Heat Season

“A pony.”

“A-yup.”

“A pony?”

“Again, yup.”

Clad in a fluffy, cream-colored robe, a bleary-eyed Lyra stared at him over her morning coffee. One would think he’d grown a second head.

“So? What do you think?”

“About time,” muttered Bon Bon, her attention focused on the stack of pancakes before her. “What?” she said upon registering her housemates staring at her. “You didn’t expect him to run around all...” She waved a hoof up and down. “Biped forever, did you?”

“It would make things convenient,” Lyra mused, stirring in some sugar cubes and a splash of cream onto her drink. “Well, as far as size goes. Just about everything is too small for him.”

A tinge of nervousness manifested in Anon. “I mean, Twilight said this kind of thing is only temporary.”

“Oh, yeah,” Lyra shrugged. “It’s part of Salt Horn’s basic laws of transmutation.”

“Twilight said something along those lines,” Anon said as he speared a forkful of flapjacks and shoved them in his maw. “That there’s no danger of it being permanent?”

“Nope. You can prolong the transformation as long as you like... theoretically... if the spell is renewed before it reaches its conclusion.” She gave him a measured look. “But don’t you think this is a bit...”

“Reckless?” Bon Bon said helpfully.

“I think what Bon Bon means,” Lyra continued. “Is this is all a bit sudden. You weren’t even interested in mares until, what, two days ago? And now this whole transformation business...” she trailed off.

Anon shrugged. “What’s there to worry about?”

“Just making sure you’ve thought this through.”

“Look.” He let the fork fall loudly onto his plate. “I don’t... get you ponies. Not all of you. I mean, duh, we’re different species, right? I can live with it. But if I really want to make a life for myself here and maybe... I dunno, find a nice mare... I’m gonna need to understand you guys better. At least where,” he looked down, blushing. “At least where sex, mares and relationships are concerned.”

Lyra and Bon Bon shared a look.

“And turning into a pony will help?”

“I dunno. Maybe. It’s worth a try, I think.” They still didn’t seem convinced. “Look, that whole thing Twilight and her friends cooked up, with the estrus cycle? It got me thinking. If it really is that bad for you mares, that they planned this whole scheme to get relief... how would others react?

“Say I never knew those six. Say that... I dunno, I was in good terms with the flower sisters or, hell, Vinyl and Octavia. Say they too realized I could help them through the estrus cycle; full relief with no danger of pregnancy. Would they leave well enough alone? Or would they try to get first dibs, if they found out I started to like mares?”

The two mares shared another, slightly guilty look, not meeting his eye.

“Full relief, no pregnancy?” Bon Bon muttered. “It’s tempting. Awfully tempting.”

“I... can’t imagine many mares would let an opportunity like that slip,” Lyra grudgingly admitted. “Assuming they’re into the whole tall, bipedal alien look.”

“So you see, this is gonna be a problem no matter where I go.”

“When you put it that way... well, I still don't see what being a pony's got to do with it,” Lyra said.

“Can’t hurt. You guys’ views on... sex and these things are nearly opposite to us. If I’m gonna stay here in Equestria, if I want to build something long-term, then I’m gonna need to... understand you ponies better. What better way to do it than walking a mile in your shoe—er, hooves?”

Lyra took a careful sip of her coffee, while Bon Bon chewed thoughtfully on her pancakes.

“It’s either that or I get used to disappointment.”

Lyra’s ears drooped. “It’s just... I dunno. Do what you think is best. Just be careful.”

“It’s risky, is all I’m saying,” Bon Bon muttered.

Anon shrugged. “Life is all about risk.” He speared another forkful of pancakes and bit down. “You won’t get too far playing it safe.”