Final Frontiers

The rest of Twilight's afternoon went by in a blur, her desire to get at the information on the datapad driving her to complete every item on her to-do-list in record speed. Checking the last item off, she checked the clock and placed the device Fluttershy had found in her saddlebags so she wouldn't forget it when she left.  I've still got about about two hours before I should head out, she set the clock to chime so she wouldn't lose track of time. As an afterthought, she packed into the saddlebag two bottles of the cider Titus enjoyed as a thank-you for whatever he was building so she could more easily work the datapad.

Twilight practically pranced her way through her house to the couch. Hopping up, she kneaded the cushion and lounged out comfortably, the datapad floating over from the desk where she had left it. She let out a small *squee!* as the screen lit up then eagerly navigated through the menus as Titus had shown her to the list of books stored on the device.

Catalog? Let's try that, she scrunched her muzzle against the screen to select the option, Alright, what have we... got? Twilight read over the treasure trove before her. There didn't appear to be any order to the titles and a few of the spaces on the list had a blinking "Unreadable Data" tag, Hmm... a creature compendium for various planets, a few biographies, an owner's manual for a R6 droid (whatever that is), a history of something called the Galactic Republic... There's fifteen readable books here! She examined the device once again out of disbelief. How in Luna's name did they get all of those on something that could fit in my mailbox?!

Twilight eventually decided on the owner's manual as Titus' mention of the name "droid" earlier had piqued her curiosity. Her mind greedily devoured all the information held in the intricate diagrams and sketches from the advanced sections of the manual. When the clock in the other room chimed Twilight was so engrossed she wasn't even aware as her body switched to autopilot; she scribbled a note for Spike telling him where she was going and that dinner was in the fridge, put on the saddlebag containing the other datapad, and was out the door.

Twilight's ability to read and walk through crowded streets without bumping into anypony - which she had plenty of practice doing while growing up in Canterlot - was on full display as she worked her way through Ponyville, over the bridge out of town, and toward the hill. What Twilight didn't realize was how her walking speed slowed down in relation to how interested she was in what she was reading.

As she neared the hill, Twilight managed to tear her attention away from the datapad long enough to notice that the hill was devoid of the Human-Watchers, the only ponies in sight being a pair of ponies coming down toward her. Great, the two photographers from earlier. She was about to pass them without a greeting when one of them spoke to her.

"If you're looking for the human, he left a bit ago," the grey-coated mare, Snappy Scoop, volunteered, "the guards had to drag some drunken cityponies off for heckling him. They were acting like they wanted a fight or something."

"What?" Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, all ears for what they had to say.

"Bunch of muscle-heads from Las Pegasus; part of the EFC amateur bracket, I think," Action Shot, the light brown one, said with a snort, scrolling through the pictures on her camera until she found ones of the offenders, "Yeah, here we go; recognize any of 'em?"

Twilight couldn't recognize any of them and didn't know any of the names Action Shot provided; she made a mental note to ask Lyra or Applejack, as they made a night of watching the Equestrian Fighters Competition together occasionally. "So what happened?" Twilight inquired after finding no evidence of a physical altercation in either photographer's cameras, the closest being one image of a banana peel being thrown at her friend's back.

"Nothing happened, the human just walked away from it," Snappy Scoop shook her mane then chuckled as she continued, "Some of us local Human-Watchers weren't so ready to do that, though, were we, Action?" she shot a glare at her coworker.

"What? He's the first and only one of his kind in Equestria," Action Shot returned the glare, "If they want to fight there's a few of us on the Human-Watcher's roster would be glad to step up and buck some sense into 'em, myself included. That's probably why the guards hauled the hecklers off: for their own well-being."

Twilight flipped through other photos they had taken. These photos aren't like the garbage in the papers... There was one where Titus was talking with a pair of professors from Canterlot University, and the other camera had a set that showed the human laughing and playing hoofball as the foals and Spike hung on to every limb. These photographers want to show him in a positive light, almost like they're documenting his stay. I really misjudged them.

"Hey," Action Shot called after Twilight, who had cantered off after returning their gear, "if you catch up with him, let him know a lot of us were impressed that he kept a level head!"

"Yeah! He's one cool cucumber!" Snappy added.

"Thanks!" she called over her shoulder, "I'll let him know!" In her head Twilight knew she could wait until tomorrow, But... but I need to be sure he's alright right now. Her canter turned into a gallop as she dropped into the trench and disappeared into Everfree Forest, her mind swamped as it considered every possible state of mind her alien friend could be in.

Food distracted.

Food tired.

Small.

Not much meat.

Tender meat. Soft.

The pack stalked through the underbrush on either side, hungrily eyeing their prey and waiting for the right time to strike.

Ahead is water.

Prey must climb.

We strike soon.

The ground underhoof was getting slick and when it wasn't slick it was sucking at her hooves. All the water in the ground is collecting down here. Twilight searched for a place to climb out of the trench, dodging a few of the larger puddles as she did so; what she did see was something in the shadows moving parallel to her on either side. The only warning Twilight had was the foul stench an instant before a blur launched itself at her.

Timberwolves!

She barely dodged the one that had lunged out at her, Twilight reflexively casting a spell and blasted it to pieces when it landed. The sticks and logs began reforming and the rest of the pack appeared a second later, forcing her to run.

Too close and too many. Twilight was breathing hard. Another timberwolf lunged but again Twilight dodged, this time blinking ahead a few body lengths with a teleport spell. The more I have to concentrate on not slipping in this mud, the less I can concentrate on spells. The timberwolves were behind her and on the banks either side of the trench, which was getting increasingly hard to navigate - deep puddles had turned into miniature lakes or mud pits and branches and stumps jutted up from the dirt. Ahead of where she was boards had been laid out to form a walkway through the hazardous terrain. She could see one of the taller parts of the ship and put on as much extra speed as she could, her breathing now ragged from the exertion as she thundered across the planks. Almost there!

The ship came more into view, distracting Twilight just long enough for her to lose her hoofing as one of the planks she was on shifted slightly in the muck.

Twilight was thrown into one of the mud pits and a spike of pain shot up her hind leg as something sharp scratched across her coat, the surprise knocking the air out of her lungs. Pushing off the muddy bottom, Twilight broke the surface coughing and sputtering, legs churning as she tried to tread water in the thin mud. The timberwolves were snarling and pacing back and forth, having had encircled the banks of the large pit - Twilight struggled to paddle toward the center to get as much distance between them as possible, the long gallop coupled with the chase made her legs feel like lead. To her relief she found a shallower spot in the middle where her hind hooves could just barely reach the bottom, but only if she stretched and hopped slightly. She tried calling for help, but couldn't achieve much in the way of volume - her throat was parched and she could only shout between breaths as she bobbed up and down in the muck.

The timberwolves were growing bolder (or simply hungrier), a few of them wading further into the mud after the trapped unicorn. They were rewarded with a blast of magic, which only bought Twilight a little more time because they reassembled themselves after a short delay. Behind the wolves Twilight would have been able to see the ship had it not been for the small berm and her low angle of sight. No line of sight on the ship, maybe I can blink behind the wolves and make a break for it. Another jab of pain in her leg as she pushed off the bottom told her she wouldn't get far if she tried.

Twilight's attention was focused on blasting a wolf as it reassembled when one of the predators behind her took a running start at the puddle, intending to land right on top of its meal.

She suddenly found herself showered with the remains of a timberwolf as twigs, leaves, and branches splashed down around her. A series of sharp whistles drew Twilight's attention. Turning around slightly, she saw the human sprinting down the berm along with a dark brown blur that smashed into the pack, destroying one timberwolf before launching itself at another.

The remaining timberwolves' attention also changed - they had no intention of sharing the meal with another predator.

"Over here!" Twilight shouted, waving one leg above her head as she watched Titus thrust an open hand toward one of the wolves closing on him, somehow reducing it to mere sticks and kindling. Magic? No, he must have used a weapon.

In his other hand a blue rod of light jumped out of the familiar silver and black cylinder, the warm hum turning into an angry snarl when it cut down another of the predators; the materials it touched smoldering and smoking when they hit the ground. Twilight blasted a reassembled timberwolf when it moved to attack the human from behind.

Another combination of whistles and the brown creature - a dog by Twilight's reckoning - circled around behind the puddle to flank the last two timberwolves, cutting off their escape. Twilight blasted the nearest one while the biped dodged a lunge and dispatched the last.

"Twilight! Are you alright?" Titus asked as he scanned the littered ground.

"Careful," Twilight coughed, still bouncing off the bottom of the muck pit, "they start reassembling themselves after a short time." Two of the wolves did, but were terminated halfway through pulling themselves back together.

The area now cleared, Titus was about to ask if she could swim out but one look at the exhausted pony was enough to tell him that she'd need help. He gave another whistle and the dog sat, guarding the edge of the puddle as Titus placed his lightsaber at the dog's feet and waded in.

The muck was deep enough that he had to take a few breaststrokes before he reached Twilight on her little island, "I'll have you out of here in a second," he said as he got an arm around her barrel, which she hung on to tightly, "Just try to relax and let me do the work."

The human helped Twilight up the muddy bank to solid ground where she flopped onto her side. "Thanks," Twilight panted, finally able to take a break, "Saddlebag... The saddlebag and the datapads are down there, somewhere."

Twilight gave the pony-sized dog a worried look as it came to its owner's side.

"It's okay, Twilight. This is Dex, he's perfectly friendly," Titus ruffled the animal's ears for emphasis, a happy grin plastered across the panting dog's face.

Titus looked at Dex and pointed a finger at Twilight, "Guard." The dog obediently lay down on his belly near the pony, ears perked and rotating on high alert.

Satisfied, Titus went back into the puddle, submerging himself multiple times until he came back up with a mud-covered bag. When he got back to shore Twilight was sitting languidly. "Twilight, are you alright?" he crouched down in front of her, a hand going to her shoulder. She was shivering. Not surprising, seeing as we're both covered in a layer of this slime.

"Exhausted. Cold. But fine, thanks to you," Twilight got to her hooves shakily, having to briefly lean against the human until she got her balance back.

"Let's get back to the ship so we can clean up and get warm," Titus said, placing the saddlebags on Dex. They had only gone a few paces before he noticed she was avoiding putting weight on her hind leg.

"Hold on," he slowly scooped Twilight, who protested weakly, up in his arms. "I'm not going to let you hobble all the way there."

She conceded and let the human pick her up, though they quickly found that the mud made her coat extremely slick. It took a few minutes to figure out a way to carry her, Titus' arms forming a hoop for Twilight to lay on her back in - her head resting on his shoulder and her forelegs tucked against her chest, one of the arms looped below the hook of her hind leg and the other supporting her at the withers.

After a short stint of silence, Twilight spoke up, "So, are you alright?"

"I'm fine-"

"I mean about earlier," she clarified, "with the ponies heckling you."

"Twilight," he replied with a sigh and coming to a full stop, "did you come all the way out here to ask me that?" Her head having left his shoulder, Titus answered before she could respond, "I'm fine, Twilight. I know some of the townsfolk stood up on my behalf. And besides, they were just some loudmouths that had had too much to drink."

He started walking again, working his way along the plank pathway, "I appreciate the concern but coming out here this close to dark was reckless. Even if we left now we wouldn't reach town before dark, so will you be okay staying here overnight?"

"Yes, I'm fine with that. Sorry for imposing like this," Twilight rested on his shoulder again, "but I was worried," she subtly nuzzled the side of his neck but couldn't tell if he noticed, "They could have seriously hurt you."

"Well this ended up all backwards, didn't it?" she joked under her breath.

"Backwards?" he asked, climbing up part of the fuselage and traversing the top (or bottom, depending on your point of view) of the ship, stopping just short of a large vertical face of metal.

"Mhm," Twilight hummed; she hadn't expected him to hear her with those small flat ears of his, "The mare is, um... is supposed to save the stallion in distress."

"Oh, so I'm a helpless stallion now?" he asked, giving a little squeeze to let her know he was joking.

"The ideal is one of the unfortunate side affects of our matriarchal society," Twilight had to twist slightly to place her hooves over the human's shoulders as one of his arms moved out from under her to push a set of buttons. "You, um-" the shift of position caused the arm supporting her rear to apply a light amount of pressure to her marehood through her tucked-in tail. She tightened her grip on him involuntarily, "-ah, you..." I know that's unintentional, but why don't I want it to stop?

"How about we say we're even, then?" he struggled, the pony being a bit awkward for one arm to balance when she wriggled unexpectedly; he quickly entered the code for the large blast door to the cargo hold, "You did save me from the crash, after all." The door slid open with a smooth *woosh!*

"Deal," Twilight openly nuzzled him this time, rubbing up along his jaw and under his ear and causing a slight tingly sensation to flare in her body. Wow, that feels nice.

She got a small laugh from the human, "C'mon, that tickles."

"Oh? I'll keep that spot in mind." Did I really just say that? What is going on with me?

"I dread to think for what," Titus' expression was deadpan as he shut the door behind them. "Sorry it's such a mess, I'd have picked up if I had known I'd have company," he stated as he crossed the cargo hold, the shivering unicorn examining every item in the room around her. Titus carried Twilight through a set of doors at the far end of the hold, a droid at work turning to greet him with a series of whistles.

Hey! I recognize that! "Isn't that the droid from the manual?" Twilight craned her neck for a better look as the human carried her past.

"Hm? Oh, you chose to read the manual?" he asked, stopping partway through the door, "You're correct, that's an R6 astromech droid," Titus turned so the unicorn could get a better look. "R6, could you follow us and make sure the shower has warm water?"

The droid enthusiastically shifted from foot to foot as it gave a few cheerful chirps. Twilight watched over the human's shoulder as the astromech scooted along, following them as instructed.

Titus walked through another set of doors and knelt down, "Alright, here we are," he gingerly putting his cargo down. It looked like a standard bathroom though a few things had been obviously jerry-rigged to function with the ship on its roof - the shower being one of them. He showed Twilight how to operate the shower, indicating where the hot & cold water controls were.

"If you'd like to wash out that cut, you can press this button here and it'll switch to a saline output." He flashed a questioning thumps-up (Twilight had learned of the odd gesture shortly after his arrival) to the droid, which chirped and whistled a response, "It looks like you're good to go, plenty of hot water on tap. I'll go find some towels and R6 will leave them in the changing room for you. The door is partially broken and doesn't close properly, so he'll stay outside in the hall. If you need anything just give him a holler and he can come get me-"

"Wait, you're not staying?" her head tilted to one side in confusion, "I thought you wanted a shower, too."

The human also looked confused at the question, "I do, I was going to let you go first and take one after you..."

Twilight looked over her shoulders at the shower, then back at Titus, "It's more than roomy enough for both of us, why take turns?" Twilight immediately saw the blush come to his face.

"I'd, um, have to take my clothes off for a shower."

"Well, yeah," she rolled her eyes, "it'd be a bit silly to take a shower with clothes on." What is the deal with humans and clothes? "Go ahead and take them off, I'm curious to see what you look like under all that fabric."

Twilight's last remark caused Titus to go a whole new shade of red. "Being naked around other people feels awkward, especially when they're the opposite gender."

"Good thing I'm not a people then, I'm a pony," Twilight joked, still not picking up on what he was trying to say, "Besides, that doesn't make sense, ponies hardly ever wear clothes. I'm not wearing any clothes right now," she was trying to grasp the human's line of thinking, "and I feel fine like this around you. Does... does my not wearing clothes make you feel uncomfortable?" her ears rotated back, hoping that wasn't the case.

"What? No, of course not!" Titus wasn't sure why he turned to the R6 unit for support, the droid certainly wouldn't know how he felt. "Ponies not wearing clothes is one thing. With humans, and other races for that matter, it's kinda complicated. Generally speaking, getting undressed is the lead-up to a few things; a shower, sometimes sleeping and, um-" he cleared his throat, "serious intimacy." He could feel the blood in his cheeks. How do you explain something like clothing and why you wear it to an alien species that views it as completely optional?

"Oh," it was Twilight's turn to blush, "so, you're worried that taking a shower with me might get you... heated?" The briefest image flashed before her and her haunches clenched together lightly, then her mind began connecting the dots of all the things she'd been thinking and feeling recently.

Oh no, not now! And I just stated I was curious what'd he'd look like naked, another image popped to the front of her mind: one of what she thought Titus might look like naked. One where she had her chest on the shower floor, warm water cascading over her; she held her rump in the air as his fingers intertwined into her tail to-

Nope! Stop right there. Twilight shook the image out of her head. "I guess I'll go first then," her ears flattened and a blush burned through her coat, "I'll, uh, let you know when I'm finished." With a nervous smile, Twilight hoofed the button to close the door, That was too close, she had been been fighting to keep her tail still, now it was swishing frantically from side to side as her haunches repeatedly clenched. Forget the hot water; I need to cool off.

The shower room door slid closed, almost in his face. Well, she changed her mind pretty quick. The human found some towels in a locker and gave them to the droid to put in the room before making his way back to the cargo hold. Titus picked up and organized the tools he had left laying about. Hmmm, this manifold is still usable, the series of twisting tubing floated to a shelf, same goes for this conduit and heat sink, the parts joined the manifold on the shelf. Power scanner, a set of interface visors, tuning stylus, laser caliper..., the tools set themselves up on the workbench or on the wall of other tools. The hangar quickly began looking much more organized as like-things grouped themselves together - crates of parts floating toward the work area, wall panels reattached themselves over exposed bundles of wires while equipment and other gear organized itself over in the corner near the hallway door.

Dex, lounging under the workbench and completely ignoring commotion, sat up and look intently at the hallway door - a moment later the astromech droid scooted into the room, beeping and chirping.

That's my cue. Titus finished moving one last crate before he made his way back to the shower room where he found Twilight waiting for him, "All finished?"

The unicorn nodded, but didn't say anything.

"R6 can show you how to get back to the hold, if you'd like-"

"Can I wait here for you, instead?" Twilight asked hesitantly, "I'd rather not be left alone with Dex right now." Winowa was able to pick up on the pheromones when Applejack was on her cycle, so it's logical to assume the same would be true here. Twilight's tail twitched ever so slightly, though Titus hadn't seemed to notice.

"Oh, sure. If you could wait out in the hall I'll make it quick." Almost getting eaten by those wolf things, I can see why she'd be reluctant to be around another dog. When Twilight left the room Titus undressed.

A violet eye peeked through the crack in the broken door, curiously observing the biped that had his back to her as he undressed. He really is almost hairless. I wish he'd turn around, but at the same time... mmm, that's a nice set of flanks. She had to make a conscious effort to keep a hoof from sliding between her hind legs.

Titus took a quick shower, though found it odd that the puddles on the floor from the last shower were ice cold already. The droid had retrieved clothes for him when he got out; Titus donned the articles and joined Twilight in the hall.

"I feel much better," Titus asked, rubbing his hair in a towel, "how about you?"

Twilight nodded, "I definitely feel better." She experimentally stretched the hind leg with the cut on it, "Ow."

"I'll take you back to the hold and we can take care of that," Titus knelt down to pick Twilight up, but she declined the offer and stated she would prefer to walk.

If he even so much as brushes my marehood right now I'd lose it.

She seems a bit... jumpy? Nervous? Titus slowed his pace to that of the unicorn as they made their way back to the hold, saying nothing as she observed her surroundings intently.

"It looks different from the last time I was here," Twilight stated as they entered the large room that was the cargo hold, "but we never got the opportunity to come through here." There was a workbench halfway along one wall, a rack of tools and a set of tool boxes on either side. In the center was something propped up on a set of crates; Twilight couldn't identify what, but she assumed it was a vehicle of some sort because of the obvious seat built into it. A section of it was opened up to reveal some machinery and an object on the workbench looked like it might have been removed for repair. Her muddy saddlebag lay near a blanket that had been tied between two beams like a hammock - she eyed the setup  with a raised eyebrow. Well, probably more comfortable than sleeping on this hard floor- er, ceiling. Whatever. The human beckoned her over with what looked like a small aerosol can in one hand.

Sitting down next to him, she gave the object a curious look, "What's that?"

"This is an antiseptic and topical painkiller spray that also dries into a bandage after a few seconds," he sprayed a small amount on his arm to demonstrate and, peeling the dried substance off, passed it to her.

"That's a pretty ingenious combination," she said, examining the area of his arm and the clear bandage she had been given.

Titus looked at the cut on Twilight's leg and found it was deeper than he originally thought, "I'm going to have to open the cut so the spray gets all the way in. It's going to hurt a bit while it cleans out any dirt or germs, but the painkiller will only take a second to kick in. Speaking of kicking," he gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm going to hold you still so you don't buck me by accident." He completely immobilized both legs; placing a knee on either side of her hind legs and pinning her hurt leg at the ankle with one hand, his fingers within range to stretch and spread the cut open. Twilight's upper body was wrapped around him to one side as he hunched over in preparation to apply the antiseptic.

"Okay. Here we go," he raised the spray, "On three..."

Twilight gulped in anticipation as he pulled the cut open.

"One."

He sprayed.

Twilight's eyes snapped open. Ugh, I knew he was going to do tha-SWEET BUCKING SISTERS!**

Unable to buck against the pain, she inadvertently bit down on the nearby shoulder in response, a muffled groan escaping her lips. BUCK! It burns like that time I backed into a hot plate in the lab! The painkiller thankfully took effect half a second later. The grip on her hind legs was released when they stopped trying to kick and she felt the human pat her barrel.

"Sorry for biting you, I didn't mean to," she got to her hooves and walked around a bit, her leg no longer hindering her. I feel good as new!

"Ah, you didn't bite hard. My oversight for not giving you something to bite down on, and sorry for not going on three," Titus replied. He pulled the neck of his shirt to try to see where she had bitten him, but it didn't stretch that far.

Catching her reflection in a piece blank computer screen, Twilight paused and examined herself. Hmm, I hope I packed that. she walked over to the saddlebag that lay on the floor. The soaked pouch's flap hitting the floor with a squelch!, she floated out the two data pads and the two ciders, "Drat."

Twilight turned around to face the human when he inquired what was wrong, "My mane is all disheveled and is going to get all knotted. I forgot to pack my-" stopping mid sentence when she saw him.

Titus had taken his shirt partially off so he could examine his shoulder; half of it was rolled up around his neck, exposing one side of his chest.

Twilight had only been able to see him from behind when she peeked studied (for the sake of science, naturally) him as he undressed for the shower. Human males have teats?! A-a-and they're so high up on the body... The sudden sight of the exposed skin rekindled that tingly sensation from earlier.

"-my... brush," she finished her previous statement after a moment.

"I don't think I can put my hands on a brush," he said, an idea coming to him, "though I might be able to make something, if you give me a moment." Titus strode over to the workbench, picking up the heat sink from earlier off the shelf. "R6, would you cut this into thin strips, about this wide," he instructed the droid, moments later having a handful of comb-like blades. Placing the pieces side by side and alternating the location the teeth, the human grabbed a pair of goggles from a nearby hook. Bright blue to white light popped from the bench as he welded the pieces together. He continued tinkering, Twilight watching but unable to see as the tabletop was too high for her to see. After a few moments of a high-pitched whining, Titus put down the tool in his hand and got off of the stool.

"It's nothing fancy," he made his way over to Twilight, kneeling down and holding the makeshift brush out, "but I imagine it's better than nothing."

Twilight levitated the brush so she could look at it - though it looked a little crude in its design, it still had an aesthetically-pleasing simplicity. What had once been a square of fluted metal was now semi-oval shaped and the teeth had been filed down, the whole brush had also been buffed to a high polish. She ceased her spell, catching the brush in her hooves and immediately noticed how little it weighed, "It's so light!" She gave it a test-run through a bit of her mane and found that it worked well, the spines giving a relieving scratch at the base of the hair follicles that her other brush didn't. Interesting, there's also no generation of static electricity. Perhaps a property of the alloy?

"Thank you, it's wonderful!" she leapt on him, her hooves going around his neck in a hug, planting an enthusiastic lick on his cheek when one of his arms returned the hug.

"I'm glad you like it," he attempted to mimic a nuzzle on the pony embracing him, his reward was a surprised giggle, "I'll take a look at the datapads while you're busy brushing."

H-he nuzzled me! Twilight was near ecstatic and spent the next few minutes happily brushing her mane and tail. A few stubborn knots gave her a bit of trouble until the human assisted with them, seemingly able to make them melt away. Twilight relished the sensation as the fingers snaked through her hair and gave it light tugs, though she felt a bit bad that he kept getting up from his work at the table. She made sure to show her appreciation by homing-in to give the hands an affectionate nuzzle whenever they got close, which often resulted in her ears getting rubbed - and dear Celestia, did that feel divine!

After one such instance of helping with a particularly uncooperative knot (and an ear rub that almost made Twilight moan out loud), she decided her mane was in a satisfactory state and followed Titus with a spring in her step.

Twilight looked at Titus, sitting cross-legged and slightly slouched with his head resting on a hand, propped up by an elbow on the table while the other arm hung at his side. A strange visor device obscured his eyes from her but traces of light escaped between the edges of it and his face.

"So," the tabletop was too high for her to see what was happening, but that didn't stop her from trying to get a peek, "do they still work?"

He gave a distracted hum, committing to neither possibility of their functionality.

Titus' earlier ministrations with the knots and ear rubs - and the sensations that they had brought with them - had made Twilight feel a bit playful. "I want to help!" her horn glowed and she appeared in the human's lap atop the tall stool. For a fraction of a second, she saw the parts of the disassembled datapad hovering slightly above the work surface.

The stool wobbled with the sudden shift in weight and the pieces fell back to the table and two hands grabbed the edge of the work surface to keep them from plummeting off their perch.

Breathing a sigh once the wobbling had ceased, Titus flicked the mechanical interface visor up out of his vision to address the unicorn that was now sharing the stool with him, "Twilight..."

She didn't even hear him say her name. Those were levitating... "How did you do that?!" Twilight turned to look at the human incredulously, "How?! I thought humans didn't have any magic!"

Oh shoot. I could tell her it was a bit of technology... no, that will just come around to bite me in the butt. "We don't. If you get down-"

"I know what I saw!" Twilight refused to move out of his lap until he told her how he had made the datapad components levitate. "According to the newspaper articles and the independent readings I've taken on my own, you have no magical coefficient! None! You shouldn't have any magic!"

She shook her head, causing the tall stool they were both sharing to wobble about slightly, "Do you have any idea... any idea at all what the ramifications to established thaumaturgic theory - not to mention the very laws that those theories are based on - would be if a creature without an ingrained affinity could use magic?! It would mean chaos, Disc-" Twilight took a few breaths, "Goatface would be having a field day."

Goatface? Whatever, I can ask later. "It wasn't magic, Twilight," Titus tried to explain, "It's called the Force. At the picnic earlier today, do you remember when I mention that group of secluded people that used something that looked similar to your magic?" he waited for the unicorn to nod, "They used the Force. I know it might look similar to magic, and many people from my own dimension or whatever would also call it that, but that's not the case."

"Besides," he tried to subtly change the subject, "just a week ago those same papers you're referencing were saying I was a pony-eater and was going to usurp the Princesses to enslave all of Equestria."

I want to tell him that they still are, but he's trying to steer the conversation. "Show me," she tried her hardest to sound resolute.

"It's kind of-"

"Please?"

"Twi-"

"Please Please Pleeease?" she inadvertently bounced with each word, making the human blush.

"Whoa, Twilight, stop bouncing."

"~♫~You're blushing~♫~!" The leading edge of her estrous cycle giving her courage, Twilight decided to risk pushing her advantage, "Oh, I'll stop," she continued bouncing and flashed him a lascivious smile, then leaned a bit closer to  whisper in his ear, "when you show me."

"Fine," Titus sighed, "just. Stop. Bouncing."

Twilight gave a mischievous wiggle of her hips at the end of her last bounce, Oh oops... I might have gotten us both a little heated. She pretended she didn't notice the changing topography of his lap as she turned around to face the table. I guess that's confirmation that he's equipped.

"Sit still," Titus turned his focus to the disassembled datapad, "Being unable to concentrate will make this harder."

Please don't talk about 'harder' right now. Twilight set her jaw and fought for control over her twitching tail and wandering mind. Just... just ignore what's poking you in the flanks and focus. This is a historic breakthrough. Focus.

She got herself under control (mostly) and watched intently as Titus flipped the visor-goggle things back down over his eyes and aimed two relaxed palms at the parts on the table. For a second nothing happened, then one piece and another and another rose up until every component on the table was floating.

There's no visible aura around them, like with pony magic. She closed her eyes to focus. I- I can't sense any affiliation to light or dark magic - I can't detect anything at all. There's just... nothing. If I wasn't seeing this for myself I'd say this was impossible. Twilight stopped focusing and let the glow in her horn fade. The datapad proceeded to reassemble itself before her eyes then settled back down to the table, the screen taking on the familiar warm light as it turned on.

Contemplating what she had witnessed, Twilight stared at the datapad until something gently tapped on her shoulder. Titus, the visor flipped up once again, was holding what looked like a fountain pen. It appeared to be made of some metal or alloy and the tip was rounded almost to a hemisphere.

"Here," he placed it next to the datapad, "this is what I made so you didn't have to use your nose..."

Twilight levitated the pen and was examining it when a whisper tickled the fur on her ear.

"Adorable as it was to watch." The grin on the human's face grew as Twilight twitched involuntarily and her body tensed. Gotcha back for that bouncing.

Twilight's mind was racing at all of the research, potential breakthroughs, and reports she could write on whatever the Force was. "I'd love it if you'd come to my laboratory so I can take some readings and do some tests... Why would you hide something like this!?" she heard the annoyed, bordering angry, tone in her voice and quickly apologized.

"It's alright, Twilight," he gave her a pat, "I... it has something to do with where I came from."

Twilight's ears rotated forward, eager to hear more because Titus hadn't revealed much about where he came from to anypony, save for the Princesses (and they were politely keeping their muzzles shut; Twilight had tried asking both of them). At the same time she was concerned; she hadn't heard the human speak in that tone before.

"Doing anything like this," he floated the datapad up in the air and into his hand, "would draw a lot of unwanted attention."

"W-what? Why?" Twilight was confused, "Is it similar to how earth ponies can be touchy about not having magic and being underestimated because of it?"

"No, it was dangerous-" he stopped to rub the bridge of his nose. "It's probably easier if I just start at the beginning. Before I got sucked into the portal, the galaxy had been in a pitched war for-"

"The whole galaxy?!" Twilight, in shock, interrupted him. She had read about the wars Equestria had during its periods of unrest, but the thought of a whole galaxy in that state was hard for her to comprehend.

"Yes," Titus replied, poking her lightly on the nose, "The. Whole. Galaxy. Now, please let me continue," he looked past her as he recollected the past, "I was a Jedi Knight, a member of the Jedi Order - an ancient organization sworn to protect the peace and uphold justice across the galaxy. My parents gave me to the Order at a very young age so I could be taken to the Jedi Temple to learn and train, much like the special school you went to-"

"Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," she fed him the title, "but what do you mean your 'parents gave you to the Order,' was the Temple a boarding school?"

"No, perhaps 'gave' was the wrong word. They surrendered me for the Order to raise and teach, severing their ties with me."

Twilight was a mix of confused and shocked, "But... they were your parents... that's-"

"That's how it was," he finished for her, a finger going to her muzzle signaling that the line of discussion was closed for the time being. "I remained at the Temple until I was an adolescent and took the graduation tests, after which Master Krua approached me to be her Apprentice. I continued learning under her guidance until I was ready for the Trials of Knighthood. Two years later I completed the Trials and was promoted to a Knight."

Twilight was all ears, laying down in the human's lap with some effort, as it was a rather small lap; her hind legs would have draped over the side had it not been for the forearm resting on his knee that she could support them on.

"Now, before I continue there were two major factions you need to be familiar with. The first is the Galactic Republic, a representative democracy lead by man named Chancellor Palpatine. The Republic was comprised of various member-worlds or whole star systems from across the known galaxy and governed by the Galactic Senate. The other faction, lead by Darth Sidious, is the Separatist Confederacy, which was an organized movement formed of planets that wouldn't comply with the Republic's rulings, had gotten fed up with the corruption within the representative Senate of the Republic, or could be bought over by the Separatists."

"Just as there was a faction to oppose the Republic there is one to oppose the Jedi; they are called the Sith. Jedi use the light side of the Force, never using it in anger or out of hatred-"

That's almost exactly how the Princess told me to use magic.

"-while the Sith used the dark side of Force. They used it for selfish purposes; not hesitating to harm and even relishing in the pain of others as well as the power their anger or hatred gave them. Darth Sidious was a Sith Lord, and he had an apprentice by the name of Count Dooku."

"Tensions rose until war broke out," he shifted slightly in the stool to keep his legs from falling asleep, "The Republic mustered a force of cloned soldiers, or soldiers quickly created in a lab, to fight for them. We Jedi were also deployed in certain situations at the behest of the Senate or Chancellor, though the Jedi Council governed itself separately for the most part. Meanwhile the Separatists used legions of droids specially built for combat, as well as whatever pawns Dooku could find to further his Master's cause. For three years and across countless planets, they waged their war. The death toll was in the billions."

Billions? Twilight knew the magnitude of the number and felt sick contemplating that many deaths. "So what happened?" she spoke up when the human fell silent for a moment, "Who won the war?"

"No one, Twilight," Titus' whole body seemed to slump in a sigh, "no one won. Toward the end the Republic had the decisive upper hand over the Confederacy, signs that the war was was drawing to a close. What no one saw coming was that Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious where the same person."

"What?" Twilight suddenly sat up, disrupting the balance of the stool before their combined effort got it under control again, "How?"

"He deceived the Senate, making them dance like puppets while he lead the Separatists from the shadows, using Dooku as the public figurehead. The Chancellor had spent decades orchestrating a transition of power that would grant him full control of the Republic. When he executed his plan, he painted the Order as traitors and triggered ingrained protocols in the clone soldiers that caused them to turn on their Jedi allies. The Jedi Order was all but eradicated; any surviving Jedi or their supporters are actively chased down by the Galactic Empire or by bounty hunters looking for a big payout in what is called the Great Jedi Purge, which is why showing anyone you could use the Force was dangerous - you'd mark yourself as a target for the Empire to eliminate."

Twilight was silent for a while before realizing Titus had finished what he wanted to say and she was free to ask questions, "So... how did you survive?"

"For a while my Master and I avoided being found by laying low on remote planets. I continued my training. Eventually a bounty hunter tracked us down and attacked with a contingent of droids. He killed my Master. I killed him." The finality in the human's voice made it clear he didn't want to go into it further.

Titus spread his arms, "This was Master Krua's ship-" he stopped to reach into a drawer "-and this was her weapon," placing the device on the table before Twilight. "They're called lightsabers, and they're the symbol of the Jedi Order. You saw me using mine earlier."

The human looked contemplative for a moment then lightly tapped a finger on Twilight's cutie mark, "In essence the lightsaber is like a cutie mark," Titus placed his own lightsaber next to the one on the table so the unicorn could compare the two, "they're unique to the Jedi that crafted it because each required that the Jedi go on a journey of self discovery for the key component."

Their... cutie marks? Twilight spent many minutes examining and noting every feature of the hilts as they sat on the table, letting Titus activate them for her to observe the green and blue blades.

"What about your ability to control things, you called it 'the Force,' right? How does it work?" Twilight carefully changed her position in his lap, curling up so that she was lying down again. A hand stroked her mane almost in rhythm with the heartbeat the unicorn could feel in his chest.

"The Force flows through every living creature and is all around us. Those that are sensitive to the Force can control it by interacting and communicating with midi-chlorians, which are microorganisms present in every living cell." The human scratched the back of his head, "I don't know if they were present here before my arrival or if they came through the portal with me."

"Hmm. Something worth looking into," Twilight hummed. "Your Force shares similarities with our magic, which is also intertwined in some way or another with everything in Equestria." She fell silent for a while as the hand continued its strokes down her mane; closing her eyes proved to increase her perception of the relaxing sensation. When the stroking stopped, Twilight was left feeling light-headed but completely at ease.

"Speaking of the portal," Titus said, "I still need to clean the mud out of the other datapad so I can copy the rest of the sensor data to it."

"Are you going to use the Force again?" Twilight looked up at him, "To take the datapad apart, for example."

"I sorta wanted to get my hands dirty and go the manual route, but I guess I can if you'd like. Why?"

"You said you communicate with those microorganisms when you use it," she was hoping he'd be open to her idea, "there's a spell that lets the caster feel and see what the recipient feels and sees. It's called Sense-Link." Twilight could see his apprehension, even on that alien face of his. She moved quickly to assuage his concerns, "It's a very basic spell and the only one being affected by it would be me. In addition, the effect is broken and ends immediately if I lose focus on maintaining it."

A few moments passed before he spoke. "Alright. There's going to be a lot of information coming at you, so try to just focus on a few things at once rather than everything."

When Twilight sat up to prepare the spell she caused the stool to wobble chaotically.

"One condition," the human said after steadying the seat, "we perform your experiment on the floor." I really need to fix the leg on this thing...

Once they had gotten off the stool Titus placed the datapad Fluttershy had found on floor and sat, once again, cross legged.

Twilight's excitement from the imminent intellectual fulfillment coupled with the increasingly strong urges of her cycle was causing her inhibitions to much less rigid. Twilight climbed back into his lap, "I was hoping you'd be more hesitant to this so I could try persuading you again," she shifted her hips playfully, this time accentuating it with a nuzzle to that sensitive spot on his neck. Her heightened sense of smell also picked up his scent, causing her to nuzzle even more enthusiastically as the intoxicating aroma filled her nose.

"Twilight, what is going on?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her nuzzling assault back slightly, "You're acting- well, actually I haven't seen you act like this before."

By Tartarus I'm so heated right now. *And if you don't get yourself under control you're going to be too distracted to cast the spell!** But I want him. I want him right now. Quiet! I'll deal with you base instincts later, right now I have science-ing to do.* Of the two voices in her head, the power of the scholar won out over the strength of desire.

The hand on her coat, giving a subtle rub, brought her mind back, "Oh, sorry. I'm just a bit excited to see what happens." Yeah, 'excited' is one word for it. *I. Said. Shush!***

She backed off his lap and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, "I'm going to start casting the spell. We'll need a point of physical contact, so when you're ready just touch me," she slowly worked the magic into her horn.

The cargo hold fell into complete silence, neither Twilight or Titus moving as they both focused intently.

A barely audible sigh was the only warning Twilight got before a finger lightly traced itself down the spiral fluting of her horn. Whoa, it's like my horn is being licked! The feeling of her horn - now incredibly sensitive from the magic flowing through it - being lightly brushed almost threw her off as a wave of pleasure crashed against her willpower to keep concentrating.

She recovered, catching the spell before it failed and her mind exploded into a sudden, acute awareness of her surroundings - the sense of perception rolled outward, constantly-expanding like a sound wave as it pinged off of everything around her.

It was like she was submerged, watching as an invisible current washed over the various objects around her. She didn't just see her surroundings, she could sense them. Without even turning around she could tell that the crate behind her was older and a different size than the one it was stacked on and somehow she could feel that the distance between her and it. She felt the astromech droid's presence in the hall as its mechanical arms repaired a bit of wiring, the completed circuit sending a pulse into the ship like a heartbeat. In the back of her mind she could feel the creatures outside the ship as they skulked through the night and she could sense their motivations - primarily food, shelter, and sex. The forefront of her mind, however, was monopolized by the sensation of the human beside her.

I can sense him there; not just his physical form, but his... spirit? Soul? No, I can't think of a proper word for it. And his thoughts and feelings... oh, his feelings... but there's hesita-

Something cold and wet brushed her marehood and sniffed, shattering her concentration and causing her to lose the spell as she slumped to the floor with a low moan.

"Wha-? Dex! No!" Titus' fingers wrapped around the dog's collar and led him to the hallway, "Stay." He rushed back to the pony that still lay on the deck panting.

The touch to her horn, the human's feelings she had shared, and the unexpected contact to her sensitive rump had all combined to send a rippling wave of pleasure through Twilight's needy body.

"Twilight?"

Twilight heard her name being called, then felt a hand on her barrel as the voice came again, "Twilight, are you alright?" She opened her eyes to find the human kneeling next to her, worry written clearly on his face. A face that was so close to her own.

She was past the point of trying to fight her twitching tail, clenching haunches, or desire for intimacy. I can't take this anymore. She launched herself up, wrapping her hooves around behind his neck and hungrily pressed her muzzle against his. The voice of the desire had usurped the scholar.

"Twi-mpf!" Titus was caught by surprise. His arms windmilled as he toppled onto his back, a lustful pony falling atop him.

Two hands came to her shoulders to keep her still. Twilight dragged herself up his body as much as the restraining hands would allow to, eager to continue the kiss that had been broken as they both fell backward from her sudden assault. Struggle as she might she was unable to draw herself closer, Titus' iron grip held her fast. Twilight slumped, defeated; laying limply halfway up the human's chest with her legs splayed on his sides. She wasn't so far gone in her lust that she'd use her magic to force herself on him.

"Twilight, what is up with you tonight?!" Titus asked, a bit of irritation in his voice, "What was that?!"

Buck. I screwed up big time. "I'm sorry, I probably freaked you out-"

"Yeah, I'm a bit freaked at the moment. You've been all over me. I mean, I get there's going to be a bit of innuendo or playful flirting between friends, but that was just unexpected," he tried to read her, but she had buried her face in his shirt.

I blew it. Again. Twilight could feel a familiar lump in her throat developing. I moved too fast and was too aggressive, and now I've scared him away. She fought to keep the tears building up behind her eyelids from running down her face, "I'm really sorry, I don't know what made me think you'd be interested in an egghead like me. An awkward... dateless... " Twilight spat the insults out, each one hitting like a sack of horseshoes, "unprepossessing... cacopygian..."

The hands restraining her relaxed.

"Twilight, look at me," Titus put one hand on the side of her muzzle to make her look at him, "I'm just as much to blame for this. I just... don't get it."

"What don't you get?"

Titus made a motion with his hands, rapidly indicating to himself and Twilight, "This! I don't get this. Why so sudden? And why me?"

Twilight somehow managed to slump even more, "This is the strongest onset of an estrous cycle I've experienced and I-"

"Uh," the human gave her a confused look, "Estrous cycle?"

Twilight was astounded to learn humans didn't have heat cycles, so she had to spend a few minutes explaining what she was going through, her lecture giving her some time to cool down and come closer to her normal self.

"So... Oh." Titus had to compile everything Twilight had said before it clicked, "OH." He took his hands off her quickly, dropping them to his sides.

The gesture made Twilight visibly deflate. He must think I've been acting friendly because I'm in heat and just wanted to use him. She looked at the human, his brow furrowed and jaw set. He looks disgusted - he doesn't want anything to do with me.

In actuality, Titus was just trying to figure out what to do next. She said physical contact is stimulating, so what do I do in this situation? I like her, but the Order forbade... no, they just frowned on-

"I-I'm s-sorry, I've made this awkward enough. I'll stay out of your way and in the morning I'll go home and ask the Princess to assign you a new intermediary." I'm just so stupid and clueless. She couldn't keep the dam from breaking this time, the tears streaked down her face and left little dark spots on the human's shirt. I deserve this. "You won't have to see me again."

When she tried to get up the two hands snaked their way around her back and the arms they were attached to pulled her back into a hug.

"That's not it at all, Twi. I was just-" he stopped to reword what he wanted to say. "Look, we were fairly secluded in the Temple and this sort of thing was... well it wasn't strictly forbidden, but this is something I haven't dealt with before."

He's... he has to just be saying that. Twilight snuggled into the embrace but still wasn't convinced, He just doesn't want you to feel bad.

He could feel her sobbing quietly, the reverberations of her sharp intakes of breath thumping against his chest. "I wasn't exactly a socialite myself, I always preferred the company of droids and being elbow deep in the guts of an engine compared to schmoozing with Senators at some banquet or another."

Titus looked down at the unicorn, "So I'm going to ask you; from one awkward, dateless, egg-headed, unprepossessing, and cacopygian-"

"What?!" Twilight's head came up and she looked at him. "Your flanks look great!" she said before her brain-to-mouth filter could catch up. I... I didn't just say that, did I? Her head dropped back down to the human's chest and her ears flattened back in embarrassment, not catching his mouth as it spread into a smile. Yup, I just said that.

It took a second for Twilight to register the ear rub before her mind melted away into the workings of his fingers. He could make a small fortune charging for this at the Ponyville market if it didn't feel quite so amazingly indecent- Twilight had to bite her lip, Yeah, right there! ooh buck...

"Well thank you," his thumb and finger working the ear in a circle, "but what I wanted to say was please don't contact the Princess-"

Don't contact the Princess? The ear rub left Twilight with just enough mental acuity to process what was said.

"-I don't want her to find a replacement for you."

The ear massage stopped when she inched her way closer to Titus' face, He wants me to stay! Maybe I didn't...

"Maybe it's because of my alien perspective that I'm not seeing where you're coming from, but I find you captivating; and sure, you might sound like you're reading from a holobook from time to time, but there's nothing wrong with being an egghead, that's just part of who you are. Oh and-" his hands slid down her back to settle just a little behind her cutie mark, the pats he gave getting a happy giggle, "your butt passes the test with flying colors, too. Sorry for the hesitation earlier, I just had to think over something."

Screw up as bad as I thought... A little closer, her chin was on his sternum, she could feel his shirt bunching up under her as she wiggled the last stretch, his uniquely smooth skin brushing tantalizingly against her teats.

Finally on level with that flat face of his, she hesitantly went in for a nuzzle to gauge his response and felt a hand work its way up her neck, the squeak of surprise when the hand pulled her closer turning into a warm coo as Titus gave her a nuzzle of his own. I-he's giving me another chance!

Tears of happiness welling up in the corners of her eyes, Twilight pressed her muzzle into Titus'. When his lips parted to grant her access to explore his mouth; she slipped past that flat tongue of his and brushed along those excitingly predatory teeth. Their breath mixed together as their tongues caressed each other; one set of fingers worked their way into her mane to give gentle tugs while the other hand brushed up and down her coat, causing Twilight's cognitive reasoning to slowly disappear in a miasma as she sank into the kiss before she suddenly pulled back, having become aware that she had started to grind her hips on the wonderfully smooth, exposed skin of his stomach.

I'm not going to let myself lose control again and mess this up; I'm doing things by the book. She shoved her urge to continue behind as many mental doors as she could, "Mi...mind if I use the shower again?"

"Go right ahead," he replied, breathing into her fur and placing a few light nibbles on her neck.

"Hoo! Those teeth of yours..." she panted as the warm bites left a tingling sensation beneath her fur and her mind clouded, "Wow." She went back in to give him an appreciative nip of her own.

Titus watched the unicorn squirm playfully against the nibbles before letting her get up, "This whole 'being-in-heat' thing looks ha-" he caught himself, the word hard being on the do-not-use list she had recited earlier, "looks like it could be an unpleasant thing to deal with."

"Y-you... have no... idea," her eyes drooped closed and she nodded, "Especially for mares without a herd or not looking to have foals," Twilight kept close attention on keeping her tail covering herself as she moved away from the human, "and if you fall into both categories, like me, it's borderline torture."

"Ah, so ponies form herds. Interesting. I would hazard a guess that's because of a population imbalance?"

"So you already noticed?" Twilight sighed, "Yes, there's approximately, oh... four or five mares to each stallion across Equestria. Add the even lower population of stallions in Ponyville to the equation and you're left with a lot of mares with no herd."

She stared at the human, propped up on his elbows into a semi-sitting position, "Remember how I was saying the whole 'saving the helpless stallion' was a ideal from an unfortunate era? Well, are you familiar with the dark period when Princess Celestia had to rule by herself for one thousand years?"

Twilight continued when he nodded, "During that time the low availability of un-herded stallions lead to their objectification, to the point the number of stallions in a herd was a display of the wealth and power of the mares. Stallions were valued based on their strength and, um..." her tone was a mix of disgusted and ashamed, "sexual prowess. Stallions were essentially slaves to the mare population. When the Princess came out of seclusion she came down on that philosophy hard, but by then the damage was already done. Even these days there are still ponies that feel the only place a stallion should contribute to society is in the bedroom."

"I see. But shouldn't the low population lead to larger herd sizes?" Titus hauled himself up, "Oops! Hang on, Dex is in the hallway. Gimme a second and I'll grab him."

"Thanks. Logically it should, but bio-logically-" a groan from the human as he passed her indicated he had picked up on her intentionally-bad pun, "it puts too much strain on the stallion; you see, the cycle will gradually adjust itself overtime to overlap with other nearby mares, so eventually the herd falls into heat at about the same time. Just imagine trying to, erm... service four mares in heat."

Twilight's face went red when Titus took on a thoughtful expression.

"Hold on, I didn't mean LITERALLY!" she was in front of him and up on her hind legs in an instant, frantically waving her hooves in his face to distract him from his thought when she stopped; a rather important question had come to mind.

"Wait. What is the human stance on inter-species relationships?"

"We're pretty much past the point of thinking about it," he shrugged nonchalantly while Twilight's heart skipped a beat and she did a mental hoof-pump at her good fortune.

"With over twenty million known sentient species in the galaxy it's been pretty much a non-issue for a while now, though there will always be purists or whatever that are opposed to the idea." Titus resumed his thoughtful pose, "So if herd sizes are relatively set, what happens to the ponies not in herds when the cycle hits? You indicated you weren't in a herd, so how do you usually get through a cycle?"

Twenty million variations of human?! Lets see, some probably have horns, other wings, maybe others can breath under water... She was jarred from trying to imagine what sort of differences they could have when she processed his question.

"Well the last time-" Twilight stopped and watched Titus lead the dog out of the hallway, remembering her last disaster of a cycle.

The first day had been miserable but bearable and, thankfully, the Princess had recalled Spike (the letter referring to him as Secret Agent Spike) to Canterlot on a "Special Top-Secret Assignment" earlier in the week so Twilight could have the library to herself. To myself, until that stallion ducked into the library to dodge the group of un-herded mares chasing him. I started showing interest and he immediately locked himself in the basement and six days later it took two stallion guards to convince him when it was safe to come out. A week after her cycle was over Twilight had mustered up the courage to go to his house to apologize only to find he had moved. Only later did I find out from Rarity that he wasn't into mares at all.

"I just seclude myself in the library and read. Sometimes a friend like Lyra or Dash will lend a hoo- um," Twilight cringed lightly at what that line could have been taken as, "will help out."

To show the dog his seclusion wasn't meant as a punishment, Titus briefly roughhoused with Dex before closing him in the hanger behind them, continuing with Twilight down the hallway toward the shower room. "So you read to keep your mind off of it? How do your friends help, though?"

"There are a few, er... devices that can be used to reduce the severity of the cycle, though the relief is temporary at best and some of them require assistance to use, which can be a somewhat awkward topic to broach."

"I can see how not being in a herd could be an issue," he paused to regard Twilight. "Well I hope if I can be of assistance, you'll ask. I could spend some time recovering more books from the computer if you'd like, and I might know a technique of meditation that might help-"

"Hey," she stopped outside the shower room door, "Come down here a second."

Lets lay this out: you're fascinated by him, he's one of the very few stallions that initiates an intellectual conversation - nothing on the level of advanced quantum thaumaturgic relativity or harmonic string theory, but stimulating none the less - and he's got to be the first stallion that's said he thinks you're attractive. He even complimented your flanks! Thinking about that last part made Twilight beam - she had never been very confident when it came to her body. On top of that, he braved a pack of timberwolves to help you, and later you felt that he genuinely cared about you when you used the Sense-Link spell.

When the human bent down Twilight wrapped her forehooves behind his neck, "That would be wonderful, thank you," she placed a series of quick, light kisses along his short jaw, lingering a bit longer on his lips though not going as far as their last kiss, pure bliss flooding her system as Titus returned the kiss in full.

"Woo," she finally broke off, breathing heavily, "right, got to stop. I want to do this by the book, you know, the traditional way; date, dinner, that sort of thing." I should see what the library has on cross-species courtship as well, though I could use Rainbow as a resource. Twilight paused her thought as she rubbed her face against the side of Titus' neck, his long hair tickling her eyelids and nose. I'll gather additional data I need from relevant articles in the library's collection of Cosmarepolitan and cross reference it to the expertise of Rarity. "I need to get you into the lab to run a few tests, as well."

"Hooking me up as the guinea pig for your next experiment? Hope that's not the date you had in mind."

"What? No!" Twilight was shocked until he placed a peck on the end of her nose. Her muzzle adorably scrunched up in annoyance when she realized he wasn't being serious, "No, if I'm going to be around you while I'm in heat I want to run tests to make sure you can't get me pregnant, just in the improbable case I... jump... or, um, restrain you..."

That got a raised eyebrow from Titus, "How improbable are we talking, here?"

"Like I said it's improbable - highly improbable, actually," she tried to sound optimistic, "but with how strong the onset of this cycle is I anticipate it getting much worse, so not completely outside the realm of reason. Think when I jumped on you earlier, but the further into the cycle I am it'll be twice, three times, ten times as hard for me to stop myself."

The look on the human's face concerned Twilight, "I-I'd never think of h-hurting you, though!"

"I know, Twi, the same goes for me," he tousled her mane, "but I'm capable of handling myself; more than you ponies give me credit for, anyway."

It was ingrained in their species that the mare's job was to protect the stallion. The thought that a stallion could protect himself better than a mare could was just very hard for Twilight to accept; she'd been in a few fights as a filly with ponies that had said something nasty about her brother - not that she won many, but that wasn't the point (besides, you weren't supposed to use magic in those fights) - Shiny was strong and brave but the idea of him fighting for himself just felt wrong to her. Not that any respectable mare would raise a hoof to a stallion; unless she wanted to get smashed into paste by any mare that caught wind of her doing it.

I'm not saying stallions can't defend themselves, of course, but Titus is just so... Twilight knew he could handle a few timberwolves, but ponies were a whole different basket of apples. He's fragile compared to a pony - long, thin limbs, the legs don't seem capable of a good buck, and his high center of gravity would indicate he'd prefer to grapple rather than throw hooves. Short of employing his fingers to secure leverage and perhaps biting - and he's liable to take a chunk out of somepony doing that - I can't imagine how he'd stand up to the agility of a pegasus or the grounded strength of an earth pony. And forget unicorns, I doubt he'd have a chance if they used magic.

Twilight felt her gut churning and shook the unpleasant thought of stallions fighting out of her mind. "Look, the tests won't take long; when we go back to town tomorrow we can grab something from the cafe and by the time we're done I'll have results," she placed her own peck on the human's short nose and he mimicked the scrunched-up face.

"I better get in there," she gave him a quick hug and let him go, dropping back onto all fours as she felt that warm tingling sensation returning. "As much as I really - and I mean really - don't want to, if we minimize physical contact I think I can make it 'till morning without incident," Twilight walked into the shower room, leaving Titus standing in the hallway.

"I've got one thing I need to finish before I can crash," he leaned a forearm on a bulkhead, "I'll lower the hammock so you can get into it, it's all yours for the night."

Twilight gave him an appreciative nod and closed the door. This bout of heat isn't going to go away with just a shower, and with no cooler available it's going to take some... she looked at the showerhead and the hose it was attached to thoughtfully, Improvising. A magical aura surrounded the showerhead to float it down from the hook as Twilight switched the output to the saline solution.

Titus couldn't hear what was going on in the shower, the sounds weren't loud enough to reach him in the hangar where he was piecing a turbine engine back together.

He was almost through re-installing it into the speederbike, and halfway through the bottle of cider, when a relieved-looking Twilight shuffled back into the hangar. "Better?" he locked the last securing anchor in place and slid out from under the bike.

"Much better, thanks," she hummed, magically blinking the short distance into the hammock. Twilight floated one of the blankets over herself, "I'm going to hit the hay, see you in the morning." She squirmed a little deeper into the warm blanket and quickly fell asleep.

Twilight became acutely aware of the soreness in her leg when she rolled over in the hammock, waking up with a soft groan. Ow ow ow... I guess the painkiller is wearing off. She also started to feel how cold it was, despite the blanket wrapped around her. The hangar was bathed in red light, Twilight's eyes adjusted to the darkness as she looked around; it was a stark transition from the warm lighting that had been present when she fell asleep. Everything looks so different... It took a split second to recognize the objects in the hangar and a bit longer to spot the low-profile lump of Titus on the floor across the room.

Twilight rolled out of the hammock, still half asleep and covered in the blanket, and stalked over to the sleeping human as quietly as she could. Once she had gotten closer Twilight could see that he had procured a very thin mattress and was using a long brown cloak as a blanket, which was draped over his lower half. He was on his back, one arm bent under his head as a pillow while the other lay at his side.

Her teeth began to chatter, the cold metal of the floor was sapping the heat from her right through the pads on her hooves. No fur and only that shirt to keep his upper body warm. How is he not cold?! Twilight continued to shiver as she looked at the human, who seemed to be perfectly comfortable with the current temperature. Twilight wiggled herself into the crook of the arm and magic'd the blanket over them both without a second thought.

"Something wrong?" Titus tilted his head slightly so he could look at Twilight groggily.

"No," Twilight snuggled deeper into the hollow and used the human's chest as a pillow, "you looked cold, that's all." She was already feeling warmer and the welcome change was lulling her back to sleep.

Sure, that's why you're the one shivering. "What happened to the 'minimized contact' you prescribed?" Titus teased, wrapping the arm around the unicorn that had snuggled against him as a show of non-protest to her presence.

In her half-awake state, Twilight stretched her long neck up to give him a quick kiss, "Sorry, can't hear you. Already asleep." And very quickly she was, one foreleg draped over the human's chest as the warmth and closeness shuttled her into a blissful dream.