Citrus Blush walks slowly through the town of Ponyville. Her steps are sure as she moves towards her destination. A quick glance ahead reveals to her the mystifying castle created by the Tree of Harmony. She finds her steps slowing as she gets closer. “That mare, that damned mare. That fucking mare…” She shakes her head and speeds her steps. She stops at the enormous doors to the home of the Princess of Friendship. She takes a moment to compose herself, and finally knocks on the door.

After a few moments the door opens, and a small purple dragon blinks up at her “May I help you?”

She nods. “Yes, I need to speak to Princess Twilight.”

“Who are you?”

“Citrus Blush.”

The dragon flinches. “Hoooh, boy,” he sighs, “Twilight’s been expecting you. She’s in the throne room; do you need me to guide you there?” Citrus nods and the little dragon turns on his heel. He pads quickly through the castle with the yellow mare in tow. Citrus is in awe at the amazing architecture of the castle. It’s half tree and half crystal. It’s something surreal, even in the fantasia that is Equestria. She can’t help but be reminded of storybooks her mother had once upon a time read to her with tales of Sir Falchion the Fearless, Yellow Kettle Saffron, the adventures shared by Allabasta of Unicornia and Cyclos of Pegasoplis in the preclassical era, and more. And quickly she’s standing before the door into the throne room. He holds the door open. “Good luck,” he murmurs softly as she enters.

“Citrus,” comes Twilight’s voice. The lights in the room are off, the only illumination is from a few candelabras arrayed around the room.

Citrus approached and bows. Unlike their other encounters, the is a formal meeting. “Princess.”

“I know why you are here.”

Citrus paws the floor, her unshod hooves scraping loudly. “You tried to poach my stallion.”

“I wasn’t trying to take him away from you; I would never steal him.”

“You turned yourself into one of his species? How was it possible for him to resist that?” The purple princess wilts in response, then she steps forward. “We knew you were interested in him. You should have come to us. We would have been able to work something out.”

Twilight scoffs, “I can’t move to Canterlot, do you honestly think all five of you would be happy in Ponyville?”

Citrus pauses there. Twilight is obliquely suggesting joining the herd. Does she want that? Her ears flick back and forth. “I…” words fail her as she watches the purple alicorn shift on her throne. Her wings are moving nearly constantly, she is shifting her rear from time to time on the throne, her tail flagging. She gulps, “My princess, you are still in…”

Twilight nods, she look away from Citrus. “What I did two days ago, was not wrong, legally. I am a Princess of Equestria.”

“That doesn’t make it right!” Citrus shouts, getting the other mare to flinch.

“Alicorn heat is intense. I am consumed nonstop with an unending desire to mate. It is so much worse than when I was a regular old unicorn. Tell me, when you are in heat, can you think of things other than sex? Are there touches which do not arouse you?”

“Yes.”

“For me, my mind is consumed by sex. I am persistently on edge. It’s taking a lot of restraint to not toy on this throne right now. If you were a stallion right now, my guards would have to be ready to intervene for your safety. Forgive me, I am not myself.” Citrus’s lip opens slightly in dismay. She steps back just a little, eye wide in understanding. “Whether it was right or not is irrelevant, Citrus Blush. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that my actions hurt you and your herd.”

Citrus growls, “That doesn’t help anything! My stallion strayed from his herd. My Tim -- he is mine, not yours.”

Twilight turns her head to fact Citrus, her eyes bright with tears. “If he were completely yours, he would have talked to you about this, and gotten your blessing. Or even brought you in. He chose to come in, to stay with me.” She looks down, “It looks like he’s not as yours as you thought he was.”

“Now, Twilight, that isn’t fair.” Citrus turns to see another alicorn step into the room. A unicorn stallion hangs back, whickering softly at the pervasive smell in the room, going, as they would say, five-legged. The pink alicorn comes closer. “Tim is not a pony.” Due to the formality, Citrus bows.

Twilight whirls on the other alicorn. “Cadance, I know more than anypony that he’s not a pony, that he is completely alien to our ways. But we have discussed sexual ethics among his species,” she huffs, looking back at Citrus. “There has been no official marriage ceremony, so by his ethics, you are a girlfriend, not a wife.”

Cadance moves up and nuzzles Twilight fondly, her horn lighting and her aura folding around Twilight for several long seconds. The smaller mare shudders for a few seconds, then her body relaxes, Cadance whispers in her ear for a few seconds, then Cadance turns to Citrus, “Princess Twilight is dealing with an effect of being a Princess. She is not fully in control of herself at the moment. I strongly suggest that you wait until the current events have run their course.”

“That’s not good enough, damn it! I don’t really care that Twilight was in heat. She shouldn’t have tried to poach Tim from me. He doesn’t belong to her.”

Cadance’s horn lights. “He doesn’t belong to you, either. The days of owning stallions as property is long past. He is free to determine his own life.”

Citrus lights her own horn, though she steps back, “That’s not what I meant, I don’t own Tim. But…”

“But nothing!” Cadance growls, advancing aggressively, “He is free to do as he wishes, and if he doesn’t feel your herd is good enough for him, let him choose his own.”

Citrus stops for a long moment, tears starting to fall. “You are defending this lift-tail. Tim told me, and now I see it. You didn’t actually send the letter to cancel the appointment, you must have done something to not have that other mare around to watch Twilight.” She paws the floor again, her horn getting brighter. “You arranged this. You pushed for this to happen. You call yourself the princess of love. Yet what you are is a herd-wrecker. You have turned your sister-in-law into nothing but a common whorse. You push for your own agenda even at the expense of other pony’s happiness.”

Cadance rolls her eyes, “I won’t deny I had a hoof in the situation. My sister-in-law was in need. She wanted Tim. She was willing to do anything in her power to show her love for him. The situation needed a push. She would never have come to you. She’s too shy about such things.”

“Hey!” Twilight shouts.

“You know it’s true, Twilight Sparkle. You are too shy when it comes to your feelings for Tim.” She turns back to Citrus. “Right now, your emotions are overpowering everything. You need to go home, and work things out with your herd. As the lead mare of your herd, you need to evaluate what is best for your herd. Even if that means losing Tim. You have to think about more than yourself. You have to think of what Tim means to you, and the other two mares in your herd. If he stays, then you must understand that his being an alien means he has needs and desires that you cannot fulfill, ways you cannot understand. Twilight proved that two days ago.” She turns back to Twilight. “Twilight, give us a second, please," Cadance shoes, shoving her longtime friend into an adjoining room. She gives Shining Armor a long glance, and the stallion moves to the door, standing before it protectively, a radically curved sword with a three bar hilt hanging at his side. Then she turns to Citrus, sighing, her shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry, but there is a more pleasant way to have this conversation... Citrus Blush, right?"

"Yes." She paws at the ground harder than needed.

"Come, walk with me."

Citrus stands there for a long moment, unable to speak, the larger alicorn noses her a bit forcefully, pushing her out the door into the corridor. Spike looks up from a comic book, “"Would you like some coffee? Tea? nachos? I make a great nacho....” he stumbles to a stop, noticing the looks on the two mare’s faces. “Ummm, I'll be leaving now. I think I hear…"

Cadance watches the young dragon scramble down the hall as she guides Citrus down the corridor. “My hooves are tied, Citrus. What do you want me to do?”

Citrus looks down, “Something, Princess. There has to be something.”

Cadance huffs, “Should I, at swordpoint, force Twilight to put on a pageant about how sorry she is?” She looks at Citrus, “Should I order you and your herd branded so nopony else gets bright ideas? Or should I simply order you to stop being upset? Should I demand that Princess Celestia revoke royal privilege? I will talk to you and help you if you want me to.” She leans her head down and nuzzles Citrus for a moment. “She's still in heat, but this isn't like her. I am only here because she teleported into my bedroom, crying that she had just made the biggest, worst mistake of her life.”

“Really, Princesss.”

“Yes. Remember, helping with love problems is my domain, and I wish I could do more in this situation. I did maneuver things to make the situation, and I am sorry for that. – I really didn’t think Twilight would be this impulsive. She’s the kind of pony who could be invited to an orgy, find an excuse to turn it down, and then complain about lack of sex.”

“That sounds like her, from what Tim’s told me.”

“But I cannot force a fix to this situation. Without going to extreme measures, there is really not all that much that I can do, and I'm sorry. I’ve been there myse-” Princess Mi Amore Cadenza never finished her sentence.

“Stop talking. If you can’t help me, I just want to go home.” Citrus allows herself to be guided from the castle, and she stops as the door is firmly closed behind her, standing there in impotent rage. Tears take over as she gallops into the town of Ponyville proper, heading back to the train station.

***

Citrus charges at Tim, her face a mask of rage. "You do know there is only one punishment for stallions like this...."

Tim scrambles back away from Citrus, turning around to run, Cayenne is there, two knives floating in her magical grip. “Unfaithful.”

He glances to the side, North Point is there, her horn alight. “Disloyal.”

He turns away from North, Silverwing is there, holding a wicked looking sword. “Selfish.”

Tim leaps over North and runs for the door, their voices following him. Tropical Dreams comes through the front door, her tail swaying. “Oh, is it my turn now to be serviced?”

Tim skids to a stop. “NO!”

She pouts, “You service any mare, right?”

“I…No, not just any.”

She turns her rear towards him, “You mean, I’m not worth it?”

“T-tropical, you’re beautiful…“

Citrus shouts, “My mother? You would even consider servicing my mother? Who next? Princess Cadance?”

Silver is next to Citrus. “Unfaithful Stallion! All he wants is a harem of mares to be his sex slaves!”

Cayenne paws at the floor. “Is this what all humans are like?”

“Chase him out!”

“Punish him!”

“There’s only one punishment for stallions like that!” Citrus lowers her head, her horn lighting brighter. “Geld him.”

“Eunuch! Eunuch! Eunuch!”

Tim looks around, there’s no place to go! He folds to the floor, trying to cover his head with his arms.

“Well, that’s enough of that.” Comes a familiar voice. Getting Tim to jerkily look up. Princess Luna steps through the wall, looking at the ponies arrayed around him. She smiles softly, “Been having a rough time, Timothy?”

He stammers, “N-n-n-o. Princess.”

She laughs, “Oh, little human, don’t try to fool me.” She walks up next to him, nuzzling his cheek, “You don’t have nearly enough experience to be able to fool me.” She glances behind her, “Or my apprentice.”

Tim looks over to see Moon Shadow is standing there. “Hello again, Tim.”

Tim looks back at Princess Luna. “I know this is a dream since you are here, but what is going on?”

She looks at him for a long moment, then she shifts to look back at the other dream walker. “Moon, I can tell this will take some time to sort out, would you please continue to watch the dream world while I help this young human?”

Moon Shadow bows her head. “Of course, your majesty.” She disappears without any fanfare.

Luna turns back to Tim. “This is not what you experienced when you got home from Princess Twilight’s home, is it?” She concentrates for a moment, and they are sitting in the kitchen. Just the two of them, steaming cups of tea sit before the human and the alicorn.

“What do you know about what happened?”

Princess Luna sniffs, “To start, your dream form still has that bulge. I am a dreamwalker, I know what happened between you and Princess Twilight. I also know who was behind the events of that night.”

“Behind, princess?”

She cocks her head to the side. “You coming upon Princess Twilight in the depths of heat was a misguided attempt by somepony to bring two together that she knows are compatible on an emotional level. She felt that forcing the situation would get you to see what could be possible. Yet she failed to account for two things: the fact that you are an alien to us in more than just your form, and that Twilight was absolutely not herself in the grips of heat.”

Tim looks down. “I don’t understand.”

Luna takes a sip of her tea, gesturing for him to have some of his. “Tim… We have norms for our culture. A stallion, whether or not a member of a herd would recognize the smell immediately, and would know she was in heat. If he was interested in the mare in question, he would talk to the lead mare and gain her consent for either solo time for him with her, or would invite the lead mare to join in. You did neither.”

“Princess…”

She holds up a hoof, causing him to stumble to a stop. “Please, listen, Tim. You continued into a situation that ended up hurting your mares, and seriously hurt your herd’s honor. Said nameless matchmaker should have taken into account that you are alien to us. You don’t react as a pony stallion would in certain situations.”

“You don’t have to hide who it is; I’m certain it was Cadance.”

She cocks her head to the side, “Why do you think her? There are quite a few mares that want Princess Twilight to be in a happy relationship. All of her Ponyville friends, her dam back at home, even Princess Celestia, and they shared a truly hilarious correspondence over it once, ‘Dear Twilight Sparkle, get fucked’, or so I remember. Celestia and I both know what it means for an alicorn mare to go through heat without a harem of stallions to help.”

“A harem of stallions?”

She nods. “There are things about alicorns that are not widely known. And the strength of our heat is one of them.” Her face colors, a real feat considering how dark her natural coloration is. “Can you imagine Princess Celestia, who moves the sun itself, being so distracted by the heat of her nether regions that she would be unable to do her job? What that would mean to Equestria? To the world at large? She has stallions that are able to comfort her when her body insists on nature’s call. Never fewer than two dozen.”

“Two dozen, wow. But if she’s having that much sex, and I know pony estrous is when you are fertile, doesn’t she have a lot of foals running around?”

Princess Luna shakes her head. “She has children when she chooses to. There are spells to cast on the mare to make her infertile during estrous. The side effect of that spell is it makes the heat last longer and for some mares, makes it more intense. Like her body feels robbed of what it wants desperately to do, and punishes her for that.”

“And she does that?”

“And wears out even more stallions, yes.”

“And you too?”

She buries her face in the tea, her face coloring all the way down her chest. “Twelve. They rotate out – our body, experience, and passion make us exceedingly difficult mates to cope with for the abundance of pleasure we can bestow. And the sheer volume of magic we leak can prove deleterious to the mind and body of lesser ponies. Being in a royal harem, while almost a sinecure for much of the year, turns into a month long or longer endurance test of almost nonstop round the clock sex during our estrus. Yes, ponies have died on her majesty’s secret service.”

Tim is stunned, but he fights to get out more words to keep on the original top. “And Twilight, too?”

“She has no harem, she refused one. She wants the act to be for love, like with Cadance and Shining Armor. She really doesn’t understand exactly how much distraction those times of the year can be for an alicorn. Cadance has been using magic to comfort her through those rough times. And yes, with the use of mechanical replacements when needed. It is not easy for Twilight. She has had to face some uncomfortable truths, including her attraction to you with her spring and autumn heats.”

“But the girls went through heat just before I moved in. It’s usually once a year, they said.”

“For most mares, that is true. One big one during the spring, and maybe a much weaker one at the beginning of autumn. Yet for us alicorns, however, the autumn one is sometimes stronger than the spring one.” She sighs, “It’s the biggest drawback of being a princess at times. Please don’t hate Twilight Sparkle. She was quite out of her mind at the time. And I’ve had a talk with Cadance about her actions in this. Our little purple princess is getting seen to, both comforted and confronted.”

“I don’t hate Twilight. She is so nice to me all the time, she doesn’t try to push happiness and harmony onto me when I’m sad about losing my home. She listens to me better than anypony. She is important to me.”

“As a friend? Or maybe more?”

Tim stops, looking at Princess Luna for a long moment, “I don’t know. Two weeks ago, that was amazing, but now it feels like I was drunk at the time. I don’t object to the idea, but…”

“Citrus and the other mares of your herd?”

He nods. “I never expected that kind of reaction. My parents did the, ‘We aren’t mad, just disappointed’ routine when I was younger. And they don’t hold a candle to Citrus. Though I know she’s mad. Furious is the word, I think. But she never acts it out towards me explicitly. But I can tell.”

Princess Luna smiles. “Of course she doesn’t. She isn’t really angry at you; her anger is at the mare who tried to poach her stallion. And she feels powerless to do anything about it.”

“Powerless?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle is a princess of Equestria, not a common pony mare. Obviously, Citrus would have no chance against her. In a unicorn wizards’ duel, she would lose, as Princess Twilight is a magical prodigy, from even before she be ascended. And socially, Twilight can easily claim royal privilege, and there can be no legal repercussions for her actions. We are not a rule of law society as you had back home, Tim.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“But it is.”

“So, how do I help?”

Princess Luna barks a laugh. “Help? Young human, this is between mares. Pony stallions would know to butt out and keep their noses whole. From Citrus’ point of view, her herd’s honor has been sullied by two alicorn mares. One tried to poach one of their stallions, and the other facilitated that. There will be a confrontation, I believe. But to know the result, I couldn’t say.”

“What could happen?”

She shrugs her wings. “There are a few options, the stallion could be cut loose to go with the new mare. After that mare shows proper respect and deference to the lead mare of the herd. That occasionally happens.”

“I don’t see Citrus Blush agreeing to that. I wouldn’t either.”

She smiles. “As if you have a choice there. But no worries, I don’t think so either, the poaching mare could be fought by the lead mare. Those can get bloody, or deadly. But Citrus is smart enough to know she wouldn’t really stand a chance challenging Princess Twilight.” She stops and looks thoughtful. “There are other options, but I really don’t know how things will go. Time will tell.”

Tim groans as he sits back, “I know I’m being punished for what I did. But how it’s done is crazy to me.”

She looks up from her tea, “Oh?”

“Well…” He stumbles to a stop, looking up at Princess Luna. “Well... Um, I don’t sleep upstairs with the herd right now; I’m stuck on the couch. Though Silver is now sleeping on the floor with me. He’s been booted out of the bedroom as well.”

She nods. “That’s normal.”

“How in bloody hell is that normal?” Tim nearly shouts. “Silver’s being punished even worse than I am. North Point comes down every night, even when I work until late, and she asks to have sex. She says I can answer either way, but it puts me on the spot. I mean, I like sex, but it just doesn’t feel quite right. It’s like she’s asking out of obligation. Sometimes I say yes, sometimes, I say no, and she respects it. I don’t like refusing her, and I can’t help but notice she seems disappointed if I’m not up for it. She’s milking me empty every single time, though – I can have trouble getting it up on subsequent days. The weirdest thing is she’s not interested in me pleasuring her back. But no matter what, Silver doesn’t even get sucked off or anything. He just turns away and grumbled the whole time, nursing a massive erection. As if he wasn’t mad at me enough before… you should hear the nicknames he has for me.”

“Yes, Tim, that is human weird but pony normal. Even when it comes to your herd’s junior stallion.” She gestures and some cupcakes are on the table. Her horn lights and the wrapper stripped from one. She takes a delicate bite. She chews thoughtfully for a long moment, then she glances off into the distance and purple mists reach out, enveloping the wall. Slowly the wall melts away, revealing a moonlit field with trees in the distance, the sky full of stars as the just raised full moon shines down brightly. In the field, a few ponies lay sleeping in the grass, a stallion standing guard looking up at the moon as three mares sleep. Beside one of the mares, a pair of foals lay curled tightly in a ball with each other for warmth. Luna’s voice is somber. “Tim, we are ponies, and from the time we ran the plains before we had civilization, herds kept us safe from predators." A large, wolfish creature appears, silhouetted against the moon low in the sky. Upon sighting it, the stallion gives a quick cry, waking everyone and he moves up, getting them to move away from the threat. "Herds were our first society, but every society needs its rules. Our family units were several stallions with many more mares. If a young mare from another herd, or one cut off from her herd when she was mature and ready for foals, were to try to poach a stallion from the herd…” In the field, a young mare appears in the night before a much larger herd. Three stallions along with over a dozen mares and nearly as many foals are arrayed around. The young mare trots over to the stallion, waving her tail as she gets close to him. Anger appears in Luna’s voice, “She would be driven off.” Three mares charge at the interloper, “violently if necessary.” The new mare tries to fight, but is pushed and attacked before, finally she gallops away.

“And if the stallion did mount her, even one of the junior stallions, he, and any more junior stallions, would be punished for breaking the predication of that most basic system.” Three stallions stand in the pasture, away from the mares. “But one mare, usually the most junior, would be there to keep an eye on the stallions, and to keep them in line.” One of the mares of the herd stands with those stallions, away from the mares and foals. One of the stallions tries to walk towards the other mares, and is confronted by the mare. “These early rules, though, were not written down. They were passed down, dam to filly, though generation after generation, ingrained in us for survival. They were our original herding instincts." The purple mist appears again, clouding the scene she had shown. She looks at Tim seriously. “That has evolved as we’ve made cities, made lives in one place and learned to grow crops, and build the civilization we thrive in today. Those instincts remain -- North is ensuring you do not stray from the herd. And Silver has to deal with your transgressions as well, to teach him the same lesson. North Point is doing her duty with regards to you so as to keep an eye on you. You may think it some strange thing, but to her, it would be no different than if she were pregnant and you were helping her with pain or cravings – it’s just something ponies in a herd do for each other. Until you are back in the lead mare’s good graces, that will be how things are for you.”

“But how do I do that?”

She smiles softly, “You are in a very unusual situation, Tim. Not only are you an alien to us, but you also had a princess try to poach you without a word to Citrus. It will take time to figure out a way to satisfy her pain.”

Tim looks down. “Thank you, Princess Luna. But this is all very confusing to me.”

She cocks her head to the side. “I know your cultural customs are very different, but how is this confusing?”

He sighs, “Back home, a man is responsible for what he does. I know that Twilight affected me, I should have turned away when I smelled how she was, but something in me, wanted her. When she turned human, the smell of her, the taste, the feel. It just got to me on such a deep level.” He looks up at her. “I enjoyed it, and that was wrong. I was wrong for wanting her, but I did. Does that make me a bad person?”

She shakes her head. “No, dear Timothy. Most certainly not. You are a stranger to our world. You are not a pony. You should have handled things very differently. But that doesn’t make you a bad person.” She stops, chewing her lips for a moment, “How does your culture handle such things?”

“Well, sometimes if a partner strays, they simply break up. It can be a big fight, and very hurtful to both. But sometimes, they will find it in themselves to forgive the other. It’s not always easy. But it does happen.”

“Interesting.” She stops for a long moment. “Why was she able to get to you so much?”

Tim opens his mouth to respond, but no words emerge. Princess Luna smiles sadly. “You have issues with your mares?”

Tim shrugs. “Not really.”

She arches an eyebrow. “If you had no issues, you wouldn’t have continued into Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. We are here in the dream; nopony other than my apprentice can possibly know what goes on in here, and she’s not learning this because it contains state secrets. Pray tell me.”

Tim looks down, “They are different. It’s taking some adjustment, and then having Twilight turn herself like that.”

“She turned herself into something familiar to you?”

He nods, a few tears sliding down his cheeks, “I don’t know why!” He wails, “I love sex with my herd, they do everything they can to give me pleasure, but they are so different.”

“Have you talked with them about that?”

Tim flinches, “No.”

“Why not?”

Tim sits there, silently, looking at the tea in his hands. Princess Luna watches him for a long time, finally she leans down, forcing her muzzle into his field of vision. “Tim, you need to tell them.”

He looks up, anger flaring. “How am I supposed to tell a mare, that I love more than anything, that sex with her is different, and that I miss what I was used to? How I notice the feel of fur every time I touch her, how she smells and tastes different? How sex with her is mind blowing, but…”

She snorts softly. “But it’s not the same.”

He nods.

“I know the feeling. Once upon a very long time ago, I was a long term wedded grand duchess of a predecessor state to Griffiya – adjusting to another species in bed takes time. She reaches over and nuzzles his cheek. “Oh, dear Tim. You are afraid that if you tell her, you’ll lose her?”

He looks up, “Why would she want to stay with someone like me? I wouldn’t give up her for anything. But just something deep down, wants…” He sighs, “more.”

“Tim, I cannot magically solve all of your problems, but I will tell you this, she feels even more inadequate right now than ever. She thinks you went in there with Twilight, not because of her turning herself human, but because Twilight is a fantastically powerful alicorn. She is afraid that Twilight is better than her – not only better, but in direct competition in a contest she cannot hope to win. We still have a mindset to some degree that stallions are property and practice hypergamy by their nature, that is aiming for the best mate they can hope to find. In her mind, if she’s just good, and Twilight is better, if Twilight competes with her over you, you’ll go with Twilight.”

Tim flinches, “No, never. I’d never leave her.”

“Even to go back home? Back to other humans? Human women?”

“Leave Citrus forever?”

She nods, “You going home will very likely be a one way trip, you won’t be able to come back.”

“You and I both know the odds of me going home are slimmer than those of Yakyakistan joining the Greater Harmony.” Tim shakes his head violently as he knocks his chair back getting to his feet, “No. It’s not worth it. I love Citrus, I love Cayenne, I love North, hell, I even love Silver for what he is. I wouldn’t want to lose them, not even for that.”

Luna is suddenly standing next to him. “Perhaps you should let your herd know that, too, but you must tell them the entire story, not just that you don’t want to lose them, but there are things you feel, that must be addressed with them. For the harmony of your herd, the love of your family, for their honor, you need to help them understand.”

“But how can they understand that I miss humans?”

She snorts, “Your species is social?”

“Very much so, Princess. We have global networks dedicated to just socializing and communicating with others.”

She nods. “Ponies are easily as social as you humans. You and your herd have to find a happy medium. You need to remember, your needs are just as important as the needs of your herd. And as an alien, you have needs that they really can’t understand without them being explained to them. You need to tell them. Let them know you love them, but Twilight was able to finds a void that you didn’t realize was such a source of pain for you.” She taps her chin with a hoof, “Perhaps by finding this relatively early in your relationship, you can make allowances for it, and make your entire relationship stronger for this.” She spreads her wings. “Sleep well, young human. And remember what I have told you. Communication is important, most especially when it’s painful to do.” With that, she’s gone.

Tim looks around for a long moment, then he closes his eyes, fading from the dream and into his body, he throws the covers off the couch. He sits there for a long moment, looking at the silver pegasus sleeping on the floor, curled up into a tight ball even though the room is very comfortable. He stands up and stretches his back, the sun is rising slowly, he can see via the edges of the curtains. He hears noises from the dining room. He goes in.

There around the table is his herd. They are talking and laughing like normal. Cayenne is even nuzzling Silver. When he walks in, they immediately go quiet. A shadow descends. “Hi, Tim,” Cayenne says.

“Hey,” he echoes, taking his seat. They’ve prepared an omelet for him. At least they aren’t yelling. “So, Citrus, how’s business?”

“Good. Thanks for asking.” Nothing more from her.

Several minutes pass in silence.

Silver asks, ‘So, Sir Fucksalot, do you have work today?”

“Yeah. Long shift today.”

They try to talk a bit more, but it doesn’t work. Tim soon finds himself heading out the door accompanied by Citrus. She walks further from him than usual. He can’t blame her when he thinks about how much he has hurt her. He tries to touch her, but she doesn’t let him. The walk is quiet and awkward. The cobblestone streets of Canterlot sing their quiet babble with their steps. There is so much he wants to tell her. If only he knew how.

“Luna visited me last night.”

That gets a pause from her. “Oh?”

“She explained to me that is going on.”

“Do you understand us better?”

“I think so. She thinks it had to do with cultural disconnects and miscommunication.”

“Do tell.” She is cold but trying to listen. Tim is thrilled; this is the most he has gotten out of her in more than a week. Usually she’s been avoiding him lately.

“She told me that if I were genuinely happy with you, then I wouldn’t’ve done it.”

Citrus snorts. This is extremely dangerous territory. “We aren’t enough? You desire her, too?”

“I thought we were going to handle this like mature adults. Anyway, when trying to talk this out with her, I realized that I am gaining a better understanding of you, but you aren’t understanding me. She thinks I went for Twilight because she offered me something familiar and hit all my buttons.”

“Of course, Luna would say that; all the princesses cover each other.”

“You’re proving my point right now, Love. You’re treating me like a pony, but I’m not a pony.”

“You’re in Equestria!” She snaps.

Tim overtakes her to look the mare in the eyes. “I’m sorry I’m not one of you! Luna told me that you’re far madder at Twilight than me, right?”

“Right,” Citrus agrees, brushing past him, adding, “I don’t mean I’m not furious with you. My rage towards the princess right now burns with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. Did you know I talked to her and Cadance recently?”

“No. Why, what happened?”

“Twilight didn’t apologize. She claimed royal privilege to lie with any stallion of her choosing.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“But it is the pony way.”

“But still, to me…”

“Are you going to let me finish? I am trying to be reasonable with you, Tim, but you make it hard sometimes!” Citrus growls, her temper flaring for a moment before she looks at him sheepishly to silently apologize with her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to get angry. “As I was saying, no luck getting amends from Twilight, and Cadance was there, covering her dear fellow princess’s promiscuous flank.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means, Tim, some great offense has been given. I am going to ask Cayenne to go later to make another attempt to get satisfaction from her. If it doesn’t work, we’re going to escalate.”

“How?”

“You’ll see.”

They are at the restaurant. “Anything else you want to say?” She is standing closer now than she was.

Tim pauses. “Citrus, I never wanted to betray you girls. I never imagined myself as a cheater. I have never cheated before, it was a moment of weakness, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things right.”

She stares hard into his eyes. She leaps up at him deftly, and before he can even register it, she’s planted the tiniest ghost of a kiss on his cheek. “I want to believe you. We’ll see.”

Author's Note

Kalash93 here. As editor, I apologize for the direction this story went in and I am sincerely hoping that this rewrite sets things right. I failed in both my responsibilities to you and to Sparky, and for that I am sorry. Thank you all for your patience and your feedback. I pray we are doing right by you. The plan is to rewrite chapters 18, 19, and 20. The overall plot will not change, but the execution and a number of more contentious issues will be dealt with. Merry Christmas.

Sparky here... I posted Kalash's comment here unedited. But the failure is on both of us. The responsibility of the story lands at my feet, no one else's. But as he said, the execution of the same basic plot points will be changed, but those plot points remain. I hope you enjoy the revisions! And a very Merry Christmas from me as well.