The majority of Ponyville's population was absent during Linen's approach to the town hall. Stalls were left unattended, and the only sight around was that of buildings and shrubbery, with naught a pony in sight, at least until a familiar face showed up, sauntering around a barren corner and taking notice of him.

"Hello, Linen, how are you today?" Davenport asked, giving a curious glance at Colgate beside him. "...I didn't realize you knew Miss Colgate. Miss Sparkle on the other hand... what are you both doing with Linen?"

"We've, uh... met before," Colgate awkwardly said, averting his eyes. "When he first showed up to town."

"Oh, really?" he asked. "When was th—"

"Estrus season, Davenport," Linen said. "I moved to town before my job was set to begin, and I..."

Davenport's expression grew concerned, as his jaws acted otherwise, dropping in disbelief. "Oh, Celestia, I hadn't... if you told me you were going to move earlier, I could have warned you, Linen...! Then you... and her... with her... the whole town?!" His eyebrows shot up in full realization. "That's why I haven't seen a single mare on the street! You—they—all of them?!"

Linen nodded and stared at the ground. "Yeah... that's what happened."

Davenport shook his head violently for several seconds before collecting himself and straightening out his mane. "Sweet Celestia of Equestria, colt! We should count ourselves lucky that Pinkie had enough foresight to crank out the stuff that she did," Davenport said, giving a shifty look at the two mares. "Most stallions knew about that thing she was handing out... though I'm not sure if any of you can attest to its usage. I just hope you both took it when the time came around."

"It's okay, Davenport, I did... I know that I did, and I know Colgate did, too," Twilight said, sighing herself before relaxing her tense shoulders. "Every mare did, I hope. I need to talk to Pinkie later on what exactly makes the cupcakes work."

"I doubt she'll reveal her secrets, but good luck." Davenport crinkled his nose and looked around, giving a low grumble to himself when the only thing that greeted him was a small breeze that shook the bushes at the sides of the street. "Seeing as there's nopony around... I suppose you were on your way to look for them?"

"Yeah, they're all at town hall," Linen said. "Do the... uh, the other stallions know about this?"

"I sure hope to Tartarus they don't," Davenport replied. "I think some of them might just end up moving out of town, and that isn't going to help problems at all. Rather, it'd probably make it worse when next estrus season comes around and all the mares remember that there's less stallions in this town than the last season."

"How will that change anything that we do?" Colgate asked. "It's not like stallions stick around during that time, anyway."

"It's probably going to be a niggling thought sitting at the back of your mind. Oh, you say you won't care about it now, but I'm pretty sure you'll all be cursing at that little fact when the time rolls around. It's a good thing we guys never stick around long enough to see you all go crazy with estrus fever," he said, chortling lowly.

"Oh... um... Davenport..." Linen said.

"Yes, Linen?"

"I'm going to have to ask for a few months off..."

"I take it you're leaving town for a bit?" Linen nodded, and Davenport sagely nodded himself. "I see. Probably a good idea to just distance yourself from things for a moment. Get back to the folks, try to forget all this mess. Or maybe see a therapist, if that'll help. For both your recent issues, and for your anxiety, though I think that's less of a problem now since you seem to be comfortable in the presence of Miss Colgate."

"Well..." he said, blushing slightly. "She's a very nice mare..."

"That she is, I can see," Davenport said. "Well, since I've had this mess explained to me already, I think I'll just leave you both to... well, whatever it is you were doing and head back to the store. I'll see you three later, and, Linen... if you need to talk, you're always welcome in my home."

Linen smiled at him. "I'll remember that. Thank you for everything, Davenport."

"Aw, shucks, no need to flatter me. I hope things turn out well for you. In any case, I'll have to get back to mending all those repairs myself. Hope my fixing skills aren't too shabby..." Davenport mumbled, trotting off past them, before Linen and Colgate continued forward to the town hall.

"Alright, is that the last one?" Silk asked. Mayor Mare nodded, checking off the last name on her list before looking at the congregation of mares sorted before them. "Great! Now all that's left is to—"

"We're here!" Twilight shouted, entering the atrium ahead of Linen and Colgate as the crowd of mares parted to make way for them. They made their way through in silence to the stage at the end of the room, where Silk Weave and Mayor Mare awaited them.

"Hello, Linen," Silk said, smiling at her little brother as they trotted up the steps. "I..." she continued shakily, looking out at the crowd of mares whose eyes were all upon them now. "Can you handle this?"

Linen breath escaped him for a moment, and it took a minute before he managed to come to his senses as Mayor Mare began her speech detailing why they were all gathered in the town hall. "I... I think I'll be fine. I hope," he said. Colgate brushed up against him, putting a hoof on his shoulder as Twilight came up to him.

"Um, is this such a good idea?" she asked. "There are so many mares here, and..." she trailed off, nodding pointedly over her shoulder.

"We were just talking about that, Twilight," Silk said. "He says he'll be fine, or so he hopes. I hope so, too."

"Are you sure? I mean... maybe you can just accept the letter of apology and we can leave it at that. If it gets too uncomfortable to Linen, then we can just revert to that plan instead. Okay?" Twilight gently smiled at him, awaiting an answer.

"That's fine..." Linen said. "If it gets too... stifling up there, then you can step in."

"Alright, then," Twilight said, stepping aside and clearing his view right as Mayor Mare finished.

"...and with that, my good mares, it is in my hope that Linen Spool will accept our letter of apology and mend our relationship in our cozy little town." Mayor Mare walked up to the podium, deftly wrapping up the letter's extensive length of signatures and heartfelt apologies, taking several minutes as she nonchalantly hummed to herself. The rest of the mares continued to converse in low tones, occasionally throwing their glances onto the stallion standing on stage.

Rainbow Dash, hovering above the crowd on watch duty, floated down to Linen. She landed on the stage and rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Hey, there, Linen..."

"Is something wrong, Miss Dash?" Silk answered for him, sternness in her voice clearly present.

"No! Uh, nothing's wrong, I just want to... well... I just wanted to... let some things out. I feel bad about what happened, and I know we're past that, but I feel like I need to repeat it again. I'm really sorry about what happened, and how I acted, and that's totally not how I usually act. Estrus is... it does things to a mare, and I'm really sorry you had to see that. I don't expect you to accept my apology, a-and it's fine if you don't, I can understand that. I just hope we can still be... well, friends."

Silk arched a brow and looked to Linen, who merely nodded. "There you have it," Silk said. "Though I can see why this whole town seems to be short on stallions. There are some fine mares in this town, yourself notwithstanding, Miss Dash. Perhaps a little too fine."

Dash blushed. "You... really mean that?" She nervously pawed the ground. "Usually I'm told I'm really tomcoltish, or something like that..."

She smirked. "Honey, with the way every mare struts their stuff in this town, it's like you're all on estrus every day underneath those normal faces you walk around with, I'd say. Understandable, given the ratios, but you all do sort of give off a vibe that you'd eat up any hapless stallion that ends up here at the wrong time. Which I see has already happened, much to my chagrin."

"It's okay, Dash," Linen said. "I already consider you my friend. And I appreciate that you're all taking the time to fix things... usually ponies in Canterlot aren't so quick to try to do things like that..."

"The truth," Twilight interjected. "Usually ponies in Canterlot are a bit... snobby. You'd think Prince Blueblood would be the exception, but they're all mostly like that. And when they make mistakes, they usually try to cover them up instead of fixing the problems."

"Yes, unfortunately," Silk said. "Hence why I expected I'd have to drag every mare kicking and screaming all the way here to get an apology. And it turns out that I was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn't the case."

Mayor Mare cleared her throat, nudging Dash aside as she stepped forward with the tied scroll clutched in her teeth. Alleviating the mare of her charge, the magic began to glow with purple energy as Twilight brought it out of her mouth and presented it to Linen.

"Will you accept our apology, Linen Spool?" Twilight asked, smiling at him.

He paused. Looking out into the crowd of mares again, the words were caught in his throat; so many eyes, just staring at him, just waiting for him, to speak. In any other circumstance, he would have fainted, yet... he felt only a dull sinking feeling his chest. Enough to make him worry, but nowhere near as terrifying as it usually would have been.

"I... accept," he said, and Twilight floated it over to Silk Weave, who stuffed it into her saddlebags. "Th-thank you, everypony..."

"He accepted the apology!"

"We're really sorry!"

"Oh, praise Celestia, we've been absolved!"

"You're still a stud! Don't let life get you down, Linen!"

"Yeah! Get out there and see the world!"

"Come back soon, okay?! We really need more stallions in this town...!"

The hall bursted into cheers as the mares offered their words of encouragement for him, some pegasi even going so far as to coming onstage to give their own personal speeches. As far as he could deal with, however, the attention was hugely unprecedented, and Dash and Silk stepped in to stop him from being overwhelmed. Silk broke into another line of unruly expletives as she fought back the crowd, shocking even Dash in her brusqueness.

Linen felt the feeling of cloth being draped over his shoulders. He turned to see Rarity covering him with a magnificent cloak, in a color tone matching that of her mane. "For you to keep," she said, "since you're leaving Ponyville. I hope you like it."

He dragged a hoof across the cloak's fabric. "It's really well-made, Miss Rarity," he said, surprised at the hoofsmanship of the embroidery and attention to detail. "Have you ever considered moving to Canterlot? I'm sure you'd do really well there..."

"And leave my dearest friends here in Ponyville?" she said, smiling at him. "Believe me, I have considered such a thought many times, but I simply love being here in Ponyville. It's so rustic, so simple, and I feel that it does wonders for my inspiration, away from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot's fashionable elite. But thank you for thinking of my skill as such." She pecked him on the cheek. "Perhaps we should meet in Canterlot some day."

He smiled back. "I'll look forward to that."

Their heartfelt moment was interrupted with the shrieks of mares, all squealing at the sight of their intimate exchange.

"Did Rarity just kiss him on the cheek?!"

"No fair! I want to give him a kiss on the cheek!"

"How about we all give him a good-bye kiss on the cheek?"

"No, no!" Silk screamed. "That's enough! The letter was enough! Really, you don't have to—oh, for fuck's sake, Dash, stop wimping out! Haven't you ever done crowd control before?! Here, you keep a firm and steady barrier against a pony by pushing hard against their chest area. How about you try that?"

"How the hay do you even know that?!" Dash asked, taking her advice into account and pushing back the boisterous group of mares, who voiced their displeasure and rebounded by barreling themselves into their two-mare defense line even harder.

"I've done a controversial fashion show once or twice in my time!" she responded, quickly batting her hoof in to stop Carrot Top from bounding over the crowd. "Linen, now would be a good time for you to make your departure!"

"H-huh?! B-but where? I don't see any way out..." he asked, looking over around them to find that the group of mares had completely their enclosure around the stage. It was only with the effort of Applejack and Pinkie Pie that they were not blitzed from the sides.

"Teleport, Linen! You can teleport, remember?" Twilight said.

"Oh, right!" he exclaimed, charging up his horn before he looked at her. "Wait, where will I go?!"

"Just... go home!" She quickly closed the distance between them and whispered in his ear, "You need to pack your bags, don't you? Just go do that and we'll meet you at the train station later! We'll try to calm down the mares down! Now, go!"

He spoke no further, and clenched his eyes shut. Willing himself away from his current location, teleportation was made much easier if you already had a destination in mind...

"Linen?" Silk called out as she entered his home. Not a single thing was out of place, and the soft thumps of Linen's hoofsteps further within notified her of his presence. "Are you still packing?"

"I am, hold on a moment!" he called out from his bedroom. "I'm just bringing along some of my clothes!"

"Don't you want to bring along your tailoring materials? You could work while you're at home, you know..." she said, making her way down the hall, hooves clacking on the wood flooring. She entered his bedroom, just barely catching the sight of a most regal indigo cloak stored away in a luggage case. "I like the work Rarity did on that... perhaps I should work with her sometime. She certainly has the creative drive to bring something... ah, fresh to the table back home."

Linen closed the case, closing the brass locks with a clack. "Maybe you could work something out with her," he said. "She likes staying here in Ponyville, close to her friends, but still wants to make it big in the city."

"A compromise would work best, yes," Silk mulled over. "And she knows of me. And now, I know of her. It's such a shame that I had to end up meeting her through you, though..."

He chuckled. "It's a nice windfall now, though, isn't it?" His four filled cases were lifted off of the bed and floated out into the hallway as he followed them out. "I think I'm ready to go now, Silk."

"Aww, and I was just beginning to enjoy my little rampage in this town. I'm sure that I've left quite the lasting impression on all the mares in this town..." she said, smiling her devilish grin.

"Aren't you afraid that the tabloids will pick up on that?" he asked.

"Tsk-tsk, my sweet and naive little Linen..." she cooed, trotting past him and ruffling his mane slightly in the process. "It's good that you've never read any of those tabloids, have you? You should know that my reputation when I'm irritated is quite... volatile, and you've just witnessed just the barest sample of that."

"You... do this all the time?" Linen dropped his bags off by the door, shutting the red curtains on the entrance before following her into the living room. There he found her emulating his action, shutting the windows and closing the curtains before darting around the house to repeat the process.

"Oh, my, Linen, I hadn't realized you were so far out of the loop...!" she said, slamming a window shut in the kitchen. "I have at least one meltdown every fashion show, guaranteed. More if fools like Hoity Toity or Sapphire Shores are around, especially so for the latter. I hate that mare, always acting like the world revolves around her..."

"You've met a lot of famous ponies..." he said, awaiting her as she popped into the hall and rejoined him. "Are there any famous ponies that... you know, aren't as bad as the ones you just talked about?"

"Who, I wonder...?" she said. "Well, there's always the Wonderbolts. A group of hotshot pegasi in the media, but I've found them all to be quite down-to-earth and likable, as ironic as that sounds. Spitfire is the spitting image of athletic beauty, and every time I've worked with her, she's been fantastic. Do you have your house key?"

He floated it in front of her eyes. "Right here," he said. "Do... you think I might be able to come back sooner?"

"Knowing that our parents are going to find out about this?" she said, giving a sour laugh. "Most definitely not. But at least they'll be happy to have you back!"

He lowered his head. "So much for moving out..."

"Aw, don't be like that! You're just coming back with me to just get away from all this madness for a bit. We can visit all of your favorite places. You know, the quiet places... the gardens, the skybridge, maybe a visit to my studio so I can work and you can spend your time looking at all those pretty mares..."

He blushed and fervently shook his head. "I... I do not look at those mares! I just enjoy looking at all the amazing designs your team makes..."

"Hmm," she said, slyly grinning at him. "The old Linen wouldn't even have bothered responding to that, you know." She nearly bursted out laughing when he fumbled at attempting a response. "Oh, I was just joking, dear! Besides, I already know how attached you are to that Colgate mare... Don't worry, she'll still be here when you get back, okay? And then maybe you can both start dating... oh, my, the thought of her is already making me... hehe, angry..."

Linen blinked, barely catching the sight of several bulging veins under her locks. "Uh... I think... I'll be... okay... with Miss Colgate."

"Of course you will be!" she said cheerily, tilting her head and smiling widely at him. She chuckled awkwardly, slamming the door open with a flash of magic. "Now come on, let's head down to the train station! Shouldn't keep the rest of them waiting, right?"

"Sure..." he said. Silk cut him off as she clumped all the bags together into a floating mass of belongings and ushered it quickly out the door. He frowned, following her out and taking the time to close and lock the door to his home, and dropped the key into his saddlebag. This would be the last of his home that he would see for a while... and at the very least, he'd remembered to bring whatever perishable foods he had left in a bag.

"Linen, stop staring at the door and let's go!" Silk said. "It's not like the house is going to disappear anytime soon, and I've already spoken to Mayor Mare and dropped down your taxes for six months in advance!"

"You did what?" he said, descending his doorsteps and walked with her. "You paid for my taxes already?!"

"It's not like it's that much trouble for a mare like me, dear," she said, perusing his assortment of luggage. "I hope you brought along everything you needed? It would be a shame if you ended up returning the next day because you forgot something important..."

He gave her a dry look. "You know I don't pack much, Silk."

"I know, I know, I was just making sure. Seems like the only other thing you would pack would be all your cloth... though I have to say that those crimson curtains certainly look fantastic on your windows. It's nice to at least see that you haven't been spending all of your time behind them, hmm?"

They continued on the populated streets, receiving goodbyes from the mares that they passed until Silk's continued death glares forced them to go about their daily errands and pay them no mind. That routine was shortly broken as Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily managed to deliver their bouquet and utter their apologies before Silk chased them off, giggling as they went.

"Congratulations, Linen," Silk grumbled, shaking her head and throwing a look at a pair of passing mares. "I think you've made an admirer out of every single untaken mare in town. I should just fight them off using all this heavy luggage next time..."

"I'd... appreciate if you didn't do that," he said, unwilling to start another incident so soon. "Besides, we're almost at the train station. See?" He looked towards the plain building in the distance just right at the end of the street they were on. Standing on the platform was Twilight and her friends, but Colgate was absent. "Colgate isn't here?"

"She had other things to attend to," Silk said. "Ponies have to live their lives, too, you know. Hey, Twilight, catch!" Twilight's ears perked at the sound of Silk's voice, and she turned around.

"Who said my—" Her eyes widened as she panicked at the sight of luggage falling out of the skies, but quickly recovered and locked all the bags in the air, floating harmlessly just inches from her face. "Whew, that was close. Who threw that?!"

"Me, dear," Silk said, walking up the steps to the Ponyville Train Station and meeting her outside the entrance. "See, you've mastered twitch spell-casting, as expected of a mare who attended Canterlot's finest institutions as Princess Celestia's personal student. And you said you were getting rusty..."

"I didn't think I'd expect to get a pop quiz on it so randomly..." Twilight said. "So I guess this means the both of you are heading back to Canterlot now?"

Silk nodded. "I take it the rest of the mares have been calmed down?"

Twilight shrugged, exchanging glances with her friends. "I guess it turned out okay. There was a bit of complaining after everypony saw that Linen disappeared, but we convinced them to disperse after that. Everything should be fine now!" Dash coughed, earning an elbow in the side from Applejack; both of them had taken to laying it down straight to the other mares that their behavior was to stop.

"Colgate didn't show up, though!" Pinkie Pie said. "I asked her why, and she said it was because—" Rarity stuffed a hoof into her mouth.

"She had other things to attend to, yes," Rarity finished for her, shaking her head at the party pony.

"Oh, yeah! Right..." Pinkie Pie pulled out a small pink box and placed it atop one of the floating bags. "A baker's dozen of cupcakes for you two to enjoy on your trip back to Canterlot!"

"Thanks, Pinkie!" Silk said. "You can sure work your magic with those cupcakes, hmm? Mind telling me how you do it...?"

"A magician never tells her secrets," she said, pretending to zip her lips shut with a hoof.

Silk and Linen passed through the ticket room and onto the platform where the train awaited them. "I guess this is where we part ways. I thank you for all the help you've given us, all of you," Silk said. "And I am grateful that you at least endeavored to own up to the... well, I suppose the broadest term for this would be a mistake. I hope that you, and the entire town, will keep the lessons learned within the past few days in mind. And if that isn't enough to reinforce the point, I will let you all know one thing: I know where you live. So, have a nice day!"

She turned and entered the traincar, leaving Linen alone with the mares.

"Your sister is a... uh..." Dash said. "She likes making her points, doesn't she?"

"Oh, don't blame her for it..." he said. "She's always been very protective of me, and she thinks well of all you girls, too." He went around and hugged each of them. "Thank you for helping me deal with this... I'm not sure how I could have gone on if I had just let it sit, but I... didn't want to end up ruining any of my relationships here."

"Now that's just silly talk, sugarcube," Applejack said. "If you ever have a problem, don't hesitate to ask any of us for help. Shoot, if I'd known you were that shy, I would have done what your sister did and dragged every mare to town hall myself if she didn't show up first."

"Thank you, it's nice to know that..." They stood in silence for a minute, until Silk piped back in.

"Linen! The train isn't going to wait forever!" she said, peeking her head out of their booth's window. "What are you all just standing here for? Enjoying an intimate awkward moment before we have to leave?"

"Uh, no!" Twilight said, quickly shooing him onto the train. "No awkwardness here, see!" She hugged Linen again and let the doors close as the train began to toot its horn in preparation for departure. "I hope things turn out well for you, Linen."

"Thanks, uh... I hope so, too."

"Wait, wait!" Rarity said. "What about my cloak? You packed my cloak, right?"

"Of course I did, Miss Rarity! I hope you enjoyed the cloth I gave you! Maybe I can see about bringing back some more when I return!" Linen said. In Canterlot, he would easily have the means to create a whole roll or more for her, though news that pristine velvet was back on the market would cause quite a stir...

"I'd really love that, darling!" she said, as the conductor appeared behind Linen, sticking a hoof over his shoulder and closing the door before trotting down the rest of the train. The car began to move slowly as the train began to leave Ponyville. "Stay safe, and be well, Linen! Farewell!"

They all waved to each other, neither willing to stop until they'd disappeared from each other's sights. Linen sighed afterwards, joining his sister in their booth and staring out the window at the passing landscape. "You know... that went... better... than I expected."

"I share your sentiments, Linen," Silk said casually, flipping through a pile of fashion magazines next to her seat. "Though I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be happy to slap a filly or two. Oh, there's something else." She dug around her own saddlebags and fished out a plain blue envelope. "Here, for you."

"Huh?" He floated it over to himself and read the single line written on the front: To Linen. "Who was this from?"

"Miss Colgate, of course. She asked for me to give it to you, so you could read it at your leisure." She flipped through another page and snorting at the sight of a model clad in garish red robes. "Fashion these days..." she muttered, taking a bite out of one of Pinkie's cupcakes.

Linen ignored here, merely staring at the envelope in his hooves. He flipped it around, looking at the colors of the envelope before taking a deep breath and breaking the seal on the back with his magic. Slipping out the paper and unfolding it, he saw that it was hoof-written, definitely magic assisted given the cleanness of the text and style. And again, the first thing he saw was his name at the beginning of the letter.

Dear Linen...

Author's Note

So... there you have it, the end of this story of mine.

To be honest, I had originally intended the concept of this to revolve around Linen receiving some sort of treatment for dealing with his trauma following the incident, but decided to delve off into that and simply having the olive branch extended by Twilight and her friends, and from there, the rest of the town.

Estrus was to be portrayed as something that was commonplace, since there was a biological and historical connotation to the act that made it so that the committal of something like forced intercourse was something to be expected, instead of shunned. Modern pony society has advanced beyond that, to a point, but the biological deed still remained, and that was where I got the basis for the story.

Perhaps this story didn't live up to the potential—oh, what am I saying? Of course it didn't— but I feel it's long since run its course; the main character was a moderate flop, I was winging the entire story, the sex seemed like a tasteless plot device, this ending was an attempt to end the story on a good note somehow—the works. The tie-in sequel may or may not touch off on the original happenings, but in the case where it does, it'll most likely be a light reference or two, nothing going into what explicitly happened in this story. The one thing that will be mentioned in the sequel will be the contents of the letter. I ended it here for a reason.

Also, Trixie was supposed to make an appearance, too, as Linen's therapist, but that fell to the wayside along with the original concept.