As Twilight continued to immerse herself in an erotic fanfic, Cerb was being escorted out in town by his future armored protege.

"Thanks again for walking with me on your downtime."

Thunder Glide made a quick adjustment to her armor she had hastily thrown on.

"It's not a problem. The Solar Guard always answers when called."

"Spoken like a true Lioness," Cerb complimented.

Unexpectedly, Thunder blushed just outside of Cerb's view.

"Do you really mean that…. sir?"

"Nah-Nah-Nah." Cerb waved her off with a rather carefree tone. "None of that sir stuff. We're not in the field, and I’m not an officer. But yes, I meant it. You all fought hard out there and certainly answered the call. I'm proud to know someone as dedicated and brave as the lot of you. You really showed me the warrior spirit out there… Also, kinda glad I didn't go toe to toooh… toe to hoof with you before I went up against Helix. Not with a weapon, at least."

"Is that really a cultural thing for you?" Thunder asked curiously. "Not the Lioness titles, not hitting a woman, I mean?"

Cerb gave Thunder a look to see if she was serious. Clearly, she was, so she deserved a proper explanation.

"Yes… if a guy hits a girl where I come from, they're branded a coward and weak. Even a slap is unacceptable. And I have beat the shit out of more than a few guys who were dumb enough to either do it in front of me or to someone I knew."

Thunder didn't comment on his answer right away. She seemed to struggle to try and take it in exactly what such a response implied.

"Are females weaker than the males of your kind?”

Cerb grunted in an unrestrained fit of frustration at the inquiry.

“Gah, I hate that question, but yes and no. Because—“ He drew a deep breath and made air quotes “—technically, women can do everything a man can do. And to be fair, I’ve seen plenty of women take down guys bigger than them. But at the same time, for our race, they’re the exception, not the rule. If you compare the average woman to the average guy, over ninety percent of the time, the guy will be bigger, stronger, and tougher than the female. Just look at all of us guys compared to Kelly and Becky."

"Oh," Thunder answered with some surprise. "I guess it's different for us. All Earth ponies are physically stronger than the other tribes, us pegasi are generally faster, can fly, and control the weather, while unicorns have their magic. We tend to compare each other by race instead of gender. Most of the time, at least. Stallions do tend to have it easier, though."

For all Cerb had seen, that wasn’t the vibe he was getting.

"Really? Isn't everything run by the women here? I mean, I think Onyx out-ranking you is the first time I’ve seen a guy in a higher position of authority than a female.”

Knowing that was only one of the very few examples, Thunder sighed, still harboring some harsh feelings on the matter.

“Onyx is only a captain, one of the very few male officers. Make no mistake, though: mares make up the highest ranks by far. But… there’s so few stallions everywhere you go that mares seem to give them an easier time. Lots of mares take it so easy on stallions that many of them start to become arrogant and act like they’re better than the mares. Like they don’t know how much easier they have it.”

“Yeah,” Cerb sadly agreed. “We have the same problem with females in the military sometimes. Acting like the rules don’t apply to them or that others should do their work for them. Not all of them, lots of good female marines… I dunno. It’s not really fair to point that out when there’s so many male dirtbag marines at the same time. But there are lower standards females have to meet compared to the males."

He softened his expression and looked at Thunder again. "And if you’re worried that I’m going to look down on you like that, don’t. As far as I can tell, there isn’t much difference between the genders or races. Y’all seem to pull your weight and step up equally. And as far as the sparring goes, I’m worried I’ll end up hurting the stallions too.”

That brought up another point Thunder wanted to address, though it was a bit humorous the more she thought about it.

“You held back against Onyx and Helix, didn’t you?” She said it as more of a statement than posing it as a question.

Cerb grinned, knowing he was caught.

“Of course I did. Hurting any of you guards would have looked terrible on my part. How dangerous would I have to look until they decided that I couldn’t be trusted to be around Fluttershy? Or if I ended up really hurting one of you on accident, none of you would have trusted me or wanted to help. That and at least with Helix at first, I like you guys. Why would I want to hurt you?”

On hearing such a frightening thought, if not an almost hilarious disparity of strength and skill between the two, Thunder huffed out a laugh.

“You’re a good stallion, Cerb. I look forward to training with you.”

Happy to have seemingly settled the matter, Thunder finally noticed the restaurant Cerb was steering them towards. “And what are we doing here?"

Cerb made a turn into Grapes and Olives, prompting another question from the guard. "Didn't we just eat?”

Opening the door for them, Italian Stallion greeted the pair.

“Good morning, and Mr. Husk, welcome back. Here for an early lunch? And by the way, thank you for the invite this evening. I’ll be sure to attend.”

With other plans in mind, Cerb pointed towards the bar.

“Glad to hear it, bud, but I’m here to follow up with Top Shelf and… actually. What's your policy for reservations?”

[Back at the Apple Farm.]

Lumberman pulled up in his truck to his construction crew already hard at work, of which they all immediately stopped.

“Morning guys,” Lumberman casually greeted them as he exited the vehicle. “Wasn’t sure if I'd see you all here.“ He leaned over to whisper to Applejack. “Hey, you want me to send ‘em off?”

For a moment, Applejack considered the offer but made her decision with little thought behind it.

“I’m a mess, Woody. Can I be a terrible hostess and rest up so we can go out tonight? Since all our friends want us there… I just wanna lay in mah bed fer a while.”

Figuring that’s what she wanted to begin with, Lumberman gently stroked her neck.

“Yeah, I'll let the guys know they can stop, and I'll bring ya in."

"Just take me in," Applejack instructed, no shame or enthusiasm in her voice. "The whole darn town heard me wailing. I don't want to wait any longer and don't rightly care if they see me. I got you here… ain't no pony gonna say or do nothing I need to worry 'bout."

As the crew drew closer to welcome Lumberman back, he stepped out of the truck and started to make his way over to the passenger side.

"I really appreciate you guys coming in, but if ya could, would y'all mind wrapping it up for the day? We're gonna need the house quiet for a while."

The crew stopped and stared at Lumberman entering the passenger side. He was fiddling with something and appeared to be talking to himself. Then he emerged with Applejack in his arms, resting over his shoulder, bandages still visible on her hooves.

"I'm sure you all heard Applejack yesterday," Lumberman told the stallions. "She's fine, just a little sore and tired from the meds. We'll pick up again here soon. But… a little peace and quiet is all she needs right now."

One of the crew members nodded, offering no complaints.

"We heard—" He fell short of finding the courage to use the right word to identify her screams, quickly deciding to start over. "We all found our way over here to see if there was anything we could do. Since nopony was here, we thought the least we could do was get back to work. The wall is patched up, but we'll be back when you need us."

One by one, the crew walked back to town, giving their best wishes as they passed by.

A soft glance of thanks and a few words of appreciation exchanged from Applejack and Lumberman were given in turn. Then, not long after the final farewell, one overdue wish was granted… Applejack was finally back in her own bed.

"How’re you holding up there, Apple Hat?" Lumberman asked as he set her iconic stetson down. "Anything you want me to get for ya?"

Applejack laid motionless atop her bed sheet, still hurting and her mind whirling with all the excitement of being alone with Lumberman again. However, there was the disappointment of being so immobile, not to mention the pain that was slowly returning with more potency than a mild ache.

"I'll be fine so long as ya don't run off and leave me all by myself."

Lumberman sat on the bed next to Applejack but faced himself away from her.

"Hey, uh… I know this might be kind of a weird time to do it, but… I apologize for how I first reacted towards you and the rest of your friends when we first met."

Applejack slowly rolled herself over to face Lumberman and was abruptly taken aback by his posture, facing away from her, sulking as if he were ashamed of something.

"Woody? You ain't done nothing worth apologizing for. And if ya did, you sure as sunshine have gone and made up for by—"

A sudden thought hit her of what if all his kindness was an apology all in and of itself. "Just what are you try 'n to apologize for anyhow?"

"Prejudice," Lumberman sadly answered. "I might not have been spiteful or made some judgment of racial superiority, but I did discriminate."

A failed attempt to reach out to lay a hoof on Lumberman's back left Applejack feeling uneasy.

"Whattdya mean by discriminate? I ain't seen ya do nuthing discriminatory."

Despite her efforts, Lumberman kept his back to her and started to explain himself.

"When I… When we first got here, we were confused and just wanted to go home. We half expected some simple solution to get us home and be done with this, but let's be real… Benny probably killed the one that could send us home, and now there's probably no way of getting back."

Applejack lay there, still confused at the sudden change of conversation.

"I'm not following."

Lumberman raised his voice, angry at himself.

"Take a look around Apples… Half of my friends are probably already hooking up with one of your friends or another, and I was against it… Like there was something wrong with them if they were going to, but I was wrong. Cus if I did, I would be treating you like animals, but yer not. And I knew that from early on… I just had a problem accepting it."

He finally turned to look at Applejack with an apologetic smile - "It just took a little more honesty in my life to come to terms with it."

Letting off a brief chuckle at the somewhat cheesy line, Applejack smiled back sweetly, her hopes for a promising future with Lumberman growing.

“Ya got nothing to apologize for, Woody. Y’all had good reasons fer thinking what ya did. And as fer getten ya back home? I don’t know what to tell ya. I don’t understand magic much or if it’s a lost cause. What I do know, is yer an Apple now. We’ll take care uh ya. Through thick and thin, I’ll always be here for ya. Even if ya have to lug by bomb-ass around for it.”

Lumberman chuckled and laid his hand over Applejack’s head, running his fingers through her mane.

“I feel like the family I brought here is slowly moving on to bigger and better things now that it’s not just us taking care of each other. So, I figure I might as well follow their lead and see where life as an Apple leads me… if you don’t mind the company.”

Just tickled with Lumberman’s acceptance, Applejack snorted out a laugh as she leaned into his hand.

“Woody, just move in already. Ya might be fighting Kelly for the spare room, because if yer right about yer friends hooking up with everypony else, pretty sure Big Mac and her have grown rather sweet on each other.”

“Yeah,” Lumberman agreed as he swung his body over to lay next to Applejack. “That was a dead giveaway. I just hope he can handle her. She’s a wild one.”

Applejack turned and let Lumberman cuddle up to her, her previous pain seemingly having faded somewhat.

"You’ve come a long way since wandering off in the dark and scary pony woods, Woody."

"Come a long way since the bathtub," Lumberman joked in response.

Applejack laughed, plenty of humor mixed in with those more than pleasant memories.

"Sure have. Not that it was such a bad time getting to know ya better, all things considered."

It was then, thinking back to that night and what really started Applejack's interest in Lumberman, something stood out in her time with him.

[The night Kelly was stabbed when Lumberman was bathing Applejack.]

Lumberman was having a bad reaction to being asked to wash Applejack’s backside. Too many lines that should never be crossed were suddenly a proverbial tangled mess in front of him.

"I thought you said you didn't want me poking and prodding in places I didn't belong?"

Applejack sat up abruptly, blushing brightly, too tired, too weak to do it herself, and too impatient to have some other pony come and take over.

"I'm not asking you to go exploring under my tail, or fixing to have you rut me. You said you'd help me wash up. And... I don't want to touch Kelly's blood any more than I have to. So just please... wash it out for me."

[Back in Applejack’s room.]

Did she forget that she was worried about him touching her most sensitive areas that night? Even more confusingly, she even used the word rut? But how? She had no memory of the word until that night.

Was it possible that she was wanting sex even as early as back then but didn’t know enough to understand it? Did her desires calm down, waiting for him to come around? Was there a connection at all to that night and her current state of confusion on remembering the world to an act she was ignorant to?

It was amid this confusing storm of questions that Applejack felt she had to say something.

"Woody?'

"Yeah? You need something?" Lumberman asked.

So many questions… so tired… so sore… so… glad to have Lumberman back in her bed taking care of her. It could wait.

"Can you give me a bit of a rub down till we fall asleep? I'd rather not be the downer that falls asleep at the party tonight."

"I was waiting for you to say that," Lumberman happily answered.

[Over at the newly established S.M.I.L.E. Hidequarters.]

Knock-Knock-Knock, came the gentle tapping on Bon Bon's front door.

"Can you get that Lyra?" Bon Bon asked, still half asleep in her bed. "Lyra?"

Downstairs, the sound of the door opening snapped Bon Bon awake, fearing an intruder.

"Sniff!" Lyra's voice excitedly called out from downstairs, starting a conversation Bon Bon couldn't make out, except for Lyra’s response. "I got my work done early this morning. Of course, I'm free! Let's go!"

After the door latched shut downstairs, Bon Bon tried to put together what their status was. They were supposed to review their findings and prepare their reports together.

True, plans do change, and Sniff had showed up to take Lyra somewhere, so she was doing her job. But she was a rookie. She didn't know the ins and outs of this gig, nor how to fight if Sniff got hostile. All she got were some introductory training manuals they went over. These humans were new and needed a seasoned agent… but Bon Bon herself lacked the social skills to get close to them. Lyra's carefree nature made her the best candidate.

“Well, time to get this day started,” Bon Bon grumbled to herself, knowing there was little chance of her going back to sleep.

She got herself ready: mane fixed, coat brushed, mouth washed. It was her usual morning procedure, and then she made her way downstairs to an empty kitchen, minus a half-eaten bowl of oatmeal left next to the sink.

Another quick look around the room didn't reveal any paperwork.

"Okay, Lyra. Let's see just how much work you did get done this morning."

She tapped the side of a wall-mounted cabinet, triggering a secret compartment to open with their collection of documents. Inside, sitting on top of a collection of x-rays, was Lyra's first official report.

Bon Bon wasted no time opening it to start her review. Inside was a surprising wealth of information. Physical characteristics, times, locations, known and suspected associates in town, most likely food preferences, and…"

"Euphoric-like sensations upon physical contact when providing therapeutic massages with noticeable improvement to mental state and positive emotional well-being over prolonged periods of time?" Bon Bon read aloud.

"Target Sniff, in addition to his natural scent of clovers being quite pleasant, it may also provide a calming effect in low doses, or hyper states of joy and harmony in stronger doses! Additional research may be required as outside influences have been noted to remove any improvements acquired after exposure. Target also appears to be unaware of effects and has shown considerable doubt and confusion to even limited known effects of his influence?"

She flipped through the pages to see much of the same had been recorded on the other targets. After a second look, she could see many of the same topics recorded for Sniff, were marked 'NTR: Pending Investigation.' At least she left a kudos for Bon Bon at the bottom.

Cerberus mission planning report:

Observation:
Not recorded.

Status:
Not complete.

Reason:
Agent Golden Mentha was made unavailable, procuring essential items required for said mission by request of target Cerberus and F.R.O.W.N. member Kindness.

Resolution:
Report for the mission planning presented by target Cerberus will be compiled by Agent Sweetie Drops. Agent Drops has already provided a briefing for Agent Mentha, and has an eyewitness account of the mission/exercise conducted, and was able to review reports provided during the exercise. Agent Drops’s expertise in deception and corporate spying has proven fruitful in understanding target Cerberus and target Benny’s military capabilities. Additionally, her seasoned knowledge would dictate she is best suited to cover these attributes.

I will be deferring to her to provide the most accurate and informative report regarding this matter.

Like biting into a foal's first attempt at making a dessert that looked like a biohazard but tasting like a gift of the gods, Bon Bon was beside herself.

"She's… good at this? How did she get so good so fast?"

She put the report down and grabbed her own paper to go over. When she opened it, she noticed a pink envelope with balloon stickers and a sticky note over it.

I'll save you the trouble of opening it and cleaning up the confetti. We're invited to a post-war party at the human embassy tonight at 8 PM. I’ll be back early so we can go together.

Lyra.

“Yeah, that’s just what I would have needed. I swear, no matter how much I clean, I just keep finding that stuff all over the place.“ She set the envelope aside. “At least she hasn’t cut me off entirely. Now I just need to get my work done.”

[Just outside Oven Fresh’s bakery.]

Oven Fresh locked the door behind her with the “Out to Lunch” sign flipped in the window. This wasn’t something she did often, but she was going to a party tonight and needed to look her best for Sniff. That meant she needed something new to wear.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see how good I look in this. Maybe if I play my cards right and shake my rump, I can get more than one finger tonight. Gah!“ She blurted out in excitement but remembered she was in public, then tried to calm herself. “I need to be more careful thinking about that. But… oooh. He only let me cum once.”

She continued trotting through the mostly empty streets, not able to hide her enthused smile as she continued to think about how amazing her new life with Sniff was. Though, she still had to acknowledge some of the shortcomings as well.

“We had plenty of time for at least one more. Or at least he could have let me do something for him.”

She took a moment to ponder another mare’s situation with him. “I wonder if he’ll end up doing anything with Twilight? Poor girl is so into him, and after all she’s been through, she deserves at least… well, at least what I’m enjoying.”

As she continued through town to Rarity’s boutique, she revisited her previous thoughts. Dating Sniff but not really being his special somepony was an odd venture to explore. She thought he was the one for her, or at least he could have been if not for the issue with their incompatible genetics and the uncertainty of him eventually leaving Equestria. It was a depressing thought knowing they probably weren’t going to be sharing forever together, yet there was still so much freedom with exploring what he had to offer without consequence.

In some ways, it made the idea of sharing him with other mares seem rewarding. Let him have an avenue to enjoy himself if she could barely keep up with his hands. Then again, he was too big to take her, so it’s likely no other mare would be any different if he really wanted to rut.

The thought only served to frustrate her as she wondered if there was something she could do for him. Not that she didn't get a thrill out of watching him pleasure himself with his own hand. However, it would have been hard to do anything at that angle while she was struggling to keep enough composure to beg him not to stop as he continued to make her climax.

Maybe he just needed a little more encouragement? A little push in the right direction. Preferably any direction that would have him on top of her or between her—

The bell chimed to Rarity's shop, spooking Ovens out of her fantasies as soon as she stepped in.

"Hello? Rarity?"

"Oven Fresh!" Rarity greeted as she walked with an unusually large garb, too large for a pony or a human. "Darling… you are going to love what I made for you."

"You finished my outfit, I take it?" Oven Fresh asked, looking eager for the answer. "I got an invite for a post-war party tonight and really want to wear it there. I think Peter is going to love it."

Given the many revelations in the Everfree Forest, Rarity had no doubt. Although, given Twilight's announcements, new questions grew.

"I'm sure he will, although… is it really true that humans and ponies can't procreate together?"

Oven Fresh blushed, not expecting to have those thoughts enter another pony's mind. However, it also served to remind her of her previous concerns regarding a relationship with Sniff.

"Oh… So, Twilight already told you all? Well, no point denying it."

She had to assume Twilight must have let it be known that she intended to date Sniff as well.

"And yes, it is a little strange sharing my first coltfriend, but I like Twilight, and Peter needs both of us looking out for him. Kinda like how Cerb needs both you and Fluttershy. But as for us not being able to start a family with them? I don't fully understand it, but it's a real shame. Peter would have made a great husband."

Rarity's posture dropped some after hearing that. However, if Sniff was going to date Twilight as well, that gave her other hopes.

"I hate hearing that. It really seems to make it sound like all we could have is but only a little time to be close to them."

Ovens was now certain that Rarity was trying to get with Cerb after their previous conversation, now this?

"I'm guessing Cerb hasn't asked you out on a second date, and you're wondering if you'll get anything more than that with him, aren't you?"

Disheartened, Rarity looked up with sad eyes, not even like she was trying to hide it anymore around Ovens.

"I suppose there's no need for me to hide that either. It's just so bothersome that the closer I get to him, it seems like there's always something else that gets in the way. For crying out loud, we've fought together and even slept in the same bed together. I've even seen him completely disrobed and tended to his injuries, but can't reach that next step with him."

That was a lot of information to give out, but she had already used Oven Fresh as a means to help her vent. Knowing that Twilight trusted her gave her a lot of leeway as well.

"And don’t get me wrong, I love the attention he gives me. I just would love to do—“ She melted into a dreamy look of longing. “—so much more with him. I can only imagine how close you've become with Peter, given how attracted to you he is."

Oven Fresh felt terrible for the struggles Rarity had to be going through. Her new friend's situation sounded so much like hers before she tempted Sniff into giving into his own desires.

“You know, I… had a difficult time with Peter at first getting him past that point where he would even—” She had to be careful not to say too much. “—want to be as close as we are now.”

Despite Oven’s attempts, Rarity could pick up the hint of something more behind her words. At the moment, she knew she needed help and wasn’t feeling so proud she couldn’t ask for it.

Once behind the counter, she finally brought out a medium-sized cardboard box. Removing the lid, the new outfit Sniff had requested for Oven Fresh floated into view.

“How close are you, two? And what does it take to get that far?”

The skirt was the first piece Oven Fresh saw, and her heart began to race at its beauty, imagining how she was going to look in it. Helping Rarity was still on her mind, but that skirt stole all her focus as she wanted to put it on and feel Sniff’s hands exploring under it.

Those thoughts instantly put her back in the kitchen that morning. He had lifted her up and laid her down on a small prep table. It was the perfect height for him to lean down with little effort and kiss her while still reaching down below her waist. Then slowly, teasingly, feeling up her thighs, inching at a painfully slow pace, making her wait… He made her wait all that time just to make her cum in less than a minute, and only once? With all the time they had and the position he teased her with helping her down, had he been naked while he held her hips—

“Oven Fresh! Don’t move!” Rarity quickly called out, pulling the undersexed mare out of her daydream, and ran to lock the door with the closed sign facing out. "Fluttershy! I need you in here, please."

Oven Fresh froze in a panic. What was happening? Why did Rarity suddenly freak out? Timberwolves? Changelings? Why was Fluttershy even there?

“Rarity? What’s going on? What happened?” She asked as Rarity stood panicking in pace.

“I was afraid this would happen,” Rarity answered as she raised a hoof and guided Oven Fresh’s eyes to a mirror.

In the reflection, Oven Fresh could see her ears twitching, snapping back up and down. Even behind her, her tail would bob or swipe side to side. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed.

As Fluttershy ran in from the other room, Rarity drew a deep breath through her nose to break the bad news, but was met with a familiar perfume in the air.

“Oh, dear… with a scent like that, there’s no mistaking it, Oven Fresh. You’re going to need our help if you don’t want to scare Peter away.”

“What?!” Oven Fresh yelped, her prior arousal replaced with pure terror. “How am I going to scare Peter away? Do I stink?! Is that what you… Help with what? What’s wrong with my ears? You warned me about this earlier."

Rarity laid a hoof on Oven’s shoulder, knowing in her heart how difficult this was going to be to explain.

“Fluttershy and I went through the same thing after getting as close to Justin as we have."

Fluttershy stepped in closer to help calm the frightened mare.

"It can be very confusing at first, but getting ahead of the signs and knowing when to relieve them can actually be a rewarding experience."

Oven Fresh was beyond lost and needed an explanation.

"What!?"

"Your body," Rarity said in a sympathetic voice. "It's telling you that it's ready to start a family with Peter. And while—"

"What?!" Oven Fresh shouted in her frightened confusion. "But we can't start a family! I just want to have sex with him."

Fluttershy gave a sympathetic look, trying to show that she could relate.

"It was hard for us to come to terms that we wouldn't be able to—" Something finally clicked with Oven Fresh's confession, making Fluttershy change her tone. "When you say sex, what do you think sex is?"

Oven Fresh started to turn pale, fearful of what the consequences of saying too much was going to bring about.

"Sex? Oh, you know… Holding hooves, gently nuzzling each other while sipping coco—"

"His long, hard dick thrusting up inside you while he holds you by the hips from behind?" Fluttershy added in, trying to bring Oven Fresh out of her denial.

Oven Fresh's tail immediately swished back and forth, then flicked up and snapped back down against her, making her give out a muffled yelp. She realized that they knew.

"Please don't say that. I'm having enough trouble just thinking about it. Hearing about it is only going to make me want it more, and I can't run back to Peter for another orgasm while he's at work."

"Orgasm?" Rarity asked, both intrigued and confused. "You'll have to excuse us, but is that some kind of code word for something?"

Oven Fresh darted her eyes between the two clueless mares that stood before her.

"Hold on… how do you two know about sex if you don't know what an orgasm is? Aren't you having sex with Cerberus? Or… was that the next step you were trying to get to?"

She shook her head, trying to put the puzzle pieces together in this messed-up confrontation. “Are you both having sex with Cerb? How can you both know about sex unless you are both…. What is going on with my ears?!"

[After an hour's worth of swapping stories and a few small violations of confidentiality in the pursuit of ensuring their human's safety.]

Finally, the trio had reached some mutual level of understanding, which turned out to be… problematic for some parties involved.

"Son of a bitch!" Rarity yelled, angrily venting in frustration. "Why are her experiences so much different from ours? She was having Wonder Rushes before her ears and tail went on the fritz! And orgasm? What a stupid name for such a wonderful feeling."

While nowhere near as vocal as her wingmare, Fluttershy was having her own issues to dwell on.

"Not only that, I like the term cumming by the way, she cums so much faster than we can with each other."

"No judgment," Oven Fresh snuck in to show her support, feeling a little guilty, knowing just how much further she’d gotten than the others.

"Thank you," Fluttershy quickly responded before continuing. "Humans almost seem like they were, to borrow Justin's explanation, built so differently from us that it almost seems like they were built for sex."

Rarity rolled her eyes at yet another complication she had to deal with.

"Aside from flying or using magic, what are they not better than us at doing? And why do some seem to be prone to having multiple partners while others like Lumberman, only want one special somepony? Then the others don't seem to have any interest at all?"

Despite the conversation seemingly trapped in a negative light, Fluttershy grinned, her hopes of having Cerb and Rarity appear all the more obtainable.

"At least now we know we can share."

"Ugh!" Rarity groaned out loud. "Fluttershy, please. Having Justin groom me in the shower was enough to make me want to Wonder Rush all over him. Then you killed the mood with our unfortunate set of circumstances, knowing that… Come to think of it, no pun intended, if Justin would be willing to let us share him, do you think we could share him at the same time?”

Oven Fresh blushed as she tried not to think about what that would look like.

“Are you girls serious? It’s one thing to be willing to share him with each other, and again, not judging, what you two have done together, but… isn’t that a bit much?”

Fluttershy tried to hide her embarrassed smile, though it was a fruitless effort given her nature.

“Maybe. But, this is still so new to us. We had to learn everything we know now by trial and error. And not that it’s unheard of for two mares to spend their lives together, knowing what you told us about all the other things we can do, if Justin ends up choosing somepony else, or no pony at all, we’ll be fine with each other. Although, if he does want to be with both of us, and Rarity and I already want to be with each other as well, and having more than one special somepony is okay if it doesn’t go beyond dating, why not share each other all at the same time?”

Utterly baffled at what she’d just heard, Oven couldn’t stop from rolling her eyes. Even if she wanted a lot, as it were, what those two wanted was overkill.

“Whatever. You girls do whatever you want to do. Can I get my skirt, please? I still need to finish an order for Grapes and Olives tonight, and I don’t want to show up late and risk not getting some alone time with Peter. I’m really banking on this skirt and everything else doing the trick for me.”

Shifting to her more professional demeanor, Rarity brought the clothes back up with a smile that hinted at her knowing something the others didn’t.

“Not to worry. All I need is for you to try it on to make sure everything fits just as Peter intended, then you can be on your way. But if you are worried your ensemble won’t be enough to get him going, I doubt that will be an issue with all the assistance you’ll have tonight.”

Now more than a little suspicious, Oven Fresh cocked an eyebrow.

“Assistance? What else are you planning on doing to help me?”

Deciding to play dumb, Rarity pulled out a stack of more boxes as she answered.

“I didn’t understand the fascination Peter had on your posterior while we did your initial fitting, but that didn’t mean I didn’t recognize how effective his taste in fashion was capturing his attention. If any of the others are even half as interested as he is, I think we all might end up getting what we are probably wanting."

Her greedy smile slowly faded. “Assuming Fluttershy and I can work past our other issues with Justin.”

Oven Fresh lost some of that frustration she had developed and, again, sympathized with her new confidants.

“You girls… You know what? Honestly, I have no room to even say how you two should go about working your relationship with Cerb. You’ve both been through so much more than I have and certainly had a harder time out in the Everfree Forest with him. If you both want to share each other, buck it. I hope you can make it work. Heck, I hope you can both have foals with him if there’s a way to make it happen, but at the very least, you should probably be honest and tell him what you both really want."

She took a moment to reflect on the trials she had gone through with Sniff, then all his own issues that he had to get over to be with her.

"I know Peter said he was worried about doing this, and rightfully worried about hurting me, but these aren’t our typical, everyday Equestrian relationships. I think we should be able to make this be whatever we want it to be. Forget what anypony says about it. We have our stallions, they can have theirs."

"You're right," Rarity confidently agreed. "In fact, Fluttershy, we should let Justin know he doesn't have to choose. Dare I say, I want it to be all three of us. We need to let him know tonight. We'll tell him it's both of us, or none of us. I like what we have, and I'm not giving that up."

Equally brimming with newfound confidence, Fluttershy stomped her hoof, firmly determined to deliver their ultimatum.

"That's right. But… maybe we should still take things a little slow with him. He’s still in such a fragile state, we could end up pushing him away if he’s afraid of letting us down and says yes because he’s afraid of losing us. What happened between us happened naturally. It has to be the same with him.”

Regardless of having a clear goal in mind, Fluttershy knew there were still considerations they had to work with.

“Let’s face it. Even if he said yes and did end up rutting us for a while, it wouldn’t be worth losing him in the long run. Even if Twilight sends him home and we never see him again, I don’t want to lose him forever, knowing that we hurt him after he trusted us.”

With all the unknown still hanging over their heads, Fluttershy didn't want to lose the one relationship she already had established with Rarity. Even if Cerb turned them down, they could at least be friends… hopefully.

"If Twilight finds a way to send them home and he can’t come back, then I’d rather he leave because it was something he wanted to do, not out of guilt or fear. Luna forbid if he left resenting us, but you’re right. Making him worry about us would only put him more in danger.”

Wanting to provide some form of aid, Ovens stepped in with some additional insight.

“Girls, I’m aware of how powerful he can be. He’s probably the strongest warrior I’ve ever heard of, but if there’s anything more dangerous out there than the Timberwolves, he’s going to need you at his side more than in his bed. Outside of the nightmares, I mean.”

The two mares shared a similar concerned look as Ovens continued.

“Peter wanted this before we were even talking about being intimate. You two...“ She groaned regretfully. “You both made your relationship with him based on taking care of him before you started trying to date him. And his safety is probably all of our safety if the Pony of Shadows isn’t the only threat coming after them. But from the sound of things, I don’t think he would be this close to both of you if he wasn’t honestly interested.”

After all the concerns being shared, this sounded a lot more optimistic. Thinking about it, Ovens could see a lot of signs that a relationship with Cerb was likely going to work.

“After all, if Peter was interested but still had to be worked into a position where he could finally be comfortable with me, I can’t imagine Justin would allow himself to be as open and exposed as he has been with you. You both have a chance, just be smart about how you approach him.”

Feeling a brief sense of relief, Rarity sighed, yet some doubts were still biting at her mind.

“Yes, of course. I probably should take some time to properly think this through more carefully. But in the meantime, let’s get you into this new outfit. Oh, and as for the panties Peter was so adamant about, you have two options. The first pair is much thinner and made of a more breathable silk. The other, which you should probably wear tonight, is made of the same absorbent material our pajamas use. And just a heads up, if your situation is anything like ours, you may only be getting a little wet right now, but believe me… you’ll be a dripping mess before the end of the week.”

[Earlier that day just outside of the Castle of Friendship.]

Shining gave Becky another cautious smile as he escorted her to the hospital.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take one of the cars? You seem to get tired rather easily.”

“No,” Becky said, shrugging off his concerns. “It’s early, and I’ve barely been active today. I should be fine. Besides, I’m supposed to be exercising a lot more than I do right now to keep my lungs as strong as they can be.”

Deciding to let the transportation issue drop, Shining mentally ran through a short list of other options.

“Well, let me know if things get too tiring. I can call us a cab or give you a ride on my back like Big Mac does for Kelly.”

Mentally picturing how that would look, Becky snorted a laugh that ended in a giggle.

“Maybe, but as fun as that sounds, I don’t think anyone should ride you other than Flurry or Cadance.”

Shining laughed but didn’t catch the joke about his wife riding him.

“Nah, it would be fine. Stuff like that lets ponies know I’m a prince that really cares.”

“Fine,” Becky said with a goofy smile. “I haven’t had a pony ride since I was a kid. Could be fun.”

“Pony ride?” Shining asked. “Oh, that’s right. There’s ponies in your world, too. But they’re more like giant dogs or something, right?”

Lacking a better explanation...and not wanting to possibly offend someone, Becky shrugged.

“Egh. Sorta. They’re not smart like we are. They’re usually nice, but I’d rather have you guys for company than them.”

“Likewise,” Shining replied. “You humans really do make for great company. Cadance mentioned it before, but we haven’t made a lot of new friends outside of the work we do since she became a Princess and I became Captain of the Guard. Trying to separate work and friends while having ponies or other dignitaries that are fake or only like us because of our status has been a pain. You’re all so genuine.”

Becky smiled back, happy to hear such compliments.

“Don’t be so modest. You both are just the same, really. A prince and princess that are not snooty or stuck up, demanding praise or that we bow down to you. You’re just like Rainbow Dash and the rest of the girls. You don’t let your authority go to your head. And I’ve seen how much you two care about your subjects and everyone around you. Also, between you and me, I think you married the best princess. Nothing against your sister, but Cadance is gorgeous. So much more fun than I could have imagined. And I still can’t thank you enough for all the help you’re both offering. Cerb really needs a lot of help, well, both him and me.”

Enjoying the praise, Shining strode onward proudly as he explained his position.

“When Twilight wrote to us about your situation, we knew we had to do something to help. It’s not your fault that you’re here, but at least you ended up in my sister’s care. And we do all that we can to help any pony in Equestria. You and your friends are no different. But after we had the chance to meet you and see what great friends you are, especially you and Cerb, we couldn’t help but take a personal interest in your problems. But, since you seem to know a lot about us, care to tell me a bit more about yourself?”

Becky kind of forced a smirk and continued on by trying to think of where to start.

“Not a lot for me to tell ya if you don’t want me to ruin your day.“

Despite the somewhat morbid subject matter, she carried on with the same smirk. “I grew up poor with a mother who was a drug user and a drunk, but no father. Most of my life, I was too sick or weak to take care of myself, so my friends helped me out with the day-to-day stuff. When the docs finally found the right kind of medication to keep me stable, I got interested in learning medicine. After high school, I started med school, hoping I could find my own cure.”

Trudging along, her smirk never fell, but there was a hint of remorse behind her eyes. Something she managed to avoid being made part of the conversation.

“But… I found out that my diseases would break my body down faster than I’d be able to graduate and be viable to actually work as a doctor… so… I dropped out, got swallowed up in debt, and been living it up as much as I can until my time on Earth is up.”

She briefly laughed at her own statement. “Fitting, how now that I’m no longer on Earth, I’m both working with medicine again and living it up with no debt in this world. That, and everyone keeps telling me that together, we can cure both diseases.”

Shining continued on with Becky, not sure where to take this conversation when she gave him so little to work with...at least with regards to something that wasn’t depressing or potentially harmful to bring up.

“Uh… what exactly did you study?”

Becky chuckled for a moment, thinking about how to explain this doozy.

“I changed majors a few times. Biology, genetics... Thought getting a PhD in surgery was going to be a good idea for a while. Uh… I took a stab at pharmaceuticals, but I couldn't keep up with the chemistry. Then… I just took whatever they offered, but the stress was too much, and walking around everywhere while carrying all the books for my classes became too heavy… I kinda gave up and decided to enjoy what time I had left with my friends instead."

Still not having much to work with, Shining thought to try and make the best of her story. Unfortunately, having so little useful info might end up sounding like just giving her platitudes, but that's all he had at the moment.

“You must have learned a lot by the looks of it. You’ve already saved two lives since you got here.”

For a moment, Becky had to think about that. In some ways, she did help take care of Kelly and kept her stable until the others used the Elements. Then, with Applejack, she was the one who noticed the splinters growing and talked Cerb through the surgery. Technically, she really was responsible for the two lives being saved, yet wasn’t going to hog all the glory.

"I helped a lot, but I never did any of it alone. I can't take all the credit."

"And you're modest," Shining added rather boldly. "But here’s a question. Why is it that you seven can come from a world that's so horrible, with the wars and killing, and such—" His face soured with detest. "—horrible other humans that treated you all so badly, but you're all such good humans?"

"They’re not all bad," Becky said with a smile. "There's plenty of good people back on Earth. Truth is, really scummy people are more the exception than the rule as far as humans go. We… I dunno, just have really shitty luck. But we also had each other through nearly all of it. You know, that whole friendship is magic thing your sister is so famous for.”

Shining chuckled for a moment before turning his gaze back up to Becky.

“Well, after all the risks Cerb took and how close you stuck by him, I can certainly see why Rainbow Dash took such a liking to you. Your loyalty to each other really knows no bounds.”

Now, Becky knew Shining was trying to butter her up. He was there when she tried to stop Cerb and heard her scold and berate him. None of which was friendly. Though, rather than be angry, she decided to have some fun by testing his gaslighting.

“Okay, Tinfoil. What are you really after?” She asked, a sly grin across her face, letting him know she wasn’t so easily fooled. “I didn’t stand by Cerb’s dumb ass idea to take Fluttershy into the forest until after I knew we weren’t going to be able to stop him. Not to mention I was second only to Kelly from being the last to support him.”

“Fair point,” Shining told her, not allowing too much of his flattery to be discarded. “But loyalty isn’t all about agreeing with a friend. Just like how Fluttershy was dedicated to taking care of him out there, you showed your loyalty by putting his safety above your own benefit. And even after you realized you couldn’t convince him to change his mind, you did everything you could to make sure he was going to be safe and taken care of if something did happen.”

He gave a cocky smirk that built up with a passable air of arrogance around him.

“Don’t think I didn’t see how mad you were. We all thought his plan was foolish at first. Yet, even with all the planning and resources he was able to gather for their trip, I was still worried something could happen.”

Taking another look at the prince, Becky had to respect his game, if he was playing one with her. That was almost Sniff levels of smooth.

“And I’m glad you went along,” Becky graciously thanked him. “But… I guess this ties in with how you all keep flattering us with our friendship and everything. You all barely know us. Are you really that low on friends that you valued ours enough to risk your life for?”

Even with the jab at his social life, Shining continued in a proud stride, but his smile bore a hint of regret behind it.

“Growing up, it was mostly just me and Twi together. Then, when I went to a Canterlot school for the more elite ponies, I only had a few friends. I actually got bullied and wasn’t much of a popular stallion. Believe it or not... I was kind of a geek.”

“A geek?” Becky asked, taking another look at his build. “Huh… I would have figured you more of a jock.”

Shining had another short laugh, mixed feelings of pride, joy, and sorrow for those harsh days.

“No, I didn’t really start coming into my own until I met Cadance. After we got together, my friends started to drift apart from me. Even my old bully made amends, but he eventually went off to do his own thing. The same thing happened to Cadance. Then Twi got wrapped up studying under Princess Celestia, so it was mostly just me and Cadance spending what time we could together while I went up in the ranks and she continued her princess training. We…"

For a moment, Shining held a strong look of hurt inside. Something that had him withdrawn from the conversation. It was a look he hadn't expressed much before.

“When Cadance and I were to be married, neither of us had anypony for our own wedding party. I had to ask my sister to be my best mare… I’d grown so distant from all of my own friends that I no longer had any for my best colt. And I’m sure you know that Chrysalis took over Cadence's identity for the wedding. So when she had to pick the bride’s mares, she picked Twilight’s old study partners from Celestia’s school because those were all she could find in our old photos. Even when Cadance came back, she chose Twilight’s friends because she didn’t have anypony else.”

Now feeling a little guilty for a comment, Becky started to look at Shining in a new light. Maybe they really were this desperate for company.

“You both really don’t have a lot of friends?”

“No,” Shining not so proudly admitted. “At most, we have Twilight’s friends. For a while, we thought Sunburst was going to be a close friend, but he took so strongly to his duties as Flurry Heart’s crystaller and studying instead. He’s more like a friendly royal staff member than—“

He stopped along their path and thought for her moment. His eyes fell to the dirt, and he let out a long sigh, coming to terms with his rather lonely fate.

“The last time Cadance and I really were able to relax and just be ourselves with others and have fun was our wedding reception. Then all of you showed up and… treated us like normal ponies.“

He turned back to Becky, ready to be brutally honest.

“You treated us just the same as you treated the rest of your friends. We weren’t better than you or so revered that you were afraid to make jokes at our expense, put us in our place when we were rude by arguing, and, yes, the dancing before all that was totally inappropriate.”

With an apologetic smile, he shrugged, knowing how poorly it still must have looked on him. However, what else did he have to lose at this point?

“We could never do that with the other ponies around here. Everything with the afterparty was the most fun we’d been able to have in years. We can even trust you with Flurry Heart, as far as I’m concerned. So… no… if having friends is us being ourselves and not being catered to while being handled with foal’s gloves, you’re all the only real friends we have.”

Becky wanted to smile after hearing just how much their simple night of kindness meant to them, but hearing about their social isolation, it was too depressing not to let those feelings show.

“I’m sorry. I guess what I’ve seen before didn’t really show what your life is really like. But if us treating you like normal friends really means that much to you, then I won’t question it. That being said, you don’t have to do all the extra stuff for us. And I don’t need to be flattered to appreciate having you as a friend. Just be real with me, and I’ll be real with you. Joke around, act natural, talk a little smack. Just relax is all I’m asking. If Cerb and I are going to be staying with you and Cadance for a while, just act like you did with us at the after-party.”

Elated, Shining returned a grateful smile.

“I think I can do that." He waited for Becky to join his side again before continuing on. "I'm sure it doesn't hurt that you're cute. Every prince should be surrounded by cute mares. And Cadence is going to have Cerb around her half the time. Why should I have to go without a human friend to show off and brag about?"

"Ha!" Becky laughed heartily at the prince’s joke. "Hip candy? That's what you're after? Damn, maybe I should be flattered."

“Hip candy?” Shining asked with a smirk. “That sounds more like something Pinkie Pie would want.”

“No,” Becky replied with a subtle laugh. “Hip candy is someone you keep next to you because they look pretty.”

Shining rolled his eyes and spoke with an air of mirth in his voice,

“You’re a good-looking human mare, but Cadance has you beat if I wanted hip candy.“ He gave Becky a coy grin. “You make it really hard to give you a compliment, you know that?”

Becky reached out and playfully flicked Shining’s ear.

“Tough titties, Tin Foil. You’re a prince, married with a kid of your own, and you keep complimenting me after you bribed your way into an inappropriate dance with me. That, and at the same time, got Cadance spitefully mad at you. So, if you think I’m trying to put some distance between us with all the flattery, it’s because I am.”

Just thinking about how obvious this should be was almost infuriating, but at the same time, kind of funny. It wasn’t much different than getting caught up in stupid shit with her other friends.

“I love hanging out with both of you and would hate for her to think you might be wanting to cheat on her with me. Or heaven forbid someone sees or hears you saying all this to me and starts a rumor about it. That would be horrible, and I’d never forgive myself.”

And just like that, a lot of Shining’s aspirations seemed to wither and die. Either he wasn’t being sly enough with his intentions to get closer, or he was going about this the wrong way entirely. Regardless, his actions were all too transparent, and he would have to change gears on top of taking her not-so-subtle hints.

“You’re right. Not me wanting to cheat on Cadance, but dealing with a rumor like that would be terrible. And Cadance and I have talked about what you’re rightfully concerned about. I didn’t expect Cadance to get so close to Cerb as she did… and that revenge dance she had with him had me worried. But we know where we stand with each other and aren’t going to risk our marriage on you two. We love each other far too much for that. If anything, though, the moment of jealousy did help remind us just how much we care about each other. So, at least with you and Cerb specifically, we may have taken an extra liking to you for making our love for each other even stronger.”

Becky snorted and nearly laughed out loud at that last part for how utterly cheesy it sounded.

“That sounds a whole lot more like making the best of a bad situation. I really don’t want us to cause you any marital strife.”

“Not at all,” Shining replied, now having to keep some emotional distance from Becky, deciding to shift over to focusing on Cerb. “Although, looking back on this whole magic versus anti-magic thing. I wonder if we're all compatible in some way.”

Shifting focus to the new topic, Becky held her smile but raised a cautious eye to her confusingly flirtatious escort.

“Didn't we just have this conversation about saying shit like this to me?”

“No,” Shining playfully groaned. “Not compatible as special someponies. Our magic alignments is what I’m talking about. Cadance is the Princess of Love, and Cerb, as far as Cadance can tell, is full of more love than any creature she’s ever known. I think after seeing that, her capacity for love has grown because of it. And as far as you and me, well, if you haven’t noticed, my cutie mark represents my protective shield magic. Not even Celestia or Luna can put up the kind of shields I can. I protect the Crystal Empire, my wife, my daughter, Twi, and I didn’t realize it until after everything came out after the Everfree Battle, but I’m very protective of you. I have been ever since you tried to shield Flurry Heart from the smoke at the welcome party.”

There was some insight Becky hadn’t considered. Hearing that actually raised new questions.

“Do you think maybe the influence of magic might work both ways? Some of the guys might have temporarily taken on the elemental traits of the Mane Six, but Fluttershy and Rarity became a lot more aggressive in the Everfree Forest with Cerb when they were attacked. And… shit, never mind. You said Cadance was more loving, and you were more protective. Those two would have been influenced by Cerb while you and Cadance only had your own traits grow stronger.”

Shining gave a mentally exhausted sigh through an amused smile, accustomed to having Twilight around to help decipher this sort of talk.

“Why is it the only thing not difficult with you humans is getting along?”

Becky snorted out another laugh.

“Fuck if I know. That’s just life for us.”

“Gah!” Shining nearly laughed at the answer given to him. “There’s that word again. You gotta tell me what it means.”

Becky looked down at Shining with a questionable grin. He was still too flirty to be given the full context of a word like ‘fuck.’

“Let’s just say it’s a catch-all kind of word. Probably best left to us humans.”

“Whatever,” Shining answered, giving up on the topic all together. “How long do you think you’ll be here at the hospital? I can grab us lunch if you’re going to be awhile, or we can stop somewhere on the way back?”

“No idea,” Becky answered. “I’ll have to see what’s going on with Doctor Horse first.”

[Back in Twilight’s study.]

Books were flying off the shelf left and right. Index cards, journals, study guides, periodicals, and tomes of all kinds floated in and out of Twilight's view as she rushed to find what she was looking for.

"That story has to be a bunch of human shit! Why would Chris have such filth on his… Fuck! I'm not a filly fooler! I don't want to have sex with Rainbow Dash or Peter," she finished with an angry grumble. "I've never been in a herd before!"

She slammed everything she held in her levitation down to the floor. Having speed read through the entire story faster than she had read any other book might have been a mistake. The story had captured her attention, drowning her in curiosity in the worst of ways.

Not only for the inaccuracies, but because of how much had lined up with what she had been going through. The whole story had her emotions twisting back and forth with how she felt about what it described.

“Stallions courting and living with multiple mares? Courting rituals with flowers and feathers? Wild intelligent horses like those on Earth roaming around Equestria? And we’ve never had a problem with interspecies relationships.“

Utterly driven now, she went back to looking over her collection of books and flew up to search new areas.

“I’ve never heard of a pony named Honeydew, and Lyra has never been with the Royal Guard.“

Her eyes narrowed with another memory of the story, aggravating her even more.

“And Celestia certainly wouldn’t support me dating Peter, let alone supporting him putting his penis in me.“

Frustrated, she rose up to another level, focusing on another aspect of the story.

“One thing matches up perfectly, though. Celestia is keeping something from me, but I never heard of a book called Baneful Beasts and Barbarous Biologicals.”

She continued her search for a few more minutes, running through scenarios of where the story connected with her reality and the humans she knew. The more she thought about it, the more she came to terms with why she was angry.

“It’s only a story of fiction… it even said so.“

She slid a book she had just pulled out back on the shelf; her mind continued to try and sort through the mountains of information she’d just consumed.

“Why do I keep getting so angry about anything involving me getting in a relationship with Peter? I wanted this. Maybe not what the story depicted what a relationship with a human can be like… but why did they know so much about sex? Why do humans know so much about sex, and I’m floating around here clueless?”

She started to pick up the rest of the books she had tossed around, slowly cleaning up her mess. How long did this fit last?

“Am I just angry because I can’t handle not knowing something that’s so important to me? Am I worried about having sex just like I was about dating? And if I am, wouldn’t Peter be the best partner for me? Both he and the story referenced humans having forty-six chromosomes. I don’t even know what those are, but apparently, we have sixty? If the story got that much right, at least.“

She moved up to another level of shelves to correct them. At least this lashing out had only affected her library.

“And just in that story, another pony got to my human and knew I was interested, so she invited me to share him. But Oven Fresh didn’t mention a herd? Ponies are monogamous just like—”

Double-checking her memory, she thought back to their first day meeting Peter and the others. With so much confusion and a lack of mutual understanding, her friends had pushed the humans into sharing how dark their past lives were on Earth to show how familiar they were with death. Although that did give a lot of other crucial information, she needed to logic out how this story was written.

“All the humans said they had only one mother and one father. They have to be monogamous… but Peter was willing to date both of us? And they all wear clothes, and Peter smells so good, and his hands are so amazing, and his skin felt…“

Her body started to grow weak as she stopped fighting her insecurities and started dealing with her reality as her mind and body were now at war with each other.

“I don’t want to do sexual stuff with Oven Fresh or any other pony, but I don’t want to be alone all my life.”

She returned to the floor and looked over more of the books she had thrown down. Her ability at making a mess of things was growing to uncomfortable levels. If she wanted to keep a good relationship with Peter, she was going to have to work on that. That is if she even could manage to keep a relationship with him at this rate.

How else could she keep him safe? Not unless she screwed things up so bad that she ensured that Oven Fresh was going to keep him all to herself, are any other of the mass of mares that seemed to be interested in him.

“Why are there so many more mares than colts? That seems so unfair. Although, maybe that story had the right idea. If we can share Peter and not be stuck alone, why can’t others? Come to think of it, Rainbow Dash had some good times with Peter. He even trusted her enough to confide some of the problems Cerb was having. Though, is she even interested in looking for a special somepony? Whoever wrote that story seemed to have a pretty good idea of who Rainbow Dash is. Maybe they got that part about her being able to love a human right too? I love Peter already.”

The instant her mind caught up with her mouth, she dropped another stack of books. Her words circled back around in her head. She loved Peter? Is that what she just said?

“I… I, no. I… I barely even got to know him yet.“

Yet despite her attempts at denial, she felt something warm in her chest and stomach begin to glow. It was a bit unsettling despite it being so pleasant.

“But those scenes in the story where they were having sex… after my character in the story told Rainbow she couldn’t get pregnant, I wanted to read more about what that would be like.”

In her haste to move on from the whole bout of irrational rage, she pulled the rest of the material into unorganized stacks and sat at her desk.

Returning her crystal to her new book stand, she reopened to the story she had burned through. A few slides of her hoof over the projected screen brought her back to revisit some of the scenes with her as the focus.

She stopped to reread the section of this story’s Twilight’s date with the human protagonist with the fiction version of Rainbow Dash.

“I would be awkward and clueless… Shy, lacking confidence… referencing a book about goddamn griffons to try and better understand humans.”

She moved further down in the chapters.

“I don’t get it. I'd never tell a pony not to try and do something just because they’re worried about screwing something up. Why am I so worried about screwing things up with Peter? I’ve screwed up so bad already, and he blamed himself. I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. And if humans really are this active with sex, at least now I’m not going to be clueless like… Why didn’t I know how sex worked before reading this? With all the reading I’ve done, how could I have not…”

Twilight turned her line of sight up to a much higher section of her library. She hadn’t gotten that far up in her previous search, but she remembered who was there last.

"Lesser known zoology habits and unusual physical reactions to seasonal changes and exposure to new stimuli for Mammalia? There’s no way,” she said, trying to reason with herself as she flew up to the empty slots in the higher bookshelves. “Okay, mammalian zoology biology section. Which books did she take?”

Twilight scanned the shelf, looking for which titles were missing. She might not have remembered every word of every book, but she had an incredible ability to recall most of the knowledge each title held. So, it was obvious after she determined which books were missing what Fluttershy had to have been researching.

“Son of a bitch! Really, Fluttershy?! Oou, I swear, if Fluttershy used my books to figure out how to court Cerb when we... “

In only a moment, she had a revelation. Something didn’t check out mentally with that idea of Fluttershy courting Cerb. Not by herself, at least.

“Noooo… both of them? They’ve both been sleeping with Cerb even before the welcome party!"

Instantly, her mind started to paint a picture of Fluttershy and Rarity doing any manner of the explicit acts from the story. All of which made her regret it.

"No! No! That can’t be right. I’m jumping to conclusions again. I… Err! I need to have a word with that mare.”

[Back inside Rarity’s boutique.]

Oven Fresh did another turn in the mirror and raised her front left foreleg to examine the leggings.

“This looks so much cuter now that it all fits me right. Ugh!“ She groaned in a lustful tone, ignoring that she was still technically in public. “Peter was right. The skirt really does emphasize my assets back there. And these panties just make me think about how good it’s going to feel when Peter—”

A sudden pop and flash of violet alerted the room of Twilight’s arrival.

“Rarity! Has Fluttershy—“ She immediately laid eyes on the pegasus in question. “Oh, good. There you are. I was doing some research and remembered, oh, yeah, Fluttershy can probably explain this to me.”

Completely unaware of the exact nature of Twilight’s request, Fluttershy stepped away from helping Oven Fresh and walked up to Twilight, ready to assist in any way she could.

“Well, of course, Twilight. What do you need?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, playing coy.

“Oh, nothing much. I’m sure you’re very versed in the subject. Unless I’m just jumping to conclusions, then you’ll have to forgive me because of how stressed out I’ve been since meeting Peter and the rest of them. But, uh… since you took every book I have that could help me study Lesser known zoology habits and unusual physical reactions to seasonal changes and exposure to new stimuli for Mammalia. I think I need to be brought up to speed on what you’ve learned.”

“Lesser known zoo-oooooooh, shit.” Fluttershy knew she had been found out. “Did it start with the twitching of the ears or your tail?”

Confusion started to wash over Twilight, but the anger took hold again before she could formulate an intelligent reply.

“My ears?”

Ovens hopped down from the stand to help ease the tension building in the room.

“It’s okay, Twilight. I have it now, too. But if you think you’re ready, you should probably be open to Peter about it. I think he was trying to save you from this, but unlike these two, you and I have a special somehuman that’s actually interested. Even if we have to start slow.”

It was clear giving subtle questions was giving Twilight sub-quality answers, and that wasn’t going to do.

“Okay, so it looks like whatever you’re not all telling me in simple terms is just close enough for me to safely assume we’re all talking about having sex with our humans.... Or am I screwing everything up by making the wrong conclusions again? And no, my ears are fine.”

More than a little tired of the constant back and forth, Rarity rolled her eyes and went to retrieve another box.

“Alright, I think the time for protecting our secrets are over. Twilight, can you be a dear and bring the rest of the girls in? Well, maybe not Applejack. We can fill her in later. Let the poor dear rest after everything she went through yesterday. For the rest of us, if we don’t get everypony on the same page concerning the dicks our humans have been hiding in their pants, that we’re wanting to get inside the hole barely hidden behind our legs, we’re going to have problems. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want problems. I want to make good on the new rule that we can get as close to our humans as we please so I can finally get pleased myself.“

Instantly, Rarity dropped the attitude and made a sudden turn of concern.

“Oh dear. Unless I’m the one jumping to conclusions, and you’re here because you're against it?”

Twilight gave a heavy sigh, losing her anger, and surrendered to the promise that at least now she might get some answers.

“No, I came here to ask what either of you knew about sex. I’m not against it. I just need help figuring out how much of our world is based on a cartoon from another world and how much of the story about me rutting a human and starting a herd is grounded in reality... I’ll be right back.”

Before anyone could ask a follow-up question, Twilight teleported out, leaving Rarity standing utterly perplexed.

“Did Twilight just say there’s a story about her rutting a human?”

Fluttershy turned to Rarity, just as confused...though also intrigued.

“What kind of story would have her starting a herd? She can’t even talk to animals.”

[After nearly half an hour had passed.]

Twilight returned empty-hoofed and fed up with trying anymore.

"Fuck it. This is all of us for now. I'm not bothering Applejack, I have no idea where Rainbow Dash flew off to, Starlight is Celestia knows where, and Pinkie is watching Benny… and she's Pinkie. We can fill them in later if we think any of them are trying to find a human to procreate with. News flash, we can't."

Disappointed, Rarity pouted out a whine.

"Which is just dreadful. I'm not sure why I ever thought Cerb could make me a mother, but I'll let him take me any way I can have him."

Twilight raised an eye and stared down the room.

"Alright, so is knowing what sex is some kind of right of passage, or did you learn about it from my books?"

Fluttershy released an unpleasant sound that was the accumulation of the hours and days floundering with these issues.

"No, the books I borrowed don't mention anything about procreating habits or methods. Only a few things about how some creatures act when they're ready to start a family, then it jumps right to after the babies are born."

Ever dramatic, Rarity showed her own frustration by frumping onto her fainting couch.

"And Applejack and Granny Smith knew nothing either. Not even any memories about giving birth."

Fluttershy nodded along agreeably.

"And then I had a dream of a memory that I had forgotten about some of my animal friends having sex so they could start a family."

"How could you forget—" Twilight violently shook her head. "Why were you watching your friends have sex? Why would they even let you? Were you in their herd?"

For a moment, Fluttershy struggled to put an answer together for something even now she couldn’t properly explain.

"I don't know how I forgot, but I think it was some kind of spell put on me to make me forget. But I also only saw it because I walked in on them by accident. I don't think they even saw me. And I wasn't in the deer's herd. It was only the mother and father who wanted to start their own… Did Sniff, I mean, Peter tell you about sex like he told Oven… Oops."

Momentarily stunned, Twilight did a slow turn to Oven’s.

"Peter told you? Did you two already have sex? Did he tell you to bring me into your herd?"

Nervous, Oven’s took a cautious step back.

"Peter told me about sex after he thought I was trying to seduce him because I don't wear clothes." She then remembered what she was wearing that night. "At least not until our dinner date. But even then, I didn't wear panties because I'm not a foal, and… We don't wear anything to cover up our crotch unless we have to. Then I guess after getting to know me and getting to see it so much, he got turned on and… Gah! I hate having to retell this story."

In an angry fit, she stomped her way over and sat by the mirrors. After a moment to calm herself and rub her temples, she was finally ready to finish up.

"So, Peter thought I was trying to tempt him into sex, and then he flat out asked me if that's what I was doing. And I wasn't. I didn't even know any of that stuff, so he had to tell me how sex works… Then I tried to seduce him.”

That more than likely sounded exactly what it sounded like. Which, depending on your interpretation, was either good or bad.

Regardless, Ovens continued.

“But that was only because he was afraid to have sex with me since I was so clueless. And we still haven't had sex, but I was hoping tonight I could dress up in what he likes me wearing so I could talk him into it."

Unconvinced, Twilight could tell that was the short version of events and knew there was more she could ask.

"So, you haven't had sex yet, but has he done anything else with you or let you suck his member?"

"Member? Oh! His dick?” She asked before huffing angrily. “I wish! He's only used his hands on me. Only one finger at that. That's all that can fit, but I'm hoping we can at least try… Did he finger you, and that's why you're asking?"

Twilight groaned loud enough to be intentionally annoying if they didn't know her better.

"No! We haven't even kissed yet—"

Still full of her own questions, Ovens abruptly asked, "And what's a herd?"

Also curious, Fluttershy wanted to take this more seriously but couldn't help but remember the first human movie they watched and felt compelled to say something very specific from it.

"You keep using that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means."

Twilight didn't mask her aggravation but didn't come down as arrogant, either.

"Maybe, but I read something today that talked about us ponies coming together to share a stallion, and they called it herding. And guess what? Unless our humans have been lying to us to get us to marry the same stallions by some means that we haven't noticed yet, what we're doing has already been thought of. Unless any of you can point to any example of mares trying to invite other mares into their relationships and share their stallion, or even each other when their stallion isn't around?"

Fluttershy turned to Rarity with a telling expression.

"Well, when you put it like that, starting a group together for one relationship might sound like a herd, but this hasn't been Cerb's idea for us. As far as we can tell, Cerb is both afraid to get too close, while still worried about losing us at the same time. In fact, we're actually worried he might have caught on that we want to have a relationship with him. He’s been trying to be more intimate because he thinks… well, knows that's what we want. He might be so afraid of losing us out of fear of rejection that he's going to force himself to do more than what he really wants to.”

Feeling a bit distraught, Fluttershy turned to her wingmare, who tried to offer a look of comfort. “Rarity and I have to talk to him tonight to see how he really feels before we can actually try anything. But… how did you find out about sex?"

Twilight pulled her crystal from the ether and brought up the story.

"Starlight asked me to help her make a copy of everything Chris had on his smartphone device. She couldn't get the spells to work in part because some files were hidden and the translation spell was ignoring them. When we modified the spell to translate and transfer the hidden files, I discovered one of the files he had hidden was about us. It was a document named Xenophilla."

Intrigued, the others drew in closer. Whatever this crystal was, it seemed to work just like the human’s devices, but on a much larger scale.

Despite knowing what exactly she was about to share with her friends, Twilight turned the projection for them to see the text.

"At first, I thought it was an important document about us, like some kind of secret intel report. I was wrong. It's a short novel some human wrote about Rainbow Dash falling in love with a human in a world where sex is a commonly understood practice for us. So common that pony culture started practicing having their own herds of one stallion with at least two to four mares, or others where it's two stallions with six to eight or more mares. They would all love each other and share their stallions so there would be less lonely mares and help keep our population up. And to both of those points and our own gender disparity, I think it's actually not a bad idea."

While giving Rarity and Fluttershy a moment to process this somewhat radical concept, Twilight turned her attention to Ovens.

"Assuming the mares at least can get along and don't mind sharing… I'm not sure how likely it is two mares would want to have sex with each other in a herd, though. Then again, the way the story seems to glorify sex, I suspect it was done to excite the reader and isn't really a thing we should expect. It even had me joining their herd, but it said that I had tried being intimate with at least one other mare when I was still at Celestia's school, and that I wanted to do sex things with Rainbow."

"Do you?" Rarity asked, ever the fan of gossip, especially given the subject matter. "About either of the outcomes as they were written about you? Courting Peter here in our non-story world or Rainbow or any other mare for that matter?"

Oddly enough, despite being enraged and even a little offended by the ideas in the book just an hour ago, Twilight stood in silent contemplation for a moment.

"After reading that story, I'm honestly a bit curious to at least try. It gave me this funny, warm, tingly feeling inside. Even though at first what the story described sounded gross, touching each other's genitals, after they confirmed that humans and ponies can't bear offspring, I wanted these different versions of us to get what they wanted, overcome their insecurities, and the prejudice they faced. However, the idea of being with another mare, or being a filly fooler as they called it, doesn't appeal to me. But if it were Peter? I think they got the portrayal of my character at least mostly right, but two mares wanting to be physically intimate with each other? I highly doubt that’s ever going to be a thing. As for how it described me...”

She scrolled back to the page of her first shared date with Rainbow Dash and their human lover from the story.

“I'm nervous and incredibly shy when it comes to being in a relationship. I've already been so hesitant to make any moves on Peter because of it. If not for how moved I was by his kindness and how beautiful his gifts were… That and how mad I was about Celestia telling me to not get too close. Because of her, I forced myself not to see Peter how I see him now, and if I hadn’t wanted to fix that, I would probably have stayed alone for a long, long time."

Oven Fresh spoke up to add a bit more clarity.

"Um, well… I'm kind of on the same page as you with not wanting to be with another mare. However, you'd be wrong about two mares not wanting to share each other as well as their human."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Who—"

Rarity, not so gently, shoved a box into Twilight's chest.

"Twilight, my dear, you're behind the power curve. What Fluttershy referred to at the after-party as a Wonder Rush is also stupidly named an orgasm. Get on the podium, and we will tell you everything we know. Like it or not, we're all in this together, and you're sadly mistaken about two mares not wanting to be physically intimate with each other. Getting Justin to join us, however, we can only hope to be so lucky."

[Over in Cheerilee's living room.]

Cheerilee welcomed all her guests into the rarely visited home, enjoying the extra company for a change.

"There we are. A little less cramped in here, wouldn't you all agree?"

Nurse Red Heart looked around the size of the living room, looking a little jealous.

“Your place is so much bigger than mine. We should meet up here more often.”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and acted modest.

“Maybe if we’re all just meeting up to hang out because this room can fit us a lot easier. But I only have one bedroom, and it’s half the size as yours, Red.”

Derpy fluttered overhead and took a seat on the couch, marveling at the interior.

“Both of your houses are so much nicer than mine.”

Prim huffed, having her own comparison to make.

“Certainly cleaner than mine, but I don’t think any of us are going to beat Starlight’s castle.”

“It’s not my castle,” Starlight playfully answered. “Twilight lets me stay there while I study under her. But, now that we’re here and the students are done for the day, we are really going to need to find a way to repay Berry Punch for watching over your foals again. Though, now that we’re here, I think we can start.”

All eyes were on Chris, and he finally realized the change of location wasn’t likely to give them a little more elbow room.

“Start what? Glimmy… Why did we come here?”

Starlight strolled up to Chris with all the confidence of a millionaire in a buyer's market.

“We’re here to clear up some confusion, level the playing field, and let you know we’d like to make a little change to the dating pool we started.”

Now a little on edge, Chris could see the setup and almost felt like he could predict where this was going.

“Glimmy?”

“Chris,” Starlight spoke again to take control of the conversation. “I admit I might have been a bit too free and loose with encouraging you to pursue your desires.”

Yep, Chris remembered Starlight saying she was going to let the other girls know what he was into and-

“Did you—”

“We want Redheart in with us and not just as a side date for you,” Starlight proudly stated. “We all like her, and she likes you too, which I’m sure you knew already.”

Redheart scooted her wheelchair a little closer to get a better view of her potential somehuman and let her intentions be known.

“Chris, we understand that this is a lot to take in, but from what the girls have told me, you've been nothing but a model stallion for them. And after watching you with Cheerilee's students and how willing you've been to help me along with everypony else, we all are okay with this."

Starlight took Chris by the hand and guided him to sit on the open loveseat.

"Well, there is one pony with a problem, and that's what we're here for."

Chris looked around the room nervously.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Ready for some justice, Cheerilee marched out in front of Chris and stood with an authoritative pose she would normally give to a student acting up.

"I have come to find out that you have been very handsy with Nurse Redheart. And that's after your intimate moments with Cream Heart and the kiss you gave Derpy on your dates with them. Then, without even having a date, Prim Posy had her time with you as well. In Red's kitchen of all places."

Chris was now extremely nervous at what social taboo he must have broken or some unspoken bond of trust he violated.

"I'm sorry. These things kind of just keep happening."

Holding the same stern expression, Cheerilee marched up closer and reared up with her front hooves on either side of Chris's legs, looking him squarely in the eyes.

"And after finding out what all you've been up to with… in… Starlight... I am feeling so left out."

Starlight hopped up and sat next to Chris, giving him a sultry smile.

"We had a deal, and so long as you're okay with making good on it, I'm choosing Cheerilee."

Confused, stunned, and still a little nervous, Chris went from near heart attack to shame boner faster than his heart could beat.

"Oh, my god, Glimmy. Don't scare me like that. You know how dangerous that can be for me."

In response, Starlight giggled shamelessly, completely bemused by the situation.

"I'm sorry. How about we let Cheerilee make it up to you while you help her feel some of the love you've been sharing with everypony else? Just don't go all the way like we did. She's not as pent-up as I was. Plus, Nurse Redheart has a plan for the others together here for that. We all want this harem idea of yours to work."

Chris made a shocked look that she tried not to laugh at. If this were really happening, he would have been in disbelief if not for the fact it was Starlight bringing it on.

"I only mentioned it. Trying it was completely your idea."

Unperturbed, Cheerilee laid a hoof on Chris's chest and started to slowly trace it down to his groin.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Chris turned his attention to the mare very effectively seducing him. His fears of hurting the others looked to have been removed, and a greater impossible fantasy was now staring him in the face. He had to face the facts. If he was anything, he was a romantic.

Then again, if he was anything else, it was weak to temptation. And these ponies were being very tempting.

"I still owe you a proper date after this," he finally answered with a quirky smile.

Prim grinned, a look matched by the others in the room.

"I think that's a yes. Get it, gurl."

Cheerilee removed the rest of the distance and followed through with what the others had told her to do. When their lips met, she felt his resistance and found how hard it was to comfortably press into him. Then she slightly parted her lips. Just enough to invite him in. After the first contact of tongues, it was open season for everything else.

On the other side of Cheerilee's lips Chris was lost within himself and trying to put together what just happened.

"I can't believe this is happening. This is too good to be true. I just wanted one to settle down with, and now I have six! And they all want this. They all want me! I can make this work. I know I can make this work. Oh, my god. I hope they're all bi. So long as I don't push things, I know I can get at least… are they watching us?"

Chris pulled back from his kiss, finally ready to test the waters.

"So, what else would you like to do, and is everyone else just watching, or are they going to join in?"

Redheart's ears perked up at the suggestion.

"You can do this with more than one mare at a time?" She looked around the room. "And how much are we watching? We didn't think past this part."

Starlight giggled and motioned for the others to stay in their seats.

"This is Cheerilee's time, girls. Chris has shared this with me, and I know he would like to share it with you. Especially if you would like to feel closer to him, feeling this with him really makes you… Well, you’ll see. And we don’t have to stay if you don’t want us to, Cheerilee. But I would at least like me to stay and help you through it if you're okay with that. What Chris can do is beyond amazing, but some of it, just like I told you, sounds too strange to be true. The rest of you girls can wait and see if Chris isn’t too drained after this.”

"Dibs!" Prim shouted eagerly before turning to Redheart. "Sorry, I'm just a little eager to pick up where we left off."

Redheart limped her way out of her wheelchair to a more comfortable seat with a better view.

"That's okay. I'm curious to see how this is supposed to look. None of the books cover how intercourse is performed, so I have to watch, if only for scientific study."

Cream Heart stayed in her seat but looked a little nervous.

"I'll admit this seems a little strange watching, but if I can get another turn, I'll stick around. What about you, Derpy?"

Derpy sat quietly yet still looking as confident as she did when she entered.

"I thought we were all in this together? Plus, if it's okay, I'd like at least another kiss. I also don't want to miss a moment with my stallion." She started a giddy little shake, practically trembling at the thought of it. "Even if we all are going to share him, I can't believe I have a colt for me and Dinky."

Cheerilee was the last of the group to get this close to Chris and likely had the least experience, which left her feeling a little nervous.

“In the past, all I wanted was time alone to get to know who I was dating, but—” She turned to Chris with a hungry smile. “—Maybe this can be a teachable moment, and I can work with that. But we should probably start back up with that kissing first."

A soft aura of lavender lifted around the room as Starlight used her magic to close all the blinds and lock the door.

"Normally, I would use another spell to make sure we keep our privacy, but I don't think we need that here. So, to help make sure nopony tries to bother us if we get too loud, I'm going to put something else on."

A crystal levitated out in front of Starlight. From a single tap, a menu was brought up, and after a few swipes and taps, music began to play. She moved the crystal to the center of the room and looked at the couple on the loveseat.

"Cheerilee, I would recommend feeling Chris the first way I did. Would you like to help him get out of those clothes so you two can really get close?"

Author's Note

[Spacing and other minor edits made 7 Dec 2023]

Important note below after chapter review.

So, another chapter ends with another view into the hectic and confusing world of ponies getting to know their humans.

Thunder Glide certainly has taken a liking to Cerb, and vise versa. Then again, both being of a military background certainly helps. And while we didn't get much time between those two, I'm sure seeing how things progress will be interesting to watch.

Of course, that's an understatement for AJ and Lumberman. Although, the groundwork for those two is getting increasingly well paved. Oh, and for the short flashback to their first night together, particularly in the bathtub, I've been waiting for so long to address that whole point of her being the first to use the word "rut."

If any of you have been keeping notes, I'm sure that part has stuck out. Yes, it must have looked out of place or out of sync with the rest of the story... but there's a reason it was there. Just like so many other little things that get dropped in, it will pop up to be explained or used later on. Just stick with me.

Then we got to check in again with Lyra and Bon Bon. Not for very long, but it's good to see what they're up to every now and again.

And, my god... poor Oven Fresh must have had a mini heart attack over that scare in the boutique. Thankfully, that got them talking and putting together some more pieces of this puzzle they've been working on.

Although... that also means Flutters and Rarity have more to work with when it comes to Cerb and... future content.

Oh, yeah. Can't forget Tin Foil and Becky. That stud is so deep in the dark, he doesn't even know what he's going for. Though sadly, the show has kind of put him and Cadance so far off on their own, it's kind of sad how isolated they are.

Still, though, these two were a lot of fun to write together. Shining may be lost but is without a doubt a stand-up guy, but Becky isn't up for any funny business. Well, funny business or even the appearance of anything that could be mistaken for it.

At the same time, there's a reason he and his wife will want to stay close to their new human friends of interest. They just need the company.

Then the big reaction I'm sure a lot of you were curious about reading about. Twilight just read her first clopfic. And if you get a chance to read it to have a better understanding of the reactions she is having, it's a good read. At 14 chapters and just a little under 109,000 words... I mean... you've read this much of my story... anyway.

After all the failed conversations of sex with Twilight, she finds out from erotic literature. That, and a handful of tropes and borrowed ideas that she noticed seem to be happening with the humans there in her world. So... now she's trying merge fantasy literature into her own theories she's been working on. All of which led her to realize Flutter-Butter was looking into figuring out how this whole sex thing was supposed to work for nearly as long as the humans have been there.

... I might have had a little bit of too much fun writing that.

And again, all of that led into Twilight joining the likes of Flutters, Rarity, and now even Oven Fresh with trying to get more of this figured out. If only Twi could have pulled her student into the mix. But where was she off to?

Oops... Starlight had snuck off to somewhere she thought none of them would be bothered. Why did she not want to be bothered? Umm... uhh... damn... I have to spell it out for ya, I'll spell it out in the next chapter.

That's right. Check in again next Wednesday as the regular schedule continues on with the continuation with part 4 of 6:

Chapter 70. Compensating: Part 4 "A Change in Dynamics."

Note

I don't like some of these chapters that go a full week between getting published, but editing takes time, and money, and that's on top of the other writing I'm doing to takes a lot to keep the continuity going. That's also on top of being able to provide the occasional addition of story art to add to the story. Of which, I'm in the works of doing something which might be rather involved with having a major conflict be illustrated for you. Again, things that take time and money.

That being said, part 4 will be a normal release date, as well as part 5, but I reeeeeeeealy want to do a Saturday release of part 6 as a bonus as well.

Part of me has toyed with the idea of starting a Patreon to help fund additional art, speedier editing, and maybe even allow for more Saturday releases. Then again, I don't have much of a following and wouldn't have much to offer as a bonus to provide for people that offered to support me.

Willing to listen to suggestions, though, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on the idea because I wouldn't want this to be a for-profit thing for me. What would work best for you, my readers if I were bold enough to give it a try.