@PUBLIQclopAccountant
That ignores her comment about the blind date, but I think he was thinking with his penis by then and ignored anything beyond hello and date.

Unless there is missing context from a prior episode of this comic, this is a straightforward example of taking advantage of miscommunication. Tax Pirate assumed “Are you the red-tie stallion I’m looking for?” to be a pickup line instead of a literal question. Rape by deception would be if Tax Pirate had known in advance that Cheerilee would be looking for a red stallion at that restaurant and decided to be purposely confusing.

@Background Pony #17CB
We do have a lot of rapists, yes! And, certain things, such as lying about your identity, pretty much automatically rise to the level of “rape by fraud.” If the thing you are lying about is such that, had they known, they would have likely withheld consent, then it’s rape. If she had known he wasn’t her blind date, she would not have slept with him.

Consider, whoever sets up the blind date may be trusted to some extent or another. While you don’t know who you’re dating, they presumably do. You’re trusting the matchmaking service to set you up with someone who won’t hurt or take advantage of you. Maybe even someone who doesn’t have STIs, or who are already in a relationship. He has had no vetting at all. She has no assurances about anything that she thought she had and that led her to date him.

@Background Pony #97CF
She still consented, but a fraud case could be argued, since she was looking for something meaningful. If misleading someone to get them to sleep with you was always considered rape… we’d have so many rapists.

@Background Pony #17CB
I’m pretty sure this is rape by fraud. He lied about his identity. If she had known who he was, she wouldn’t have slept with him.

@Invisifat  
Consensual sex under false pretenses isn’t rape, per se, but might still be a crime that can be prosecuted.

… is that not technically rape?

Classic Tax Pirate

Meanwhile, in the background, Spike and Lily get to second base.

@PUBLIQclopAccountant
 
I’m sure they just platonically cuddled with tongue.

@redweasel  
But he did look the gift horse in the vajayjay.

@Scintilla Aquila
 
@Tetrominon  
He at best plundered someone else’s blind date. She expected a stranger, she got one. He proceeded to give her the most special date ever, then he left when he wasn’t wanted. Didn’t even ask for a thank you, and left saying all that mattered was that she had a good time.
 
That’s the kind of date they write fairy tales about.

Arr, he plundered her booty!

@Scintilla Aquila  
Ah, you’re right, she did. Mea culpa.

Spike and Lily kissing in panel 3. :)

@Scintilla Aquila
 
like he was gonna look a gift horse in the mouth!

@Tetrominon  
In the fact that she specifically mentioned a blind date in panel 2. Assuming he wasn’t also on one himself, that should have tipped him off. So I think he knew exactly what he was doing.

Wherever there are lonely mare, he’ll be there.

Pink dude in panel 2. That is all.

@Farnham  
Is there even any evidence up until she gets the text message that he had any inkling she wasn’t actually just hitting on him? Seriously, where in anything she said or did was he supposed to get the impression that she thought he was someone else entirely?

@Farnham  
I’m pretty sure rape is about a lack of consent to sex itself, not about false pretenses in convincing someone to have sex. If rape was a liability based on false pretenses aforehand instead of being just about the act, then a lot of people would have legitimate “rape” claims against other people for a ton of scummy things like lying about being on birth control and ending up with an “oopsie” baby, being used to cheat on someone else, contracting an STI from someone negligently failing to mention they had one, and so forth. But it doesn’t look like courts see it that way.

@Farnham  
You never know, he might be down to be in a serious relationship. Nopony has really given him a chance. He’s basically Casanova.

oh you beautiful, beautiful stallion
 

@Farnham  
What else would you expect from a pirate?

@Background Pony #BADA  
Cheerilee is lonely and looking for a serious relationship. Instead of meeting someone for a date to see if they were potentially compatible in that way, ‘Tax Pirate’ misleads her to get his jollies off then disappears out the window leaving her used and once again alone. And I’m pretty sure tricking someone into have sex with you under false pretenses is a type of rape. So yeah, that’s slimy as hell. What a dirt bag.