Author's Note

Two quick notes;

Equinologists are the pony equivalent to Anthropologists.

Ostrohippicus are the equivalent to Australopithecus.

The first scene here came to me after I had already posted the previous chapter. It fits better there, but I didn't want to go back and add it to an already posted chapter. So, I'll just leave this here.

Enjoy!

The Cabin in the Woods

A viscous drizzle of caramel slowly dripped into the copper cauldron, leaving appetizing swirls in a dazzling pattern. Bon Bon carefully gripped the large ladle in one hoof, gently tipping it so that the warm caramel poured at a steady rate. The caramel swirls contrasted beautifully against the already well mixed vanilla and cream, intersecting with the already present chocolate and peanut butter swirls. 'I can't wait until it's frozen,' she thought to herself. Her mouth was already watering at the thought.

Once the last of the caramel had been poured into the cauldron, she reached for a small bowl of crushed chocolate-covered peanuts, but the gentle chiming of the bell above her store's front door interrupted her.

"Be there in a minute!" she called as sweetly as she could. As she pulled off her apron, she glanced at the clock hanging high above the wall. 'It's already 8pm,' she noted. 'Who could be coming in at this time of the night?'

She caught sight of her customer as she pushed open the swinging kitchen doors and groaned lightly to herself. 'Of course it had to be Henry,' she mentally complained. The sex demon was dressed nicer than usual, in a dark blue button up shirt and black pants rather than the horrid animal skins he usually wore. They had to have been self made, she noted, as the stitching work was well below the kind of work Rarity, as the only seamstress or tailor in town, would allow to be sold. The clothes were creased and rumpled in odd patterns and loosely hung off of his form. It seemed absurd that such a large being could wear anything that fit loosely.

Still, the small part of her that actually cared for the sex demon noted that he was slumped over more than usual. Usually he sat as upright as he could in the too-small bar stool, but tonight he rested his elbows on the counter, his hands were folded, and his head bowed. He didn't even look up as she trotted closer.

"Hey," she said as monotonously as she could. "You know I'm gonna be closing up soon, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know," he replied. Even his voice sounded downcast, none of the sarcastic bite she was used to was present.

"... you here for something or are you just gonna mope about," she asked him. Given the way he mildly flinched, Bon Bon cringed a bit inside. Their usual banter and barbs, while initially annoying, had kinda grown on her. He was usually terribly witty, and most of their exchanges left her feeling as if she'd lost.

"I don't care, surprise me." he sighed. "Just as long as it doesn't have milk products."

"Yeah, sure," she replied. She left him to mope and set to work throwing together something for him to enjoy. She started with iced coffee, mixed in some chocolate, a touch of mint syrup, and sprinkled in some cinnamon and sugar. He barely reacted when she placed the drink in front of him, only glancing at it and sighing.

"Look, you gonna drink that?" she asked him a few moments later. He sighed, picked it up, and took a sip out of the straw Bon Bon had put in it.

"It's good," he told her with the slightest of grins.

"It better be," she snarked. "It's only my special talent. Not that you'd know anything about those."

The tiny grin immediately faded, replaced by a scowl.

'Oh no,' Bon Bon thought with a sinking feeling. 'Usually he just fires back. Something must really be bothering him.'

The part of her that liked Henry and valued the mutual jibes and constant sniping they always had wanted to speak up and ask him what was wrong. The other part of her tried to ignore the impulse. Indecision warred within her, torn as she was between her feelings. Usually, she'd just retreat into playful insults, but with as poor of a mood as he was in, she couldn't bring herself to do that.

"You know, I've known for a long time just why you hate me," Henry told her. His head was bowed once more and his hands cradled the iced coffee as he stared into the bottom of the glass as if it held the secrets to the universe.

"I- I-" Bon Bon stuttered in shock. "I don't hate you," she managed to stammer.

"Sure you do," he said with a grimace. "Just like every other pony in this town, you've done your best to make me feel as unwelcome as possible without resorting to physical violence."

Bon Bon's eyes widened with shock. 'He... he really believes that? He doesn't know I was just teasing him this whole time?'

"I had hoped at one point that I could bring you around, you know," he admitted. His voice was faint, even to her sensitive ears. "I figured that if you got to know me, you'd soften up a bit."

Henry paused and took a deep pull from the straw. Bon Bon tried to speak up, but it was like something was blocking her throat and she couldn't force the words out. Old instincts, as if from another life (and technically it was; she wasn't Sweetie Drops anymore) smoothed out her face into a blank, inscrutable mask.

"But I guess if I couldn't get the Princess of Friendship to come around, making friends with a normal pony would be impossible. So, I guess I just wanted to stop by to tell you that... I give up."

He took another drink, almost finishing off the comically small glass compared to his bulk. "I want to make it clear to you that I have no romantic intentions towards Lyra. I never have, and I never will," he told her as seriously as he could. "I know you've been in love with her for as long as I've known you two."

"W-w-what?" Bon Bon tried to protest. 'How does he know? How could he know?'

"I've seen the way you look at her when she isn't watching. I've seen the heartbreak in your eyes every time she flirts with me. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out," he went on. "I've known since before you taught me Equestrian. I'd hoped that you'd see me turning her down and understand that I wasn't trying to steal her away from you or anything, but you've been just as antagonistic towards me as you always were."

He sighed once more, finished off the iced coffee, stood up, and started rooting through the pockets of his pants. Bon Bon stared in shock, unable to bring up the courage to say anything.

"I know why Lyra's so insistent on pursuing me too. She's the same way, you know," he pointed out. "I'm the only male she's ever felt attracted to, but she's been raised to believe homosexuality is wrong, so she sees me as her best hope of having any kind of heterosexual relationship."

He pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and started fiddling with it as he spoke.

"I've known for a while how uncomfortable my Aura made you too," he continued. "And I know that, between questioning your own sexuality and your hurt over Lyra that you've been subtly trying to drive me away for years. I know that both you and Lyra are only attracted to me because of my Aura. I've been trying to get her to notice you for a long time, but she's so hung up on a 'normal' hetero relationship that she won't see it. So, I give up."

He placed the small pouch on the bar top. It clinked brightly, incongruous with the mood in the room.

"I won't come hang around anymore. You'll have her all to yourself." He pointed at the small pouch. "That's for housing me all those years ago. Goodbye, Bon Bon."

In a daze, Bon Bon carefully picked up the pouch and untied the drawstring. A dozen little gold nuggets shone brightly in the light, glittering beautifully. Her already tight throat clenched further and a heavy weight gripped her heart. She opened her mouth to call out to him as he walked towards the door, but all that came out was a slight squeak. Henry opened the door, paused for a moment, looked over his shoulder, and locked eyes with her.

The normally bright, shining blue of his eyes seemed dull and lifeless. They looked wrong. 'This is all wrong,' she thought to herself. He sighed once more and stepped out into the growing dark of the night.

"W-wait," she tried to say, but her words were so faint that they were lost in the chiming of the door bell as the door closed. She stood there in silence as she tried to process just what had happened. Henry was... had been her friend. Now he was gone. The small, selfish part of her that should have been rejoicing at having Lyra all to herself was drowned out by the part of her that had liked having him visit.

"You dummy," she muttered. "You big, stupid dummy."

Anger welled up within her, whether at him or at herself, she wasn't sure. Maybe both. With a scream of rage, she tossed the bag of gold at the door he had left through. It clanked and clattered as it bounced off and fell to the floor. The tears started pooling as her eyes prickled and her nose burned.

"Fine," she muttered angrily. "You wanna be like that, I don't care. Go off and live in your stupid forests. Less trouble for me."

If only she could bring herself to believe her own words.

The next morning, once Starlight had bathed and prepared for the day, she came down to the ground floor of the castle and entered the kitchen. Twilight was waiting for her there, a cup of strong-smelling coffee held in her magic in front of her. Spike was humming happily to himself in front of the stove, wearing his usual frilly pink apron and deftly flipping pancakes. A stack of them were already sitting on a plate in the middle of the table.

"Morning Twilight, morning Spike!" she called cheerfully as she sat down at the table.

"Good morning, Starlight," Spike called over his shoulder as he added another pancake to the second stack on the plate next to him.

"G'morn'n" Twilight mumbled before she took a sip from her mug. Starlight tried not to stare at her mentor. She had deep, dark bags under her red-rimmed eyes, and her normally impeccably combed mane was a bird's nest. Starlight busied herself with gathering some pancakes onto her plate, drenching them in syrup, and topping them off with whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries.

"Mmm!" she voiced when she took her first bite. "These are really good, Spike!" she complimented the baby dragon after she had swallowed.

"Thanks!" He called, before muttering "At least somepony appreciates my cooking," as he frowned at Twilight.

Eventually, Spike finished up cooking and sat at his own place at the table. By the time Starlight had finished her stack, Twilight had almost finished her cup of coffee and looked much more awake and aware than before.

"So," Twilight began as Starlight floated her plate and silverware over to the sink. "Are you still going to go visit your human friend today?"

"I am," she said, a little more subdued than earlier.

"Good!" Twilight continued. "I took the liberty of packing your saddlebags for you."

Starlight's saddlebags floated in from the doorway to the rest of the castle. Twilight held them aloft in her magic and opened them up.

"I wasn't sure how deep into the forest you had to go, so I prepared you for anything!" she continued as she lifted objects out of them one by one. "I've got notebooks, quills, inkwells, a first aid kit, extra bandages, a forestry survival guide, hardtack, trail mix-"

"I think I get the picture," Starlight interrupted her.

"Oh. Right," Twilight grinned sheepishly. She repacked the bags and held them out of her students. Starlight barely resisted rolling her eyes, but she took the bags and settled them comfortably across her back.

"Well, I guess I'll be off," Starlight said awkwardly. Something about the way Twilight was smiling at her wasn't quite right. "I'm not sure when I'll be back, but it'll probably be late."

"Ok!" she said, perhaps a little too cheerfully. "Stay safe!"

"Uh... sure thing. See you later."

Twilight watched her student walk out of the kitchen and had to resist rubbing her hooves together. 'She didn't notice!' she mentally celebrated. 'Step one: check!'

Starlight stood outside Bon Bon's Bon Bons, blinking owlishly at the sign on the front door that very clearly read 'closed'. She looked around at all the ponies out and about, running the morning's errands. The sun was already well above the horizon and it had to be at least nine in the morning. All the other shops were open. 'So why isn't hers?' she asked herself.

Still, she firmed her resolve and knocked loudly. She stood there awkwardly for a few minutes watching the crowds go about their business. She had to admit, Ponyville was a lot more lively than her old village had ever been. She admitted that it was mostly her own fault; ponies without cutie marks trying to run shops didn't work very well, and what little enthusiasm her former villagers had shown had been forced. 'Still,' she consoled herself, 'that's why I'm here, learning about friendship from Twilight. I'm turning over a new leaf.'

Starlight heard the sound of a deadbolt unlatching and quickly turned back to the door.

"Oh, Starlight!" Lyra exclaimed when she saw who was waiting on the stoop. "I didn't expect you to come by this morning."

"Hey, Lyra." Starlight greeted her. "I wasn't aware you guys were closed today."

"Well, we weren't supposed to be, but Bon Bon won't come out of her room. She says she's sick and she does sound all stuffed up."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," the pale lavender unicorn commiserated. "I hope she feels better soon."

"Me too," Lyra agreed.

"Anyway, I was hoping I could talk to you," Starlight continued.

"About what?"

"I was wondering if you knew where Henry lived."

"Oh. Yeah, I do." Lyra paused and looked back inside. "I'd offer to show you the way, but... well, I really don't want to leave Bon Bon home alone while she's sick."

Starlight's face fell in disappointment.

"But, I can give you directions!" Lyra continued.

"Oh, you can? Excellent!" Starlight pulled a notebook, quill, and inkwell from her saddlebags, silently thanking her mentor for packing for her, and readied herself to take notes.

"Ok, so, start heading south on Whispering Way, past the Town Hall, then take a left on Royal Road. Past Fluttershy's cottage, take a right on the old trail. That trail leads towards Zecora's cottage. A few miles in, you'll come to a fork in the road. The left fork will take you to Zecora's cottage, but you want to go right. After a mile or so, just past the ford in the river, there's another fork at an old burnt out tree. Take a left here and follow it for another few miles. It'll take you right to Henry's cabin." Lyra paused and watched Starlight rapidly writing everything down. "You get all that?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think so." Starlight said. "Thanks for the directions, Lyra."

"You're welcome!"

'Stupid forest,' Starlight complained to herself and she yanked a hoof out of the vines trying to tangle them. The path was old and overgrown, with only a very narrow bare patch to follow. 'It's more like a game trail than a proper path,'

Despite nature trying to trip her up, Starlight had followed the directions Lyra had given her to the letter, and she knew she was close to her goal. The woods around her were dense, and the few breaks in the canopy allowed the undergrowth to flourish. Only the smallest patches of the sky were visible above her, but Starlight didn't mind. The shade felt wonderfully cool in the hot summer they were having.

Thwip... thunk.

The pale purple pony jumped a bit at the sound. It had been faint, but distinctly different from the normal ambient noise of a dense forest. A few dozen paces ahead, the forest started to thin out a bit. The path gradually became more worn, bracketed not by trees but only by the conical stumps left behind when a tree is chopped down with an axe.

Thwip... thunk.

As she approached the clearing, Starlight caught her first glimpse of Henry's cabin. 'Cabin? More like woodland mansion!' she thought to herself.

Indeed, the cabin was two stories tall. The roof was shingled with wooden slats overlapping each other in such a way as to sluice rainfall off the sides. The front of the cabin was facing her, judging by the wooden porch and the overhang that protected it from the sun and the rain. The walls of the cabin were expertly fitted logs with some sort of adobe sealing the places where two logs touched. An extraordinarily tall and wide chimney towered out of the far side of the cabin, standing nearly as tall as the trees at the edge of the clearing. A small wooden mini-roof covered the extra wide opening at the top. The windows were open and didn't seem to have any glass in them, but the shutters hanging from the window frames looked solid enough to withstand a wild storm.

A large cistern, almost as tall as the edge of the roof, stood near one corner of the cottage, a wooden sort-of aqueduct draining into it. About a hundred paces away from the cottage, at the base of the small rise the cottage was built on, a large stream pushed a waterwheel that lifted small buckets from the stream and dumped the water they held into the elevated aqueduct.

A wooden sluice jutted from the side and wound its way over a garden that was large enough to qualify as a small field. Small offshoots from the sluice hovered over the neatly planted rows of various vegetables, ranging from carrots to cucumbers, and leaked small trickles of water onto the crops.

A pair of solid cellar doors jutted out from the low stone foundation that ran around the base of the cabin. Starlight assumed it was some sort of root cellar, for storing the produce the large garden grew.

Thwip... thunk.

'What in the world is that sound?' Starlight asked herself. Indeed, it was louder now than it had been as she approached the cabin. She skirted the edge of the garden and rounded the corner of the cabin, and discovered what it was.

Henry stood near the back of the cabin, wearing nothing except some sort of animal skin trousers. Starlight paused, her nose filled with a musky, salty scent, mesmerized by the way her human friend's muscles rippled and flexed under his skin as he pulled the strangely shaped bow taut. Sweat glistened in the sunlight, standing out sharply from his tanned skin, as he aimed an arrow towards a well-used wooden target at least a hundred paces away at the edge of the clearing opposite the direction Starlight had come.

Thwip... thunk.

The arrow flew true, faster than Starlight had ever seen an arrow shot from a bow, and sank deeply just off center of the target, where it joined another half-dozen arrows. Henry grunted, sounding displeased, and grabbed another arrow from the quiver at his hip. He nocked it and drew once more. Starlight was as mesmerized by the strange pulley system attached to the tip of each arm of the bow as she was by the way Henry's muscles flexed. The pulleys rotated up and out as he drew the string taut, and she wondered just what they were for.

She took another deep breath through her nose. The musky scent was becoming... better, somehow. 'I had no idea he smelled this good,' she thought to herself as she smiled an almost dreamy smile. She looked him over once more, her pussy twitching as she did. 'Or looked this good under his clothes, either.'

Thwip... thunk.

The arrow embedded itself perfectly in the center of the target, and Henry pumped his fist and half-whispered "Yes!" in celebration. Starlight felt her nethers twitch once more as he flexed his arm. A streak of dampness leaked down her inner thighs and she shivered slightly in arousal.

"H-hey, Henry," she called breathlessly.

Henry started and whipped around, eyes wide. He caught once glance at her and the look on her face, and groaned softly to himself.

"Hey, Starlight," he sighed, resignedly.

"So..." she drew the word out as she strutted closer to him. His scent became stronger with every step, and her nethers became wetter with every breath. "This is where you live, huh?"

"Yeah..." he said carefully. "I built it myself."

"I can tell," she crooned as she looked up and down his well muscled form once more. Maybe those animal skin trousers weren't so ugly after all, not with how tightly they were stretched across his muscled legs.

"So, what brings you all this way?" he asked her, a little nervousness creeping into his voice.

"Oh, you know," Starlight said with a husky voice and reached up to place a hoof on his thigh, just barely avoiding his groin. "Just wanted to catch up with you, see how you were doing after last night."

"I'm fine," he said as he gently removed her hoof. "Though I appreciate you coming to check on me."

"You know, you don't have to pretend," Starlight insisted, simpering slightly. "Twilight told me all about it, about how much of a cunt she and the princess were to you." She reared up and placed both of her forehooves right on his astonishingly hard pecs. She licked her lips in anticipation.

"But don't you worry," she continued. "I'll make everything better."

"Oh, Starlight," he said with a low, husky voice. "I'm so glad to hear you say that."

Her heart skipped a beat, even as her pussy clenched and winked in anticipation.

"But I've been working outside all day," he continued, regret lacing his voice. "I wouldn't want to... let you make it up to me... while I'm all sweaty and dirty."

"Oh, I don't mind," she smirked. She leaned in and ran her tongue up his neck to his ear. The salt of his sweat was delicious, and she moaned both from arousal and appreciation of how he tasted.

"I'm sure you don't," he continued. He reached an arm up and gently stroked her mane. "But if you're going to properly apologize on behalf of the princesses, I'd rather do it after a bath, you know?"

"Well... I guess I can wait," she said in disappointment. She dropped down to all fours and turned, whipping her tail against the side of his thighs as she did. "Just don't keep me waiting too long!"

"I won't, I promise." Henry winked at her, sending another shiver down her spine. "Here, why don't you wait on the porch? I'll bring you something to drink while I bathe."

Starlight continuously rubbed her side against her human's leg as he led her onto the porch. He led her to a woven wicker oval chair with a large, overstuffed cushion on it and gestured for her to sit down. Starlight moaned lightly to herself as she did so, finally off her hooves after spending most of the morning walking. Despite her relief, she continued to fidget in place while she waited for Henry to come back. A few moments later, he did so with a small, clay cup in his hands. He placed it down on the small wooden stand next to the chair.

"Here," he said. "It's watermelon-blueberry juice. I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will," she told him with a wink. As Henry took off towards the stream with a small bundle of clothes held in one hand, Starlight sipped the juice and was surprised. It was sweet and tart, and cold! She wondered how in the world he kept it cold out here. 'Maybe he has a magic refrigerator?'

She mulled over the possibilities in her head while she waited for her human to come back, pondering the logistics of a creature with no magic using a magic powered appliance. The conclusion she reached was that he'd have to buy magic batteries if he did, or it was some kind of machine he'd built that didn't use magic.

About fifteen minutes later, Henry, now fully dressed in a white cotton shirt and pants, stepped back on the porch. Starlight breathed deep, trying to get more of his scent. It was... not there? She tilted her head to the side in confusion. What had happened to it?

"Starlight, do you know a lot about magic?" Henry asked her in a smooth, sexy voice.

"Oh, yes, tons!" she replied eagerly.

"Do you know Misty Mirage's Mind Maximizer?" When she nodded, he asked, "Could you cast it on yourself?"

"Easy enough," Starlight commented. Her horn glowed and the cool rush produced by the spell washed though her skull. She felt her thoughts sharpen and her eyes focus on Henry's face, rather than his gorgeous body.

"Well done!" he complimented her, a touch patronizingly in her opinion. "Now, can you do Deep Diver's Breathing Bubble?"

"No problem," she smirked. A flash of magic later and her head was surrounded with a translucent bubble, looking a bit like a soap bubble, used as a breathing aid by deep sea divers.

"Good job, Starlight," Henry grinned at her. "Now, I need you to keep those spells up for a while. You'll be fine after twenty minutes or so."

"Twenty minutes? I feel fine now," Starlight said with a sexy grin.

"I know you do, Starlight," he continued. "Do you remember when I told you about my Aura?"

"Of course I do, silly," she cooed.

"Well, you stopped by unexpectedly today, so I hadn't used my scent-suppressing soap," he explained. "So when you walked up, you got a big whiff of my pheromones."

"I don't see what's so bad about that," Starlight objected.

"It made you feel like you were in estrus," Henry continued. "It puts you in a highly aroused and highly suggestive state. Even if I had been the most disgusting, revolting thing you'd seen in your whole life, you would have wanted to sleep with me."

"Hmm, doesn't sound like a big deal to me."

"Well, if you had woken up the next morning and you weren't getting a big whiff of my 'Aura', you'd be disgusted with yourself."

"Aww, c'mon, Henry, it wouldn't be that bad," she cajoled. "Besides, with muscles like yours, you don't need some silly 'Aura' to seduce m- ponies." She looked over his (unfortunately) hidden body before meeting his eyes and winking. She was pleased to see a light blush spread across his cheeks.

"You say that now," he warned her, "but you're still being affected. Once I'm sure you're not being influenced by my pheromones, I might believe you when you say that."

"Well, we'll just have to wait, then, won't we?" she smirked.

"Yeah, I guess we do," he rolled his eyes at her. A moment of awkward silence followed, broken only by the scratching of the wicker chair every time Starlight fidgeted in her seat.

"You want something to snack on?" Henry asked her after another minute or two.

"I'd rather you be eating me," she replied saucily, "but I wouldn't say no to a sandwich."

"S-sure, I'll get... pfft, right on that," Henry stifled his laughter as best as he could as he stood and entered the cabin.

Starlight didn't notice a thing, save for how red his face was as he left. So she sat there, inordinately pleased with herself, looking like a cat that had gotten the cream.

When several minutes had passed and Henry hadn't come out of the cabin, Starlight got curious. 'Just what is taking him so long?' she asked herself as she stepped out of the amazingly comfortable chair, bubble still around her head, and entered through the front door.

The first thing that struck her was that there were a lot of animal skins. The second is that all of the furniture was surprisingly well made out of rough, rustic looking logs that had been varnished, and nearly all of them had some kind of animal skin upholstery. A high backed chair even had brass tack trimming on the ends of the foreleg rests. It rested next to a large, oval flat topped coffee table that sat in front of a three seat couch. A bookshelf filled the wall behind the couch, stuffed almost to overflowing with books, most looking well used. A manticore skin rug sat underneath the coffee table, right where a pony could have rested their legs on the floor, if they were as large as Henry's.

A few shelves with various knick knacks lined the rest of the walls, but Starlight barely paid any attention to the bric-a-brac. An open doorway led to a short hallway, with two doors on the left and one on the right, and the end of which opened up into what must have been a kitchen. Starlight followed the sounds Henry was making.

The kitchen had a large stone stove above a truly humongous fireplace that looked more in place in the great hall of an old castle rather than in a cabin in the woods, no matter how large the cabin was, though Starlight noted that the fireplace wasn't currently lit. In fact, the area above the stone stove angled up and back to, apparently, capture the smoke and guide it up the chimney while allowing the fire to light the underside of a pair of burners, modeled after the gas burning stoves Starlight was familiar with.

The island in the middle of the kitchen appeared to have cabinets on all sides, and the counter seemed to have been formed from a smooth, solid block of some kind of dark slate. Another set of cabinets was suspended from the ceiling above the island, and a number of cast iron and bronze pots, pans, and skillets hung from hooks on it's underside. The wall next to where she was standing had a set of deep shelves that were covered by some kind of clay jars that, from a cursory glance, had clay lids sealed on with some kind of wax. A second shelf had assortments of clay bowls filled with various powdered spices and herbs, and wicker baskets with fresh produce of some kind. A set of stairs in the corner led down, presumably, into the cellar, while above them a second set led up to the second floor.

'This is... cosy,' she thought to herself, 'if a little too rustic for my tastes.'

Henry stood at the central island with a large, sharp knife in his hand, making slices from some kind of small cheese wheel. From where she stood, it looked and smelled like a particularly sharp cheddar, which was one of her favorites.

"I'm almost done, Starlight," he told her without looking up as he deftly cut the cheese into a pair of perfect slices.

"What're you making?" she asked.

"For you, I'm making a cheddar, tomato, cucumber, and fresh spinach leaf sandwich with a little mayonaise and spiced olive oil and vinegar as dressing." He looked at her and winked. "I'm sure you'll approve."

"Sounds delicious!" She looked around the kitchen with a mild frown and asked, "Though, I don't suppose you have any daisies, do you?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied. "I can't eat daisies."

"Drat." She sniffed, and was only mildly disappointed that she couldn't smell his scent anymore. "What are you making yourself?" She asked.

"Same thing, but with {}salami{} on it."

"Uh... what's slammi?"

"Um... well, it's a form of preserved meat," he told her uncomfortably.

"Oh. Yeah, I'll pass," she replied, looking a little green.

"You know," he started to say as he folded the two halves of the sandwiches together and put them on a pair of clay plates, "you ponies are remarkably similar to a species we have back home."

"Oh? You have ponies there, too?"

"Er, not exactly," he demurred. "They most closely resemble the creatures your equinologists claim to be you ponies' earliest ancestors, the ostrohippicus, but taller and without your hoof magic."

"... you have big, dumb, cave ponies?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that," he waved a hand. "The creatures we have, we call them {}horses{} by the way, are mostly herbivorous, but are technically classified as opportunistic omnivores. It's not unheard of for a feral {}horse{} to scavenge off of recently dead animals, or to eat ground-nesting birds and their eggs. Can you ponies do the same?"

"Ick. Technically yes, and before the Unification, pegasi regularly ate fish, mostly because when they drain lakes and ponds for their cloud cities' water reserves, they'd inevitably suck up fish with it. And pretty much all ponies eat eggs in some form or another, mostly in baking," she explained. "But while we can technically eat meat, it's very uncommon except as certain rare delicacies, and even then it's usually fish, if anything."

"Hmm. Makes sense," Henry said. "Well, I make some pretty good meat products, so if you're ever curious..."

Starlight clenched her eyes shut and stuck out her tongue in disgust, causing Henry to trail off and chuckle at her disgust. He held the plate with her sandwich out to her.

"Here you go."

"Thanks," she said as she took it in her magic, "but I'm not sure how hungry I am after that."

This, of course, only caused him to chuckle once more.

"Here, I'll grab some more juice," he waved her back towards the porch, "I'll come out and eat with you in a second."

"Sure," Starlight responded before she walked back out to that incredibly comfortable woven wicker chair. 'I'll have to get me one of these,' she thought to herself as she hopped back on. Barely a minute later, Henry walked out with a clay pitcher, a second cup, and his plate with his sandwich on it. He refilled her cup, filled his own, and sat in another chair. Starlight took a bite out of her sandwich, blinked in surprise, and moaned in pleasure from the taste.

The creamy, tangy mayonnaise blended well with the olive oil and vinegar, producing a tangy and mildly sour flavor that was only made better by what she identified as oregano, basil, bay, and rosemary adding an herbal flavor to the sauce. The tomatos were also sour, but incredibly juicy, and their acidity was perfectly offset by the fresh, crisp cucumber. The sharp, flavorful cheddar and fluffy white bread brought the whole thing together into one of the most delicious sandwiches she'd ever had. 'Hay, it doesn't even need any daisy,' she thought to herself as she chewed.

The slightly sour and sweet fruit juice washed it down perfectly, and despite the heat of the day, a gentle breeze ruffled her fur and mane, while the shade of the porch kept her cool. In this perfect, round cushioned wicker chair, it was incredibly relaxing. 'It's easy to forget that we're in the middle of the Everfree,' she noted in contentment.

The two ate their sandwiches mostly in silence, enjoying the beautiful day. The birds were singing, the breeze was rustling the leaves, and the gentle burbling of the water running in the wooden aqueduct created a peaceful ambience that neither was eager to break. As Starlight's eyes wandered, she noted Henry's bow was leaned up against the railing around the porch, just next to the steps. Noting the strange pulley system and the fact that the bow appeared to have three strings, she was curious about the device.

"Henry," she asked. "Why does your bow have those pulleys and multiple strings?"

Henry took a moment to finish chewing before washing it down with a gulp of juice.

"That's a compound bow," he started. "It's a refinement of bow technology, invented a number of decades ago. Granted, the compound bows I'm used to are made of different materials than wood, usually steel or {}carbon fiber{}, and sometimes aluminium."

"Um, what does it do?" she asked.

"It shoots arrows," he deadpanned. She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," she chided him.

"Well, the pulleys on the arms of the bow generate a mechanical advantage, allowing the user to use less force to keep the bow fully drawn. With stiffer arms than a usual bow and the mechanical action of the pulleys, it's able to sustain a higher accelleration over the full draw length compared to traditional bows, which has diminishing acceleration as the bow's arms relax," he explained. He even picked up the bow and showed her how it was drawn and held, highlighting the action of the pulleys. "This means that the arrow leaves the bow at a higher speed and with a higher force, allowing it to hit harder and fly farther than a traditional bow with a similar draw weight."

"Fascinating!" she marvelled. "I know the EUP Guard train with crossbows in addition to their spears sometimes. Do you think that this technology could be used to improve crossbows?"

"Definitely," he stated, "though if the Guard wants better long range weapons, mechanical propulsion isn't the best route."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Your guards already use rudimentary cannons. It's possible to make weapons that are, for all intents and purposes, very small cannons that could be fired by a single pony, much the same way that a crossbow is similar to a ballista."

"... that's... brilliant." Starlight blinked. "Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?"

"Likely because of the near millennia of peace Equestria has enjoyed; you haven't needed them."

"True enough. Still, if war does come to Equestria, I'd rather have the most technologically advanced weapons we have in the hooves of the guard than in the claws of our enemies."

"It's likely not something you'll have to worry about in your lifetime," he noted.

"Yeah... probably not."

"Still, it might be a good idea to present the idea to the guard so that working models could be slowly developed, just in case," he pointed out.

"Ah, a case of 'better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it'?"

"Exactly," he grinned at her.

"So, what other incredible inventions do you know about?"

"Oh, all kinds. Everything from basic {}transistors{}, which are a better version of vacuum tubes, to internal combustion engines, to heavier-than-air flying machines," he (slightly) bragged.

"Wait wait wait," Starlight interrupted, "you know how to make heavier-than-air flying machines?"

"Oh, come on, Starlight," he rolled his eyes, "A third of your population are heavier than air flying creatures. You can't possibly tell me that you don't believe it's possible."

"Pegasi use magic to enable their flight," Starlight explained. "If you could get a pegasus into magical suppression shackles, they couldn't fly."

"They make themselves lighter with magic," he conceded, "but not lighter than air. They still get their lift from the aerodynamic shape of their wings."

"What about when they're gliding and not flapping down?" she challenged.

"Ugh, look, it's like this," he held a hand out to his side, his thumb towards her. "It's all about surface area," he explained. "As air is split by the wing, the air that travels along the top of the wing has a longer distance to travel than the air passing underneath. Because the air has farther to go on top, it expands, creating a lower air pressure above the wing than below the wing. The difference in air pressure-"

"Causes a net force upwards!" Starlight exclaimed in astonishment.

"Exactly!" Henry replied.

"How in the world did you figure that out?" she asked.

"Surprisingly, it's because my people didn't have any way to control weather, so we developed ways to predict it."

"What does predicting weather have to do with flight?" she questioned him.

"Well, you know what a barometer is, right?"

"Sure, it measures air pressure."

"Right," he acknowledged. "Humans noticed that low pressure zones tended to be warmer and high pressure zones tended to be colder, but we also noticed that high pressure zones tended to flow into low pressure zones. In other words, in nature things tend to equalize; high pressure flows into low pressure until both are equal. If you have a barrier in the way, like a wing or a steam piston, the higher pressure area pushes on the lower pressure area. With a specially shaped fixed wing, we can manipulate the flow of air to create a pressure differential."

"Ok, I get how studying air pressure could lead to flight, but what does high pressure zones and low pressure zones have to do with weather?"

"High pressure zones are usually cooler and drier, so when a low pressure zone meets a high pressure zone, the warm moist air mixes with the cool, dry air. Since cooler air can hold less evaporated water than warmer air, the extra water condenses into clouds and then falls as rain," he lectured. "If your pegasi weather teams studied how the weather of the Everfree works, you'd notice it works along these same lines; the wild storms that occasionally pour out of the Everfree are caused by cool, dry, high pressure air flowing out of the Everfree into the warmer, wetter air over Ponyville. The collision of these two zones produces lines of storms, and the larger the difference in heat and pressure between the two, the more powerful the storm."

Starlight was silent for a moment as she thought through the argument. She couldn't refute the principles states; after all, the pegasi had long-since established the Law of Thermodynamics.

"Is there anything you don't know?" she asked him while shaking her head.

"Well, I don't know a whole lot about magic," he laughed lightly, "but I do spend a fair bit of my free time reading," he motioned to the parlor, presumably to the bookshelves Starlight had seen in there earlier.

"I swear, it's practically criminal that you have to live out here," she said while shaking her head.

"Well, I'm glad that I have at least one pony who appreciates me," he half-smiled and half-grimaced.

"Oh, but what about Lyra and Bon Bon?" Starlight asked.

"Lyra just wants to get in my pants and Bon Bon's made it clear how much she doesn't want me around," he complained with a hint of bitterness. "Neither of them are particularly stimulating intellectuals, and they've long since gotten tired of my lectures."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me," Starlight said. "I enjoy learning new things, and a lot of your lectures are well articulated and well reasoned."

"Well, thanks. I appreciate the compliment," he replied. "Though, I have to ask, are you feeling any better?"

"Uh, what?" Starlight was confused by his apparent non-sequitur.

"The Aura," he explained.

"Oh, that." Starlight considered her own condition. She wasn't feeling particularly aroused anymore, and thank Celestia her mini-estrus was over. 'But you've gotta admit,' a part of her whispered in the back of her mind, 'he did look really good without his shirt on.'

"I think the worst is past me," she informed him as she desperately fought down a blush. Henry noted that she wasn't making eye contact with him anymore, but he assumed it was out of embarrassment over her previous actions.

"Well, in the future, if you decide to visit and I haven't had the chance to use the scent-suppressing soap, you can use the Mind Maximizer and the Breathing Bubble to negate the effects. Not entirely, mind you," he pointed out, "but enough that you should be able to function normally."

"I'll keep that in mind," she told him. That small, rebellious part of her, however, whispered temptations into her mind. 'You could teleport back here anytime you want,' it told her. 'You could get a whiff of that delectable scent any time you want. You know you loved the way it made you feel...'

"So!" Starlight said perhaps a touch too loudly as she tried to ignore the voice. "How about a tour of your... um, cabin?"

"Alright," Henry said before he stood up. "I know it's not much, but I built it all by hand, so I'm kinda proud of it."

Starlight followed along, the dirty dishes held in her magic, listening to Henry explain exactly how he had built his home.

Meanwhile, Twilight cast a spell on the Cutie Map, which had been zoomed in to show the Everfree Forest. A bright purple spark of magic floated over the map and gently came to rest just a few miles north of the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

'Perfect,' she thought to herself. 'Starlight hasn't moved from that general area in over an hour. That must be where her human friend lives.'

She leaned back on her hind legs and clopped her forehooves together in excitement. 'I knew it was a good idea to put a tracking spell on Starlight's saddlebags!' she thought to herself in excitement.

"Spike! Spike!? Spiiiiike!" she called out.

"Coming, Twilight," she heard her number one assistant call out from down the hall. Twilight waited impatiently for him to get to her, once more casting the tracking spell just to confirm the location.

"I'm here, Twilight," Spike panted as he jogged into the throne room. "What d'ya need?"

"Spike, take a letter!" she ordered him as she floated a scroll, quill, and inkwell over to him. Spike grabbed the floating objects and quickly got ready. It was just like old times.

"Ready!" he called out.

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight dictated. "After our failure to find Starlight's guest last night, I asked Starlight if she knew where he lived so that we could visit him in person. Starlight admitted that she wasn't aware of the exact location of his domicile, only that it was somewhere in the Everfree Forest, but she claimed she knew somepony who had been there before. When I insisted on travelling there myself, Starlight rebuffed me and said she would go alone to gauge his reaction. I was unsatisfied with that plan, so I covertly placed a tracking spell on her saddlebags. That tracking spell has allowed me to pinpoint exactly where her guest likely resides, and furthermore, it can be used as a teleportation beacon. I believe that now is an excellent time to offer our apologies in person. If you wish to accompany me, you can teleport to my castle and we can go together. If you'd rather not, please send word through Spike, and I'll go alone. Your faithful student and friend, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight paused for a moment as Spike finished furiously writing the letter. "... Twilight... Sparkle. All done!" he said proudly.

"Good," Twilight congratulated him. "Go ahead and send it, please."

Spike held the letter aloft and breathed his special dragon fire on it. The cloud of smoke and ash quickly flew out the door and down the hall, on it's way to the Princess.

"And that's that," Twilight muttered to herself, grinning slightly neurotically. "Spike, let me know the instant you get a reply, ok?"

"Sure thing, Twilight."

'I am a good pony,' Twilight thought to herself. 'I am the Princess of Friendship. I'll make him see what a good friend I can be, I promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!'

Pinkie Pie paused in the middle of mixing up a cake. She paused. Her eyebrow twitched, her hooves pinched, and her nose itched.

"Uh oh," she said with some worry. "Somepony made a Pinky Promise they shouldn't have!"

"What was that, Pinkie, dear?" Mrs. Cake called from the front.

"Nothing!" she replied as she went backed to mixing the batter.