Twilight had told Pinkie today was when she got her results back for her Masters in Ethics. Pinkie had already planned a date for it, on the basis that, in her mind, telling Twilight she’d be receiving it was just a formality. There was no doubt in her girlfriends’ mind that this was a celebration.
Of course Twilight didn’t share her confidence but… when did she ever?
The formal manilla envelope was still in her hand when she got home. She took a deep breath to steel herself, threw her shoulders back, and opened their apartment’s front door.
Fresh lilacs in a new vase on the living room table, next to a big sheet of bubble wrap and two menus to… the Pie Sparkle cafe. She’d even had them laminated. Spread out on the floor were bolts of felt in all colours, and two big rectangles of cardboard with squeeze bottles of glue.
Pinkie had chosen to wear waiter whites and tuxedo pants with a clown’s polka dot bowtie and, Twilight couldn’t help but giggle, an immaculately drawn on pencil moustache. She’d been waiting near the door.
“I have no idea what any of this means,” Twilight pulled Pinkie into a kiss, and Pinkie was very careful to make sure it didn’t smudge her moustache. “But I love you too.”
“The bubblewrap’s for popping if you need to build yourself up. Or for taking your stress out on, after. Or both! There’s plenty to do both.” Pinkie picked up the two menus, gave Twilight one. Looked at her own, saw it was still what she’d written, and tossed it back on the table.
Twilight flipped hers over to read the only page.
Mains:
Palak paneer from your favourite Indian place
Dessert
I made cherry panna cotta! It’s really good!! Remind me to get it out of the freezer!!!
Drinks
Yes!
“Might I ask what the chef recommends this evening?” Twilight asked, and raised her eyebrow. Pinkie replied by reading over her shoulder, an intent expression.
“Yes, ma’am, if I may?” Pinkie cleared her throat, stood up straighter. “The chef recommends both dinner and dessert this evening.”
“I’ll have that then.”
“A most excellent choice.” Pinkie took the menus off her, and brought them into the kitchen. She came back with two bowls of the paneer in jasmine rice - Twilight could smell it from the moment Pinkie stepped out of the kitchen, hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She’d been so stressed she’d forgotten lunch, and was already reaching for her fork before Pinkie had even finished putting it on the table.
“Thank you,” she managed in the one second of restraint she could show before eating.
Pinkie snickered as she collapsed into the couch and snuggled in. Not a giggle--a snicker. “I know how you get when you’re stressed, so I made sure to get extra. There’s tons in the fridge for later, okay?”
Twilight nodded, then reached for one of the sheets of bubblewrap, on the table next to her. The texture of it was more papery than the soft plastic she expected. Biodegradable! Pinkie had thought of everything.
Twilight tested popping one with a thumb. Then another. Then she was working her way down the first row in a metronome time-
One-pop, two-pop, one-pop, two-pop.
It was like she was massaging the knots out of her brain.
Pinkie nudged Twilight with her shoulder. “Your food will get cold. The bubbles won’t.”
Twilight pouted. “Just one more row.”
“Okay,” Pinkie sighed dramatically. “One more row. But then you’re finishing your dinner, cutie. It’s your favourite.”
The absolute confidence Pinkie had in telling Twilight what her favourite food was would have been grating, except for the fact that Twilight had offhandedly mentioned it two months ago, the last time she could afford to eat out, and never brought it up since, and Pinkie had remembered and gotten her order exactly right. So instead, Twilight felt spoiled, and ate obediently.
“How long did all this take to set up?”
“Don’t worry about it!” Pinkie ate from her own bowl just as fast - it looked like she’d skipped lunch too. “It was easy stuff, anyway.”
“I just feel like-”
But Pinkie cut her off. “It is not too nice! It’s just nice enough.”
“I’ll still figure out a way to make it up to you.” Twilight poked her tongue out. “When’s the last time I did anything really romantic for you?”
“You wrote me poetry yesterday!”
“That doesn’t count.”
Pinkie was incredulous. “Why not?”
“Because it wasn’t good enough.” Twilight put her fork down, wiped her lips. “So there.”
Pinkie folded her arms across her chest. “Well. I liked it.”
“I can do better,” Twilight insisted. “I just- I haven’t found the words that do you justice yet.”
“Well. Then you should definitely keep trying,” Pinkie agreed. She tried not to grin, failed. She hadn’t been trying very hard, really. “Just ‘til you get it right.”
“Oh, I will. I’ll write as many as it takes.” Twilight leaned over and kissed Pinkie’s cheek. “Only I get to decide when it’s good enough, by the way. You’re too lenient.”
“Okay, little-miss-perfectionist, I’m going to be getting sappy poems from you forever, huh?”
“For as long as you want them,” Twilight corrected.
“Forever,” Pinkie repeated, and then she kissed Twilight on the cheek. Then one more, on the lips. Light and fluttery.
When Twilight opened her eyes again Pinkie was gone, and both their empty bowls clattered as Pinkie dropped them in the sink.
She’d left the envelope on the table in front of Twilight to open.
“Ah ah!” Pinkie tisked, taking the university envelope from the table and pressing it into Twilight’s chest. “Read the good news first. So we can have dessert to celebrate.”
Twilight took a deep breath, tore open the envelope with her thumb, and pulled it out. Kept her eyes closed for too long. Her hands were shaking again, but they would be way worse without… everything Pinkie had already done tonight. Deep, deep breath.
She opened her eyes.
“Summa cum laude.” She whispered. “I thought they only gave that to undergrads.”
“What’s that mean?” Pinkie stared. “Is that the good one, or the great one?”
“It’s the best one. It’s the best one!” Twilight clutched the letter to her chest and pulled her knees up tight against it and rocked back and forth in a ball, swinging and kicking her feet and laughing so hard she got the hiccups, just the worst case of them.“They accepted me into the doctoral program! I’m going to be a doctor!”
Which set Pinkie into a gale of laughter too. “You thought there was no way you were going to pass,” Pinkie teased, “and you got the best possible score?”
“Well. Not score, really, it’s more like…” Twilight trailed off because Pinkie was giving her that Look again that meant while, yes, the specifics were very interesting, she was missing the point. Twilight hiccupped again. “Yes. Okay, that’s basically what happened. I did kind of cheat a little, though,” she admitted.
“Using Equestria for hypotheticals, then just asking Princess-you to give you the real answers? That’s not cheating. That’s just… a unique advantage.” Pinkie kissed Twilight’s forehead when she hiccupped again. “It was still your work! Just, more than one of you. Still counts.”
“You’re trying to argue ethics with me when I’m going to be a doctor of it.” Twilight paused. “I am extremely educated about how much this counts as cheating.” She hiccupped again. Pinkie got up off the couch and went to the kitchen again, getting two full glasses out of the freezer as she went.
“Well, maybe you can do your thesis on using mirror copies of yourself to give you notes. Sounds fun.”
“Honestly, I might.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, hiccupped again. Frowned. “I thought these would have stopped by now.”
Then Pinkie was in front of her. “Open your mouth.”
Twilight did as she was told. Pinkie put a heaping spoonful of sugar on her tongue, and she swallowed it.
“Good girl,” Pinkie cooed, and Twilight hated how much she liked that. Pinkie seemed to notice, but didn’t say anything about it. Just went to bring the panna cotta over.
Her hiccups were gone. Twilight sighed in relief.
“I hate how well that works. It just sounds like you want an excuse to have a spoonful of sugar.”
“Like I need an excuse, have you seen dessert?” Pinkie put one plate down in front of Twilight. Thick set sweetened vanilla-cream, with a thick homemade cherry syrup at the bottom of the glass. Her mouth watered. Pinkie always saved these for the most special occasions. They were also Twilight’s favourite.
Twilight put the spoon in her mouth, closed her eyes, and hummed. It was, obviously, amazing. “It’s as perfect as you are.”
“I knew I left it in the freezer too long!” Pinkie said. Twilight just waited patiently for her to crack, like she always did when she tried to deflect. “Thanks.”
“Okay, I get the bubble wrap now, the flowers, the menus.” Twilight pointed to the rolls of felt and cardboard on the living room floor. “But what’s with that?”
“I thought we’d make pictures with it.” Pinkie moved from the couch to the floor, taking one of the cardboard. “It doesn’t have to be good, it’s just an excuse to cut felt with fabric scissors.”
“What’s so good about that?” Twilight asked, and Pinkie handed her a pair of incredibly sharp scissors that were longer at their handle than at their tip, which only seemed to go barely an inch past the hinge.
She made an experimental cut into a green felt roll.
Krrrchnk-snik! The scissors made a sound that Twilight heard as much as felt in her hand. Her eyes went wide.
“That felt amazing,” she whispered. “Is this how Rarity feels all the time?”
Pinkie giggled. “I thought we could just cut this up, but then I thought maybe actually trying to make a picture with it would make it last longer. And maybe we’ll make something good!”
Even though she usually had absolutely no confidence in her artistic ability, right now Twilight felt like she could tear the heavens down to Earth if she willed it. In light of this she took a bunch of different colours for herself and immediately got overambitious. Her idea would use a ton of layers, a lot of small detail work, and a ton of cutting. She was unstoppable. She would crush this.
Pinkie looked at her own backing board thoughtfully, and started simple. A big orange sky with a bright yellow sunset, and then she took some green. In the back she put some darker semicircles, getting lighter as they came closer. In a few minutes, and a few simple cuts, she’d made a whole landscape to set her picture on.
Twilight was surprised by how good it looked - she hadn’t even made her first real cut, was still working out how to do hers.
“I’m going to make a purple dragon,” Pinkie declared. “That seems a good colour.”
“Not a red one? Red seems more dragon-y.”
“I like purple! So she’s going to be purple.” Pinkie started pulling some purples, and drawing shapes on the felt with a marker, dragon part outlines.
Twilight watched her draw for a while. “Won’t there still be marker on it when you glue it?”
Pinkie seemed confused by the question. “I glue the marker side face-down?”
Twilight stared blankly at the wall past Pinkie’s head for a while. “Right.”
“You really didn’t-” Pinkie got her answer from the intense awkward flush she got out of Twilight from it. “And people think you’re the clever one, huh?”
Twilight was making a bookshelf. Not all neat and tidy, but a used bookshelf. Giving them symbols to represent their contents. A pink brain, a set of scales, a raised fist. Stuff to represent her favourite subjects.
Pinkie, meanwhile, had made an exceptional dragon. Wavy curves had given the impression of scales, and he’d been given eyes, and jaws, and a long pipe. Pinkie noticed Twilight looking at it. “Well, it’s a lot cuter than breathing fire, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Twilight agreed. “You mind helping me think of more symbols for my books?”
“You haven’t done science stuff yet. Do a beaker, and a battery with a lightning bolt. You should do a pi sign for maths! You still like all that stuff.”
Twilight bit her bottom lip. “I do. I’m still good at it, too. I just… I do other stuff now.”
“Well, it’s a bookshelf, isn’t it?” Pinkie looked over. “If you keep books long enough, they show who you used to be, too.”
Well, in that case, Twilight had plenty of ideas. Chemistry had lots of fun ones to pick from, and she could make a crystal for geology. Intersecting shapes for geometry was easy - Pinkie cut out the circle for her because she was a lot neater at it.
But that still left a lot of blank books, which Twilight had no idea what to do with. Pinkie handed Twilight the glue bottle, and took the scissors off her, began to work without a word.
Pinkie cut out a tiny mouse and a lightning bolt for its head. “Flowers for Algernon.” And a tiny snowflake. “You still like Robert Frost, don’t you?” A skull with a crown. “Stephen King. Scary king. That works right?”
“I don’t like Stephen King that much,” Twilight was impressed at how much detail Pinkie could express with such tiny cuts. Okay, Twilight did, but she didn’t like admitting it. She felt like she liked him more than she should.
“Yes you do, you big liar!” Pinkie laughed.
Twilight kissed Pinkie, hard.
Pinkie closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a few long seconds before remembering to push Twilight off, that they were busy doing something. “What was that about?”
“You really remembered all of that?”
Pinkie blinked. “Yeah?”
“This is all stuff I liked way before we were dating, though,” Twilight pointed out. “And you still remember all that?”
Pinkie giggled. “I liked you way before I was trying to impress you.” She stopped, walked that back. “Which, I mean, I don’t try to impress you. Pretend I didn’t say that.”
Twilight glanced around the room. At the flowers, at the menu, at all the scraps of felt all around them. “You’re just like this without even trying, huh?”
“Think how lucky you are to have me!” Pinkie tried to say it with absolute confidence. “I’m just this amazing.”
Twilight kissed her again, hard enough to make Pinkie’s toes curl. “Bedroom?”
Pinkie gave Twilight a look that she didn’t know if she liked or not. Smug and excited, the look she always got when she’d just finished setting up a prank. Not the one Twilight expected. “You planned this too, did you?”
“Maaaybe,” Pinkie sang, so Twilight kissed her again. They’d been kneeling over their pictures while they made them, and now Twilight pushed Pinkie so she had to hold herself up with her arms behind her from the force of Twilight pressing her back, and down. Pinkie’s head swam.
“You did,” Twilight said.
“I did.” Pinkie caught her breath again, shook her head. “No! See, this is the problem!” Pinkie stood up suddenly, dusted herself off, and pulled Twilight up after her. Then she led Twilight to the bedroom in a pouty stomp.
Pinkie’s bedroom, which was their bedroom, still took some getting used to. Twilight had almost finished converting her old room into a study, since she hardly slept in there anymore.
The shift had been recent. The desk in the far corner now squeezed two different chairs, with Twilight’s laptop charging in hers. The desk didn’t have enough room for it as well as Pinkie’s monitors and keyboard, but Twilight still liked to work next to Pinkie when she could.
Maybe with more time they’d get a larger desk, or the novelty of being so close all the time would wear through and Twilight would appreciate using the study more. Neither had happened yet, though.
A lot of Twilight’s clothes had ended up in here, but not because she’d brought them - Pinkie kept stealing them. Right now Pinkie was using one of Twilight’s favourite hoodies as a pillow, even though Twilight slept next to her most nights. It was sweet.
More piled onto the floor as Pinkie undressed her from behind. First her shirt was pulled back, her belt loosed, her jeans unbuttoned and unzipped, Pinkie’s hands moving fast over the places Twilight most wanted them to linger. Every time she tried to turn around, though, face Pinkie, kiss her, Pinkie held her firm and forwards-facing.
It gave Twilight a chance to appreciate that Pinkie had made the bed, and laid out a spread of items that Twilight had not seen before in either of their rooms. A rope, a leather collar. And she’d lit scented candles - wild rose. Twilight raised an eyebrow, even as Pinkie finished unwrapping her.
“Who would that be for?” Twilight reached for the rope, ran it over her fingers. Soft purple silk.
“I am tying you up.” Pinkie was firm on this. “Because I am going to spoil you, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Twilight blinked. While they weren’t really locked into a dynamic, Pinkie also really liked it when Twilight took charge. “You’re tying me up?”
“Uh huh.” Pinkie took the rope out of Twilight’s surprised hands before she could think to grab it.
“But tonight’s been so amazing. I want to show you just how much-”
But Pinkie stopped her, kissed her cheek.“I know you do, Ms Perfect.” Pinkie moved behind Twilight’s back, and pressed her wrists together. “And you’ve been too good at it for me to stop you. You know how rude that is? Every time I try to spoil you, you have to go and interrupt me by giving me the best sex of my life! Of my life, Twilight!”
“I mean, not every time,” Twilight muttered. The first knot bound her wrists.
“Every time!” Pinkie insisted. “And you get better with practice!”
“So now I’m getting tied up just to stop me from reciprocating?” Twilight felt the next knot tie halfway between her wrists and her elbows. Tight, but not uncomfortable.
“It’s the only way, and you know it.” Another knot around Twilight’s elbows, then another. “How’s that?”
Twilight tested her arms. Still plenty of room to bend them, still plenty of bloodflow. “Seems good. I mean, besides the… tied up part. And the collar, is that for me too?”
Pinkie flushed bright pink. “No, that’s…” she trailed off.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Pinkie?”
“It’s for me.” Pinkie left it at that. Twilight waited patiently for more, which Pinkie clearly didn’t want to say. But the pressure built, and built, and finally she exploded. “I thought tying you up would make you feel less in charge, and I like you feeling in charge.”
Twilight smiled. “Here I was worried about you throwing a coup d’etat, and I was going to let it happen. But no, this really is just what it takes to stop me returning the favour, isn’t it?”
“Is that okay?” Pinkie was nervous. Impossibly nervous, she wouldn’t stop fidgeting.
Twilight sat down on the bed, as steadily as she could. She gave a soft nod. “You’re ridiculous. You’re wonderful, and this is lovely.”
“Okay. Okay, good.” Pinkie repeated to herself. She took the collar in her hands and swallowed. “First time I’ve done anything like this. Could you… would you please tell me I’m yours, when I put it on? That would be nice.”
Twilight looked at the collar, at Pinkie, back. Realized what she meant. Her mouth went dry. This was definitely… novel. She was learning something new about herself, that much was sure. And that new part of herself had a wonderful confidence to it. “You’re mine, Pinkie. Because you give yourself to me. And you want to give yourself to me completely, tonight, don’t you?”
Pinkie shivered next to Twilight on the bed, and gave a short squeak when the collar clicked on. “I love you.”
“Show me how much.” Twilight teased, then kissed Pinkie on the cheek. “Love you, too.”
Twilight leaned back on the bed with her legs still over the edge and closed her eyes. Just to make her invitation that much clearer, she spread a little, inviting Pinkie into the space between her knees.
The implication wasn’t lost on her. Pinkie slid off the bed to the floor, lifted Twilight’s left leg and started peppering it with kisses, from her ankle and up the curve of her calf, the side of her knee and up the inside of her thighs. Twilight purred encouragement as she got closer, and Pinkie hesitated.
“Keep going.” Twilight smiled as she said it, and felt Pinkie shiver.
“That’s not fair.” Pinkie buried her face against Twilight’s stomach. “I tied you up and now is when you find out you have a sexy in-charge voice?”
“Restrictions breed creativity.” Twilight tried to keep her breathing even, controlled, even though Pinkie’s head pressed against her waist like this felt quite nice. Tried to enjoy the feeling for what it was, and not try to rush things. “I’ve got to make up for it somehow.”
Pinkie groaned. “Even when you can’t do anything, you work out how to do things back to me.”
“Well.” Twilight shifted. “I wouldn’t say I can’t do anything.” Then, Pinkie felt one of Twilight’s knees crook the back of her neck, and pull her in. Pinkie stifled a giggle, planted a kiss on Twilight’s hips, her groin, her-
Twilight let her head roll back and groaned in delight. “You are very good at that, aren’t you? Don’t answer. You have better things to be doing with that tongue.”
Pinkie giggled, and the vibrations felt wonderful. Twilight took a sharp inhale as Pinkie found her clit, teased it for a moment, and then left it achingly ignored while she went elsewhere to play.
Another sharp breath, and Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You better at least be touching yourself right now.”
“Nope!” Pinkie ran her hands - both of them - up Twilight’s waist, ran her fingertips against Twilight’s ribs. Another pleasant shudder. “I mean I could? But I want you to go first.”
Twilight wriggled against her bindings. “This is torture.”
Pinkie rested her head lovingly on Twilight’s thigh, twirling soft circles between Twilight’s legs that made Twilight rock her hips, close her eyes, try to milk the simple contact for every ounce of feeling she could get from it. “It’s not fair, is it? When your girlfriend’s too generous?”
“I take your point.” Twilight sucked air through her teeth again. “I guess payback isn’t always revenge.”
“This is absolutely revenge.” Pinkie slipped a finger inside, just a little, and then out again. A constant promise of more that charged the lighter touches with anticipation. She was too good at this. “I’m being a little mean right now.”
“You are.” Twilight wrapped her leg around Pinkie’s head again, and squeezed her close. Pinkie squealed in delight, and then her mouth was full again. “But you’re doing a wonderful job of making it up to me.”
Twilight leaned back on her bound hands and wrapped her legs tight around the back of Pinkie’s neck, holding her close. She squeezed her tight, rubbing down Pinkie’s back with a foot. Was annoyed Pinkie still had her waiter’s uniform on. She released her leglock, and Pinkie came up for air, wiping her lips.
“You’re still dressed.” Dripping with disappointment.
Pinkie touched a hand to her lovely new collar. “I guess I don’t need it anymore, huh?” She backed away from the bed, straightened herself up and stretched wonderfully, showing off just how flexible she was. And also how much she was still wearing.
The vest was off first, lightning fast. The shirt underneath, though, Pinkie unbuttoned slowly, dancing side to side, moving to the beat of Twilight’s heart. She twirled, her back to Twilight, as it was finally shrugged to the floor. The dress pants were slipped off much quicker, but where Pinkie lingered there was in holding her ankles, and making one thing very clear.
She was not, had not, been wearing underwear all evening, leaving a long, thin trail. Just in case Twilight thought this wasn’t going exactly according to plan, too.
All that was left was the leather collar, and a nervous smile.
Twilight spread her legs again, inviting Pinkie to take her place between them again, and Pinkie obliged. As Pinkie kneeled before her again, Twilight wrapped her tight and held her close, appreciating that she was rubbing against so much more skin now.
Pinkie tried to stick to teasing, delicate licks, and Twilight decided that there had been enough of that, squeezing Pinkie’s head tighter until she only had room to suckle, to press her tongue inside. Twilight wanted so badly to run her fingers through the back of Pinkie’s hair, pull her tight by wadded fistfuls of her hair, but just struggled uselessly against her bindings.
Then Pinkie was starting to get desperate. Breathing through her nose was apparently not good enough. Twilight considered lightening up, but squeezed Pinkie harder instead. There was a nervous squeak, and Pinkie took to lapping at Twilight with new intensity. She flicked Twilight’s hood with a tongue and suckled hard, intense, on Twilight’s clit, until Twilight’s legs gave out. Too much, too intense.
Pinkie caught herself against the edge of the bed and gasped for breath. “That was mean,” she managed between dizzy gulps.
“You okay?” Twilight leaned forward to nuzzle her, and Pinkie wrapped her arms around Twilight’s neck and peppered her cheek with kisses.
“You’re lucky I liked that!” Pinkie pouted. It was such a cute pout that Twilight couldn’t help but kiss her hard, tasting herself on Pinkie’s lips. There was so much of her on Pinkie’s lips, dripping down her chin, she noticed. It just made her burn to taste Pinkie too, see if she was just as soaked.
Twilight lay back on the bed, catching her breath again. Her head was stuffed with cotton wool. “Is it my turn, now?”
Instead, Pinkie took the initiative to crawl on top of her and begin kissing her neck. “Nope! I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Twilight shifted. She’d fallen back on her arms, still tied behind her back. Less comfortable, now. She focused as hard as she could on her voice - focusing was difficult. “Pinkie?”
Pinkie twitched. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Would you be a good girl and untie me, please?”
“No?” Pinkie tried to sound confident, failed. Her face scrunched up, and she straddled Twilight’s hips on the bed with a firm pout. “Stop doing that!”
Twilight gave the collar around Pinkie’s neck a warm, significant look. “You love it.”
“I do!” Pinkie kissed Twilight’s chest, to emphasize her point. “But if I untie you, you’re just going to make it about me again, aren’t you?”
Twilight tried to think of a convincing lie, couldn’t. Decided honesty was the best policy. “I will. You’ll love that even more.”
Pinkie shuddered. Another pout. “No! Revenge!”
“Pinkie,” Twilight crooned.
Then Pinkie bit her on the shoulder, hard. And Twilight moaned.
They locked eyes. Twilight’s pupils narrowed to pinpricks as she realized just what Pinkie had done. She had been supposed to yelp, or shout. Moaning was not what was supposed to have happened.
Pinkie bit her again, halfway between her shoulder and neck, and Twilight groaned again, pressing her knees together and stretching out her toes. And again Pinkie bit her hard right where her neck met her collarbone, and sucked hard enough to bloom an angry purple bruise.
“You’re going to have to wear a scarf,” Pinkie teased. Twilight couldn’t bend her neck far enough to see it, so Pinkie grabbed her phone from the bedside table and took a picture of it, held it proudly. Twilight stared for a few long seconds.
“Can you send me that picture?”
“Uh huh.” Pinkie’s thumbs flicked across the screen, and Twilight’s pants vibrated on the floor where she’d left them.
Twilight thought for a few long seconds. “I might not wear a scarf, though.”
Pinkie inspected her work, and deemed it good. “It’s going to be pretty big.”
“I know.” Twilight turned her head away, cleared her throat. “I just. Might want to show it off, actually.”
Then Pinkie’s teeth were on her neck again, suckling around the side until she found a spot that made Twilight’s legs shake all over, and focused hard on it. Twilight couldn’t even gasp out, she was biting down on her bottom lip too hard, eyes scrunched shut. All the fight left her.
When Pinkie detached again, both of them were completely out of breath. She looked down at Twilight with genuine concern.
“You’d look really pretty in a scarf, though,” she insisted. “Collared shirts?”
“Maybe.” Twilight’s tone of voice made it clear she wasn’t even considering it. “I still think I’ll look better without, though.”
“Really?” Pinkie’s voice quavered halfway between two strong emotions - that Twilight was making a big mistake, and that she was liking it way too much. Way too much to stop her, even if she felt she should.
“Well. You know I love you, right?” Twilight ventured.
Pinkie hummed. “Mm. I think I do. But you should probably say it again.”
“I love you, with all my heart,” Twilight breathed. “You’re my best friend, and my favourite person, and you make me so proud of myself that I could ever have done something to make me worthy of you feeling that way about me, too.”
Pinkie stared down at Twilight, forgot how to speak for a few seconds. “I love you too.” She managed, though it sounded lame to her ears. And again Twilight realized how much she’d just said, and looked away.
“I just wanted to… explain why maybe I might want to show off just how proud I am? Just a little?” She raised her chin again, exposed more of her neck. “I think I got a little excited at the idea that other people will see how much you love me back.”
And with that, Pinkie flipped Twilight onto her stomach, and started peppering the back of her neck with soft kisses while she untied Twilight’s wrists.
“Not complaining.” Twilight laughed. “You’re not worried about me taking over, anymore?”
“Nope.” Pinkie tore at the knots she’d made like wrapping paper, loosening the binds as fast as she could. “You’re not going to be able to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Pinkie tore the last bit of rope free, tossed it to the floor, and appreciated that Twilight kept her wrists together even without the rope to hold them there anymore. “That I don’t need these anymore. And if you want people to see just how much I love you, then I’m going to give you something to really show off, and I want to feel your hands on me when I do it, okay?”
Twilight nodded, braced herself. “Love you too.”
And Pinkie showed her just how much.
