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>>155051"Just meants we have next time to look forward to...son."
>>155052"Something else" He says. Though he lets Amber close to him, he still looks as if he is cornered.
>>155053White Orchids eyes are bulging wide, with a great smile
>>155054Silver smiles warmly back to White Orchid, before poking Mala gently and asking him to move out of the seat so Silver can get out.
>>155054"Then I am a virgin, or at least was one as of tonight," she asserts.
She posits a question of her own.
"You want to take my virginity away, which I guess is a big step. Do you want that because it'll make you feel good or accomplished, or because you really do see something special in me?" She scrutinizes his features.
>>155055Mala jumps out of the seat
>>155056His ears are folded down, and is expression is best understood as "Just make it stop"
He answers,
"I uh just uh that's what you do when you marry and I thought that's what we were doing"
>>155057If he was worried about saying the wrong thing, he need worry no more.
Amber's eyes light up and her pensive expression forms into a grin. He feels nearly crushed as she hugs him with all her strength.
"Oh, Mustard! Yes yes yes! I love you so much, mwah!" she exclaims, kissing his cheek.
>>155058And pony is crushedsqueakyHis fur doesn't taste great, but the taste is distinctly his.
>>155060"Why should I have to prove it" This statement sounds almost absentminded, proposed reactively and without real emotion.
>>155065"I don't ever, ever want to hurt you, Mustard, I love and trust you. Won't you return this love and trust, for my sake?" Her tone is especially pleading.
>>155066"Okay..." He turns his eyes away
"I just didn't know..."
>>155068"Okay..." There is a weak smile
>>155069She gazes at him with a hopeful smile.
"Promise?" >>155071She exhales, the tension in the air being released, and hugs him tenderly.
"Thank you. I'm sorry to put you through this, but I'm glad we were able to talk things through. We can take this...to the next step, without having anything against each other. How are you feeling?"Do you want to continue this now, or resume tomorrow? Either is okay for me, it's entirely up to you. >>155072"I'm okay" he says. He lays on his belly on the bed, keeping his legs close to himself.
>>155073That familiar blush returns to Amber's face.
"Let's take this further...if you want...after I use the bathroom real quick." She practically canters into the adjoining room and closes the door.
>>155074And she is alone in the bathroom
>>155075She spends an almost frustratingly long time in there. Taking care of business is a relatively short affair, but she spends much more time obsessing over how this night has 180'd over the past hour. Not only did she clear up the seemingly last of their misunderstandings, but he (informally) proposed to her! She also wonders about the passion about to ensue and whether it will hurt. She is tired for sure, but her sheer excitement easily overpowers fatigue.
She tidies up her appearance and shuffles out, grinning bashfully at Mustard.
>>155076Mustard Trim lays on his left side, his right leg extended out in front of him, and his left leg tucked under his body. He lays his head on a pillow with no grin nor smile. His eyes move up to meet Amber, and they have a sad expression.
>>155077Amber looks crestfallen when she sees him, expecting youthful energy and romance instead.
"What's wrong?" >>155078“I don’t want to” he says from his position laying down on his side.
>>155079She sits down by his bedside rather than climb up, mainly because there isn't enough room up there without disturbing him.
"It's okay, we don't have to. Any particular reason why not?" >>155063"Is there anything quick that you want us to do?"
>>155080Mustard Trim is laying down on the edge of the bed, looking the opposite direction. It is technically possible to lay down beside him and make eye contact from this position, though that would give absolutely no space at all. Rather, Amber is a few feet away, looking over.
“The mood is gone” is all he says
>>155081“Uh…. I can’t think of anything” he says
>>155082"I know, this night hasn't actually been kind to us," she says slowly.
"Except for us the hill, that spontaneity was magical and I hope we can relive that. But…we came to a pretty serious crevasse, and we took the time to build a bridge over that. I'm proud of you–of us–for doing that, because now we understand each other better. The wounds still ache, but they're healing," she says, with a small smile and tears in her eyes.
>>155083He has a frowning expression.
“Why don’t we talk about something else?” He asks
>>155085"Um uh, well I've done a few things with a knife. I've been learning how to use a lathe. Back in Blackwater I would go by the mill sometimes with a friend of my father, and I had a carving tool. I don't much like the high school in Baltimare, but there is a wood shop that has a lathe. I made a duck."
>>155087"Well, it's this machine that holds an object and lets you rotate it, while you can apply a drill, or a make a cut, or sand it, or do a lot of things, really."
He starts to sit up.
>>155088She thinks about it for a moment.
"That sounds real useful, though I suppose you got to be careful not to get your mane caught in it. Could you show me how to carve wood like that sometime?" >>155089He blinks
"Uh, yeah. I tie my mane back while doing it. Most of what I use them for doesn't have
that much rotation... but then again I only have a few hours of using them." He gives a weak smile
"Maybe"
>>155090"It ain't a bad skill to have, I'm sure you'll get really good at it." Amber returns his smile, but it's more reassuring.
"There's only one type of wood I know how to handle, and it's this…" she says, picking up her mandolin.
"In the mood for a tune?" >>155092Amber takes a few practice strums and settles into a simple, calmly paced tune. There are no lyrics to this song.
https://youtu.be/pv1UkRXo84UIt's surprisingly difficult to find romantic country-style music from the 40's and back. If you have any recommendations go right ahead. >>155093He smiles, and sits up on the bed, moving towards where Amber was previously on the floor, and letting his hindlegs fall off.
"That's neat" he says
Well, something like this is the first thing that came to my mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X137NEqGpRI >>155094Good pick, but it's heavy on the cello and as I'm not a music nerd I'm not sure if it translates well to other instruments. Guitar/banjo is similar to mandolin so those are easier.She settles into an older tune, one so old its origins are unknown to all but the most astute of scholars, yet the song itself is quite well-known across Equestria.
https://youtu.be/8gcL-nweh68 >>155095He sits there, completely still, eyes fixed on her instrument. By all appearances, he listens intently to every note, as he has every time Amber has played for him. He has something of a smile, but with sad, almost teary eyes.
>>155096Amber moves onto yet another traditional tune, but after a little bit of playing and settling into the rhythm she starts singing.
https://youtu.be/XwrKhiuJlNM"Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"Your vows you've broken, like my heart,
Oh, why did you so enrapture me?
Now I remain in a world apart
But my heart remains in captivity.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever you would crave,
I have both wagered life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"If you intend thus to disdain,
It does the more enrapture me,
And even so, I still remain
A lover in captivity.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
but still thou hadst it readily.
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"Well, I will pray to Celestia on high,
that thou my constancy mayst see,
And that yet once before I die,
Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
"Ah, Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To Celestia I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
"Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves."When she finishes, she is sniffling and tears are running down her cheeks.
>>155097Didn't Amber play Greensleeves to him before?He expresses a number of emotions over this rather long ballad. By the end, he is smiling, evidently impressed
"You memorized all of that?"
>>155098No, she was humming it during brushies."My ma likes to sing it a lot. She's the reason I got into music, and why I got my cutie mark." She smiles, first at him, then glancing down at her flank.
>>155099He looks down to her flank
"Why don't you tell me about that?" He looks up to her eyes, then down to her flank again
"I told you mine."
>>155100She nestles comfortably next to him, her warm flank pressing up against his, and leans her head against his shoulder.
"Well, it ain't anything special. My ma had this mandolin passed down to her from generations ago, even though her family always lived on the farm. She's a really talented singer, far better than I could ever be, and although our church is miles away we would always go there every week and she would sing there. Well, years ago, when I was just a little filly, there was something of a local talent show there. I had practiced for weeks and weeks on this mandolin, learning everything I know from my ma. My spot was in the late afternoon, and I had such terrible stagefright, especially after a bunch of other foals messed up!" she says, with a giggle at the end.
"But my ma encouraged me on, and I imagined all the folk there to be her. I focused and focused on my performance just as the sun was setting, and at the end everypony was stomping their hooves! My parents hugged me so hard I thought I would burst, because just then I earned my cutie mark!" >>155101Mustard Trim moves his legs around her, holding her next to his fur in his embrace.
"Well that sounds pretty special to me" He says, looking down into her eyes
"Got the whole church moving with you, your very first time."