Final Frontiers

♫ Can't nothing...

bring me down, I said

Because I'm happy!

Clop along if you feel

like happiness is the truth,

Clop along if you know

what happiness is to you, Ey ey ey! ♪

♪ Because I'm happy!

Clop along if you feel

like a room without a roof,

Clop along if you feel

like that's what you want to do! ♫

There was a collective cheer when the song finished with everypony visibly beaming as the urge of the passive magic of Equestria slowly faded out though traces still lingered in the form of a sense of shared camaraderie and much more chipper moods as the gathered townsfolk dispersed. Rainbow scanned the crowd as a small flock moved toward Human Hill just in case Twilight had veered off with them though their numbers dwindled down until a lone mint unicorn - her best guess it being Twilight's friend, Lyra - was the only one intent on going to see the biped; unable to spot her quarry Dash milled about until a flash of a pink-stripe on a purple mane finally caught her sharp eye and she swooped in, "Well well well, looks like somepony's had a good morning."

"Oh! Hello Rainbow Dash!" she greeted quite a bit more enthusiastically than normal as she resumed her bouncing gait down the street, "I've had an absolutely wonderful morning."

The mischievous smirk returned to the pegasus' face when Twilight played right into her hooves with her statement, "So I heard, and I bet it's got something to do with it being the 'best time he's had in a while' after he spent the whole night at the library. So, are you two going to 'do it again soon'?" Expecting the unicorn to trip herself up at the accusation Dash was taken back when she only giggled and waved a dismissive hoof in her direction.

"I thought I saw your tail poking out of a cloud! We certainly had a good time and I get what you're trying to insinuate, but no; all of yesterday was spent hearing about the week he had in Canterlot and then we both zonked out on the couch, though I will admit it was great to start the morning with a good snuggle," Twilight was in far too good of a mood to let the pegasus' attempts at riling her up succeed and continued on to explain the events of the morning with a visible blush coming to her cheeks as she included what had happened during breakfast. "I only realized afterword that I'd gotten him..." she faded out for a few breaths and gave her a look, hoping that was enough for Rainbow to pick up on what she meant.

"So... did you help him with his, uh, 'problem'?" Dash stopped midway through doing the air quotations as Twilight looked at her skeptically, causing the pegasus to facehoof, "No, of course not. Jeez Twilight, he must really like you... that or he's in to denial or something."

"Uh, what's denial?" Twilight was oblivious to what Dash was talking about but was immediately put on the defensive as she felt the need to debate the merit of her action, "Anyway, I really didn't mean for him to get heated and afterwords I asked and he agreed we could tone that sort of affection back - just for a little bit! After he had dozed off last night I stayed up for a while to look over my notes and schedule everything out. Here," one of the flaps on her saddle bag flipped open and a long rolled parchment floated out and over to the hovering pegasus, "It's just my forth rough draft of a second revision but you'll see if you follow the pattern; the green numbers are my wages as the librarian and the red ones below that are expenditures I've got planned - meals and that sort of thing; you get the idea - the yellow blocks of time are for writing friendship reports to Princess Celestia, and the blue blocks are time I've allotted for Titu-"

Dash shoved Twilight into a small alley between two buildings for a little bit of privacy instead of lambasting her right in the middle of the street. "Alright Egghead, look," she ground her teeth, having tried to follow the intricate agenda however the complicated maze of lines connecting various events and the myriad of colors denoting various things quickly made her head spin and it agitated her to see Twilight had reduced the relationship she was trying to build into the jigsaw puzzle she held in her shaking hooves. "I'm trying real hard not to crumple this up and bounce it off your brainiac forehead so just zip your muzzle and hear me out. You can't structure your relation to divide and ration out like this; you've even gone and written conditions for what constitutes if the date or week was successful! Like this one right here, you've got a minimum requirement of 'extended moments of cuddling' and a stretch goal of 'one non-tongue kiss.' The conditions and goals grow with each block the further you go down! Ugh!" Dash spent several more minutes pointing out everything that was wrong with how mechanical the setup was before passing the paper back to Twilight who glanced from it to her and, she now realized, looked lost and more than a little wounded.

Twilight was indeed unsure how to proceed, "But... if I can't anatomize a relationship to its core components for analysis how will I know if things are progressing in the direction I want?"

With a heavy sigh Dash landed and reached a hoof out to her friend's shoulder, "Sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to go off on you like that it's just that you're trying to be too... science-y with this; you can pace yourselves and set general goals I guess, but the development of a relationship isn't something you can hold to a timetable or dole out in blocks; I know Rares is saying you you've got to follow some social rules or whatever, but you've really just got to be yourself and let things play out - every couple out there had a unique courtship, so take what she says as a guideline rather than a law set in stone. As for how to tell if its going the way you want it to? You'll just know because it'll feel right, but if you're ever unsure just talk to him about it."

"So this was a complete waste of effort?" the unicorn gave the schedule a sour look, still feeling like there had to be some way to go about things in a rational way.

"No, not really," having felt she'd spent more than enough time on the ground Rainbow launched back up to hover in front of Twilight, "That part you did on watching your Bits was a good idea because trust me, you don't want to be on a date and find you don't have enough to cover both of you when the check arrives. Absolute mood killer and totally not awesome."

Dash and Twilight both paused to let a rather upset-looking journalist trot past them before emerging from the alley, Twilight using the brief interlude to put the schedule back in her saddlebag, "Thanks again Rainbow, I think I understand how I should go ahead with things now though I imagine I'll seek you out for more advice sometime in the near future. It's a nice coincidence we got to talk as I was on my way to the boutique; Rarity's wine selection should be arriving in the morning mail and I wanted to clear up a few questions with her. Actually, I've got two questions for you, too! You said something a moment ago about him being 'in to denial,' what's that mean?"

"Like, are you asking what it means to get off on kinks or something or are you asking specifically about denial?" When Twilight replied she was interested in both Dash struggled for a way to quickly explain it as she realized she had been sidetracked from her patrol for longer than she had meant to be, "Kinks and fetishes are, like, things that really get you going; it could be anything from a touch to a way of speaking. Denial is um... it's where either one of you would bring the other close to climax then purposefully keep from finishing-"

"Wait," Twilight said with a shake of her head, visibly more confused now, "At our lunch you said that was a quick way to get jilted; I believe 'blue-balling' was the term you used and you made it sound awful. Why would anypony be interested in or get heated over that?!"

"Heh, it's kinda hard to explain... denial is kinda like blue-balling but it's a mutual thing that can go either way though in the mare's case it's called blue-lipping or blue-pearling; the mare or the stallion can be the one administrating the denial but it's usually the mare as stallions don't last as long and it lets the mare get off before the stallion does. But when denial is done right?" the pegasus' whole body shivered as she bit her lip, "Oh baby does it feel amazing! It's hard to pull off though; you've got to know your partner's limits really, really well, but when you are able to finish all the pent up frustration just adds to the feeling of climax and makes it totally worth it." Naturally, Twilight's follow up question was what sorts of other fetishes were out there and how to find out what she liked; Dash could only shrug, "There's pretty much a fetish for everything, as for what you're in to that's something you've got to figure out. If the library's got some dirty books that go into detail give those a read and see what gets you going otherwise just experiment when you get to that point with him. Sorry to cut this short, I'm um... sort of on the clock with the Weather Team and when the forecast is 'partly cloudy' it has a habit of getting 'mostly cloudy' if you don't keep a close eye on it," Dash was really pushing it with not being on her patrol and she could only imagine the earful she'd get if she was caught or if any more clouds were allowed to dot the sky.

"Oh! You should have said something," Twilight went from mildly irritated that her friend was shirking her duties to a little apprehensive to pose her next question, staring at her hooves and slumping slightly as they walked toward the boutique, "You said I could help him with his 'problem,' but I don't think I could just leap on him."

"Tell you what, you go do your thing with Rarity then get back to the library," the pegasus aimed herself back toward her patrol quadrant and took to the air, "I'll meet you there once I'm off work and we can talk some more."

Twilight's errand at Rarity's boutique took an unexpected yet fortunate turn when she bumped into Derpy making her morning rounds and, while they had expected her to be delivering the bottle of wine which had cost Twilight a hoof and a leg (though the fashionista had insisted it was worth the exorbitant price) what they hadn't seen coming was a massive sack of mail and a package for Titus which the mailmare had explained she was unable to deliver because the guards hadn't been allowing anypony near the ship and, to make matters worse, the human didn't have a mailbox so the small cubby at the post office had quickly overflowed. With the sack of mail on her back and the package in magical tow after offering to deliver them as his intermediary, Twilight took quite a bit longer to get back to the library and when she did she found Rainbow waiting for her on the couch.

"Oh, sorry. I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, something came up that slowed me down *urk!*-" she grunted, dropping the sack in the entry hallway and walking into the living room to gently place the wrapped parcel on the coffee table before carelessly tossed her date schedule to her desk, thoroughly annoyed how much work she had put into something that she had been told had an unproportionally small value.

"Yeah, so I see," Rainbow peered curiously at the large box the unicorn had brought with her, catching sight of the attached letter with Titus' name written on it in gold-inked elegant script, "I normally wouldn't hang out in a library, though, so if anypony starts snooping just tell them I was getting your input on a new trick... like the mathy part, not the actual cool stuff, alright?"

"If that's what it will take," Twilight hopped up onto the couch beside her friend and gave her a hopeful nod, "though you might be surprised how cool math can be, if you just gave it a chance. For example, your last trick involved several rather elementary problems I derived from an operation called sphere eversion, specifically the coils you did at the end; you see, requiring the formed loops not have any sharp angles is equivalent to giving them unit speed parametrizations-" the lesson was cut off as her mouth was forcibly closed.

"Okay! Enough! I don't think I can ever do the Corkscrew Loop of Doom trick again without thinking how nerdy you made that sound... I didn't come here to have you lecture my ears off, I came here to help you solve a problem so if you start again I'm walking right out that door, got it?" Rainbow waited for the unicorn to nod her understanding before removing her hoof and grumbling under her breath, "Jeez, Dorkscrew Loop of... Dorkiness is more like it."

Twilight gave up and rolled her eyes.

"Back to why I'm here: you left him hanging at breakfast," the pegasus said, jabbing an accusatory hoof into Twilight's chest, "you blue-balled him again. But why? You've said you're just as in to him as he is in to you, right? Did you offer to... you know?"

Shaking her head, Twilight sighed heavily, "Like I said, he and I talked and we both agreed to tone things down and I didn't want to leave him like that but, in all honesty, I'd be hesitant to mount him... I just don't think I'm ready for that level yet-"

"Come on Twilight, you know mounting isn't the only option to keep from blue-balling him." When it was apparent Twilight didn't know what she was talking about it was Dash's turn to roll her eyes before making a rudimentary gesture with a hoof, though the unicorn just looked at her with increased confusion, "Uh, duh? Use your hooves or take him in your mouth!"

Twilight blinked several times as an image painted itself in her mind before she shook her head to clear it away lest it gain a foothold and remain with her for an indeterminate amount of time, "B-but that's still sex, isn't it?"

"No... well, I don't really think of it that way but it's definitely not something I'd offer to do to just anypony. Um," Rainbow tapped her chin as she tried to figure out a way to explain it to her brainy friend without giving herself a headache in the process, "Look at it like this, when you've got somepony helping you through a heat cycle with a cooler, would you consider that sex?"

"Of course not, that's just a friend helping a friend in need," the question seemed rather irrelevant to Twilight as that was something that a mare did for another mare, though the idea of asking a stallion to strap on the device was just weird, "but if I help him... you know... is that really like helping with a cooler?"

"How is it any different?!" the pegasus exclaimed exasperatedly, "When you're on cycle and need a quickie with the cooler to get you through a few hours, you get a friend to help out. Heated stallions have needs too and, while I can't speak for how Titus deals with it, if a pegasi stallion is flying with their fifth leg popped out I'm sure they'd rather duck into a cloud for a few seconds to take care of it than wait for it to go away on its own. Trust me, I've seen a few try and fly on patrol like that and it totally messes with aerodynamics and balance, those things pose a flight hazard flopping around like that-" Rainbow had watched as Twilight grew redder and redder the more she talked until she couldn't take the embarrassed look on her unicorn friend's face any more, "You know, when all of us were out getting drinks that one night you did say you'd been with a dude before..." she immediately realized something was wrong when Twilight looked almost like she had bitten into a lemon and she attempted to apologize; Dash knew her friend had put a lot of trust in her to help with this whole relationship deal and, being the Element of Loyalty, she was going to do everything she could, even if that meant passing up on juicy opportunities to tease, "So, uh, how much experience or whatever do you have?"

Twilight pawed at the couch cushion sheepishly, more embarrassed at her lack of knowledge on the subject than her lack of practice at it, "I didn't want to feel like the odd-mare out that night so I may have embellished a little bit. I've only... there was this stallion at the academy that I liked and after finally working up the nerve to talk to him we'd regularly meet in the library but when we went back to my room in the Palace and... when I gave the signals I wanted to go further he said a few nasty things, dumping me or shooting me down or whatever the term would be right then and there, then walked out." When asked what prompted that turn of events Twilight told the pegasus small tidbits of how the whole thing had been a setup by another mare (her name she wouldn't provide as it looked like Rainbow wanted to kick her teeth in) to get back at her for a trespass she had supposedly committed but had been completely outside of her control. "After that I kept to myself even more, that is until the Princess sent me to Ponyville and I met all of my friends here."

"Wow, what a total skag!" Dash spat in disgust but quickly veered back toward the topic at hoof, "Alright, so you're a complete newbie. Uh... then you know how it works, right? I mean, like, how the stallion and the mare-"

"Of course I know, I'm perfectly familiar with the fundamentals of basic biology!" Twilight had thrown her hooves up in the air at the accusation that she would be that obtuse however she resumed her meek pose as she quickly calmed down, "Sorry Rainbow, I'm just really nervous about this and when I say fundamentals I mean just that; I'm clueless about the rest. While the library has quite a few books on pony health and several resources for growing foals to understand the changes they're experiencing the shelves are bare of works that go into the details of the act and the only such book I've read was a long time ago and is practically impossible to come by these days. With that in mind, would borrowing some of Lyra's magazines provide instruction on how to...?" she awkwardly repeated the gesture Dash had made earlier.

"I mean, you can if you want to," Rainbow hopped off the couch with a chuckle at the sight of Twilight bobbing her head back and forth and kept it on file for whenever she needed a small laugh, "but you don't need to do any research, I can show you how easy it is. You just came out of heat so I imagine your cooler is in your room somewhere, right?" Once they had moved upstairs it had only taken a second for Twilight to dig the cooler out of the closet where she had put it earlier that morning though she was hesitant to ask what Rainbow had in mind for the ill-favored device as she passed it over to the pegasus.

Dash could tell by the look on her face what was thinking and shrugged nonchalantly, "Well it's not ideal, but this'll have to do... unless you've got another idea or uh, you know, something else phallic you might have stashed away that you can practice with," she gave a lascivious grin until Twilight informed her the cooler was the only device such in her possession as she had previously ignored or diverted her attention from non-heat urges toward studying; Dash gave a sigh, realizing it was a completely Twilight-ish way to approach things - to bury her head in a book - and scanned around the room for a few minutes for a suitable place to start until she decided on the spindle back chair at the desk, quickly zipping to close the curtains for a little privacy from anypony that might fly by. Her preparations finished, Rainbow beckoned Twilight over as she set the straps to one side so the cooler could point upright at the ceiling. "Jeez this is awkward... " the pegasus spoke was on their minds, both ponies just staring for several seconds at the slightly lopsidedly leaning spire before she stepped to one side so Twilight could help steady it and see a bit better as she hooked a hoof around the base of the shaft to begin stroking a small portion, "You just sorta uh... yeah. Easy, like I said."

Twilight had been expecting some secret technique to be revealed and the disappointment in Rainbow's display showed. "O-kay..." an eyebrow crept up her face as she watched the stroking continue, "So is this it? Is there some factor I'm missing or are you functioning as a simple masturbatory aide?" she was well aware that mares weren't the only ones that clopped as she'd once accidentally walked in on her big brother and seen him rubbing himself off in a similar manner (and she had immediately realized she had forgotten to knock and snuck back out of the room lest she embarrass him) and Twilight was a bit skeptical that this was the answer to her problem as it seemed too simple, though the appeal wasn't lost on her.

"Well, duh! And 'masturbatory'? You make it sound like a school lesson," Dash stopped to roll her eyes, "I know what I'm doing doesn't look like much but it'd still be enough and as an added perk you'll have a better control over when they blow their load, giving you a better chance at getting off yourself. Keep in mind you're missing out on all the sounds and stuff the attached stallion would be making and trust me... that's often a fuel of its own. Here, you give it a try," she pushed Twilight's hooves away from the base to steady the cooler herself, leaving the unicorn to falteringly wrap her own hoof around the shaft.

How difficult can hoofing it be? Just show her you can do it and maybe she'll move on the mouth maneuver that seemed a little less entry level- Her confidence in her abilities proved to be misplaced as one of her pumps on the cooler was too forceful, causing the flat tip to swing about wildly and bop her on the muzzle which got a loud guffaw from Rainbow. What the buck am I doing using my hooves?! Twilight focused until a small ring of magic encompassed the cooler a little above the medial ring and sent the energy massaging up and down at a steady pace before she turned to her pegasus mentor with a smirk, "It is easy! Look, no hooves!"

"Yeah, well... you've got your magic, I've got my wings," Dash, not wanting to be outdone, fanned her wings out to gently brush against the sides of the cooler, "besides, that was just the warm up; lets see if you can put your mouth where your magic is!" Twilight listened as Dash gave a quick tutorial of what to do before launching into a demonstration, beginning by holding the cooler steady and working the wide flat end into her muzzle before giving several pumps most of the way down the shaft and ending with a audible *pop!* on her final arduously-long trip up the wobbly phallus. "Blegh! That's just..." wiping a little saliva from the side of her mouth Dash frowned at the cooler, "The rubbery taste, the texture, no thrusting... ugh! It's all off!"

While the pegasus continued to pout Twilight was weighing her options; should she take what she'd learned about using her hooves and magic and call it sufficient knowledge for the time being or accept the imperfect specimen that was the cooler to obtain a passing amount of a skill she could only assume would be beneficial to have; the more she thought about it the more she felt her choice was an easy one. Better to have a basis of experience that I could hone at a later date than none at all.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Dash asked as the linen straps she had pushed aside floated up with a magenta glow, "You expecting me to put that on?"

"Yes, though I realize it's a lot to ask for. As you stated: the taste, texture, and motion are inaccurate," Twilight recounted the facts as she weaved the straps through their bindings, "thankfully, however, one of those factors is not a constant and is within our control to change. I'm more interested in getting the technique down than I am worrying how realistic of a model the cooler poses; at the same time, removing one of the faults from the experience will undoubtedly provide a more precise representation and better prepare me. So, do you think you could bear with it long enough for me to get a basic understanding of what to expect? It would be an immense help."

The pegasus sighed after a long pause, clearly not entirely enthused with the idea,"Fine, just make it fast; and I'm also throwing it out there that I'm only into stallions."

Twilight gave her a big hug in thanks before she disappeared downstairs to fetch a pair of end pillows from the couch so Dash, who took the time to get the cooler strapped on, could have something to prop herself up in the chair they had been using as the odd sitting position they would require was considered uncomfortable by most, the exception that came to mind being Lyra, Twilight having seen her friend use the strange pose on more than one occasion even before the arrival of the human who was, of course, the second exception.

Once Rainbow was situated in the chair Twilight slowly approached and, following the pegasus' instructions, placed a forehoof on either of her thighs to prevent her from potentially bucking her hips which a stallion would most certainly do in such a situation, however without her hooves she was forced to rely on her magic to hold the towering spire steady and align it with her muzzle and it took several tries before Twilight got the entirety of the flare into her muzzle - a task that brought an ache to her jaw which she equated to her having a smaller mouth than Rainbow Dash (in more ways than one, though she kept that quip to herself). She became immediately aware of the taste Rainbow had been talking about as it made its presence known though Twilight pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on taking more of the cooler on, slowly pushing her way down the shaft and took an extra second to work over the medial ring to take a little more until she felt she couldn't go further and began pulling back to repeat the process. Twilight's second trip down the false member was much easier thanks to the coating of fresh saliva left behind on her last trip up, allowing her to gradually increase the speed at which she could bob over the next few pumps. The feeling was hard to describe as it wasn't entirely pleasant but at the same time the small switch to Twilight's strong imagination had been flicked on and she began to picture how the receiver might be enjoying themselves, leading the unicorn to believe if she was actually participating in oral copulation it would be much more enjoyable though that didn't stop a pressure from building in her nethers that ached to be relieved.

On Dash's end, things had started about the same as they had with Twilight - mainly this was both difficult and uncomfortable - but those feelings had veered off in a rather unexpected direction; what had began as apprehensive instructions and pointers slowly transitioned into subtle and seemingly unregistered coaxes of encouragement to her friend on each successive bob down the shaft. "When you feel the flare at the back of your throat make a couple of swallowing motions... that'll really make their head spin," she said rolling her head against the back of the chair. The way Twilight would pause to look up at her from under her bangs with ears perking to attention when she would give her instructions was adorable and, as much as Rainbow didn't want to admit it, it was hot. Like, awesomely hot.

Twilight tried the technique, sliding down the shaft and nearly gagging in the process as the wide tip expanded at the back of her throat and got a little scared it might get stuck as she carefully made small swallows before slowly retreating back up the spire to repeat the process until she was comfortable. What Twilight didn't realize was that each trip down the shaft was causing the base of the cooler, which was braced against Dash's belly, to press against and stimulate her mound slightly and when she felt the pegasus making minor bucks with her hips she simply thought it was just part of the exercise and developed a rhythm to match while jotting down a quick note on a parchment she had floated within view behind the chair. Hmmm, there's a frequency to the crests and troughs, like two opposing transverse waves; I've got to match the wave length and amplitude while maintaining a smooth- when Rainbow moved her shoulders one at a time to allow her wings to pop out from where they had been uncomfortably wedged against the pillows supporting her to either side Twilight began to suspect something off and, figuring she had learned all she could, attempted to dislodge the pegasus' phony pony phallus only to have one of her hooves gently urge her back down again, the thrusts becoming more urgent and each one was accompanied my a small squelch. "Raimmphow? Whahs ohing om?" Twilight struggled to make words around the cooler as it buried itself in her muzzle at an increasingly faster pace, "Arr-eck! you okeh?"

"D-doing f-fine! Keep your h-head in the ga-AHn-game," Dash was biting her lip to try and keep from letting out the moan that was building in her diaphragm as she felt herself winking from behind the cooler's canvas testes that held the imitation seed, each thrust causing them slap against her swollen button in a wonderful spike of pleasure, "Y-you've gotta-aah! pay attention... don't wanna g-gag... if younnh feel the flare throb... prepare for-"

"Hey Sparkles? I need to ask you-" Lyra announced half a second before coming around the bedroom door but instantly stopped at the sight of Rainbow Dash, her head lolled back and tongue out as her tail thrashed about between her hind legs, thrusting the strapped-on cooler into Twilight's muzzle as the unicorn scribbled notes out of the pegasus' line of sight.

Upon hearing the unexpected voice Dash stopped with an expression similar to a deer caught in headlights; she briefly looked from Lyra to Twilight before quickly removing her hoof from the back of the bobbing unicorn's head to throw both hooves in the air, "T-this isn't what it looks like!"

No longer restrained, Twilight pulled back off the floppy phallus and coughed to clear the taste of rubber, "She's right, Lyra-aaAAAA!" The sudden loss of pressure around the cooler sent several jets of its lyophilic colloid spurting out of the flared end and right into the face of a surprised Twilight who reflexively retracted as several more spurts arced over her to land on her mane and dribble down her horn and into her forelock.

Lyra's stare slowly switched from the panting pegasus to the completely drenched Twilight and back again. "I uh... see you're busy so I'll come back later. Sorry to interrupt," she made her apology before ducking back into the hallway and quickly trotting for the stairs in stunned silence though she was just as quickly followed by both ponies, their calls to her becoming jumbled together as they tried to get her to stop at the same time.

"Lyra wait-"

"I'm not into mares-"

"Rainbow was just showing me how-"

"I totally love dick!"

The mint unicorn would have made it to the front door but the familiar *pfwink!* and a violet flash stopped her just short from trotting headlong into the teleporting librarian. "Lyra, STOP!" Twilight reared up on her hind legs to spread both forehooves out to block her friend's escape, the motion causing the small gobbet of cooler spunk that was hanging from her horn to swing about like a pendulum and Lyra couldn't help but oblige to stop and giggle at the comical sight, "Lyra, you've misinterpreted what you saw... well sort of, anyway. If you remember what I told you last week I don't feel completely ready to present for him when he gets heated, so Rainbow was just showing me a technique so I'd have an option when I'm ready for it rather than just leaving him hanging until I'm willing to go all the way. You know, similar to an incremental step."

"Yeah," with the cooler making it too awkward to fly Dash came waddling down the stairs after the drenched unicorn, each step accompanied by a small slap as it flopped about between her legs, completely unaware that she was leaving a trail of the glistening replica spooge all the way down the stairs, "Totally just showing the newbie some moves, nothing else."

"Right," the sarcasm in Lyra's reply was evident enough for Twilight though the pegasus didn't seem to pick up on it as her attention was focused on fiddling with the clasps strapping the cooler to her, "if that's the case you could have just let her borrow a porno. And speaking of moves, once you're cleaned up do you think we could talk a bit? It's got to do with the big guy." Lyra's reasons to stop by the library before returning to hang out with Titus had actually been four-fold; she had copied the schedule, she wanted to hear about his abilities and kill some time. The fourth was that there was something she wanted to clear up as she may have been coming onto him since he had gotten back and she had been a little taken back when he asked. But am I interested in him like that? He's sweet and I mean, flanks that good on a pony - even a transmogrification - more than likely had a decent basis with which to transition from his human form, so he's got the butt. Plus fingers? Just... bucking fingers-

"Oh! Guess what!" the sudden exclamation interrupted Lyra's reflection on what those digits had done and brought an end to the phantom sensations that had been tingling through her ears and she opening her eyes to find a beaming Twilight hopping about excitedly, "I asked him  on a date and he said yes!" the librarian continued her bouncing in a slow circle around Lyra and Dash chanting "YES!" several more times and humming happily.

Lyra was uncertain how she felt; she hardly wanted Twilight to feel like she was butting in and, while it wasn't unheard of for a stallion to be courting two separate mares at once these days, it was much more normal for the second mare to wait for the first - known as the "alpha" mare - to finish her courtship before the second approached her for permission to start her own. Well, if anything else that gives me time to think things through. Sighing, the mint unicorn let her friend bask in the moment and complete a few laps of bounds and small dances before intercepting her with a grin and a hearty punch to the shoulder, "Yeah! Way to go Sparkles! You got everything lined up for the date then?"

Twilight told her she had only acquired the wine so far and had yet to speak with Fluttershy about the fish course which Dash offered to do on account she had one more round of her patrol to do and she'd be in the area but Twilight shook her head, "Thanks Rainbow but you girls have helped so much already and its something I feel I should do myself. It's still pretty early so I'll go after delivering that mountain of mail... and while I'm there maybe attempt to convince him to buy a mailbox."

Seeing she was no longer needed (much to her chagrin) Rainbow bid her farewell and made a beeline for her cloud home, intent on relieving the pent-up frustration after having been interrupted before heading back out for her patrol; meanwhile Lyra waited for Twilight's return and tried her best to distract herself from the package sitting temptingly on the coffee table though her conundrum was that whenever she'd attempt to think of something else her mind would always go back to her own confused feelings which she could only distract herself from by thinking about the box.

When Twilight finally descended back to the living room after making a brief stop to put a small envelope in her saddlebags she found a rather distressed-looking Lyra pacing about and occasionally eyeing the parcel for Titus with envy. "Uh... do you want to come with me to drop it off?" she asked as she approached, visibly startling her friend from her thought, "As far as I can tell the parcel is from Princess Luna and judging from the writing the letter is from Princess Celestia and, if we're lucky or if we ask, he might open them while we're there. Speaking of asking, was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Na, it can wait, but I was actually headed back to his place anyway. Picked up some grub for him," Lyra floated the takeout bag to her side and got a small nod from Twilight when she recognized the logo though she warned that Titus might find a hayburger not to be overly appealing. Lyra shrugged in response and, not wanting Twilight to see the copy of the schedule she had absconded, opened the bulging bag to peek the contents over the lip and into view, "Yeah, I figured that might be the case so in addition to a triple-stacked burger I went with a a few sides... one basket of onion rings... two orders of mozzarella sticks... some spicy quesadillas-" Lyra didn't notice Twilight's eyes go slightly wider as she floated them into view, "aaand one extra large chocolate milkshake that I've got in a frost-containment spell. Oh, and I've got dibs on the burger if he doesn't want it."

"That's... quite a lot of food," the violet unicorn looked impressed as she gently hoisted the box into the air and slowly headed for the hallway with Lyra falling in behind her, "I just hope his arteries can handle it."

"It's only one meal, Sparkles, and from what I've seen when he's been working he's plenty fit to burn off the calories. Not to mention Titus is twice our size; an order like this is probably like, bordering on normal size for him-" Lyra huffed, though the last half of it got caught in her throat when her friend suddenly rounded on her to wrap her into a hug.

"Oh my gosh, you're the best Lyra!" Twilight gave a squeeze as what she thought would have been a catastrophe was avoided, "I completely forgot to take into account how much he might eat and the meal I'd had planned out for our date was going to be pony-sized!"

After releasing Lyra and making a mental note to adjust portions to accommodate Titus' size Twilight floated the large sack of mail to balance on her back though most of the weight was reduced by the magic bag itself. The walk across town to the base of Human Hill wasn't an overly long one but long enough that it gave plenty of time for Twilight to share what she'd be told about The Force though it proved difficult to convince the stubborn musician that his abilities didn't stem from Harmony-based magic and by the time Lyra had gotten around to inquiring on the scope of what he could do they were just pushing into the back of the congestion of media ponies. "Well, he's demonstrated a form of psychokinesis when he took apart the datapads - you know, that thing I've got on my dresser? - and when I was using the Sense-Link spell with him I felt what I could only describe as an extrasensory perception of my surroundings - telegnosis, if you will," now at the front of the crowd Twilight flagged down a guard to present the small badge identifying her as the Princesses' duly appointed Human-Pony Intermediary Agent which would grant her clearance to pass. She was about to indicate that Lyra was going to accompany her but, to her surprise, the guard hardly blinked when she ducked beneath the tape with her fast food while Twilight's badge was still being authenticated; something which annoyed Twilight more than slightly. You'd think with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as my credentials there wouldn't be much to vet. At least they're being thorough... annoyingly thorough. While she was waiting Twilight noticed more than a few cameras had turned from the ship to photograph the mint unicorn instead. And just what did Lyra have do to waltz through the perimeter like that? she thought, shoving the badge back in her saddlebag as she sidled up beside her friend after impatiently passing under the tape that the guard had finally lifted up, "Anyway, those are the two displays I've seen so far though I imagine he used something similar to fight off those timberwolves but at the time I couldn't tell what I was seeing. I assume he either told you about his abilities or he's shown you..."

"Oh yeah, he showed me something," Lyra more than registered the way Twilight had trailed off in hopes of an answer but instead the ever-playful unicorn gave her a wink and laughed, "but you'll have to check tomorrow's headlines to find out what!" A frustrated grunt of exasperation only fueled her laughter further and when it finally abated she declared they'd discover all of his special abilities together as she lead the way over to a clear spot of grass on another small hill with a small stick that she had set jutting out of the soft dirt as a temporary marker for her return. "Alright Sparkles, he said he wouldn't be working outside today on account of the crowd so just follow me," Lyra turned about to face the direction they had come, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hoof as she searched for the small hole in the hull until a wandering cloud provided a brief enough interlude to spot their destination which she pointed to and disappeared in a blink of bright yellow.

Not a second later they were both standing on the ship's hull and, after a quick investigation by a pair of the pegasi guards that had swooped in at their sudden appearance (once again checking Twilight's badge, much to the librarian's increased aggravation), Twilight immediately recognized the opening by the yellow and black striped outline and the familiar words "Airlock Manual Release" that she and Applejack had frantically unearthed, though one difference was that this time the short shadowy hallway on the other side of the open metal door felt much less intimidating. "The last time I was here I was really scared what we might find on the other side of that," Twilight indicated the inner airlock door with a nod of her head as Lyra gently pulled the red latch next to it, "I'm really glad it was Titus."

"So am I, but it won't open," the mint unicorn scowled. She gave it a small kick on the off chance it was stuck like the outer door had been and tried again but the airlock remained sealed. Explaining to Twilight that Titus had overridden the system so both chamber doors could be open at once after she stated the other had to be closed Lyra walked over to the keypad on the wall and slid the metal plate that was covering the buttons out of the way; using her nose like she had seen Twilight do with the book-like device she tapped a pattern on the surface and was rewarded with a short beep before their way was made clear. "Hey big guy, I'm back! And I brought Sparkles with me!" Lyra's shout echoed off the walls into the craft to announce their presence but even after several minutes no response came; of course, unbeknownst to either pony, the ship's soundproofing had muffled the call so it barely traveled beyond the first hallway, "Well... he said he'd be working inside so I guess we'll have to go find him."

"H-he gave you the code?" Twilight asked timidly, unable to keep herself from feeling like that was something Titus would have shared with her before somepony else. Did I do something to anger him, is that why? Is it because when we get intimate and he wants to go further I keep stalling? Her pace slowed as she followed Lyra into the corridor beyond, despite her turbulent feelings, however, she still took notice of how different the ship looked from her last visit; everything was lit in a warm white light and the floor was clear of debris though it was still just as cold as she remembered and apparently Lyra felt it too judging by her slight shiver, the wall panels that had been strewn about were now either leaning beneath where they belonged or back in place and the wires and circuitry that was visible all appeared neat and organized.

"He didn't exactly give me the code," Lyra replied, the double doors at the end of the hallway sliding smoothly open at their approach though she stopped just short to look at Twilight sideways with a sheepish grin, "I uh, I sorta... peeked when he was entering it in. I didn't mean to memorize it though, his fingers were just poking away all delicately and precisely and fast and I just couldn't help but watch! D-don't you know it?"

Twilight was torn between wanting to scold Lyra for unintentionally snooping and wanting to ask her for the code for her own use but decided to leave well enough alone and, when Lyra wasn't looking, she breathed a sigh of relief that everything between her and Titus seemed normal while mentally kicking herself for jumping to wild conclusions, "No, I don't know the passcode for the doors but I think it would be a good idea to avoid using it in the future, at least until he openly shares it with you; this is his home, after all."

"Yeah well," Lyra shrugged again, taking a turn down a T-junction as her body retraced her steps from earlier, "he said the door'd be open so if he's ticked off it's his own fault... but just in case I've got a secret weapon that's proven to melt the big guy like butter!" With practiced ease she went doe-eyed and made her bottom lip tremble, small tears forming in the corners of her eyes as her ears splayed backwards and she submissively lowered her head; the unicorn had become fully aware of how the human found the look adorable when she had hopped on the floating bike machine and caused it to jump forward - "stalled-out," as Titus had later called it - he had snapped at her to get off and quickly apologized when she had adopted the look, clarifying that he had been more worried than angry as she could have been seriously hurt had the machine taken off or crashed and, after the "customary Hug of Forgiveness" (a fictitious pony rite Lyra later revealed she had made up on the spot) he had told her he hated how aware she was of her own cuteness. She had decided against using the look to try and convince Titus to let her stay when asked to go to the Human Watchers luncheon because it was something she wanted to use as sparingly as possible so he couldn't build up a resistance though his own secret weapon, that stupefying ear rub, was an incredible threat should he ever retaliate with it.

Lyra's autopilot had gotten them close to their destination, the mint unicorn stopping at the start of the small corridor that was lined with a number of identical unmarked doors though which one was the human's quarters was anypony's guess, "Uh..."

Twilight put the sack of mail and package down to one side and both she and Lyra went from door to door, pushing the buttons and peering in with an occasional "Hello?" or "You in here, big guy?" as they stuck their snouts into the shadowy rooms though every one they checked was a shambled mess and quite obviously empty until Twilight called Lyra over when she found a clean-ish room.

The mint unicorn trotted over and both took a peek inside though she instantly knew it wasn't the same room she'd been in before; this one, while it had the same bunk set into the wall and the locker against another, was more furnished. On the back wall next to the locker was a long, red banner baring a symbol of some form made up of lots of jagged edges (not unlike Titus' tattoo) with white marks that were probably a language running along either side. Though no light was coming from it a strange liquid-filled lamp sat on the desk, seemingly there so that the shelves of books set in the corner could be read from the comfortable-looking cushioned chair beside them; that, or it was there to inspect the numerous bladed weapons on the rack to the other side, one of which - a rather ornate dagger - held a prominent place on the table beside the lamp. All of that, however, was pushed to the mental sidelines as a familiar shape caught Lyra's eye: the heart-wrenching sight of what had once been an instrument, its beautifully dark straight-grained wood neck a splintered mess halfway up the frets which was only attached to the largest intact piece of the swirling-grained lighter wood body by several of its strings. The musician gave a heavy, sorrowful sigh at the loss before indicating the room wasn't the one they were looking for.

Thankfully the hallway only had a few doors remaining, one of which was labeled as the Droid Recharging Closet, the door opening automatically as they passed; Twilight sticking her head in out of curiosity though the small room was just that - a closet, devoid of droids and the only distinguishing feature a small cable with an odd end coming out of it attached to the back wall and a matching plug beside it - she was still poking around when she heard Lyra's warm greeting.

"Hey, I'm back with some chow! Oh, and Sparkles brought some mail for ya!"

The violet unicorn quickly trotted to the door where Lyra's rump had disappeared, entering shortly after her and after a quick once over of the room shared in her sentiment of its coziness before spotting Titus who was situated on the bunk stretched out under a blanket on his side with his back to both ponies. "Hello!" Twilight offered her own greeting a little softer than her boisterous friend's, thinking the human might still be asleep and not wanting to jar him awake, "Sorry for barging in like this but Derpy, Ponyville's mailmare who I think you've met, was in a real bind as this stuff was piling up like crazy," she used her magic to push the locker back upright and deposited a few of the items that looked like they belonged inside, clearing a spot for the large sack and parcel before quickly explaining the situation at the post office and suggested that he or she talk with the guards so that mail could be delivered yet throughout her dialog she noticed Titus didn't stir, his sides rhythmically heaving in time with his light snores.

"Come on, up'n at em!"

"Shhh!" the librarian shushed harshly but quickly grimaced when she realized how loud she had been herself, "You might as well zap him with a shock spell for how gentle you're being. H-he's completely zonked out, maybe we should just let him sleep and come back later."

"Hey, he made a promise - a Pinkie Promise - that if I went to lunch and let him nap we'd chill for the rest of the day AND he said I could wake him up if he was still sleeping. So let's go big guy, nap time is over!" Lyra announced slightly louder than normal; unlike Twilight she wasn't apposed to jarring Titus from slumber as she had been excitedly waiting for what seemed like an eternity to begin the promised hang-out time with her human friend but when he failed to respond to her attempts at waking him she set the bag of food to one side and bounced over to the bunk to try a different approach and placed her front hooves on the edge so she could get close enough to whisper in a sultry voice, "If you don't get up eventually I'll get bored and have no choice but to play with those fingers of yours..." her eyelids drooped half closed as she leaned in even closer until his hair was brushing her nose, "and I'm betting they could scratch all of my hard to reach places, if you know what I mean."

"Lyra!" Twilight had overheard and before she could stop herself her powerful sense of imagination had painted some very graphic and rather vivid images; she squeezed her eyes shut to try and rid herself of the thoughts however the sudden lack of vision only served to bring further depth to the fantasies she was seeing as the deprivation of one of her senses opened up more processing power for her brain, "You're going to get him heated if you say stuff like that!" When she opened her eyes again after the images had retreated to a spot at the back of her mind she found the giggling mint unicorn crawling over the human's form.

"Relax Sparkles, the big guy knows I'm only kidding... though it would be a perfect opportunity for you to practice those moves Dashie was supposedly showing you," she teased, stopping to lay herself across Titus' side parallel to his own body and gave him a friendly snuggle while Twilight, who couldn't think of anything else to do, gave in to her organizational OCD and tidied up the room until the blinking screen of a small version of a datapad caught her eye before she almost stepped on it. Upon closer examination the writing wasn't one she'd seen Titus use before and it was different from what they had seen on the banner in the other room, compared to the long jagged lines the small pulsing text was comprised of shorter, almost brush-like strokes though the unmistakable icon of an animated lock latching was at least one bit of information she could understand.

With Twilight distracted Lyra had a chance to whisper directly into his ear, "I saw your instrument, bring it by my place and I'll see what I can do with a few spells of repair. I'm dying to hear your fingers caressing those strings..." A low groan came from the bunk, a sign that the human wasn't as asleep as they thought.

"He's alive! Aliiiive~! I hope you're hungry because I got a load of- uh... hey big guy, what's up?"

There was a long pause.

"T-Twilight?" Lyra's odd and completely uncharacteristic use of her first name drew her attention, the violet unicorn looking up from her attempts to decipher what was on the display to find her friend bearing an expression of extreme worry, "Twilight get over here, he's really cold and his skin is all clammy! He's got spots, too!"

Twilight couldn't have been at the side of the bunk faster even if she had teleported, her front hooves lifting her up to see just as Lyra rolled Titus onto his side causing his arm which had been tucked against his chest and not visible from the door to flop over the side; small red spots about the size of a Bit dotted his skin and continued up his arm and onto his bare shoulder. "That's... Pony Pox!" she quickly mirrored Lyra's concerned expression, though in her case she had read historical accounts of remote populations coming into contact with explorers and falling deathly ill with otherwise mild diseases they had never encountered.

"We should get a doctor or get him to the hospital or something!" Rolling the human onto his side had caused the blanket covering him to shift, revealing that he had gotten out of the upper part of the flight suit at some point and laid bare his exposed chest for Lyra to see for the first time, "Look! He's grown teats too!"

"No, he's had those and-"

"So they're not new?" Lyra breathed a sigh of relief at the good news though she still wasn't grasping the severity of the situation, "And you're sure he's a stallion?"

"Focus Lyra! He doesn't have the antibodies we do so this is serious; like, seriously serious," Twilight's brain was scrambling to determine the correct course of action, "Like I was saying, the doctor can't help - last time I talked with him he said we should get the vet! The hospital is out as well because it's too small to be equipped to properly handle a quarantine; if it's capable of being transmitted to other creatures, who knows what could happen if this spreads." The sealed airlock, the small datapad and blinking lock icon; it was at that point that she started connecting the dots and realized that Titus had tried to isolate himself inside his ship and thankfully the airlock door had closed behind them on their way in, "It has to be a new strain, but how did he catch it?"

"Not to sound mean Sparkles, but you spent all of yesterday with him, so... yeah," figuring there was no point in keeping her distance if she was already sick Lyra stayed close to Titus, shifting to accommodate his new position and squirmed into the crotch of his arm that moved to drape itself over her shoulder of its own accord, getting a smile from the mint unicorn which she shared with Twilight, "You're not supposed to share your drinks or food with anypony if you've got Pony Pox, and you two did share breakfast."

Twilight shook her head at that line of reasoning before poking his other hand with her muzzle to let Titus know she was there and was rewarded with a pat on the head and a brief ear scratch before the hand slumped back to his side, "No, that's not it; Pony Pox is a virus that hasn't made the leap to other species but they can be potential carriers however they've never exhibited symptoms. He'd have to be a pony to... oh jeez," her head followed the slumped hand to the mattress as she breathed a heavy sigh, "I think I know; yesterday when he was telling me about his week I realized I messed something up for him while he was gone and to show me he wasn't mad he... he kissed me. That's when the virus must have been transmitted. So what do we do? Hey, if you can hear me do you have any medicine that might help?"

Titus muttered something in a raspy voice that neither of them could understand so Lyra floated over her bag of food and retrieved the milkshake which he had to partially sit up to gulp directly from the cup as the cashier had withheld a straw per Lyra's instructions. With his throat no longer feeling like sandpaper, Titus slumped back to the bunk, "Need... to get... to medbay."

"More droids?" Twilight asked rhetorically and floated the two limp mechanical forms onto the table as Lyra provisioned seats for them from various objects laying about the medbay, "Aside from Dex you must have been pretty lonely out there without a crew." His response was a grunt, partially lost as he sat down heavily on the upturned tub at the far end of the table and, being the shortest of the seats, it barely brought his vision above the tabletop. It was a necessity, however, as both ponies would need to see what they were doing so they each hopped on their own perches, Lyra on a cushioned stool at one end of the table and Twilight in the middle on a tall box.

"Need to check them... for damage," Titus coughed and pulled the blanket around himself, each wheeze causing his head to throb several times as  he squeezed his eyes closed in a grimace which prevented him from seeing both pony's worried looks; he had little doubt the droids were damaged as both had been found under piles of debris and the large dents in the outer metal shell and head of the bipedal surgical droid and what he could see through the translucent section of torso lead Titus to believe the internals he couldn't see were probably a mess, too. Thankfully the smaller GH-7 looked to have fared much better as it only bore a few scratches though the way its arm was bent indicated the servo had been stressed well beyond its threshold and would need to be replaced. It took a few moments to hook the visor he had had R6 retrieve from the workstation in the cargo bay to the interface sockets, "Here Twi, put this on. It'll highlight the parts-" he was interrupted with another bout of coughing, though this one was thankfully brief, "Sorry. It'll highlight the parts for you as I list them, then you'll use the visor's diagnostic program to compare their readings to the benchmarks from the holobooks I left with you; if they're not within the proper range you show them to Lyra and she'll replace them from the spares R6 fetched. We'll start easy and open the big one-"

"The two dash one bee, right? And judging from the filled memory slots it looks like you opted to add more than a few of the specialist packages," Twilight got an impressed look from Titus as she donned the visor. Flipping it down over her eyes she gasped in excitement as her vision was immediately filled with lines of information that scrolled upward as the device powered on before the display went black for several moments and a menu appeared; it took her a little while to acclimate to the interface which she quickly learned she had to navigate with her eyes, staring at an option would access it and text would scroll automatically as she reached the end of a line to bring up the next, Ohmygosh this is amazing! "Okay, I've got a diagnostic program in front of me... I'll just need a moment to make sense of it." Following his loose instructions, she eventually found her way around the program and when she felt in control of it she nodded in Lyra's general direction, "This is going to be disorienting if I have to constantly move this thing to point at parts I'll lose where I am-" Twilight had barely finished her grumble when she felt a hand on the visor manipulating something and suddenly she could see the droid laid out before her like she was looking through a pair of glasses and the information was overlaid to not obstruct her view. "W-wow," unable to resist the urge she took a look around the room, head darting about as the device highlighted and conjured up general data about what it was pointed at, "That's much better, thanks," she leaned her shoulder against his a little harder in appreciation.

Titus slid a hand across to squeeze Twilight's closest hoof though he could feel himself slipping as his perpetual headache got worse; it felt like every capillary in his brain was on fire but lowering his head to the cool surface of the operation table provided a little comfort as he began, speaking in a whisper lest the volume cause his head to throb any worse, "First, find the screws and remove the chestplates; after that the clear torso cover will just slide off."

Absentmindedly entertaining herself by spinning the stool's seat in circles, Lyra stopped to focus her magic on the series of screws and slowly worked them out; putting them neatly to one side lest she activate Twilight's need for organization however she didn't have to wait long for a part to be pointed out to her. Focusing her magic into a different, finer point she gently disconnected a few wires on the tiny little chip though when Twilight indicated several of the chip's hair-thin pins had broken off in their terminals Lyra had to focus almost to the limits of her ability to painstakingly pluck them out one by one. Lyra got small breaks to recharge herself in the form of larger parts that needed to be replaced such as hoses and prefabricated components that were easily swapped in and during one such break she cast an envious glance at Titus' fingers as he remained hunched over with his head on the table. How the buck can he do this without magic?! While she was waiting for the visor program to finish its evaluation she leaned behind Twilight to rub the obviously-pained human on the back. "We'll have these things fixed in no time, I promise! Just hang in there, big guy," she gave him an encouraging smile and a wink when he turned his head slightly to nod in appreciation though she took quick notice of the spots that had started developing on his neck.

Twilight felt her friend leaning behind her though she concentrated on the colored comparison charts that popped up as the diagnostic program finished; The logic matrix's results came back within the acceptable range, but the board's microprocessor doesn't appear be operating correctly. Capacitors are shot, too. Using one of the spare antennas from the box Twilight pointed out the part while floating the replacement over to Lyra and moved the visor's program on to the next set of scanning; this process continued with Twilight indicating to several minuscule somethings while she queued up more diagnostics at Titus' instruction and Lyra went about replacing broken components. It was a draining exercise on everyone and both ponies eventually fell into a wordless rhythm so neither noticed the human's words gradually slurring until it reached the point that they weren't even sure he was speaking words.

With a hoof on her horn Lyra winced as her own head throbbed from the extensive use of highly-focused magic, "Okay Sparkles, now what?"

Twilight realized they were on their own as Titus, who was, in fact, still walking them through the repair but his rattled mind had flipped the autopilot on and had slipped back into using the Galactic Basic language and garbled out more strange syllables which they had no means of deciphering, "We've already replaced everything broken in this one's chest and the processing units and sensors in the head are all that's left; we've got to keep working Lyra."

"Keep going?" Lyra winced again at the thought of further magic use, "How? If you haven't noticed our specialist has clocked out!"

"Well, I have read entries on this general subject...." the holobooks Titus had loaned her on his week in Canterlot, each small slab boasting more literature than the entirety of her library, had been a great distraction during her heat cycle and she had poured over them wholeheartedly, of particular interest had been the sub-folder of maintenance manuals ranging from cybernetic limbs (the discovery of such machines had spawned numerous concepts for use where hooves and magic could not be used) to the absolute treasure trove on the ship's ion engines and various models of droids, some of which she had yet to see, that she had been so engrossed she hadn't even gotten to thoroughly checking the contents of the other holobooks. Twilight pulled the blanket up around Titus' shoulders and gently brushed a small amount of hair out of his face before turning to Lyra with a look of grim determination, "but I know we can do it, Lyra."

Lyra sighed, watching Twilight rub a hoof across the human's back comfortingly, "If you think you can make sense of this tech stuff... buck me, I'm not going to give up either! You hear me, big guy? Told you I was stubborn!" she called across to Titus who was still muttering incoherently and appeared oblivious that he was being talked to, "Once we get this thing fixed up and you're back on your feet you better be ready for that ear rub you owe me, and it's got to be longer than the last one!"

Reinvigorated, they both dove back into the droid with a level of teamwork that enhanced their speed and efficiency to a level where their combined efforts looked like an automated assembly line - Twilight managing to conduct her inspection of components while organizing and queuing up more to the point that the visor's processor was struggling to keep up with her meanwhile Lyra matched Twilight's pace, honing her magic in on the broken parts her friend pointed out and simultaneously swapping in multiple replacements at once with expert finesse; by the time they were closing up the small analysis droid many, many hours later both ponies were thoroughly spent.

"Moment of truth, Sparkles," Lyra said as she slumped bodily to the table, eyes squeezed shut as her horn-migraine throbbed in time with her heartbeat while Twilight removed the visor and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof when they watered profusely after having their focus on the display not an inch away suddenly shift to varying distances as she made the mistake of glancing around the room.

"Alright, here goes..." floating the larger medical droid upright onto its two feet, the violet unicorn hopped up on the table so she could reach the power switch to flick it on with an audible *click!*

Nothing happened.

"Buck!" Lyra groaned as Twilight tried flipping the switch several times. She was going to slump back to the table when Titus, one hand shakingly reaching for her hoof, caught her attention. "Sorry big guy, we tried, but your machines- what? Why are you pointing at the goggles?"

His short raspy whisper was a garble of the weird language and when he fell quiet he stared at her as if waiting.

Lyra shook her head gently which she quickly realized was a mistake and even quicker ceased, "I-I can't understand you, big guy. Just keep hanging in there, Sparkles'll figure this out!" She watched as a confused expression crossed his face before he wordlessly took the cord connecting the visor between two fingers and gave it a very light tug; she followed the line all the way to the droid then her eyes darted back to the visor as an idea crossed her mind, "Hey Sparkles, I think what he's trying to tell us is to disconnect the eye thingy." She got a thumbs-up before his head returned to the cool table, hers following behind it as Twilight removed the visor's plug from the droid's socket and tried the switch once more and a brief whine accompanied the click this time as the droid's head jerked up and the lights in its eyes glowed faintly.

"YES!" Twilight squeaked with glee as the droid walked forward a few steps and turned to face them, her loud enthusiasm causing Lyra to wince as it felt like the sound reverberated around inside her skull, "We did it, Lyra! We repaired alien technology, do you know what this means?!" The violet unicorn didn't wait for an answer before launching into an excited monologue that this was the first step to not only understanding Titus' tech but the humble beginnings of recreating it for Equestria's eventual forays into the reaches of space.

"Sparkles? Kindly shut your muzzle..." Lyra scooted along the table on her belly to commandeer part of the blanket wrapped around Titus to pull over her head, her ears splayed in an attempt to dampen the noise coming from her lecturing friend that felt like it was traveling down her horn directly to her brain, "I can literally feel the sound waves you're putting out."

"Communication module activated... language found. If you are in medical distress might I be of assistance?" the medical droid, having finished its boot-up sequence, turned to offer Lyra in a odd mechanical tone that strangely didn't cause her pain, "I apologize in advance as the aid I can provide is rather limited due to a pending Maintenance Alert; I have run a search of my databanks and no entries on your species were found. Please have a technician check that the drives are functioning or upload the necessary files; several non-essential secondary motor functions also appear to be operating at less-than peak performance and efficiency will be effected."

Both unicorns looked from each other to the unblinking trio of lights that were the droid's eyes before Lyra waved a hoof, "I'm just worn out and need some water and a quiet place to nap, it's the big guy here who needs your attention."

"Understood." The droid's attention switched to the still human as he made a lurching gait around the table to his patient's side and spoke in what sounded like the same garbled language Titus had been using but the only response the droid got from the lump under the blanket was a low groan and a hoarse cough.

"He's not feeling well, Lyra and I believe he's contracted a virus; I'm Twilight Sparkle, by the way," Twilight provided a quick introduction in the same format she had given the navigational assistant program the day of the crash and gave the details of what she knew about the Pony Pox though the machine made several inquires seeking to refine what the unicorn meant by magic and eventually stated it was improperly circuited to process that concept as it aided Titus to his feet. While he was being moved through an airlock system to a different table on the other side of a wall-to-wall glass window Twilight flipped the power switch on the smaller droid which floated up with what she noticed was a similar hum as the speeder bike before it greeted them in a similar fashion to the bipedal droid.

After offering a container of water and a small mattress it pulled out from a slot in the wall like a drawer for Lyra - who more than gratefully accepted - the analysis droid bobbed through the airlock door after the surgical droid which stood motionless for several moments as its smaller assistant hovered around the human before both resumed activity after seemingly exchanging information which Twilight eagerly pointed out to Lyra as their networking capability, though for the duration of her explanation she failed to notice the mint unicorn wincing with each word. Twilight opted to give the droids their space to work and, with a little difficulty as all of human furniture was much taller than Equestrian counterparts, she hopped up on the mattress with Lyra, both ponies spinning in circles to find the softest spot before plopping down on their stomachs to watch the droids as they worked however when they went about removing the rest of the flight suit and redressing him in a set of something similar to the shorts he usually wore under his clothes that had two hoses coming out of the front and back the violet unicorn shifted uncomfortably and looked elsewhere for the majority of the duration while they placed an air mask over his face and poked numerous intravenous lines into his arm.

Lyra, however, stared until her earlier question had been confirmed. Okay, definitely a stallion. With teats. And his sheath is a little funny looking but everything seems like it's there- her gawking came to an abrupt end with a sharp jab in the ribs from Twilight's elbow when she caught her friend's eyes lingering.

The whooshing and clanking of machinery drew their attention again a couple of minutes later to find Titus encased in a vat or tube which was gradually filling with a thick clear liquid until he was submerged. With the excitement over Lyra indulged in the nap she needed while Twilight quietly conversed with the two droids when they emerged from the sealed area about the nature of the procedure Titus was undergoing before dozing off herself beside her friend, both ponies intent on being present when their human emerged.

"I bring important news," the griffon strode into the cavernous and dimly-lit room, calling into the darkness as his keen eyesight struggled to pierce the shadows that flickered and danced from the two torches adorning the wall near the door, searching for their leader as he came to a stop at the edge of the light. There was a total of six cells that their Matron had regrouping in the cave system, a congregation that a few of the Resistance felt was a rash move though their new, fortified position within the mountains would need the numbers to mount a proper defense should the King's forces follow their trail. He registered the movement to one side too late to react and suddenly he felt the firm grip on his windpipe as he was lifted to his hind legs.

"You intrude unbidden," to make her displeasure known she effortlessly lifted the young griffon higher and squeezed slightly, harshly swatting aside one of his talons that tried to find a grip of her arm, "Speak. Quickly."

"News from our foreign conspirators..." the griffon gurgled as his lungs screamed for air, head held aloft at an angle that he was unable to see his assailant, "The hyoo-man... has fallen ill with an equine pox... his survival... uncertain." Expecting his Matron to release him upon delivery of the information she instead remained silent and made no move to free him from her grasp as she thought over the development, during which time the griffon lost consciousness and went limp.

A moment passed and there was a solid knock at the door before another griffon entered, this one older and decidedly more muscular than the previous. "Pardon the interruption, we have confirmed a field report-" he stopped upon seeing the limp body of his brethren, forelimbs dangling at his sides. The griffon bowed reverently, "My humble apologies for my subordinate's insolence, Mistress. I would have come sooner had I nae thought it prudent to authenticate our information and would seem this wee one wished to overstep his authority, a transgression normally worthy of harsh punishment however with our numbers thinned perhaps I may ask that ye be lenient in this case?" The figure before him grunted in response, roughly tossing the limp form to his feet. He bowed again in thanks as she crossed the cavern to sit in the large chair tucked into one of the shadowy corners and when she had made herself comfortable he inquired if the report had already been disclosed to her to which she crossed her forearms over her chest and nodded, "I shall keep ye apprised of the ongoing situation, Mistress. What is your directive?"

"The King's Delegation is still at the horse palace, contact our informant and tell her to continue forward with the schedule. We will be ready when the time comes," she answered in the broken Griffon language her aide had become used to, "In the meantime, see to it that your fledglings stay in line; make an example of this one's misplaced eagerness. Dismissed, Geirr."

"So it will be done, Golden Mistress." With a final bow Geirr departed, dragging the unconscious figure by the tail out of the room to leave it with the first comrades he came across, intent on dealing with the upstart once he came around and, from the look of things, that might be a while. It worked out in his favor however, as after he dispatched the message that would find an indirect path to their informant the next order of business was to interrogate the prisoner that one of the merging resistance cells had picked up. Despite a quick rise to power within the Resistance the Matron had proven devoted to the cause and it had been both her ability to lead when the position had been suddenly vacated in the last raid and her gift to seemingly come out ahead against all odds had swung the approval of the G.R.A.'s superiors in her favor but those same superiors were definitely hesitant to consolidate their power at the mountain base being situated. Geirr, however, held no such hesitation at following his golden-maned mistress, she had saved his life during their escape and his clan's code demanded it belonged wholly to her until she released him from the debt, and if that meant he was at the forefront while she commanded from behind the curtain like the other Griffon Resistance Army Executives so be it.

Geirr arrived at the makeshift holding cell with two guards stationed outside, both of them familiar faces he'd fought with before the consolidation so he knew them to be trustworthy beyond a doubt; his nod was enough to communicate they were to follow him in on the off chance the unicorn tried anything. "G'mornin' lass... though stuck down here like ye are it might as well be night to ye, for all ye know," Geirr closed in on the form huddled in a corner, rolling his thick neck until it popped several times while the two guards positioned themselves near the door with torches to illuminate the room, "Now then, what say we have a wee chat about the alien visitor and your Princesses?"

It was just under a week before the gel was drained out of the tank and Titus was finally able to step out set foot on the deck of his ship again, though he had been retained in the isolation chamber for a day while the droids conducted a few concluding tests. Floating next to the intercom, the small analysis droid spoke in a calm tone to both ponies from the other side of the observation area while the larger surgical droid finished up with Titus, "Master Aelius should refrain from strenuous activity for a few more days to promote a full recuperation and while he is certainly out of the asteroid belt, medically speaking, he's still on the road to recovery and will need to return to the vat for another, shorter session." Titus' rather groggy appearance while the tubes in his arms were pulled out lent credibility to the droid's prognosis though Twilight and Lyra each got a big grin when they waved at him; they had been given the good news the night previous the last that his elevated intracranial pressure had finally passed and that the odd virus was losing the battle with his antibodies thanks in part to the bacta, both the immersion that provided a sanitary environment and the injections had kept him stable and both ponies had been in high spirits since then, despite being dead on their hooves tired. "We have communicated that to him, however, like many other organics, he has a track record of illogical behavior and stubbornly ignores such medical instruction. If at all possible, please attempt to steer him toward following our recommendations." Observing the surgical droid retreating to the chamber's airlock the assistant stated the quarantine was no longer in effect and they were free to enter.

Twilight was stomping her socked hooves as the first chamber door felt like it inched open and she didn't even realize she had poked her muzzle through the growing crack and as soon as there was sufficient space for her to squeeze through she had, trying to contain her anticipation though that dam was weakly constructed and the floodgate failed, her pace quickening to a trot for the short distance across the isolation chamber. In a single bound she had cleared the examination table he was sitting on and wrapped her hooves around him tightly, burying her face in the coarse blanket he was bundled up in.

"Whoa, take is easy Sparkles! It'd be a shame if you smothered him to death at this point," Lyra joined the pair on the table and bumped shoulders with Titus, her little joke getting a chuckle from the human who softly bumped her back and a dirty look from the unicorn latched to him.

"That's not funny," she retorted dryly. Unhooking a hoof from around his neck to prod him in the chest lightly before it traced circles around his sternum, her scowl faded and a look of wavering uncertainty replaced it though she looked away when his gaze locked with hers for an uncomfortable amount of time, "Your droids said you came really close to... that there was a chance you wouldn't pull through," her hoof found its way back around his neck and she pulled herself close again and held him there for a long moment, an audible hitch in her breath when his arm looped itself over her back to share in the embrace caused the last few stressful days of waiting to come bubbling to the surface, "I was- no, sorry. We were both really scared for you."

"Sparkles was a mess, if you couldn't tell by her appearance," the mint unicorn nudged him again and wormed her way under the other arm, careful not to poke him with her wrapped horn, "I don't think she's slept for more than an hour or two since you went in there. She was pacing about and when she thought nopony was listening she'd talk to you-"

"H-hey! Don't act like you weren't worried too, Lyra," Twilight rolled her eyes as her friend tried to play it cool, "You all but moved in to the bunk next to the window!" Following the unicorn's pointing hoof revealed one of the hide-away beds out in the general medbay had a messy light green quilt bundled up at one end and fluffy bright yellow pillow in addition to the numerous socks of varying design that lay about the floor, "Not like you did a lot of sleeping, either, every time I'd look over you were nose-deep in the holobook you borrowed or wide awake and staring at him... Tartarus knows what you were reading, though."

"Yeah, well I..." Lyra's ears splayed back and she looked off to the side, "shut up." The holobook in question, unbeknownst to Twilight, featured the unabridged and expanded creature compendium that could be found on the datapad Titus had loaned to Twilight the day of their picnic however after seeing the human stripped and put into the vat the only entry Lyra had thought worth using the search function for was, naturally, humans, and the myriad of information provided she had skimmed over until reaching the section on biology, or more specifically, reproduction. Also unknown to Twilight was the excursion the mint unicorn had made with the device, taking it home to show her roommate who, like the majority of ponies, wondered what a human looked like under all of those clothes and needless to say her curiosity was sated; it was at this point that she remembered she had left it on the kitchen table along with her dinner in her hurry to get out the door after Twilight had barged in to announce Titus was coming out of quarantine.

Titus was still weary and he could tell they both were worn out and the last thing he wanted was to be in the middle if their back and forth grew any more heated. Thankfully both ponies under his arms immediately quieted when he gave them a light squeeze, "Look, I'm not sure how you two managed to finish piecing those two droids back together without me, but without them this probably would have been my final jump so I guess... I owe both of you my life."

"We didn't have any other option at the time, so Lyra and I worked together and stayed up through the night and into the morning to check every component in both droids," the urge to nuzzle him until his skin was sore was overwhelming but Twilight hesitated in the presence of Lyra, despite her being her best friend she wasn't sure if Titus would be comfortable snuggling like that in front of an audience and, truth be told, she wasn't certain how she'd feel either. Instead she settled with tightening her already firm hold on him like he had gotten back from a long journey abroad, "And don't even think that you owe us anything!"

"Speak for yourself, Sparkles, the big guy owes me an ear rub and a day of hanging out!"

Titus nodded, "Yeah yeah, I didn't forget-"

"Plus interest! You know, as a late fee and to compensate me for my time..."

Even though he was obviously still feeling the affects of the Pox Lyra quickly found herself in a playful headlock, one that he had more than enough strength to hold her in as she made weak squirms to get free, "Greedier than a Hutt's guts, you are! If you just tried saying 'Hey Titus, I really enjoy it when you rub my ears so if you're not occupied I'd love to have one,' nine times out of ten I'd be happy to. It's not like they cost me anything-" at that moment Titus finally noticed the odd attire on both ponies and stopped to stare from one to the other before asking what the deal was with the socks, the dark glasses Twilight was wearing, and the medical tape wrapped around Lyra's horn.

Lyra was the first to speak up and explained that after the droids had been fixed Twilight had worn the visor pretty much for an entire day to catalog everything the device would display and had tried going outside to see what would happen if she looked at other objects; when she had stepped out of the airlock, however, the sun had flashed off of the hull and been fed directly into her eyeballs by the visor, causing her to be temporarily blinded though she had recovered to the point that she currently only saw spots, "Or, more appropriately, sparkles, so she's a bit sensitive to bright lights, hence the shades." Lyra shimmied her shoulders until the arm around her was back in a comfortable resting spot and held a socked hoof up to segue the conversation to the clothing they were both wearing, "The socks are simply because this floor is too cold and we had a hard time talking around our constantly-chattering teeth."

"Oh, I uh... I guess I never realized because I'm never barefoot," Titus looked from the blue-&-white striped socks Lyra was wearing to the solid black ones with a single magenta band at the top on Twilight, "You two look nice in those, they really accent your legs."

Lyra watched as Titus' gaze made a second pass up and down Twilight's legs before doing the same with hers. So he likes the socks, huh? She made a mental note to check her wardrobe for other items she might be able to wear occasionally before drawing the human's attention a little higher up, "As for me I sort of overdid it and sprained my horn-"

"You can sprain a horn?" Titus gave Lyra and her bandaged horn a skeptical but inquisitive look.

"Oh, certainly!" Twilight answered him and did so with her usual intellectual thoroughness, "Sprains are a fairly common injury among unicorns however it's different from the muscle strain that you're probably thinking of. As you know pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns each channel Harmony in their unique way - earth ponies are robust and naturally gifted with plants while pegasi are capable of flight with massive loads and they can walk on clouds. Unlike pegasi and Earth ponies, a unicorn's body absorbs the energy from the environment around us so we can actively shape and control the flow of magic into what we need or store some in reserve which also has the added effect of promoting faster healing, though even with a minor injury like Lyra's both the accumulation and healing will be at a much slower rate. Her situation is similar to the power supply and circuits in your droids; in her case she overloaded the circuit from either the high focus of energy or from the extended duration of the channeling or, more likely, a combination of both. Physical fatigue, stress, or pain can also lead to sprains - we certainly were tired by the time we had finished - and most unicorns would fizzle under those circumstances pretty quickly."

"I'll be fine, big guy," Lyra offered her reassurance when Titus eyed the wrapped protrusion with what looked like guilt, "Not like this is the first time I've had this happen but it's always annoying because Doc Horse says I shouldn't use magic for a while and the wrapping itches like crazy!" Unable to call upon her magic to temporarily alleviate the itch she turned her neck so that she could rub the length of her horn against the blanket wrapped around him however a second later she completely froze when she felt his fingers drag gently over the bandage. "Ooohhh buck yeah," she let out a sigh and her eyes completely closed as the nagging itch was finally dealt with, "T-that feels so much better than with a hoof... your fingers... buck me, it is so not fair what you can do with those! This guy is a total keeper, Sparkles."

"Just going off how she's latched onto me like a mynock on an ion drive I would say Twi agrees," Titus chuckled and gave Twilight a little squeeze, "though I have to say she's much cuter."

The light peck on the forehead that accompanied the compliment proved to be enough to overcome Twilight's earlier hesitation and she nuzzled him wholeheartedly on the underside of his jaw, her position and grip on him making it impossible for him to retreat from the assault on the ticklish spot, "I'm not sure what a mynock is but I'm just glad you're finally out of that tank, the whole time I just felt so... helpless. I didn't have a way to let you know I was there with you," she paused to look up at the nervously grinning human when she felt his arm slide up the side of her neck to her jaw.

"You are far from helpless, Twi, and for what it's worth I could feel you were there, if you know what I mean. It helped. You helped," his head had just enough range of motion to dip for a kiss which Twilight gladly accepted, the hooves behind his neck pulling him into it as they both communicated their unsaid feelings to the other until they broke apart and simply rested on each other's foreheads to stare at each other.

"D'awww!"

Their intermission was cut off as both of them embarrassingly realized they had forgotten there was an audience for their display as Lyra made her presence known by putting a hoof on Titus' far shoulder to pull herself up and rest her muzzle on the other shoulder, "Oh, don't let me stop you two from really going at it, I can just quietly sit here and watch. Just one question, big guy; I don't know if you 'felt' that I was here for you as well, but am I going to get some of that action, too? You don't have to eat my face or anythi-Eee!" she squealed in laughter as her head was suddenly pulled forward from its perch and a loud, rough smooch was planted on her cheek and finalized with a raspberry.

"Greedier than a Hutt, but now that you mention eating I'm famished," he enthusiastically tousled the mint unicorns ears, her eyes squeezed shut and a big grin plastered on her face from the attention, "If you two'd give me a minute I'll shuffle down to the hold to grab something-"

"Ugh, not that green stuff in the cans, I hope..." having taken a small experimental spoonful the day before Lyra broke free from the roughhousing to screw her face up at the memory of the tasteless goop and the results had been rather flatulent with Lyra having to suffer through an afternoon of Twilight referring to her as "Lyra Fartstrings" until the mint unicorn had slipped some into a sandwich at which time Twilight had become "Sparklepoots" and they had both agreed to stay away from the human's processed food though the humor had been a welcome relief. When Titus tried to explain that the texture wasn't so bad once you got used to it and it was probably healthier than anything she had in mind she physically stopped him from continuing by pressing a hoof against his mouth, "No way, I'm not having it. You're getting over being sick and that gross mucus is the last thing you need, we're going to get some real food in you!" When her adversary gave in with a full-body sigh she giggled happily and rubbed her face against his shoulder in victory, "And what did I tell you about trying to butt heads with me?"

"That you're a stubborn, cuss-headed, stick-in-the mud and when you decide to dig your heels in I stand no chance."

"See? You're learning! Now come on Sparkles, I'm going to need your help carrying the grub!" As she hopped down from the table Lyra couldn't help but notice Twilight tightened her grip on Titus and pouted at the idea of having to leave until Titus saw it as well and pulled her into a big hug as he stood up and held her there while he twirled her around with sufficient speed that centrifugal force pulled her hind legs outward, kissing her the whole time; when the violet unicorn was finally put down she was anything but pouting and cheerfully pranced past Lyra for the door.

Titus wasn't sure why Lyra stopped midway through the door to glance back at him searchingly before following Twilight though her odd behavior was pushed to the back of his mind as he ran a hand through his still bacta-wet hair. "Might as well jump in the refresher while they're gone," he said to no one in particular and headed for the shower as one of the meddroids bid him farewell and powered down.

He took longer than he meant to, having lost track of time after zoning out under the comfortable stream of hot water and when he came to his senses he quickly finished up; not finding any clothes in the shower room locker he wrapped a towel around his waist and left, intent on retrieving a set from his quarters but found that his path made a detour past the turn he needed and upon nearing the airlock he happened to glance up and noticed for the first time the multitude of muddy hoofprints dotting the ceiling and idly followed them through the ship to eventually arrive in Piloting. I haven't been in here since the crash. He first noted the smashed control console where he had been sitting and subconsciously rubbed his forehead, remembering how addled he had been when his helmet had smashed into it; after a quick visual scan of the room it looked like things were fairly intact and the only damages were either superficial, such as the dislodged electrical panels, or something that was an easy fix, like the smashed control panel or cracked view screens. Thankfully the idea the Wessex's girl stole for this prototype was situating the bridge internally rather than having it jut out as an easy target; something designed like a Victory-I or Venator landing on its roof... there wouldn't be a bridge left. I don't know why I'd ever expect the karking woman to credit me with the implementation, though.

Titus was busy reliving the encounter he and Aurelia had had with the bratty engineer and their conversation on ship designs, one that had occurred in the middle of a rough and tumble escape after a failed kidnapping attempt by General Greivous' battle droids through an asteroid field - thankfully he had been flying and not Krua or Aurelia, both of them had been busy manning the turrets - and his later theft of the ship from her prototype development facility after the Purge. "You've done good, girl. I'll get you back into shape, don't you worry," he was busy patting a one of the ship's bulkheads comfortingly when he heard the familiar voices of Lyra and Twilight directly behind him as the door swooshed open.

"You're sure the droid said he went this way- Whoa!" Lyra stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the startlingly unclothed human, "Whoa. Lookin' gooood, big guy..." That was all she managed before falling silent and letting her gaze roam from head to toe and over the vast expanses of smooth, damp fur-free skin.

With a familiar brown bag held in a magic aura Twilight, seeing that Titus didn't say anything about the mint unicorn outright ogling him, stepped around her to close the distance to pass the food over for inspection and gave a good look around the room at the complex hub of technology, "Sorry we took so long, somepony insisted on ordering one of everything off the menu, so I'd like to just apologize in advance for your impending cardiac arrest-" Twilight cringed at her perceived insensitivity as Titus assumed the ever-impressive pose squatting down and balancing on the balls of his feet while he opened the crumpled top and peered inside, "That was supposed to be a joke but it's a little too soon for that brand of humor, sorry. Completely off topic, but what brought you here in, uh... nothing but a towel?"

"I was following you," he answered somewhat cryptically, so when the unicorn looked puzzled he pointed a finger at the ceiling which she followed and quickly discovered the series of hoof prints, "They must have been from when you and your friends came aboard investigating the crash and I got caught up following them when I passed the airlock, eventually I ended up here in Piloting thinking about stuff. As for the towel, I got sidetracked on my way to my quarters for clothes; not sure what happened to the ones I had in the shower room locker."

"Oh, that would be my fault. While you were in the tank I was looking for a way to pass the time and I had already organized your room and all these clothes had gotten tossed around with no way to distinguish what was clean and what wasn't so I took a few loads home and didn't get around to putting it all back where I found it; everything's back on your bunk waiting to be folded. Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you with nothing to wear," Twilight took a look over her shoulder at the mouth-agape and still-staring pony behind her and giggled, "and I think because of that you might have broken Lyra, though I can understand what she's going through - aside from the obvious lack of clothing your mane looks good when it's wet and-" she put a hoof on his knee and slowly transition her weight onto it so he could adjust his balance as he remained poised on the balls of his feet when she reached the very top of his head to take a sniff, "-you smell really nice." When she leaned down from her perch and saw an opportunity to steal a quick peck she was startled to find he had an odd expression bordering on worry etched on his face.

"No, no, you're fine. I just thought of something," he replied when she asked what was wrong and rushed to back away though she stopped when both his hands came together on either shoulder to halt her retreat, "I... am I going to get sick from that again?"

"What? Oh, no, you should be alright," Lyra had snapped out of her stupor at the sound of concern in Twilight's voice, "The robot guys took blood samples from both of us and studied our antibodies or whatever to create a vaccine for you."

"It was a little more complicated than that," Twilight shifted her weight as Titus sank to the floor in a cross-legged sitting position and rearranged herself to lay partially on is leg, though the towel seemed to cover less and less with each change in pose, "Unfortunately the majority of our vaccines are prophylactic, though after I read that your analysis droid could perform procedures like culturing viruses for harvesting I posed the question if they could develop one if they had the right equipment and after a quick trip to my laboratory, a letter to the Princess for vials of our own vaccines for their study, and a few drops of blood they were underway speed-growing variants; by morning they had several injections for common illnesses adapted and ready for use."

"Intravenous?" Titus looked at his arm where the hoses had been hooked up and gave it a flex, "That would explain the localized soreness in my arm. What about you, anything you need to worry about from me?"

"Nope! That blood sample you left with me didn't have anything that was communicable according to both my and the Academy's findings and Princess Luna also said there wasn't anything to worry about when she used her spell on you; I was interested to know what she cast although she would only say it was classified as a first level A.O., or Alicorn-Only," Twilight went on to explain the categories of spells, from the all-access classification for spells like non-thermal light below a certain luminary threshold to the military's various damaging bolts and rays to the highest level of Alicorn-Only where the destructive spells were too powerful to even be written down and the secrets of mind-control spells were kept safely guarded. She looked a little glum that she hadn't gotten any more information though from the way the Princess had been talking it felt like she might be willing to share in the future, "Regardless, the Princesses created a team of ponies to work on a batch of vaccines for the bacteria and viruses we did find in you, just in case."

"So... congrats, you're caught up on your shots, Equestria doesn't have to worry about getting human illnesses, and you're Princess-approved to smooch to your heart's content, lovercolt!" Lyra gave him an over-exaggerated wink, "Now come on, let's dig into the food before it gets cold." After a quick stop by his room for a set of clothes, the task made longer than normal as the amount of get-well mail Lyra and Twilight had attempted to store there had spilled out into the hallway and necessitated some minor acrobatics to navigate - in a bath towel, mind you - Titus ushered both ponies out of the airlock, Twilight eagerly pointing out the rubberized mats they had laid out in a pathway over the hull of the ship as they went to a flat spot on the outer hull where they could enjoy their meal in the fresh night air, their laughter and jovial conversation fading up to join the stars that seemed to shine almost cheerfully.

Lying awake on the pair of mattresses pushed together on the floor of the medbay and staring at the ceiling, Titus found himself unable to get to sleep as his mind kept wandering to the thoughts of the day. Currently he was thinking about the food Lyra had brought, which had been delicious though he was sure he would be spending time in the bathroom with how greasy most of it was and the large amounts of salt had meant he had had to pilfer some of Twilight's soda, but regardless the three had enjoyed each others company - Twilight had even referred to it as a "successful interim first date" which Titus couldn't help but feel happy about.

"Can't sleep?" Twilight asked and snuggled herself closer between the warmth of his side and arm before lifting her head from his chest to look at him in earnest a second later, "I-Is everything okay, do you feel alright?"

"Shhh! You'll wake Lyra," Titus hadn't realized Twilight had been awake observing him for a while now and her sudden excitement caused him to look to the other arm where the mint unicorn had wrapped all four of her hooves around the limb which he had voiced had put his hand in a rather precarious position but she had simply laughed and had said that it was only awkward if he made it awkward before falling asleep faster than he could make his protest. The small mischievous grin was still plastered on her face and every now and then she'd squeeze on the arm and mew quietly and it was easy to believe that she knew he'd find her too adorable to rouse once she had drifted off but she had arranged herself to sleep with her back to the human to allow Twilight to snuggle up a little more intimately and use his chest as a pillow. And if she wakes up now to find both of us up there'll be no way we could convince her it was coincidence or we were only talking, knowing Lyra she'd probably keep us up into the early morning cracking saucy jokes at our expense. Seeing that the pert pony's slumber hadn't been disturbed by the noise Titus returned his attention to the concerned unicorn, "My joints ache a little and my limbs feel like lead but I'm alright; it's just my mind refusing to take a break from thinking about stuff."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Relieved her human wasn't about to turn blue or grow more spots Twilight settled back to her previous position and rested her chin on his chest so she could still look at him, "Whenever that happens to me I write a letter to Princess Celestia to get the thoughts out of my system; maybe you should try it?"

Titus was familiar with the letters Twilight would regularly write to the Princesses, having been given the chance to read several from their collection (and it was a sizable one), but he wasn't entirely sure about that idea, "Thinking about it is much easier than it would be to put it onto paper and I get the feeling that trying would only wake me up more. Plus, I wouldn't really know where to begin with what would be a very long letter."

"Oh, that's easy... with 'Dear Princess,' of course!" she giggled quietly and stuck her tongue out when in response he gave his best impression of Rainbow's "Duh!" expression, complete with rolling of the eyes, "I usually don't even send those letters, half the reason being they just serve as an outlet so I feel like I've communicated whatever is on my mind and the other being I'd have to deal with a grumpy baby dragon if I woke him up in the middle of the night to send it. You know, if you don't feel like writing I um... I could listen, if you'd like." When he remarked he didn't want to have a grumpy unicorn on his hands the next day after keeping her up regaling his thoughts to her she stretched to playfully nip at the side of his neck, "Look, I won't be able to get to sleep if you can't, so just tell me what you're thinking about and we can go back to sleep together!"

"'Sleep together,' huh? How forward of you!" Titus' waggling eyebrows and grin made Twilight rethink her wording which she pointed out with a heavy sigh was being taken woefully out of context and added he was beginning to sound like Lyra before they shared a friendly nuzzle and Titus lowed his head back to the pillow while the lavender unicorn plopped her head back on his sternum. "Okay, I'll give it a shot. Um... I guess the overarching thing on my mind is all the events that had to line up just right for me to end up where I am now."

"W-wow... that is a lot to think about," Twilight muttered, blinking several times as the thought entered her own mind but she quickly dismissed it for another time.

Titus simply nodded, "Everything I had to do to finish Jedi training, my fights during the Clone Wars, dodging the Hunters after the Purge, the work as a smuggler; it's just branches upon branches of alternatives... even in the last twenty four hours after leaving the space port and before coming through the portal I can't count the number of times I had to make a decision that potentially could have changed whether I had ended up wherever this is. Provided, that is, that your magic didn't target me specifically or for whatever reason. I mean, if I hadn't been double checking the ship stores to be sure the dock master wasn't trying to rip me off on the supplies I had bought I wouldn't have overheard one of the Clones talking about an Imperial ship patrolling the sector. I had recently stole some data on an obscure weapon prototype or mining laser - I'm not sure which - but to be safe I adjusted my flight path to make it look like I was making a routine delivery to a colony and not like I was avoiding the patrol. I had several options that all put me on a different course, though the one I chose was the long one through open space that necessitated a session of cryosleep, so without my main computer up and running I can't say how long I was under before I encountered the portal. I probably could have gotten away with not shutting the ship's reactor down after I saw there was gravity on this planet and if I hadn't the repulsorlift arrays would have kept me in the air and I wouldn't have crashed, but if I left the reactor running and crashed anyway the potential explosion from a core breach would have left a lot more than a divot in a hill," Titus explained what sort of catastrophic explosion could have occurred and described the sort of damage a ship coming apart could have caused. Unsure where to go from there he took the chance to glance down to see if the unicorn was still awake and found her to be listening attentively, ears fully forward and large eyes firmly locked on him. She's beautiful. She really is beautiful. He couldn't help but grin at her as he stared back into her violet eyes, a long moment of complete silence passing before she eventually cracked a smile of her own out of uncertainty for the reason of the extended eye contact.

"I'm sorry..." he sighed, "I forgot the 'Dear Princess Twilight' part. Do I need to start over?"

"I'm not a princess, I'm just a librarian," Twilight snorted at what she thought was going to be something serious turning out to be a lighthearted joke, both of them turning to make sure the noise hadn't woken Lyra up though her only change was to pull the arm in even tighter and nuzzle into the bicep as a small twitch of her back legs hinted she might be galloping somewhere in her dream. Satisfied after a brief  period of observation Twilight turned back to the human whose free hand was now lightly scratching small circles in her fur, "Why think back on all that, do you regret any of it? Would you go back and change anything?"

Titus recalled his Master's didactic reply from the time he had asked her a similar question, "'Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment...' but of course I have my regrets and, had I known the outcomes, there are things I wish I had done differently but here, in the present moment?" he paused to cast another look at the unicorn he had an arm wrapped around, once again locking eyes with her, "I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out and even if I could go back I wouldn't want this to change at all; coming through the portal has been one of the best things to happen to me and I've never felt closer to the Force since arriving in Equestria. Most importantly, though, is that I also met a beautiful best friend that I've come to cherish with all of my heart... and she's so much more than 'just a librarian.' Twi, if I took a month just to think I might find a way to accurately put how I feel into words, but right now I just need to say I love y-"

He didn't get to finish as he found his mouth suddenly occupied by Twilight's own pressing against it firmly with tears streaking down her cheeks yet the smile splitting her face could have lit the room; she didn't need a spell to sense his feelings as he poured them into the kiss and when she finally and reluctantly pulled herself back she felt like she was going to burst with how happy she felt as the sensation of the Harmony filled her heart well past overflowing, "I-I know, even though you were just mumbling I overheard you say 'by the stars, I love her to bits' that morning in the kitchen. Truth be told I knew I'd be interested in your technology and sciences but I never expected us to connect like we did and I never expected that you could be so... ponylike in the way you think and behave; despite everything my errors had directly or indirectly put you through you still forgave me and became my friend, though the more time I spent with you the more I slowly came to feel you were more than that... much more. If you would have told me a month or so ago I'd fall for an alien I would have thought you were crazy, but you're always somewhere on my mind, whenever I'm around you I get this fluttery feeling like my hooves aren't even touching the ground, and whenever you look at me with a smile - just like the one you have right now - I feel like the all of the Harmony in Equestria couldn't make me happier! I just... I... By the stars I love you to bits, too!" That was all she could say because with the way his face lit up she couldn't stand to not be nuzzling him or kissing him at the moment and squirmed out of the nook of his arm halfway onto his broad chest so she was in a better position before resuming, though they transitioned from fast and intense to slow and passionate over the course of a few minutes as each panted to catch their breath.

While Twilight was making ample use of her forehooves to gently rub his neck, cheeks, and jaw or loop them behind his neck to get a little more pressure out of a kiss. There wasn't much Titus could do from his position with only the one hand as the absolute last thing he wanted was to move the arm Lyra had latched on to and wake her up in the process; still, he did his best to reciprocate despite his handicap, his palm making broad strokes up her sides and neck, the fingers combing through her mane and kneading her ears, the latter reducing Twilight to only nuzzling as her head involuntarily fell to his collarbone; with her out of the proverbial fight Titus was able to make up some lost ground as each nibble on her neck was responded to with a small purr.

Twilight couldn't help but hum while she ground her muzzle into the special spot on her human's neck as each nip he made sent a warm wave through her until an unexpected twitch from Titus caused her to stop and pull back. "What's wrong?" she whispered, searching his face to find him biting his lip and, judging by his expression, he was fighting against something; thinking she knew what was going on despite a quick glance toward the short trousers failed to reveal any telling evidence she leaned in to breath into his ear, "I didn't expect that to get you heated..."

"Not. Heated," he managed around his locked jaw, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, "it's Lyra she's-" a small chuckle from his side cut him off, partially muffled as the mint unicorn dug her muzzle deeper into his armpit which caused Titus to change to a new expression, "Twi, what is she doing?!"

Twilight thought for a moment before hovering her snout near his other armpit for a small sniff (much to Titus' added discomfort) and she immediately realized what Lyra was doing. "Your scent, for lack of a better term, is stronger there which I imagine is either acting like a stimulant to further enhance the authenticity of a dream or she subconsciously inserted you into her dream after picking up on it. Do you remember when I said you smelled nice before dinner? Right after I became your Mediator and while you were still uncomfortable being approached, I was asked multiple times on almost a daily basis by ponies that were curious about it. Much like how our coats and manes are colorful every pony has a unique scent composed of pheromones released to attract attention for herding, and yours is a particularly interesting case in that it's-" the second sniff she took bordered somewhere on a snort and was decidedly less than experimental as she indulged herself, "Entrancing, despite the fact you're not equine and still it's evidently appealing to a wide range of individuals-"

"Wait, what? I mean, I've noticed a lot of the ponies I've met have unique fragrances but I had run out of anti-odor long before arriving here and what with the physical labor involved in my salvaging work I sweat a lot. I'm usually worried that I reek... you mean to tell me they liked that?" he shifted as much as he could and thankfully Twilight picked up on his discomfort with the situation though the mint unicorn remained firmly buried as she inhaled deeply between slumbering chuckles, her hind hooves gently bicycling in the air.

"Mhm! I know Lyra and I do, and you've gotten quite a few compliments from ponies that had been watching you work. I imagine it can reach a point where it's overwhelming like when a pony puts on too much perfume... b-but you definitely haven't ever stunk, though! You smell sort of... earthy?" When she went in for one last sniff it looked like he shied away and Twilight apologized meekly, sitting up and pulling herself away to do so, "Sorry, I didn't realize that smelling you made you uncomfortable, I suppose I'm used to ponies being alright with it and should have asked."

Beneath her Twilight could feel Titus' body spasm before she realized he hadn't retracted from her and was shaking his head, eyes closed again as he spasmodically clenched his whole self to keep from a laugh, "You're fine, getting sniffed was s-something I had to get used to but t-that's not it... that tickles like crazy!" It didn't help that his arm had fallen asleep and the pins-and-needles sensation that came as the blood began flowing again was only heightened as Lyra continued to rub her soft nose against the sensitive spot.

Oooh, so he's ticklish on that spot near his ear and under his arms. Now that's two spots I know of. Twilight was about to tell him he could probably just roll her out and to the other side of the combined mattress if he really wanted with little fear of waking her as she was a very heavy sleeper but the evidence of that came a second later when the mint unicorn abruptly sat up, ears at full attention as she scanned the room with closed eyes and when she made her pass over Titus and Twilight they remained still as statues. There was a pause as she stared off into her dream somewhere, her head cocked quizzically to one side, then she snorted loudly and the grin came back to her face before she dove back in to Titus' arm, giggling the whole time while her nuzzling traveled the length of the limb from his shoulder toward his hand which left her up bent at a strange angle almost like a macaroni noodle, though despite the odd position Lyra still wrapped her hooves around his wrist and pulled the hand in for a snuggling and hummed happily as she ground her muzzle against his palm, letting the fingers brush over her face and ears.

"She's a really heavy sleeper," Twilight relaxed back down to rub her own face against the human's neck, relieved the situation had worked itself out, "though when you agreed that we could spend the night I probably should have warned you she's a bit of a cuddler, too. Sorry." Twilight had convinced Titus to put the mattresses on the floor and push them together by explaining that she and Lyra would occasionally rest together as it was very comforting to have a warm friend to snuggle into and pointed to the benefits of bolstering friendships; her short time spent on the Academy's Debate Team as a filly meant she had kept several more facts up her sleeve as rebuttals and counterpoints as well as a brief (by her definition) history of the practice in ancient times as a means of warding off predators and enemies though before either of those were necessary he had voiced his willingness to try despite his apprehension which Twilight had learned stemmed from his own species' sleep practices.

While Twilight was busy with her apology Titus watched Lyra squirm from her twisted position to a pose where her hindquarters lifted up just enough to untangle and straighten out before flopping back down on the only spot available which was somewhere between his stomach and sternum and, rather impressively, the entire motion was completed without letting up on the nuzzles to his palm or gentle noms on a finger that happened to stray too close to her mouth. He tried not to look at the pair of flanks though it proved to be a challenge; they were rather prominently placed within his range of vision, after all. I know she's got a fixation on my ass and if our roles were reversed... but still, Twi and I- In the split second he had that he didn't avert his gaze her tail, which was no longer under her conscious control, drooped limply to follow the contour of her flanks and drape over his stomach, revealing her in her entirety. Oh-kay, that just happened.

"So, do you feel like you could get to sleep now?" Twilight asked hopefully and more than a little wearily as she failed to stifle a wide yawn but the oddly noncommittal grunt he gave felt out of character so she begrudgingly lifted herself up to investigate. "Still got something on your mind-?" Twilight's question came to a abrupt halt when she discovered Lyra was effectively flashing her marehood to both of them and realized he very probably had something on his mind.

"Hooo boy, this certainly is awkward..." Titus chuckled nervously and un-looped the arm he had around Twilight to reposition the posterior pointed at him but didn't get the chance as she was roughly rolled to the far side of the mattress in a magenta aura, "Hey, come on now." Despite the harsh tumbling Lyra somehow remained sound asleep and instead of stirring whined in disappointment at the sudden lack of contact with the hand as she blindly patted around her for it with an aimless hoof. Titus hadn't meant for her to be completely ostracized like that and reached over to pull Lyra back against his side, though he placed his upper arm over her flank to give her she space she needed; positioning his hand in her hoof's searching path the goofy grin returned to her face as she reengaged her four-hoofed death-grip which was something Titus just couldn't help but smile at.

Twilight, however, felt admonished by his action and her body language changed accordingly and when he inquired on it her ears only splayed back farther as she apologized and muttered what a foal she was being, "S-sorry, she's my best friend but... I had a flashback to the last stallion that dumped me and-"

"Silly pony," the way she was glancing from the zonked-out Lyra to anywhere but him was telling, as were the quiet huffs, so he wrapped her up in an arm for a long squeeze which she reciprocated in the form of a heartfelt nuzzle, "You've got nothing to worry about; there's no way I'd leave you hanging to go after another mare... even though, like you, she happens to have a great butt." Using the last part of his sentence as bait when she looked up at him in mild shock he zipped in and planted his lips against hers, the chuckle and look in his eyes clearing telling her "gotcha!" before his free hand worked its way to the back of her head to push her further into the gesture; not that she needed any encouragement past the first instant of the kiss because her hooves looped behind his neck for additional leverage to pull him in for a long moment where they simply said nothing and let their connection communicate their respect, admiration, and affection for the other until they amicably separated to settle into a cuddle.

"Hey Twi?" knowing how much she enjoyed it, Titus breathed into her coat before placing a light nip on the same spot as he tried to put his thought into words, "Thanks. You know, for being there since I got here. I know I was a bit... cold or distant at first and I didn't say anything at the time, but it was really comforting and a relief to be able to depend on you - and more recently, the mint-colored degenerate strangling my other arm - if I needed anything. I realize it can't always have been easy, but I appreciated it none the less," Titus' arm was beginning to fall asleep from both having been stationary for an extended amount of time and the lack of circulation caused by Lyra's surprisingly strong grip, even in her sleep.

Twilight's mind was swimming from the nibbles and his confession as she turned her head to grant better access to her neck, the gesture understood and duly followed up on. "Oh, well... to put it simply you were pretty skittish and somepony had to look out for you," she intended to give a serious reply but instead giggled when his fingers left her ear to tickle her cutie mark lightly, "and who better than me, seeing as it's my fault you're stuck here? I wanted to do what I could to try and fix my mistake, so I spent a long time writing my letter to Princess Celestia asking to be appointed the task..."

"And I'm glad she listened, but can you really blame me for being a little jumpy?" he teased and rubbed his nose into her fur to let her know nothing was meant by it, "I was quite literally dumped on my head in a world of colorful aliens that can move planetoids with magic."

"Hey!~ You're the alien!" Twilight playfully nipped him on the shoulder, "You came through a portal from Tartarus knows where, you're a furless biped, have fleshy fingers, possess miraculous technology and you've got magic that isn't magic - which is still something I want to bring you to the lab to thoroughly look into, by the way - but thankfully you're a friendly alien..." she licked the same spot she had nipped then nuzzled his cheek as it became available from the shudder that ran through Titus' whole body at her soft tongue running over his skin, "a very friendly alien..." Another lick followed along his jawline until she planted her lips against his and requested entrance which he happily granted. Twilight was, as usual and despite her inexperience, the better of the two kissers, her tongue tangling and easily overpowering his own wider, shorter muscle to slip past and explore the jagged edges of his teeth. It was an odd thought but she couldn't help but realize how fitting an analogy his teeth were - despite their predatory appearance they had only ever been bared in friendship, much like how he was large and intimidating he was nothing but sweet and gentle; not that that didn't stop the small evolutionary instinct somewhere deep within her subconscious that wanted her to run and caused her heart to beat just a little faster. It proved too difficult to both smile and continue exploring his mouth at the same time so she settled with rubbing her nose against his, allowing her to stare into his warm brown eyes where she could feel the same emotions running through her completely reflected back toward her which only widened her smile, "And you're my super cuddly alien friend."

Titus grinned back at her hopefully, his hand dragging its nails down her spine to begin tracing the outline of her cutie mark, "That sounds awfully like you're laying a claim-" he was cut off as her worried outburst that she wasn't claiming him like property which was subconsciously brought about by her parent's strict upbringing in the ways of egalitarianism and her own repulsion of the period of Equestrian history where that was less prevalent. "Shush," his hand quickly moved and clamped down on her muzzle to silence her stammered explanation, the hand getting a cross-eyed look and a sigh clearly communicating she thought that little measure hadn't been necessary so before continuing Titus placed a quick peck on the small bit of her nose still protruding from the end, "I get what you're saying, but I don't have a problem if you want to say I'm your guy or stallion or whatever. In fact, more than anything I'd... welcome it."

After he released his hand from her muzzle there was a long moment where she simply locked eyes with him, seemingly searching the depths for an answer before she said anything. "Y-you really mean that," her tone made it sound like both a statement and a question but either way the beaming smile he gave her was better than any answer he could have put into words, "Thank you... thank you! Hearing that is such a wonderful gift!" She gave him the warmest nuzzle she could in response, working her muzzle against the special spot at the base of his ear and slowly moving down to the underside of his jaw to experiment with her own nibbles and licks on his neck which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy judging in the small grunts that Twilight took great delight in eliciting from him, each one causing a small pause in the the hand that had returned to tracing the large star of her cutie mark with his nails. Over the course of several minutes, however, the tracing fingers slowly transitioned into a deep kneading motion, the change causing her to glance at his shorts where her suspicion was confirmed by a bulge that was stretching the fabric taut. Jeez, way to be a hypocrite. Always shouting at Lyra when she says something dirty for fear of getting him aroused and here I went and did it again. She felt Titus shift beneath her and when her gaze returned to him she found he was grinning up at her somewhat uncomfortably; biting her lip she cast another look toward the peak before once again coming back to Titus, at a mental impasse as to what she should do but when he opened his mouth to give what looked like it might be an apology she interrupted the attempt by briefly brushing her lips on his. "I-it's okay. I, um..." she paused, her hoof tracing a lazy circle on his shirt, "a-are you going to... take care of it?"

The only illumination in the room came from the glowing running lights along the edge of the walls but there was enough to see by for Titus' flush face to be visible though he could tell it was a genuine question as Twilight's pose had changed to one he had become rather familiar with; she had one ear forward in interest while the other remained splayed backward, indicative she was inquiring on something potentially embarrassing and he stumbled through a response and eventually gave up, pointing toward the medbay's bathroom, "I uh, I'll be right back." Titus slowly and gently extricated his arm from Lyra's grip and replaced it with a rolled-up shirt which she immediately rejected and went in search of the warm limb she had grown accustomed to, the low groan of frustration rumbling from deep in her throat forcing him to return the appendage for fear she was slowly waking up and an attempt to swap his arm for Twilight looked to have been successful until the mint unicorn's nostril's flared with several sniffs and the venture met with the same results as the last, "Well... kark, that settles that. I suppose I'll just wait it out, but I don't think it's going away anytime soon... especially when I've got a certain librarian being all cuddly and nibbling at me."

"Seeing as you were nibbling on me earlier I was just returning the favor... and it would appear we both enjoy it." Twilight had gotten up when he had tried to free himself from Lyra's grasp and now watched him settle back onto the mattress and adjust his now uncomfortably-tight looking shorts before resuming her previous position in the crook of his arm and side. Twilight recalled her and Rainbow's conversation on the nature of kinks and her genuine interest in getting a little information took hold, "By the way, would you say you've got a 'thing' for librarians?"

"Nope, just a 'thing' for this particularly cute librarian," using two fingers he mimicked the air quotes she had made before giving her a big squeeze and an even bigger grin, "See you in the morning, Twi. Love you."

"Mmm, love you, too. Goodnight," Twilight hummed in response at the embrace and planted a light brush of her lips against his chin before snuggling in and closing her eyes in preparation to sleep, focusing on listening to the thumping of his heartbeat and the whooshing of air entering and exiting his lungs while his fingers scratched lightly at the base of her ears and scalp. She wasn't sure what prompted her to crack an eye open, though perhaps it was because there was no noticeable change in either of his rhythms after what felt like a good while, but even a cursory glance at his face was enough to tell he was still awake behind closed eyes. Twilight's eye unconsciously traced its way down his form to find the bulge in his shorts had made no change as well and by the time she realized she was staring and returned to his face her gaze met his as an eyebrow climbed its way up his forehead.

"Sorry, I just... " she said, head leaning to one side and adopting the same cautiously curious pose from earlier before snuggling back into her warm spot and nuzzling against his chest. When she looked up from her spot she found Titus to be observing her curiously with a small smile on his face that she couldn't help but smile back at. Sweet Celestia, I never would have imagined having a special somepony would feel this... wonderful and fulfilling! I love him, I love him from the bottom of my heart and he loves me back! Twilight cuddled a little harder at that thought and buried her face into his breast, catching another glimpse of his shorts in the process. I doubt he's in any pain but he's obviously physically uncomfortable...

Titus scratched up and down her neck, working in small circles against her soft coat as she nestled against his chest. The Force certainly works in mysterious ways. Of all the places in the vast expanses of the universe - if I'm even still in my universe - and I get dumped right in her lap, more or less, and not only that but of all of the possible beings she feels like a piece of myself that's been missing. Kark me, I should have bought a lottery ticket- Suddenly and rather curiously Twilight squirmed out from under his arm and stood up, carefully steadying herself on the bouncy mattress before stretching her head down to nuzzle his cheek and say she'd be back in a moment as she ducked into the medbay bathroom. After a brief flash of worrying if she knew how everything worked in there he shrugged. She's smart, smarter than me, that's for sure; if she can strip and rebuild a meddroid after only reading a basic technician's guide she shouldn't have any issue figuring out the bathroom fixtures. Her absence let Titus settle back into the mattress and get comfortable and once he was situated he spent a little time playing with the slumbering Lyra whenever she wasn't nuzzling his hand into the mattress by lightly booping her on the nose to watch her expression change or scratching the bridge of her snout to listen to her purr. When Twilight eventually emerged a few moments later Titus couldn't help but notice the look of determination in her eyes. "Twi...?" he stopped fidgeting with Lyra who went back to happily nibbling on one of his fingertips with a sleepy giggle, "Everything okay?" Despite the question Twilight didn't answer and instead put one hoof in front of the other to slowly make her way over to the foot of the mattress where she stopped, at which point Titus could hazard a guess what her intent was by the angle of her gaze matching up with his crotch, "Twi, it's alright, I'm alright. Don't feel like you need to-"

She cut him off with a shake of her head as she took a step onto the mattress, "I don't, and I know things are backwards where you're from and you said you wanted me to set the pace... b-but if you say no I won't or I'll stop! I just... I want to do this."

"What about the date? What about doing things 'by the book' and taking it slow?" Titus asked, propping himself up on one elbow and immediately noticing the impact of his questions had on the mare as her determined look wavered, "Kark! Don't think I'm saying no, that's hardly the case. I love you Twilight, and I just want to be sure, you know... you're sure."

"I am," she said with a good deal of conviction, her eyes locking onto his, "Whether you realize or not just how close you came to dying from the Pox I had what felt like an eternity to think about it, and the thought that I might lose you before I could actually communicate how I felt... I was so desperate I even pleaded to Princess Luna and together we found a way into one of your dreams to try and talk with you, but you were oblivious to us as you fought through a battle on a muddy plain while fierce storms raged overhead. W-we tried to find a door out when we realized we were just passengers but we couldn't find one for the longest time; we had to watch as your companions, the humans in white armor, w-were decimated..." Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head gently, dislodging the memory of how worriedly she had tried to talk to Titus amidst the chaos of battle and get some sort of response out of him, only to end up back in the medbay watching as he floated in the bactatank, "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, not right now-"

S-she saw Jabiim? An all-to-real flash crossed his mind of wading through knee-deep mud under a hail of blaster fire, trying to deflect as many shots as possible for the vulnerable Clones around him only to have each salvo bring down another as they pushed across the open ground until they had been forced to retreat, though in truth the memory could have been from any of the engagements he and his troops had been involved in before the Republic's eventual evacuation of their forces. Why did she have to see Jabiim...

"-I want to do things by the book, more or less, as a good friend told me that I need to look at it as less of a lawbook and more of a guideline, but I do want to go on dates and do all the normal courtship stuff so our date is still on; I had a lot of help getting a special spot ready and to abandon it now after all the work we did would just be a waste," judging by the way he grinned at her Twilight could tell he knew she had thought through her decision and she took another step forward, ducking her head down to place a heartfelt kiss of thanks against his lips before pulling herself back from her smiling human, "I want to do this, I want to take this step... c-can we?"

A soft nose brushing against his was enough to push the battle out of his memory for the time being and Titus realized hadn't felt this nervous before; it was his first time he'd be being intimate with someone he cared about and the sudden doubts and worries usually accompanying such an event naturally wormed their way into the back of his mind despite his upbringing to control such emotions but the very fact that Twilight - the once alien mare and now cherished best friend and love of his life - was now asking to become that much more a part of him saw him through the brief period of uneasiness as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek and nodded, "Let's."

"First things first, though," she said, leaning into the palm to relish in just how warm it felt though the blood rushing through her own cheeks might have been a contributing factor, "I'd rather not have somepony interrupting at an inopportune time again, so I'd say a strong sleeping spell is in order. One moment," Twilight's horn glowed, illuminating the room in a soft magenta light as a sparkling dust slowly floated down and settled over the still-snuggling unicorn, all traces vanishing an instant later when Lyra went limp to the sound of rhythmic snoring, allowing Titus' arm freedom from her grasp. Just to be safe Twilight gave her friend several light prods in the ribs to no effect, "and that should do it."

"I don't know how I'd go about repairing the ship if I was still in my pony form. I just couldn't do it with hooves," Titus said, the odd change of subject drawing a funny look from Twilight however he wanted to be sure for himself and leaned in just a hair's-width from Lyra's ear to whisper something he thought would rouse the unicorn to a response, "You see, I can get my fingers into all sorts of tight spots."

All he got was twitch of her ear from the closeness of his breath tickling her fur and a drawn out snore.

A giggle from Twilight drew his attention to her as she stood up and she once again stretched down to plant a warm kiss on his lips which he was finally able to get his arms around her neck to pull her in to a full embrace which only lasted a brief time before she eventually moved back but not after a good nuzzle with her human. Her next kiss landed on his chin, another on his throat, then chest, then stomach as Twilight slowly worked her way down his form, drawing inspiration from one of the videos Rainbow Dash had lent from her sizable collection the previous night for the purpose of education though the pegasus had given her a typical look of disbelief when passing over the series of pornographic films - Twilight had, of course, studied the subject matter thoroughly as a means to distract herself for a short time while Titus was undergoing the last of his tests but a run in with Dash earlier this afternoon hadn't answered the question of "if the pizzamare truly loves this foalsitter, why does she keep slapping his rear?" to which she had explained it was one of the kinks they had talked about. Twilight didn't let the memory of their conversation distract her and quickly returned her attention to the task at hoof as she laid herself down at his knees and there was a brief pause where neither of them did anything but look at each other until she tentatively and gently pulled on the leg of his shorts and, while they slid down an inch or so, the article snagged firmly on his hips. "How the hay do you get into these?!" slightly puzzled, Twilight pulled a little harder with no better outcome except a small grunt that could have been a laugh from Titus, "Better question: how the hay do you get out of them?"

"There's a flap with a tie and some buttons; here, I can-"

"Come on, let me do it," with a small giggle Twilight brushed the hand away as it swung in from his side to unfasten the garment for her, "I want this to be a learning experience and figure it out for myself." She took a moment to observe the shorts and the way his waist and hips were all in a line and it didn't take long for her analytical mind to realize the need for the fastener, "Oh, now I get it! Belts for humans aren't just for show, without them your pants would be around your ankles!" Focusing a small amount of magic into her horn for a little more illumination, Twilight found the small flap of fabric and pulled it back, at first fearful she had torn something when it made a ripping noise only to delight in the discovery that humans also had velcro and repeated the process several times for her own amusement. The knotted drawstring beneath, she noticed, was tied in a single-loop bow which she assumed was for ease of untying with a single hand and using her magic she slowly pulled on the ends. This is it, Twilight. This is the moment. After sliding the final button through the hole and with the waistband that had prevented her from removing the shorts now free, she waited for Titus to lift his hips off of the mattress slightly before giving a tug, drawing them down well past his thighs almost to his knees. Expecting to be done she was a little disheartened to see she still had more clothing to free him of.

"More? Clothes under clothes is a rather strange practice," she crawled up and lay herself down on the shorts she had just removed to stare at the smaller secondary pair before her, "What are these other shorts under here for?"

"Underwear."

"Under here!" Twilight jabbed a hoof at the offending garments before she saw the coy grin and heard the restrained chuckle. She was quick to put two and two together and realized what he was wearing was much like the "special selection" Rarity had in the back room of her boutique, though after he explained the joke she just rolled her eyes and groaned at the simple play on words, "We have this sort of clothing too; special stuff that's worn to show off the body or in private for a special somepony but it seems counterproductive to wear it underneath more clothing where nopony will see it, let alone wear it every day like I assume you do." Despite her confusion Twilight had to admit it was kind of fun taking off the layers of clothes; the small amount of nervousness she had stepped into the bathroom to quell was long gone, anticipation having steadily taken its place. Twilight also began to notice the warmth of the small valley she was resting in between his thighs and found herself leaning into one of his legs. The bulge in his shorts was much more obvious now that she was close and the thought of his arousal drove her own excitement, "Is um, is there a fastener for these as well?"

"Nope," he hooked a thumb into the shorts and tugged lightly in demonstration, "the waistband stretches."

She ooo'd at that revelation and eagerly stretched the band for herself before taking a small fold of fabric at the bottom hem on either side in her magic, pausing to look lovingly if a little anxiously at her human who in response gathered up the pillows neither Lyra or Twilight had been using to prop himself up so he could reach a hand out to her which Twilight met with a nuzzle and several light kisses to the palm until he slid the soothingly warm hand across her cheek and to an ear where he began scratching in a most delightful fashion. "What did I do to have such a wonderful human enter my life?" she jokingly asked, eyes half lidded as his nails sent small waves of pleasure directly into her skull.

"No idea," he replied with a grin, bringing his other hand up to bare on the unattended ear. With both hands at work on her ears in alternating patterns Twilight's head flopped lightly from side to side, "but you made the mistake of letting me follow you home and I've sort of grown attached so now you're stuck with me."

Twilight's snort and characteristic eye rolling got a warm laugh from Titus and any sarcastic reply she had was completely lost in it as she joined in with a giggle before they came together to rub noses, "And I couldn't be happier!" With that she stole a quick smooch and yanked down on the undershorts in one smooth motion.

Titus watched as Twilight's mouth scrunched up to one side of her face in contemplation, her head leaning from one side before switching to the other to get a look from another angle; it wasn't often that he felt self-conscious, but the way she was examining his junk was more than a little unnerving and provoked him to speak, "You um, look disappointed. Not what you were expecting?"

"What? N-no, I'm not disappointed but, to be honest, I was expecting something different," Twilight was too wrapped up in her observations to notice his tone or expression and continued with her analysis verbally which didn't help matters much, "While a lack of extensive data on the subject meant nothing was out of the realm of possibility I had discounted less likely prospects; still, I wasn't anticipating... this. It's smaller than I thought it would be and looks awfully pointy, and your sheath is definitely odd and the skin around your testes is rather wrinkly-" she finally looked up from his groin to his face and found the dejected expression he was wearing, "Oh, please don't think I was complaining! You're um, comparable to my cooler, if just a little shorter, which is good because if you were proportionate to a stallion of your size there would undoubtedly be... problems, at least for a pony of my size, so I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I like it, I really do!" Twilight's hoof tentatively brushed the side of the shaft and her eyes went wide, "Wow, it's much warmer than I thought it would be!" It seems firmer, as well. It's not flopping around like with a stallion's. She made several more brushes which quickly turned into light strokes as she watched Titus sink back to a reclined position with a small sigh that sent a tingle down her spine. He likes what you're doing, keep going! Spurred on, Twilight continued stroking a hoof up the length and could feel her own arousal rising from the pleasure he was feeling at her hooves and before she realized what she was doing she had gone in to nuzzle at the base where she discovered an odd mixture of his sent and something else; an involuntary sniff drew a sigh of her own and drove her head to sink to his hip, forcing her to switch over to using magic as any will to use her hooves evaporated.

Meanwhile Titus had resumed rubbing her ear as Twilight - her head resting on his hip and illuminated by the light from her horn - ground her muzzle into his crotch as an entirely unbelievable pleasure pulsated in a wave-like motion around his length, causing him to arch his back and hiss, "Kark that feels good, Twi."

She hummed a response, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the sensations assaulting her; the feel of him in her magic was being fed directly into her brain and she felt every twitch and throb while the scent of Titus - her stallion, a distinction she openly giggled in glee at when it crossed her mind - brought a warm rush of pure pleasure as well as a desire to do more. Magic still swirling around his member, Twilight's hoof slowly slipped from its spot on the hip opposite her as she shifted her weight and leaned into one of his legs.

Titus felt the change and watched the hoof slip down out of sight before Twilight's rump lifted slightly, which was enough information for him to guess that she had started working herself over. He was hesitant to say anything at first, but both the urge to do something for Twilight and the desire to make her feel as good as he did at the moment as well as the inability to reach past her shoulder from his current position made him speak, "Would you like to switch for a bit or change position so I can reach you-wow!?" His question got cut off as the familiar sensation of Twilight's soft lips graced the side of his shaft in a light kiss.

"Thank you, but no. This is about you and getting you to relax," she placed another kiss, this time with a small lick after the subtle hint of saltiness of his skin hit her tongue from the first peck, "but please keep rubbing my ears, that feels absolutely astounding." Titus was all too happy to oblige when the frequency of the licks and kisses increased as Twilight began to let her mind take a back seat to her pleasure and her position changing once again so she could mimic another scene from one of Rainbow's films, directing her attention to the twin orbs at the base of the spire. Her muzzle began gently nuzzling each before gingerly taking one in her mouth to suckle on, rolling it around with her tongue for a short time as she delighted in the poorly-concealed moan and small squirms he made and finished with a long lick from a spot between the two and traveling up the bottom of the shaft to end at the very tip. Wait, what was that? She pressed her hoof against her sensitive mound harder as she sat up and gave the end of his member another lick, this time lingering a second longer to pick up on the sweet taste she thought she had detected. Her second lick came back with more of the sweet taste though a third and forth found she had depleted the source. Did he finally...? No, not yet. Twilight found herself craving more and hovered over the tip, mouth open, and spent several seconds watching it twitch under her hot breath as a part of her mind kicked her in the rump, causing her to pause and think wisely about what she was going to do for a moment, "Um... sorry about this, but one question: i-is there anything I should know about that might cause me harm?"

Titus hid his mild frustration at her desire for conversation behind a grunt though he had to admit stopping for an important question like the one she was asking, however strange it was, was the right choice. "I'm not really sure what you're referring to," he said, grinding the side of his head against her muzzle, "I thought you found out everything should be fine with the tests you ran."

It was proving difficult for Twilight to maintain control and not return to seeking out more of the sweet fluid in earnest, especially with the way he was gently bucking his hips against her muzzle though she began to amply the effect with movement of her own as she struggled to compose her thought, "W-well... no, the tests were to see if you could get me pregnant by comparing our genetic structure; without an in-depth study I don't have any specifics, but after Fluttershy brought it up in regards to a pair of her animals mating I felt compelled to do a little research into the intricacies of various Equestrian species' sexual practices; mind you I'm well aware they might not apply in your case, but what I'm asking is if there's anything about human reproduction acts that I should know about or that might be harmful, two examples being toxic semen and traumatic insemination. The reason I ask, and forgive the comparison, is that during my research I found many mammalian species, including several of the subspecies of primates I've looked into, have developed keratinized penile spines-"

"What in the blazes... No!" he shouted with a breathless laugh at the absurdity of the idea, then realized his volume might have awoken their sleeping mint companion though a preliminary check proved she was still zonked out, leading Titus to wonder just how strong the spell Twilight had used was before returning to her, "No, Twi, I don't have spikes or whatever, humans don't eat their mates, and I'm not going to force you and I never will."

"That's good to hear," Twilight's relief was almost tangible in the sigh she gave before directing the sultriest look she could at him, having practiced in a mirror for well over an hour before Lyra had, yet again, walked through her door to see something she wasn't supposed to; being surrounded by the photos of mares making alluring faces was not something she had even tried to explain but the simple truth had gotten a few helpful pointers from her friend as well as loud guffaws at several of her attempts. She had eventually gotten a look down that was approved of which she used now, her eyes lidded and her mouth turned up in a coy grin, "Very good to hear... I was shown a few things and I was afraid I'd only get to try magic tonight."

A wink - one he didn't know she had practiced countless times - was the only warning he got before feeling Twilight's soft tongue and even softer lips wrap gently over the end of his member, the sudden contact causing Titus to sit almost upright with a hiss from the shock and the groan he let out earned a giggle.

Twilight waited for him to recline back from the initial shock before gently running her tongue in circles around what she identified as his flare, having taken immediate notice how his pointed shape had made it infinitely easier to fit into her muzzle as she licked and bobbed the tip in and out of her mouth. She felt him pushing up whenever she came down and, not wanting to have an issue with a misalignment she ceased her pleasurable ministrations on herself to return the hoof to his hip to get him to stop before taking the end in her mouth and slowly working her way down, her tongue working the underside in a coaxing fashion and as she continued down, each bob taking her a little further. She found his shorter length also proved a benefit as by the time he was almost tickling at the back of her throat she was nearly at the base, compared to the cooler which she had felt like she was going to gag on just getting over the medial ring. It fits so well, it just feels... right. Pressing forward all the way until her nose brushed against the thin patch of fur below his navel she made the small swallowing motions Rainbow had told her about and watched as his head rolled back with a sigh, the unicorn getting increasing delight from the thrusts he made as she edged him closer and closer to climax as the sweet flavor returned, Twilight eagerly lapping as much up as she could find and gave a low moan around his cock as her hoof returned to its previous position to tend to her needy mound.

Hearing the soft moan Titus wound his fingers into her mane while the other hand reflexively went for an ear and was more than happy to see that a few seconds after he began accenting his thrusts with light tugs on her soft hair or a kneading massage of the ear that her tail would swish about wildly every few seconds though what he couldn't see was that Twilight was grinding her hoof against her quivering lips in time with him, driving home the sensation that he had mounted her (though a hoof felt woefully inadequate for the purpose). She tried a few more techniques she had been fed, from sucking on the head while simultaneously stroking the shaft with a hoof to bobbing furiously as her tongue swirled and ground itself against the underside, but despite her best efforts his thrusts remained rhythmic and controlled and his breathing steady.

Everything came to a sudden stop, however, when Twilight let out a low moan and went completely limp save for her hind legs tensing to their absolute limits and her back arching for several seconds before following suit with the rest of her body, slumping heavily onto one of his legs as she dislodged his member from her mouth for a moan though was briefly still attached via a thin strand of saliva when she spoke around her heaving breaths, "S-sorry... I just need... a second," Twilight stopped and simply lay on her side while the residual waves of her own climax washed over her and gradually ebbed as her walls slowly stopped clenching and contracting around the emptiness inside her, all the while pushing into the ear rub that was still going on and taking repeated sniffs of her stallion's scent to heighten the experience. She was a little shocked at how strong her orgasm had been, especially for one so lacking in the usual stimuli, and for his continued ministrations she nuzzled into his hip before sitting up and staring at him with a slightly hurt look about her though he had no way of knowing that it was directed at herself more than it was at him, "I'm told stallions never last this long, so what am I doing wrong? Why haven't you ejaculated yet?"

Squelching the urge to wince at her objective use of the overly-clinical term that was a little odd to hear, Titus let his hands gently work the base of her ears and let her come down off what he thought was her orgasm, based on a few signs he had picked up on from several jokes Lyra had made after, "You've been doing great Twi but give me a break, you've only been at it a few minutes!"

Twilight's response came after a few seconds where it was obvious she repeated what he had said in her mind to be sure she heard him correctly, "Only a few minutes? Y-you mean... this is normal in humans?" She watched him nod and bit her lower lip as a hoof curled itself around the base of his spire to stroke it gently, eventually pulling herself a little closer to run her nose along the underside and took note of the way the ear massage shifted to coincide with the small gyrations of his hips as she did so. With her free hoof she poked at the loose tank top shirt he was wearing. "This. Take this off," things seemed to move in slow motion for Twilight as the bottom hem of the shirt slid up, her eyes greedily devouring the revealed expanses of smooth skin and muscle underneath, "A-and j-just give me a warning when you're close, okay?" Despite her energy being sapped from her recent climax Twilight didn't wait for an answer before placing both hooves on his hips to hold him steady and, lining her tongue up with the underside she had been nuzzling, she guided his member into her muzzle to bob slowly up and down.

Wanting to reassure her that she was doing absolutely nothing wrong, he did what he could to show how much he was enjoying it by running his hands through her mane or kneading her ears encouragingly though it was hardly necessary as his grunts and minor bucks of his restrained hips drove her onward to increase her speed and it wasn't long until Twilight felt his thrusts become quicker and more frantic. She could hear his breaths become more ragged with each plunge and the way his back was arching was indicative that he was in the home stretch, making the requested verbal warning that followed a few seconds later superfluous; a particularly strong throb, accompanied by a grunt, was her cue and with eyes closed tightly she made a snap decision to lock her hooves behind his waist in the small of his back and jam her muzzle all the way to the base just in time for him to explode into her mouth with a drawn out expletive-laced groan.

The research material Rainbow had loaned for her study had prepared Twilight for the bursts which she greedily gulped down, her tongue lapping at the softer underside of his cock coaxingly however a mistiming of the wholly unexpected forth jet forced her retreat upwards to create more space and she quickly realized there was more as a fifth delivery of the thick, gooey seed collected in her cheeks along with another in a volume she couldn't quite keep up with and, needing a breath and with no more room, she pulled herself the remainder of the way off of his member to swallow with a gasp as a final shot painted itself across her muzzle.

Titus slumped back to the mattress with a sigh of pleasure, both of their panting breaths the only noise present in the room for quite some time. "T-that was amazing," he eventually voiced, propping himself up on an elbow and watching Twilight wipe the remnants from her muzzle onto the back of her hoof, "You were amazing."

"I'll admit I did some limited research on the subject and Rainbow demonstrated a few techniques. I'm glad to hear it paid off," Twilight confided wearily as she licked up several blobs that had dripped from his softening tip onto his stomach before cleaning up any other leftovers - both his and hers - from the event with a napkin, returning it to the empty fast food bag and retrieved the still-cold soda to swish around in her mouth before pulling both pair of shorts back up around his softening member. She was about to stand up when suddenly a hand was gripping her by the forehoof and gently dragging her up to her previous position in the crook between his arm and side and into the warmest nuzzle along her cheek and neck as he rolled onto his side to extend an arm over her. In response to the much-appreciated snuggle, she wiggled around to face him for a short kiss but before they could there was a literal light-pink spark that arced between their lips which Titus only caught in the reflection of her pupils. Seeing her partner's clearly confused and curious expression, Twilight giggled and rubbed noses before explaining that it was one of the many forms for the manifestation of love Harmony, after which there was a short pause before realizing she had witnessed a groundbreaking passive human-harmony event and excitedly voiced that now he had to come to her lab so she could get some readings.

Titus, naturally, chuckled at his lover's enthusiasm and shook his head, far too spent to listen to a lecture and with nothing to say he instead opted to pull her in, "Love you, Twi."

"I know, you've said so on several occasions," she teased, still feeling the tingly sensation from the spark as she buried her face into his chest and, seeking to increase the heavenly feeling of his weight over her which felt immensely comforting, she snuggled deeper into the warm cave his body had created around her and once comfortably situated poked her nose into his chin to get him look down where her gaze was waiting.

He gave her a gentle squeeze and a peck on the nose, getting the desired effect and taking more than a little delight in the way her muzzle scrunched up in its usual adorable fashion before closing his eyes, "I like to think it was worth repeating one more time today."

Unseen, a certain Princess retreated back into the twisting nether amid very rosy cheeks and a goofy grin as the violet unicorn's dream looped, repeating the evening's event yet another time that Luna didn't feel the need to sit through (again) and instead drifted her mind back toward her corporeal body, passing Titus' own cheerful aura in the process. I am most happy you are well again, my friend, and I shall be seeing you soon though we shall see if you can recognize us.

Geirr nodded to the messenger that had interrupted his interrogation and waved an arm at one of the guards at the door who passed him a towel, "Would seem I'll be needing to cut our time short today. I really do hate to draw this out but we've all got bosses, aye?" he asked rhetorically, long crimson streaks left behind as he dragged his talons over the towel with a sigh, "Ye see, my predicament is my boss wants ye alive but ye got yer pesky magic that we need to be keeping ye from stockpiling an causing mischief and the only way for me to be sure is to work ye over a wee bit. Just my job, lass, nothing personal." Geirr didn't wait for a response from the coughing unicorn on the floor before tossing the towel down to her and leaving her to recuperate from the beating, the process draining almost to empty any of the Harmony in her reserves stored since his last visit.

It had been another fairly fruitless session and each day that the pony resisted giving him answers was a small victory for her; still, his mistress had given explicit instruction that the agent was to be kept alive and that the interrogations should continue as she could have something valuable, though it was looking more and more like she held very little information on the human or his vessel. Either way, failure was not something that sat well with the griffon and it showed as he worked his way down the winding tunnels to the remote cavern serving as his mistress' chamber, not slowing his stride as he physically pushed past several smaller griffons that had congregated and been effectively blocking the narrow corridor to chat idly, "Get outta me way, ye fecking windy gobshites," he growled.

"What'd you say to me you manky feathered-" the smallest of the group, probably wanting to compensate for his stature and not look weak in comparison, initially acted like he wanted to start something before the group recognized who they were addressing and realized it was in their best interest to just drop it.

News of the ill fate of the young upstart that had barged in on their Matron had spread quickly and the open scramble for positions of power had subsided though several individuals had resorted to more subtle means of seeking their prospects - individuals Geirr would be keeping a very close eye on should their jostling cause any disturbance or pose a danger to the Resistance Army. In our state of disarray the last thing the Resistance needs is an internal power struggle. The Mistress has done a commendable job of securing favor with the GRA Executives, though that was to be expected after somehow slipping all four of them through the perimeter of the raid... but our ranks were gutted holding them off. Damn the King, may his clackers fall off from knobrot! Arriving at the door Geirr straightened his plumage and wiped several errant, dried beads of the pony's blood from his honey brown fur; satisfied with his appearance, he knocked on the door curtly and waited the usual amount of time before entering, "Mistress, news of the human has reached us; though still weak he will make a full recovery, in time."

"As expected," came the voice from the usual spot occupied by the chair, "I trust our contacts are ready to initiate?"

With as much of a grin as his beaked mouth would allow Geirr bowed low, "At your command, Mistress."

"Then we bide our time until the moment is right. See to it, however, that what is left of our forces continue with our targeted strikes so as to not arouse suspicion. Too long has this Resistance been without direction, nipping at the heels of that spineless worm of a King that he views it as no more than an erratic pest... but believe me when I say that ship is the key; we will shepherd him about and let him think he is the puppeteer then grind him to dust beneath the very stones of his own castle!" she snarled as a fist hammered down on the chair's arm to emphasize her conviction, "Know that you have done well, Geirr, as you have repeatedly displayed the competence and steadfast reliability of not only a trusted auxiliary but of a worthy arbiter of your people, when the time comes."

The griffon was taken aback by both the compliment and the insinuation, "M-Mistress, my sincere thanks but ye don't mean to take the position of Queen when this all is done?"

"I have no penchant for it. When all is finished with the King I shall depart with the ship to fight against another tyranny, though if you continue to prove your loyalty the position is yours. I must return to my meditation to shroud my presence; you are dismissed, Geirr," she watched as he shouldered the weight of what she had said before standing to cross her arms over her chest as he retreated out of the room with a new air of authority about him. Stupid bird. She eyed the small silver device that had been successfully and surprisingly effortlessly snuck from aboard the ship by one of their supporters in the pony village and delivered to her a few days prior. None of this would be necessary if my ship wasn't at the bottom of a lake but with any luck his hyperdrive is still functional or, at the very least, Titus can fix it and I won't have to continue with this ruse much longer. Kneeling down on the cold stone floor of the cavern she closed her ice blue eyes and let out a long breath as her meditation began.

Buck that was hot! Once she was certain both of her friends had dozed off Lyra sat up, wincing and gently rubbing her aching horn before looking at her two friends cuddled tightly together and wishing she could be as snug as Twilight looked what with the human's larger body wrapped around and mostly engulfing the violet unicorn like a blanket. "Sorry Sparkles, still too fast on the *ow! ow ow ow...* counterspells for you. And you, you big meanie, should know it's not nice to mess with somepony when they're sleeping... even if, you know, they were just pretending," she whispered, poking Titus lightly in the nose in retaliation for earlier before planting a small peck on his forehead and gingerly tip-toeing around to his back to squirm in as close as she could, displaying a small hint of the natural instinct of a mare to surround and shield the stallion from potential predators that might strike in the night while the herd is sleeping. Comfortably snuggled, Lyra buried her muzzle in the back of his neck, "but someday you'll have to show me those 'tight spots' you were talking about."