“Well, I’ll be damned,” Primrose said, her eyebrows raised in shock.

We had arrived back home in Ponyville in the early hours of the morning. The sun was just barely poking over the horizon when the train had pulled into the station and we disembarked. No one was up and about yet, allowing us a silent and undisturbed walk to the library.

It appeared that it had snowed more in Canterlot than it had in Ponyville, as the snow was barely up past my ankles. The roads had been cleared, and several large snow piles dotted the sides of the streets. A couple of them looked like the foals had gotten into them and made little snow forts. Tiny snow ponies rested beside the forts, half of them already destroyed.

Nearing the library, it was easy to see that Spike had kept the main walkway clear of snow, and even had a lantern hanging by the front door for us. He had insisted on staying at the library while we were at Canterlot; something about showing Twilight how mature he was. From the outside, the library had looked fine.

Upon stepping through the door, however, we were met with a big surprise.

Spike had managed to keep the place relatively clean. The floors had been swept, the shelves dusted and organized. The mail had been all stacked upon Twilight’s desk for her later inspection. A small fire was crackling away in the fireplace, heating up the room and helping us warm up from our walk through the cold.

The fact that everything was in order and the library was clean wasn’t what had caused us to stop in shock, however.

It was what—or who—was currently sitting in the center of the room, staring at us with her head cocked to the side.

The human female watched us, curiosity in her light blue eyes, one of which was covered slightly by a lock of her poofy, light brown hair. Her hands were folded in her lap, with her legs folded beneath her body. She was young; I wasn’t sure how old she was by Equestrian standards, but if she had been from Earth, she would probably have been in her early twenties. All she had on was a simple-looking white nightshirt that went down to her thighs.

As we stood there, staring at her, she cocked her head to the side, blinking slowly. She gave off a soft chirp, before cocking it in the other direction.

“Where did she come from?” Ebony asked, halfway through levitating her saddlebags to the floor. Keeping her eyes locked on the human, she finished depositing the bags, the magic around her horn dissipating with a soft pop.

“S-she showed up shortly before you did,” came a harsh whisper from the top of the stairs. Glancing up, I spied Spike peering through the bar of the banister, a worried look on his face.

“Spike,” Twilight called out, worry in her voice. She took a step forward, her wings flaring. “Did she do anything to you?”

He shook his head. “N-no, she just wandered in and started looking around. After a few minutes she just sat down in the middle of the room and stayed there.”

Giving the human one last nervous look, Spike then scampered down the stairs before darting over to us. Twilight crouched down, allowing him to quickly climb up upon her back.

As she stood back up, Avera scrunched up her face, squinting one eye.

“Hey,” she said, an ear flicking, “isn’t that the human we ran into at Canterlot after our trip to the Archives?”

I blinked before glancing back at the human, then blinked again. She’s right! The human female before us was the same one that had nipped my neck after we had bashed heads together.

“By the Maker, it is,” Primrose said. She grunted once before rubbing the bridge of her nose with a hoof. “I don’t believe it,” she huffed in annoyance. I wasn’t sure what she was annoyed about, it was just a human.

“What’s she doing here?” Twilight asked, although it nearly came out as a growl. Her eyes narrowed at the human, her ears pressed tight against her head.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Primrose asked as she stopped rubbing her nose, dragging her hoof down her face. When Twilight gave her a confused look, she rolled her eyes. “What time’s coming up that involves humans?” When Twilight expression remained blank, Primrose sighed heavily.

“It’s the start of the humans’ mating season,” she explained with a huff. WHAT?! I jerked, whipping my head around to stare at her. Mating season?

Twilight eyes widened as Ebony swore under her breath.

“I forgot that was around this time of year,” she muttered, shaking her head. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted as Avera suddenly burst out laughing.

“I told you you caught her eye,” she snickered, bumping my hip with her hoof. My incredulous look only caused her to burst out laughing again.

“Should have seen this coming,” Primrose sighed, giving the human female a bemused look.

~Hold up~ I signed, causing everyone to look at me. ~Back up a second. Mating season?~

“Yeah,” Primrose said slowly, nodding her head. “Human females tend to go into heat during the late winter, early spring months as well as in the late fall. When a human female feels that she is going into heat, she searches out a suitable mate. This one—” she pointed at the human, who blinked and chirped twice “—seems to have decided upon you.”

I stared at her blankly for several seconds. ~There is so much wrong with what you just said~

Primrose blinked up at me, a confused look on her face, which was mirrored by the others. “What?”

~Humans don’t go into heat~ I signed.

“Yes, they do,” Ebony said.

~No, they don’t~

“Maybe on your old world they don't, but here, they go into heat,” Primrose said.

“If the females on your world don’t go into heat, what do they do?” Twilight asked, her eyes lit up with curiosity. I sighed heavily, rubbing my face with my hands before replying. I can’t believe I’m discussing this with them.

~About once a month, they tend to get real moody and then—I paused, trying to figure out how best to word it—and then they bleed~ I motioned towards my crotch, causing everyone to cock their heads to the side. Spike just looked disturbed.

“Oh,” Twilight said suddenly, her ears perking up, “you mean they go through a menstrual cycle, similar to what the minotaurs go through. The bleeding occurs due to the body shedding the endometrium, or uterine lining, riding the body of the unused egg. That’s actually a very interesting and startling contrast between your species and Equestria's females,” she added, rubbing her chin with a hoof. She chewed on her lip for a few seconds before continuing, “Well, regardless, the humans here in Equestria do go into heat. While it is possible for a human to be impregnated outside of their breeding seasons, it is highly unlikely and almost never happens. It is guaranteed, however, should they be inseminated during heat.”

~Okay, okay, okay~ I signed quickly, cutting her off before she got rolling. ~That is way too much information for me. I’ll just go with humans in Equestria have a heat cycle and leave it at that~

“What fun is it if you can get pregnant at any time during the year?” Avera muttered, scratching at her ear with a hoof. “Although, that does explain how you have so many humans running around on your planet.”

“I think we’re getting off-topic here,” Ebony chimed in. “What are we going to do about her?” She pointed a hoof at the female human who, through our discussion, hadn’t moved from her spot, still watching us curiously. Upon Ebony motioning towards her, she perked up, cooing softly.

“Well, she doesn’t have any markings on her,” Primrose muttered, scratching her neck with a hoof. “We can take her to the local pound. They’ll send out a notice for anypony who might be looking for her. If nopony claims her, she’ll be put up for adoption.”

“The Apple family usually adopts the females for breeding,” Twilight added, nodding her head.

While they were talking, the female stood up, wincing when she put pressure on her feet. Glancing down, my eyes widened in shock when I saw that the bottoms of her feet were covered in dried blood.

Noticing it as well, Ebony’s eyes widened and she whistled softly.

“Shows how much she wanted to get to you,” she said. “Looks like she walked all the way from Canterlot. Probably sliced her feet up climbing down the mountain.”

“Yup,” Avera nodded. “She totally wants your offspring.” I glared down at her, causing her to snicker again. “You could just mate with her,” she continued. “It would make her happy, and be a great stress relief for you.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, an affronted look on her face, but I beat her to it.

~No~ I signed, growling slightly. ~I’m not mating with her, or any other human. Or any of you ponies for that matter~

“Still upset about that noble?” Primrose asked with a snicker.

~She tried to buy me, so she could fuck me!~

“That’s the nobles for ya,” Primrose said with a shrug. Sighing heavily, I turned back to look at the human, only to pause when I caught Twilight staring at me with an odd look on her face. However, when I glanced at her, she looked away, her ears splaying backwards as a small frown touched her face.

Eyeing her for a few more seconds, I shrugged before returning my attention to the human female. I jerked backwards upon finding her practically face to face with me.

At my movement, her hands shot out and grabbed a hold of the front of my shirt. Pulling me forward, she nuzzled my chin before giving it a light nip. She tried to wrapped her arms around my neck, but I ducked, slipping out of her grasp and backing up quickly.

She moved to follow after me, but was stopped when a rosy glow surrounded her.

“And we’re going to put a stop to that behavior right now,” Ebony said, her horn glowing. I shot her a thankful look as the female began to struggle against the magic. She chirped loudly, head whipping around as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“Well,” Ebony sighed, lifting the human into the air, “I’ll just take her down and drop her off at the pound. Don’t wait up.” Turning, she opened the front door and trotted out. The female struggled in midair, her chirps turning to growls and yelps. As she thrashed her limbs around, trying to get free, her shirt slipped up, exposing herself.

Son of a bitch, I thought, my face flushing as I got a full view. Staring longer than I should've, I finally turned my head away, cheeks red.

The human continued struggling, even as Ebony carried her through the door. Twisting in midair, she wailed loudly, reaching out her arms in a futile attempt to reach me. She let out one last shriek before, with a loud thud, the library door shut, muffling her noises.

Those of us who remained just stared at the closed door, bemused looks on our faces.

~That was weird~ I eventually signed, ~and slightly disturbing~

“That was a human female instinctively trying to guard her mate against potential rivals,” Primrose grunted, using her wings to remove her saddlebags.

~Not her mate~ I signed, glaring down at the batpony.

“Oh, shush you,” she chuckled. “I’m surprised that you haven’t had to deal with this yet. Actually,” she added, her brow furrowing, “I’m surprised that you haven’t had to deal with any territorial males yet either.” She cast a curious look at Twilight, who just shrugged.

“We’ve never really had any problems with aggressive behavior,” she said as Spike jumped off her back. “Most of the males in Ponyville just seem to ignore Max.”

“You must look intimidating enough to scare them off,” Primrose guessed.

“Aw, but he’s not mean,” Avera cooed. “He’s just a huge bundle of fun!” She nuzzled my side before darting off quickly, nimbly avoiding my swipe. Laughing, she stuck out her tongue before disappearing down the basement stairs. Primrose shook her head, chuckling softly as she followed behind at a slower pace.

As the basement door closed with a soft click, Twilight turned to look at me, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to make something quick to eat before heading up to get some sleep. Those early train rides are a killer. You want anything?”

~Eggs~ I signed as my stomach growled loudly. ~Lots and lots of eggs~

“You’ve been a bottomless pit ever since the potion,” Twilight snarked before a soft smile touched her lips. “I’ll make you some scrambled eggs and cheese. Anything to drink?”

~I’m feeling like chocolate milk~

“I don’t think we’ve got any,” Twilight said, chewing on her lip. “Although, I think we have the ingredients to make it. I’ll get started on breakfast while you finish unpacking.” As she headed into the kitchen, I turned towards our bags, scratching absentmindedly at my stomach.

I had just reached down to grab the first bag when I heard Twilight shout from the kitchen, “Spike! What’s with all these empty ice cream cartons?!”

I’ve never seen something so small move so fast, but Spike was out the front door before I could blink, screaming something about visiting Rarity back over his shoulder.

It wasn’t every day that Twilight could say that something made her nervous.

She had done many things since moving to Ponyville. She faced down Nightmare Moon by herself in the ruins of the Everfree Castle until her friends showed up, defeated Discord and his mind games after reversing his spell on her friends, figured out Chrysalis’s deception, and found the Crystal Heart despite King Sombra’s best attempts to conceal it.

She had faced down many dangers, each one almost as frightening as the last.

That being said, the large group of mares that currently had her surrounded was, without a doubt, one of the scariest moments she had ever experienced.

They had cornered her shortly after she had left the market, bags full of grocery items. She had almost made it back to the library when one of the pegasi—Flitter, she believed—had dropped out of the sky in front of her, blocking her path. The others had then moved in, quickly swarming her.

She quickly found herself running out of space as she was forced to back up. Her gaze drifted across the crowd, a few faces standing out. There were the flower ponies, Cloudkicker, as well as a white pegasus with pink and green hair. Blossomforth, Twilight believed her name was. There were a couple of ponies she didn’t know, but had seen around town before. All were giving her what appeared to be eager grins.

“Heya, Twilight!” Cloudkicker chirped happily. “We were looking for you earlier last week, but you were out of town!”

“Yeah, I was in Canterlot, visiting family,” Twilight said, laughing awkwardly. Her eyes darted around the group as she swallowed nervously. “What… why were you looking for me?”

“Well,” Cloudkicker drawled, “it was the holidays, which means most of us got our holiday bonuses last week. So, we thought we’d pool our bits and buy ourselves a little special treat.”

Twilight’s strained smile quickly vanished at those words, her ears splaying backwards at the eager nods of the other mares.

“W-what kind of treat?” she reluctantly asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer.

“A tasty-looking human kinda treat,” Cloudkicker purred, her wings fluffing by her sides.

“I-I don’t…”

“We’ve did the math, and we have slightly over eighty thousand bits,” Cloudkicker interrupted. “That’s the asking price, isn’t it?”

“I… um… w-why do you want Max?” Twilight stuttered lamely. “With that amount of bits, I’m pretty sure that you could get several humans from Applejack.”

“Because your human is better,” Cloudkicker chirped. “Don’t get me wrong, Applejack’s humans have their merits, but yours is unique!” Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but Cloudkicker just kept talking. “He’s survived a pit fight, which means he has stamina, and he hasn’t had to be put down, so his temperament is good. He’s faced down manticores, so he can be rough, yet he’s also good with foals, so we don’t have to worry about him being too rough.

“Plus,” she added, a strange gleam in her eyes, “he’s not that bad looking either.”

At that, the other mares began to add their two cents.

“Lyra was chasing him, and she’s obsessed with humans, so he has to be good!”

“I’ve seen the way he interacts with Rainbow Dash!”

“He got Rarity to remove that stick up her flank when it came to humans!”

“Princess Luna was borrowing him on Nightmare Night!”

Twilight slowly began to back up as the mares continued to shout, each one barely heard above the other. Suddenly, her flank bumped into something large, causing her to squeak in surprise. Tail tucked between her legs, she whipped around, only to freeze when she saw who she had bumped into.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked up at Max’s face, a small smile touching her lips. The relief turned to confusion when she saw that he was holding a sign post over his shoulder.

The squabbling group fell silent as they took notice of the human standing before them. The smile on Cloudkicker’s face grew, and she took a step forwards, licking her lips. There was a brief moment of silence, where the human stared at the ponies, before Max lifted the sign off of his shoulder. He brushed a patch of earth clear of snow with his foot, and, with a quick, deft motion, he raised the sign over his head and buried the tip into the ground.

Giving the top of the post several good smacks with his hand, he stepped back to admire his work. Satisfied, he gave the group of mares one last look, and with a quick salute, he turned and walked back toward the open door of the library.

The mares, Twilight included, approached the sign, giving it curious looks. Painted on the wood with black paint were the words:

Due to rising demand, the asking price for the human, Max, has increased to five-hundred thousand bits.
PER MARE.

We are sorry about any inconvenience.

Thank you.

Twilight gave the sign one last glance—a relieved smile crossing her face—before quickly pushing her way through the murmuring crowd, hurrying after Max. He paused, holding the door open for her as she approached.

Reaching the threshold, she cast one last glance at the group over her shoulder. Their folded ears and disappointed expressions gave her a twist of giddy pleasure. Not my human, you hussies.

Flicking her tail, she turned and trotted into the library with her head held high.

I watched Twilight prance by me, a smirk on her face and her nose in the air. Shaking my head in amusement, I glanced back at the mares currently eyeing my sign. A smirk of my own touched my lips before I closed the door behind me. I made sure to lock the deadbolt for extra security.

Once that was done, I stepped around Twilight, who was in the process of removing her bags, and headed back to the small table set up in the back of the library. All three of my guards were seated around it, cards held in their hooves. The top of the table was covered in discarded cards, mugs of hard cider, and several bits. Several wooden crates sat just off to the side, the lid on the top most one cracked open slightly.

“Finally!” Avera groaned as I took my seat again. “Some peace and quiet. Noisy bunch of tail-lifters, weren’t they?”

“W-what?” Twilight asked, glancing up from her bags.

“Your friends outside,” Primrose explained, eyeing her cards. “We could hear the entire conversation in here. That’s why Max went to help you.”

~I ain't no prostitute~ I signed. ~They aren’t getting into my pants, no matter how much money they have~ I took a sip from my mug before picking my cards back up and looking through them.

“Well, thanks,” Twilight said softly, levitating her bags into the air. “Not even back a day and they’re already heckling me… I mean, us.”

~Well, that sign ought to help out for a while~ I signed, placing my cards face down and glancing back at Twilight. ~Now, so long as they don’t force the issue, we can just ignore them~

“Really?” Avera snickered, glancing up at me. “You’re not even considering sleeping with any of them? It would be an easy way to make bits.”

~If you think it’s worth it, then by all means, go on out there and speak to them~ I signed. ~I’m sure you can get at least one of them to sleep with you~

“Yeah, well, I would just like to be able to go to the market without being stopped by half the town,” Twilight grumbled. Carrying her bags behind her, she turned and trotted towards the kitchen.

“I’m going to put the groceries away,” she called back to us. “Has anypony come into the library today?”

“Nope,” Ebony chirped, staring at her cards. “All quiet here!” Twilight nodded silently before ducking into the kitchen. There was a brief moment of silence before the muffled sound of cabinet doors opening reached my ears.

“Right, where were we?” Avera asked, turning back to her cards.

“I believe we were about to find out who lost this round,” Primrose spoke up, taking a sip of cider.

“Alright,” Avera said, throwing down her cards. “Let’s see what ya got!” The rest of us laid down our cards, revealing our hands. There was several seconds of silence as we glanced at each other’s cards, before Primrose swore explosively.

“Looks like you have the low hand,” Avera snickered. Primrose grumbled, glaring down at her cards.

“Do you want to choose, or do you want it to be random?” Ebony asked, her horn lighting up. Primrose was silent for a brief moment before sighing.

“Random, please,” she muttered, slumping in her chair. Ebony nodded before turning to focus on the crates beside us. A rosy glow surrounded the lid of the top crate, which slowly lifted up. The tinkle of glass was heard before a bottle of light blue liquid was pulled out from within.

“Here you go,” Ebony said, levitating the bottle over to Primrose. She took it in her hooves, staring at it solemnly. The blue liquid glowed softly, bubbles slowly drifting to the surface.

Sighing again, Primrose grabbed the cork with her teeth, pulling it out with a loud pop.

“I hate you all,” she growled before putting the mouth of the bottle to her lips and throwing her head back. Draining the bottle in several large gulps, she lowered it, licking her lips before grimacing.

“Bitter,” she said, but froze as the words left her mouth. Instead of her normal voice, she had spoke in, what could only be described as, a squeaky, helium-filled voice.

Avera jammed a hoof to her muzzle, trying to stifle her laughter. Ebony was just looking at Primrose, a large smile on her face. I was just sitting there, wondering if she would let me put a red shirt on her with a yellow ‘A’ on it.

“Well, this is certainly better than expected,” Primrose squeaked, causing Avera’s laughter to increase. “Certainly better than the previous potion.”

A few hands back, when she had lost, Primrose had drunk a potion that caused her fur to fluff up, making her look like a giant fur ball. It had been hilarious, and we had to pause the game until the potion had worn off and her fur returned to its normal length.

While sorting through some of the random stuff in the storage room of the library, Ebony had found a box full of potions that Twilight had made. I assumed that she had moved them up here when she had cleared out the basement for me, and it seems that she had forgotten about them.

Seeing as it had been a slow day at the library, we had decided to make use of the potions to entertain ourselves. Setting up a table and getting some drinks, we had sat down and started playing cards. However, instead of betting bits, the loser had to drink a random potion.

The effects had been interesting. Ebony had taken two potions so far; one had given her butterfly wings for a brief period of time. The other had turned her into a stallion for several minutes, and had been extremely awkward for her.

“How do you sit down with this equipment?” she/he had grumbled, shifting around in her/his chair.

Avera had two potions that turned her feathers pink, and increased her tongue to a disturbing length, the wet muscle hanging down to practically her hooves.

I had only had to drink one potion so far, and all that did was cause me to sneeze out fire, which, surprisingly, changed colors with each sneeze.

“Alright, I think it’s wearing off,” Primrose said, her voice now halfway between squeaky and normal. Turning, she glanced at Avera. “You gonna deal out the cards, or just sit there?”

“I’m working on it, your filliness,” she huffed, gathering the cards with her wings. She shuffled them quickly before dealing them out.

Picking up my cards and glancing at them, I resisted the urge to grimace at the sight of nothing. Not even a pair. Shit.

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I quickly discard the three cards I felt would be most unlikely to help. As Avera dealt out the new cards, I drained my mug, placing it back onto the table with a soft clink. I kept my expression as blank as possible as I slowly picked up the new cards, only to groan inwardly as I saw that I had only managed to get a single pair of twos out of it.

“Alright,” Avera said after everyone had discard and gotten new cards. “Let’s see who’ll be drinking this time. Show your cards.”

Tossing my cards onto the table, I silently prayed that one of the girls had a hand with nothing. A quick glance around me showed that that wasn’t the case, and I banged my head on the table, groaning loudly.

“And it looks like the big guy is our loser this round!” Avera cooed gleefully as Ebony’s horn lit up.

“Do you want to choose, or do you want it to be random?” she asked, levitating her mug to her lips. Lifting my head, I ran a hand over my face while holding out my other hand in a silent request.

Ebony cracked the top of the crate open and glanced inside. Humming softly, she rubbed her chin with a hoof, her eyes darting back and forth as she decided what bottle to give me. Eventually she leaned back, pulling a roundish bottle out. It contained a dark pink—almost a raspberry-colored—liquid that bubbled gently.

Taking the bottle from her magic, I stared curiously at the potion inside.

“Come on, big guy, you know the rules,” Avera grinned. “Drink up.”

I sighed before pulling the cork out of the top of the bottle with a pop. Swirling the liquid inside, I chewed on my lip before, with a grimace, I placed the bottle upon my lips. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back and began to drink.

As the liquid touched my tongue, I was mildly surprised at the taste. It wasn’t bitter as I had been expecting but was rather pleasantly fruity, like fruit punch. It fizzed, much like a carbonated soda, and tickled my nose as I swallowed. A feeling of warmth slowly began to spread through me as the potion flowed down my throat and into my stomach.

As I drank, I heard Twilight walk into the room, muttering to herself. Her hoofsteps paused, and it sounded like her breath hitched in her throat. “Wait—”

Finishing off the potion, I lowered the bottle as I let out a small burp. I had just started to open my eyes when I was tackled sideways off of my chair and onto the floor. I grunted in pain as the pony that had tackled me landed on top of me, hooves digging into my stomach.

“WHAT THE BUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” Twilight screamed from her perch on top of me. I tried to glance up at her, but my gaze only got to her stomach before she quickly shoved her hooves in front of my eyes.

“NO!” she shrieked. “DON’T LOOK AT ME! DON’T LOOK AT ANYPONY, NOT EVEN WITH YOUR BLIND EYE!” I felt her twist around on my stomach, her tail thwacking against my leg. “Get me a piece of cloth!” she ordered someone.

“What for?” I heard Avera ask, clearly as confused as I was. I had no idea what had set Twilight off, but I was getting rather annoyed now. The hooves digging into my stomach didn’t help matters either.

“Don’t ask questions. Just do it!” Twilight snarled, an unstated you twit clear in her tone. I reached up to push her hooves off my eyes, but she batted my hands away with her magic. “No!” she snapped, restraining them.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” I heard Primrose ask. Thank you! I’d like to know myself. I growled softly, very annoyed now. Without my hands, I couldn’t ‘speak’, which was beginning to feel really restricting. I attempted to roll to the side to throw Twilight off of me, but her next words caused me to freeze.

“He drank love poison!” Twilight said, her voice sounding tense. “That means that the next living thing he looks in the eye, he’ll fall madly in love with, to the point of obsession. If he kisses it, the effect becomes permanent. That’s why we need the cloth. We need to blindfold him until the poison wears off.”

Aaaaaaand just like that, I was no longer trying to escape. Oh… shit. Underneath Twilight’s hooves, I slid my eyes closed. Great, just great. The last thing I needed was to fall in love with the next creature I looked at. Especially with all the mares out there trying to get in my pants.

“Why did you give him love poison?” I heard Twilight ask.

“We didn’t know it was love poison,” Ebony answered, sounding like she was still at the table. “Every other potion in the crate was harmless! Why do you even have love poison?”

“The Crusaders,” Twilight sighed. “They made it over a year ago for one of their adventures. Needless to say, it didn’t go as planned and they learned their lesson, but they had some left over. I confiscated it and placed it with my other potions after clearly labeling it as ‘dangerous’!”

I heard Ebony chuckle sheepishly, shifting in her chair. “Yeah, we might have removed the labels to make the game more interesting.”

“You’re lucky I don’t keep any real poison around the library,” Twilight growled. I felt one of her wings brush against my side, causing me to shift slightly due to the tickling sensation.

“Will you stop moving?” she asked. I growled, snapping my teeth. Unable to speak or move my arms, that was the extent of my ability to communicate. “Quiet, you,” Twilight huffed. “You’re lucky I stopped you before you looked at one of your guards. I can’t believe you’d do something like this, especially after the incident in Canterlot. I thought you were growing up, but you’re still that immature little brat that Celestia sent me in a crate, aren’t you?” By her tone of voice, I knew she was just teasing with the last part; mostly.

Shrugging my shoulders the best I could, I stuck out my tongue and blew a raspberry.

“I said quiet,” Twilight said, trying and failing to stifle her giggles. Slowly, the tension in the room began to fade. I felt the tip of Twilight’s wing brush against my face, gently pushing my jaw closed. It lingered only for a moment before she retracted it.

There was a flutter of wings, followed closely by a clatter of hooves as someone landed beside me.

“Here’sh th' blindfold,” I heard Avera slur through clenched teeth. There was a brief pause before I felt something soft wrap itself around my head slowly, covering my eyes. Taking a risk, I cracked my eye open. Darkness met my gaze, my vision blocked by the blindfold now around my head.

“There,” Twilight breathed, shifting around on top of me. “That should do it. Now, you just need to keep that on until the poison wears off.” I grunted as her weight lifted off of me, her tail brushing against my nose as she apparently turned around. “I’m not sure if the age affects the strength of the poison,” she continued. “Let's go with three hours just to be safe.”

“What are we supposed to do now? The big guy can’t play cards blindfolded,” Avera grumbled, her voice coming from beside my head. There was the sound of magic being used, followed by something hard hitting something soft, and the tinkle of glass striking glass. Avera grunted in pain, the wind leaving her lungs.

“You three are going to go down stairs and relabel all of those potions correctly,” Twilight growled.

“How are we supposed to figure out which one’s which?” Avera asked, her voice sounding strained.

“I don’t know,” Twilight huffed. “Sample them if you have to; just figure it out.” There was the sound of scraping, magic being used, and the clop of hooves before the basement door swung open. The sound of hooves marching down the stairs echoed around the room before the door apparently closed with a click.

I sat up, feeling slightly disoriented due to my lack of sight. I was not only mute, but now temporarily blind as well. Stumbling slightly as I got to my feet, I heard Twilight tsk softly. That was the only warning I got before I was lifted unexpectedly into the air.

I yelped in surprise, struggling slightly before I heard Twilight speak.

“What am I going to do with you?” she asked as I floated there. I was unable to tell if I was moving or stationary, a sense of vertigo causing my stomach to flip-flop.

I smiled in what I thought was Twilight’s general direction, and I heard her snort.

“No, you aren’t allowed to be cute,” she huffed. “I’m trying to be mad at you. You’re like a little foal who doesn’t know when to keep his muzzle out of something dangerous. I thought you’d have been more cautious around potions, especially after the Transformation one, but nope. Here you are, drinking unlabeled potions just because you’re bored. What possibly possessed you to think that this was in any way a good idea?”

Suddenly, I was no longer suspended by magic and I fell onto something soft. Feeling around, I determined that I had been deposited onto the couch. As I sat up, the soft clop of hooves in front of me indicated where Twilight was.

~Because they belonged to you~ I replied as I made myself comfortable. The hoofsteps paused, and I got the distinct feeling Twilight was looking at me.

“What?” she asked.

~The potions belonged to you, so they couldn’t have been anything too bad, right?~

“This love poison doesn’t count as ‘too bad’, hm?” she asked, something in her voice sounding condescending.

~It wasn’t made by you, though~ I signed. ~You were just storing it. All the other potions were harmless~

“That’s an awful lot of trust to place in me not making something bad,” Twilight muttered, and I could practically hear her eyes rolling.

~Well, that’s because I trust you that much~ I signed, leaning against the back of the couch. This was answered with a sudden squeak, followed by the sound of hooves stumbling. I frowned, glancing in the general direction of the noise. ~Are you alright?~

Twilight’s face flushed as she recovered from her stumble. Flexing her wings, she glanced back at Max, only to find him facing her, a small frown on his face.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” she said. Swallowing, she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. He trusts me that much? What if I had Hemlock or Bellapuledra in there? He’s lucky I’m not like Zecora!

Keeping her head low, Twilight climbed up onto the cushion next to Max.

~So~ he sighed, licking his lips, ~this love poison makes me fall in love with anyone I look at?~

“If you look them in the eyes, yes,” Twilight replied with a nod. “Although there are potions out there that will do the same thing regardless of where you look at them.”

~Right~ Max signed, before swallowing thickly. There was a brief pause before he asked, ~And I just need to keep this blindfold on for the next few hours, and I’m in the clear?~

“Precisely,” Twilight said with a nod before she remembered Max couldn’t see her.

He shifted in place, clenching and unclenching his hands in a nervous display. Upon glancing at him, Twilight saw that his entire body seemed tense, and he was trembling slightly.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

~Yes~ A brief pause. ~Maybe~ Another pause, followed by Max inhaling. ~What happens if I accidentally look at someone?~

“Well, you’d become obsessed with them,” Twilight said, her ears splaying backwards. “Like to the point of being creepy. As long as you keep the blindfold on, though, that shouldn’t happen.”

~Let’s say that it did happen~ Max signed, swallowing again. ~Is there a way to fix it?~

“We’d just have to keep you away from whomever you looked at for about an hour,” Twilight said. “As long as you don’t look at them again for an hour, the effects will wear off and you’ll return to normal.”

Max just nodded his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

The pair sat in silence; Twilight fidgeted with her hooves, her ears flicking at any noise, while Max just sat there, blindfolded. Muffled voices came from the closed basement door, the guards on the other side trying to figure out which label went with which potion.

After several minutes, Twilight licked her lips and moved to stand, but the minute she shifted on the cushion, Max moved.

~No, wait!~ He signed frantically before reaching out and making a blind grab for Twilight. Unable to see, his hand landed on the small of her back, just below her wings. She let out a yelp as he pulled her closer, almost into his lap. Her foreleg landed on his leg, her body pressed against his.

“Wha…” she squeaked, blinking in surprise and confusion.

~Don’t leave~ Max signed before wrapping his arm around Twilight’s neck, causing a small blush to spread across her cheeks.

“I wasn’t going to—” Twilight began, but paused when she felt tiny tremors running through Max’s body. His breathing was increased as well, his chest rising and falling quicker than normal. The leg beneath her forehoof bounced in a nervous fashion, and she could feel his grip tighten against her fur.

Craning her neck backwards, she glanced at his face. His jaw was clenched tight, and she could almost hear his teeth grinding against each other. His cheeks, visible beneath the blindfold, were pale, and she was sure if she touched them, they would be cold.

Watching him, Twilight could only come up with one logical answer for Max’s behavior: he was terrified.

~Don’t leave~ he signed again, keeping his arm wrapped around her neck. ~Don’t leave~

“Max, what’s wrong?” she asked, twisting around in his grasp to better see him.

~Just stay here~ he replied, his hands trembling slightly. ~I don’t want a mare to find me like this~

It took a second for her to register what he had said, but when she finally did, Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. He was asking her to stay with him, so that she could drive off the other mares! Her human was asking her to protect him from the other mares that might possibly wander into the library, to protect him from the mares that were trying to bed him.

Another tremor through Max’s body snapped Twilight out of her daze. Shaking her head, she turned and shot a glance towards the door. The deadbolt was already enabled, but she pushed a burst of magic down her horn, casting an anti-lock picking spell. The metal glowed blue for a moment before fading. Now, no one was getting in unless she said so.

Pulling the blinds down over the windows, she flipped the library sign to ‘closed’. Another burst of magic and a fire roared to life within the fireplace, the crackling flames beginning to warm the room. Max flinched at the initial lighting, but once he was aware of what the sound was, he relaxed.

One last burst of magic saw a book teleported into Twilight’s hooves, and she cracked it open.

As she snuggled up against Max, a small, content smile touched her face. “I’m not going anywhere.” She felt Max relax more at those words, and his grip around her neck loosened. Letting go of her fur, he moved his hand up and began to pet the back of her neck, stroking it gently. This drew a hum out of Twilight, and she flicked her tail, wrapping it around Max’s waist.

With that, the pair settled down, making themselves comfortable as they waited out the poison together.

Lyra sighed heavily as she dangled from her gurney, her eyes half-lidded. There was a small itch on her right ear. However, due to the restrictive nature of the straightjacket that was currently hugging her body, all she could do to satisfy the itch was flick her ear.

Her gaze drifted around the room, sliding over the thousands of piece of paper clippings pinned to her walls. The red strings were still webbed around the room, but it was joined by blue strings as well.

The orderlies had become concerned when she had started connecting different bits of info with the new colored string and had quickly asked her what it meant. She had remained silent, which had only added to their concern. There was talk of higher doses of medication, more trips to the psychiatrists, and even transferring her to Canterlot’s Mental Hospital.

Lyra just ignored them all, and continued to use her blue string to connect her ‘evidence’.

On a completely unrelated note, she was out of red string. She would have to see about Nurse Redheart getting her some more in the near future.

The sound of locks turning brought Lyra back to the real world, and her gaze locked onto the iron door. There was a loud clunk before the door slowly cracked open.

“Ms. Heartstrings, you have a visitor,” she heard Nurse Redheart say before whispering something to somepony outside. There was a brief pause before the door swung open further. Lyra blinked slowly as her visitor slipped in, the door closing with a metallic thunk behind him. Reaching up, the newcomer lifted part of his scarf off of his head, letting it fall around his neck.

The zebra paused, his green eyes staring at her. His red tribal markings seemed to glow slightly in the dim room. Slowly, a smile spread across his striped face.

“Lyra Heartstrings, in the flesh. Or rather, in the straightjacket,” he said. “It’s been entirely too long, my old friend.”

Lyra blinked again before responding. “Vagabond,” she grunted. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“What, can’t a zebra drop in to see his old friend during the holidays?” Vagabond asked, mock hurt crossing his face. “You wound me, my dear.”

“The holidays ended almost a week ago, ‘old friend’,” Lyra sneered.

“Hmmm, so they did,” Vagabond said nonchalantly. Slowly, he began to circle the room, ducking under strands of blue and red as he eyed the paper-covered walls. He paused in front of a large, hoof-made drawing behind Lyra, eyeing it curiously. It was a depiction of a human with a blind eye.

“Have you met him?” he asked, not taking his eyes from the drawing.

“Who?” Lyra asked, trying her best to glance over her shoulder at the Vagabond.

“Your so-called ‘Oblivious King’,” Vagabond replied as he started walking around the room again. “Have you met him? Because I have.” He circled around until he was once again in front of Lyra. “Interesting person. The strong, silent type, wouldn’t you say? I don’t know why you dislike him. He seems like a charming young man.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Lyra snapped, glaring down at the Vagabond. “You came here for a reason. Get to it.”

“Temper, temper, young one,” Vagabond chided as he began to circle again. “You know, it was that exact fiery temper that got us in this mess in the first place. Of course, what can you expect from an archaeologist from Canterlot? Always sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Tombs are meant to bury things, my dear. Permanently.”

Lyra growled at him, baring her teeth. This just caused him to chuckle.

“You’d think you’d be kinder to me, my dear, especially seeing as we’re in the same boat,” Vagabond tsked. He paused, an ear twitching, before continuing, “I take that back. I got exiled from my village; you got imprisoned in yours.”

“Get. To. The. Point,” Lyra snarled. The Vagabond stopped, shooting Lyra a cool look before sighing.

“There is no point to this visit, Lyra,” he said, his smile gone. “I just stopped in to say ‘hi’, and to pass on a word of advice. After visiting my cousin for the holidays, I must take my leave, though I do not travel back to the burning sands. There is a matter of grave importance within the Everfree Forest that has been brought to my attention, and once I am done here, I shall venture forth into that cursed woods.

“I have also come to apologize for past transgressions, for I do not wish to go on this journey with them darkening my soul,” he added. “We are both to blame for our current situation.”

The Vagabond paused, glancing up at Lyra. She just hung there, a blank look on her face as she looked down at him through lidded eyes.

“I liked it better when you rhymed everything,” she grunted.

The Vagabond snorted, before shaking his head and sighing. Turning, he trotted slowly towards the door.

Upon reaching it, he placed a hoof upon the metal surface but was stopped when Lyra called after him. “You said you had advice to give?”

The Vagabond glanced back at her over his shoulder.

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Well, what is it?” Lyra asked. The Vagabond was silent for several seconds before speaking.

“The Oblivious King,” he said. “You may hate him for what you believe he stands for, but in the end, he’s only one side of the coin. In the end, just like the rest of us, you’ll have to choose a side as well.” Green eyes met golden eyes, mismatched pupils gazed into mismatched pupils.

“The Oblivious King, or the Mad God,” Vagabond continued as he pushed the door open and began to walk out. “In the end, you must pick your poison.”

With that, he slipped outside, and the door slammed shut behind him, leaving Lyra alone with her thoughts.