"You can skip over anything dealing with your parents," Raven said.

"Th-Thanks. I guess it was a few minutes later that I heard her outside again. I just wanted her to go away and shouted—I shouted at her to leave. As if that would work against someone who crushes rocks in her fist and walks away from being struck by lightning." It actually made Wallflower happy to have this stupid-big juggernaut of a woman around.

Raven barely managed to keep from laughing out loud—but only barely.

"So then she was coming to the house, so I hid in my bedroom. She just knew where I was and then—and then she listened to me. She just—I've never had someone just ignore everything I do and listen before. Next thing I know she's in the room and broke the stone."

"And that's when Limestone got the snout and tail, right?" Raven asked.

"Oh. Yeah."

"And it's when you got those pony ears."

Wallflower's hand shot up to the top of her head and she froze at the feel of a fuzzy little pony ear on top of her head. She couldn't just feel the ear—she could feel her hand with the ear.

"You didn't notice them?" Limestone asked.

Shaking her head, her hand unable to move away, Wallflower let out a little whimper.

Already getting to her feet, Limestone looked at Raven before asking, "Boss, I think you got all you need from her, right?"

Raven nodded and turned to Twilight while Limestone helped Wallflower to her feet and out the door.

Once out of the smaller room, and with a big arm around her shoulders, Wallflower started trying to breathe properly again. "Why?"

"The ears?" Limestone asked, and got a little nod from Wallflower. "I got mine when I kicked a mind-controlling siren. You got yours from winning the fight against that stone. Maybe it's a reward?"

"Not even funny. It makes me a fr—" Wallflower stopped, realizing what she was going to say wouldn't go down well.

Limestone had been fishing for why Wallflower mattered so much to her—but now it finally hit her. Wallflower was just like Marble. When she'd first gotten back on leave, she hadn't realized why Marble couldn't fit in so easily—and here she was seeing someone else who was in a similar situation. "You can say it. It made me a freak, but I'm a freak that can help people. You think you would have been caught if I hadn't gotten this thick head?"

Shuddering, Wallflower was now hyper-aware of her ears tucking back at the thought of that. "That's horrifying. It—It kinda made me forget a lot of stuff I should probably know. School…"

"Then you go back to school. You were at Canterlot High School, right?" When Wallflower nodded, Limestone went on. "Well, sign up for classes there. No one will remember you anyway. I'll sign off on anything you need, and if my signature won't do, we'll get the boss to handle it."

It was like a whirlwind. Wallflower had been pulled out of the hellhole her life had become and been offered a future. It was a future she'd be fighting for, but it was hope nonetheless. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why all this? For me I mean. You're treating me like—"

"Like my little sister who struggles every day with crippling insecurity and is introverted?" When she got no answer, Limestone continued. "I have three little sisters. One's doing post-grad study at college and the two younger ones are twins—almost complete opposites in every way. One's outgoing, extroverted, ready to shout in your face until you smile. The other… You remind me of her I guess."

"Okay, so you have a thing for scared, lost puppies because of your sister." Wallflower mostly said it to fill the silence, because silence was at least twice as annoying as not-silence. "I don't suppose you know of anywhere I could live while I look for a place?"

"I'll ask around. You could sleep on my couch, if I had a couch. My place is so small I barely fit in it as it is."

"I could believe that." Sitting up straighter in her seat when the door opened, Wallflower waited to see who was coming out. Twilight and Raven walked through. She paid close attention to Twilight, watching the way her ears twitched about in particular. "So what now?"

"We discussed matters, and talked with my higher ups, and this department is now working with Princess Twilight to apprehend this Storm King. You're going to be examined for any latent abilities and will have a place on my team after a short trial period." Raven rattled off the deliberation she'd been given and added her own bit to the end. "Sergeant, you're going to continue to be the princess' escort for the time being."

"Yes, sir." Limestone straightened and gave Raven a nod. "With your permission, I'll also arrange rehabilitation for Wallflower. That stone was fucking with her head for long enough that there may be some gaps in her schooling."

"See to it. You'll also need housing. Sort that out and submit an expense report. Thank you, sergeant." Raven headed for the door to the stairs.

Seeing everything had been dumped in her hands, Limestone let out a sigh. "Well, ladies, I have some paperwork to do, but I bet you want to investigate the are where the fight happened?"

With a grin, Twilight nodded. "That would be a good start. I can attempt to pick up his destination from there."

Twilight had learned to love relaxing with Thunderbolt. Her college studies were going well, and his sharp mind was quick to pick up any topic she cared to bring up. "Spike's doing better. Mom's teaching him, and I think he's more confident with his new body."

Sprawled out on the back porch, Thunderbolt clenched his right talon and felt the rubber tips that Twilight had come up with for his claws. He started tapping on his tablet screen, reading through his homework. "You should bring him around more."

"He's intimidated by you."

"I'm twice as long as people are tall—everything alive is intimidated by me." As soon as he said it, Thunderbolt let out a purr from Twilight poking her nose against his neck. "Okay, everything except you, Marble, Tree, and Rainbow."

Twilight nuzzled Thunderbolt again and rolled so that she was laying against his belly. "What about Spicy?"

Chuckling, and scrolling to the next page of his textbook, Thunderbolt turned his head to press his nose to Twilight's belly. "Spicy Hot is intimidated by me, but he enjoys it too much for me to dissuade him."

The warm breath—practically hot given the furnace it was coming from—tickled over Twilight's belly and made her squirm just a little. "Do you know of a way to help him?"

"Spicy?"

"No, Spike."

"Teach him how to fight." Rumbling a purr constantly now, Thunderbolt turned his head back to his homework. "It will help him learn to control his anger, too."

"Huh." Twilight tilted her head back—which left her looking at Thunderbolt's screen upside down. "What're you studying?"

"How to change the topic, by professor Twilight Sparkle." Lifting one rubber-covered claws, Thunderbolt booped Twilight on the nose. "Have him go to the gym with Spicy. If he needs a lift, I can handle it."

"You'd fly him there? Isn't this meant to help him relax and not be intimidated?" Twilight protected her nose from further enboopenings by raising both forehooves over it.

"Riding on a dragon, or so I've heard, is quite exhilarating. I thought it might help." Turning the page, Thunderbolt continued with his reading. "Regardless. Talk to Spicy and get Spike involved in more outside things."

"Wait, is this because he was a dog, like you?"

"He wasn't a dog like me. You were his shield against everything life could throw at him. You revealed a weakness to what the world could do, and maybe he feels that too. Let him learn to be strong." The end of chapter questions in the textbook took some typing to solve, but Thunderbolt was reasonably fine tapping away with one talon while splitting his attention between Twilight and the tablet.

"How'd you get so good at this?" Twilight asked.

"Reading comprehension?"

"No. Feelings. People. All this stuff that goes on in people's heads." Twilight rolled a little further so her belly was against Thunderbolt's shoulder. "How do you do it?"

"I listen a lot. When you're the biggest thing in a room, or even outside, people can feel intimidated if you talk too much. If you keep quiet, they tend to forget you're even there." Turning his attention away from the tablet, Thunderbolt shoved it against Twilight's belly again, then lower. "Wanna fuck?"

"What about your stud—yyyyyyy?" Twilight's attempt at a reply was completely broken up as Thunderbolt's broad tongue stroked a long S that started just below her vulva, snaked forward and across both her sensitive teats (small as they were), and then up to her belly button. Panting for a few moments, looking Thunderbolt in the eyes, Twilight snorted her best nerd-snort. "Well duh. I—"

"Twilight?" Sunset called, opening the back door. She tried looking anywhere but where she knew Thunderbolt normally rested—especially since finding him and Twilight enjoying some special time together just a week earlier. "Have you seen Marble?"

"She's in her bedroom masturbating," Thunderbolt said.

Sunset stared at Thunderbolt for nearly ten whole seconds, turned, and walked back inside.

Having managed to hold back her snort until after Sunset was gone, Twilight said, "You did that on purpose."

"Yes. She barely acknowledges me. Just now, when she finally looked this way, she only looked at you." Thunderbolt found himself a unicorn ear to nibble.

Twilight's neck muscles twitched and gave way. She rolled onto her back but kept her head turned to Thunderbolt so he wouldn't be interrupted. "We kinda had a thing for each other for a while, plus she's just a bit freaked out about me being a pony."

"Wasn't she born a pony?" Shifting his weight, Thunderbolt stretched a leg over Twilight's body and pinned her down with his mass.

Knowing what was coming, Twilight tilted her head back and looked up the line of Thunderbolt's body. She was only half his physical torso in length, but her body was oddly well-built at accommodating him. "She was, but in case you didn't notice, she's spent most of her time here now. I think she's gone native."

Clenching down as he lined himself up with Twilight's body, Thunderbolt asked, "Gone native? What does that mean?" and didn't give her more than a second to contemplate her answer before squeezing a muscle deep in his body—unloading a spray of thin fluid over her whole rump, anus, and vulva.

Twilight knew what Thunderbolt was about. When he lined up the deflated tips of both his shafts, she relaxed her muscles as much as she could. "Gone native is when someone embraces a culture not their own so much as to be indistinguishable from a native."

"Hrmm." Thunderbolt was careful with his mass and positioning, not wanting to crush or harm Twilight in any way. "Good to know."

Author's Note

Dean Cadance: With all the magic stuffs going around town and Shining's military experience, do you plan to put him as the head the Security Department of your school?

"Not at all. He's making a great vice-principal, though we keep sharing the workload of both our jobs. He's better at working his way through a balance sheet, for example, and I'm better with the students." Sitting in the office formerly used by Abacus Cinch, Cadance smiled as the opened curtains let much more light in to chase away the darkness the room had formerly enjoyed. "The other staff were skeptical at first, some even claimed nepotism—behind my back of course—but none of them can doubt that Shiny compliments me." She managed to sit still for several seconds before blushing and blurting out, "Professionally! I mean Shining Armor and I work well together!"

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
CadelDdraigDarkkon
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Ender Voidwalker
KFS Crimson
shortskirtsandexplosions
Sirion123
Vi Watch

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