Author's Note

Caution; politics ahead!

Since the show was designed for kids, certain adult concepts are completely avoided to keep the ratings low enough for their target audience. As such, references to alcohol (and freshly pressed apple cider doesn't count!) or drug use, sex, or the legal system are completely absent. As such, I've decided to take this as a literal interpretation of the state of Equestrian government and society. This will be explained and expanded on in this chapter.

Just don't let the political views expressed herein turn you off from the story. Please?

On Demonology

Starlight was a bit surprised by just how many railroad spikes that Henry had ordered. Not that it was too much for her to handle, of course. After all, she was a powerful unicorn. It wasn't like she couldn't carry them in her magic. 'I wished I had brought my saddlebags, though,' she complained to herself.

By now, the sun was past its zenith, but hadn't yet dropped low in the sky. Starlight guessed it was closer to tea time than to dinner time, and while she'd rather take tea either back at the castle or at Sugar Cube Corner, she made her way through the waning crowds to Bon Bon's.

Sure enough, Henry was waiting for her on the road right in front of the shop, a paper bag clutched in the crook of one arm. Once he spotted her, he waved her over. Once she got close, he took the floating bundles of railroad spikes and tucked them into the paper bag.

"So, you ready for this?" he asked her quietly when she got close.

"Ready for what?"

"Well, Bon Bon can be a bit... abrasive at times, and Lyra is..." he trailed off, rolling a claw in the air in front of himself as if he could snatch the words he was looking for out of thin air. "... intense," he finished lamely.

Starlight snorted a bit. "Can't be worse than Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush."

"Well, no, probably not," he admitted, "but, well... let's just say that her enthusiasm over meeting a human is still a bit over the top."

"Aww, c'mon, Henry, how bad could she be?" Starlight asked.

"You just had to say it," he replied, one claw over his eyes as he followed her into the shop.

A little brass bell chimed out a cheery tune when Starlight opened the door. Red vinyl booth seats lined the walls, clashing cheerily with the teal tabletops with chrome trim around the edges. The hardwood floor was painted with a white and black checkerboard pattern. A soda bar ran the length of the wall opposite the front door with evenly space bar stools in front of it. It was a little quaint for her tastes, but if the goal was an old timey kind of feel, they succeeded. It was almost like stepping back in time a few decades into the kind of soda shop her mother would have gone dancing in during her teenage years. An antique jukebox was even playing antique records of antique rock and roll.

"Hello!" A cheery voice called from the kitchen behind the bar. "I'll be with you in a sec!"

Starlight took a minute to walk around and look at the antique decor. For a period soda shop (and candy store, judging by the glass jars behind the counter) it felt more genuine than any other period or theme restaurant she'd visited before.

"Sorry about that," the cream colored earth pony mare said as she walked through the swinging doors to the kitchen. "What can I... oh, it's just you."

Bon Bon's smile and cheerful voice faded into a deadpan once she saw Henry standing just inside the front door. "I'll go get Lyra,"

"Why hello, Bon Bon, nice to see you too, Bon Bon," Henry droned, his words dripping with sarcasm. "I'm doing quite well, how about you?"

"Ugh," was her only reply as she walked to the base of the stairs. A large sign above them said "Private: Do Not Enter"

"LYRA! YOUR SEX DEMON IS HERE!" Bon Bon shouted up the stairs. There was a loud crash, a yelp, the sound of hooves scrambling on hardwood, and then with a thop-thop-thoping, a mint green unicorn raced down the stairs.

Lyra's hooves scrabble for grip as she slid sideways out of the doorway, a manic grin stretched widely across her face. The little green unicorn sprinted all out at her human friend, cried out "Henry!" at the top of her lungs, and leapt into the air.

All four legs wrapped around the human's torso, driving the breath from his lungs, but despite the impact, Henry wrapped his own arms around her, if only to keep her from falling off.

"Ugh, Lyra!" Bon Bon complained. "Do you have to do that every time?"

"Yes!" the shameless unicorn shouted over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at her earth pony friend.

"Good to see you too, Lyra," Henry sighed.

Lyra leaned her head on the human's shoulder and took a deep breath through her nose.

"Aww," she whined. "You used your scent-blocking soap today, didn't you?"

"I use it every time I come to town," Henry replied as he separated her from his torso and sat her down on the floor.

"That's no fun," she pouted.

"Neither is getting chased by a mob of randy ponies."

"I dunno about that," Bon Bon interjected. "It is kinda fun seeing you flee in terror."

"See?! She agrees with me!" Lyra pointed at her friend.

"For a completely different reason," Henry muttered.

"Uh, what's this about scent-blocking soap?" Starlight asked.

"You haven't told her yet?" Lyra asked. "Ooo, can I tell her?"

The little green unicorn bounced up and down in place, doing a remarkable imitation of a certain pink pony. Who probably sneezed somewhere right at that moment.

"I think," he firmly said, "that we should get some drinks, sit down, and do intoductions first, don't you think?"

"... well, so long as you're paying," Bon Bon waved everyone over to the bar. As everyone else got settled in their seats, she quickly tied on an apron and slipped into the work area.

"What d'ya want," she asked gruffly.

"Can I get a mint julip?" Lyra asked.

"I'd like a root beer float, but with peach soda instead of root beer and strawberry sherbert instead of ice cream, please," the tall human asked from his uncomfortably low (for him) bar stool.

Bon Bon got started on the drinks while the other two turned to look at Starlight, who was busy perusing the menu.

"Oh, it all looks so good," she said. "I guess maybe just a chocolate malt?"

"Coming right up," the earth pony said.

Henry had somehow wound up sitting between Lyra and Starlight, but since the two unicorns had to brace themselves against the bar to stay seated upright, they could see each other without their human friend being in the way.

"Ok, so, we should probably start with introductions," Henry said. "Starlight, this is my friend Lyra Heartstrings. She's a concert lyrist and harpist with the Canterlot Royal Symphony, amateur cryptozoologist, and most recently, daemonologist-"

"I think you mean 'Demon Summoner Extraordinaire?" Lyra interjected with a grin.

"You can be a demon summoner once you actually successfully summon a demon."

"Which is highly illegal," Starlight interjected.

Lyra giggled nervously and rubbed one forehoof with the other. "Of course. I knew that."

Starlight didn't look entirely convinced.

"... Anyway, moving on," Henry continued and awkwardly coughed into one fisted claw. "Ms. Grumpy Pants over there is Bon Bon, business mare and entrepreneur, and she makes the most delicious chocolates and candies I've ever had."

"Hey," she grunted as she set three finished drinks in front of them.

"And this," Henry pointed to Starlight, "is my new friend Starlight Glimmer. We ran into each other near the market and struck up a conversation."

"It's nice to make your aquaintence," Starlight said as she held out a hoof. Bon Bon grunted and tapped her hoof with one of her own.

"Nice to meet you too!" Lyra exclaimed. "Any friend of Henry's is a friend of mine."

"I figured I should treat her to the best soda shop in town while I was here," he added.

"I was wondering about that," Lyra said. "Your monthly shopping trip isn't until next week, isn't it?"

"Yes, but some weevils got into my flour, so I had to come into town to pick up some more."

"Ick," Lyra stuck out her tongue in disgust at the thought of insect-infested flour. Bon Bon rolled her eyes at her friend foalish behavior.

"Well, either way, it's good to see you in town," Lyra said as she laid a hoof on Henry's foreleg. "And you made a new friend all on your own!"

"Your Equestrian is improving too," Bon Bon interjected. "Your accent isn't as obvious as it was before."

"Well, I had a good teacher," he replied and smiled at her. Bon Bon frowned, crossed her forehooves across her chest, and turned away from the human. But a light blush on her cheeks belied her true feelings on the matter.

"Wait a sec," Starlight said, waving a hoof. "You taught Henry Equestrian?"

Before Bon Bon could deliver a scathing retort, Henry jumped in by saying "Yes, she did, even when she didn't need to, and I'm very thankful for her help."

Starlight grinned and chuckled nervously. Bon Bon scowled. Henry rubbed the bridge of his nose. Lyra slurped her drink. The awkward silence stretched on for a few moments, broken only by Lyra enjoying her mint julip.

"So..." Starlight nervously began, "what was with the scent suppressing soap?"

Henry started to reply, but Lyra interrupted him, saying "Oh, that's to block his Aura of Seduction!"

"His what?" Starlight deadpanned.

"His Aura of Seduction. It's part of his inherent nature as a sex demon! It can't be blocked by magic at all. Not by magic supressors, not by shields or wards, or even by mental protection amulets. Ars Daemonica says so."

"That's because it's not a magical aura. It's just the pheromones in my sweat." Henry clarified. "But we didn't discover that for a few months."

"Lyra couldn't keep her hooves off him," Bon Bon scoffed.

Starlight screwed up her face in confusion. "Wait, you emit pheremones?"

Henry sighed. "Yes. It's an evolutionary adaptation in my species that repulses human females except when they are in estrus, during which it attracts them instead. This ensures that human females are willing to mate with a given male when they are at their most fertile, ensuring the continuation of the species."

Henry grimaced. "It turns out, it has the exact opposite effect on mares."

"Yup!" Lyra exclaimed. "He's completely irresistable! Well, when he's not using his special soap. But I can't stand being near him during heat week, his Aura of Seduction makes me nauseous then."

"Pffft-" Starlight desperately tried to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing at her new friend's predicament, and while she was successful at holding back her laugh, by the defeated slump of Henry's shoulders, he caught on anyway.

"It's not funny," he complained. "Especially because it works on stallions, too."

"Bwaa hah hah hah a haha haaaaaah!" Starlight couldn't hold in her laughter anymore, and it burst out of her mouth with raucous abandon. So taken by the humor of the situation, she even started pounding a hoof against the bar top, rattling the glasses their drinks were in. Lyra burst into giggles of her own, and even Bon Bon smirked at the poor, humiliated human.

"Not. Funny." he ground out from between clenched teeth. Starlight and Lyra only laughed harder.

"That's actually how we first met him," Bon Bon said with a touch of evil glee creeping into her voice. "Lyra and I were just sitting in the park a few days after Discord's defeat, enjoying the normality, when all of a sudden this guy come tearing through the park, being chased by a crowd of ponies, stallions and mares alike."

"It was almost as bad as the Smarty Pants Incident," Lyra explained. Starlight recalled the story that Applejack had told her about the time that Twilight had enchanted her old stuffed doll with a Want-It-Need-It spell and threw the whole town into chaos. Her laughter, which had started to calm down, intensified instead.

"I don't see what's so funny about being chased out of town by a crowd of rapey ponies," he groused.

"I dunno," Bon Bon needled him, "the look of abject terror on your face was pretty funny."

"Uh huh. I'm sure it would have still been funny if they had caught me, held me down, and had their way with me too."

"Eh..." Bon Bon waved a hoof back and forth in the air like a scale measuring the possible humor of the hypothetical situation.

"But it turned out ok," Lyra interrupted, "because Bonnie distracted the crowd while I smuggled him back here."

"Dealing with only one or two rapey ponies is a lot easier than dealing with a while village worths." Henry added.

"It was really that bad?" Starlight asked, her ears folding back against her skull at the though of being so... agressively pursued.

"Like I said, the 'Aura' is caused by pheremones in my sweat. At that point, I hadn't had a bath in days, and between the high temperatures and the exertion of running, I was sweating buckets by that point, so pretty much every pony I walked past got a big whiff."

"Luckily," Lyra interjected, "I had already read up on humans in my Demonology studies. The old summoners always assumed the Aura was a magic effect, but couldn't figure out how to block it. However, they did list a number of mind-enhancing spells and potions that could help a summoner resist the effects."

"Meaning she still got horny, but at least she could keep herself on task," Henry teased her.

"So, is this the part that she tried to make a pact with you?" Starlight asked.

"Yes," he chuckled a bit. "It didn't go so well, truth be told. She lured me into the kitchen by waving fruit in front of my face, and I'm ashamed to admit that I was tired and hungry enough to follow. She got me to sit down at the kitchen table and just tossed a bunch of food in front of me. Since that included bread and and jar of mayonnaise, I made a sandwich."

"While he was distracted by the food," Lyra interrupted, "I managed to get a binding circle drawn around him. By the time I was done, he had just about inhaled everything I'd put in front of him. So, I activated it."

"It was a bit of a shock to suddenly be surrounded by purple flames, you know."

"So, you're bound to Lyra?" Starlight asked.

"Not anymore," Lyra pouted.

"You're saying he had been bound to you, but now he isn't?"

"You have to understand," Henry explained, "that my situation wasn't like demon summoning in books and novels. I didn't speak Equestrian when Discord brought me here. But, the binding circle has a... what did you call it, Lyra?"

"Um... do you mean the Glyph of True Speech?"

"That's the one. It had that, so even if she and I were speaking completely different languages-"

"You'd be able to understand each other!" Starlight interjected excitedly. "And you wouldn't be able to lie to each other. That's pretty smart," she praised the minty unicorn.

"Mm hmm! It was one of Dark Fire's '10 tips for a successful demon binding'."

"So, even though you aren't bound to her anymore, what were the terms of the pact?" She asked. Henry and Lyra looked at each other. He grimaced, she grinned.

"Well..." Lyra started to say. She looked over at Henry and gave him the puppy dog eyes. He sighed and waved her on. "I wanted to make him have sex with me every night, but he refused those terms. And the terms for every other night. And once a week. After that, it wouldn't have been worth it. So instead, he had to let me study his anatomy and behavior, and he agreed! I've got a whole notebook filled with everything I could think of!"

"Henry, what did you ask for in return?"

"... while I probably could have worded it better, I got lessons in Equestrian until I knew enough to survive on my own."

"Probably a good idea," she said. "It definitely explains why you're living out in the Everfree Forest. The wording of your pact would have made Lyra offer you food and shelter until you knew enough Equestrian to aquire your own, when the pact would have made you move out."

"Wait, that's why you moved out?" Bon Bon growled slightly. "And here I though you had finally taken the hint."

"Bonnie wasn't very happy that I'd made a deal with a demon, and part of that deal meant Henry here became a long-term guest."

"Hey, I was only here for like 3 months," Henry interjected. "Besides, I pitched in around the house where I could."

"Poorly." Three guesses who said that, and the first two don't count.

Still, Henry just rolled his eyes. Apparently he was rather used to Bon Bon's unfriendly behavior.

"You know," Starlight turned toward Bon Bon and said, "I get the feeling you don't like Henry very much. Or... at all."

"Gee, what was your first clue," she sarcastically replied.

Just a little irritated at the treatment her new friend was recieving, Starlight forced a smile. It wasn't very convincing. Still, she held her tongue. No need to go making enemies where I don't have to, she thought to herself.

Henry shifted in his seat a bit before polishing off the last of his drink, the last of the three to do so. Once he was done, he fished around in his pouch and pulled out a moderately sized gold nugget and slid it across the bar top.

"Here," he said, "for the drinks, and for my usual."

Bon Bon nodded, picked up the nugget, deposited it into the cash register, and set about taking various individually wrapped hard candies from the glass jars on the shelves behind the bar, and placing them in a small paper bag. Henry stood from the too-small stool and did a few stretches to get the blood flowing in his legs once more.

"Well, it's always nice to stop by and visit you two, but I've got a long trek back to my cabin, and I'd rather not try to make it in the dark," the human sex demon said.

"Aww, do you have to go so soon?" Lyra whined.

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, ok, but make sure you visit again next week when you come to town for your regular shopping trip!"

"Sure thing, Lyra," Henry promised. He took the bag of candies from Bon Bon, placed him in the larger paper bag that held his other purchases, and started towards the door. Starlight stood up and followed him.

"Thanks for the drinks!" she called over her shoulder. "It was nice to meet you!"

"Same here!" Lyra replied. "Hope to see you around!"

As the door closed behind her, Starlight's sensitive hearing heard Lyra grumble "Do you have to treat him like that every-" before the door shut and cut off the rest.

They walked down the road, side by side, in the general direction of the Everfree Forest. The sun had dropped a bit lower in the sky, but it wasn't quite dinner time, Starlight guessed. Still, few ponies were out and about, and the few that were gave Henry (and Starlight by proximity) a wide berth.

"Well... you certainly weren't joking about your... friends..." Starlight drew the last word out, making it clear that, from her perspective, they were anything but.

"Yeah," Henry nodded. "I'm grateful to the both of them for helping me out when I first arrived, but... well, it's a complicated situation. Lyra has made it clear that she wants me around too much, and Bon Bon has made it clear that she doesn't want me around-"

"That's an understatement," Starlight groused.

"... at all, really, except as a paying customer."

"An overpaying customer," Starlight interjected. "Between the drinks and candy, your bill shouldn't have been more than 20 bits, and that nugget you paid with had to be worth at least 100, if not more."

"Ah... yeah, that's true enough," he sighed. "The banks won't do business with me because I can't provide either proof of residency or a mailing address and the various jewellers in town don't offer me very good exchange rates. It's a lot easier just to pay for my purchases with these nuggets directly, even though I know I'm getting taken advantage of."

"So you just let it happen?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"I don't have much of a choice," Henry grumbled. "Besides, I don't mind it so much coming from Bon Bon, mostly because I feel like I owe her for her hospitality way back when. Also, even though it was supposed to be Lyra's responsibility to teach me Equestrian, Lyra is... well, a poor combination of lazy and forgetful when it comes to anything not relating to either music or her hobbies. So Bon Bon ended up shouldering most of the burden when it came to my Equestrian lessons."

"I just don't see how you could put up with that kind of abuse," Starlight complained.

"Look, its..." he trailed off and looked around. They were nearing the edge of the village by now, so the stretch of road they were on was nearly deserted, and the few stragglers were well out of earshot. "Look, can you promise to keep a secret?"

"I promise,"

"Ok, so... Bon Bon grew up in a very liberal household, and early on in her teenage years, she realized she wasn't attracted to stallions. Like, at all."

"Wait, she's-" Starlight cut off the rest of her sentence when her much taller friend loomed over her and glared.

"Yes. She has accepted it and embraced it, despite that kind of lifestyle being socially unacceptable here in Equestria." His glare softened somewhat and he stopped looming. "She was comfortable with who and what she was. Then I show up as an unannounced, unwanted guest, and my 'Aura' suddenly makes her feel attraction to a male for the first time in her life. Ever."

He paused and looked off towards the woods, a rictus of deep contemplation on his face.

"My presence in her life brought up questions about herself and her sexuality that she had thought long settled. I quite literally put her through an existential crisis." He sighed and no shook his head. "Lyra was, in many ways, just the opposite. Her family was a well-to-do conservative and traditional unicorn family, just shy of being considered nouveau riche."

"I take it that Lyra's parents were the ambitious type?" Starlight asked.

"Of the worst sort," he confirmed. "They had plans to betroth her to a colt from a noble family. Lyra didn't go along with it, mind you. She's too much of a free spirit to conform to traditions, and she'd rather play her music or study myths and urban legends than elevate her family's status. It didn't help that she also isn't attracted to stallions."

"Except for you," Starlight pointed out.

"Except me," he sighed. "In Lyra's situation, though, her traditional upbringing managed to instil many of the traditional values when it comes to sex. She completely denies the possibility of being romantically or sexually involved with another mare. So, since I'm the only male anything she's ever felt any attraction towards, she's convinced herself that becoming intimate with me is her only chance of not living a life of chastity."

"And let me guess," Starlight sighed, "Bon Bon is hopelessly in love with her, isn't she?"

"I'm afraid so," he admitted.

"It's like something out of a trashy romance novel," she complained. He shrugged. "Well, despite not rutting the two of them senseless, you're certainly living up to your reputation as a sex demon. Homewrecker," she teased.

"Not intentionally," he muttered.

"So..." Starlight drew the word out, stalling for time as she tried to choose her words. "I take it that... uh, homosexuality isn't... socially unacceptable where you're from?"

"Hmm. That's... a complicated situation. The short answer is that it used to be, but isn't anymore."

"And the long answer?"

"Ah, well... this is going to be a bit difficult to explain," he said. "To put it in Equestrian terms, imagine that around 50 years go, the Diarchy was being run by a combination of Unicorn Supremacists and Mare Supremacists, but a series of peaceful protests got the laws that limited and restricted their rights and freedoms repealed. This included gay rights."

"Oh." Starlight blinked a bit in mild shock. "Your nation was being run by tribalists and sexists?"

"More or less. Please keep in mind that I'm drastically oversimplifying the situation, it was a lot more complicated and nuanced, but the overall situation was oppressive to certain groups," he explained. "This happened over the course of a decade, and it's commonly referred to as the... uh, what would it be in Equestrian... something like... Civil Rights Movement? I think that's right."

"You know, it sounds like your people made some significant strides towards Equality," Starlight said.

"More or less. It wasn't a perfect situation when I was brought here," he explained. "Some people were arguing that Equality had been achieved, others were arguing that there was still more to do, and some others were arguing that things had been taken too far and that the former oppressors were now being oppressed."

"How could Equality be taken too far?" Starlight asked.

"Hmm. Well, hypothetically speaking, imagine that the Diarchy had been ruled by unicorn supremacists. After a long time, earth ponies band together and overthrow the unicorn regime, and put their own government in place. Then they take all the same restrictive and oppressive laws that they hated and rewrote them to apply to unicorns instead."

"But... that's not very equal," she pointed out. "That would be some kind of earth pony supremacy."

"Exactly," he replied. "Granted, that's a gross oversimplification, but it's an apt analogy."

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I think, since I'm now living here in Equestria, that my opinion on the political situation back home is irrelevant."

"Well, what do you think about the state of Equality here in Equestria?" she asked.

"... do you want a polite answer or do you want honesty," he replied.

"Uh... honesty?" she said, unsure.

"What Equality?" he rhetorically asked.

Starlight blinked in shock. 'Did he really just...?'

"Could you elaborate?" she asked sharply, her ire rising. Henry looked down at her, his face wooden.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked.

"Yes. While I'd be the first pony to tell you that I know Equestria needs more Equality, we hold the Virtues of Harmony as core values in our society," she explained a little hotly.

"Very well," he sighed. "Homosexuality is not just socially unacceptable, a pony engaging in homosexual acts faces fines and jail time. Interspecies relationships are not frowned upon quite as much, but marriages between a pony and a non-pony are illegal. No forms of recreational narcotics are allowed, no alcohol, no tobacco, no marijuana, Tartarus, even caffeine is regulated. Marriages are restricted to one mare and one stallion, even though your birth rates are approximately three or four mares to one stallion."

Shocked by the rapid-fire list her human friend was spitting, Starlight took a step back and raised one of her forehooves in front of her chest.

"That's not even getting into the concept of sapient rights," Henry continued unabated. "Under the Diarchy, no fundamental rights are guaranteed. The power of the rulers are completely absolute. For example, Princess Twilight Sparkle could have me arrested and jailed indefinitely with no right to a trial or legal defense. Hay, she could have anyone arrested and jailed without a trial. Additionally, the common pony has very little say in how the government is run, and what little say they do have extends only to the election of a local mayor or governor."

'I had no idea it was this bad,' Starlight thought to herself, more than a little shocked by just how many flaws in her society Henry was pointing out.

"And on the subject of Equality," he wagged a finger at her, "there's no way you can claim that a farm pony has the same opportunities as a noble pony like Prince Blueblood. Even ignoring the difference in wealth between the two, simply by virtue of the additional legal rights and powers afforded to him by his status as a noble, Blueblood has more power and opportunity than the simple farm pony. In fact, by having a class of noble families with additional legal rights inherently sets them above the common pony. That is in no way, shape, or form Equality."

Starlight grinned nervously. Henry was standing across from her, hands on his hips, a little red in the face. His pursed lips tightened his features, highlighting just how different his muzzle-less face was from a pony's. Time dragged on as they stood across from each other, the awkward silence to difficult to break. Eventually, Henry sighed and rand a hand down his face.

"I'm sorry about that," he said softly. "I've had time to read a lot. I looked for a long time to try and find a way to integrate myself into Equestria, but I couldn't find any kind of legal solutions, so I just stayed out in the forest. I didn't mean to take my anger out on you."

"It's ok," Starlight reassured him. "I guess I didn't know how... unequal my country is. I mean, I knew that how you had been treated was unfair, but I hadn't realized..."

"Don't get me wrong," Henry interrupted her. "Your society is overall happy and peaceful. Aside from my own and Lyra and Bon Bon's situations, I haven't seen any direct oppression or discrimination. I guess I'm letting my own prejudices get the best of me."

"But you still raise some good points," she told him. "I mean, interspecies relationships aren't very common, but I guess I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to marry."

Henry smiled and sighed in relief.

"As for... homosexual relationships," Starlight continued, "I guess I never considered it. I mean, I've never met any gay ponies. Or at least, I don't think I have."

"There are several here in Ponyville that I've seen," Henry admitted, "but they do their best to hide it in order to fit in."

"Really? I mean, aside from Bon Bon and Lyra," she asked.

"Oh, sure. It's obvious when you know what to look for."

Starlight frowned and considered it. "I guess it's just weird having a gay pony around."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked gently.

"Well, I'm not gay. I've never even considered being with another mare," Starlight told him. "Or, really, even considered gay ponies at all. I mean, I know they exist, but I can't say I've ever met one. Well, before today anyway."

"You probably know several. Like I said, they hide it to fit in." He paused for a second and looked pensive. "Do you... have a problem with gay ponies?"

"W-what? No!" she denied the accusation. "I mean, I think it's a little bit weird. How would two mares even have sex anyway?"

"... do you really want to know?" Henry asked, the faintest hint of a grin on his lips.

"U-uh... no. Not really, no." Starlight grimaced.

"Still, I guess I don't see much of a difference between a mare and a stallion being together, a pony and a gryphon being together, and two mares or two stallions being together. Hay, with your gender ratios the way they are, I don't even think it would be much of a problem for several mares to be with one stallion."

"You mean like herding?" Starlight asked.

"Sure. Or flocks. Pre-unification earth pony and pegasi society actively encouraged multiple partner marriages," Henry explained.

"So why are one mare one stallion marriages the norm?" she asked.

"Well, single partner marriages were the norm for unicorns. Technically, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were adopted by Princess Platinum during the Unification, and she abdicated her throne in favor of the Diarchs. The Earth Pony Republic and the Pegasus Hegemony were more or less annexed into the Unicorn Kingdom, which was reformed into the Diarchy of Equestria."

"... I know my history, you know," Starlight complained.

"Right, sorry about that. I tend to lecture," Henry admitted. "Still, the social norms and legal practices of the old Unicorn Kingdom stayed in place after the Unification."

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that two mares being together is unnatural," Starlight pointed out.

"Well, neither is agriculture, architecture, writing, engineering, or pretty much anything that makes this a civilization. Sapient beings have this wonderful thing called 'self-awareness' that allows us to be more than mere animals," he pointed out. "Besides, I don't see the problem with two adult beings being in love and wanting to be together."

Starlight opened her mouth to retort, but she couldn't seem to find the words to refute Henry's arguments. "I guess I see your point," she admitted.

"I'm not trying to turn you into a gay pony," Henry told her gently. "I'm only asking you to tolerate others' choices. You should be able to live how you want to live, but in turn you should allow others to live how they want to live."

"... I'll try," she conceded.

"That's all I ask."

"Still, I think you make some decent points," she continued. "I still have to introduce a friend to Princesses Twilight and Celestia tomorrow night, and I really think you would make an excellent guest. Hay, you could even bring up your observations about the current inequality in Equestria right to Princess Celestia! Who knows, maybe you could even convince her to make some changes!"

"Or I could get banished to the moon," he snarked.

"C'mon, she wouldn't do that to you," she cajoled him. "Please, Henry? I'd really appreciate it if you came."

Henry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose once more. "Ok, fine, I'll come, but if I get banished to the moon or something, you've got to promise me to get me out."

"I promise!"

"What time should I show up?" he asked.

"The dinner will be starting shortly after sundown, so come to Twilight's castle just before sunset."

"Alright, I'll be there," he sighed. "Look, I need to get going if I'm going to get back to my cabin before dark, and the Everfree isn't the safest place during the night."

"Ok. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Henry adjusted the paper bag with all of his purchases and started off towards the woods. Starlight couldn't help but grin a bit to herself. 'Make a new friend; check!' she mentally checked her friendship assignment off her list. Still, the day had been rather exciting, and she was feeling a bit wrung out.

As her human sex demon friend disappeared into the Everfree Forest, Starlight smiled and thought, 'Maybe a trip to the spa is in order,'

Her mind made up, she started towards the spa in search of some much needed rest and relaxation.