Morning came around and Marcus could hear his phone buzzing. He beat his head on the door as he listened to his phone. If there was one thing that he got annoyed with it was the early morning texts sent by Twilight. He opened the bathroom door and grabbed his phone. The text told him to meet the unicorn mare at the library for their next lesson. He forwarded the text as he grabbed his shirt.

He smiled as he looked at the shirt that he prepared himself. Thanks to Lyra courteously allowing him the use of her sewing equipment he was able to attach the feathers to his shirt. He did the feathers in a way that he could move them from shirt to shirt so he could always wear them. He grabbed his phone and sent a text to Alex to explain that he wouldn’t be able to show up.

He wasn’t sure who sent him the note but he wanted the break away from Twilight. He knew exactly what the lesson was going to be about and was glad that he got an excuse to skip it. He put his shirt on as he picked out a pair of shorts. Once his shorts were slipped on he adjusted the feathers as he slipped inside his shoes. He pocketed the note as he walked out of his room. When he closed the door behind him he ran into Blood Rain.

“Sorry about that, Rain,” Marcus said as he helped the mare up.

“It’s fine, Marcus. I should-” Blood Rain stopped as she looked at the feathers.

Blood Rain could feel her face burn as she formed a blush. She was thankful that her dark purple fur could hide the blush or else she would be asked many questions by the human. The pegasus stared at the feathers and noted their positions. Going from left to right was the cyan feather, the golden-orange feather, and her feather. She was certain that she hid that feather, but she was proven wrong.

Marcus looked at the lunar guard with confusion when she stopped in the middle of her sentence. He lifted a hand to wave the pegasus back into existence, but when he moved she ran away. He stood there completely dumbstruck as a night guard ran away from him. He felt a little hurt that she did that, but he was used to things like that. When he heard her door slam he continued on out of the house for his destination. Once outside he pulled out the note and read it again.

Dear Marcus,

Please stop by this house sometime tomorrow morning if you can. I have enclosed a feather within this note and if you do come please wear it. Also at the bottom of this note are the directions to the house. Please come alone and don’t tell anypony where you are going. I will also tell you who I am unless you can remember my face when you arrive.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

Marcus shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the directions and tried to make out different landmarks he could follow. He gave a slight nod of the head as he went to wing it to his destination. After walking around for half an hour he decided to get some directions to the house. After getting some directions from a nice mare he ran into he headed for the house. He arrived at the house early and knocked on the door.

There was silence for several seconds and as he went in for another knock he heard a voice. He could tell that it was a mare’s voice and by the sound of it she had just woken up. The human leaned his back against the wall as he waited for the mare to open the door. After several seconds the door was opened and he greeted the mare.

Library

The ponies were in the library getting everything set up before the humans arrived. Twilight was laying out the multiple copies of books that she was going to read them when the door opened. The friends came walking into the library, but Ryan couldn’t wait to take a seat since he was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

“Do we have to have these sessions so early in the morning?” Ryan asked as he laid himself on the couch.

“The earlier we start the more we can teach you,” Twilight answered happily.

“I can understand that, but I live on a farm and this was a day off for me,” Ryan groaned as he failed to find a comfortable position.

“I don’t see Applejack complaining.”

“That’s because she lives and breathes the farm life. Hell, I am pretty sure that she has more of a green thumb than any of us.”

“Well, earth ponies do have more in common with nature than the others so it is understandable.”

“Yeah and then the unicorns are adept to the mystical arts and pegasi are good in the skies. Even then Applejack should learn to take a break once and a while.”

“Well, you can discuss that with her when we finish today’s lesson.”

“Speaking of the lesson, what are we learning today?”

“Well, we are going to learn about relationships in Equestria, but before we get started has anypony seen Marcus?” Twilight asked looking for the sometimes angry human.

“He won’t be able to make today’s lesson, Twi,” Alex answered.

“And why is that?” Twilight asked a little infuriated, but also holding back her blush at the nickname.

“He just sent me a text saying that he wouldn’t be able to make. I guess he knew that you were going to teach this and wanted to avoid it.”

“Well fine. If he wants to break a million mares’ hearts because he can’t tell the signs of when they like him or Celestia forbid they make a move on him then he can do that,” Twilight shot back angrily.

“Yeah, well he isn’t interested in having a relationship so he doesn’t really care,” Jaeden replied.

Twilight just sighed as she grabbed the first set of books for them to read and began explaining everything they needed to know. As the unicorn started on the basics of understanding pony body language, Blood Rain let her thoughts travel to Marcus. She felt sad since he didn’t know what he was doing with the feathers and the possible hurt feelings of the other two that did the same.

The purple pegasus pushed those thoughts aside and listened to the lavender mare so she could explain everything to him when they meet up. The lavender unicorn explained that there were four different ways that a mare or in the rare cases a stallion would do to get a pony’s attention. The ways they would go around that depended on the type of pony that they were. Earth ponies gave something sentimental from nature. Pegasi would give a fresh feather showing that they trusted the individual. Unicorns would create something with their magic that spoke their heart.

The last was a rarity to see just because of how few of this type of pony existed. There was a small passage, but it did well enough to explain the courting of an alicorn. Alicorn courting was a little more complicated since they would do all three of the courting steps of the other ponies. The reason being is to show their affection in different levels.

Alicorns would begin with giving flowers to ones that they were interested in. This allowed them to form some kind of bond and see how they felt for each other. Next up would be the magic gift to show that they were officially dating. The final step would be the offering of the feather showing that they wanted no pony else but them. Everyone paid close attention to the unicorn as she gathered their attention.

“Before I go on I would like to know the types of relationships that you had on Earth.”

“Well, most of the time we would have a monogamous type of relationship. There are places that have polygamy, but it was either frowned upon or not even accepted,” Ryan answered.

“How did you all feel about interspecies dating?”

“Well, that depends on how you want to look at it. There are the interspecies where a human would have sex with an animal. Those types of people aren’t very well liked because it is sick and gross. On Earth though the animals aren’t sentient so that is the main reason why it is wrong. We also have people of different ethnicity that causes some problems, but that is because people can’t let go of the past,” Alex answered.

“Well, that makes this next part a little easier to explain. Interspecies courting and marriage is widely accepted throughout Equestria. Sure there are those that would disapprove something like this, but a lot are very tolerant. Relationships work the same with having monogamy or polygamy. The only one that differs is polygamy. Polygamy is set into two different categories labeled herd and harem. Herds work in the sense where one stallion has a few mares that he is engaged with. Harems are the same, but usually includes one stallion with a ton of mares or a few stallions of their own herd coming together.”

“How exactly does that work?” Callie asked.

“Yeah, wouldn’t there be fights between the groups?” Andrew added on.

“Sometimes there are fights, but they are never really life changing fights.”

“So then how does one form a herd or harem?” Jaeden asked.

“A herd is started when a mare and stallion asks another to join them. The mare decides if they can join or not, but once they join they have free choice if they want to stay or leave. A harem works essentially the same way, but the stallion has a little more say in the matter, but the mare still has final choice. Most herds and harems are made by ponies that all love each other and can most likely benefit from the outcome.”

“What do you mean benefit from the outcome?” Alex asked a little skeptical of the outcome. Twilight rubbed her hands together as she thought of the best way to answer his question.

“Well, the benefit would be the possibility of having another stallion in the world,” Twilight answered as she looked nervously at the friends.

“Are you saying that stallions are less in population than the mares?” Drak asked as he closed his book. He already knew the answer after reading ahead, but he needed to hear it from her mouth.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she thought of an answer. She could feel the gazes of the friends on her but they held no malice towards her. Each and every one of them were confused and required more clarification. It took the unicorn a few minutes before she was able to find her voice again to speak.

“Sadly it is true,” Twilight shut her eyes and waited for the friends to start yelling at her.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before she opened her eyes. She looked at the friends as they looked at her trying to comprehend the new information. The silence stayed as the friends looked through their books and saw that she was right. The silence was starting to become unbearable, but before anyone could say anything, Ryan started to chuckle.

“Well, at least that is out of the way now. So how bad is the ratio between males and females?” Andrew asked.

“It’s not that much, but enough to be noticeable. The ratio is at least six to one,” Twilight answered.

“Could be worse. Sure the ratio is a little high but it could have been higher. Actually makes a little more sense with herds and harems being a big thing,” Blake stated.

“So you guys aren’t mad?” Twilight asked smiling hopefully.

“Not really. Sure this is such a big shock to us, but we need to get used to it,” Alex stated.

“That’s good to hear. Now before we get started on the next lesson, why don’t we get some lunch?” Twilight asked.

“That would be nice and I think we could use the break to let this information settle a little more,” Jaeden replied.

“So what will the next lesson be about?” Brandon asked as he stretched on the couch.

“The next thing on the list will be about a mare and her heat cycle,” Twilight answered quietly as a blush assaulted her face.

Luke was able to catch himself as he tripped over his own feet from what the unicorn said. Everyone had noticeable blushes burning on their faces as they let the words sink in. Not even wanting to get clarification on this particular lesson all the friends left to stretch their legs and get something to eat. The mares looked at each other uncomfortably as images of this lesson ran through their head.

“Hey, Jaeden, are you feeling better?” Pinkie asked as the friends took their seats with plates of food.

“I could be better, but I don’t have much to complain about. Vinyl helped with most of the wounds, but I have some bruises that will be around,” Jaeden answered nonchalantly.

“Are you sure that you don’t need a hospital visit? You took quite a beating from Neon and you were bleeding profusely at the end,” Applejack stated with slight concern.

“Vinyl and Octavia tried to make me go, but I was able to get them to calm down. I wasn’t in a bad enough shape to require attention and I was sure as hell not going to stay.”

“Why are every single one of you so stubborn about staying in a hospital for a couple of days? Sure the food there is terrible and it’s not the most comfortable place to be, but at least you will be able to have medical treatment,” Twilight said with slight annoyance.

“Well, you already know the first reason after one of the stories that we told you. The second reason is because I hate listening to doctors telling me to stay in bed and get some rest. I know what my body can handle and I don’t need them telling me otherwise,” Jaeden stated. The mares just let out a collective sigh as they went to get their own food.

Everyone kept quiet as they ate in silence trying to drag on their lunch break. Everyone gave each other nervous glances as they ate. While everyone was busy eating Blood Rain notice that Rainbow was missing a feather on her left wing. Most ponies would never notice, but her guard training made sure she paid attention to every little detail. She noted that not only was it a missing feather, but it was an area of the wing where you pull a feather off to give to someone that you want to court.

The lunar guard knew this very well since she did the same to her own left wing to get Marcus a feather. She stared at the prismatic mare for a few seconds trying to figure out who she gave a feather to until it hit her. She thought back to the three feathers that Marcus wore and recalled the cyan feather being the first in line. Her eyes widen as she looked back at the cyan pegasus who was off in her own world.

The guard calmly walked over to the cyan pegasus and pulled her to the side. The prismatic mare gave the night guard a curious look before following her around a corner. Once the two mares were out of sight Rainbow pulled her wings close to her body to hide where she plucked her feather. Blood Rain noticed this and spread her wings showing her missing feather. The cyan mare noticed the missing feather and then glared at the mare.

“What do you think you are doing?” Rainbow spat at Rain.

“What am I doing? What are you doing giving a human an intimate gesture without him knowing?” Rain shot back at Rainbow.

“Why do you care what I give him? I am free to do as I please since I like him,” Rainbow immediately covered her mouth when the final three words left her mouth.

Blood Rain raised an eyebrow at Rainbow before giving a little smirk. The prismatic mare noticed this and shivered a little at what the guard might do.

“So somepony has fallen for the anger filled human?” Blood Rain asked, but the question sounded more like a statement.

“So what if I like him. You apparently do to if you have a missing feather,” Rainbow immediately shot back.

“What makes you think that I gave it to him and not somepony else?” Rain asked as she felt her face begin to blush.

“I’ve seen the way that you look at him. Sure I like to lounge around and do things at my own pace, but I can tell when another pegasus is pining for somepony. Especially at the Gala with the way that you were dressed. Your dress screamed attention, but only from the one that you wanted to notice you,” Rainbow was now glaring at the mare.

“Well, maybe a certain mare should have made her advances a little more well-known instead of trying to show off,” Rain couldn’t help but smirk at Rainbow who was now blushing profusely.

“If that’s the way you want it then bring it on. I will make my feelings known to Marcus and show you up.”

“And I can’t wait to see you fail when he denies you your affections. Sure there are others but they will all fail,” the two mares gave each other a final glare before walking back to the living room.

The two pegasi took their old positions as Twilight handed out the other books. The friends looked at the books for a few seconds before setting them down on the table. They all rubbed their temples in preparation for this uncomfortable lecture.

“Let’s try to get this over with quickly,” Alex said. Twilight gave a slight cough as she picked up her book and spoke to the friends.

“Mares have two heat cycles that they go through every year. The time that they start can vary depending on the location of the mare. The heat cycle lasts for only a week and begins at the beginning of spring and fall. When a mare enters her heat cycle they become more sexually active. Pheromones are released to let other mares and stallions know that they are in heat. The pheromones will excite a willing member into having intercourse with the mare,” Twilight took a drink from her glass of water before she continued.

“The heat also increases a mare’s stamina so having intercourse several times in one session is required to help calm them down. After going for several sessions their heat will be sated for the next while. It is required that their partner stay with them the entire week to keep their heat sated. Once the heat has passed the mare will be back to themselves until the next time,” Twilight grabbed her glass again and finished off what was left trying to calm her intensifying blush.

“Is there anything else that we should know about this heat?” Blake asked as he kept his eyes to the ground.

“There are only a few things left that need to be known. The first is that Callie will not go through this because she is a different species. The second thing is mares in heat won’t sleep with anyone that they don’t feel some attraction towards. The final things are the signs that include a flushed face, strong aroma from the source, and sometimes a noticeable wetness from the source,” Twilight looked at her empty glass before sighing and setting it down.

“So pretty much notice these few things and we can tell that a mare is in heat,” Jaeden stated.

“That is pretty much to it. Now after all of this I am just going to go over a few pleasure centers of the different ponies and we will be done,” Twilight heard a collective slam as some of the friends smacked their heads on the books.

“Do we really need to know something like this?” Brandon asked.

“Unfortunately yes, but I don’t need to go into detail because I think it will be self-explanatory,” the friends gestured with their hands for her to get it over with.

“Earth ponies are very sensitive at the tips of their ears and their tails. Unicorns are sensitive on their horns especially around the grooves and tip. Pegasi are sensitive at the base of their wings, the tip of the wings, and their feathers. Alicorns have all these sensitive areas. You can also tell when a unicorn is getting aroused when magic sparks come from the horn and for a pegasi their wings will become erect,” Twilight coughed as she quickly got up and got another glass of water.

While the lavender mare and the other mares were busy keeping themselves distracted the friends all went outside. They looked up into the sky as the moon was overhead and gave a cool breeze in the warm weather. Everyone was uncomfortable from this session except for Callie. The female was a little heated, but she was able to keep herself calm. They stood around for several minutes until Marcus came walking down the road.

The friends walked towards him so they can get on him for skipping out on his lesson. As the friends walked towards him they noticed the three feathers that he was wearing. Knowing what that meant they kept silent as a punishment for him. Callie was the first to reach him and gave him a piece of her mind.

“Marcus, where the Hell have you been?” Callie asked a little irritated.

“I was out hanging with one of the ponies,” Marcus answered calmly. The friends noticed his soft smile and were a little worried about what made him so happy.

“Before you start telling us where you were and who you were hanging out with you are going to figure out what we learned on your own,” Callie said as she jabbed her finger in his chest.

“That is kind of why I am here. I am stopping by to pick up the books on the relationship lesson that was today.”

“Wait a minute. You knew what the lesson was going to be?” Brandon asked as he stared at him.

“Yeah. That is kind of the reason why I skipped the lesson and went to hang with a pony.”

“Please enlighten us to who this pony was that you spent your time with,” Alex said a little angrily.

“Now this will be a fun story to tell.”

Marcus

“You’re earlier than I expected you to be,” the mare said as she yawned.

“Well, I had nothing better to do so I just wanted to stop by and see what you wanted.”

“Before we get to that, do you remember me?” The mare asked.

Marcus put his hand to his chin as he thought about the mare before him. He definitely remembered the mare since he met her at the Gala. He was only thinking about her name just to mess with her. He couldn’t help but stare at her orange and yellow mane as he continued to think. He saw as her eyes darted back and forth worried that he didn’t remember her. He enjoyed the look of her golden-orange eyes before answering her question.

“Your name, if I remember correctly is Captain Spitfire, isn’t it?” Marcus answered.

“Please don’t call me Captain. You can call me Spitfire and I am glad that you remember me.”

“I can never forget a beautiful mare that I helped and are you sure that I shouldn’t call you Captain? You are part of a flight show that is also part of the military force here,” Marcus replied.

“Not while I am off duty and especially my friends,” Spitfire answered.

“Since when did we become friends?” Marcus asked confused as to why this mare called him her friend.

“Well, you were nice enough to stand up for me and were very kind during our conversations.”

“Obviously you never heard the stories then,” Marcus replied as he got a solemn look.

“Actually I am well aware about everything that you have done so far. Celestia came to me first and asked that I watch over you before Luna sent Blood Rain. Good thing too because I wasn’t going to do it anyways.”

“How come you were going to deny her request?”

“I don’t like to spy on ponies. Would you like to come in and have something to drink and I can get dressed in something appropriate?”

Marcus nodded his head and Spitfire stepped out of the way. The pegasus noticed on his way in that he was wearing her feather along with two others. She was happy that he went through with wearing her feather, but was worried about the other two that laid claim to him. She pushed those thoughts aside because she was certain that he didn’t know what it meant. The human took a seat in her living room and she headed for her room.

As much as she liked walking around in her house with her night gown on she did want to go somewhere with him. She opened the closet and pulled out a short sleeved shirt that stopped above her bellybutton and showed her toned abs. She grabbed a pair of shorts from her dresser that stopped halfway on her thighs and helped to show off her butt. She looked herself in the mirror before taking off her shirt and bra. She took off the bandages that held her breasts down before putting her bra and shirt back on.

Happy with her look in the mirror she walked back out to see the human reading a magazine article on the Wonderbolts. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses of water and an apple for herself. She walked back into the living room and sat down next to him. He took the glass of water that she was handing him and drank from it happily.

“So what did you want to see me for?” Marcus asked as he put the magazine down.

“I just wanted to hang out with you some more and thank you for helping me back at the Gala.”

“There is no need to thank me. I hate people that try to force someone to do something that they aren’t comfortable with.”

“But you didn’t even know who I was. I’m certain if you knew that I was famous then you would have jumped in without a moment’s hesitation.”

“You could have also been some regular pony that I could have met once and I would still help. I don’t give a damn how much power a person has, especially if they abuse it.”

“Even then I would like to take you on a picnic lunch down at the lake.”

“Are you sure that you want to do that? You really don’t have to pay me back for what I did. Knowing that you think I am a possible friend means a lot more than you think,” Marcus couldn’t help but give a little smile at the mare.

“Well, I am not taking no for an answer so let’s get going,” Marcus didn’t have time to object as the pegasus pulled him out of the house with her picnic basket.

Spitfire dragged him through the town with a bright smile on her face not caring what other ponies were thinking about her. He was surprised by the strength of the mare as he was dragged around town. She was stronger than she looked and he couldn’t help but be amazed by the mare. Not only did she have the strength to possibly hold her own in a fight but she even radiated beauty.

He could feel his heart speed up as he continued to stare at the mare. Many thoughts were running through his head and as they did four mares showed up with one word. He could see Rainbow Dash, Lyra, Blood Rain, and Spitfire hovering over the word love. He quickly slapped himself across the face trying to banish these thoughts from his mind. He had no reason to become intimate with any of the mares so he didn’t need those kinds of thoughts.

The pegasus didn’t notice the man slap himself as she neared the entrance of the park. Once the two were standing on the outside she let go of his hand and continued on. He gave a small smile as he followed the mare to the lake. The Wonderbolt laid out the blanket and he happily sat upon it and helped her unpack the lunch.

The two of them ate silently as they stared at the huge expanse of the lake. The sun reflected off the surface of the lake and made it sparkle. Little rainbows shined on the lake giving the lake an even more excellent beauty. Spitfire turned around and looked at Marcus with a smile. He gave her a smile back and was pulled to her attention when she spoke.

“So have you been enjoying it here in Ponyville?”

“It has been an interesting experience. Still trying to get used to some of the peacefulness of it.”

“You don’t like it being peaceful.”

“Actually I enjoy it quite much. Just after living for four years in a personal nightmare that you can never wake up from you forget what it is like.”

“Have you made any good friends?”

“I would like to think so. The only one I could say that really is a friend would be Pinkie Pie. Then again that mare is everyone’s friends and it’s nice to meet someone like her. If I may though, how come you live down here?”

“Well, I was born on Cloudsdale before heading out for training. After my training was finished I could head back to Cloudsdale and live there. Funny thing was that during my training I found that empty spot and I really loved the town. So I built the house there because I like to know about the other ponies that I am protecting.”

“That is a good thing to have. Maybe at some point I might get that feeling with all the people here.”

“If I may, but you have every right not to do it, I heard that you had a tattoo on your arm and I was wondering if I could see it,” Spitfire could see that he got tense when she mentioned the tattoo. She was ready to tell him to forget about it and apologize for asking until he showed her.

Spitfire put a hand to her mouth as she looked at the tattoo. She reached a hand out towards it and started to touch it. She looked at the human and could see that he was depressed and ashamed of it. She looked at it one last time before looking at him and speaking to him.

“What do you think it means?”

“From what I’m told it means endless death.”

“I don’t mean what you were told. I mean deep down in your heat what does it mean?”

“I don’t know what it means.”

“Well, I’ll let you know what I think. I think it means that you are willing to protect those that need it no matter the cost. You are willing to burden the term monster if it means others can live to see a tomorrow.”

“Sometimes I like to believe that I can do that.”

“That is because you have been your entire life. You are not afraid to stand up to anypony and you don’t plan on backing down. You are ready to lay down your life for others if you need to.”

“I am willing to do that, but the monster is not so willing. Every day I fight it to keep it from coming out. My friends have seen it and I don’t want them or anyone else to ever see it.”

“Maybe you need to stop running from it.”

“What do mean stop running? I haven’t been running from anything,” Marcus was now getting frustrated with the mare.

“If you haven’t then you wouldn’t hide in your shell hiding everything. Your friends seem to be fine with what they are and before you say anything I understand more than you know. I was out on a regular scouting mission and before I knew it we were attacked by taraxippoi. They are awful monsters that nearly killed us all. I would have been killed if the old Captain didn’t risk his life to save me,” Spitfire didn’t realize it, but she was starting to cry.

Marcus scooted closer to the mare and pulled her in for a hug. The pegasus didn’t struggle against his grip as he held her close. He never thought that there was anyone that could understand what he went through, but this mare proved him wrong. The golden mare was able to control herself and broke off the hug.

“I didn’t know that something like that could ever happen here. I guess no matter what world you live in you will always need to fight. I guess I will stop running and try to use my powers for good in the end,” Marcus smiled at the pegasus as he gave her a quick hug.

The two of them continued to look out at the lake as the sun started to slowly lower and give way to the moon. As they sat there Scootaloo came by the lake and saw Marcus. When she saw the human she ran towards him and gave him a big hug. Spitfire couldn’t help but smile as she watched the human hug the little filly back. As he ran with the filly around the lake, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.

The filly didn’t know it, but if it wasn’t for her father she wouldn’t still be here. This thought haunted the Wonderbolt for a long time especially since she knew the filly lived alone. She lost her mother when she was four, but refused to leave the house. The golden mare took responsibility for the little filly to avoid any trouble. The filly attended school thankfully and never questioned where she was getting the money to live in the house.

Spitfire never saw the filly so happy except when she was with her friends. The filly held great respect for the human and saw him as a father figure. She made a mental note to talk to Scootaloo and Marcus about her future. The pegasus was pulled from her thoughts as the filly and human joined her again on the blanket.

The two of them breathed heavily from all their running and enjoyment. Spitfire laid down next to them and looked up at the night sky. The human pointed at all the stars and showed the filly where all the constellations were. The Wonderbolt felt happy that the filly liked the human and would hope that she would accept the offer she would soon giver her.

It was starting to get late and she knew that the human should at least check in with one of the mares that was watching him. She offered to walk the filly back home so he could head straight for the library. Before he left he gave the pegasus mare a hug and kissed the little filly on the head. He said his goodbye and walked off as the mare and filly headed back home.

Present

“You do know that Dash is going to flip when she finds out you were hanging with one of her idols?” Alex stated.

Marcus only nodded his head as he said goodbye to his friends for the night. He entered the library and sat down on the couch next to the pile of books that he was going to have to read. He gave a slight chuckle as he picked the stack up and headed back to Lyra’s to get started on his reading.