Ashwyn sat at the table, a piece of bacon crunching between her teeth. Glancing up, she saw the Alpha was taking a long drink from his mug, his eyes unfocused as he was seemingly lost in thought. The slightest frown crossed her face as she remembered the events of the previous night.
She had admitted her feelings to the Alpha, and though he had not rejected her, what he said did not exactly clue her in towards how he felt about it. ‘I can work with that.’ Was what the Alpha had said, and while it had made her happy in the moment, now it only left her in confusion.
What was the state of their relationship now? Was she his mate now, or was he simply saying that he could deal with the fact that she loved him? When she had stared into his eyes, she saw no sign of love in return. He had looked at her like normal. Sure there was something else there. A sparkle that she had tentatively labeled as interest, but with her track record for accurately guessing emotions, she didn’t trust that to be the case. A sigh escaped her as she realized what she would have to do.
She would just have to ask him.
Looking up once more, she could see that he was still thinking about something. Did she want to interrupt him? Maybe he was thinking about the same thing as her? She shook her head. She knew she was just delaying herself.
“Alpha?” It took a moment, but his gaze refocused and settled on Ashwyn.
“Yeah?” He looked at her with a raised brow.
“Hmm... “ She paused for a moment as she thought about how best to ask the question. “What… are we now?” In the back of her mind, she realized she had finally formed a full coherent sentence for once, but she was too focused on the Alpha to truly notice.
“That’s…” He frowned and scratched at his beard. “I’m going to be honest with you, Ash. I don’t love you.” Ashwyn’s breath hitched. She wanted to respond, but found that she couldn’t. Not that it mattered, as the Alpha continued on. “However, I think I could.” He sighed and took a sip of his coffee.
“I know I get irritated with you a lot, but I’ve really enjoyed having you around.” He told her, a small smile on his face. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m not exactly from around here.” Ashwyn raised a brow, but didn’t speak. The Alpha noticed this, and looked down into his mug. “I’m an alien, Ash.”
That brought her mind to a halt. The Alpha was an alien? Sure she had never heard of his species before, but she just assumed he was part of a reclusive race. One that hardly ever left their lands. Many questions begged to be asked, but she held them back. The Alpha was not finished speaking, and she wanted to hear what he had to say.
“I’ve been her for maybe a month and a half now.” He sighed his small smile growing more somber as he spoke. “There’s no way for me to go home. No way to see my friends, or my family again.” His gaze lifted and met hers. “I was lonely. When I first arrived, I was becoming depressed. Then I got roped into the situation with you.” He told her, pointing his cup in her direction.
“You were a pain in the ass for the first week. Even more so after I brought you in, but…” He paused for a moment, “In a sense, you reminded me of home. Sometimes when I’d close my eyes, it was like I was back there. With all my friends waiting for the next mission. Then I’d open them up to find I was alone.” He gave her a warm smile. “With you around, I don’t feel so alone.”
“Maybe I’m just getting soft. Maybe this isn’t the best idea, but… I want to see if we can’t make this work. If we can make us work.” Ashwyn returned his smile. She still had many questions, but those could come later. This was not the time. For now, there was only one thing for her to say.
“I would like.”
~-~
Ashwyn had noticed that their daily routine hadn’t changed much. The only difference being that the Alpha would wrap an arm around her on occasion and hold her close. She had attempted to do something similar with her wing, but the awkward angle made it start to cramp. She just had to settle for being held, not that she minded.
Even during business hours, the Alpha would stay beside her. Normally he’d be standing and talking with the customers closer to the entrance, but now he had them come to the living room and sit down with them. She noticed that this had somehow made the customer’s happier and more relaxed. Perhaps because it felt more welcoming to sit down in the living room to discuss business?
Either way, didn’t pay too much attention. She was still the one noting down the transactions. Of course, it was still as boring as ever. However, with the Alpha so close to her, she didn’t mind it as much. She was still spending time with him. Perhaps not the most enjoyable ways to do so, but if the Alpha was going to keep her company, she was more than willing. Especially when he would occasionally scratch behind her ear.
The pony visitors had, at this point, gotten used to her presence. The fact that the Alpha would occasionally pet her only helped that fact.
She didn’t like the fact that they were watching her, but she would accept it. It made the customers more comfortable, and if the customers were comfortable, the Alpha’s job would be easier. That made it more than worth it in her eyes. All she had to do was ignore the stares.
~-~
Aurick laid down to sleep, Ashwyn snuggling in beside him. He looked down at the mare in his arms, a small smile on his face. He still wasn’t sure if he made the right choice. He may not love her, but he certainly had started to care about her. He didn’t want to hurt her if things didn’t work out between them. His thoughts faded as she looked up at him.
The mare’s eyes, like the rest of the ponies, were rather large. It was always said that the eyes were like a window to the soul, and it couldn’t be more true for these ponies. Within those eyes, he saw how she felt when she looked at him. Trust, comfort, happiness, and most of all, love.
“Night.” She said, smiling up at him. His eyes lowered to her lips. Should he give her a kiss? An act to solidify their new relationship? No. He couldn’t. Despite his knowledge of how false it was, his mind still rang alarms of beastiality. It would not be something that would go away in a day. It would be quite some time before he was capable of crossing that line. Instead, he did the next best thing.
He kissed her on the forehead. Despite the act lacking the intimacy he had desired to show, the mare flushed red. A fact that left a smirk on his face.
“G’night.” With that he pulled her close and closed his eyes.
You diabolical monster.
lol
You're a maniac.
Do it again.
The updates are coming out fast and thick. I wish Arceus-master would update this fast XD
Honestly it's an absolute damn treat to read two characters behaving as mature adults around a relationship.
"Oh, I have all these doubts and concerns and I don't understand what my partner is thinking." -- in 99% of stories that turns into 5 chapters of unresolved angst instead of the very simple conversation it should always have been. You did a wonderful job showing that asking questions is nerve wracking to be sure, but it's still what adults should be doing. Aurick's response is 100% reasonable, as well, He didn't promise eternal love, or that it would work perfectly, or anything of the sort. He said "This might work, and I'd like to give it our best shot."
My sole critique is that I wish the story was a bit more descriptive, otherwise it's lovely work.
Cute as heck. Specially the fact that shrugging of 500 years of belief is no mean feat.
I am ashamed of myself for not being the first to read and comment on this chapter. I shall see you in the next one
A dignified, responsible romance? On this mad, crazy pony site? What's the world coming to?
Thank you for taking the time to do this right, and for letting the characters go about this their own way.
I've always found a story (those that include romance that is) much more enjoyable when the relationship actually takes time to develop, it feels more natural to me that way and it lets readers understand and appreciate the relationship.
I've always found it rather jarring when a relationship goes from acquaintances to lovers within a day, feels way too rushed.
I think Anna from Frozen is a pretty good example of this.
The issue here isn't bestiality - ponies are clearly people. Rather, it's consent issues from her being broken by Test Tube.
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I believe Sapience qualifies a being as a person. As a furry sapience is a big issue of the attraction for me, I am attracted to the idea of a furry person not rapeing a non-sapient animal. Ash is sapient thus she is a person. Though yes the issue of psychological damage done by Test Tube is an issue she and Aurick will face.
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If you go down this path, it is an endless menagerie of thought exercises and experiments. There is no way to address the reality of this situation, as no other sapient beings exist (in so far as we have observed). You may philosophize all you like, but you will never have an answer, nor consensus.
I don't really know why I took the time to state the obvious— maybe it's because I feel that this particular logic train has gone into the delusional side— but I hope you actually listened to it regardless.
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I think you're failing to notice that a clear consequence of us being the only observed properly sapient species on the planet is, in fact, the very origin of sapient non-humans in our fiction.
As such, these are hardly "sapient animals" - as much as that makes for an oxymoron - but rather a reflection of people, which is truly all we really know. Even the invading aliens in sci-fi are a reflection of people's will and need to conquer and pillage. We can't really create anything alien to us, you know - the imagination can only output that which it has been fed (albeit in novel considerations).
Of course I do agree that this discussion is rather academic, as we're not expecting to go out tomorrow morning and interact with other sapient species on our way to work, school and church, yeah? But I still believe it to be important, for two reasons.
Reason number one - it forces us to consider the issue of "consent" from different angles. If there's something you should really work on as a person in your spare time, it's the concept of consent (and not just for sex, either).
Reason number two - I believe that, at some point, we're going to create a true AI, and we'd damn better be ready to consider it in terms of "person" or "being" without having to play catch-up with the idea of some other sapient species existing. The mechanical being will probably be able to consider this much faster, and first impressions may very well decide our mutual fates as species. We'd better be ready.
Aside from all that, is the reason I brought up in the first place - it's natural for us to consider this, because we're not really considering other sapient species but, in a rather roundabout way, ourselves.
And, your final thought of "never having an answer", is also incorrect in my view. The answer is fairly simple: as the species in question deliver evidence of being as sapient as we are, the issue is reduced to purely human ones of the same nature - afford the other species the same rights and privileges as you'd afford a fellow human, as far as you'd go for them being a sapient being. Everything else is psychology and culture - a clear case of "not so different after all" if I've ever seen one... which brings me back to my original point rather nicely. ;D
In fact, Ashwyn is so close to people (and, as it appears, elves), that the entire problem is moot anyway. She can clearly think, reason and feel like you'd attribute a human being - she's a person, no two ways about that, that's that. Her being a person is, I daresay, the entire driving force of this bit of fiction.
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um there isn't much to try to understand there, if it thinks like we do and can give consent, it is sapient. There is a reason why I have no problems liking 'furry' characters in fiction or creatures like the ponies in Mlp in that way, because they are intelligent like us and thus can give consent therefor it is sapient and there isn't anything philosophical really as it is kinda obvious how this works. The only reason anyone says or thinks anything against said fact is because we are unsure how to feel about it because in real life we are the only sapient creatures that we know of, so we have some trouble wrapping our heads around the idea of it and part of us says its wrong cause of that.