Tabitha was productive. She was a good manager and returned to her room feeling satisfied with her place in life. Sure, she was part horse, but she was all building manager, and she liked that. Sure, she was a little bit of a freak, but who cared? She snorted at the thought, looking into her full mirror as she turned one way and the other. "You can't be all that bad, considering how many people want it." Sure, all those people were pon... oh yeah.

She remembered her elven paramour. Spring was a confusing mess of mysteries, and yet so straightforward in other ways. "Why am I attracting so many women?" Except she wasn't. There was one guy.

The guy that was gay.

She appealed to one guy and was so... whatever she was, she was turning him straight.

She put a hand over her face even as a clopping knock came from the door. "Yes?"

The door slid right open to reveal Coco's smiling face. "Hello there! I was wondering if you wanted to see the outfit I made for you." For Tabitha, she was perceptive. "You look worried. Is everything alright?"

Tabitha approached her theoretical marefriend. "I'm alright."

Coco leveled a gaze at her silently.

"Really." The staring continued. Tabitha sighed. Why did she have to have such a thoughtful partner, horse or not? "My professional life seems like it's come together quite nicely, and that's great."

"And?" Coco kicked the door shut.

"My personal life is a mess." She sat on her haunches before Coco. "I have..." Did she say it? She did. "I have a marefriend, and she's fantastic." Coco beamed at the praise. "But I have another woman, Spring... she says she's not only involved, but pregnant."

Coco's expression faltered. "W-what? Did you two even?"

"Once..."

Coco put a hoof to her head. "How can she know for sure? Most ponies need to try more than once to get it right."

It was a valid question, and even as Tabitha thought about it, the answer seemed clear. "She's a life wizard. She wanted to become a mother, so she did."

"But... I thought..." Coco sank to her own haunches, looking confused. "Does she love you or hate you?"

"She loves hating me, and wishes I loved hating her more." Tabitha's tail twitched as she huffed. "Angry, bestial, unthinking sex is best, in her book, so far I can tell. That's not fair. I think she wants to be dominated thoroughly, and that's not technically unthinking."

Coco shook her head. "Well... I would say to stay away from her, but I don't think... and a foal... This is quite a mess." She rose, only to approach and sit at Tabitha's side. "Do you love her?"

"No!" She said it too fast and swallowed, thinking on it. "No... Not like a person I really care for. Not like you."

Coco smiled at the kind words. "But... there she is. Well, is she bothering you?"

"Not right now. Actually, I haven't seen her for a little while. It's like... she got what she wanted."

Coco's eyes narrowed at the idea. "What does she want, really?"

"Your guess may be as good as mine, but if we're going to be... together, this has to be in the open."

"Thank you." Coco leaned against Tabitha, relaxing. "I have a feeling there's more."

"That isn't enough?"

"For you, no... You're tough, Tabitha. You wouldn't look like that over any one troubling lover."

For how tough she was, Tabitha wanted a hug, so she took it. She rolled a bit and grabbed Coco, pulling the earth mare up against her and squeezing her gently. "There's this gay stal--"

"A happy pony is bothering you?" She sounded truly baffled.

"A colt cuddler."

Coco blinked at Tabitha's serious expression. "You're not a colt." She said it as if it were plain fact, like water being wet.

Tabitha saw a hole in that logic. "I'm colt enough to be your stallion. Colt enough to have a baby coming from a damn elf!" Her voice was getting a bit histrionic. "Colt enough to literally appeal to a g--homosexual stallion. How much more coltish do I need to be?"

Coco squirmed in that tightening grasp. "I..."

"Are you gay?" Tabitha realized what she had asked. "Are you a colt cuddler?"

Coco shook her head. "Mares can't be that. That would be a filly fooler, and... no... I don't think so? I mean... When I think about you, there are two parts." She lifted two hooves, one higher. "There's the stallion part that's strong and virile. It makes me feel safe and promises I can have a foal someday. It excites me, but I didn't become friends with a stallion." She lowered the hoof a bit and raised the other. "On the other hoof, there's a smart and practical mare. She's a business-minded mare, but has time for me and really cares about me and all her other tenants. She is... in a lot of ways, what I wish my last boss was. Practical and focused, without sacrificing what makes her a good pony in the process. I..." Her eyes lowered a bit.

"I could love her."

Tabitha warmed at the admission as she held Coco close. Could she love Coco back? Did she already? Part of her... really kind of wanted to. Some of her still saw a little brightly colored horse. Her twitchy ears and tail didn't help, or that soft pelt of fur she had, but didn't Tabitha too? They were both just as fuzzy, even if Tabitha had a naked human part attached.

She stroked down Coco's spine slowly towards the tail. "It doesn't bother you that my interpersonal life is such a disaster?"

Coco tilted her head a little. "Are we... together?"

Tabitha flushed at the proposal. "If we were, would you be happy?"

"I want to meet him." She nodded firmly. "That stallion. He can't have my stallion. He's... mine, if you'll give him to me."

The way Coco had said that was a bit confusing, but Tabitha thought she got the grasp of it. "Would you chase him away?"

Coco quirked a smile. "If I had to... But I have to talk to him first. Maybe... we could just talk, like adults."

Tabitha considered a moment about saying more, but honesty had won out every time so far. "I think he wants to share."

"Share?" She arched a brow high.

"He wants a pony bad enough that sharing seems reasonable. He mentioned 'colt cuddlers' weren't that accepted."

"N-no, they aren't. I... Is he a good pony?"

Tabitha sat up straight. "He has his flaws." Like he might have molested her. "But I think he's alright when you keep him away from my stink."

"You do not stink." Coco wrinkled her nose. "I'll take your word that he's good though. I still need to meet him." She put a hoof on Tabitha's equine chest. "I need to explain that you are my stallion."

The conversation was going to a place she wasn't comfortable with. "Coco, just tell me, for real. Are you alright with... all this? You're a nice woman. I'm sure you could pick a pony if you wanted."

"I... maybe." Her head lowered a bit. "I'm not that great..."

Despite her words, all Tabitha saw was a pretty... Why did she think Coco was pretty? Was it part of her transformation, because Coco really did seem pretty to her. She... Tabitha felt sure that Coco was a pretty mare, despite more logical parts arguing that Coco was a talking horse and devoid of most things a human would call pretty in that sense.

Amidst her confusion, she felt a growing tightness between her hind legs, as if her male parts were offering to prove just how pretty Coco was in the only way they knew how. "So! You said you finished the clothes?"

Coco perked right up. "Oh yes! I was going to spring it as a surprise after dinner, but you look like you need it now." She hopped up to her hooves. "Follow me." She trotted right off, going down the hallway she had originally come from with a faint hum on her lips.

As they were walking, the elevator opened and Dark Vision stepped free. Dark nodded at Tabitha directly. "I was hoping you would be here. I'm s... Do you have time?"

Coco glanced between Dark and Tabitha. "Dark works for you, right?"

That was... well, not really. "She works for Princess Luna."

Coco went a little pale and she bowed her head. "A pleasure to meet you!"

Dark dipped her head back at Coco. "Be at ease. I'm not here to interrupt the relation between you and Tabitha."

Tabitha warmed at that. "W-what?"

"Sorry, am I jumping ahead?" Dark raised a brow. "You were already sharing quarters. Am I wrong?"

Coco slid around Tabitha as if to use her as a shield. Tabitha raised one of her hooves to put over Coco, holding her close. "What's up?"

Dark looked vindicated. So far as she was concerned, her hunch about those two was thoroughly validated. They were a couple, and that was fine. "You remind me. I will give you the articles of immigration tomorrow for you to sign. Even if you do have some Equestrian validity, it would be good to be proper about this." She held up a hoof. "You are not suspect. In fact, you've only acted in the interest of Equestria and its ponies. We gladly welcome you." She glanced towards Coco. "After that, if you should need an official..." She didn't think they were ready to marry by any measure, but a little teasing... She didn't think it would hurt.

The way both darkened made her feel validated, and neither questioned her, but neither accepted the offer either. Tabitha shook her head. "Is that what you came for?"

"No." Dark pointed towards Spring's room. "I'm still investigating her, and the nexus itself. I feel they are tightly connected, but have not discerned the nature of this bond. You are also related." She sat on her haunches. "Permission to speak frankly about a topic that will... upset you."

Coco glanced between Dark and Tabitha, wordlessly curious, if confused.

Tabitha pushed ahead. "Go ahead. You're on my side, right?"

"I am." Dark nodded. "You've shown, so far, you're worth standing beside. I am afraid... You are not one pony. And no, I don't refer to your state as a half alien in biology." She raised a brow. "Surely you've noticed you have a history that predates even your knowledge of things?"

Author's Note

Truth threatens to attack, but the true danger is typos!