>Pinkie Pie's eyes grow wide as she walks away from the castle.
>"I... I forgot something back -"
>"Nope!" Applejack loops one foreleg around her withers.
>"Not a chance," Rainbow Dash smirks as she wraps one of hers around the pink pony's neck.
>"We slipped out for a reason, darling." Rarity grins mischievously - not an expression anyone would expect from such a proper mare.
>"No! Really!" Pinkie yells at her friends. "I should go back!"
>Her friends continue to drag her away, her protesting hooves digging deep channels in the soil.
>"Look, sugercube, I know you wanted to keep playing," Applejack says sympathetically to her friend. "Heck, I wanted to see how much experience we got."
>"And *I* wanted to see what kind of loot we -" the pegasus cuts off suddenly.
>"What kind of loot we...?" Rarity stops, gasping.
>Applejack peers at them suspiciously.
>"What's wrong with you two?"
>"WE AREN'T GOING TO GET ANY TREASURE!" they wail in unison, the sheer volume stunning the orange pony.
>Pinkie Pie looks to her friends briefly, eyes darting from shocked face to shocked face. She slowly slips free of their grasp. With one last look at them, she dashes off, giggling, leaving her three friends standing shocked in the street.

>You try to calm your pounding heart - unable to believe you just did that. You know that you released Twilight at some point - she said something about needing to clean herself up.
>Your friends are probably gone - you don't see them anywhere. You think you remember applause... but really, was your speech *that* good? Your right hand stings - you stare at it for a second. Did Aredee high-hoof you? You vaguely remember Rarity said something about you and Twilight being a thing for months - you think you corrected her... but you're not really sure. You do remember the embarrassed look on her face.
>You're really can't believe you did that.
>Just... Twilight had taken things worse than you expected, and you remember playing it up more and more, trying to match her emotional level.
>Why do you always have to go so far? At least this time she was crying tears of joy at the end, right? Right? You should check.
>You should check on her. You're already at the foot of the stairs, one foot on the first step.
>It's been too long, she should have come back down by now. Something's wrong.
>You take a step towards the library - it's where she always goes when something's wrong. You put your hand on the door, take a deep breath, hold it for a second, and exhale.
>You slowly push the door open.
>It's the wrong room - you went to the wrong room. This is her bedroom, not the library.
>And yet... there she is, laying on her bed, facing away from you.
>She's not in the library - you sigh in relief. Everything is okay.
>You realize you are holding something. Why are you holding the core rulebook? You should be holding your Twilight Sparkle.
>The book falls from your limp hands.
>It hits the floor with a dull thud.
>She twists her head back at the noise, looking at you with a soft smile.
>"What took you so long?"
>You pull off your jacket, throwing it at a nearby chair.
"I'm sorry..."
>You take a step toward the bed, followed by another.
"I was just... in shock."
>"That's not what I meant," she says, ducking her head. "I'm not talking about tonight, about right now."
"I know."
>You reach out with your left hand, running it up one of her hind legs. The feel of her warm coat under your fingers is comforting. Inviting.
"I couldn't admit to myself that anyone could even care about me."
>"I care about you..."
"How could I believe you - you of all ponies - could love me?"
>"How could you ever doubt it?"
>You move to climb into the bed with her, but your princess shakes her head.
>"I want to feel *you*."
>You pull off your shirt, continuing with the rest of your clothes when her expression never waivers.
>Twilight smiles, her face filled with love and desire. She lifts the blanket and you slip under it.
>She squeaks when you put one arm around her and pull her against you. Her velvet coat feels so soft pressed against your chest.
>It feels even better when she relaxes her tensed muscles, her body settling into you, fitting your arm perfectly.
>Her body seems longer somehow, her shoulders and hips almost even with yours. As she shifts slightly, rubbing her back across your torso, you realize she's stretching herself, trying to maximize the contact between the two of you.
>She brings a foreleg up, wrapping it around your arm and tucking her hoof into your hand. Her head comes around, nuzzling yours. You take the opportunity to kiss her again.
>She stares into your eyes for long seconds.
>"Turn off the light, Anon?"
>Reluctantly you release her and twist, blindly grabbing for the lamp on her nightstand. You can't seem to find it - turning over completely after three or four tries.
>That... that wasn't there...
>Your bag sits - partially open - on the chair you threw your jacket at. It lurches forward, as if pushed, and out tumbles a small wrapped package.
>You don't recognize it, but you recognize what it is.
>Only a paperback book is that size.
"Thank you, Ponk."
>You mouth the words without noise.
>But there's no way you're leaving Twilight's bed now - you'll get in the morning.
>Your princess whines slightly - she misses your presence. You switch off the lamp and turn back to Twilight, putting your arm back around her.
>She moans slightly, happy to have you back.
>You can still see her by the pale light of the stars.
>"Do you want waffles in the morning...?"
"Mhm."
>She turns in your arm until she is wholly facing you. Her face to yours, her chest to yours, her -
>"That was a nasty thing you did earlier," she smiles lewdly at you. "You'll have to earn them."

>You wake to the gentle touch of the sun and the sweet smell of waffles.
>Damn, you meant to be up before her.
>You roll over, glancing at the chair - the book is still there, still wrapped. You have your suspicions... 
>The waffles smell almost done - you should get up. You stand, resolving to pull on some clothes - the bare minimum to make you feel decent.
>You walk over to the chair - to pull fresh clothes from your bag - but your hand drifts to the book.
>You have to know.
>Carefully, you peel away a bit of the wrapping - as you suspected, the binding isn't Equestrian - it's much too neat, too smooth. But worn.
>You tear away a little more, revealing part of the cover - that familiar red dragon. You spent so much of your childhood in this world - your eyes drift to your jacket, to the lump where Twilight's book still sits.
>You know why Pinkie Pie gave you this, and what you're supposed to do with it.
>You tear the rest of the wrapping from the book - you have a feeling it was wrapped for your benefit anyway.
>After pulling on some boxers and a shirt, you head downstairs, only pausing to pull Twilight's book from your jacket pocket. You have a feeling that your princess won't be up for much conversation over breakfast.
>You sit at the table - miraculously clean of all gaming paraphernalia. Either Twilight got up much earlier than you, or...
>Pinkie.
>You smile.
>"You're sitting, right?" Twilight yells out from the kitchen.
"Yep!
>You put her book in front of you, sliding yours across the table to her place.
>As she comes out of the kitchen, you can't help but notice she cooked triple servings after all. Either she was joking about the game or... or she really enjoyed what happened after.
>She sets your plate in front of you, putting hers right beside you and snuggling up to your side. Damn she didn't notice -
>Her horn shines as she brings your book over to her.
>- oh, she just had priorities. You smile, never imagining that cuddles with you would rate higher than a new book.
>"What's this?" she asks, sitting up.
>You don't answer, simply holding up her book.
>She looks back to yours, eyes sparkling with a new appreciation. She studies the cover front and back several times.
>"Did you pick this book because of the title...?"
"Yes."
>You can't resist teasing her.
"I *really* like dragons."
>She sticks her tongue out at you, opening the book to the first page. She slumps over, snuggling into you - your princess lacks the focus to read, eat, *and* resist the urge to cuddle.
>You open hers, continuing from where you left off.
>Hopefully, Pinkie can get the rest of that series for you. They may not be the *best* novels, you'll readily admit, but they were important. To you at least. Like Twilight and her book, you don't know how many times you've read it.
>And it's not like the story ends with Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Like this story, there is so much more.