Author's Note

Editing done by Alamais, so any still-existing mistakes are his fault. :P

Twilight's Mind

As Twilight studied her friend across the cafe table, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rarity felt like the odd mare out. She had, of course, invited Twilight and the rest of her herdmates for a “girls’ day out”, something Twilight would never think to do on her own. It wasn’t that she disliked spending time with her friends, or with ponies outside of her herd, but truthfully arranging parties or friendly meals just never crossed her mind. Thank goodness she had such wonderful friends.

Even so, Rarity was the only pony at the table who wasn’t part of the herd. Twilight didn’t kid herself, she knew full well that since she and Rainbow Dash had herded with Lero, they had grown closer—the nature of their friendship had changed, and new friendships with Lero and Lyra had developed. Did Rarity notice? Was she sitting over there, delicately sipping her tea, like she had always done, chatting airly about some new dress she was trying to stuff Rainbow Dash in (“Darling, I can’t simply spend my days designing for just Earth Ponies and Unicorns, you know, and I suspect your stallion might appreciate it too!”), feeling awkward and out of place?

Twilight wished she could just ask her directly, but obviously, that wasn’t going to fly. Plus, she couldn’t help but suspect that she might be projecting ever so slightly. It had only been three months since Twilight had… alicorn’d, as Dashie insisted on calling it, and as much as she enjoyed flying and her new wings for other… reasons, it was difficult not to notice ponies staring at her. Only a few did it openly, of course, but Twilight could feel their eyes on her when her back was turned.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t experienced this sort of public spotlight before—she had, of course, inherited a noble title the summer prior, and before that, dating Lero, the only human in Equestria, had caused its own stir. Before that, she had led her friends in a string of victories over evil, protecting the Great Herd of Equestria from the likes of Discord and poor, bitter Luna.

And before that, Twilight had been Celestia’s personal student.

And before that, she had been the child of a Duke.

Really, looking back on things, Twilight was wondering why she still found it all so awkward or unusual that ponies were staring at her. One would think she’d be used to it by now.

“Twilight? Twilight, are you alright?” Rarity asked, breaking Twilight out of her musings. A couple of seconds later, Rainbow followed it up with a completely unnecessary jab to her ribs.

“I— I’m… Yes,” Twilight gave her best, most reassuring smile. “I’m fine, Rarity, I just got lost in my thoughts for a little bit.”

“Oh, that’s quite alright, Twilight, dear,” Rarity said with an airy wave of her hoof. “I imagine being a princess means you have a great deal on your mind.”

“No. I mean, yes, I do, but no, I shouldn’t let it interfere with my friends or friendships,” Twilight said, feeling nervous for no apparent reason. She hated when that happened. After so many years of hardship and joy, Twilight couldn’t imagine why, occasionally, she still worried she was going to lose it all. It felt like a wonderful, warm dream, and Twilight didn’t want to wake up from it. Not ever.

“It’s worse when she gets spaced in the middle of sex,” Rainbow said with a laugh, earning her a scandalized look from Rarity, as Twilight’s cheeks burned like the sun.

“Rainbow Dash! I hardly think that’s an appropriate topic of discussion to be having in public!” Rarity exclaimed, although Twilight wondered if it wasn’t partly an act on Rarity’s behalf. It was always so difficult to tell.

“Yes, Dashie,” Lyra said with a mischievous grin. “You wouldn’t want some put-out mare blabbing your bedroom secrets in public, would you?” Twilight and Lyra shared a grin; Rainbow Dash had made them both Pinkie Promise to never tell anypony how much she enjoyed cuddling, but, well… neither of them were Pinkie Pie.

Twilight glanced quickly over her shoulder, just to make sure the mare in question wasn’t about to spring up on them.

“That said, Twilight, maybe you should consider taking Still Way up again,” Lyra continued, waving her teacup around. “I know you’ve been really busy these past months, but a bit of meditation could help you focus… you have seemed a bit… out of it, lately.”

“Maybe,” Twilight said noncommittally. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to take Still Way up again. Before she had discovered her talent and cutie mark, Twilight would have wanted nothing less than to be the best unicorn—best at magic—she could be, but after that first, terrifying aural flare, Twilight had always been a bit… afraid of her magic. Not enough that she ever felt like she needed to stop doing magic, or that she shouldn’t do a spell, that had never been a problem. It was only that she suspected, if she had mental blocks that retarded the flow of magic, it might be better to leave them in place. Now that she was an Alicorn, and she was painfully aware of just how much raw magical muscle she had… it seemed better just to wait and see and ease into her power slowly.

Plus, she wasn’t sure it would help her with the other tribes’ magics, and at the moment, that’s really where she wanted to focus. She had a lot of learning to do, and frustratingly, most of it was unwritten.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Twilight, I was wondering if you and yours had anything special planned for Hearts and Hooves’ day. I just know Fleur and Fancy are up to something—it’s our first Hearts and Hooves together, and I suspect they want to make it special.” Rarity’s face took on a faraway look, one that Twilight had long associated with the mare fantasizing over some Prince or hypothetical romantic life. Not so much hypothetical now, of course. Twilight smiled. She had never known what magic romance could be, until she had fallen for Lero and the herd… it made her just as happy to see Rarity finding the same joy.

Then Twilight frowned, at the question.

“I don’t think so,” Rainbow said for Twilight. “I mean, Lero likes to get us chocolates and flowers, and cook us dinner, but that’s about it. We’ve never exactly been big on it.”

“Aww,” Rarity cooed, shaking her head. “Oh well, darling. I’m sure if you asked Lero, he’d be willing to do a bit more for you…”

“I suppose,” Rainbow looked a bit confused, as if she wasn’t sure why anyone would want a big romantic day.

“I know it’s a bit early,” Lyra said, putting down her cup as she rolled her eyes at Dashie behind her back. If the two of them weren’t so close to one another and Lero, Twilight would have worried about friction developing between her two herdmates. Really, that was more of Rainbow Dash’s concern, as lead mare, but much of the time Twilight felt like she was the one leading the herd. Perhaps it was due to her natural leadership skills—or at least, that’s what Celestia had called them, Twilight had never quite believed her—but thankfully it wasn’t something that had really come up so far. Unlike her parent herd, theirs was mostly calm and harmonious, despite Lero not being a pony. “But have you and Fancy discussed foals, Rarity?”

“Oh, uh,” Rarity blushed and demurred, looking down at her cup with a silly little grin on her lips. “We have, naturally. Who hasn’t?” Rarity said evasively, making Twilight smile to herself.

Rarity had told her once that she did in fact desire a foal or two of her own, although admittedly she had been fairly drunk at the time. Nevertheless, Twilight doubted that desire had changed much.

“And?” Twilight prompted with a giggle. She didn’t mean to tease, but, honestly, the look on the mare’s face!

“We… well, I thought it might be better to put it off, what with my career and everything,” Rarity explained, rubbing her hoof against a puddle of spilled tea in the bottom of her tea saucer. “But, well, you girls know how much I love Sweetie Belle… We’re going to try.”

“Wow!” Rainbow Dash said, sounding shocked. “Seriously?”

Twilight felt a bit shocked too; Rarity, a mother? It was just such a strange image, and one that Twilight had never considered before for some reason, despite her foreknowledge of Rarity’s wishes.

“Y-yes,” Rarity blushed deeply. “I’ll admit, I’m a bit nervous, but… well… don’t you girls tell anypony, but… Fleur isn’t… capable. And, well, I think Fancy wants to make up for lost time.”

“Oh, the poor thing,” Lyra said sympathetically as Twilight nodded. Fancy wasn’t noble born, although he had long since made enough money that he lacked only the title, but Fleur was, and her infertility didn’t surprise her. One of her own herdmothers was the same way; a depressingly common problem among noble unicorns, which was probably why they only herded together on rare occasions.

“She’s not pressuring you, is she?” Rainbow Dash asked, sounding a bit suspicious. Twilight flinched and gave Rarity a hard look. She was well aware that not every herd was rainbows and butterflies, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Twilight had heard, sadly, of a new herd member being forced into things she didn’t want to do by the rest of the herd.

“No, no! Of course not,” Rarity shook her head. “Don’t you worry, no. I want this too, I’m just…” Rarity gave a nervous half smile. “But every mare must feel a bit nervous, doesn’t she? It’s a big step.” Rarity paused and gave a small shiver. “I hate to think what’ll do to my body, goodness!”

That broke the tension that Twilight hadn’t realized had been building up around the table, and the four of them shared a laugh.

“Oh, my, well… we’ll see how it goes, Mhmm…” Rarity shook her head as she tried to get her giggles under control. “But… what about you? How has… well, you know?”

Twilight winced. She supposed it was a natural move in the flow of the conversation; in a few weeks, after hearts and hooves day, they would once again be going into heat. Well, Lyra and Rainbow would… Twilight wasn’t really sure how her new body would affect her hormonal cycles, although Cadance had been quick to assure her that, yes, she would go into heat, and yes, she could bear foals, if she chose to do. Assuming she could get seed that would grow in her fields.

As Applejack might say.

To say Twilight wanted children would be a bit of an understatement. Before she had herded, it had really only ever been a background dream, one she had never really considered or put much thought into. Perhaps it had been because her own mother, Star Sparkle, had never been there, and she wanted to do better, or maybe she just had natural maternal instincts… Twilight had no idea. Once she had herded, though, it had been a depressing thought when she realized the stallion she loved, Lero, wasn’t compatable. So had begun a long quest.

The quest to bear a foal with her stallion. Not just for herself, of course, but for Lyra—and, if she wanted it, Rainbow Dash.

At first, it had seemed like such a simple project, one that Twilight had thought could be solved by simply going to the library and doing the proper research. It wasn’t that Twilight was naive, she knew full well that her books didn’t hold all the answers, but she had assumed that there would be a spell, or a potion, or something she or Lero could take, and make them interfertile. While Lero, as human, was unique, Twilight knew full well their herd was hardly the first to contain non-ponies. And yet, it was one dead end after another. Maddeningly there were documented cases of herds—from centuries ago—having children as well as mixed-species members. Yet it was never explained how they did it! It was as if somepony had gone through and censored every book in existence, rewriting them to avoid answering the question that Twilight wanted answered most of all.

But they had done it, so it was just a matter of figuring it out. And so the experiments had started. Month after month, year after year. Disappointment after disappointment. And still she came up empty hoofed. Currently, she was exploring transfiguration options, but she had faint hope of those working… typically, removing the spell would reverse it with all connected matter; ie blood or sperm. Unless Lero wanted to be a pony for the rest of his life… well, that wouldn’t work.

And she didn’t want to ask that of Lero.

“We… still haven’t had much luck,” Twilight forced herself to say, bringing herself back to reality to answer the question. She couldn’t help but notice how bitter she sounded. “Still nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Darling,” Rarity said, reaching over and patting Twilight’s hoof with a comforting smile on her lips. “I wasn’t thinking, forgive me.”

“It’s okay, Rarity, really.” Twilight smiled weakly and did her best to sound upbeat.

“Yeah! Twilight’s the smartest pony there is,” Rainbow Dash grinned confidently with a nod. “She’ll figure it out.”

“Of course, I never doubted you,” Rarity said with a smile, then her mouth opened, as if she was going to say something more, before snapping it shut as she thought better of it and shook her head.

Twilight glanced over at her herdmates; she wasn’t the only one who had noticed Rarity’s hesitation; Lyra returned her gaze with a cocked eyebrow, and even Rainbow frowned slightly.

“It looked like you wanted to say something more, Rarity.” Lyra prompted calmly, fixing Rarity in a stare. Rarity shifted uneasily and giggled nervously before looking away.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Come on, Rarity, you can tell us!” Rainbow exclaimed, giving Rarity a wide grin.

“You shouldn’t think you need to keep secrets from us,” Twilight added, just so she felt like she was part of the group. She hoped this wasn’t what Mama called ‘peer pressure’.

“Ah, well, you see,” Rarity continued to refuse to make eye contact with anypony, as she hemmed and hawed. Then finally she let out a long, controlled sigh. “Very well, but please, don’t be mad with me… I’m not trying to criticize. It’s just...I’ve always wondered…”

Twilight and her herd nodded encouragingly.

“With your difficulty at… getting blessed, with Lero… why haven’t you just gone and courted a new stallion?” Rarity forced the last part out in a rush, and Twilight couldn’t help but blink in surprise.

“N-not that I’m suggesting y-you should bed the first colt you see, of course,” Rarity said with a nervous laugh.

“Of course,” Twilight agreed automatically—out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see Rainbow frowning, and Lyra looking bit surprised. She wondered what her face looked like.

“It’s just that,” Rarity’s voice grew a bit stronger, apparently gathering strength from the fact that none of her friends were trying to take her horn off. “I’ve watched you all struggle with this for years, and I know how much you want foals—and, of course, how much you love your Lero…” the white unicorn licked her lips and glanced down at her teacup, as if wondering if she could escape into it. “But, in a sense, he’s… barren, like Fleur is. I’m not saying I’m nothing but a broodmare for my herd, far from it, but I do know that I’m also a solution of sorts, for Fleur’s inability to… well.”

Rainbow’s face hardened, and out of the corner of her eye, Twilight watched Lyra lay a comforting hoof on their lead mare’s withers, and Twilight hastened to wrap her own wing around her herdmate, comfortingly. A small part of her was pleased she managed to do it, without knocking a chair or two over, but most of her mind was taken up with what Rarity was proposing.

It took all her training—as a student, as a good friend, as a good mare and as a princess—not to slam her head repeatedly on the table. This was hardly the place for that, however powerfully stupid she felt, and with her increased strength, there was a good chance she might break the table if she cut loose like that.

Of course.

Of fucking course.

That’s how those mixed herds had done it. That’s how they had foals. It wasn’t magic, it was practicality. Not all of them had second stallions, of course, but it wouldn’t surprise her if she found, looking through primary documents and similar, if those that lacked them had a close stallion friend, somepony they could call up to donate his seed. Twilight doubted there’d be many stallions—especially in the old days when all they had to look forward to was hard labour or sex—who would turn such an offer down.

Twilight really wished the cafe served something harder.

“I love Lero!” Dashie was saying, with a hard edge in her voice. ‘How can you suggest we replace him? I love him!”

Shaking herself, Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash into a bigger, better hug. It had not escaped Twilight that Lero had been the first stallion her friend had ever had much luck with, and Rainbow was known for her loyalty. Still, it wasn’t fair for her to take out her anger on Rarity.

“I… I’m not suggesting you replace dear Lero!” Rarity said, sounding horrified. “I daresay he’s my friend just as surely as you are, Rainbow! It’s just—no, listen to me, I should never have brought this up. It was very foalish of me, thinking out of curiosity rather than friendship! I never meant to hurt you. Any of you.” Rarity shook her head. “Let’s just drop it, shall we?”

All of them fell silent, and the silence stretched on for several moments before Lyra finally broke it. “Rainbow, Twilight told me you’ve been trying to teach her a few tricks?”

“I—what?” Rainbow looked confused and surprised at the sudden change of subject matter, despite what Rarity had said. Not to mention she had probably forgotten that Lyra hadn’t been there for those disastrous three weeks she had insisted Twilight learn to fly like ‘a pro’. Within seconds her cocksure grin had reappeared. “Oh yeah, Twilight was supposed to do this trick for the Summer Sun celebration, right? But—oh man, you should have seen how badly she was crashing—you remember that, don’t you Rares?”

“I do seem to recall you breaking yet another window in my home, Rainbow…” Rarity said sweetily, before giving Twilight a grateful grin. “Although you also broke your fair share… I really do wish you wouldn’t practice over my home, dears…”

Twilight decided not to explain she had gotten kicked off Sweet Apple Acres after accidentally flattening a couple of prime apple trees in a crash. Earth Pony strength and Pegasus Pony flight should never be combined. She knew that now, and had the tiny scars to prove it.

Dash, however, had no compunctions about that, and quickly launched into that particular story, apparently forgetting what Rarity had said.

When Twilight caught Lyra’s eye, she gave the mare a warm smile for her quick thinking—but couldn’t help it as it turned ever so slightly into a frown. All things considered? Twilight suspected this was going to have to be something the three of them—they’d bring Lero in eventually—were going to have to sit down and discuss at length, and in the privacy of their own home, not in a public cafe.

She could tell neither of them were looking forward to it.

**

While her friends might choose to describe her in words like ‘smart’ or ‘brilliant’ or ‘egghead’, Twilight herself prefered to think that her best quality was her thoroughness. A plan that accounted for and considered every possibility was a happy plan. A checklist, assuming it was well written and followed to the letter, would always ensure that nothing went wrong. Any task could be broken down into hundreds of smaller, easier to understand and approach steps, and each completed step was just a little bit closer to completing a task.

So, naturally, the very first thing Twilight did when she got home—or rather, the home she shared with her herd—was disappear into her study. Her study had, at one point, been part of a very strange lab that she had found in the basement levels of the library after she had moved in. Over the years, she had used it mostly for its intended purpose, mixing potions or assembling magical devices of various sorts. It was, for the most part, a safe and quiet place where she could set a few Sigils humming or potions cooking, without fear of some pony knocking it over or disrupting what were often delicate preparations of magic and chemistry.

Which wasn’t to say that Twilight didn’t still do that; it was merely that, since she had begun her project, most of the lab equipment had been shoved to the side, and new bookcases had been brought in, to hold the records and data she had collected. Much of the space was filled with copies or originals of documents from all over equestria. Herd charts, family trees, birth and death certificates, and so forth, alongside several hundred artefacts and personal belongings from some of the mixed-species herds. All of it, in theory, was supposed to help her solve the problem, but little of it had been very helpful.

Nevertheless, Twilight wasn’t about to disrupt the herd by bringing the topic up, unless she was absolutely sure. Until she had double and triple checked.

As she worked through the material, however, Twilight’s suspicions seemed to be confirmed fairly quickly. Far more quickly than Twilight would have imagined. She divided the piles of information into two smaller piles, one containing mixed herds with multiple males—with at least one of the two males being a pony—and the second pile containing all the herds that didn’t. With the first pile, Twilight just made the axiomatic assumption that those herds, in fact, had simply used the other stallion’s seed, either intentionally, or… in the heat of the moment, as it were.

The second pile was a bit more difficult to parse.

It only had the names and records of the ponies and others in question, and with each case, Twilight had to go through whatever associated records she had, to try and find evidence of the mystery stallion It didn’t take her long before she started to turn up positive results.

The easiest herds were those with a large unicorn population. Unicorns were, Twilight always felt a bit ashamed to say, not known for being wholly faithful to their herds at all times; It was really a product of a number of social pressures, she knew, such as the rigours and difficulties spending so much time away on research or diplomatic missions. Unicorns were, at least in the very ancient days before Celestia and before Equestria, the most isolated of all the pony tribes, as individuals.

This wasn’t to say that Twilight just assumed those long dead unicorns were going around and sleeping with stallions behind their Griffon, or Dragon, or Reindeer partners’ backs. No, it had more to do with the fact that the unicorns in her records seemed to have no problem sharing details of their dalliances with their herdmates, via letter or diary entries. One or two of them had even stated outright—in the roundabout way of diplomatic speech—that they had gotten themselves pregnant with an outsider.

She really couldn’t believe she had missed that.

Earth Pony dominated herds were also an interesting case of it. While not ones to sleep about in quite the same way as unicorn nobility or those with noble aspirations, reading between the lines, it was clear that for such herds there was an equally vibrant trade in seed going on. The main difference was that the stallions were, apparently, treated like family members of the extended herd, even if they never joined the herds in question.

Now that Twilight thought about it, that was probably why Earth Pony herds tended towards the small size… they didn’t need official stallions in their herds, if they could get by with one or two ‘family outings’.

Once she had gone through all the Earth Pony records, Twilight made herself promise never to bring the topic up with Applejack…

As for the Pegasi, those were a bit difficult. Few pegasi ever actually formed herds with non-pony members, and in the olden days, those who did tended to be rejected from pegasus society. In official records, those ponies were, every now and again, marked down as ‘dead’, long before the other records listed their dates of death. Naturally, it made it much harder to find evidence for her theory, and of all the records she went through, those were the slimmest and most flimsy. One could make the case that, as a matter of fact, those pegasi had never gone outside of their herd for help conceiving. Which was probably how it was meant to be.

But Pegasi, as magical as they were, weren’t unicorns, and couldn’t direct mana or energies in as focused or unusual ways like they could. Their magic lay in the direction of weather manipulation and flying—if any tribe was disposed to the type of magic and results Twilight sought, it would be Earth Ponies, but no such evidence existed.

Twilight could only assume that those stallions who had donated their seed to those pegasi herds weren’t celebrated or honoured, but rather considered dirty little secrets nopony was to talk about.

Even so, the evidence—when she got done with it all—was overwhelming. It was also unbelievably late.

Luckily, despite the floor being made out of wood, Twilight had always found it remarkably quiet to walk around, even in the dead of night, provided she stepped lightly. She wished that she had the sort of control Rainbow did, and could just float around silently on her wings, but she at least had practice with not disturbing her herd. It wouldn’t be the first time she had found herself crawling into bed at a Luna Blessed hour.

Sadly, the doors that led to the rest of the house were not so quiet, so Twilight had to be careful to open and close them slowly and carefully to prevent night-splitting screeches of the hinges. Still, it was worth it. The Books and Branches Library would always be part of her home, but, like her heart, her home had just gotten bigger, and as she was stepping into the den, Twilight could feel a bit of her tension easing out of her withers as she smiled at the moon-lit room.

“Twilight?”

Despite years of Pinkie Pie jumping out of her from everything ranging from bookcases to a pair of tube socks, Lero’s voice still startled her, causing her to jump in a rather undignified way.

Lero was standing, dressed in his bathrobe, in the doorway that led to the kitchen—the kitchen that Twilight’s tired brain only just now noticed was lit. He looked as tired as she felt, but despite his slightly wild facial hair and—part of her still giggled at the name—ponytail, Twilight could tell her stallion… her human, hadn’t slept any yet.

“Lero?” Twilight said, freezing in place. “What are you doing up?”

“I haven’t seen much of you all evening, I was getting worried,” Lero’s face grew into a subdued frown. “I was actually just about to come and get you,” His face broke into an easy grin, which Twilight found herself returning despite the bone deep tiredness she felt. “Drag you to bed, and all that.”

“That’s no way to treat a lady, is it?” Twilight quipped, dropping into an imitation of Rarity’s manners. She couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty when Lero flinched slightly. Twilight and her other herdmates had little trouble laughing that mad, mad week off, nor had Rarity or any of her other friends. Partly because there was little reason to feel upset over something that was wholly accidental and unavoidable, and, partly—Twilight suspected—because Lyra, Rarity and herself were unicorns. It wouldn’t surprise her if Rarity took a lover on the side, and even if Lyra and herself wouldn’t do so, it wasn’t something they necessarily batted their eyes at.

It had been a bit more difficult for Rainbow and Lero…

Still, Lero wasn’t one for getting down into funks, and a moment later he grinned just as widely. “My apologies, your Highness. Might I be permitted to escort you to yon bed chambers?”

“Somepony’s asking for a spanking.” Twilight growled playfully, although she strongly doubted there’d be any sex tonight. She could barely keep her wings from dragging on the ground. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Twilight added as Lero walked with her to the bedroom they all shared. It was a bit uncomfortable, and a living situation Twilight wasn’t sure she really preferred, but she did enjoy having her herd around her.

“Weekend,” Lero said simply, although it made Twilight flinch slightly. Had she really started to lose touch of what day of the week it was? “What were you working on? I heard a fair amount of swearing going on, so not well, I’m guessing.”

“Spike didn’t hear, did he?” Twilight asked with a subdued groan.

“He’s been out all day, something to do with the Cutie Mark Crusaders being Dragon Catchers now.” Lero rolled his eyes—or she thought he did, it was a bit difficult to tell when they were so small and beady compared to a pony’s. “Besides, you were using your cute little pretend swears, nothing he hasn’t heard before.”

“Oh.” Pretend swears were what Lero called ‘buck’ or ‘ponyfeathers’, and he wondered why he got such strange looks when he started using ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’ in public. “No, it’s… going alright.” Twilight bit her lip as Lero looked at her expectantly. She hated lying, and she was pretty bad at it—probably the influence of Applejack or the Element of Honesty—but this really wasn’t the sort of discussion she wanted to have in the middle of the night, in a stairwell. A half-truth then. “I’m just following… uh… a lead. On my project.”

“Oh?” Lero said, and for the first time, Twilight wondered if he was just pretending to be interested. It wasn’t that she doubted he wanted foals, not exactly, but…

“Yes, it’s, uh, sort of promising. I don’t really want to jinx it, though.” Twilight gave her stallion what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she pushed the bedroom door open; Lyra and Rainbow were already there, sleeping in an adorable pile. Even if Rainbow did take up more of the bed then was really her share.

It only took a couple of gentle shoves with her magic—and a few caresses in choice spots on the other two mares to clear them a space, and Twilight hopped up on the bed before beckoning to Lero to join her.

“Goodnight, Lero.”

“Goodnight, Love.”

Twilight just hoped it would be a good morning, as she suddenly found sleep eluding her while Lero drifted off beside her.

Oh, Celestia, why did life have to be so difficult?

**

Ever since that topsy-turvy day several months prior, Twilight had always been ever so slightly suspicious of mornings that were particularly bright, even though she was well aware that worry was irrational at best. And, if she were to ever voice those fears, Twilight would suspect that most ponies would focus on the fact that she had come out of it with wings and a title; it seemed like she was the only pony who realized just how close she had come to losing everything.

Still, it was difficult not to smile a bit when she woke up surrounded by her loved ones. Well, most of them. Lero and Rainbow had a tendency to sleep in, but Lyra never did. Rising with the sun was part of Lyra’s Still Way philosophy, even if—as far as Twilight could tell—it wasn’t a necessary component of the practice. Twilight wished she had as good of an excuse; the sun just tended to shine on her face more often than not.

One day, she’d get back at Rainbow for insisting the window faced the sun.

Still, despite her shorter-than-normal sleep cycle, Twilight couldn’t help but feel somewhat upbeat as she extracted herself from the bed and trotted down into the kitchen. At some point during the night, an idea had blossomed in her mind, and by the time she started cracking the eggs for breakfast, she had a plan.

Since Lero wasn’t going to be doing anything, Twilight thought it might be nice to spend the day with her stallion. Obviously Rainbow could come, or Lyra, but frankly, she just wanted to spend a bit of alone time with him. It wasn’t always easy to find the time, Twilight was finding, especially not now.

Twilight had barely started to warm up the waffle iron when Lyra quietly opened the door that led to the ‘backyard’, as Lero referred to it. It really wasn’t their property, it was just an open bunch of grass and rocks leading up to the Whitetail forest. Eventually it would probably be developed—especially since Ponyville seemed to be growing daily—but until then, Lyra liked to go out and go through her morning exercises.

“Morning, Twilight,” Lyra said with a grin as she plopped down into the nearest seat around the table; it was, normally, Lero’s, but the mare had a tendency to steal it whenever she could. Twilight had no idea why. “Glad to see you got to bed last night, although we missed you.”

“Heh,” Twilight tried to laugh it off as she smiled back at her herdmate. “Sorry.”

“Mhmm,” Lyra murmured as she tapped the table with her hoof, looking thoughtful. “...So?”

“So… what?” Twilight asked, despite the futility of it.

Lyra gave her a knowing look.

“Fine.” Twilight sighed heavily. Some ponies seemed to think Lyra was ‘unusual’ or ‘out of it’, and sometimes she did seem to think at right angles with every other pony, but little got past her, when she set her mind to it. “I… I think Rarity was right. It’s all there, in the records. I just… I can’t believe…”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Lyra assured her, although Twilight couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered. It wasn’t exactly a minor oversight, it was a huge one—one that only an amatuer would have made.

And Twilight called herself a scholar.

“Wanting to have Lero’s foals, well, it’s easy to see why you’d make that oversight,” Lyra continued, hopping off the chair and giving Twilight a hug and nuzzle. “What do you think we should do, though?”

“We… we need to talk to Rainbow,” Twilight admitted with a tired shake of her head. Suddenly she didn’t feel so well rested. “And… then Lero. If we decide to…”
Lyra nodded as if it was the most obvious course of action. Well, Twilight supposed it was. “How do you think… she’ll take it? Or Lero, for that matter?”

“Badly,” Twilight said darkly, recalling Rainbow’s reaction yesterday. Then her face softened; “I don’t know how Lero will take it, I know he’s done his best to adapted to Equestrian life, but… well…”

“He is pretty hetrosexual,” Lyra agreed, even if that wasn’t really what Twilight was going for. Lero wasn’t a pony, it made little sense that he’d react like one. “I don’t think I’ve ever so much as seen him eye another stallion.”

“No.” Twilight shook her head again, as the toast popped out of the toaster. “No, I agree, but I think the greater issue is going to be—”

For the second time that morning, the kitchen door swung open, revealing a very tired looking Spike. Even if Twilight hadn’t wanted to keep the topic between her and the girls for now, she would have broken it off now that Spike was here, if only because her number one assistant looked like he had been up all night.

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, closing the door behind him, causing the baby dragon to jump slightly.

“Oh… Oh, Twilight, hi.” Spike said looking sheepish, “I didn’t—” Spike broke off into a huge yawn “—see you there. ‘Morning, Lyra.”

“Spike, have you been up all night?” Lyra asked, sounding torn between amusement and trying to be a stern parental figure to the young dragon. Since herding, the three of them had agreed, implicitly at least, to look after him.

“Uh, maybe.” Spike admitted, as he ran his claws through his spines. “Those fillies… I don’t know where they get their energy from!”

“Probably Pinkie Pie slipping them cupcakes all the time,” Twilight said with a heavy sigh. “Well, up to bed Mister! You’re still a baby dragon.”

“Aww, Twilight!” Spike said with a long drawn out sigh. “Come on, can’t I at least have something to eat first?”

“I’m sure we can find you something to eat,” Lyra said with a laugh, using her magic to put together a plate of waffles and eggs behind Twilight’s back.

“Lyra!” Twilight said, feeling exasperated. But not too much; she wouldn’t have sent Spike to bed on an empty stomach anyway, she just hoped Lyra wouldn’t contradict her in front of their foals when the—

Twilight’s stomach clenched uneasily. It was like she was already planning a future with another stallion in the herd.

“Did somepony say breakfast?” Lero’s voice rang out as he walked into the kitchen, once again dressed in his bathrobe. Twilight didn’t understand his obsession with covering up all the time, even in his comfort of his own home. Beside him was a ruffled looking Rainbow Dash, and Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Some days, it seemed like those two were a pair of rabbits.

“Since when do you cook?” Rainbow asked as she climbed into her chair beside Lero. “Hi Spike. Scoots catch you?”

Spike looked downcast and avoided Rainbow’s gaze as he mumbled into his plate about ‘not wanting to talk about it.’

“Yeah, what’s the occasion?” Lero added as he smiled at the plate being placed in front of him. He dug in with a gleeful gusto, and seemed to enjoy it at least. Rainbow picked the dish a bit more suspiciously at first, although Twilight was sure there was nothing wrong with it. She had followed the instructions to the letter!

“I can’t make breakfast for my herd, every now and again?” Twilight huffed as she placed a similar plate in front of Lyra—and then her own plate with the least appetizing pieces. That is, those that hadn’t turned out quite right. “Plus, I’m never going to get better if I don’t practice.”

“You’re a Princess!” Rainbow exclaimed, although not quite in the same sort of tone as Rarity might have said it. “When are you ever going to need to cook?”

“Okay, fine, I won’t cook anymore!” Twilight snapped, feeling slightly angry. Rainbow didn’t mean anything by it, of course, and she was probably just teasing her, but Twilight could hear the unspoken implication behind it. Her herd was mortal, she was not. Eventually she’d be living in a Castle somewhere. She hated thinking about it, but she suspected that Rainbow hadn’t even thought about it at all… or Lyra. Certainly not Lero.

Lero still seemed to be skeptical that Celestia raised the sun.

No, she wasn’t going to dwell on that. She had to enjoy what time she had.

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized as Rainbow opened her mouth to do the same. It wasn’t Rainbow’s fault. “I… Well, actually, since you asked Lero, I was hoping if, uh,” Twilight turned to Lero and gave him her best smile. “If you wouldn’t mind spending the day… with me? Alone?”

“I enjoy spending time with all you girls,” Lero said gesturing with his fork. “I didn’t have any plans, really.”

“I have to practice anyway,” Rainbow nodded, looking pleased. Twilight could guess she was feeling a bit guilty, not having time off with Lero. “You two have fun.”

“Great!” Twilight beamed, avoiding looking at Lyra, who was giving her a quizzical look. Twilight caught her eye and shook her head slightly. No, she wasn’t planning on talking to Lero about it. Not today, at least.

“Do you have anything in mind?” Lero asked between bites. One thing Twilight always liked about her stallion was the fact that he was certainly very polite. Her mother would call him well trained. Twilight gave herself a mental shake. Why was she thinking of her mother, now of all times?

“Um, well,” Twilight paused to think, only to notice Spike starting to fall asleep at his plate. Deftly, she grabbed his half-eaten plate with her magic and pointed up at the floor above. “Bedtime, Spike.”

Spike looked like he was about to argue about it, before sighing and giving himself enough of a shake to wake up. Twilight watched him go, and resolved to check in on him before she left.

“Well, as for today,” Twilight licked her lips, realizing this might be a bit of a flaw in her plan—then an idea dawned on her. “Oh, well, the Traveling Star Swirl the Bearded Museum is in town. We could go to that?”

“Ugh, Egghead stuff,” Rainbow groaned, “now I’m glad I’m not going.”

“Be nice, Rainbow,” Lero said—his rebuke slightly ruined by the the way he rubbed between her wings. Twilight’s wings twitched in jealousy. That had quickly become a favourite spot of hers, if an unexpected one. A lot of unexpected things had come with these wings. “I’d be happy to—he certainly sounds interesting, after all—but weren’t you going to go with Cadance?”

“I was,” Twilight tried not to sigh. She had been hoping Cadance would be able to get away, but… it seemed it just wasn’t in the cards. “She’s sick, though.”

“Sick?” Everypony and Lero echoed. Rainbow and Lyra looked shocked, whereas Lero just looked concerned. Of course he wouldn’t realize how unusual it was for an alicorn to get sick.

“Nothing serious, I hope?” Lero added, pausing with his fork halfway to his mouth.

Despite herself, Twilight giggled. “No, no, nothing serious. I don’t think she’s really sick, actually, just busy.” Of course, morning sickness was a sort of sickness, Twilight supposed, but not one she was going to get worked up about. Excited, yes, but not worried. Still, Cadance had asked her to keep that a secret for now. And Twilight wasn’t about to violate that promise, even if she did want to tell her herd. And her friends. Everypony she met.

“Oh, good,” Lero said with a nod, and Rainbow Dash just shrugged and went back to her meal. “I’d be happy to take you, Twilight.”

“Great!” Twilight said with a grin as she finished her own meal. After all, if she was going out, she wanted to get ready—like taking a shower, for example. And getting dressed up.

She wondered if she still had that Star Swirl costume…

**

The museum was, as always, very enjoyable. Of course, it was hardly the first time Twilight had seen the museum—or at least, the artefacts on display. As Celestia’s Student, Twilight had access to all but the most secretive archives, including pieces from throughout Star Swirl’s life, and many of them had, as far as Twilight knew, never been publicly displayed. Either they were unsuitable for such things, due to their age and fragility, or were essentially unknown, like Star Swirl’s unfinished spellbook. Not to mention the private, personal letters Celestia had allowed her to read that the old stallion had sent the Princess, mementos of an old and lost friendship.

Still, Twilight had always enjoyed seeing Star Swirl’s stuff, even if it was behind glass and some of the least important things he had left behind. Thank goodness they hadn’t made as many mistakes this time, she’d hate to have to invoke her status as princess to correct the curators. For some reason, they never seemed to like that.

But part of her suspected she enjoyed it so much only because of Lero being there. Despite some of the confused or fearful looks some of the non-ponyville natives had given them, nopony had been rude or mean to him, and Lero had always had a keen interest in Equestrian history, even if he did, every now and again, complain about the terrible ‘puns’ in the names of historical characters and places. Twilight had no idea what he was talking about, it had to be a human thing or something.

“I’m still amazed they have all this stuff,” Lero said, as he took a slow and, Twilight suspected, careful, bite of his sandwich. He always tried very hard to make the ponies around him feel welcome—including strangers in the restaurant, as it were—and part of that was making sure he didn’t act overly threatening. In public, his smiles always became a bit tighter, a bit more restrained, and he never seemed to move as freely as he did when it was just her, or the rest of the herd. It was almost like he wore a second set of clothes. And for some reason, that thought made Twilight feel a bit sad. Why couldn’t ponies be a bit more welcoming?

Human teeth weren’t even that carnivorous!

“I wouldn’t be that impressed, Lero,” Twilight said with a laugh. Really, for everything they had on display, it was nothing more than trinkets. “One day, I’ll have to take you to the National Museum of History in Canterlot.”

“I’d like that,” Lero agreed with a nod of his head. “But I meant more of the fact that this stuff is still around at all. Back on… where I come from, there’s very few things from over a thousand years ago—at least not much in as good of condition.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight licked her lips and gave herself a moment to think with a sip of her water. Lately, it seemed that Lero had been reluctant to talk about Earth, and Twilight wasn’t sure why. Was he just especially homesick? It seemed like an odd time for that to happen, given that Lero had been in Equestria for a fairly long time now. Perhaps she’d bring it up with him, when they were alone. “Well, even minor enchantments, done right, tend to give their items a bit of a self-repairing capability,” Twilight shrugged. “And I think Star Swirl made a hobby out of enchanting stuff.”

“I was a bit surprised that there were so many ponies dressed up at Star Swirl, actually,” Lero said, changing tracks a bit. “I thought you said many ponies didn’t know about him?”

Twilight giggled, remembering Lero’s reaction the when she pulled out the costume and started dusting it off earlier that morning, She had been a bit surprised when she had discovered that she wasn’t the only pony dressed up for the museum, but Twilight supposed word had spread over the past few years she had been in Ponyville… unless they were just trying to imitate her.

Or follow the trends she was setting, as Rarity had gushed over it yesterday. Apparently she thought it was a great honour, or something to be excited about, but Twilight found it sort of disturbing. Especially that morning when she had awakened to find Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle stomping around her library, dyed a deep purple—from crushed blueberries, apparently—and fake horns and wings. Lyra had found their attempts to get cutie mark in ‘princessing’ to be adorable, but Twilight had difficulty looking at blueberries now without feeling a bit sick.

“None were as good as yours, of course,” Lero added with a wink. “You looked very sexy.”

“Oh good,” Twilight snorted, “I always wanted to be a sexy stallion…”

The colour drained from Lero’s face, “I didn’t mean to—”

“I’m joking, Lero,” Twilight reached across the table and patted Lero on his hand. “And I’m not insulted.” Twilight could still remember that week, when Fluttershy had finally let him out of her cottage, and he kept getting everypony’s sex wrong.

“What do you want to do now?” Twilight asked, changing the topic for Lero’s sake. Not to mention both of their plates were starting to look fairly empty.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Lero asked, pushing away his own plate. Within seconds, the Waitress on duty had spotted the fact that they were about to get up and leave and flew up and over to remove their dishes.

“I’ll pay now, please,” Twilight said to the waitress as she stacked the plates.

“Pay?” The mare said, giving Lero a suspicious look and sounding surprised. “There’s no need to pay, Princess, it’s on the house.”

“I insist,” Twilight began to pull out what she estimated the price of the meal would be. It was a bit difficult, without seeing the menu, but Twilight had a fairly good idea, based on the current market value of the ingredients and average labour costs.

“I can’t accept your money, Princess,” the waitress shook her head before returning to the air. “Have a wonderful day, Princess!”

Lero watched her go, although Twilight couldn’t help but notice he made sure his eyes didn’t drift anywhere naughty, as Twilight stacked the coins on the table regardless of what the waitress said. Her stallion raised his eyebrow at that.

“I’m paying,” Twilight’s voice was a bit more grumpy than she intended. “Ponies have been treating me like this every since I grew these wings, and I’m sick to death of it!”

“And what lovely wings they are,” Lero commented, reaching over and ruffling her mane. That wiped the frown of her face, for sure, even if it drew horrified looks from the other patrons. “Come on.”

It wasn’t until they were halfway down the street that either of them spoke again. Twilight was mostly concentrating on blowing the other pony’s minds by wrapping her wing around Lero—which, since he wasn’t a pony and she wasn’t practiced with them, meant she had to make sure not to trip him by accident. It might have been petty of her, but she was sick of those looks too. They had mostly eased off, before she had become a Princess, but as soon as she did, those questioning looks started up again. They were probably expecting her to abandon her herd for some noble fop like Prince Blueblood or something.

“Does it really bother you that much, Twilight?” Lero asked softly, causing Twilight to look up and wonder how much of her frustration was showing on her face. At some point, she was going to have to learn to master her emotions, like Celestia and Luna did. Before she frowned at the wrong time and caused the stock market to implode or something. “I know we haven’t really discussed it since this all happened…”

“It’s just… frustrating,” Twilight said with a sigh. “It’s like everypony looks at me differently—and treats me differently. I never wanted to be a Princess.”

“Oho?” Lero laughed, “You mean to tell me as a filly, you never pretended to be a Princess?”

Twilight half snorted, half laughed, “Nah, I always wanted to be the noble mage knight, rushing to save the Princess. Don’t… don’t mention that to Shining, he’s still a little sore that I made him the princess.”

“I won’t, I promise,” Lero said with a grin that suggested that the next time her brother and Lero met, she’d be spending the next few hours listening to her brother grumble at her. “Well, all I can suggest is that you ignore them, Twi.”

“Right,” Twilight agreed, refolding her wings and smiling up at him. “So where are we going, anyway?”

“Ah, well, I was thinking we could swing by Sweet Apple Acres and see how Rainbow’s doing.”

It took all of Twilight’s self control not to frown. She loved Lero and Rainbow dearly, as friends and as herdmates, but sometimes the two of them seemed to be utterly fixated on one another. She knew Lero didn’t mean to hurt her or Lyra, nor Rainbow, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous, and a little bit angry. She was his mare too! At least with Rainbow, she could guess that her ‘bentness’ meant she just didn’t always think of the other mares first, but Lero…

Well, Lero would always be a monogamous at heart, she supposed.

Perhaps another stallion in the herd would help with that, whispered a poisonous little voice in her ear. Somepony to treat you and Lyra the way you deserve.

Twilight growled to herself and shook her head. How could she think that? Besides, it’s not like she had never seen perfectly normal stallions make this sort of mistake too, it wasn’t like Lero was uniquely challenged or something. Perhaps he just needed a bit of a reminder…

A grin washed over her face, as a naughty thought dawned on her. The sort of thought that really wasn’t worthy of a Princess or a smart pony like herself. The sort of thought that would, if anypony knew of it, land her in hotter water than Spike liked to bathe in.

Okay, so it wasn’t that naughty.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Twilight giggled and surged ahead, up the hill and over the crest. They were nearly out of the Ponyville proper now, and Twilight could see the beginnings of Applejack’s orchard. “Follow me!”

Lero didn’t need much prompting, although Twilight had to remember to pace herself as she darted through the apple trees, so she didn’t accidentally leave Lero in the dust. His height and leg length meant he wasn’t that slow, but he was certainly no pony—even a pony like herself, who really ought to work out far more than she did. Or at least, that’s what Rainbow kept telling her.

Eventually, Twilight stopped, judging the depths of the orchard deep enough to provide them cover—even from nosey pegasi. At the very least nopony could see or hear from the road. The hearing part would probably be very important.

“What did you want to show me?” Lero asked, panting only very slightly as he came to a stop behind her.

“Oh, this or that,” Twilight said with a grin as she lifted and hitched her tail to the side, letting Lero see everything she had. Part of her wanted to giggle like a filly from the astonished look on his face—and Twilight wanted to blush at herself too. Usually it was Rainbow or Lyra that was this horny… and this open about it. Twilight didn’t mind waiting for privacy. In fact, she was blushing, but it was the good sort of blush, that really just made her more eager and excited.

Lero’s astonishment only lasted a few moments, before he started to untie his belt. Perhaps he was regretting wearing so much clothing now! Still, it only took him a few moments to get his pants off, leaving him only with his “underwear” on, if rather dramatically tented.

She couldn’t help herself, she wiggled her ass back and forth for her stallion, waiting for him to finally get those stupid things off of her prize. As he straightened up, his cock throbbing in the afternoon air, though, Twilight used her wings to fly backwards and knock him over—she made sure to lower him to the ground with her magic so he didn’t hurt himself.

“Twilight!” Lero protested, looking slightly alarmed as Twilight nuzzled his cock, enjoying the warmth and hardness of it. It was rather oddly shaped, something she couldn’t help but notice every time she saw it. Rather than the flat, flared head of a stallion’s penis, it was more bulbous. Twilight could still remember being worried that it was so red, the first time she had seen it. Truthfully, it was probably a bit smaller than the average stallion, although Rainbow Dash apparently had told him it was bigger and and insisted the rest of them maintain the lie. Twilight didn’t mind—after all, stroking her stallion’s ego was something a mare was supposed to do. Speaking of stroking…

“Yes, my love?” Twilight purred as she ran her tongue up the underside of the cock, enjoying how it flinched and throbbed with new purpose as she did. She gave the head a lick and a kiss, before dragging her lips and teeth back down to where Lero’s testicles were, buried in a nest of flame-red pubic hair. Pubic hair was, perhaps, one of the things Twilight really didn’t like about this, and she was just grateful it was a uniquely human attribute—she’d hate to think of how much hair would get caught in her teeth if Lyra had any.

“Do… do you want to do this here?” Lero’s voice was thin with stress and arousal, but he also sounded a bit concerned too. Twilight stopped and frowned at him.

“Don’t you?” Twilight asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Why was Lero resisting? “I thought you and Rainbow had done this hundreds of times?”

Lero opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t get a chance, as a throat suddenly cleared behind them.

“I hope that ain’t true.” Twilight’s head swung around in surprise and horror as Applejack stepped out from behind one of the trees— carrying baskets half full of apples. Oh. Of course. That’s why the trees were so heavy and thick. “I’ll have her hide if it’s true.”

“APPLEJACK?!” Twilight and Lero’s voices mingled into one strangled yelp. Twilight clamped her tail down against her very exposed behind, and Lero scrambled backwards and out from under Twilight, using his hands to cover himself in a rather ineffective and pointless manner.

“I’m flattered, really,” Applejack said with a smirk, as she casually strolled through the trees towards one of the trees on the other side of the row. “But I am tryin’ to work here, sugarcube, and y’all do have a house…”

“I’m so, soooo sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said, wondering if she should throw herself down at her friend’s hooves. That might be a bit much.

“Uh, yeah,” Lero added from behind the tree he was trying to hide and dress behind.

“Nothin’ I haven’t seen before,” Applejack said, matter-of-factly. “At least it wasn’t Big Mac and Cheers this time, I could have done without seein’ that.” Applejack gave Twilight a significant look, “Not that I want to see this again, mind you, ya hear?”

“Do… do you need any help,” Lero said, emerging from behind the tree, fully dressed again. Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed.

And why the hay did Rainbow and Lyra get to do this, and the first time she ever tried being spontaneous, she gets caught? Perhaps a checklist next time would help…

“You offerin’ to help buck some trees?” AJ asked, peering at Lero, her eyes roving from Lero’s face, to his hands, and—Twilight’s heart skipped a beat and she grew a shade redder—his crotch. “Well, Hands, if you’re offerin’, that’s mighty kind of ya.”

Obviously, Lero couldn’t buck trees, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help pick some of the outlyers. As skilled as Applejack and her family was, they did miss a few every now and again, but Twilight knew Lero could pick those off after Applejack bucked the tree, so there wasn’t any waste.

“I can help too!” Twilight offered, feeling ever so slightly frustrated. It wouldn’t do not to help, not with Lero offering, but she couldn’t help but wish he hadn’t. Still, that was just like Lero, and there was little mystery why he was so well liked around Ponyville.

“Don’t you have somethin’ you’d rather be doin’?” Applejack asked, to which Twilight shook her head. Oh, she could imagine a few things she’d rather be doing… a few whos, too, but, well, Applejack was her friend. “Well, alright then! Looks like I’ve got myself a couple of go-getters! ‘Sides, I’ve been meanin’ to teach you apple buckin’, Twi.”

“I… what? Really?” Twilight had helped her friend harvest the trees before, but she had always used her magic to do so. She simply didn’t have the strength to kick the trees hard enough to make the apples fall out of them.

“Well sure, you’ve been learnin’ to fly from Rainbow, but if I understand this whole alicorn thing correctly, you’re also an Earth Pony!”

“I… suppose that’s right,” It was easy to forget that, if she was being truthful. She never seemed to notice her new found strength until she broke something.

“Since you’re an honorary Apple, I reckon it’s about time I take you under my wing,” Applejack chuckled. “Metaphorically speakin’, of course.”

Applejack turned so her behind was facing the nearest apple tree, “alright, now watch close…”

Lero gave her a bemused look as Twilight sighed and settled in to her first lesson at being an earth pony. Assuming one didn’t count “don’t fuck your stallion in your friend’s orchard” as lesson one.

Hopefully, the rest of the herd would never hear about this. She’d never live it down.

**

In spite of being caught and getting roped into being improvisational farmhooves for Applejack’s harvest, Twilight felt that all in all it hadn’t been that bad of a day. At the very least, she had enjoyed herself, and even if they were doing manual labour for free, she was getting to spend time with Lero. Not that she minded spending time with Applejack, of course. Plus, even she’d admit she was always a bit of a sucker for learning, even if what she was learning didn’t seem to have that much depth. The applications for the techniques seemed rather limited to Twilight, although she’d never mention it to Applejack.

But it wasn’t easy to master, either. Tree bucking wasn’t nearly as easy as Applejack made it look, and Twilight wished she had brought a hard hat with her when all was said and done. Naturally, there was a magic component to it, but Earth Pony magic wasn’t nearly as refined or controlled as the sort of unicorn magic Twilight was used to, so that was a bit challenging as well.

It was still a lovely day, although by the time the two of them made it home for the evening meal, they were dirty and sweaty and more tired than Twilight had felt in a long time. Even if she did feel more than a bit unsatisfied in… other ways. Thankfully, neither of them had to go through the effort of making a meal, since it was Lyra’s turn to cook. Although the smell coming from the kitchen gave Twilight some pause. While Twilight had travelled before coming to Ponyville, and Rainbow was from another city—not to mention Lero was from a whole other world—Lyra probably had travelled the most, usually as part of her studies in Still Way. It was only reasonable, Twilight supposed, that she’d develop some unusual tastes, but she still hadn’t forgiven her herdmate for that night she tried to serve them live Kelpipus.

Just thinking about it made Twilight’s stomach roll.

Still, she was grateful for the chance to get herself cleaned up and feeling refreshed before sitting down and eating with the herd. Lero helped her wash her mane, and although she teased him, they didn’t really get much further than they had that afternoon. There’d be time for that later.

And Twilight made good on that promise as soon as they had waited an appropriate amount of time after eating, before dragging her stallion to bed. It wasn’t terribly romantic love making, by all standards, but it was enjoyable—even if she was a bit surprised that neither Lyra nor Rainbow joined them. Lyra, at least, Twilight could understand to a degree. It wasn’t that she didn’t like tag-teaming their stallion, she almost made a sport of it at times, but she was also usually sensitive to her herdmates’ needs and desires. So she was clearly giving her some extra space to spend time with Lero.

Rainbow, on the other hoof, had a tendency to never pick up on those sorts of hints, and at times it was almost as if she couldn’t stand being away from Lero too long. So Twilight had, throughout her lovemaking, expected Rainbow to creak open the door and join them—or at least, join in pleasuring Lero—invited or not and, when she hadn’t, it left her with a rather stubborn level of curiosity that simply refused to go away.

So, despite how tired she felt, and how much she honestly wanted to join Lero in dreamland as he drifted off, Twilight found herself staring at the ceiling, wondering where her herdmates were and what the hay was going on. It was a mystery, and mysteries were really just problems waiting to be solved. But, like a dragon, her brain tended to latch onto problems and never let go. It was almost painful, being caught between her overactive brain and her overtired body, and eventually, once she was certain Lero was in a deep enough sleep not to be disturbed, Twilight slid herself out from under the covers and trotted downstairs, trying not to yawn continually.

It wasn’t as if she had to search particularly far—thankfully, the two mares were in the den, apparently relaxing. It wasn’t until Twilight glanced at the clock as she stepped into the room that she realized the real reason neither of them had joined them in bed was probably because it was still very early in the evening.

“I didn’t expect to see you up, Twilight,” Lyra commented as she looked up from her typewriter. While Lyra didn’t have any particular talent in writing, she had apparently decided in the past couple of weeks that she should write a book about Still Way—something to do with a disappointing number of new practitioners. Twilight had yet to see the mare type a single word on the page, though, and she was wondering if she ought to expect Lyra to approach her for help sooner rather than later. “Where’s Lero?”

“Asleep,” now that she had pulled herself out of bed and forced herself to walk around, Twilight didn’t really feel all that tired anymore. Or rather, she felt tired, but not particularly sleepy. With a shrug, she curled up on an empty couch opposite Lyra and Rainbow and pulled over of her unread books over from a stack she had kept in the corner of the room. The stack had grown alarmingly tall as of late, since Twilight had become an alicorn, and Twilight was both excited and dismayed that the first book she pulled over was a new Daring Do book. She had completely forgotten about its release date, and now the book was at least a couple of weeks old.

“Tired him out, eh?” Rainbow said with a cheeky grin. Like Twilight, Rainbow was reading, although it was an older Daring Do book, one she was probably re-reading for the fun of it.

“I guess,” Twilight said noncommittally, feeling herself blush. It wasn’t that she minded talking about it with her herdmates—a bit pointless to get embarrassed talking about something you’ve done with somepony by your side—but she was starting to wonder if the reason she had gotten out of bed was out of an irrational fear that her herd was abandoning her. Again.

Maybe she ought to talk to a therapist.

“So, uh, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Rainbow cleared her throat and set aside her book. Twilight felt like raising her eyebrow in surprise. Her herdsister sounded surprisingly serious. “What the hay is going on??”

“Huh?” Twilight saw Lyra glance up from her typewriter and shift ever so subtly so she could join in the conversation.

“Last couple of days, you’ve been acting sort of weird,” Rainbow explained, running her hoof through her mane nervously. “You too, Lyra.”

“Weird? How?” Twilight felt her wings fidget. Blasted things.

“Well, like, today, you made breakfast, and then you wanted to spend the day with Lero,” Rainbow’s own wings fidgeted with her nerves, and her face grew sort of pale.

“He is my stallion too, Rainbow,” Twilight pointed out, trying her best not to sound cold or angry at the question. Ultimately, she sort of failed and she ended up sounding cool, if not cold. “I do enjoy spending time with Lero as well…”

“Well, sure, I mean, I don’t have any problem with that,” Rainbow gave a nervous laugh. “But…”

“But?” Lyra echoed, completely pushing the typewriter away now. While Twilight couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated at Rainbow’s inept line of questioning, Lyra didn’t seem to be particularly bothered by it. The mare had a serenity that Twilight envied at times.

“Well, like, today,” Rainbow’s nervous smile grew a bit more genuine. “I’m flying home, and AJ calls me down to tell me not to be ‘dallying around with Lero no more’ in her orchards—she caught you!”

“I—” Twilight felt herself blush hard. So much for keeping that between the three of them. “I-I can explain—”

“How did Applejack react?” Lyra asked, sounding interested and making Twilight wonder if Lyra had her eye on the mare. She did seem to go for the down-to-earth types.

“I mean, what’s up with that, Twilight?” Rainbow continued, ignoring both Lyra and Twilight. “You never do that sort of thing!”

Twilight wondered how to explain it; how could she explain that she had been hoping to spend the day with Lero, and all he seemed to think about was Rainbow, and not the mare he was with? “I just thought it might be fun.” She forced herself to say at last. It wasn’t a total lie. “It won’t happen again. And to answer your first question, I wanted to spend time with Lero because I haven’t been, at least not lately. I’ve been so busy. I missed him.”

“He misses you too, the big lug,” Rainbow said with a smile. After a moment, Rainbow apparently decided that it was enough of an explanation that she could go back to her book.

It seemed terrible, but Twilight couldn’t help but sigh a little bit in relief. Then Lyra cleared her throat.

“There’s more to it, than that, isn’t there, Twilight?” Lyra asked, giving Twilight a pointed look. Considering Twilight had already sort of explained it to Lyra that morning, she knew full well there was. And she ought to know full well that she wasn’t sure they were ready to talk about the real, underlying reason yet.

Twilight gave her the best “what the hay do you think you’re doing” glare.

“There is?” Rainbow asked, putting the book down again and glancing between her two herdsisters. “What’s going on? Come on, spill it!”

“Lyra!” Twilight snapped, feeling more than a little bit panicked and a bit of bile rising in her throat. She really wasn’t ready at all. This was like an exam, one that you needed to prepare for, to work on for weeks and weeks, to come up with a script on how to broach the topic and ease her way through it. Twilight hadn’t studied at all.

“Twilight,” Lyra echoed, giving her an enigmatic smile. “Now’s as good a time as any, you might as well tell her.”

“No it’s not!” Twilight’s wings were shaking like leaves now. Oh Celestia no!

“Tell me what?” Rainbow asked, sounding a bit impatient. “Come on guys, we’re not supposed to keep secrets from one another!”

Twilight closed her eyes and closed her book and tried to think as quickly as she could. She tried to wall off her fears and rising panic and focus on trying to explain her reasoning to Rainbow. And she tried to block out thoughts of all the nasty things she was going to do, to get back at Lyra for this.

“Well, uh,” Twilight licked her lips as she opened her eyes and avoided Rainbow’s gaze. And Lyra’s. And the picture of the herd Lero had hung on the wall. Maybe keeping them closed was a better idea after all. “As you know, I’ve been trying to figure out a way of making… Lero, uh, compatible with us.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow said eagerly, and Twilight had the impression the mare thought she had made some sort of breakthrough. “Are you going to turn him into a pony? I bet he’d make a hot earth pony!” Rainbow stopped and took a deep, sharp breath. “Wait, you’re not going to turn me into a-a-human, are you?”

“What? No.” Even if she could work out the inherent thaumaturgical issues, she strongly suspected the spells would be too intense and draining to be of any practical use.

“I mean, I love Lero and totally think he’s hot and all, but have you see those pictures of human mares?” Rainbow rambled, getting up from the couch and pacing back and forth. “Have you? They have teats, Twilight! Right between their forelegs! I mean, how can they run or anything? They’re so large!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, putting her best amount of authority into her voice in hopes that she’d listen. “I am not turning you into a human. Or Lero into a pony.”

“Oh!” Rainbow looked pleased, now that her absurd fears had been put to rest, and hopped back onto her seat. “Okay, so what is it? a potion to give Lero a horse dong?”

Lyra made a noise not unlike a cat being stepped on, and fell out of her seat laughing. Twilight was glad somepony was enjoying this.

“No, Rainbow, no.” Twilight sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I… Rainbow, you know how hard I’ve worked on this, right?”

“Of course I do, Twi!” Rainbow looked as if she was wondering if she was supposed to appreciate her efforts more. “I mean, I know I’ve said I don’t want a foal right now, but that’s only because I’ve got the Wonderbolts to think about. I’m looking forward to it, when you’ve got it figured out and I’m ready. Not that you or Lyra should wait…”

“That’s just the thing, Rainbow, I’m not sure I can figure it out,” Twilight avoided Rainbow’s eyes, which suddenly grew a bit disappointed. “I mean… I have figured it out… sort of… uh.”

“Do you remember what Rarity was talking about, yesterday?” Lyra asked, stepping into the conversion and pulling herself up and off the floor.

“Uh, sure…” Rainbow sounded like she had already forgotten everything. “Oh! Wait! You mean the whole ‘you should get a new stallion’ thing? Yeah, can you believe the nerve of her? I mean, I know she’s a unicorn and all—” Rainbow somehow missed the disgruntled looks on both of her herdmates’ faces “—but seriously! How could she suggest such a thing—”

“She’s right,” the words forced themselves out of Twilight, almost by accident.

“What do you mean, ‘she’s right’?” Rainbow asked with a dark tinge of suspicion colouring her voice.

“I mean,” Twilight took a deep, calming breath that totally didn’t work like Cadance had promised. “I mean, Rainbow, that I looked it up. I’ve got records of every mixed race herd I could find, and with those who had foals, they either had a second stallion in their herd, or had close stallion friends who…” Twilight’s mouth was suddenly dry as a desert. “...well, you know.”

Rainbow stared at her flatly, which wasn’t particularly encouraging, but Twilight pressed on. “I… I’ve been looking for so many years, and it has been right under my nose this whole time, Rainbow. These herds have foals, but not with the non-pony member.”

“No!” Rainbow snapped, her wings flaring out in an aggressive display, “What about Draco, daughter of Marigold Star and Theulzuor the Iron?”

Twilight blinked in surprise as Rainbow referenced the infamous herd that had contained a dragon member some nine hundred years ago. She had no idea that Rainbow had been paying attention to her lectures. “Draco was a pony, Rainbow.” Twilight said gently.

“So?”

“I think Twilight is saying that, whoever was claiming to be her father, Draco’s biological father was likely another pony.” Lyra explained in short, and in Twilight’s opinion, maybe a bit too bluntly. “Simply because Theulzuor claimed to her father doesn’t mean he was.”

“But… but…” Rainbow’s face seemed to grow more and more angry, and for once, Twilight was grateful she was so strong now. She didn’t want to hurt Rainbow, but obviously she was—she just didn’t want it to come to blows.

“I’ve tried everything, Rainbow,” Twilight said gently, wondering if she should be doing more to help ease Rainbow into this. Not that she knew what to do, not exactly. If only Lyra hadn’t jumped into this and forced Twilight before she was ready. “Everything I can think of, it’s just not possible. At all. If we ever want to have foals, we… we’re going… I mean, we should think about expanding our herd.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Rainbow snapped, “How can you—and you, Lyra, don’t think I don’t know you knew about this!—How can you talk about replacing Lero?’

“No pony is talking about that, Rainbow!” Twilight said with a gasp and wondered why Rainbow kept assuming that. It was a puzzling idea to begin with—all they were saying was that they’d like to expand the herd. “Goodness no! I love Lero! Lyra loves Lero! Just as much as you do!” Twilight ignored that dark voice in her head, that pointed out they did even if Lero and Rainbow never seemed to love them back as much.

Suddenly, Twilight wondered if they had ever actually been a herd, or if Lyra and herself had just been some sort of live-in lovers for Rainbow and Lero.

“Then why,” Rainbow drew the word out, “are you bringing it up?”

“Because I want foals!” Twilight snapped, although as a matter of fact Twilight hadn’t really given it very much thought. She had to solve the issue to begin with, and that’s how her mind had been focused for years. Perhaps she ought to sit down and think about it long and hard. Even so… “And as far as I can tell, this is the only way any of us are going to get them!”

“I’m not going to betray Lero!” Rainbow leapt across the room and shoved her face into Twilight’s. “And neither are you!”

“First of all,” Twilight used her hoof to push Rainbow away from her, her anger drowning out any self-doubt or uncertainty in her. “It is not betraying Lero to expand our herd. Or to simply think about it! Secondly, you have to think about the needs of the herd as a whole, all of us! Not just Lero, or yourself!”

“Oh yeah? If we’re not betraying Lero, why the hell are we down here, where’s Lero?” Rainbow spread her forelegs wide, gesturing to the room as a whole. “I don’t see him, do you? And what do you mean I only think of myself? I care for you guys!”

“Half the bucking time you ignore me! And Lyra!” Twilight snarled, she could feel herself shaking with rage now, despite a small voice at the back of her mind trying to warn her to stop. “And Lero’s the same way! I know you’re ‘bent’,” Twilight spat the word out, “and I’m okay with that, and I know Lero isn’t a stallion but it still fucking hurts!”

“So, what? I don’t suck your teats enough and suddenly we should throw Lero off the side of the cloud?” Rainbow shoved her face back into Twilight’s face. “You know what I think? I think that crown’s gone to your head!”

“How dare you!” Twilight shoved Rainbow back, but before she could regret her action, Lyra stepped in front of them and glared them into submission.

“What is wrong with the pair of you?” Lyra said with a slightly edge in her voice. “I’ve seen jennys who are less mule-headed than the pair of you! Sit down and discuss this like civilized mares.”

Twilight took a deep breath, followed by another as she tried to relax and clear her head as Rainbow returned to her own seat. Why was she getting so angry? It really didn’t make any sense.

“No pony is talking about betraying Lero, Rainbow, and I think Twilight—not to mention I—would appreciate it if you wouldn’t suggest we were by discussing this.” Lyra continued with a heavy sigh—Twilight noticed the muscles in her leg were twitching. Apparently she was angry too, even if she wasn’t showing it in her voice. “All we’re suggesting is we consider expanding the herd so we could have foals.”

“It feels like we are,” Rainbow said sullenly as she crossed her forelegs. “Why didn’t you bring Lero down with you?”

“I wasn’t planning on talking about it,” Twilight said truthfully. “Not yet. But even if I had planned it, I would have wanted to introduce the idea to you first…”

“Why?”

“Because when Rarity suggested it yesterday, you very nearly took her head off, Rainbow.” Lyra pointed out with a shake of her head. “Whether you like what she was saying or not, that’s no way to talk to a friend.”

“Okay, okay,” Rainbow said with a frown, looking ever so slightly remorseful. “Do… do you have somepony in mind?”

“No.” Twilight said as Lyra shook her head. Twilight glanced at Lyra before looking back at Rainbow Dash with a sigh. “But… I think we should seriously consider… you know, looking. Hearts and Hooves day is coming up, after all, it isn’t a bad time to start.”

“Right.” Rainbow’s wings twitched and quivered, although Twilight wasn’t sure if it was with anger or something else. “I don’t think we should. It’ll just hurt Lero, and he’s all I need.”

“You don’t want to have a foal someday, Rainbow?” Lyra asked softly. “I mean, we’ve all seen how good you are with Scootaloo.”

“I… until I met Lero, I never really expected there to be anypony, anyone, in my life like this,” Rainbow said flatly. “And I’m not going to risk losing Lero over something stupid like this. Besides—” Rainbow glanced at Twilight and grinned confidently. “—I’m sure Twilight will figure it out, eventually.”

Didn’t Rainbow understand? It was impossible, or at the very least a foolish waste of her time. Twilight didn’t really want to continue chasing a wild goose, not since she already had the answer to the problem at hoof. Perhaps it wasn’t a perfect solution, but ponies tended to be practical where they could. And this was a practical solution, and a simple one.

But… how was she going to convince Rainbow of this? This is why Twilight would have liked time to prepare. Not that it would have mattered, Twilight suspected. She hated herself for thinking it, she really did, but Twilight knew Rainbow would do anything for Lero, she knew Rainbow was deeply, madly in love with this human; so much so that she couldn’t stop and consider the needs of her herdmates. Twilight felt an intense wave of self-loathing come over her, and it very nearly swept her away and kept her lips sealed.

“I think we should vote on it.” Twilight’s voice only held the barest quiver of a uncertainty in it, of fear and shame. And that made her hate herself all the more.

Rainbow’s eyes grew wide, and Lyra flinched involuntarily while Twilight tried to keep herself from panicking. Normally, voting on something would hardly be contentious, but given that Rainbow had already put her hoof down and said no, to ask for them to decide as a herd, it was as if Twilight was challenging her friend, her herdmate, her leadmare directly. But maybe this was exactly what they needed right now. Maybe they needed… Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

“I’m… in favor of looking to expand the herd,” Twilight forced herself to say while she did her best not to shake. This was harder than giving a speech in front of all of Canterlot when she was crowned. “With another stallion.”

“I’m against it,” Rainbow said simply with only the barest hint of anger in her voice. “You say that you’re not betraying Lero, but he’s not even here to vote, and you haven’t even asked him at all.”

“If I—we find somepony we’d like to date, then we will,” Twilight said with a nod. “”We’re just talking in hypotheticals.”

“So?” Rainbow snapped, shaking her hoof at Twilight. “He’s part of the herd too! Don’t you care what he has to think?”

“Of course I do!” Twilight exclaimed, feeling her wings flare out slightly. Didn’t she? “I just thought, I mean, I wanted to talk to you girls first. It’s not like Lero’s going to want to be with him.”

“Exactly! Have you ever thought about how he’s going to feel about this?” Rainbow’s own wings started to flare out again into an aggressive stance.

“It’s not that we won’t consider what he has to say, Rainbow, but you have to think of the whole herd!”

“Balance is important, Rainbow,” Lyra added, although she looked more than a little bit uneasy too.

“If we meet somepony, I promise you we’ll take Lero’s views seriously!” But part of her wondered if she really would. If Lero said no, would Twilight just give up on her dream? She knew where Lero came from, gender roles were reversed, and she’d like to think she was an enlightened mare who didn’t just see Lero as manual labour or a bed warmer. And she didn’t. But at what point was she willing to let his opinion, his vote, outweigh her own desire for foals? Lero wanted children, didn’t he? Surely he could see this would be the only way. Somehow, Twilight doubted it was that simple. Or even close to being that simple.

Slowly, both mares turned towards Lyra. She would be the queenmaker, of a sort, in this debate. Twilight wished she hadn’t put her friend in this position—she had always been very close to her since they joined the herd.

Lyra seemed to be well aware that she was in a very hard place to be, and she glanced back and forth between Twilight and Rainbow. Before biting her lip and staring off into the ceiling as if she was trying to see Lero sleeping above them.

Finally: “A hoof is only as strong as the mind that guides it.”

“What the hay does that mean?” Rainbow asked, while Twilight privately agreed. She hated putting Lyra on the spot, but she hoped the mare wasn’t going to cop out and give them some Still Way sayings and make them work it out between them or something.

“It means… Rainbow, I love you, and I love Lero…” Lyra bit her lip again and sighed heavily. “But I also love Twilight, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have dreams of having my own little filly or colt… I agree with Twilight.”

There was a moment of silence, as Lyra’s answer sunk in and the implications of her answer made the air in the room grow tense and thick. It wasn’t as if Twilight was leadmare now, or something, but… it would be as if her opinions would be somehow worth more, more would be expected of her, and she’d be making more decisions. Eventually, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be leadmare anymore, and—

Rainbow let out a long sigh and slumped in her seat, looking completely crushed. If Twilight didn’t know it would be rejected, she would have leapt off the couch and over to give the mare a big, comforting hug. What a hollow victory.

For a long minute, no pony said anything. Then Rainbow Dash got up and walked towards the doorway, disappearing into the next room.

“That could have gone better,” Lyra said with a sigh.

“It would have gone better if you hadn’t put me on the spot,” Twilight tried not to snap but it felt like somepony had stepped on her heart.

“Sorry… I… I thought you wanted to talk about it, and that’s why you came back down stairs.’ Lyra’s face drained of some of its colour.

Before either of them could speak again, Rainbow trotted back into the room wearing her saddle bags.

“Rainbow, where are you going?” Lyra asked, sounding a bit frantic as Twilight’s own heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t meant to—she didn’t mean for—Oh Celestia.

“I’m not leaving the herd, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Rainbow’s voice dripped with venom and frustration. “Although you’d probably like that, wouldn’t you?”

“No! No Rainbow, we wouldn’t.” Twilight got up off the couch and tried to reach for Rainbow, but the mare neatly sidestepped.

“We love you, Dashie…” Lyra added, looking as if she was about to start crying.

Rainbow ignored them, “I left Lero a note, it’s on the kitchen table. I’ll be back in a few days.” And with that, Rainbow turned and trotted out of the den. A few moments later, Twilight heard the door open and close, and she was gone.

“I need a drink,” Twilight said with a weary sigh. “I really do.”

“Drinking isn’t going to solve what just happened here,” Lyra pointed out, sounding slightly betrayed by Twilight’s suggestion.

Probably thinks she’s ruined her friendship with Rainbow just to put a drunk in charge. Twilight thought bitterly. “I know.” Twilight trotted over and pulled Lyra into a hug. “But maybe it’ll help me forget what happened here, if for just a little while.”