Author's note

So, there is one song in this chapter, but you will see it in four separate instances. You can just click it once if you choose and let it play softly in the background for the rest of the chapter.

I only have it in those separate spots to dictate when it is playing at that time.

If you can think of an easier way to handle that, let me know.

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***Princess Twilight Sparkle's POV***

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"I'm not sorry for what I did, but I'm sorry you had to see that side of me, Twilight." I turned back to where the voice came from and I saw my Princess Celestia standing at the doorway. She looked tired and was gazing at us with puffy and solemn eyes. "You both deserve a better explanation from me..."

As all three doors behind Princess Celestia closed, I heard a "POP" and felt Princess Luna teleport. I saw that she was now standing at Edgar's side.

"Was scaring him half-to-death not enough? Dost thou feel a job has been left unfinished?" Luna's tone was harsh and her eyes narrowed as she glared daggers at my teacher...The tension in the room feels awful.

"Be at ease, Luna. I did not come here to harm him as he lay unconscious and defenseless. You have my word." Celestia assured Luna as she walked over to Edgar's side, only to be met with a shield that Luna conjured up that very moment around the two of them.

"Dost thou truly believe thine word holds any worth now?" Luna's muffled tone was sharp from the inside of her bubble, despite it sounding like she was talking from the inside of a fishbowl. "Shall we remind thee of the "oath" given to us this morning. That "no harm shalt befall Edgar in his time here, no matter the circumstance"?"

"I know. I know..." Celestia's eyes closed with a grimace. When they opened again, they were calm. She didn't seem angry, but she seemed tired. Her eyes were looking right at Edgar before she rested her hoof on the shield. "I swear upon Equestria. Upon the life and memory of all the ponies I care about, and those I dearly miss. I swear on Moon Beam, Orange Justice, Straight Arrow, Rose Aurora, Mi Amore Cadenza, Sunset Shimmer, and even you, Twilight Sparkle. I swear on all of my students past and present that I will not dare to harm the human tonight. I vow it. But I need to speak with the both of you."

Luna's glare remained for a few more moments before she let out an irritated huff and turned away from her. "We suppose you would not invoke these names unless you meant it." The magical bubble dissipated. "We still will not be leaving this room, however. Whatever thou has to speak, speak it here."

Princess Celestia glanced at the comatose human laying on the bed. "Very well. May I?" She asked with a seemingly neutral voice. Luna's eyes narrowed, but she gave a nod. Celestia approached the bed where Edgar rested. She was warily eyed by Luna the entire time. "So, bitten by a changeling...?"

"Indeed, by Queen Telsona." Luna said in a short tone as she kept her eyes on Celestia.

"...You know that bite looks much too clean." She remarked, noticing the same thing that Luna did earlier. "This is not a battle wound."

"Our thoughts exactly. Our centurion believes he was almost raped...we believe you know the implications, Celestia." Luna spoke, her voice low and dark.

Celestia's wide eyes betrayed her internal monologue, and she turned away from Luna and toward the balcony attached to the side of Edgar's room as she tapped her hoof on the tile floor. "...He wasn't strong enough to fight off Queen Telsona out in the fields. She put him in a position where she could have ended him but chose not to. He still survived his encounter...possibly because she wants him alive for a reason we still are unaware of." Luna slowly nodded while wearing a frown during Celestia's entire hypothesis. "...It would have been nice if he bothered to mention this bite. Why was he only affected now? Changeling venom doesn't take that long to become active. Were our assumptions about the potency of a queen's venom wrong?"

"We believe he had been under the effects to a lesser extent since the bite. Though, as his stress grew, so did his adrenaline. It triggered a collapse like dominos or a house of cards. Trigged by terror, Celestia." Luna said, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. "The same centurion that came to this conclusion blamed Trixie Lulamoon for this fright, and it took much to bite our tongues and not cast the blame upon thee in front of the other ponies."

"Yes...Miss Lulamoon. I suspect she was closer to him than I had realized." Celestia's face fell and her ears splayed back as she turned her attention to the floor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking back up to the both of us. "I would need to apologize to her as well, if she would have me. She is as much of a victim in this as anypony else."

"She's the one you need to apologize to??? What about the human, hmmm?" Luna waved her hoof in Edgar's direction. "Couldst not thy apology extend to him as well? Do you feel no remorse for what thou hast done?"

"...Of course. If it is as your centurion believes, then it is... most unfortunate what he endured.” Celestia’s voice softened, and her ears drooped as she stared at the floor. A shadow crossed her eyes before she looked back at Luna. “However, I will not apologize for my actions. He needed to be afraid of us... of me."

"How couldst thou not?" Luna said, her voice raising in anger. She narrowed her eyes at her as she stepped up to Celestia. "What would possess you to threaten him so?!? WHY?!?"

"Luna," I interrupted, trying to stop things from escalating. "Please, instead of arguing, let's just figure out how to help Edgar right now. According to Scarlett, we're on a time crunch."

I knew Luna was furious with Celestia, but I didn't want this argument to go any further than it already had. We had to work together to solve this problem. "Problem statement: He needs to lose his tumescence, and he needs a tamer. I'm still kind of new to this, but are Princesses allowed to hire... escorts? I don't really feel comfortable doing it, but I think we might want to try and give a professional a call. Sweet Heart has a bit of a reputation, but can probably make an emergency visit. That, or Princess Luna might also have night mares who might want to help with Edgar. Even Aloe and Lotus might be good options to consider if the rumors about their secret menu are tru-"

"No." Celestia interrupted. "That won't work. I forbade it when I spoke-"

"Threatened..." came an annoyed correction from Princess Luna, her voice still low.

"-with him this afternoon." Celestia continued, unfazed by Luna's interruption. "I forbade physical contact with anypony for the duration of his stay. Until we complete his path home, we need to prevent him from touching anypony."

"This would prevent the very thing that would be needed to help him, Tia!" Luna was now the one raising her voice as she turned away from her sister. "He needs a tamer! Did you come here simply to hinder us?"

"No Luna." Princess Celestia raised her voice to match Luna's tone only to dip back to its prior level. She shook her head. "I'm not trying to hinder you. If I can, I'll help you and him. It is my fault he was put in this position, so it is my responsibility to try and correct it. But it must be done without touching him."

"...So how do we help him then?" I asked. I didn't want to raise my voice like they've been doing to each other, and it felt outlandish that I was acting like like the arbiter in this conversation. "The only thing that isn't physical is magic, and we all know how that works on him."

Celestia's hoof went to her forehead near the base of her horn. She looked deep in thought. "I'm not sure yet, Twilight. I was not anticipating him being bitten. Please give me some time to think..." She sounded unsure, which made my ears drop a bit. It was rare to see her like this, and it was starting to worry me..."Do we have any cantaloupe or melons? Grapefruit, even?"

"Melons...?" I asked, my eyes going wide at the change in topic. "I'm not sure? When the changelings invaded, they destroyed a lot of produce in the farmers market that day. Cabbage Patch's insurance report said that all his cabbages were destroyed, and it likely happened with all the other market stands. Should I ask anyway?"

"No, that's quite alright Twilight. It was a silly idea anyway and likely a waste of time." Celestia said with a shake of her head. She seemed disappointed by something, but I couldn't imagine what. Neither Celestia or I got much time for brainstorming as this was interrupted when we both heard fabric rustling and a groan come from Edgar.

We both turned and saw that the towel covering Edgar had been tossed to the ground, revealing his penis standing proud ...against Luna's hoof pressing and prodding against it. Her hair lost it's ethereal flow and fell against her shoulders...

She's not actually going to...is she?!?

"He's quite lively and virile, isn't he?" Luna wrapped the crook of her hoof around his thingy and gave him a slow, firm stroke, causing a few drops of pre-ejaculate to start leaking out the tip. The motion also caused his whole body to twitch, and he groaned loudly and began panting. His hips gave a weak buck before settling back before the bed.

"P-p-pu-PRINCESS LUNA! What are you doing?!?"" I yelled with a monolithic blush heating up my face. I trotted in place nervously. I could feel my hooves tapping the ground faster and faster as the scene was starting to register in my mind. I know how its supposed to work, but this was too much to handle seeing in the moment!

"We were simply going to help him, Twilight. He seems sensitive enough, so this won't take long." She responded much too calmly. She started to slide her hoof down Edgar's penis and gently massaging the sack right below it. I could see her eyes narrow as she examined his genitals.

Celestia stood tall and broadened her shoulders. Her face was red, but appeared to be a shade of anger rather than embarrassment. "~Noooo. You are just about to remove your hoof, right?" Celestia's voice was calm, but there was clearly a storm brewing behind it to meet with Luna's own frown, which hadn't left her face this entire time. Her hoof drew a circle around Edgar's testicles, electing a moan from him before it slid back up the shaft and traced circles around the rounded tip.

"We said we are going to help him. Just because thou art scared of what's between his legs doesn't mean we are. You may have forbade him touching ponies, but you have not forbade us from touching him." She drew those circles again and again very slowly and very spitefully as she stared at Celestia, with Edgar's tip slowly being lubricated and shined by the growing amount of pre-cum leaking from him with sticky sounds permeating the room...it sounds too sticky.

"~LUUUNAAAA!" I squirmed and fidgeted as my heart was beating like mad. It was beating so hard, I felt it in my chest, throat and ears. I started sweating as I saw his penis throb in her grasp. I couldn't bear to look at this scene any longer. I never could have imagined Princess Luna of all ponies doing this!

...and so well?!? I'm learning TOO MUCH right now!!! About Princess Luna and about stallions.

"~STOoooOOP!~" I gave out a long drawn-out whine as my own hooves covered my blushing face, but my ears still perked toward the brushing noises and moans to keep listening to the lewd noises. I couldn't help it, and I still peeked through my hooves just a little to watch the scene unfolding.

"This isn't a debate, Luna. Stop touching the human." Celestia was using that same tone of authority from this morning, but it was completely wasted as she looked more like she was about to have an aneurysm from a mix of fear, worry and rage. She walked up and grabbed Luna's offending foreleg to stop her movements." Stop. Touching. The Human."

She pulled her hoof away from Edgar and yanked it out of Celestia's grasp. "He needs somepony to play the role of a tamer. If you won't allow anypony else can help with it, then we shall do it." Luna declared.

"No!" Celestia said almost too quickly, almost desperately. "No no NO! You foolish mare! I sent my letter in haste, but just because I did not address why you must avoid touching him does not make it an invitation to deliberately do so anyway. It's dangerous! Given enough time and contact, you start to lose yourself. You'll start to fall into a false love. You will become impulsive. No matter how tender or exquisite, that love is a lie!" Celestia explained as her voice grew in pitch and urgency. "Look at me, Luna. I don't want to see you relapse. I don't know if my heart could bear it."

I felt by blood run cold. "Just touching him could do that?" I thought to myself. The way Celestia said that made it sound like it was like being around a changeling who was actively trying to get into your heart. I felt myself blush and my mind wander to a scenario where Edgar would touch me...would I have felt the same way as Trixie? How long was Trixie touching him in the few days she knew him?

"...Thou art really going to discuss that now? In front of Twilight?" She looked like she was going to start yelling until a groan off to her side momentarily distracted her. Although Luna's hooves were off of him this time, Edgar groaned again. We saw that the human's fingers and toes curled, gripping into his sheets with white knuckles as he twisted the fabric into a wad and gripped it tightly. He must have subconsciously been frustrated at the lack of contact that Luna was previously giving him. "...We are going to wash our hoof. Honor thy word."

Princess Luna, whose hair was still hanging down from her head, started to walk off to the restroom. I heard the faucet turn on, and this was the only ambiance between the human noises Edgar occasionally made, and the silence between myself and my teacher, who was looking at Edgar in thought.

...No, there has got to be some prerequisites or rules to trigger this. I only bumped into him a few times, and it was barely more than a tap or brush. My nose was still kind of sore from earlier, but that punch was still over instantly. Maybe it has to do with the duration of contact. If Trixie really...rubbed herself or achieved female ejaculation with Edgar, that had to take a while to do, right?

"Ummm...Hypothetically speaking, how much time does it take to start to fall in love with him if he touches you." I asked nervously. "How much touching does it take?"

Princess Celestia's eyes looked at me in alarm. "...Why do you ask, Twilight?"

"J-just curious!" I stammered. "I mean, if he's going to be staying here, and we're supposed to be keeping an eye on him, then it's a good idea to know how dangerous his touch can be. Right?

As if she completely forgot what Princess Luna was doing moments ago, she focused all of her attention on me. "Twilight? Twilight, look at me. I need you to tell me right now if you are feeling anything for him. Anything at all!" She walked up to me and started to examine me. "He gave you that bloody nose earlier, didn't he?"

"Y-yeah, but it's not even broken or anything!" As I was telling her this, Celestia's horn lit up and I felt a soothing sensation from the inside of my nose. I let out a sigh of relief as I could feel my nose get warmer before returning to normal. It was a surefire sign that she helped heal any of the damaged blood vessels within. The thudding sensation in my right nostril was hardly anything to worry about, but now its non-existent. "It's already feeling better..." I mumbled. Even then, she didn't stop. Her magic washing over me was doing its best to groom me. I felt my hair and fur become unfrazzled as if a hair dryer ran across me, and I didn't feel gross and sweaty from all that running around I was doing earlier. "Thanks, Celestia."

Celestia's tone did not change, and she was starting to sound like my mom as she basically smothered me. "He still touched you."

"Yeah, but it wasn't his fault. I just surprised him earlier." The microsecond I finished my sentence, it was like Celestia was waiting with her own questions.

"Was there any other time he tried to touch you? Did you try hugging each other? Did he try to flirt with you?" She continued to grill me.

"No, not at all! I don't really like him that way. He was nice, but he never tried flirting...I mean, he did call me and Trixie pretty, but in retrospect I think he was just being facetious."

"Are you sure?" I nodded my head rapidly, and Celestia seemed to be easing up and relaxing. She looked back toward Edgar when suddenly her eyes darted back to me in concern. "...Does that hurt your feelings in any way? That he didn't seem to mean it?"

"...no?" I cocked my head to the side.

Celestia let out a relieved sigh and I could see the tension start to leave her body as her shoulders started to sag. "Oh, good...good." She looked back at Edgar and then back at me, her ears drooped a little. "I'm sorry, Twilight. You are very good at making new friends everywhere you go, and you're a caring pony. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I'm just concerned for you."

"If you are finished with this "bonding" time," Luna emerged from the bathroom breaking the brief calmness and reminding the room of her presence. Her hair was now floating once more as it it normally has. "We still have an issue at hand. The human is still in need of a tamer."

"No." Princess Celestia closed her eyes and her mouth shifted into a tight frown. "I won't be allowing this. You're the last pony who I would ever let touch this human."

"Because we are your little sister who keeps making poor choices? Is this another of our punishments, Tia?" Princess Luna glared at her elder sibling, her ears splayed back against her head as she stepped to the side to face Princess Celestia. She turned her attention back to me for a moment as I stood awkwardly in place. "Twilight, may you leave the room? We will need to talk privately for a while."

I glanced back and forth between the two of them, both of their eyes were trained on each other, and it was a tense silence between the both of them.

Celestia seemed like she was about to raise her voice at Luna, but she suddenly paused before she turned her attention to me. "...It will be alright, Twilight." Princess Celestia smiled, but I could feel the strain on her face as she turned back to Luna with her smile fading. "Luna, please understand that I'm trying to stop you from making a serious mistake. I'm not trying to upset you. I'm trying to help you!"

Princess Luna scoffed as she looked back at Princess Celestia with an expression of indignation and indignation. "It sounds as if thou believes we need your permission to assist him. Or are we not even allowed to speak with Sir Edgar?"

"Though I would urge caution, you are still free to do that if you wish. But we must forbid you from touching him, or have him touch you."

"Tia, we don't have a choice! He was bitten. By a Changeling Queen!" Princess Luna countered, and she was not yelling. She wasn't even talking loudly, but her voice carried with an almost deafening volume. She spoke slowly to her sister, but her tone was full of conviction. "Like all bites, it must be dealt with or he will suffer a serious blood clot. He was injured for Ponyville...Tis a paltry sacrifice, if one can even call it that."

"A paltry sacrifice, Luna?!" I could tell Celestia was frustrated, but she did not raise her voice as Princess Luna had. "I can not risk you falling down the same-" She seemed to catch herself before clearing her throat and lacing her pitch with irritation. "What exactly would you have me do about this, Luna? I understand that you want to help him with this bite. Howeve-"

"Nay. Unless thou has any better alternatives, thou must either lift thy ban on his aid or we shall take over his treatment. "We can't stand by and watch him suffer. It is cruel."

The white Alicorn seemed to lose her words for a moment. Her head tilted toward Edgar. Her gaze seemed to soften a bit, and a bit of that earlier regret she had when she came back into the room appeared as a faint frown. "It's not that I want to watch his condition worsen, it's just..." Celestia was silent for a time as she squeezed her eyes shut. Peaking out with one eye, she winced. "...How long has he been like this?"

"He has been in this state for nearly two or three hours now. We lost track of the time and should assume it is three." Princess Luna stated. Celestia didn't seem to be paying attention to Luna anymore. It was like she was zoning out. "We must be proactive, as we are unsure if he will awaken in time to handle it himself...Tia, are you listening?"

Princess Celestia's face appeared to slowly drop as she walked absentmindedly away from Edgar's bed and toward the balcony. While staring into the sky, her horn glowed and she surrounded herself in a magical bubble and suddenly she screamed. No noise emitted from it due to the shield she surrounded herself in, but it had so much force behind it that there appeared to be a visible shockwave reverberating within it and altering the air within, making it difficult to read her lips. Soon, the shield abated and Celestia's head hung low in defeat.

"...Sister?" Luna spoke up first. Celestia continued to not speak. Instead, she was just looking at Edgar with a conflicted frown. "Art thou going to lift his ban? We may be able to find some night mares as per my centurion's recommendations."

"...I won't lift it."

"Tiaaaaaa..." Luna started to raise her voice. Princess Celestia didn't turn back to look at us. She kept staring at Edgar, but she did raise a hoof toward us weakly as if to stop the impending protests. She looked like she was hanging by invisible strings with how slack her limbs looked.

"...I'll help him." Celestia's low hoarse voice said with some strain. Luna and myself did a double take at Princess Celestia. I was not sure I heard her correctly. "I'll be his tamer for tonight."

Nope, I definitely heard her right...WHAT?!?!

"Princess Celestia, you aren't serious, are you?" I asked, my tone raising an octave higher. I've always looked at her like a mother figure or an aunt, but hearing her talk about having sex with somepony or doing lewd things...that was something I was not prepared for. It just doesn't fit in my head that Celestia could...I don't really know. "You're saying you'll help him with his...problem? But you just warned us about his touch forcing you to fall in love!"

"I will be fine. I have found that his touch is influenced by the time and intimacy of it, so I will take no joy or time with him." Celestia clarified, her voice was strained with her body looking just as uncomfortable. "He just needs me to exhaust this venom's effects within him, right? Then this problem can be put to rest and we can put this nightmare behind us...He will ejaculate and his erection will be lost, but there will be no intimacy behind what I will do. Luna had already given me a head start, so..." She seemed to focus on the spire at Edgar's waist. Her nose scrunched as she shook her head. "I will try to make it as quick"

"No...Thou art clearly clearly tired, and it is past thine bedtime." Luna shook her head as if to shake herself out of her shock and turned back to Celestia. "Please retire and some get rest. Thou hath been sleeping poorly for the past few days."

Celestia shook her head, appearing to steel her resolve. "Luna, you just tried giving him a hoofy. We can't leave you alone with him, so I must help him." Celestia grimaced and walked to the edge of Edgar's bed. "I know what I'm doing. He is dangerous, but he is docile now...and I made a vow not to harm him. If he becomes injured because I scared him too badly, I would be breaking this vow, true? I do not like this anymore than you, but I will still do my best to look past him and help him for your sake."

Luna scoffed.

"Mere hours ago thou had threatened to kill him." Luna stated in a tone that dripped with disbelief and incredulity. "To scald him and crush him underneath thine hooves. Thou expect us to believe you to be amicable enough to pleasure him? Thou must be speaking in jest if you believe us moronic enough to leave you alone in a room with him after what you have said and done, vow or no."

Princess Celestia was not happy to be called out, but she seemed to expect this reaction. She walked back over to her little sister with a neutral expression. "He said some things that brought up bad memories. I did threaten him...and I was prepared to carry them out should he ever cross that line, but I admit that I let my emotions get the better of me. My hopes were that I emasculated him badly enough that he would never attempt to cross those lines, but it seems now that I must cross the same line that I drew for him. I have nopony but myself to blame for my actions, I will swear to you both that my intentions to bring harm was and still is a last resort. This is only if I believe it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that he intends to harm or manipulate any of you."

"...So, this is your apology then, is it? For what thou has said to him?" Princess Luna stated. It didn't seem like it was much of a question at all as much as it was a statement of fact. "All the more reason that you should be prevented from touching him if you are feeling forced into this. We shall resolve without thee somehow."

Panic briefly crossed Princess Celestia's face, but she did not let it stay. "What do you want from me, Luna? I'm trying to make things right. This is a compromise for his safety, for yours and Twilight's. You don't have to tell him that it was me, and you-" Princess Celestia's breath hitched in the back of her throat as she squeezed her eyes shut. After a deep breath she looked back at Luna. "...You can watch and make sure I do not harm him. Once it is done, you can say you contracted an anonymous escort to take care of it."

Luna herself found herself once more shocked with her jaw racing my own in hitting the floor.

This was not at all how I thought this conversation would go, especially all the things she's suggesting she do. This is going to get even more awkward than I could have possibly imagined. I felt a cold shiver run down my back. Celestia looks so out of her element right now. "Celestia, I'm still having a hard time even imagining you doing this. You would actually help him?"

Her head whipped toward me. "Yes! If that is what it takes to make sure you both stay safe and that you do not touch him, then a million times yes!" Princess Celestia exclaimed. I saw a spark of desperation in her eyes, as she tried to sound resolute. Her wings fanned out, but they trembled. "I'll do what has to be done."

Princess Luna soon regained her composure. "...If he is anything like other bite victims, it will take more than one to get it entirely out of his system. What if it he gets another erection immediately after that lasts longer, or one that springs up later in the night?" Princess Luna asked, though a bit more calmly. This time, Luna didn't sound antagonistic in the slightest, but she did not let go of her skepticism. She seemed just as unsure of this situation as Princess Celestia was, but for different reasons.

“He is still unconscious, wake me,” Celestia said, moving purposefully toward the bed. "I'll take care of him as many times as he needs until he wakes up. Then, he is on his own."

"...And there is no way you would consider a volunteer?" Luna inquired. Celestia's silence was her answer. It was clear she wasn't going to budge either. Luna seemed to be giving this situation some thought before turning back to me. "...Twilight, leave if thou must. We shall remain while Celestia acts as his tamer, and you may not wish to be here if thou are skittish about these sorts of things."

"What? NO! Celestia, I can't let you go through with this." I trotted up and wrapped my hooves around her back leg a tight hug, trying to stop her from getting closer to him. I felt myself get dragged across the floor as she moved closer to him. "I want to help Edgar, but I know you don't like him that way at all. You don't want this. Just let Princess Luna help him like she wanted to...I'll do it if you let me!"

"I know, and it's why I have to Twilight. I want you safe, am I not clear?" Celestia separated my hooves from her leg and sat me down as she turned to me. "We may sometimes wish that some things have never had to happen, or that our duties may become easier in time. But fate has a funny way of playing pranks upon us. We can't change our circumstances, but we can control how we react to them and make the best of them. I know that I made many mistakes today, but believe in me when I say that I am choosing this Twilight. I don't want you to think for a moment that I would prefer an alternative where either of you went through with this." Celestia hugged me back...tightly. "Now I want you to leave. If Luna is okay with staying, but I would prefer that you not see me when I do this."

Celestia...I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt like she was giving me an impossible task to do...but she still made her intentions known. She didn't seem to want to hurt him...

"No. I'll wanna stay with you. You don't have to go through this alone." I pleaded with her, trying to hold back my tears. "Maybe there's some other way I can help? Maybe we can wait just a little while longer? Maybe I can still find those melons you were asking for? Maybe-"

"Look at me, Twilight..." I heard her croak out. It sounded like her voice was starting to break. "...You don't have to stay and prove yourself to me. I'm already so proud of you. I always have been... but there are some things even you can't fix..." I turned to her and I could see the tears in her eyes. I nodded slowly and stood up. I hugged Princess Celestia tightly once more, and she squeezed back as her hooves held me close. After a long moment, I separated from her. "Please...leave."

I didn't know what to say. Celestia doesn't cry, and it looked so alien for her. But even more, I knew there was nothing I could do for her that would make her stop. It's not fair.

She's just one more pony I couldn't help...

"She may not have to leave, Tia...Look." Luna's voice betrayed some sort of foal-like amazement or wonder as it broke the silence of our hug. She pointed toward Edgar and...His erection was losing its size. In fact, it appeared to be shrinking. It still appeared to be engorged with blood, but it was only semi-erect at this point and shrinking rapidly.

'It's...becoming flaccid? I asked, wiping my eyes to clear the tears and make sure I was seeing what everypony else was.

However emotional I was feeling, I was completely knocked out of this mood by this random event. The princesses seemed confused too, as they watched it jump up a bit, but slowly lose its size.

"So Telsona's venom is...no longer effecting him?" Luna asked, trying to understand what is happening. "Is his race so vastly different from ours that it was never an issue?"

"We don't that know for sure, Luna." I explained. "He could still be affected by it, but maybe it's starting to burn off naturally? Or maybe he won't need to take care of it until after he wakes up?"

Luna's frown started to disappear as she perked up. "Perhaps he could hear crying mares somewhere in his dreamworld, and the mood had been ruined for him." Luna teased, a small smile of her own starting to appear on her face. Though the playful tease sounded sounded like an mean-spirited jab from her sister, Princess Celestia payed it no mind as she lightly chuckled and wiped her eyes. She looked much much happier than a few moments ago. "We notice Edgar had been shivering. If he truly requires his clothes due to his lack of fur, perhaps he is simply cold and that was all it needed to calm it." Princess Luna used her magic to take a blanket and lay it across the human's body. "He also has more sweat than we anticipated coming from his brow. Is he expelling it somehow?"

"No...I think his body had been cooling itself. We didn't consider cooling him because it wouldn't work for a stallions. They have coats of fur, after all, but even having them take a dip in an ice bath didn't work for them." As I analyzed out of pure habit and curiosity, but this did not last long as a hopeful tone rang out of my mouth. "Edgar's still becoming flaccid though...This means Celestia doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to, right?"

"Whatever it may be, whether it be his lack of fur or his body fighting the venom for the entire time until earlier today..." Princess Celestia rationalized, almost relieved that she doesn't have go through with it. "That has to be it, and its being broken down by his immune system. Either this, or it truly was my presence. Luckily, nopony has to do a thing now that his erection has abated. He can have as many foals as he would like when he returns to his home, and neither of us have to do anything." A collective sigh of relief was shared by all three of us. "And should we wake up and still feel the effects, we will leave him a bucket, some "reading material", and give him some privacy to take care of it himself. If you truly suspect that it was my presence that killed his stiffy, then I will come in and talk about my day and kill it again if he hasn't woken up. Shrink little one, shrink..." She amusingly commanded of the deflating tent Edgar made under the blanket before laughing out loud again. She looked genuinely happy about this outcome, as did everypony else in the room.

Edgar was fine and we weren't under any time crunch to think of a solution for him. He didn't need a tamer, and neither Celestia, Luna, or anypony else needs to be put in an uncomfortable spot. It was the best of all worlds! I gave the human a look of relief, and I noticed that Princess Luna did the same. She looked relieved too, as if something very heavy was lifted from her back. It was like a Hearth's Warming miracle! We stayed in the afterglow a good while longer relishing the good luck we had.

"...I can't believe I just used 'little one' and 'stiffy' in the same breath." Celestia said between laughs, causing her chuckles to grow harder and louder.

"Sister, that is quite unbecoming." Luna's scolding had no bite to it and she was giggling a bit herself. Even Luna was starting to have a lighter mood despite the whole situation moments before. "Sir Edgar would not appreciate you calling his penis as such."

"No no, I'm sorry...it's just been a while since I laughed like this." Princess Celestia was wiping away a mock tear with her hoof as her chuckles started to die down.

Seeing them laugh with each other again... this would have been a great way to end the night. I felt guilty that I couldn't let the night end like this...I wanted Celestia's smile to last a little longer, but I had to ask her. Before I lost my nerves again, I had to know...

"...Celestia, I-...about the things you said to Edgar earlier..."

Princess Celestia froze. Her body went completely still and the room's warmth felt like it had been sucked out into a void. Even Luna's smile started to falter.

"...Why do you hate him?" I asked. "He was really nice. He saved Ponyville without even knowing our names."

There was a pause at first.

She turned to Edgar, as if to make sure he was still sleeping.

Then finally a sigh came as Celestia's smile faded. "I don't hate him, per say. I think I hate what he is...A human." She turned to face me. "Do you still trust me, Twilight?"

"What?" I asked. She paused for a moment. She looked like she was searching for the right words as her ears sagged and she sighed again.

"You're asking about him...why I acted the way I did, yes? Do you still trust me?" I could feel the seriousness behind that question and my mind reeled from it. "After what you saw me do earlier today, and what I tried doing for Edgar moments ago. Do you trust that what I do is for the right reasons? For Equestria?" She asked, intently staring into my eyes as if they would tell her my answer. "For my friends and family? For you, Luna?" She asked, as she turned back to the Night-blue Alicorn. Luna was looking off to the side as her face turned down toward the floor silently, but intently listening. Sensing no answer from Luna, Celestia turned back to me...much quicker than I was able come up with an answer.

"I want to, but..." I didn't know what to say. She's always been somepony I could turn to and trust. Somepony I could ask for advice, but I saw sides of my teacher that I never had before. I don't know about how I feel about them right now...She's always pushed me to be the best version of myself. To do better, to be more understanding and compassionate toward those who have wronged me or my friends. However, I have never seen her lose her temper like she did today. It was so far beyond what I had expected of her. It was a far cry from the pony I knew her as...it honestly scared me a little.

Celestia's head dipped to the ground. She slowly nodded at me in understanding. "That's fair." Princess Celestia was silent for a time. If she was hurt by this, there was little indication apart from the pause. After a deep exhale. "I've kept things from the both of you to ensure that you do not live in fear of things that once were. This is difficult for me to speak about, but you have been left in the dark for longer than acceptable. Brace yourself, this may be complicated." She took a moment to steady herself.

"I am sure by now you have come to the conclusion that Edgar may not have been the only human to have arrived in Equestria, and that we have encountered them before. Possibly from my actions, rash as they may appear. Possibly from the schematics I sent you for his containment and their age. You would be correct in this assumption..." Celestia looked out toward the balcony of Edgar's room. "There have been some stories of humans arriving in Equestria in days of old. Back in a simpler time where Equestria was once Ponyland . Star Swirl mentioned a story of three human siblings in passing who have become great friends with the ponies back then."

Princess Luna paused with a strange expression on her face. Her eyes widened upon realization. "...The Who Manes?"

"Yes Luna, the "Who Manes"." That's what we used to call them back when we were younger. Back when we were still having trouble pronouncing names. Princess "Woona" always had a hard time pronouncing "L's" for the longest time and loved using "W" instead." Princess Luna stuck her tongue out at Celestia, who seemed to be fondly reminiscing about their youth."...And now she is one of the most articulate ponies in Equestria, if a bit antiquated. Anyway, these were the stories of the ponies of "Dream Valley", and their friends across the rainbow, Meee-gan, Daniel, and Molly.

"Megan." Luna interrupted, prompting Celestia to look at her with a confused stare. Luna gave a cheeky smile as she corrected her elder sister. "The name of the eldest sibling was Megan."

Princess Celestia looked at her with a bemused expression. "You still remember that?"

"Look who's having trouble with pronunciation now." Luna said with a hint of nostalgia. "I had forgotten this story, but I do remember us arguing about which name was the correct one."

"It was "Megan", wasn't it?" Celestia gave a small, but warm smile. "Those arguments were my favorite pastime."

Celestia took a few moments before she shook herself out of her nostalgia.

"As I was saying, these stories served as progenitors of the first friendship lessons, and the heroic deeds these young siblings inspired us. Megan, the eldest sibling, and the wielder of the "Rainbow of light", helped ponies battle Tirac, the lord of Midnight castle." Celestia explained, telling it like a legend from times long past. "While they were simply stories at the time, but Star Swirl still credited the lessons of friendship within their stories to his inspiration as to why he choose to befriend Tirek's brother, Scorpan, all those years ago."

"Wait a minute...they helped us with Tirek?" I asked in surprise.

Celestia shook her head.

"No Twilight, but I can see your confusion." Princess Celestia explained. "The names may be similar, but Tirek and Tirac are separate individuals, even though they share similar features, namely their horns and stature. Tirac is even described to be the same blood-red color as Tirek. You and your friends defeated "Tea-Wreck" a month back and saved Equestria. The story that Star Swirl used to tell is about "Tear-Ack", the Lord of Midnight Castle."

"You said they used a "Rainbow of light" to beat him? That sounds a lot like what the Elements of Harmony do when they're used. They create a beam of Harmony though, and the rainbow they create is simply what is in our visible spectrum." I speculated. I'm honestly surprised I missed this story, and fascinated by its contents now. I could have sworn I read every book in the Canterlot library before I was sent to Ponyville. How have I not heard of this story? "There are a lot of things in these stories that sound familiar."

"That is a mystery that eluded us for many years...there was even a purple baby dragon that played an important role in the story. Can you guess his name?" Celestia asked, knowing that we both knew the answer.

"...No way." I could barely believe my ears. "Spike?"

Celestia nodded. "Most auspicious, is it not? I thought so as well when I heard what name you chose for him. I have a theory that this story was instead a prophecy that Star Swirl had encoded in his story to guide us into helping you, Twilight. We never did break this cipher of his before Tirek's return, but perhaps it was not needed with the many lessons in friendship you and your friends all had learned on your own. Instead of befriending "Scorpan", it was the friendship you have built with everypony and it's culmination with Discord's redemption that lead to Tirek's downfall and capture."

"And now a human, like the ones who helped us in this story came, right? But what does this have to do with Edgar?" I asked, trying to understand the connections. "He hasn't hurt anypony."

"Despite these stories, there has been no evidence of humans actually existing at one point in time...Until a short time after Luna's banishment. One day, a student of mine wrote about a human who made her way into Equestria. An old mare who was immune to magic much like Edgar. Because of what I heard about them in these stories, I let my foalish excitement get my hopes up. I had them dashed when I found out that she had been there for a month doing horrible things to my little ponies. Her smile was bright and her words were honeyed, and she was a true demon..." Celestia's voice went low and crept to a whisper. "I will now be referring to her as the "Hag". I don't want to dignify her name. She was a master manipulator and was able to convince ponies she met to perform terrible acts to their friends. All for her own promises of power, of which she could not truly bestow. I have strong reason to believe it was the Hag's touch that influenced them, and in the span of one month I suspect she was here, she was solely responsible for a bloodbath that haunts me to this day..."

"I was forced to kill her...but I hate that she made me enjoy it. I lost too much that day. A piece of myself, many of my friends at the hooves of my other friends she turned against us. I think she believes she had won, and though her influence faded from their minds, never did the aftermath of what she forced my ponies to do. They were broken for the rest of their lives from what they had done to the ones they had loved. I tried helping my ponies forget, but her grasp ran deep in their minds and mine. Because of this, I struck her true name and all mention of humans all records. For a time, it seemed like they only revenge I could take on her for what she did while she was here." Celestia paused for a bit as if to collect her thoughts. "Her entire reasoning for being the monster she was is to never be forgotten. She sought immortality of a sort, and when she was denied it, she used a more unorthodox way to get it. In a way, she got her wish, and I alone choose to remember her. I want to forget, but I never wish to see a repeat of the past."

Luna finally spoke up.

"And dost thou think this context wouldn't have been better to mention earlier? Before we spoke with Edgar?" Luna asked annoyedly.

"This was of my own weakness. She made me lose one of my students, Moon Beam...I don't like remembering it." I felt a sick feeling in my stomach since we both saw a tear drop fall from her face and onto the floor. Luna's own face softened when she saw the state Celestia was in.

I took hold of her hoof. "Celestia, I can't begin to understand what you might have gone through, but Edgar hasn't done anything wrong yet, has he? We can be careful around him, but I don't understand what Edgar has to do with it. I don't want to force you to explain yourself further unless you are truly ready to talk about it, but this hag can't represent all humans, right? So what if Edgar's a human. Hasn't he proven himself by saving Ponyville? He is still innocent until he proves himself evil, right?"

"I wanted to believe that. I still do so much, but I just keep getting disappointed. The Hag was not the only human to find their way into Equestria. In time, more humans slowly trickled in throughout the centuries. From my experience, there was never more than one and they were few and far in between. The very next human that came was a wounded male from the Everfree, but he was more of an it. Ritualistic Blue etchings adorned his skin and the skin of a brown bear that he wore upon his back. He stumbled to our castle gate wounded with arrows sticking out of him." Celestia was not looking at either of us and just viewed straight, as if contemplating a memory we didn't have.

"We were foolish and thought it needed help. I went down to meet it with our royal guards, but the human was frothing at the mouth in rage. There was no communicating with it, and it kept repeating the same screech over and over again, "Rom-Han-Ach". What it held was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, battered, and far too rough. Indeed, it was more like a heap of raw iron at that point... but it was propping itself and using it like a crutch. I felt pity for it, and hesitated upon seeing the blood leak from it's wounds. Before I realized what was happening, it killed six of my ponies before it was put it down with considerable effort...at the cost of another student of mine who became captain of the guard a year before, Orange Justice. He barely survived his encounter, but became so consumed with fear that his heart could not take it anymore. He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack." Celestia stopped and looked down in her hooves. I squeezed her hoof as she tried to steel herself, but her lip was trembling. "I wish that was the end of it all, but as I said, more humans came eventually. They just keep coming the moment I let my guard down."

"Tia, sister." Luna stepped up. She trotted beside Celestia and rested her hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "We see that you have had a most traumatic past in our absence. It pains us greatly to see thee relive it, but you must believe us. That was then, and this is now. Thou dost not know him and is prejudiced against his kind. Please do not condemn this human for his kindred. This human has done us no wrongs."

Celestia looked like she was about to speak, but seemed to drop whatever was on her mind."...I'm so tired of giving them chances. It has always ended in disappointment." She gave Luna a tired smile.

"Celestia, I still don't understand. If you are so concerned about Edgar's touch, then why put yourself at risk? How would you know you wouldn't be influenced by him later?" I asked her, my voice full of concern. It still doesn't make any sense to me. She's revealing so much right now, but I am finding myself with even more questions than before.

"...I killed a Human I let myself fall in love with once before. One that I gave a chance to..." I could feel the air get sucked out of the room and the world went silent as I heard her say this. "I can do it again if I had to. I would prefer it never comes to that...but fate has a way of working against us."

"Celestia, you never told us this..." I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. Celestia paid no mind to our reactions to her confession and sighed, staying quiet. As she confessed these moments in her past, I saw that a weight was being lifted from her shoulders.

"It is because of my experiences that I am so wary of him. Because of what you now know of a human's touch, I have a very important assignment for you Twilight." She looked me straight in the eyes. I could feel her intense gaze on me. It wasn't scrutinizing me, but rather, I was feeling the weight of the trust she was placing on me.

"I have strong suspicions to believe now that Edgar has been in frequent physical contact with ponies in the short time he has been in Equestria, more than my sister simply holding his hands. I suspect the pony he had the most physical contact with so far is Mrs. Lulamoon, who had tried to shove me in front of the royal guard earlier today. Do you concur?" I nodded, thinking back to her breakdown earlier tonight. "She is not in trouble, as she is practically drunk on her feelings. We also saw that one of Luna's centurions attempted to perform C.P.R on Edgar. Though not intentional, this action alone is more "intimate" than most contact and could have affected her. We have two ponies so far. Do you know of anypony else?"

"Fluttershy had to touch him a bit to examine him, and she did look really concerned and guilty that she missed the bite mark. She is always like that though, so she didn't seem different." I stated.

"We had Honest Applejack and Noble Edgar shake hooves to make up for a dispute they had. Young Apple Bloom also showed little fear of Edgar, going so far as to hug him when he revealed her as his ward." Princess Luna was pacing now. She was deep in thought and seemed to be starting to get into Celestia's wave length.

"We will need to track which ponies were in contact and for how long. We also need to pay careful attention of changes in their personality and feelings. For a time, they may be confused about their feelings, and it may cause friendship problems in the near future." Celestia stated. She was thinking of everything that could go wrong, and how we would handle it.

Princess Luna spoke up. "If he doesn't already know, we should tell him the truth about his touch."

"No, that is a terrible idea!" Princess Celestia's eyes were wide with shock as she looked at her sister in disbelief. "He will try to use it to his advantage!

"Celestia, he cannot remain walking on eggshells, lest your threats toward him turn prophetic." Luna warned, her tone firm and resolute. "We believe this may be a solution that benefits everypony in the long run. At the very least we would know that he knows, and he would know that we know what his touch can do."

"And I wouldn't want a being that has the power to exert his will and dominate us to know that he can with enough guile." Celestia appeared to be deep in thought, and I could almost feel her anxiety radiating from her. I could tell that she was being truthful with how she feels, but the very thought of her being this nervous because of him scared me. She turned back to me with a soft expression, as if seeking guidance from me. "Twilight, what do you think we should do?"

"What? Why are you asking me???" I stuttered in surprise, freezing on the spot. I felt like all of these sudden twists and turns were starting to confuse me, and my mind was spinning. Celestia never hesitated on any decisions she made. However, it seemed that this time, she was seeking my advice more than anything.

"You both have followed my instructions to the letter the entire day up to this point, and we saw how that turned out." Celestia turned toward the sleeping human. "However, I know first hoof what he could bring upon us. I am asking you because myself and Luna are at an impasse, and because I trust you. I can not trust myself to be fair in this decision. I cannot trust him either, but I will trust in your decision."

...How could I choose? Princess Luna's explaination may seem practical and reasonable, but Princess Celestia's warnings and reservations seem so real... It felt like I was being asked to betray one of my friends in favor of another.

Celestia has bad memories of humans, but none of them are of the one laying in that bed right now, right? He hasn't even really had a chance to defend himself...Maybe that's all he needs.

"I want to trust you too...I know I still do, but I want you to trust me and Princess Luna too. I think that we should tell him." Princess Celestia listened carefully. Her face betrayed little emotion. "I don't want him to be afraid of us. We need to at least talk to him and let him know why we are so wary of him. If we can't even talk to him, the only thing left for us to do is...is fight with each other! I don't want to do that. I want my friends to be safe, but I don't to stop him from making friends. I don't want to not be his friend either. That goes against everything I believe and learned. We can't isolate him and make him think he is all alone with nopony on his side. If he thinks that, he might end up thinking it is him versus all of Equestria."

I tried to plead my case as best as I could. With any luck, I might be able to say the twenty minute speech I had lined up earlier this morning. "If he has friends, and we show him the magic of friendship, he will have ponies to confide in and talk to him. We can make sure he isn't the monster you are afraid he'll be."

Princess Celestia seemed to almost be in meditation as she listen to me, appearing deep in thought. I could see the internal struggle that was going on inside her, and I could see the conflict on her face.

"Celestia?" I called to her.

It was a short moment later before she opened her eyes again. Her gaze was gentle as well as her simile. "It's nothing Twilight. I'm just...I'm proud to call you my student. You are brave and wise beyond your years, and you are already forming into a better ruler than I was at your age...that I had shown myself to be even now. It is an encouraging thought.

"Does this mean you will give him a chance?" I asked hopefully.

"No." She answered bluntly, her smile disappearing with mine following. "I said once before that I will not trust him. You need at least one pony to not trust any action he takes...but I will trust you. I only ask that you do not regret this decision."

"We doth suppose that this is the best we can agree to, isn't it?" Luna asked, clearing the air between the three of us. All three of us nodded to each other in unison, finally reaching consensus as Celestia broke the silence once more.

"We still have a matter of addressing the specifics, but this can wait until tomorrow morning when the rest of the Royal family arrives. Hopefully, Professor Lyra Heartstrings and the Good Doctor may be ready to give their evaluations of Edgar's effects as well, now that there is a living human for them to examine. With any luck, they may be of assistance."

I really should have paid more attention when Lyra tried showing off that rough draft of the romance story she was writing in her spare time. We mainly wanted to get her and her herd mate's input on the Melody Magic surfacing more frequently around here, but I think it's safe to say that Edgar has a hand in it. However, that rough draft she started writing may prove a bit more useful to me. I may need to borrow it to see if there is any reference material or similarities between Edgar and the mysterious "Handy-mane" that she wrote about.

"Well...if that's everything, I think I should go check on Trixie and Fluttershy, at least to make sure they are doing okay. Trixie's going through a rough time right now, but if you need me for anything, I'll be up for a little while longer." Twilight said. "Celestia, you can talk to me about these things. Please don't keep us in the dark like that, not when you have things to get off your chest." Celestia nodded absently as she appeared to gaze onward. She looked deep in though as she stared off into the distance.

"We shall stay and keep watch over the human then." Luna announced, now resting on the couch at Edgar's bedside.

"Good night Princess Luna, and goodnight Princess Celestia." I walked up to her and hugged my teacher's foreleg one last time before trotting off and leaving the room. I stopped briefly and turned to give one last wave. Both princesses followed suit with my gesture, and I shut the door behind me, leaving the two Princesses and the human alone.

There was a brief thought in the back of my mind that they might start arguing again, but I think now that we had a chance to talk this through, we have better understanding and trust with each other again.

I think the worst is behind us now...

.

***"Third-person POV"*** **Edgar's Room**

.

As both Alicorns watched the purple Alicorn leave the room, Princess Luna paused for a brief respite...then got up from her spot on the couch and stood beside her sister.

"...We are sorry for screaming at thee earlier, sister, and for saying such awful things. We were...It was unbecoming of the both of us, and thou must believe me when I say it pains us greatly." She apologized, reaching over Celestia's back her with a wing. Princess Celestia felt her sister pull her into a hug, and though initially stiffen in surprise at first, she returned the gesture as she relaxed into it. "We still believe thou had overreacted and treated him quite unfairly, but we can not say for certain if we could be restrained if we had walked in thine past hoof prints."

"Thank you, Luna...and I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you earlier when you confronted me." Celestia's voice was weak and tired from the nights she stayed up since she first received Twilight's letters. Luna and Twilight's support revitalized her as her smile started to grow, and she held her sister tightly in her embrace. She was silent for a time, and merely enjoying her sister's warmth. "You care Luna...sometimes too much, but I would take this over you not caring enough any day of the week. I am sorry for bringing up your past like that...I still can't help but worry about you. I shall stay here with you for now. At least until he wakes up."

"No, sister. Having you in the same room if he wakes up may not be the best idea. Besides, thou needs thine rest."

"And you don't?" Celestia countered a raised eyebrow. "We've both been sleeping poorly these past few days. You need your rest too."

"Art we not a princess of the night, Tia? Our duty is not to sleep, but rather to watch over everypony in Equestria as they do so."

"I don't want to leave that human alone, and certainly not alone with you. Having a human here...it's a temptation." Celestia's voice went low. "I don't want you to fall down that same path you once did. The things that had you spiral down all those centuries ago..."

Luna's eyes went wide, as if she had been slapped. She stepped away from Celestia, and stared at her sister. "Art thou suggesting that we would take advantage of him? Of somepony who is under our protection? If you are concern of "intimacy", our contact was purely platonic. There was no love involved even if we did show concern. Retire to thine chambers and sleep, Sister." The heavy doors started to slide open, only for it to slam shut once more as Celestia's magic overtook Luna's own magical glow.

"No, Luna. I am suggesting the inverse. That he would take advantage of "you". Once we both get a good night's sleep, we can help Twilight draft a plan for him with the help of our our nieces and nephews. Possibly having a guard or two in the room, as well as another pony in the room at any given time, but he can't be left alone with anypony, including you. You also can not be simply left with another guard. You could simply order them to leave, so it would need to be with another pony that could cancel out your order, and vice versa." Celestia turned to Luna with a serious expression on her face. "It's not you, but rather the influence he may already have on you that I don't trust."

"And thou would be more trustworthy to be left alone with him?"

"If you do not trust me with him, that is fine. We can keep each other in check."

Luna shook her head. "Celestia, we need to be able to have faith in each other...If you are correct about his touch, then we believe we have seen first hoof what it can do, and we shall be mindful of this...domination as you call it. We will be careful as the night progresses. We know thou art tired and weary. Thou has worked hard for Equestria, but thou need not to carry the weight of the world by thyself." Princess Luna said, putting a hoof on Princess Celestia's shoulder as she continued to speak. The doors slowly slid open one last time as she nudged her sister along.

"He fell unconscious mid-afternoon. If, by chance, his body is truly fighting the venom, he may wake up in the middle of our night. Rather than have Edgar perform a desperate escape attempt like earlier upon seeing you or anypony else, we find it best that we stay awake a little longer and explain the situation to him. We feel as if we had built somewhat of a rapport with him, and he will understand our concerns and keep his hands to himself. We are sure of it..."

Celestia looked back at the sleeping human. As Edgar gave out a small shiver, she turned back to her sister and hugged her one last time, as tightly as she could while Luna reciprocated. "I still don't trust him. I can't trust him...but as I promised to trust Twilight, I will now trust you. Please be careful, Luna."

"We will be. Besides, our sleep schedule has been ruined after these past couple of days. We intend to mend it by staying up tonight, and sleeping tomorrow at least until the afternoon. For now, it is best that thine rest is uninterrupted. The rest of the royal family is coming, and we have a day of much import coming tomorrow. Our sister must be at her prime. We shall sleep tomorrow."

Celestia gave a tired laugh and relinquished her hug. "I can relate to the ruined sleep schedule...I'm scared of what tomorrow may bring... When a Human is in Equestria, these stories have never ended happily from my experience..." Celestia said, walking out of the human's room, finally leaving Princess Luna alone.

Luna watched her sister leave and after waiting a few minutes to see if she would come back, gave a sigh of relief. It was a tense few hours between them. Her sister's reaction was understandable, but still an overreaction in her eyes.

Luna grabbed a left-over parchment and a quill that Twilight had left over in Edgar's room and started to jot down a list of items that nopony would raise questions about.

• Coffee grounds
• Crystal Wine Glasses
• Bananas
• Espresso cups
• Coffee pot & filters
• Pure Water
• Sugar
• Cinnamon sticks
• Cinnamon dust
• Whipped cream
• Taper candles
• Radiant Rise crème liquor
• If missing, Shadow Swirl Sambuca - Black Label
• →If missing, some form of rum.
• Some other fruit aside from Bananas

Once she was satisfied with the list, she dried the ink and rolled it up into a scroll. She took a deep breath and opened the doors with her magic. The guards outside were standing at attention as she turned to address them.

"According to the schedule this morning, Tidy Trot should be working the night shift. When she passes by this door in the next few minutes, please provide this scroll and have her procure the products in this parchment back to us immediately." She ordered. Upon receiving a salute of affirm the command, she turned back and shut the doors once again. In truth, gears and cogs started turning in her head the moment she saw Edgar in that field...and spun faster upon seeing how her sister viewed Edgar.

Luna turned the couch to face the balcony and the moon slowly rising overhead before resting upon it once more. She liked to stare and contemplate it sometimes, though this time, she has ambiance of a mumbling human in the background. There are slurs and grumbles in his speech, but nothing that Luna could discern quite yet. However, his dreams do seem vivid.

"...Perhaps whilst we wait, we should take this time to allow any doubts to surface." She thought to herself. There is a clear cut difference between helping the human with an actual guaranteed issue like his bite was and helping him with something that could happen. "One would argue that this may not be...acceptable. Even when doing the right thing, should it be done for the wrong reasons? Should we even be the ones to do this...?"

***Fluttershy's cottage.*** **Third-Person POV** *A short time later*

Discord found him quite perturbed as he sat quietly on a reading chair and thought to himself. If you had asked an eccentric draconequus like Discord if he would have saw himself doing positively nothing after already spending all those years turned to stone, he may have laughed in your face and sent you to Detrot for giggles. This however, was a new tradition that he had learned to enjoy. Nothing Night was a night where you spent your time doing absolutely nothing with somepony. It was quite cozy, and even if his dear Fluttershy adored the Chaos Lord's fun and unpredictable nature, there was something they both enjoyed about their time together doing nothing. Doing it alongside somepony made the seemingly dull activity...not so bad.

However, he wasn't doing something nor nothing with anypony. Rather, he was relegated to doing nothing with nopony in a brightly lit cottage as he waited for Fluttershy, who was stuck doing something with other ponies, to return. What was really strange was that this human seemed to still be alive despite Celestia arriving in Ponyville, which was not expected considering her prior encounters. He thought for sure that one "Danny-boy" a few centuries back would have been the final nail in the coffin for Celestia's mercy toward them.

"And now the human has the spunk to throw the Melody of Harmony my way and try putting the Lord of Chaos to sleep?" He thought to himself, remarking upon the lullaby theme this melody seemed to have. "OOOoooooo, the gloves are coming off!"

The thought of this night being ruined in more ways than one urked Discord to no end, and rather than enjoy doing nothing by himself, he spent his time in the thinking chair trying to devise ways to try and get back at Princess Luna and that otherworldly guest of hers.

"Offer Orange Juice-flavored chocolate milk? Nah, too dull.

"Dust poison joke powder on his toilet paper to see what happens? Nah, that stuff is magic-based. Wouldn't work."

"Perhaps I could trick him into entering a fiddle-playing competition with me, and wake up some manticores placed strategically behind him to issue a comedic chase sequence once the human starts turning ar...no, manticores are not a laughing manner for ponies. Why are mortals so difficult to prank!?!"

He was contemplating all his options when the doors of his tree house swung open. Turning, his mood brighten immediately upon seeing the silhouette of his muse in the door, and his smile turned into a grin as he hopped up from his seat and backstroked through the air toward the middle of the living room.

"Well hello, Fluttershy darling~. And what brings you to your humble abode?" Discord greeted in an enthusiastic voice. He dropped himself over the couch off to the side with one claw holding up his chin, the other making a snapping motion. Suddenly, a martini glass filled with Spectral Scorch Sauce(Now with 20% more Rainbow) and he sipped at it with his teeth. "I thought you said you were going to stay at the castle with the others again. Did you get lonely and miss me~?" He teased, taking a sip from his drink as he grinned. Fluttershy walked past him, her eyes staring downward.

"...Twilight asked me to go home and get some rest. There wasn't really anything else I could do to help." Fluttershy explained. The melancholy in her voice did not go unnoticed by Discord.

"Well, you came back earlier than I thought. A surprise to be sure. You know...We may still have juuuust enough time to do nothing for the rest of the night." Discord offered, setting his martini glass on the nearby table as he stretched out and lounged upon the furniture.

"...No thank you, Discord. Not tonight..." Fluttershy shook her head as she passed the couch and started walking toward the stairs, her face hidden from his view the entire time. This was not the Fluttershy he knew, as she almost never had anything to hide from him in the few months he spent intruding in her life. Though she turned away from him to hid her adorable face behind her mane once more, the Spirit of Disharmony has picked up on telltale signs of Fluttershy's state of mind. What stuck out this time was that her wings hugged her body tightly and securely like a blanket, or a coat, or even a suit of feathery armor.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?" Discord asked, concern evident. "Did something happen?"

The only answer he received was the abrupt closing of her bedroom door.

"Oh...I see. Well if you need me, I'll be here...doing nothing, I suppose." Discord said, turning back toward the couch. As the draconequus sat back down, not a moment went by for the silence to be interrupted as the bedroom door upstairs slammed open and the rapid of hooves running down the stairs echoed through the cottage. Discord was caught off guard as the yellow Pegasus came barreling out and halting right in front of him.

"Discord...you think I'm a good pony, right?" She asked him, her voice wavering. Discord stared at her in disbelief as she kept her gaze downward, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Fluttershy, my dear, there is no contest! And if there were, you would be crowned "Best Pony"." Discord assured her, confused by her behavior.

"Then... why do I feel so awful?” Her voice wavered, and her body trembled as she hugged herself, eyes glossy with unshed tears. “I was supposed to help, but... but I felt so useless. He needed me to help him since nopony else would, and I missed a changeling bite on him yesterday. And when I was watching Trixie, I looked away for one second and she downed an entire bottle of Berry's Best Brandy."

"An entire bottle!?! Her poor liver, that stuff has a skull on the front!" He said amazement. "How durable are you ponies?"

Fluttershy nodded along. "She kept getting frustrated when she couldn't keep her balance or walk in a straight line... and kept apologizing to Edgar from Twilight's window. She almost fell out on accident until I stopped her, and now Twilight has to be her sober buddy until Trixie falls asleep. I still haven't been able to help the bears with Boo bear's custody yet. I haven't been able to do anything right lately."

Discord nodded along as he started to understand her plight. She was always too caring for her own good, despite it being the job requirement of the Element of Kindness. "Fluttershy, are you scared that everypony is upset with you?" She nodded and sniffled. "Even if they were, there isn't a pony in the world that wouldn't find it in their hearts to forgive you. You're impossible to be angry at, and believe me, I tried getting mad at you. They should all count themselves lucky you're here."

"Really?"

"Absolutely!" Discord exclaimed. "If there is anything I can do, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm not going to sit around while my dear, sweet Fluttershy is having conniptions. Anypony else doing what you do on a daily basis would be a serious downgrade. Your friend Rainbow Dash proved that last year."

Fluttershy paused and thought for a moment. She didn't really know if what she was thinking was a good idea, but she felt an urge to finally ask him. "Discord. Instead of doing nothing, can I do something with you?" Fluttershy asked, tracing random shapes into the wood floorboards of her home. "...Like Cuddle?

"...Come again?" The chaotic Amalgam inquired. Though he wore a poker face, it did little to hide the sheer heat radiating off of his cheeks. He was certain Fluttershy could feel it from there. Unbeknownst to her, a literal fuse suddenly manifested and lit itself, leading to Discord's nigh-bursting heart. He was waiting for a moment like this. An excuse to finally have physical contact with Fluttershy. Something more intimate than a simple hug, much as he enjoyed those. Honestly, she blew Mrs. Huggin Kiss out of the water with her hugs. He always awaited for her first move, but timid as she was, it took a toll on Discord's patience.

"I'm okay. I ju-" Fluttershy sucked in air as she tried to stop herself from sniffling. She trotted up, lifted herself on her hind legs and pressed herself against Discord's chest. "I need-...I need you to hold me...Please. I don't want to be alone tonight. You've always been so good to me, even when you made mistakes."

He reached and grabbed the martini glass of hot sauce and downed it in one shot. The fire was still burning, but at least the fuse was doused. Rather than focus on his own happiness, he instead focus on the turmoil she was feeling.

He wrapped the warm pegasus in his arms as she reciprocated with her wings and forelegs. Though she still shuddered, the tone seemed to be less of sadness... and more of the opposite?

Joy.

Fluttershy nuzzled into the draconequus before looking up and meeting his gaze with her neck was pressed against his chest. Her face was flushed and her eyes were still glossy from the tears she has a knack for shedding, but her smile was as bright as the sun and she felt the warmth of her heart swell within her chest. She tried speaking once more though it did seem to take some of her courage to do so.

"Can we cuddle...In my room?" She asked, her voice quivering and soft as her gaze was locked onto his.

The Spirit of Disharmony is not known to have many reservations, but he certainly feels like he's about to have a heart attack. If he wasn't an immortal embodiment of Chaos, his heart may have popped out of his chest by now.

"As you wish..."

***Twilight's POV*** **Twilight's bedroom** *meanwhile*

I sent Fluttershy back home a little while ago. She stayed with Trixie for a while, but I know that she's also been stressed for the past couple of days, with the bear drama and the events a few hours ago. Apparently Trixie got her hooves one of the bottles a bit early and downed an entire half-liter of brandy. Poor Fluttershy was stuck essentially babysitting her, and playing keep away with the second bottle. I felt she could have used the break, but that left me as her sober buddy until she goes to sleep. I don't think I can get anything done when she's like this.

And the melody magic I could just barely hear certainly didn't help. It probably made her more emotional than she should have been.

"I schould have stayed with him...I should have stayed with im... I should ha-OUUGH." Trixie hurled into the toilet.

"♩There there...just let it all out~" I consoled her, rubbing her back with my hoof. Thankfully, Fluttershy had the foresight to tie Trixie's hair into a loose bun on the top of her head so that I didn't have to hold her hair back.

The vomiting didn't last much longer as she stopped with a couple coughs. I grabbed a nearby washcloth and wiped her mouth clean before flushing the toilet. I pulled her upright with my magic and led her to the sink where I turned the faucet on. She drank the water from the running faucet and did her best to swish it around and spit, coughing as she did so.

"~Gross. I'm a mess, aren't I? I'm sorry..." She said, her voice hoarse and weak. I held up a new toothbrush beside her, and Trixie took it and gooed it up with some toothpaste before starting to brush furiously and sloppily.

"I've seen worse." I assured her. "You're actually doing way better than my friend Rarity. She's the white Unicorn that talks "~like this, Darling"." I tried reminding Trixie, and she gave a bit of a frown at her name. "There was one time a fashion critic came and gave her a scathing review of her outfits, and she practically lost her marbles and wallowed in her room. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be wallowing in, only that she had to wallow. The whole reason her outfits were bad to begin with were because we all kept trying to give our two-bits on what looks better." Trixie smiled at that and tried to laugh, but it just turned into a coughing fit. "We should have trusted her to know what she was doing in the first place, and we did fix her reputation in the end."

"You have lots of friends... you like each other a lot. " Trixie mumbled, spitting out and rinsing her mouth out again is she did her best to avoid eye contact with me. "Do you think I'm your friend too?"

"Of course I do. You're not so bad when you're not busy being a big show-off." I teased. She gave me a soft smile and I returned it with a grin.

"Thanks...I wanna be your island too, but I don't know if I'm good enough." Trixie confessed, her eyes tearing up again.

"Oh~kaaaay...don't really know what you mean by that, but I think it's sweet of you to say." I replied. I started to turn the faucet off. "It's enough that we're friends."

"What if I'm not gonna be anypony's friend tomorrow...or ever again..." Trixie sniffed as her eyes started to water. Her nose still sounded really stuffed up from earlier. "What if I mess it all up again."

"I think you're being a little dramatic." I told her. I pulled her towel off the rack and tried to dry her face, but she turned her face away in a big exaggerated motion as she swayed to and fro. "Sometimes, we have fights, but we always find a way to make things better in the end. I promise."

"I know tha-" She hiccuped. "I know that you secretly hate me...and you have every right to..."Trixie mumbled, looking away from me. "I can't believe I did th-THAT to him. He...he trusted me. What if you start trusting me and I-I-I-."

And there is the stuttering again.

She is not taking the alcohol really well, especially with how emotional she is about that human. I'm starting to see a bit of that love that Celestia was talking about. It still amazed me, and without proper data it still didn't make any sense. She seemed like she was clearly love-crazed, but she wasn't in heat nor was she experiencing symptoms of being affected by Love Poison. It seems like a slow burn effect.

"No, Trixie...I don't hate you, but I am worried about you. All you've been talking about for the past few days is Edgar. What about "Trixie"? How's she doing?" I asked her, trying to change the topic. "Does Trixie need water to stop a hangover?" She nodded. "...A lot of water?" She nodded faster.

"Okay. Let's go back to my room." I suggested as she nodded once more. She started walking and I followed, keeping her steady. She was clearly wobbly from all the booze. We stopped briefly so she could get some water from a pitcher of my desk, practically chugging it down on her way back to the guest bed I had brought up for her...before passing by it and collapsing on my bed.

"No Trixie, you need to get back into your bed." I tried pulling her off and getting her onto her back. "Come on..." I pulled her hoof as I helped her sit back on the bed before she turned over and rolled away from me and onto the other side of the bed. "Okay, I guess I can always sleep in it tomorrow." I relented, feeling my eye twitch before I just let it go. I teleported a trash bin over to her side. Can't have her getting sick and ruining my sheets.

"Thanksh Twilight..." She slurred, smiling weakly as she turned her back toward me. Her eyes were glazed and reddish, and one of her eyelids drooped as if it was fighting with her and trying to convince Trixie to fall asleep. "You're too purfect!"

"I'm not perfect. I'm far from it, but I'm glad you think so." I said, blushing as I smiled at her compliment. "Get some sleep, stumbleflank."

I turned to walk over to the guest mattress that I had brought up before I felt a blue aura grab my tail. I looked back to see Trixie with a pout on her face, clearly in defiance before looking at me. That pout had a red tinge around her cheeks, probably from the alcohol. "No, you really are..." She started mumbling as her eyes fluttered. "You're beautiful, smart, strong...I wish I could be like you...Don't take him away from me Twilight."

"Take who?" I asked, confused.

"Edgar...He'd think you're perfect too..." I started blushing. "You want him too, don't you?"

"Trixie, I thought we were going to sleep." I said, trying to steer the conversation away from Edgar. I don't know what happened between her and Edgar, but it seems to have really affected her. "Why don't we talk about something else, or talk about this in the morning?"

Trixie didn't seem to hear me. She kept mumbling and airing out her thoughts. Her mind seemed to be all over the place, but they seemed important to her, so I took this chance to listen. "You have a cashel. You're the richest pony I ever met ...and I'm not. You keep making friends with everypony, and you're a princess! You've already won. Don't take Edgar from me too. He makesh me happy."

I sighed.

I guess we're doing this now.

"I'm not taking him from you, Trixie. You're jumping to conclusions because you had a little too much to drink." I tried shaking my tail away, but Trixie's magical grasp held on. "Why do you even like him if you just met him?"

The magic holding onto me dropped immediately as Trixie looked down in thought. "He makes me laugh and smile. He's nice, and he listens. He listens and worries about me." She paused. "I also really liked how it feels when I help him, and when he helps me. Helping ponies feels good."

"You know, my foal sitter is the Princess of Love. She knows a thing or two, and if its real..."

"It IS!!!" She yelled again, the force of her voice almost propelling Trixie off my bed and onto the floor.

"Okay, okay..." I placated, holding my hooves up as in an effort to calm her down. "...and if she shows that it is, then you could can try talking to him tomorrow morning about what he wants."

"I haven't even asked him if he wanted to give me a chance..."Trixie calmed down, looking down at my mattress bashfully. "Do you want to ask him?"

"No Trixie, I'm think fine for now." I shook my head as I tried to get her back on topic. "He probably doesn't know a thing about ponies or our customs. Aside from me being a Princess, I can't be that interesting or desirable to him if we just met.

"He knows lots about us! Lots...lots." Trixie trailed off during her drunken reasoning. It sounded like she was trying to rationalize to herself if Edgar would be interested in dating her. "...LLLLots."

"What if you talked to him about being friends? Just friends? That might be better for now, right?" I asked.

"Don't change what I'm talking about, you-you Alicorn! You're a bad li~er. Not like Edgar, but still a nice pony. You're the besht. Bet-" Trixie hiccupped before pausing, as if she forgot what she was saying. She was slightly swaying from side to side as she sat up in my bed. "You're better than Trixie... You could ask him out and he'd say yesh...Promish me you won't take him away from me? I'm gonna be his best mare. I want to be better, and now...and no-" Trixie seemed to lose her train of thought for but a moment before suddenly finding it again. "...And now I have somepony else to change for. I have a reason to work hard now...Shparkle, I'll make you-a deal!"

And now she's back to the bargaining stage of grief. The poor mare is going to have such a bad hangover tomorrow morning.

"A deal?" I asked, humoring her with a yawn. I should really get to bed too. I need to wake up bright and early to meet up with Shiny and Cadance to figure out this Edgar crisis first thing tomorrow. Once they come back, we don't have an issue keeping an eye on the Trixie and the human.

She nodded vigorously. "If you let me love him and he loves me, then we can be in a herd...Together!" The unicorn slurred out as she grinned at me triumphantly.

"A herd?" I asked, a twinge of a blush started to appear. This mare was completely wasted. "That's moving a bit quickly, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a herd! I'll let you in my herd. Then you can love him, and even when you love him, I'll love you." She smiled, almost dreamily. "Yeah...I'll love you too..."

I wasn't sure how to talk to her about this, given her level of intoxication. I just hoped that she will be sober enough to listen in the morning or that she would forget this by tomorrow. What would Cadence do in this situation?

"A serious relationship like a herd wouldn't work between the two us if you are forced into it with a tit-for-tat, or if it's treated like a business transaction. It has to come from the heart, or something like that. Besides, you'd technically be in my herd because of my "Princess privileges" and all that. I don't have a herd, but I'd end up absorbing you guys in mine by default, right?"

I lightly tugged at my hooves, but Trixie still held on. "Oh yeah...you're a princess now. That's sho weird..." She murmured, trying to comprehend my status.

"Yeah, I know." I nodded.

"Mmmm still mad at you for that..."

I snorted. "For what, becoming a Princess?" I asked, doing my best to hold back a stifled chuckle. "You just said I was "The Best" a second ago."

"Mmmyeah...but Trixie forgives you. So long as we're together and we can love each other, we can join your herd. You have to take us both though." She slurred.

I suddenly lost balance and fell onto my bed with her as she pulled me in. There was more than enough room for the two of us, but I couldn't help feeling extremely cramped as she hugged me and nuzzled into my neck. She is either a really lovey drunk, or she needs comforting after what happened with him. I don't think she's actually knows what she's saying about having the three of us be in a herd. Even if Edgar wasn't planning on going home, we don't even know if he would go with something like that. He did say that humans only date and marry other humans, so he might not feel that way about ponies. Besides, I literally just met him.

"Uhhh, T-Trixie?” I stammered, my whole body stiffening from the unexpected touch. Why am I not moving away? Why is my heart racing? Her words were slurred, but her gaze felt... genuine. “You’re not serious about... about loving me like that, are you?” I felt her blueberry-scented mane brush the underside of my chin as Trixie nodded her head. She looked up and had a deep blush appearing, and it didn't look like it was only because of the alcohol. "You're considering a herd with me? As in "more than just friends"?"

She kept nuzzling into me but this time she had a softer look in her eyes, and there seemed to be more feeling behind it. I could smell the mint on her breath as her tail intertwined around my own, as well as another fruity smell that I had yet to identi-It was Trixie! The mare is starting to get frisky!!!

"Uh, Trixieeeee...?" I asked out loud in unease and a blush even worse than earlier on my face. It'd be a simple matter for me to teleport away, or even push her hooves off of me.

Except I wasn't doing it.

"Why wasn't I moving away or stopping her? This is moving too fast." My inner voice screamed, but my own heat was starting to overtake my reasoning.

Trixie was not only giving me cutesy eyes, but she was clearly trying to coax the both of us into going further. But it's so fast! I don't even know if I should be laying next to her like this, let alone be thinking of her like this.

"Why not? I'd wanna try. Once you're in a herd, you just...it just clicks, you know? We'd still be friends...but more, right?" Trixie continued slurring, but it wasn't as pronounced as before. Rather, she seemed to give serious thought and care into her words, even if her voice kept trailing off.

"I-, uh, I..." I couldn't find my own words, as they seemed caught in my throat and refused to come out.

"You're sho cute when you shtutter like that..." She leaned in and kissed me on the lips. It was just a quick wet peck with the taste of berries and mint, but I still tasted it. Trixie didn't go very deep and backed off almost immediately with a blush on her face that matched my own. Both me and Trixie quiet for what felt like eternity as we looked into each other's eyes. Trixie's were glazed and half-closed with an air of seduction in spite of her intoxicated state. Mine...were probably not handling this very well. She broke the silence once more. "You...you wanna keep going?" She asked, biting her bottom lip.

I was so paralyzed by what had just happened that I couldn't move my body. Before I had the chance to think it over, she moved back in to kiss me on the mouth once more, her lips lingering on mine this time around. I could taste the alcohol on her breath, and as I heard her horn's aura appear I felt pleasant sensations running across my body. Lightly pinching my teats, gently tugging at my tail, and massaging my mammaries. It was hard to contain myself and my own growing arousal as I moaned into it as I felt my eyelids flutter.

"MMmmnn-NO!" However, it only lasted for a second before I finally found the mental fortitude and pulled away from it. I pushed the sauced unicorn away from me, causing her to let out a squeak at my abrupt rejection. "Woah there, mare! Woah! Woah? Woah. First of all...Woah! I get that you're feeling a lot of things right now, but I'm a Princess, remember? There's rules to that kind of thing. Even if I wasn't, you can't just go around kissing and touching ponies like that. That's like skipping the first three chapters of dating!"

It wasn't easy given that I am admittedly riled up too, but I mustered up my best stern expression to try and get Trixie off my flank. She scooted back with her eyes droopy and unfocused and a deep blush staining her cheeks as if she had something to be ashamed of, while her tail twitched from behind her in discomfort. "Not again...MMmmm sorry, Twilight." Trixie apologized, and clenched her lips shut.

"It's...f-fine." I stuttered a bit. Despite myself, my hindquarters seemed to clench in excitement, as if it wasn't even my body anymore. "You've been drinking, too, so I'd feel bad if you did anything you'd regret in the morning. That'd be taking advantage of you. Do you understand?" Trixie nodded slowly. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom real quick. Are you going to be fine for a few minutes?" She didn't answer back as she nodded again. This time, there was barely a tilt as she only looked at the mattress, almost as if she were embarrassed and saddened beyond belief. My hoof hovered over her mane in comfort, before I caught myself and backed up. "Okay. I'll be back!" I practically shouted before making my way over to my own bathroom door and closing it tight, letting out the breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

It took a moment or two of me panting over my own sink to turn it on and splash myself with cold water. As I started calming down, so did my arousal. However, thoughts of what almost happened came swirling into my mind once more. "Ughhh..." I let out a frustrated sigh. How could I get a wink of sleep after all of that?!?

Once my face was somewhat clean and my cheeks were dry, I walked back inside my bedroom to check on Trixie once more.

She was asleep in a deep, alcohol-induced stupor, with her muzzle against my mattress and a small amount of drool on the corner of her lips. I guess she was staying awake to talk to me in the first place.

Rather than disturb her, I went ahead and simply laid on the guest mattress on the floor. It was comfy enough, but it was taking longer than I thought to go to sleep since my mind abuzz with thoughts...

Thoughts about what Trixie said...

About what Trixie had done...

About what we were about to do...

I let my hoof drift unconsciously toward my nethers while thinking back to what had almost happened with Trixie and I tonight. I could still taste the fruity alcohol on my breath and feel her lips pressed up against mine. The smell of her pheromones lingered in the air like an intoxicating perfume.

It was only a slight brush at first, but soon, my hoof gently grazed across my teats and found purchase as I sensually teased open the fleshy entrance at my hindquarters. There was a faint, dampening warmth where it was touching the fur beneath me as I spread open. A soft moan escaped my mouth, and that was enough to snap me out of it. "NO." I yelled in my head, snapping out of it and rolling my eyes. I am the Princess of Friendship for goodness sake. I'm not going to masturbate in the same room as another pony! What's wrong with me? WHY IS EVERYPONY SO LEWD TONIGHT!!!

The most frustrating part were not just the thoughts I was having, but the pleasant emotions I started feeling when she brought up the idea of a herd. Not just with her, but with Edgar. I thought more and more about what she said, and I started thinking more and more about her offer. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as my thoughts between Trixie and resting human, which made my head spin.

At least with Trixie I had some interaction with her in the past. There is a bit of history and tension between us, but she really does seem to be trying to be a nicer pony. She obviously could use some help and encouragement on that end, though, but that can always be learned. Her kind words earlier and the way she tried constantly fretted to make sure her human friend was alright was a good sign that she does care, at least somewhat. In fact, her being willing to stick around and go through all this for Edgar says a lot about her and how she feels about him. Could she show the same care for any of her other friends?

Yet with Edgar, I don't even know him. Still, there is something about him that I find fascinating. Was it the way he acted, or the fact that he was a completely different species? His knowledge could share could teach us more about his world's technology and how to implement it in our own. His personality also seems to mesh well with Trixie's as well, so I could see them in a herd together if it wasn't for what we already knew about his touch...

No matter. Even if his touch was affecting Trixie and other ponies, we can't deny that he did put his life on the line when he didn't have to. Whatever horrible things Celestia saw from the other humans in the past was probably stopping her from seeing this. He was there for Apple Bloom when I wasn't, and he was the Deus Ex Machina that we needed then. I'll have to try and repay him for his kindness and bravery somehow.

Wow, I'm acting like such a hypocrite. I was getting on Trixie's case about how much Edgar was on her mind, but I'm falling down the same rabbit hole.

And the more I thought about him, the more I thought about what made me appreciate him appearing in my life...

Him calling us pretty...

Answering my non-stop slew of questions until I ran out of paper...

The fear in his eyes as he ran away...and the gentle hoof Edgar had shown when I tried to stop him. He didn't want to hurt anypony on purpose even when he was afraid for his life...

But more than all of that, was the excitement and admiration I saw in his eyes when we met. When he looked at me...and came to a startling realization...

I think I...like Edgar?

My heart fluttered, and for a brief moment, I had to shake myself out of that train of thought.

It's not "like" like it was with Flash back when we thought about going out. It can't be. But the more I think about it, the harder it is to stop, as if something was awakened in me by Trixie's accusation.

It isn't right. I only known him for a day now as well, but the butterflies in my stomach seemed to move into my heart and started to flutter the more I thought about him.

...

Is this why Celestia is so scared of him?

This was with me only touching him a few times. Our contact couldn't have been more than a minute in total. I can't imagine what Trixie might be going through. As much as I wanted to think more about the situation, I realized that I really did need to sleep. There was a lot to do tomorrow, and I had a lot on my mind.

"Ughh..." I groaned, turning around and trying to find a comfortable position.

This is not how I was expecting to spend my night...

***Princess Luna's POV **Third-person***

.

"Maybe...we are letting our desire get the better of us? We have touched him previously, but this was not of wanton lust, but of compassion and appreciation. That being sa-" A knock on the outer doors of Edgar's chambers broke Luna from her musings and conjecture. "That must be her..." She assumed.

Luna got up from her impromptu bed and walked toward the thrice-sealed door. Using the strength of her Alicorn magic, she opened them gently and with enough care to avoid making too much noise. Simply opening the runed portion would be difficult for most unicorns to say the least, but not to the degree that it could stop an Alicorn or even a skilled magic user like Twilight when she was still a Unicorn. There may even have been quite a few guards and talented unicorns present in Ponyville that could move the glass, but that was not the point. Rather, the nullification zone surrounding Edgar's quarters are made specifically to dampen and contain the melody magic swirling around him. It was strange, but the theory behind it made sense. Edgar's unique properties essentially made him a vortex. A "void" that harmony and chaos chased each other around, much like how hot air chased cold to create a Tornado. In time, everything may balance out but there is not enough known about him to confirm this.

It was not perfect considering that the balcony in his room was open-air, but having the rune glass available to absorb some of the latent Melody was better than nothing. The alternative was making his room air-tight.

As the doors slid open, the Lunar guard posted outside stood at attention and issued a salute upon seeing Princess Luna. Between them, a bright yellow earth-pony maid was bowing toward Princess Luna. Her coat was almost glowing against the dark cool backdrop of Twilight's castle, and her blonde mane was tied in neatly braided pigtails running down her neck. If one had just woken up, they likely would have squinted reflexively upon seeing her this late at night. Behind Tidy Trot was a serving cart packed to the brim with the previously requested items, with one notable exception.

"My deepest apologies, your majesty, but there weren't any bottles of Radiant Rise anywhere in the castle." She said apologetically. "Will the sambuca do instead, your majesty?"

"Quite alright, Tidy Trot. Shadow Swirl is an acceptable substitute and fortunately our preference. We thank thee for thine service." Luna replied, and soon a magical aura surrounded the handles of the cart. As Luna guided the cart back inside with her magic, Tidy trot moved out of the way.

"Princess Luna, is there anything else I can do for you?" Tidy asked, her tone polite and eager to help.

"We appreciate thine willingness to assist us, but that would be all for now. Continue with thine duties." Luna thanked Tidy Trot for her help, and waited until the dutiful maid turned and headed on her way before turning toward the guards stationed on either side of the door. "We are not to be disturbed. This is an order." She ordered firmly, and with a nod, both guards returned their gazes straight ahead and stood at attention.

Once the doors closed behind her, Princess Luna cast a sound-dampening spell around the exterior of the room and took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. It should last until morning.

She could feel her heartbeat pick up slightly, and while the gnawing doubts started to return, she tried distracting herself by readying a pot of coffee, setting the bottle of sambuca off to the side. She doubted that she would need much to convince him. Miss Lulamoon may have gotten off lucky after intoxicating him as much as she said she did(with barely a slap on the ankle), but with the ardor flowing through his system, the sambuca was just "insurance". He needs to be comfortable with this...

"...Perhaps we may be taking it too far?" She thought for a shot time. That is, until the water within the coffee pot she was focusing on started to steam with a low hiss, reminding Luna of the events earlier this evening. After a few moments, Luna shook her head. "No, she left us no choice. Not exercising Amor'verus Scutum would be the irresponsible action. We can respect Celestia's past to understand her fears, but we can not risk her further damaging our relationships and Edgar's perceptions of us upon a perceived slight, let alone seriously harming him. We would only be wasting precious time by doubting our resolve at this critical juncture. Besides, it's not as if we love him as such...nor are we doing this for our ourselves. Thanks to our sister's warning, I'm prepared. Even if this "false love" blossoms, we know it is false and can consider this now."

As difficult as this task is starting to sound, Luna was now sure that this was the right action. "We would be more satisfied with the guarantees that he brings... this is the right course of action to take, even if he may not understand it at first. For Equestria, Edgar's safety must be secured. Even if he has never looked at a pony in this way, we can not take "no" for an answer. We shall do whatever it takes to welcome him into our royal herd even if it is during his sleep..."

...

Luna's heart skipped a beat and even felt hollow for a moment. She knew it had to be done, but now that she's actually about to do it she felt herself getting cold hooves now that it was put in perspective what she was actually doing. It disgusted her.

It reminded her of what the "old" her would do... She's not that mare anymore.

...If he listens... He will understand, and he will finally have a mare he can trust.

As she set the coffee pot down and walked over to Edgar staring at his groin. It has since stayed flaccid since, but because her venom is still within his system, maybe there was a chance of stirring it once more.

Luna leaned forward and her muzzle was almost touching his member.

"Haaaaaaaaaaah." She breathed out hot air across his length before giving it a gentle peck... then waited.

It twitched...

"Haaaaaaaaaah." She breathed once more, and once more it twitched more strongly as it started to enlarge and bloat to its prior size. It wasn't quite enough yet, though, so taking her muzzle away from his groin she got within kissing distance of Edgar and she hummed out erotically as she used her lips to nip at his ear. At that point, the speed of which his penis was hardening was a sight to behold for her. Now all she had to do was keep him erect and do her best to slowly stir him awake. If not, proceed forward. Luckily, that shouldn't happen. He was already giving signs that he stirring, and was going to wake up any second now. It was only a matter of time before-

"No..." Luna's ears peaked up as she looked at the human's face, expecting to see him starting to wake up. Her ears and face dropped when she saw the grimace of fear he had in his still sleeping form. "Please no...Mm sorry."

"A nightmare." She thought to herself. Not the reaction she was expecting.

"Edgar," Luna gently coaxed and shook him as she pressed her hoof against his shoulders. "Please awaken...Sir Edgar?" Luna's eyes shot open as she saw a tear come down from his eyes.

"Make it stop...please." He shivered and shuttered out.

"Edgar...please wake up. You're having a nightmare. Tis not real." Luna shook him harder, becoming more worried and confused. His nightmare seemed to be getting worse all of a sudden, and Luna had no answers for the cause. That is, until he spoke once more and gave Luna a depressing realization.

"Make her stop..." Edgar let out another soft whimper and a shudder that sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh no." Luna spoke out loud.

"...It is of Telsona...It had to be...It only started intensifying once we had started coaxing him." Luna thought to herself as she felt a pit of guilt forming in her stomach. "He's reliving his encounter..." As much of a blessing as his magical immunity was, so too was it a curse for Luna as she could not enter his dreams to help him vanquish this nightmare...one that she feels she was responsible for. As she witnessed his face twist in fear, he started to sweat even more.

She couldn't bear the sight, and for the next few minutes, Luna briefly forgot all about her plans. All about her title as a Princess as she stripped all of her crown jewelry off before climbing into the bed with Edgar. Careful not to poke him with her horn, she nuzzled up beside his body as close as she possibly could by hugging herself against him, and him against her. Though he was tall, she was a fair bit bigger than him and found the position at his side awkward. She would probably have fallen off the bed had she not been so close to him. Once she was satisfied with her spot, her eyes rested upon his face and found that the tortured grimace on his face softened somewhat, but was not gone.

Luna let out a surprised grunt when Edgar pulled her close in his sleep and squeezed her in his embrace, and one of his hands found purchase with one of her hooves as it seemed to latch on and squeeze. His expression still wasn't peaceful, but the small change was at least some form of improvement. "His hand...this must be a comforting gesture for his kind." She thought to herself. It felt to her that the longer she was in his embrace, the more it helped him...as if being in physical contact with a pony could help ease him out of this. And as she cared for him, she started to hear something she had not noticed until then.

.

.

Melody magic, the sounds of harmony, started to resonate within Edgar's chamber as it grew above a whisper...It was peaceful...and he looked so peaceful now, didn't he?

"Shhhhhhh...Shhhhhhh" Luna hushed and soothed, and she hummed along to the tune that she was listening to. She no longer had confidence to do this to him without him knowing... Not without trying her best to convince him with the truth...

Even if it may be a lie, it is for Equestria’s safety and his. If he listens, he will understand.

He has to.

***Princess Luna's POV*** **Third Person** *a short time after Edgar drifted back to sleep after their night together*

.

Princess Luna laid staring at the sleeping human, who has since fallen asleep.

"The poor col-no, the stallion must have been holding it all in even before he was bitten..."She thought to herself.

She had never in her long lifetime seen a stallion so resistant to coitus. Even if it was after his nightmare, he was under the effects of a changeling bite. Oddly enough, she sensed no ill will or disgust from him. She couldn't help but wonder if it was truly her or if stallions have simply changed from her time before her banishment. She learned quite quickly on her return that when she tried propositioning guards, they were either too scared of her upon her first return or simply thought she was testing them.

Not Edgar though. He never showed any fear of her.

.

.

"oh, there it is." Luna thought to herself..."That music from before Edgar had awoken."

She was sure of it. Conscious or no, Edgar was having a direct effect on the melody magic in the castle, and it seems to be somewhat effected by his mood. After they've made love, it seems as if Edgar's now calmed mind is resonating with the melody magic. Perhaps, there is a way it could be used? To help keep spirits high in Equestria...to strike fear to the changelings and all who would dare harm those the royals have been charged to rule over. And now, after making love with Edgar, Celestia no longer has a say in whether or not Edgar has to leave or not.

...

"Making love??? Using Edgar?" Luna shook her head at that thought. "How could you even think of using those two phrases together? Especially when you know it was all based on a lie. If what Celestia said was true, then...No. Now that they have shared this tender night, Celestia can not harm him. He can now be free to stay with us without any obligation to return. Surely if he hears more about our plight, he would rise to the occasion. His braggart persona that he had when we first met in the fields...it was his own mask. One that he let slip many times tonight."

"Is Ponyville alright? Did something else happen while I was sleeping?"
"You didn't answer my question. What about Trixie or Twilight? Ponyville?"

"The look of relief he had when we told him Ponyville was okay...truly noble." Luna thought. He seemed to have trouble remembering why he was laying there in the first place, but his first thoughts were of others...

"Nonono Luna, it's not that, really! I just don't want to take advantage of you, so I'm just trying to find another way around this..."
"This was a bad time to be joking, and I'm sorry. Just please stop crying..."

"His almost comical panic when we misunderstood how he felt the entire time...He was so concerned that he was taking advantage of us, and not the inverse." Luna puzzled. "Perhaps roles between mares and stallions are reversed, or at the very least unorthodox in his world...and yet"

"Frankly, I'd feel more comfortable with you than "Princess Zelda"."

"...Luna, after everything I have seen you do, how could I ever see you as an animal and not the incredible pony I met. How can I look at you as anything less than my friend?"

Luna felt a tear in her eye that she wiped away. A real one...? Not the tears of frustration she had when she was trying to get his approval, but of genuine sadness...? He should've had a real "Zelda" tonight.

How could she still call herself his friend when she mislead him? She helped him with Telsona's venom, but even as it coursed through his system, it was no longer dangerous enough at that point to steal his innocence. It should have been given to somepony special. Somepony he loves.

"Love..ou..." Edgar mumbled in his sleep.

Luna looked toward the stallion in surprise before she shook her head in shame. She could never say that back and actually mean it to him. Not without the guilt eating her up inside. She only wished she could have done more to prevent this from happening. She wished she could have had the courage to trust in fate rather than take it into her own hooves.

She brushed his hair away from his forehead before leaning close and pressing her own forehead against his. She couldn't tell if he was dreaming about her or not, but she knew he was at peace and it made her heart warm.

Then came a whisper from Princess Luna.

"I pledge this oath upon thee, Noble Edgar. My Morning Star. No harm shalt befall thee in thine time here...no matter the circumstance". I need to be cruel to you again...but I promise be a better friend for thee, and...I'm sorry. For everything." She whispered as she nuzzled up closer to his chest, letting his warmth envelop her as she drifted off to sleep at the sound of the lullaby in the background...

Author's Note

Oh shit...Celestia never approved of Luna doing the nasty with Edgar???

Luna lied about the venom putting Edgar in danger???

Sexual tension between Twilight and Trixie?!?

Fluttershy and Discord make the best ship???

Anyway,

Time to find out if I am being big-brained in my story, or if this was just sounding dumb and complicated. If you can't tell, I am very insecure and rely on comments and feedback to help fill the hole within me and cope with my abandonment issues once my neopet died.

Publishing this at 4:23AM my time. This may be a grave error, but we'll see.

If you see anything obvious or confusing, let me know so I can fix it or expand on it. Other than that, I'm going to bed. After a week, I am removing the word "unedited" in the chapter title.

Lastly, will probably be going on a small hiatus when Elden Ring drops it's DLC, as said previously, so another chapter might take a bit longer to come out than normal. Just forewarning.