nothing. Noah sagged a bit in place and let out a loud breath. Trying to hide behind fidelity wasn't going to work, since he hadn't gotten that far with Rose yet. There was nothing but his own awkwardness. "W-wait, why are you so ready to continue?"

She blinked. "You're aroused. You're exhibiting every sign I'm aware of indicating that you wish to proceed, at least biologically."

Noah scratched behind his head. "Don't stallions get stiffies once in a while when there's a pretty mare around?"

Twilight darkened a bit at that. "What they do in privacy is none of my business, but what I've read indicates that they do become aroused in order to, hmm, relieve pressure. In public, it's considered extremely taboo, and most simply don't do it. Why, you can't even see a stallion's parts until he's ready to breed. A mare's either, for that matter." She thrust a hoof at Noah's groin. "Your clothing is the only reason you're not a constant walking taboo."

Noah could only feel some growing shame at that. In his state, his clothing only did a partial job of hiding the fact that he was male.

Twilight let out a sudden cute little squeak. "Oh no! I've been misreading you this entire time. You can't control that? I thought... I thought you were doing that on purpose." Her cheeks began to burn all the brighter. "I... thought you were... I'm messing this all up! Please, forgive me! I didn't mean to." She backed away a few steps, clear worry in her eyes.

His heart couldn't stand to see her getting so torn up. If she was telling the truth, and he had little reason to think she wasn't, it was an honest mistake. From her view, he was doing everything short of writing a letter that he wanted her. Sure, that wasn't what he meant, but that's what she heard. They were aliens. Misunderstandings were going to happen. He could take it as a reason to be pissed, or he could try to work past it.

He dropped to a knee and held out a hand towards Twilight. "It's alright. I'm glad we figured that out. So, let's put that aside now, alright?"

She came closer with an unsure little smile. "So... not angry?"

He nodded quickly. "Not angry."

She reared up and gave him a sudden hug, thankfully devoid of any sexual meanings that he could immediately tell. He returned the embrace and things seemed to be delightfully settled for the moment.

Twilight settled back to all fours. "Now... I do hope, should you experience such attraction in the future, you'll speak frankly and directly. We are good enough friends that we will approach the matter directly, like adults and decide what's best."

That phrasing left it open that Twilight might be perfectly alright with a human boy, er, coltfriend. "You still wanted to have a 'baseline'?"

Twilight bobbed her head. "Oh yes, please. Are you feeling ready?"

He was. Noah settled back on that pillow. "Alright, so... To start, you're a good person."

"Thank you." She was still taking notes. "But?"

"I find your general... attitude appealing, even if it's overwhelming at times. If I take 'you' and ignore the physical part, I can see a perfectly wonderful woman."

Twilight raised an ear as her quill danced. "But... physically?"

"I haven't started looking at ponies that way."

She pointed at him. "Except Blood Rose?"

That wasn't... entirely true. "She... I don't know how, but she seems to want to be more human."

Twilight blinked. "I thought you said standing on two legs didn't help?"

Noah rubbed behind his head. "I was overwhelmed, and you're a friend, not... that."

"I see." Her tone implied she didn't quite see, but she let it go for the moment. "So the bipedal motion did help?"

If Noah was being honest with himself... "I think it did. There was still something off about it, but even that she was willing to go that far just to get closer to me instead of waiting for me to get closer to her, it was kind of flattering."

The pad suddenly snapped shut. "I think I have all the information I can get for now. Noah, may I have your permission to continue documenting? I will do my best to be out of your way." She tapped her chin softly. "And I'll owe you a favor. We could make it a sizable portion of bits, but I feel you can be more creative than that, and would appreciate it more than simple payment."

Author's Note

Things almost go too far, but they don't go falling off the edge just yet.

Maybe we can salvage this typo!