Thursday, September 4th, 908 AB

“Right, well my first thought is basic improvements to senses. For example, because Drift called me out I know what a pegasus’ eyes look like. Their vision absolutely has to be superior to an earth pony or unicorn because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to see far enough and would crash. They may have better resistance to glare, reflections, and other things that would normally blind them when flying.”

“That actually sounds kind of neat. I could go for some better peepers, colt. Don’t forget about yer pa.”

“I never would, dad," Cure promises him. "I would also like to get a scan on several animals. Birds for the same reason, bats for hearing, and dogs for their sense of smell. You name it, there’s probably an animal that can do it and it’s all biological. And no, before you ask, I’m not going to do anything that’s visible. I don't want to look like some kind of monstrosity. I’ll look just like any colt does, though I've always preferred being taller.”

“Why does that feel… I dunno… wrong somehow?” Title asks. When nopony replied immediately she continued, “I mean, if I didn’t have perfect vision I’d definitely ask you to fix it, but the idea of having super senses seems odd for some reason, even I think that sounds really neat also.”

“I know it feels weird, and that’s not even getting into the really crazy stuff.” Pausing to consider, Cure makes his best guess, “I think it seems weird because you, rightly so, associate your body with your self. It comes down to whether you, the physical being, is the same as you, the existence. I’m not so sure they’re one-in-the-same anymore. I’m going to live this life like it’s my only one, but I’ll always wonder.”

“I… guess I can see how you could question that, given... yanno,” Title hesitantly agrees.

“Well, think about it like this… Memories are biologically saved information located in your brain, right?” At everypony’s slow nod he continues, “but they have to be more than just that because my brain was never on Earth. Unless you have one heck of a story to tell, dam, I think this noggin has been on Equus since day one.”

Nodding, Title points out “Yeah, you talked about that last night. Not in this context, though.”

“Right, well if souls exist, which I’m fairly certain they do, then there is some difference between “me” and the physical body I have. Making myself taller, having better eyes, or even something more significant won’t change that I am still me at the end of the day.”

“We’re just worried you’ll start behaving differently, sweetie. We don’t want you to think of yourself as not a pony anymore... not our little colt anymore.”

“I'll always be your son, dam, no matter what. Keep in mind that everypony behaves very differently after puberty compared to before and nopony bats an eye at that. Change is natural. Even if souls aren’t factored in, our bodies change all the time anyhow, so why not take those basic abilities our body has and improve them as much as possible?"

“I dunno, son. Somepony would probably question whether it really is natural if you’re actively changing some things.”

“But… by definition everything I can do is natural. I’m literally copying stuff from nature, just occasionally enhancing one aspect or another of it. Even the really weird stuff is still natural, it's just the circumstances needed for it to show up in the wild are almost impossible.”

“It’s a complex argument, Cure. I think as long as you keep in mind how other ponies will see you if what you’re doing is ever discovered then you’ll be okay. What “crazy stuff” were you talking about?”

“I know birds on Earth could navigate by the magnetic field of the planet. I’m assuming there’s some migratory bird species on Equus that do the same. I know snakes can detect heat, but I don’t think it’s with “vision” per se. There’s also a lot of venomous critters out there I’d love to analyze, if for no other reason than to be able to counter it.”

“Antivenoms are very expensive and always in high demand,” Title points out. “If you could make those every hospital in the country near a forested area would buy from you.”

“Huh. Well there’s an income stream I hadn’t considered. Good call, mom.”

“Sure thing, Cure. I’m thinking we need a trip to the zoo next weekend. They have all kinds of snakes and bugs and stuff.”

“I mentioned that to dam earlier in the week. I’m all for it. Next Saturday?”

“What do you think, honey? Babe? Are you both interested?”

Both Vines and Deed nod in agreement. “Sounds good, babe. I’m not sure how many you’ll get to pet, though, sport. We’ll have to play it by ear.”

I wonder if I should tell them I don’t have to touch something to use my mark on it, it just uses slightly less magic that way. I guess I never did explain the whole “two meter” aura thing to them.

“Awesome. I doubt they’ll have a cockatrice, but who knows. I can’t imagine that is a biological function, but maybe they have saliva that can unpetrify a pony or something. Who knows, there may be a biological part in their eyes that acts like a casting focus similar to how unicorn horns do. If so, I may be able to replicate it.”

“Why would you want to?” Deed asks.

“Because it’s the ultimate non-lethal defense? Sure it could give away the game, but it seems like a last ditch move either way. All my other “safe” defenses need proximity at least. Well, right now they do.”

“But son… Defend yourself from what? Are you thinking of joining the military some day?”

“From who-knows-what. Those cockatrices aren’t just in zoos after all. There’s crazy things all over this planet and I don’t expect to spend my whole life in a city… not that those are totally safe anyhow. I assume ponies do get mugged, right?”

Deed reluctantly nods in acceptance with a muttered, “ehh, I guess so…”

“And as far as the military is concerned… I have regrets about not joining the military before, but here, I dunno, maybe for a few years? I wouldn’t mind traveling and meeting new ponies, seeing things I may never see otherwise. It would be an experience, at least." With a shrug he adds, "I’ve got time, so why not?"

Shaking himself out of thought, Cure says, “I know there’s a lot of neat things in this world and I’d love to someday see all… well, most of them. I’ve got a long way to go though.”

With a small smile and a little clap he adds, “I still haven’t even scanned any unicorns! I did tease one to the point she turned pink today, though. Good times.”

“Oh my… another little filly you’re interested in, honey?”

“Not… really? I mean, she is cute, but I was really just giving her a hard time because she had a slip of the tongue,” he finishes with a snicker.

At his dam’s raised eyebrow he explains, “She and two of her friends came across me while I was watching the fillies at the park. They asked if I could get ice cream with them, but I was foalsitting, so I couldn’t. When I said I didn’t have any bits anyhow she said something like she only has enough for a cone, but if she had extra she would treat and I could make it up to her later,” he finishes while cracking up.

“Aww, that’s cute! What’s her name, sweetie?”

“Dawn Glow. You should have seen how much she glowed too! HA!”

Shaking his head, Deed asks, “Stars he has another one… what’d you do to this one, son? Compare her coat to the sunset or something?”

“HAH! No, but you’re pretty close. I figured since her name is Dawn…”

“Sunrise… you compared her coat to the sunrise, didn’t you?” Title asks.

“I leaned close and whispered, “Such a shame, Sunrise. I would have loved to see how you made me repay you.” HAHAHA!”

“HA! Good one, son. Poor filly probably didn’t know what hit ‘er!”

Title is cracking up on her cushion while Vines just giggles and covers her mouth with a hoof. Cure finishes the story, saying, “The best part! As soon as I dropped that line she glowed red just like the rising sun! Cherry and Lotus came up not two seconds later and pulled me away to push them on the swings! I had no idea they were on their way over! HAHA! Couldn’t have timed it better if I tried!”

After a moment of laughter the family finally calmed down. Title, being the second most inquisitive member, finally feels the need to ask. “Hey Cure… I don’t want to offend you or anything, but it seems to me that the first two fillies you’ve ever shown an interest in are a pegasus and a unicorn. You’re not going to hurt anypony’s feelings here, but are you not attracted to earth ponies?”

Scoffing at the thought he answers, “Pfft, no, that has nothing to do with anything. Glacial caught my eye because her coat was so striking and unusual. Dawn approached me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find her unattractive or anything, but the… you know,” rolling his hoof a few times, he continues, “the spark or whatever… it’s not really there with her."

Shaking his head in thought he adds, “Maybe if we got to know each other better I’d find I’m attracted more to her mind, but I don’t know her well enough to know. I don’t think I really have a preference. It’s definitely less physical than mental with me, but physical attraction still factors in there.”

“Huh… okay, I mean I don’t care either way. My parents probably would, but I don’t."

Pausing to think for a moment about the fillies he played kickball with last night he corrects himself, “Actually, I may have a slight thing for pegasi, but I think that’s probably has a lot to do with my human memories associating feathers with beauty.”

“Humans have feathers, sweetie? You never mentioned having wings before.”

“No, but one of the major religions of the world, especially where I lived, depicted their god’s messengers as winged humans. Over the centuries they showed up a lot in art and, being God’s messengers, were always painted or sculpted to be basically the definition of human beauty. After all, they were hand-crafted by a god, they’re perfect, right? Culturally a winged human, or angel, was often associated with beauty as much as they were associated with the religious part of it.”

“I could see how you’d begin to associate feathers with beauty,” Title agrees.

“Yeah, I think it’s just purely in my head though. That and, like I keep saying, the photochromic effect is really eye-catching. You’ll all notice it when you see her, especially since I pointed it out. Assuming she doesn’t avoid me for being weird or something, that is.”

“Oh, honey, she wouldn’t do that. I know fillies love to be complemented.”

“I’m sure they do, but I bet it can also be uncomfortable, especially with how young we are. It could go either way, I’m fine with it. I mean I won’t hit puberty for a couple years, so it’s not like I have any sexual attraction to anypony at all. Who knows what I’ll find attractive once the hormones all start flowing.”

“Well, I’m just relieved to hear you’re taking a mature approach to it, Cure.”

“Of course. I can honestly say though, I don’t think I have any particular attraction to unicorns. I think the tendency to be less physically active is kind of a turn-off, really. I was always attracted to more physically fit women, so it makes sense that carries over. There is one earth pony filly who is too far on the “muscular” side for me, though. She could rip me in half.”

“Well just don’t limit yourself, sweetie.”

“I wouldn’t. Unrelated, but there are some pretty unflattering legends about unicorns on Earth. I don’t really know all of them, but they don’t paint a nice picture.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Title insists.

“The most common one I ever heard was that a unicorn, presumably a male, would only ever show interest in a human if she were female and a virgin. I honestly don’t know much about the stories, but something like… a unicorn was a vicious, magical beast that could only be pacified by a virgin.”

“I’ve heard variants where there was some less than consensual sex involved too, but I don’t think that was part of the mythology. The whole myth is probably a religion thing, honestly. Almost any time you hear a human talk about virginity they are regurgitating some tripe about purity they heard at church or whatever.”

With a shrug Title explains, “In noble families they make a big deal about preserving the virginity of their children, but that’s mainly so they can maintain control over inheritance and make sure they can find suitable husbands and wives later on. They mostly don’t want unexpected foals, even though it’s only an issue if they have sex around estrus seasons.”

“It was a big thing culturally for humans, but that’s likely because human women can become pregnant year-round. Their fertility cycle is a monthly thing. I told them about it the other day before you got home, so I’ll spare you the details. It was only in the last sixty or seventy years, roughly, that cheap and effective contraceptives became available and humanity could safely bone without worrying about gettin knocked up.”

“Cure!” Vines shouts in a scolding voice.

“What? I know what sex is, stop acting like I’m “only” an eight year old. At least in my memories I’ve probably had sex more times than the three of you combined… a few times over.”

Vines looks like she’s about to cry at the loss of her child’s innocence.

“Dam, really. Come on. This, of all things, upsets you? Why?”

“I think yer dam just wants to make sure she’s not losing her innocent little colt, son. I have to say, I’m usually one for a good joke or two, but it is jarring hearing that come out of your son’s mouth. It would probably be a little odd even if you were physically an adult,” Deed explains.

“I’m sorry, dam. I don’t want to upset you.” Getting up, he walks over to Vines and wraps around her neck in a hug while nuzzling into her.

“I would much rather be honest and have a mature conversation than try to pretend I don’t have the memories, though. Tell me the truth, would you want me to pretend I’m an ignorant child or, when we’re alone as a family like this, actually be myself?”

Wrapping around him, she holds him in a tight hug while she considers it.

“Keep in mind, dam. At some point every parent has to acknowledge that their child has grown up. If you’re really uncomfortable now you will still have to accept it eventually. And sex, just like anything else, is a part of life. Treating it as something special, or worse, something dirty or shameful, is very unhealthy.”

Leaning in close so only his dam can hear him, he very lowly whispers in her ear, “I know you’ve gotta be wondering how it’ll be now that you’re all better. Find out tonight. Give dad a good time.” Giving her a quick last squeeze he goes back to his cushion while Vines turns several shades of red.

Shooting his son a curious look, Deed simply raises an eyebrow when Cure winks at him. Cure tilts his head at his dam, then the stairs, then nods. Deed simply smiles in gratitude. He has no idea what he’s grateful for exactly, but he’s definitely looking forward to probing for information later.

“I think it’s very important that we all be comfortable having a mature conversation about any topic, and as a doctor I’ll be helping ponies with that a lot. Especially if I ever decide to get a studding license or something.” Mulling it over for a moment he adds, “I think I probably will since I can guarantee conception, an extremely healthy foal, and likely, whatever tribe or gender the dam will want. That’s not something I bet most sires can offer.”

“It is strange to hear, especially so young, but that’s a vital job for all ponies, Cure. I’m a little… wait, did you say you can guarantee tribe and gender?” Title pauses mid-sentence to ask.

“Oh! You weren’t there for that either. Yeah, they gave me the rundown on studding and I mentioned I could probably make it so a sire is only producing either male or female sperm. I haven’t tried and, obviously, I’m too young to experiment on myself, so I’m not sure.”

Deed and Vines both smile to Title who’s struck speechless. Oblivious to her plight, Cure continues, “It should be a lot less complicated than the white blood cell thing I did though. I could basically run around the country and fix the gender imbalance problem in a few decades, probably.”

“Do not tell a soul about that!” She vehemently insists.

“Duh, I won’t be telling anypony anything about my abilities for the better part of a decade anyhow. We already had this talk, too.”

“Okay… well, when I’m ready for a second foal I would really like a colt. I’ve always wanted a colt of my own.”

“I think most dams do. The vast majority never get it. I can’t promise, but I’m confident you will.”

“Yep, the colt’s gonna add an addendum to the ‘ol contract, then I’ll deliver the deed and you can rest assured of occupancy right at closing.”

Everypony looks at Deed with varying levels of disappointment and pity.

“Bah! Forget ya’all, I thought it was funny.”

“I thought you didn’t get the deed until after closing?” Vines asks.

“Either way, honey, we’re both stuck with the Deed now, so we can just try to make the best of it.”

“Whatever,” Deed huffs.

“I still love ya, pa. Once I get older we can go out drinking and doing stupid crap together. If I can stop or slow down aging like I expect-”

“WHAT?” Title, again, interrupts mid-sentence with a shout.

“Ahh… yeah, I gave dam the explanation on that this morning. Real quick, aging is a biological function that happens when your cells are replaced. Each time a cell is replaced the new one is slightly inferior because it’s a copy of the last one. Since it’s a biological function I may some day be able to stop it. Or slow it a whole lot. Anyhow-”

“No, wait a second, son. You can’t just throw that out there like it’s nothing and move on.”

“Welcome to my every day this week.” Vines mumbles loud enough for everypony to hear her. Noticing their stares she adds, “What? It’s been amazing, but this is what he does all day long. I swear if he couldn’t probably fix it I’d be afraid of having a heart attack. I’m not mad, sweetie, it really has been wonderful, it’s just… a lot, you know?”

“Oh I get it. It’s a lot for me too. I never expected life to lead me here, I can tell you that. Seriously, though, I don’t have anything useful yet, you two, so don’t get your hopes up. I just thought of it this morning. We had the “don’t tell anypony” conversation and everything too,” he finishes, waving away the concern with a hoof.

“Any other planet-shattering things we should expect, son?”

“Umm…” Cure pauses in thought for a solid minute or two, ignoring the rising tension from the adults. “Not off the top of my head. I have a lot going on up here, though, so until a topic comes up that sparks a memory I’m mostly just a regular colt, you know.”

“Riiiight…” Title eyes him with disbelief.

“Oh! I did have a thought.” All the adults brace for impact. “I want to find a gym or something. I don’t know of one in town, is there one?”

With a relieved exhale Deed answers, “Not in this town, son. There’s several nice ones a stop away in Baltimare though. What’s on your mind? Want to start working out?”

“No, I want all of us to go there so you three can work out. I don’t need to. I can encourage muscle growth, but I’m too young to do very much or I could overdo it before puberty begins. Light exercise is fine for my age, but I don’t even need to do that with my cheating.”

“So unfair…” Title mumbles.

“It may be, but you’ll all benefit from this just as much as I do. Have any of you done strength training before?”

Standing up and flexing, his dad answers first. "No, all this muscle is from working on family farms growing up like Aunt Bean’s," he says, studiously ignoring three sets of eye rolls.

Getting head shakes from both Vines and Title, Cure explains, “Muscles grow when worked. You lift something heavy, your existing muscle gets worn down a tad, basically. It heals slightly stronger. That’s the body saying “This part was inadequate, let’s reinforce it so it doesn’t wear out as easily next time.” Normally you’re sore for days while that's happening, right?”

“Yep, every year for the first few days on the farm were awful.”

“That’s because you lost some muscle from lack of use over the other seasons. Well, I can skip that step. You can skip that step. Once I get the proper way the muscles should grow we don’t even need to go to the gym. I can see how they are now, but I don’t know how they should grow until I see how the body is doing it, so I don’t want to tell it to do something wrong.”

“Can’t you tell if something is wrong, though? You could with Amy earlier.”

“Yeah, but injuries and foreign viruses are different from saying that somepony’s own muscle just isn’t shaped exactly how it should be. There’s probably a point where something shows up as “wrong” to me, but “this muscle is stronger than the opposing one in the muscle group” may not be something I can detect. I’m wary of experimenting without a model to follow.”

“Okay, that seems reasonable, honey.”

“So what I propose is that every week or two we go to Baltimare, hit the gym hard for a few hours, then either on the way back or when we get home I see what your body is doing and turn the dial up to eleven. Ideally you’ll get many times over the benefit a single gym visit would bring with none of the soreness afterwards. Pretty soon the gym part won’t be necessary. It shouldn’t take more than a few trips before I have the growth pattern figured out.”

“Amy would like that.” Vines mumbled absentmindedly, instantly drawing Cure’s attention.

Cure noticed that while Vines pinked and froze stock-still at his look, Deed and Title both simply smiled and nodded.

“Are… you all intimate with each other?”

Eyes growing huge, Vines stammers unsure what to say.

“HA! Way to spill the beans, honey. Yes, son, we have all been together a few times. Not for a while though. I’m surprised you never figured it out when we got together over the years.”

“I was far less observant back then. Well, whatever, it’s not like I have a problem with it as long as it’s not some dark, family ruining secret.” Snapping his attention to his dad he feels compelled to ask, “Umm, dad… are you Cherry’s and Lotus’ sire?” Holding up both hooves in a placating manner he adds, “I don’t care either way, honest, I’m just curious… Lotus called me big brother and I just wondered if it was true.”

“No, son. They had those two when they were living in Fillydelphia. I have no idea who their sire is, or even if it’s the same stallion. Given their colors mirror each other, I would assume so, but it’s generally considered bad form to ask unless there’s a reason to.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that it was taboo to ask that.”

Waving a hoof, Deed explains, “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind at all. It’s perfectly acceptable in this scenario, you were wondering if they were family. Don’t worry your cute little head, son. You won’t find any surprise siblings out there, though you never know if you may bump into a cousin. Like we told ya, listen to your nose. The nose knows, son. Just don’t ask about other ponies' sires unless there’s a valid reason you need to know.”

“Sure, I will. Anyhow, there’s a few limits to the whole exercise thing. We obviously want to keep the speed reasonable. Someone would probably get suspicious if you leave on Friday looking normal and walk in on Monday ripped like a marble statue. Also, I have to pull from somewhere, so if you’re low on fat stores I can’t tell your body to build more muscle.”

“So you’re basically going to turn any fat we have straight into muscle?” Title asks.

“Yes, but the body does need some fat, so I have to be careful about how much I take. It’s probably even more important for you since you’re with foal. I don’t know how it is for mares, but with human females anything below about twenty percent starts losing what most would consider a feminine body shape. For mares that’s probably much lower, human women have larger fat deposits around their mammaries and store a lot more fat in their hips, legs, and butts too.”

“What about stallions?” Deed asks.

“We’re probably fine down to five percent or less, but you’re going to look very muscular below fifteen percent or so. If you think of the most ripped, muscular, lean stallion you’ve ever seen, he’s probably somewhere around eight to ten percent body fat. It may be higher, all my numbers are based on what I know about humans.”

“What percent are we at now, Cure?”

“I can see muscle and fat, but I don’t have a way to weigh it. Completely hypothetically, I would guess dad is around twenty. You are probably just a tiny bit higher, and dam, no offense but you don’t have to walk to and from work every day like mom does, so you could be higher, but you also work hard in that garden which is more physical, so I may be wrong.”

Vines pouts at Cure for pointing out anything about her weight again.

Pointing a hoof at her, Cure says, “Don’t give me that look. Doctor mode, remember? I’ll tell you the truth whether you like it or not and yer not gonna guilt me over it. You’re all in fantastic health anyhow. Do any of you want to be taller or anything? Once puberty hits I plan on aiming for at least a hoof taller than dad, but even though you’re all done growing I think I could slowly push you up a little bit at a time.”

“I wouldn’t mind being a half hoof taller or so. Between that and putting on some muscle that sounds fantastic, son. I don’t think your moms would be sad at that either, at least until all the other mares start askin to join the family, that is.”

“I’m fine with my height as-is. I don’t see any advantage to being taller,” Title proclaims. Vines nods in agreement.

“Okay. Hey, speaking of mares joining the family, I’ve never really had that dynamic explained to me before. All my memories are from a nearly completely monogamous culture, but the gender ratio is one to one, so… yeah,” he finishes with a shrug.

Title takes the initiative to explain, “It’s not very complex. A stallion and a mare get into a relationship," she explains while touching hooves together. "If they’re going to stay together they get a marriage certificate and make it official. If additional ponies want to join them they get to know each other then all decide as a group. Some ponies are only into mares or stallions, regardless of which they are, so even in a marriage not all ponies are necessarily intimate with each other.”

“Ah… okay, the term marriage has an actual definition of one man and one woman for humans. At least, in the culture I belonged to. One man with many women was typically referred to as a harem and was something most guys thought they wanted. Jealousy and insecurity made it unlikely to happen, though.”

“Those can be issues, but me and your dam love each other very much in addition to loving your sire, so there’s no need to worry about that,” she explains, to the nods of both Deed and Vines. “If, for example, Lemon and Amethyst wanted to join our marriage we would all get together, discuss what we wanted from the union, then decide as a group if we wanted to go that route. It can strain existing marriages if, for example, Amy wanted in but Lemon didn’t.”

“So… how do you deal with that?”

“Hopefully, like mature adults,” Deed answers before Title can.

Nodding, Title explains, “Exactly. It doesn’t always happen that way and ponies can end up heartbroken. Ideally, they would have discussed that in depth before even approaching our family, though. If we all decided to join together Cherry and Lotus would be considered your siblings, even if not biologically, and we’d all be each others’ wives and your sire would be all our husband.”

“What if you wanted to say yes and dam didn’t?”

“It gets complicated, unfortunately. Your sire, dam, and I would need to discuss it and come to an agreement. Usually it needs to be unanimous, otherwise feelings will get hurt. They probably will either way in that scenario, but families don’t usually join like that unless everypony loves everypony else. It is possible, like I said, that one of the mares only likes stallions, though.”

“Okay… I would assume then that the best way to address that is to have intimacy separately from the group?”

“I guess. It’s up to the family, but either that or they just limit intimate contact to the stallion and the mare even if other mares are present. It gets even more confusing if there’s more than one stallion, unless the stallions are intimate with each other as well, I suppose.”

“Have you ever known of a scenario where… well, just because an example is easier, let’s say Lemon and Amethyst said, “We really like Deed, we only want to marry him” and then, the stallion is almost like shared between the two sets of mares? It could work, but only if the two sets of mares really got along well either way.”

Deed speaks up first. “I’ve heard of that happening, son… but I’ve never actually seen it. It would cause a huge problem if one group wanted to move or something and the other didn’t. In that scenario it’s probably best just to sign studding forms or be friends with an agreement on how the foals would be raised. There is a point where it’s just too complex to work right.”

Vines nods and speaks up next, “I’ve heard of it too, but it feels like that wouldn’t be as loving of a family at that point. That sounds more like a business agreement than a marriage to me. I think your sire is right, foal support agreements or a studding agreement would probably work better there. You’re less likely to have heartbroken ponies if the expectations are laid out early.”

“Okay, so this is a little more complex than human relationships, but as long as everypony enters into it with honesty and good intentions I can see how it could work out fine. Is it the same in other tribes? I thought unicorns were mostly monogamous like humans.”

“They are, from what you’ve described. It’s actually a very sad situation. Many unicorn mares go unmarried and can only have foals from studding contracts. I’m not sure why that is; if nature wanted us to be monogamous you’d think the gender ratio would be closer. Some just up and leave their family to get away from the stigma of being unmarried.”

“Yeah, I’m still hung up on why there's a gender imbalance. I don’t know of any mammals on Earth that weren’t one to one. It’s too likely to lead to extinction if there’s not enough males and something happens to the few you have." Cure rubs at his temples in frustration. "It happens naturally during evolution. If anything I would expect more males since males can produce so many more offspring than females!”

“Yeah, professional studs that produce more colts can make a lot of money each season. The only limiting factor is… well… how many times they can go before the season ends. A single mare can, in theory, book a stud for the whole season, so a contract can be worth tens of thousands of bits if a noble house absolutely needs a male heir and can find a stud that is likely to deliver.”

“Huh… I could retire in two years, probably. The first year to establish I can produce only colts, then the second year to land several guaranteed conception contracts. Definitely not the job I planned for, but if nothing else I could use the money to fund my research and travel needs.”

“You wouldn’t be able to get a bunch of contracts for one season, though, Cure. They can’t tell if a mare is pregnant until at least a few days.”

“Ah. Well, I could still have eight or ten at a time even if I have to visit them for several days in a row. Those would be busy days though.”

All three adults nearly fall off their cushions at once with a collective squawk.

“Uhh, son. Not to say I don’t believe in you, but… well, after a couple rounds… wait. You wouldn’t need to wait to recover would you?”

"Sweet Celestia..." Title mumbles.

“I don’t see why I would. It’s purely a biological process.” Pausing to think for a moment, he asks, “This is weird to ask, but are studs expected to ensure the pleasure of the mare too, or is it a “get it in, get it done, and get out” arrangement?”

Recovering before Vines can object, Title answers, “I don’t know exactly, but I think conception is a lot more likely if… you know, the mare enjoys it too? This is such a weird conversation, never mind having it with an eight year old.”

“This is just a different kind of financial planning, mom," he answers with a smirk. "Anyhow, I should be able to guarantee conception every time if a mare's ovulating, and I'll know exactly when it happens, so if a contract literally says “knock her up and get out of here” then I could be in and out in like ten minutes. Depending on how much fun the mare wants, maybe forty if I shower real good before I leave. Gotta maintain hygiene after all.”

“Son, I think you may be underestimating how long it takes to get a lady properly ready for that.”

“HA! No, I’m not. Once I learn what areas to stimulate and how much to I could give a mare an orgasm with a hoofbump.”

“Oh my Celestia…”
“Stars…”
“Damn, son”

Cure can't help but laugh at his parents' reactions. “Yeah, those will be some fun years for some lucky mares.”

“Got me feelin a little inadequate here, son.”

“Oh please, if you and I are interested in the same mare then something’s gone horribly, horribly wrong. Besides, we all know I’m cheating as hard as a cheat could ever cheat.”

“Well, just for appearance’s sake, you may want to plan for a little more than a thirty minute hoofbump session when the time comes,” Title explains.

“I dunno, mom. With the right stimulation most mares wouldn’t last more than five minutes before they pass out. That would be pretty mean, though." Ignoring the squawk of "What?!" from his dam he explains, "I think fifteen to twenty would be the ideal to shoot for. Enough not to overstimulate all at once, but not too slow that they aren’t suitably impressed.”

“That can cause you to pass out?” Vines asks, drawing everyone’s gaze.

“In human females it can. Achieving orgasm releases endorphins into the system. That’s the hormone that gives you that euphoric feeling. The more intense the orgasm, the more endorphins are released. A particularly powerful one, or several in a row, can knock a woman out.”

“Very inadequate…”

"Hey, is it illegal to cover or change your mark or appearance?"

Just rolling with the subject change at this point, Title answers first. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Well I'm just thinking that doing what I was talking about would definitely send up some red flags in the system… err, is "red flags" the same here?" at everypony's eye roll he continues, "Jeez just making sure idioms and phrases are the same."

"So far almost everything else has been, or we can sort it out by context. Just assume they will and we'll ask if you say something we don't recognize." Title explains.

Waving a hoof, Cure says, "Fine, fine. Well I think it would be wise to use a disguise to pull this off simply because I can see somepony hunting down a colt-only producing stud. Maybe not for nefarious reasons, but still, I’d want to keep my anonymity.”

“I dunno about illegal, but I’m betting the licensing process requires you to disclose your identity. Remember I didn’t want to go through all the hoops myself, son. It’s not just a two page questionnaire… they test everything about your… uhh… capabilities. A disguise or fake mark will get caught, no doubt."

“Well I’m talking about a little more thorough disguise than slapping a patch over my mark and putting on a fake mustache or something. I could basically invent a new identity, it depends on what kind of paperwork is used for identification and a few other things.”

“Oh they’ll definitely want to see your government ID card and your birth registration forms. You’d need the latter to get your ID. You don’t have one yet… you’re not required to have one until you’re fifteen since you have your cutie mark. The latest you can wait is eighteen.”

“So, legally you’re considered an adult at fifteen with your mark or eighteen otherwise?”

“Yep. You could get your ID earlier once you have your mark, though, since they’re all unique to the pony. They just require it at eighteen for unmarked ponies because they try to wait for a mark to show up. Some ponies just take longer, but they still need an ID for work and stuff.”

“Wow, I bet that puts a lot of pressure on ponies past fifteen that don’t have their mark yet…”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. I told you my story. I was losing sleep and everything. It was horrible being the last pony in my class without mine.”

“Ahh, yeah… you did mention that. Sorry.”

Title shrugs, “No problem, Cure. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. And you’re not wrong.”

“Well, either way, unless these IDs can be faked easily,” all three adults are shaking their heads no, “... let me guess, anti-fraud enchantments?” to which they all nod yes, “Crap. Well then that may sink that whole idea unless the board vehemently protects the identity of their studs, but I see “royal decree” trumping that no matter what.”

“I’m not sure about that, son. Nobles probably wouldn't get anywhere... well, legitimately, at least. I’m sure if the princess herself walked in the door they’d give her whatever she wants, but there’s no harm checking into the process. They do a lot to protect studs’ identities just to keep them safe from unscrupulous families or whatnot."

Title nods and adds, “Remember, Cure, the country needs stallions to have as many foals as possible to grow. Each stallion should, ideally, have at least six foals, preferably with one or more being colts. That’s more than a lot of married families can afford.”

“Really? I would assume there would be tax incentives and other government services dedicated to encouraging bigger families, then.”

“There are, but money isn’t always the only problem. Age, health, or just a lack of a desire to have and raise more foals have an effect too. Plus not everypony likes to be getting by on help from the government.”

“True… raising kids isn’t easy. Not everypony can be as lucky as you are, after all,” Cure agrees, brushing his hoof against his chest with a nod.

Rolling her eyes at him, Title explains, “There’s a lot of stallions that have no or very few foals. In centuries past they’ve had to occasionally issue royal decrees mandating stallions produce foals. Nopony was happy with it, but when you’re talking about the nation surviving or not, nopony can really argue against it either.”

“Weird,” Cure says, “It sounds an awful lot like a military draft, almost.”

“You’re not too far off, champ. It hasn’t happened since the last big war with the griffons, though. There were a lot of losses on both sides before the princess herself stepped in and ended it. Enough stallions got killed or maimed that there was a panic afterwards.”

“I just said that earlier! That’s why nature almost always has a one-to-one birth rate!”

“Well, we don’t, so as a species we do what we have to in order to survive,” Title explains.

“Yeah, well… I’m not super optimistic about the whole “stud for a few years and never have to work again” plan then. That may need revising in a few years when we have more info.”

“Poor thing… his first get rich quick scheme put on hold. Whatever shall he do?” Title asks unsympathetically.

“Beg you for money instead? We never did discuss exactly what my allowance would look like.”

“How’s this sound, son. I’ll set aside some bits, you use it as needed but keep it reasonable, then as it gets low you say the word and we’ll square up again?”

“Sounds good, dad. I doubt I’d spend more than a few bits a week anyhow. I’m only interested in it for social purposes anyway. It’s not like I can actually overeat when I can control what happens to my own fat stores so easily. If anything I’d probably waste more on greens than treats since, apparently, we break those down into proteins.”

“I thought you said you would need more meat for that as you hit puberty. What about my fish cravings?”

“It must be something in the oils, maybe like… omega fats or something that you’re craving. Humans can’t process greens into protein, hence my mistake, but ponies apparently can. It was in the dietary book and, gross as it sounds, I’ve watched my own digestion to be sure… so probably no more meat for me. I didn’t even enjoy it like I used to.”

“Different taste buds?”

“Yep. It was okay, but just okay.”

“Son, I have a question about all those stories you keep talking about.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“Well it seems odd, you know… you know all about the history, these villains, the future, but… how do I say this?”

Title jumps in at Deed’s pause. “Details. He’s missing a ton of details. It’s probably because, like he said, the stories were aimed at foals. I bet they left out a lot, didn’t they?”

“Right,” Cure begins, “they certainly never covered breeding or population shortages or dietary requirements or anything like that. They even went out of their way to show human-analogous things that make no sense. Is there such a thing as hay bacon, for example?”

Cure knows the answer as soon as he sees Title mouthing the words as if they’re a foreign concept.

“What the heck is hay bacon, son? Is that some kind of hay dish?”

“I have no idea, dad. It was something they showed but it never made sense. Bacon is a piece of meat from pigs, but you can’t just throw the word “hay” in front of it and say, “oh look, ponies are just like us!” because it doesn’t freaking work that way.”

“Okay, so basically a lot of things were missing from your stories and a lot of other things are close, but not quite right… right?”

“Well… there’s also that I only watched the show with Alanna. I’ve only really seen a few pieces of the overall story.”

“Uhh, son… you’ve been throwing out a lot of trivia beyond “a few pieces” if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yeah, that’s because while she was watching the show I would sometimes look things up so I could follow along. Remember the bookshelf? It’s like I used that instead of actually watching the show.”

“So, everything we’ve discussed as far as the future could be completely wrong?” Deed asks.

“Yep, especially since I’m here now. Ever heard of the prediction paradox?”

“Nope.” Deed turns to look at Title and Vines they both simply shrug.

“It means that if you know the future and you do anything at all with that knowledge, you’ve made that knowledge less useful because the future has changed. The only way everything would have happened the way it was going to happen, assuming it even would, is if I had done nothing.”

“Nothing?” Vines asks.

“Nothing. No telling you all about my memories, no teaching you about magic, no experiments. Nothing. And even then, I would just behave differently than I would without the memories. Who knows, maybe I’m the great, great, great grandfather of an important character in the story and now I’ll never meet their grandma.”

“Oh my…”

“Plus, you remember the whole multiverse conversation we had that first night?” At everypony’s nod he explains, “I have no idea where this world falls in that whole mess. I don’t even care. I’m gonna enjoy life and make arrangements for the things I can and roll the dice. Live life to the fullest, y’all, cause there ain’t nothin guaranteed to nopony, thank Harmony for that.”

At the lull in the conversation, Cure noted Vines was still glancing at Deed every so often. Making eye contact with his sire, he quickly glanced to her, then back.

“Well, how about I give you all some alone time until the sun starts going down? I’m sure dam could use a little break from me stressing her out with my crazy ideas, and, aside from going to the park with the fillies, I’ve barely moved all day. Do you mind if I get a small advance on that allowance and I’ll go see if I can run into anypony I know, maybe get a treat or something.”

“Sure, son, go grab your bags and I’ll fetch my wallet.”

“Oooh! If you get any candy, see if you can get me some caramels!”

“I wouldn’t mind some sweet chocolates if you could, sweetie.”

“Sure thing. Dad, anything for you?”

“Meh, just whatever. You know us stallions are easy to please.”

Cure runs to his room, straps his bags on, and heads back down. Getting some bits from his father, he heads out the door and towards the park, intent on finding something to entertain himself with for the next couple hours.

Sitting together, huddled into a pile, Deed leans over and nips at Vines’ ears and mane. Title, exhausted from the busy work day, just lays close enough to touch hips and otherwise relaxes.

“So, my little dandelion…” he starts, working his way down, then up her mane while occasionally nipping at the sides of her neck.

“Mmm?”

Standing, Deed once again puts his weight on her from the side, wrapping around her neck and chest.

“Seems to me the colt felt like you needed some extra attention for some reason,” he says, running his hoof down her side.

“I’ve been feeling a bit needy since I spent time with Amy.”

“Oh?”

“She… suggested we get together soon. She was very excited at the idea, in fact.”

“Well, we don’t want to leave her wanting, do we dear?” he asks, gently nipping at her ear.

“Mmm no, nopony should be left wanting, honey,” she agreed, tail twitching even more.

“Well, I have my priorities, so unfortunately Amy will just have to for tonight.”

“She sure will,” Title agreed, “but I don’t think you should keep your wife waiting too long, ya know?”

“Oh, no… we don’t want that.” Clamping gently onto an ear, Deed lowly growls, “Now you get that tail upstairs and out of my way, you hear me?”

“Yes dear.”

Climbing off of her, she immediately runs up the stairs. Shooting a questioning glance at Title, he gets a shrug and a wave towards the stairs. Not sure what’s changed with his wife, he heads up figuring he might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

Title, somewhat drifting off, is awakened a few minutes later to the euphoric moans and grunts she hears echoing down the stairs. Ears perked, she can hear that there’s movement in the bedroom, but nothing seems unusual until she hears a low moan, slowly increasing in pitch into a shout. Suddenly very interested, she heads up the steps, pausing only when the moaning shout turns into a wall-shaking, deep throated scream, then silence.

Entering the room she finds Deed with about the biggest grin she’s ever seen on him. Underneath him, Vines appears to be completely catatonic.

“What in the hay did you do to her?”

“Nothing unusual, I swear! She hasn’t been like that in years, babe. I think she actually passed out.” Petting on her for a moment, she doesn’t move at all. “Huh… the colt was right. Well I’ll be..." After a second of thought he asked Title, "Umm, you don’t think she asked him to… I dunno, do something, do you? They were acting weird.”

Rolling her eyes, Title heads to the linen closet to grab a few washcloths. “No, honey. At least, nothing bad. Did you even have a chance to finish?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, you had to have heard her. Like I could hold back from THAT. She basically pulled it right out of me.” Accepting a washcloth he mumbled a quick thanks. “Barely had time to enjoy myself, though.”

Deed gently rolls Vines fully onto her side on the bed. Getting the washcloth in place first, he slowly eases back and cleans her up enough that there won’t be a mess on the sheets. Title helps take care of him with a second cloth, giving a thorough inspection while doing so.

“Gettin a little grabby there, ainchya? Don’t worry yer pretty head, honey. Like I told the colt, I won’t leave a mare disappointed. Don’t dry the lil fella off too much now. Get yourself right over here, see if I can go two for two.”

Pausing for a moment, Title considers. The sounds and smells had definitely gotten her interest piqued, and having the equipment in hoof didn’t abate that feeling one bit.

Finishing and tossing the washcloth in the restroom, she says, “Shush. I was wonderin if maybe you had ‘em do something. Maybe that shoulder wasn’t the only touch up he gave? I saw that wink too, after all.”

“HA! Nope, that’s all me babe. Now get over here and I'll prove it to ya!”

Deed had evidently gotten impatient, and with a swat of his tail on her rump she jumped to. Taking position so she was pressed between her wife and her husband, Title was not disappointed at all when he did, in fact, close again and deliver the Deed.

Author's Note

So a little planning, some world building, and some meandering conversation. In case you haven't noticed, that's what tends to happen. You talk about A, someone mentions B, then you've gone over C, D, and E before you realize you never even finished discussing A.

Oh well, such is life. If I'm mathing right it looks like that's a tad over 27k for the week. I think I'll take a break for a few days. 17 will probably hit Tuesday. Maybe Monday if I get in a mood. Everyone enjoy the weekend!