There’s a little boy and his grandfather in a sort of lab. They’re both humans, and the little boy is just so excited to finally be invited to the older man’s laboratory. It’s something I’ve dreamed about plenty of times, but I’ve yet to hear the boy’s name.

“How does it work, grandpa?” The boy would ask. He’d slap his little hands against the tabletop, looking toward the man in a lab coat with admiration.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older, R-----,” The older man dismisses the boy’s eagerness with a smile on his face.

The boy would then attempt to get the answer he sought using a different tactic. “...you don’t know, do you?”

“Hmph. It’s hard to explain in a way that you’ll understand.”

“Try me, grandpa.”

“Fine. Well, you see the page? I used a special resin…”

Lyra spasmed to consciousness. “What kind of dream was that?” she murmured to herself, the memories of her recent dream muddied by the chilled air around her. After rubbing her eyes, she felt a chill of realization. “Eh?!” She looked around at her surroundings, seeing that she was outside of Reilly’s house again. “How did I?” She sat up and groaned from the effort, wincing, even. Lyra felt sore and ached all over. Still, she managed to stand up and adjust her saddle bag, then make her way over to the front door of Reilly’s makeshift home.

“Reilly?” she asked aloud, peering about when she pushed open the door and stepped through the threshold.

“Oh. You again,” Reilly said to her coldly. He was on his couch as usual, with the table pulled up as he returned to writing something.

Lyra pouted, hurt by his attitude toward her. She trotted inside with a bit of the doldrums weighing on her shoulders, making her way to Reilly’s side. “How’s your list doing?”

“It’s good. No thanks to you.”

“Oh, come on!” Lyra suddenly ignited in irritation and stomped her hoof hard enough to leave a mark in the floorboard. “I’ve been trying to help you, haven’t I? Why do you have to be so mean all of a sudden?”

He muttered something unintelligible in response. “...what was that?” she asked, adjusting the direction of her ears.

“...disgusting…” She heard him say now, but she couldn’t understand why or what the meaning of that was.

“Could you run that by me, again?”

“I said that you’re disgusting!” Reilly suddenly hollered, slamming his hand against the table.

“Ehh?!” Lyra hopped back in surprise at his eruption. “What are you saying, Reilly?”

“You revel in sin! I thought I could tolerate it at first, but I finally realized it back at the castle...you really don’t care about my views at all”

“No!” she exclaimed and shook her head. “I completely respect your upbringing and would never try to upset you on purpose!” Her ears now drooped as she pawed at the floor with her hoof. “It’s just that...I can’t help it. There are times that something just...takes over me...it’s not like I want to do that stuff…”

“If you’re serious about wanting help, we’re gonna put a stop to this,” Reilly said.

She blinked and looked up toward the human, noticing a determined expression on his face that just caused her spirits to brighten. “You mean you’ll give me another chance? Oh thank you, Reilly!”

“Not so fast!” Twilight declared as she entered. She glanced at the clock on the far wall to confirm something, then returned an irritated stare at Reilly. “I’ve timed it to make sure that I won’t be here during one of your cluster attacks,” she stated. "And even if I have to spend the next few hours here, I’m going to find out what your plans are and stop them once and for all!”

“You want to know his plans? He’s going to help me, Twilight!” Lyra said.

Twilight narrowed her eyes in bemusement. “Help you?” she asked the other unicorn.

“That’s right!” Reilly said, stepping forward. “Lyra made an important first step in her recovery by asking for me to help her. She’s no longer going to live with her judgement clouded. The mare you see standing before you now will see the light of goodness and shun evil from today onward!’

“Wait. What are you even talking about, Reilly?” Twilight asked. Her ears pinned downward and she took note of his sudden excitement.

“There’s a form of therapy that humans discovered that works for people that are serious about curing themselves of homosexuality. All sorts of treatments were made by professional psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors! If it wasn’t for politics ignoring the evidence and harm such a sin of choice creates, I’m sure we’d have been much further along than we currently are! I know for a fact that Lyra and many other ponies like her weren’t born to do what they’ve chosen to do since I’ve arrived and I plan to fix things to how they’re supposed to be.”

“Curing homosexuality’? That’s absurd, you idiot!” Twilight screamed in dismay. “I can’t even fathom what sort of alleged ‘evidence’ is provided by so-called doctors to come up with such conclusions. What do you even know about psychology? From what you read in a magazine? This is entirely unethical and downright wrong!”

“If that’s how you’re gonna be, then I think you should just leave, Twilight!” Lyra demanded. “Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?!”

Twilight whinnied and rolled her eyes. “If you don’t care about what I have to say, I guess I’m going to tell the princess about this!”

“The princess has already given me sole responsibility to look after Reilly!” Lyra smirked and presented a rolled up scroll from her saddle bag and using her magic, brought it over to Twilight to see. She unfurled it and held it before the other pony.

“What?!” Twilight stared at the certified document with an incredulous eye, aghast that it was even notarized with the royal seal. “How did...why would Princess Celestia ever agree to this?!”

“I...have my ways…” Lyra hesitantly admitted, feeling her face get hot from the memory.

“Now that you understand,” Reilly openly scoffed, “get out before you try to rape Lyra again.”

“I DID NOT RA-...UGH!” Twilight stomped out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

“Good riddance,” he sighed and made his way upstairs. Lyra wasn’t sure what to do and simply waited for Reilly to come back. A short moment later he returned wearing a button-down Oxford shirt and pleated khakis. He pointed to the couch, and she understood the gesture to hop onto it while he dragged over a chair. From his pile of papers he retrieved a notepad and a manila folder. “Let’s begin,” he said after taking a seat on the chair.

“Ok,” Lyra said, feeling a bit anxious like she was taking part in a serious exam.

He cleared his throat and she watched him with a bit of admiration. Reilly looked quite professional, Lyra thought. “While the Bible clearly states that homosexuality runs contrary to God’s plan for relationships, those who struggle with homosexual feelings are still God’s children, in need of His forgiveness and healing.”

Lyra furrowed her brow in confusion. “Uh, ok…I know I said that I’ve been reading a lot about humans, but I think there’s a few things I’m missing.”

“Like what?”

“Um...when you say ‘God’, what exactly do you mean? Because the books that talk about humans were a bit sparse in that department...’

“Hmmmm, how about you fill this out while I tell you a few more things about humans?” He shuffled through the manila folder and handed her multiple sheets of paper, fifteen in all, filled with different sorts of questions. He offered her his pen as well, which she held in her magic. “Now while you’re doing that, I’ll start from the beginning, which funnily enough is called ‘Genesis’.”

Lyra looked at the different pages. They were mostly questions about her and her family, much like a form that a doctor’s office would have. It was mostly straightforward. Names, ages, etc. Farther into the questionnaire, she had to list her hobbies, activities and even answer a few personality quiz-type questions.

“Which leads us next to Leviticus…”

She half-paid attention to what he was saying while trying to answer the questions as truthfully as she could. The fifth and sixth pages took a bit longer to fill out than the ones before, but Lyra continued on.

“Various professional groups that are experts on the subject…”

It was at the ninth page that she glanced up and shifted her attention back to the lecture for a moment.

“There’s something called the ‘Wizard of Oz’ principle,” Reilly continued. “The lion wants courage so he can be the most courageous one on the journey. Some people call it the ‘cannibal compulsion.’ Cannibals will eat people, but only the enemies they admire. If their enemies are courageous, cannibals will eat their heart. If they are strong, they’ll eat their muscles. There is a compulsion to take into yourself the qualities you feel you’re lacking and someone else has. Eroticization is one of the ways to do that.”

Lyra in all honesty didn’t know what Reilly was talking about, but it sounded right. Lions and manticores were indeed terrifying carnivorous beasts...she shrugged, thinking that’s where he was going with that point and returned to filling up the last page of questionnaire.

“Lyra? I’m here with the hot sauce like you asked for yesterday!” Bon Bon stepped in through the front door, looking around for her housemate. She didn’t get why her long-time friend chose to spend so much of her time with the human, but trusted that Lyra could take care of herself. Although it had been a bit of a bother with making up new excuses to tell Treble Clef where one of her symphony performers had been.

“Ugh!” Reilly groaned out, grasping the left side of his head.

“Oh no, Reilly!” Lyra gasped out. She jumped to her hooves to start taking care of his pain when Bon Bon walked into the room.

“Lyra...I…” Bon Bon moaned out, unable to stop looking at her housemate with lust in her eyes. She shrugged the saddlebags off sighed.

Lyra shook her head, lip quivering. She tried to help Reilly over to the couch but to no avail. He collapsed to the floor in front of her, and she tried to pick him back up. She hesitated as unwanted urges made her heart race at the sight of her housemate nearby. her attention eventually moved more and more to being concerned with the other pony. “Bon Bon!” She called out in concern and took a few steps toward her feverish-looking friend.

“Lyra...Lyra, I don’t know what’s come over me…” The curly-maned mare gave an impassioned plea. She had trouble walking in a straight line, instead staggering to and fro and she finally dropped onto her haunches. Bon Bon was panting, but driven to keep moving forward toward Lyra, dragging her rump across the soft rug and causing a slightly wet trail. “I want you to taste me. Then I want to taste you. I want to feel your lips on mine. Mmmmm…”

“N-no, we can’t, Bon Bon,” Lyra weakly protested.

“Aagh, it hurts!” Reilly groaned, rolling around in pain while holding the left side of his face.

“Why not, Lyra? We’ve been together for so long...we’re practically sisters, but never expressed it…”

“I...I’m not gay, Bon Bon!” Lyra screamed in desperation. “I won’t give into temptation! I’m stronger than that!”

“I’m not gay either. I’m just...so in love with you right now,” Bon Bon sighed happily.

Lyra felt her heart skip a beat, but continued trying to resist. “It’s...not how you feel, but whether you act on those feelings…” Lyra focused as best she could, recalling Reilly’s lecture. However her eyes continued to roam the other mare’s sweaty form as she slowly but surely dragged herself closer and closer. Lyra practically got dizzy at the sight of her friend’s messy look. “I’ll admit that...I feel the same as you, Bonnie.” She gulped, seeing the earth pony just a few hoofsteps away, now. “It’s...it’s not gay if we don’t touch!” Lyra panted out.

“But...I want to…” Bon Bon protested, letting out a disappointed nicker that nearly drove Lyra to sexual madness.

“Y-you stay there, Bon Bon,” Lyra said in a fluster. She scrambled away, skipping over the still-writhing Reilly before setting her haunches down. They now sat on either side of him, faces flush and eyes half-lidded.

“It hurts! Ahhh, my eye!”

Bon Bon didn’t wait to get started. Her hoof was already by her nethers as she lied down on her back for better reach. “Lyra,” she moaned softly. “Lyra…” She looked over to the mint-green unicorn and shuddered from a light orgasm.

Lyra caught her friend’s gaze and felt a chill of excitement. She opened her legs wider for Bon Bon to see. She felt a moan escape her lips from the way her lifelong friend was enraptured in watching her openly schlick. Hearing her pants and smelling her musk. What Lyra wouldn’t do to give her a taste…

‘N-no!’ Lyra shook her head and felt ashamed for that slip.

But as long as they didn’t touch, she thought...

“Turn over,” Lyra gave a husky-voiced order. She cleared her throat, feeling her heart pounding. “It’ll, um...feel better.”

Bon Bon bit her lip and eagerly nodded. “Right.” Her voice was laced with excitement. The mare’s eyes were lit up with an eagerness to please. With some effort she presented herself, as if waiting for some stallion that would never appear to mount her.

“Move your tail, Bonnie...give me a better look,” Lyra almost growled out her demand, this time. Her hoof circled and rubbed her moist crotch, audibly signalling her arousal to the other mare.

Bon Bon lifted her tail while trying to look back at her friend. Her expression was so submissive, it made something burn inside Lyra. Something primal. She shivered and watched her foalhood friend begin to rub herself. With her magic, Lyra spread the mare’s lips and did what she could to rub her all over.

She wasn’t touching her, so it was ok.

“LYRA!” Bonbon cried out from the attention. From the commanding tone her friend had used to make her present herself like this.

“BON BON!” Lyra hissed out and rubbed herself faster and faster. The sensation of her best friend’s body through her magic was amazing. She could practically feel Bon Bon’s spike in energy as she came at the same time.

Both mares flopped to the floor, panting and moaning. Fatigue overtook their bodies and made their muscles feel heavy from exhaustion. Lyra could already hear Bon Bon’s light snoring as she saw that Reilly’s cluster headache had passed.

“I did it!” Lyra cheered with a tired smile. “Reilly, your...therapy worked. I didn’t have sex with her!”

“Yeah,” he said with a tired smile of his own. While not completely aware of what had happened around him, Reilly Haightsgaze felt blessed to know that he made a difference in someone’s life. “It did, didn’t it?”

Author's Note

Edited by Leapingriver