I didn’t sleep that night, or the next one.

I had but days to act before Nicholas collected his pay and departed, but I simply didn’t know what to do. I considered and discarded a dozen different ideas, everything from a romantic night in Neighagra to simply seducing him in my office, giving him a choice between me and an open door.

But nothing felt right and nothing seemed like it could work; no matter what I came up with, I kept hitting this roadblock where it felt like I was using a mental or emotional bludgeon on him. He didn’t take kindly to people trying to manipulate him, as I gathered had happened to him repeatedly in the past, and most of what I came up with felt like exactly that—like I was trapping him somehow.

There was no question in my mind that even if the direct approach had worked with the other four men, it would not with him. He needed an entirely different angle, but I had no idea what that was. Nick was just too far outside my expertise at that point to say.

Cruise Control came closest, as he had plenty of grief and somepony he cared about deeply, just like Nicholas. He had needed a great deal of time, patience and careful nurturing before he was finally ready to shed his grief and open his heart to me, and even then it took a slew of dates and rutting sessions to really pull him out of his shell.

But Cruise didn’t have the extra baggage of finding and then losing his life’s calling—in the end, he was as much a pony as me; I wasn’t asking him to have sex with a female of a different world and species (never mind as a profession!) Even aside from that, Nicholas was far more mature than him and wouldn’t take kindly to being babied, so the motherly approach I’d used with Cruise was out. He’d see seduction as manipulation, so that was off the table as well. Nor was I about to tell him about Judy’s desire for him to become my coltfriend and a Gentleman because ultimately, he had to decide to be with me and/or be a Gentleman for himself, not for her, else he’d never be happy in his work.

That was a bit of an irony with him, now that I think about it—Gentlemen should always put the needs of their clients first, and given his desire and outright need to help others, that should have made him the ideal candidate. But a Gentleman also ultimately needs to have no reluctance about rutting in order to derive their job satisfaction from that of their clients, and as things stood, he would not.

So I was back to square one, as I’ve heard humans say, trying to figure out how to repair his damaged psyche with alien parts. I asked the other mares and new Gentleman for advice, getting some that was half-decent and others that were outright fantasy. But no matter what I was told, I kept circling around to the same conclusion: that he needed time and had to come to me on his own; that trying to force things before he was ready would make them worse, not better.

But it was time we did not have, unfortunately. He was scheduled to depart in just three days when I sent an urgent message to Platinum explaining the situation, telling her that we all wanted Nick as our fifth and final Gentleman, but he seemed a lost cause for all he had been through. I told her that I thought seducing him would do more harm than good, and wasn’t sure I was up to the task anyway, even if he had shown some signs of interest in me.

He needed time, but I had run out of ways to keep him in Equestria; he’d already made train reservations for the portal, much to Judy’s dismay. She all but begged me again to rut him, even offering to tell her ‘Daddy’ how she felt, but I told her very firmly no—that even if she understood what sex was, she didn’t understand all that went into it emotionally and how it could hurt just as easily as it could heal.

She left my office crying, making me feel even worse. At that point, I very much wanted him—not just for G4M but for myself—but at the same time I was preparing to let him go, even at the cost of breaking poor Judy’s heart.

I didn’t get an immediate message back from Platinum, which surprised me given how good she normally was about responding with advice or instructions. But what did surprise me was the sound of a commotion outside my office the very next morning followed by a knock at my door.

“Come in,” I called out, not knowing immediately who it was—I didn’t have any appointments or interviews scheduled, nor was there anything for me to do at that point except try to work out some advertising materials. But how did one try to tell others that we were offering the equivalent of human comfort horses without saying directly that’s what we were doing...?

The question was shunted aside instantly when in stepped… “Platinum!” I called out in surprise, getting up immediately to greet her. She accepted my hug, if somewhat stiffly—rather unusual for her, since she had never been shy about shows of affection before—but I quickly found a possible reason for it as accompanying her was...

I don’t think I’ve ever bowed so quickly and frantically as when Princess Mi Amore Cadenza stepped into my office behind her, flanked by two Crystal Guardsponies. “Hello, Five Stars,” she greeted me, bading me rise. “It’s good to see you again. Platinum Corona here has been keeping me apprised of your progress in setting up this new company. I must say, I am quite impressed with what she has told me you have already accomplished here,” she said, adding that she wanted to see our preparations directly and meet our new Gentleman firsthoof, having taken a ‘personal interest’ in our project for all the mares she yet hoped we could help.

How could I reply to that except with another bow and offer to introduce them and all our new staff? I began by showing her around, introducing our mares and available Gentleman, of which only two were present. Scoop and Cavalier were very uncertain of how to react to her, never having dreamt they would meet an actual Princess! Cavalier gave a slightly awkward bow before her, but she waved him off, telling him she understood that it was custom in his home country not to bow before royalty.

For her part, Platinum said surprisingly little through the entire tour, deferring to the Princess whenever she could out of respect for her station. It was understandable enough—Gentleman for Mares was her brainchild and done with her money, but at the same time, she needed the Princess of Love’s approval to begin business. She could quash us in an instant if she wanted to, so Platinum wasn’t about to do anything that might upset her.

But as we proceeded through the tour, it quickly became clear our royal guest was anything but upset by our new company. Intrigued might be a better word as she listened to our business plan and we described the training already underway, not even blinking as we discussed how we’d landed our Gentlemen and were already starting to school them in the ways of pony love.

I could have sworn Platinum went red-cheeked once or twice under her veil, however, which struck me as odd as she’d never shown the slightest bit of embarrassment before over our arrangements. But she wasn’t as important as our Royal guest at that moment.

Our facilities met with her approval, and she even sampled some of our human liquors, remarking on their strength before putting down some bits to take a bottle or two back with her to the Crystal Empire. She next decided to interview our new staff one by one, starting with the mares who had not only agreed to help us, but had so graciously volunteered to train new Gentleman.

I was not privy to their conversations, only to what I was told by them afterwards, but It turned out she heard pretty much the same thing from each of them—that they had greatly enjoyed their first encounters with men, even if they’d been a bit inexperienced, and had already formed close bonds with each of our four new Gentlemen.

She followed that up with interviews with each Gentleman in turn as Freefall and Broker returned from lunch, wanting to make sure that they were all doing this willingly and had not been coerced into becoming Gentleman by promises of money or sexual favors. I daresay Freefall might have given her a little pause—particularly since she later said he tried to hit on her!—but in the end, she was satisfied with their reasons for joining and their commitment to the cause, as it were, even going so far as to give them advice on how to deal with needy or lovelorn mares.

It was then, as she reached the end of those interviews that Nick and Judy walked through the front door, looking more than a little confused at the presence of Crystal Guardsponies and a few media members out front trying to convince them to let them in.

To little surprise, Judy was completely delighted to meet an actual alicorn, while Nick seemed a little more uncertain, looking down at himself and suddenly finding his usual slovenly attire rather lacking. But Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (yes, I know you wish me to just refer to you as ‘Cadance’ but I’m afraid I can’t do that, Princess! At least, not in the middle of an article of this nature!) had never been one to stand on ceremony or protocol outside of formal affairs, which this most certainly was not. She invited them to approach, asking Judy to demonstrate some of her ‘magic’, which she did only too eagerly.

Once she was done, Platinum Corona herself then introduced Nicholas, who had been carefully hanging back, calling him forth and singling him out, saying she understood he had been instrumental in untangling ‘red tape’ as humans called it, securing her new business the various city and provincial licences it would need. Her uncharacteristic nervousness continued, however, as she seemed to pause in between each sentence, surprised and perhaps put off a bit by his appearance.

I still wasn’t sure what that was about, but I had little time to consider it before the Princess addressed him herself. “It is good to meet you, Mister Carpenter. Are you also a Gentleman?” she inquired in perfect earnestness even though we’d told her repeatedly he did not wish to be.

Nicholas flinched slightly at that. “I’m sorry, but… no, I’m not. And I’m planning to take my daughter and leave in the next few days!” he informed the Princess with a very stern and pointed look at Judy, causing her to go crestfallen.

“Aw, but Daddy...!”

“Judy, we’ve been over this before,” he said somewhat tersely, not wanting to cause a scene in front of the Princess; I learned only then that Judy had in fact already told him that she knew the true purpose of the company, and impossibly, wanted him to be part of it! “I’m not going to do it, and that’s final!”

“Really? That would seem a terrible shame, Mister Carpenter,” the Princess answered easily. “I gather you have had a difficult time of it, but for as much as you seem to desire helping others, I would think this would be a wonderful way for you to do so.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you the whole time, Nick!” Freefall called out from the back. He’d never been shy about speaking his mind, and he’d been pushing Nicholas a little too hard as of late, to the point that the rest of us had to tell him to back off. “What are you so afraid of? That you might actually have fun? You’re allowed to, you know!”

“Dude, lay off,” Scoop told him with a sharp elbow as Nicholas shot him a glare, and then one towards me, perhaps assuming I’d broken his confidence and spilled the beans on his past—which I in fact had not. As it turned out, Judy had done that even after I told her not to, hoping to get everyone else to pressure him. I met his gaze evenly, but otherwise remained silent, sensing anything I said was only likely to set him off.

Whatever he saw in my eyes must have convinced him that I was innocent, because, thwarted, he turned back away. “Princess, I appreciate the vote of confidence, and I understand perfectly well what everyone else wants me to do. But you’re asking me to do something I am really not comfortable with… and it is way past time for us to be getting home.”

“But I want this to be home, Daddy!” Judy was now near tears. “I love it here! Why can’t we stay? Why can’t you?”

“Honey…” He was starting to look very uncomfortable.

“Why indeed, Mister Carpenter?” The princess asked as she draped a comforting wing over Judy, who turned and buried her face in her shoulder and began to cry. “I can certainly understand your reluctance, given the stigmas that exist in your society. But these fine Gentlemen have already gotten past that and accepted the call. I must admit, I do not see an immediate reason that you should not as well.”

“They are not me! And if my only option to stay here is selling myself to lonely mares to support my daughter, then I’m not doing it!” he summoned some snap to his voice, causing some consternation with the staff mares—and myself—as to how he addressed the princess.

“That’s not a fair statement, Mister Carpenter. I offered to keep you on as just a consultant for legal work with a decent retainer going forward, but you refused,” I reminded him, finally speaking up.

“Who do you think you’re fooling, Five Stars? You only made the offer because you’re hoping to convert me into a Gentleman over time!” he turned his pointed finger at me, causing my lips to tighten—it was the truth, after all.

Still, I couldn’t let that pass. “Be that as it may, have I made any effort to force you to be anything, Mister Carpenter? Have I done anything untoward since you’ve worked here? Have I pressured you or broken my word in any way regarding your pay or terms of service?” I challenged.

“Maybe you haven’t pressured me, but they have!” He pointed a finger at the other Gentlemen, who looked completely unrepentant. “Pretty much every day since I’ve been here!”

“Oh, please!” Naturally, it was Freefall who answered again. “All we’ve done is tell you how much we’ve enjoyed being with mares and how good it feels to see them satisfied! So get over it, Nicky! Because we already did!” he answered derisively, using his own favorite nickname for Nicholas, and this was probably the one he hated the most.

The Broker stepped up and spoke next, pointedly pulling Freefall back from where he’d been threatening to get in Nick’s face—at this point in time, those two did not like each other. “Look, I get where you’re coming from, Nicholas. And I get what you’ve been through better than anyone else here—I lost my career and everything else that defined me, too. But take it from me—we can’t dwell on the past and wallow in self-pity forever. It’s time to move past all your pain and move forward, and unlikely though it is… I think this is the fresh start we both need. You told me you lived to help others, right? Well, this is a way to do it!”

Nick stared at him in disbelief. “I lived to help others by proving their innocence, not taking it!” he protested.

“Dude, ‘innocent’ isn’t how I’d describe any of these mares,” Scoop spoke up next, speaking to him over crossed arms from in the back, where he’d been leaning back against the wall, content until then to not take part in the conversation. He’d been on decent terms with Nicholas, and had even interviewed him once for his journal. “And hell, if they’re coming to you with any left to take, it’s because they want it to be taken!”

“I don’t care! I want to be an attorney, not a freakin’ prostitute for ponies!” he said, which I admit did cause my lip to curl—I did not appreciate his use of such an ugly and unfair term, but held my tongue at a warning look from Princess Cadenza.

“And I wanna be a basketball player, but we can’t always get what we want,” Cavalier reminded him, somewhat bitterly, having come to Equestria seeking a magical cure for his injured knees but finding something else entirely. “But how does that song go? ‘You can’t always get what you want, but you might get what you need’,” he sang a slightly off-key melody.

“Well, I don’t want or need this!” Nick tried to claim, now looking very unhappy and uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had gone.

“You know, for having once been a lawyer, you’re a piss-poor liar, Nicky,” Freefall told him to his face, his expression one of sheer contempt. “What, you think we haven’t noticed how you keep looking at Five Stars? Not that I’m surprised, though. If you ask me, she’s just your type—professional and pretty; somepony who lives to serve others just like you do. Admit it—you want her and you want her bad.”

His poker face finally cracked; his guilty expression gave him away. So he resorted to misdirection instead. “Dammit, not in front of Judy!” he said in a sharp, low voice.

But Judy took that as her cue. “Daddy! I already know you want her! Well, she wants you too! So why not have her?” she asked him point-blank.

“Judy!” We both shouted at her, our cheeks going red at once.

At that moment, a magical pulse erupted from the Princess’s horn, washing over all of us. I don’t know what was in it, but it was cool and soothing, and we all instantly calmed down. “Enough,” she said quietly, and somehow she didn’t have to raise her voice like Princess Luna often did to gain immediate attention. “My friends, please, we must respect Mister Carpenter’s wishes in the matter, as he cannot take on such a job that you desire out of peer pressure or emotional blackmail,” she looked pointedly from Freefall to Judy in turn.

“Uh… thank you.” Nicholas looked genuinely grateful to her.

She favored him with a nod. “You’re welcome, Mister Carpenter. But all that said… I am not convinced that leaving this place and declining this opportunity is truly your wish,” she told him gently. “Even before I became the ruler of the Crystal Empire, I was the Princess of Love, and that means I am very good at exploring matters of the heart. I sense much pain and fear in yours, so I now ask: would you be willing to sit down for a private counseling session with me?”

He fingered something in his hoodie pocket again, as he seemed to do rather frequently when he dealt with someone he thought was being less than honest with him… which he appeared to believe was the case here as his lips tightened and eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Not a chance in hell! I don’t know what you’re scheming, but you’re hiding something, Princess! You both are!” he accused her, pointing at her and then Platinum next.

The entire room fell silent at that. The Princess didn’t immediately react but I saw Platinum’s eyes narrow in anger. “Dude… did you just accuse an alicorn Princess of lying to you?” Scoop asked.

“Daddy…” Judy later told me that she thought they were going to get banished from Equestria forever at that moment.

“Ballsy, Nicky,” Freefall added. “Stupid, but ballsy.”

“Nicholas…” I called to him. “Please. She’s not lying. She used a private counseling session to help me a year or two back after my first human lover left Equestria, and I was hurting for it. She’s very good, and I promise she only wants to help you.”

“Daddy! Please!” Judy called to him again. “Let her!”

“No! She’s not on the level! And I don’t wanna be magically manipulated by her or anyone else!”

“How dare you…” Platinum took a tone I’d never heard from her before. She’d been quiet most of the way, but now she drew herself up fully and approached Nicholas, suddenly much more intimidating than I’d ever seen her before. “That a former young barrister would accuse a pony princess of lying when lies are your profession’s stock in trade? Methinks our sense of irony knows no bounds!”

I blinked at the archaic term for lawyer, and the equally archaic manner in which she’d suddenly started speaking, one she’d later tell me was a product of her royal court upbringing, explaining she sometimes lapsed back into it when she was angry.

Nicholas, however, was less than impressed. “What the hell are you talking about? You don’t know shit about me, lady, so you can just keep your big pink butt out of this!” he told her with a pointed finger.

For the first time, Princess Cadenza looked alarmed, not taking offense herself but giving a worried glance to her left. “Platinum, please…”

“Fear not, Princess. We… I... can deal with this impertinent young colt,” she assured her alicorn friend, then turned her attention back on Nicholas, causing me to exchange a look with my fellow mares, having never seen this side of Platinum before.

“We admit, ‘tis been a long time since we have been addressed in such a manner. And once upon a time, we would not have reacted well to it at all…” she told him, almost ominously. “But those days are long past, and we will overlook thy slander in light of thy past traumas,” she announced in a strangely imperious tone.

“And what would you know about them?” Nicholas was now giving her a leery look, not sure what to make of her sudden shift to Shakesponian speech.

“Much.” Platinum approached him, her Saddle Arabian stature making her nearly tall enough to go eye to eye with him. “We checked up on you, former young barrister… as we did all prospective Gentlemen. Your legal record in your homeworld was astonishing, but not without flaw. In truth, we find it the height of hypocrisy that you wouldst accuse us of lying when ‘twould seem you falsely accused innocent witnesses on more than one occasion, and even outright lied in court when you could not otherwise forestall a guilty verdict for your clients!”

Nicholas flinched hard. “Where did you…”

“The trial transcripts were publicly available, and we sent for them,” she replied easily. “We must say, they made for fascinating reading.”

“Oh, really?” Freefall alone didn’t have enough sense to be quiet. “Now I’d like to see them too!” he added before the entire room glared him silent, though it was only at an icy look from Platinum herself that he did so.

Nicholas all but squirmed at that. “I only did it to save my clients or otherwise uncover the truth!” He got out through gritted teeth.

“Indeed,” Platinum answered easily like he’d said exactly what she wanted. “Now tell us all, young barrister… what was it your own mentor told you about the truth?”

Nicholas went deathly pale; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him caught so completely off guard before or since. “How could you possibly…” he barely croaked out.

“We have our ways,” she told him with a sly smile that was apparent even under her veil. “Now answer the question!” she ordered him in a imperious tone like she was a prosecutor and he, the witness.

He gaped at her, but did so. “To seek it, and everything would be fine…” he replied in a wan voice.

“Thy mentor was quite wise. But thou art not seeking it, Nicholas Carpenter. Thou art instead seeking to leave Equestria… to hide from it,” she accused him. “In this matter, thou feareth the truth, young barrister. And for it, thou art betraying thy mentor, thy daughter... and thine own heart!”

He gaped at her anew as she paused to let her words sink in.

“Have you ever seen Platinum like this?” Double Entry whispered in my ear, to which I could only shake my head sharply, having never known she had this side of her.

“Feareth the truth, huh?” Never one to leave well enough alone, Freefall spoke up again. “You know what I think, Nicky? I think she’s right—that the real reason you don’t want to sleep with Five Stars is because you’re afraid that if you do, you’ll like it. And even worse, you’ll be willing to become a Gentleman afterwards, just like we were!” He motioned to the other men.

“Fuck you!” Nicholas all but snarled as, his temper rekindled, he took a step towards Freefall, fists clenched and ready to fight while Freefall grinned and lowered his head, motioning him forward with his fingers in invitation—he was many things, but as a thrillseeker, coward wasn’t among them. The Crystal Guardsponies moved to intervene, but a raised hoof from the Princess stopped them.

I didn’t immediately understand why, but perhaps she was seeing the course of events even before they played out. For before me or my fellow mares could step between them to stop an imminent eruption of hostilities, Judy did it for us, preventing a fight from breaking out right then and there. “Daddy… don’t,” she begged him, to which Freefall could only smirk.

“Listen to your little girl, Nicky. She’s got bigger balls than you ever will!” he needled, and for the first time, I was getting a very strong urge to strike a male.

“Hey!” To my surprise, Judy did it for me, rounding on him and slapping him hard enough to rock him backwards, sending his hand to his reddened cheek in surprise. “Don’t you dare talk about my Daddy like that! He’s got a bigger heart than you ever will!”

For one of the few times since I had met him, Freefall looked chagrined, holding up his hands in placation. “Easy there, filly. I’m on your side of this. I’m just trying to prove he’s full of shit. And to that end, I’m more than happy to let him blow off a little steam on me.”

Broker pulled him back again—rather ungently this time—and very pointedly stepped in front of him. “Look, Nick… he’s a bloody arse, but I think he’s on to something here—none of the rest of us would have agreed to this before we slept with a mare. So forgive me for asking, but… is that the real reason you’re avoiding doing it?”

“Not you too…” he looked almost betrayed, even more so when the other Gentlemen chimed in with their agreement as Platinum and the Princess looked on, the latter rather serene while the former looked supremely satisfied.

“I think he’s right, Nicholas. And it doesn’t just hold for all of them—none of us would have agreed to join this company unless we were willing to sleep with men!” First Flight pointed out, motioning to me and the rest of the mares.

“And when we slept with them… that’s when we truly knew this could work,” Vanilla Mocha added. “I’m pretty sure it’d be no different for you, Nicholas.”

“You don’t understand…” Nicholas told them, sitting on a couch and clutching his head. “None of you do!”

“What don’t we understand?” I asked in frustration, which was only redoubled when he didn’t answer.

“But I do understand, Mister Carpenter,” the Princess said solemnly, “Because I have seen it from many before you. So tell me, counselor—is Platinum right, and do you fear the truth? Or do you simply fear losing your pain, clinging to it like an old familiar blanket long past the point it serves any real purpose because it is what defines you?” The Princess asked him in an air that suggested she already knew the answer.

“Both are understandable, but in the end, they are simply excuses for avoiding life or love. I can help you, Mister Carpenter. I can help you heal and move past your pain, just as I did for Miss Five Stars. Five Stars herself can help you, for that matter… but only if you are willing to let her. You and you alone must make the choice to be helped and heal, or there is nothing any of us can do.”

“Daddy, please…” Before he could reply, Judy knelt before him and held his hands. “I know how much you hurt, but now you’re hurting me! I love you, but every day you don’t try to get better is just one more day of pain for me! We can live here! We can be happy here! You’re allowed to be happy!” she added through glimmering eyes that threatened to shed tears at this point, saying exactly what I wanted to.

“But…” I could sense his resolve faltering; there were tears welling in his eyes as his facade finally began to crack in the face of his own daughter’s pleas. “Judy…”

“I cannot stay past this evening, Mister Carpenter, so if you wish my help, it must be today,” Princess Cadenza stated softly, taking a step towards the two, “I will be more than happy to meet you at a time and place of your choosing before nightfall and spend all the time I can to help you.”

“And you think you can heal ten years of pain and loss in just a couple hours?” Some of his old attitude resurfaced, but I was more focused on the number—had he truly been in pain that long? How did he even function?

“Try me,” she said evenly with a smile and glance at Platinum, who smiled back beneath her veil

“She does not lie, Nicholas Carpenter,” our founder added, leaving me wondering why she was addressing him by full name when she’d never shown that habit before. “You may trust her.”

“No, I CAN’T!” he all but shouted his accusation, causing some audible gasps and facepalms. “I know you’re both concealing something, not just from me but from all of us! So if you want me to trust you, Princess… come clean! What are you hiding?” he demanded to know, pointing at Cadance again. “Tell us the truth here and now, or I walk out of here and I don’t come back!” he threatened, and I had little doubt he would do so, Judy’s wishes or no.

Our alicorn visitor closed her eyes, and then opened them again. She exchanged another glance with Platinum, who nodded once as if an answer to an unspoken question. “Very well, Mister Carpenter. You are absolutely right. I cannot ask you to trust me when I have not been fully forthcoming myself,” she agreed, leaving us all looking to each other in confusion.

“So be it. I will explain to you all what I am doing here, and why,” she announced, then directed her guards to close all doors and windows and secure the room with locks and spells. And once she was satisfied with their efforts...

I am not at liberty to say what happened next, except that what she revealed stunned us all. I truly had no idea—none of us did! At her request, I cannot say more, but suffice it to say, it left us all awestruck and gave us fresh impetus to make this new business work. And as for Nicholas…?

He acceded to her request without any more resistance, disappearing with her, Judy and Platinum behind closed doors for the next several hours, the latter even sealing the room with privacy and soundproofing spells to make sure nothing could be heard or seen.

Healing Process

It was well into the evening when Platinum reappeared along with Judy, the former stepping out of the room behind the latter and closing the door behind them.

To my surprise, Platinum bowed and apologized to me, saying that the session had revealed ‘extraordinarily deep traumas’ in Nicholas that the Princess was only slowly working through.

I immediately asked if I could help, and her answer was simple and somewhat crushing: “Not yet,” she told me, saying that his feelings towards me were tangled up with ‘deep-seated fears of betrayal’ due to a ‘severe emotional injury’ he had suffered at the ‘hooves of a human mare’ in his past. She then took her leave, explaining she was due elsewhere. But to our relief, she pronounced herself ‘quite satisfied’ with all she had seen, promising us her full support and that Nicholas was in the very best of hooves.

Midnight came, and none of us had left or slept a wink. Thus, it was more than a little surprising when the Princess finally emerged to say that Nicholas was now sleeping, and to leave him be.

“He’s been through much, my dear, sweet child,” she told a worried Judy, who had come out for dinner after Cadance had told her she now needed to work with her daddy privately. “Far more than I could have anticipated or dreamt, but I have done everything I can for him. And he will need your support now. He will need the support of all of you,” she told us, then pulled me aside separately; I couldn’t help but note how tired and drawn her face was.

“I believe I have set him on the road to recovery, but he will need time,” she warned me. “You were correct, Five Stars—he was not ready for anything, and had you tried, it would have made things worse, not better,” she confirmed my earlier judgment.

“The best thing you can do for him now is to be there on his terms. Be both a comforting shoulder and a friendly ear, and let him decide if and when he is ready for more. I believe he will get there eventually, but much like your former lover Cruise Control, his healing process cannot be rushed.

“And even if you do everything right, I cannot guarantee he will not react badly when he first attempts intimacy again.” she warned me, though I had no idea how prescient those words were. “If he does, do not take offense; you must simply give him time and space to assimilate the experience.”

I told her I understood. Judy then hugged her, asking if she could at least sleep next to her daddy, and the Princess smiled and told her yes. So, we got her a pillow and blanket so she could sleep on the carpet by the base of the sofa, while the rest of us reluctantly retired… though not before Freefall was pulled aside by the other Gentleman and told in no uncertain terms to not press ‘Nicky’ anymore, or in the words of Cavalier, who was easily the biggest and burliest of the group: “I ain’t gonna be responsible for what happens.”

As for myself, I slept in my office, or tried to, but unending worries about Nicholas kept me from more than a few fitful hours. What sleep I did get was punctuated by dreams that varied from having sex with him to accidentally hurting him…

Or worse, hurting him by having sex with him, leaving me more frazzled than ever. It was only in the last hour I got any real rest and a break from the nightmares, though there was one final dream I remembered quite vividly.

Even now, I clearly recall Nicholas somehow looking down at me in worry and wonder as I lay on my office sofa. He was speaking to someone; there were a pair of shadowy figures in the background, but I couldn’t make out his companions or their words. At least, not until he turned back to me and addressed my sleeping form directly:

“I’m just a failed lawyer with a truckload of traumas and emotional issues who can’t move beyond his past. You deserve better than me, Five Stars,” he told me.

It was at that point in the dream my eyes opened, my head turned to face his, and I responded in perfect honesty:

“And I’m just a man-loving-mare who sees a hurting human stallion she can help. Will you let me?” I asked him earnestly.

He flinched like he hadn’t expected me to respond, then faded back into the fog behind him. I awoke at that moment to find my eyes opened and body positioned just like in the dream, but Nicholas was nowhere to be seen.

Road to Recovery

The next day, Nicholas finally emerged from the side room in late morning and asked to speak with me privately. Somewhat nervously, I admitted him to my office. He started by apologizing for how he acted the previous day, telling me that he’d been a fool and finally knew it.

He didn’t explain exactly what the Princess had done, except to say that “his eyes had been opened to certain things”. Not the least of which was how he was hurting not just himself, but those around him—and worse, for rather selfish reasons.

After letting him say his piece, I asked with some trepidation what he wanted to do. My heart leapt when he asked me if the offer to remain on retainer as a legal aide remained open, and I instantly said yes. He then asked me if he could start ‘seeing me more...socially…’ and ‘get to know me properly.’ The other Gentlemen had warned me that courting and dating was serious business for human men, and given Nicholas’ proclivities, he’d probably need to very gradually ‘dip his toes in the dating waters’, as Cavalier put it. I thought that a rather odd turn of phrase, though I understood it well enough. I told him yes, and promised him that I would meet up with him strictly on his terms.

And so we did. Over the next month, we started seeing each other for lunch and coffee, just chatting and swapping minor life stories, though we didn’t reveal the more painful ones of our respective pasts. Not wanting to trouble him with my own various traumas, I shared with him my happier memories, telling him about Cruise Control and Shaun, or even my dentist friend and Braeburn before them. In return, he told me about his own former friends and assistant, including a prosecutor he knew that began as his fiercest rival but became his closest friend.

That lasted about two weeks before he started getting more comfortable around me and asked if he could treat me to dinner. To this day, I still have a hard time getting past the idea of males treating mares, whether stallion or human, but he insisted, and all the other Gentlemen warned me not to turn him down or he’d take it as rejection. So I told him yes, and when the day came, he borrowed one of The Broker’s suits—it was the first time I’d seen him without his trademark toboggan cap, and I was definitely surprised to see his rather unique hairstyle—and used the pay I’d given him to take me to the usual dinner and a movie, which we followed up with a walk through the park. I asked him if he ever did this in his own city on Earth, and he somewhat grimaced, saying that it wasn’t generally safe to go through the parks they had at night.

“Then why would you want to go back there?” I asked him earnestly, to which he only replied:

“It’s home.” He paused for a moment as we stopped in front of a reflecting pool. “It’s noisy, it’s dirty, and got unsafe areas, the local government is poor, and it’s prone to earthquakes and wildfires. And for all that… it can be a very grand place too. Loud and proud, surrounded by beautiful beaches and mountains and has tons of commerce and culture. I’d love to take you there sometime,” he told me, then blinked at his own statement.

“Well… I might like to go sometime,” I told him agreeably, to which he initially hesitated but then smiled.

“Sorry, I’m just imagining introducing you to certain people I know. Their reaction would be… interesting, to say the least!”

“I’m used to interesting reactions, considering what I recruit for,” I noted somewhat dryly, to which he could only ruefully agree.

We walked for another hour under the moonlight before parting, and for the first time, I decided to push things just slightly. I reared up to put my hooves on his shoulders, hugging him and telling him I’d had a wonderful time. He went stiff at first, then forced himself to relax and return the gesture, and I thought for a moment he didn’t want to let me go, feeling his hand pass through my mane to sample my curly locks. I let him do it for a minute, then realized I was getting turned on, and if he kept it up, something was going to happen I didn’t think he was yet ready for. So I put a hoof to his lips to stop him. “Not yet,” I told him. “You took a big step tonight, Nicholas. So let’s leave it at that, okay?”

He initially looked disappointed… but then relieved. “Deal,” he agreed before reluctantly letting me go, escorting me back to a taxi carriage before we went our separate ways.

Ramping Up

Despite my admonishment, things started moving more quickly after that. We kissed on our next date, just a week later. We saw each other again just two days after that, and began outright making out at one point before he panicked slightly and I immediately pulled back, apologizing. He assured me he was okay, just… “Sorry, it’s just been a real long time since I’ve done this...”

I told him I understood, and reminded him that everything we did was strictly on his terms. He shook his head again at that, causing me to start when he said the same line I’d heard from him in the dream: “You deserve better than me, Five Stars.”

I chose a different answer this time, however. “Stop putting yourself down, Nicholas,” I told him firmly. “You think I’d go through all this if I thought you were a lost cause?”

He didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Well, thank you for not giving up on me. God knows I gave you plenty of reason to. I can only imagine how badly you’ve wanted to pounce me all this time....”

That definitely wasn’t the way a pony would put it, since that’s a rather predatory turn of phrase, but I answered honestly again. “Well… you’re right. I did. And I do…” I told him in perfect earnestness, causing him to flush—and exhibit a little discomfort in his trousers. “But not until you’re ready.”

“At this rate, I may never be,” he told me, to which I only kissed him again, doing my best to take his breath away before pulling back.

“Then I’ll wait,” I told him as he looked at me a little dazed, and this time I could definitely feel his arousal through the front of his dress slacks as I pressed against him. “Because you’re worth waiting for, Nicholas Carpenter,” I told him as I got down off him and put a little extra sway in my hips as I walked away.

And after that, ‘never’ lasted less than a week. We ended up in bed together just five days later, a few days shy of one month since the Princess’ and Platinum’s visit.

Consummation and Consequence

As much as I would love to describe what happened… at his request, I will not, as he wishes to keep our intimacies between us. Just may it suffice to say… it was wonderful, it was magical, it was a two year-drought ending for me, and it reminded me once again of the treasures of a human’s touch. It happened naturally, we both felt ready, and at that time neither of us seemed to have any qualms about it. We did so in my private apartment at our headquarters building, for the very simple reason that he didn’t want to do it in his own quarters around Judy, and I was only too happy to oblige.

Everything seemed fine… for at least the first half of the night, as we screwed, ordered out for dinner and then screwed some more until we were sated. I’m a bit sorry to say that none of those encounters were as intense as our first, where I just about tore his clothes off in my desperation to finally take him, but with the ice broken, they were enjoyed all the same.

I’d been patient. I’d been careful. And this was our reward—a healed Nicholas now fully able to enjoy intimacy again. I went to sleep feeling content and happy; I thought we were good and all was well… until he woke up in the middle of the night and rolled away from me, waking me up; I looked over and could just see him sitting on the edge of the bed, his head clutched in his hands. I loved his hair as much as he did mine; he sported a rich black mane full of swept-back hair that seemed to become more pointy the longer he stayed in Equestria. But now…?

Now he was running his fingers through that mane, almost pulling at it in sudden emotion.

“Nick?” I called to him and put a hoof on his back, to which he jerked hard away. “What’s wrong?”

“You even have to ask me that?” There was a sudden edge to his voice. “All of this is wrong!” He got up and stood up, walking away from me and the bed.

I was surprised by that, having thought the last eight hours had gotten him past all this. “How is any of this wrong? We wanted to have sex. We had sex. And we enjoyed the sex. So what else matters?” I asked him pointedly.

“And you think it’s that easy?” he spat out, myriad emotions roiling him. “Never mind the fact you’re a pony, you want to know what happened the last time I had a girlfriend?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” I told him easily from the other side of the bed, rolling out of it and walking over to him. “I’m a mare, not a woman. I’m not going to hurt you.” I offered my hoof again, wanting to lead him back to the bed where I could comfort him.

But he was having none of it as he batted my hoof away and got up, stalking over to the corner and trying to keep distance between us. “You may not care, but I do!” he told me as suddenly, years of unresolved anger and bitterness exploded out of him. “Then again, what am I to you except a piece of meat? What do you want me for except to be one of your comfort horses and a fucking Gentleman?” he all but hissed out. “So what was this really about, Five Stars? Were you trying to seduce me just so you could hook me on sex with a mare? Were you scheming this the entire time? Was none of this real, just like before?” he pointed a trembling finger at me as he spoke.

With great effort, I held back a sudden and very severe surge of temper. “Not everything is a conspiracy, Mister Carpenter.”

“Tell that to every client I’ve ever defended!” he retorted. “But then again, what the hell would you know about me, other than that I’m an unemployed loser of an ex-lawyer who can barely support his own daughter? You don’t have any fucking idea what I’ve been through! My mentor was murdered, my girlfriend betrayed me, I lost my law license, my reputation, and all my friends! How could you even begin to know what that’s like?”

I stared at him for several seconds before replying. “Yes, what would I know about hardship and loss?” I asked in a very quiet voice, my lips tight. If there’s anything I hate to this day, it’s pity parties, having indulged in a couple myself over the years… and knowing how unpleasant they made me to those close to me, whether it was my brother or Delta.

Regardless, two could play that game, and as he had just chosen to unload on me so hurtfully, I was more than happy to return the favor. “Oh, nothing really…” I leaned in close to him and my eyes went livid as I spoke my next words.

“Nothing except losing both my parents when I was sixteen!

“Nothing except having and losing four herds in five years!

“Nothing except being driven out of my first herd by a jealous boss mare who wanted our stallion all to herself and being forced to start over on the other side of Equestria with no money or help!

“Nothing except being tricked and taken advantage of by the stallions of my second herd, who nearly killed me on my honeymoon with an illicit potion, leaving me addicted and clinging to life for weeks!

“Nothing except being forced to give up a coltfriend I loved to try a third herd, only to have that one fail when our stallion realized he couldn’t love all four of us!”

My own rage and grief were growing with each sentence, and his expression falling to match. “Nothing except losing my first non-pony lover to the Cloven War, and my second to the simple fact he couldn’t stay here or return after, only having gotten to be with him for a grand total of four days before he had to leave my life, never to return!” I all but yelled at him, putting my hoof down hard, my eyes glimmering with my own released emotions.

I then got in his sorely chagrined face at that, letting him see my hurt and anger, then stuck my hoof in his chest, poking him hard. “You are not the only person who’s suffered great loss in life, Mister Carpenter! You are not the only one who hurts, and you are not the only one life treats unfairly!

“So a word of advice, Counselor. Next time you open your attorney’s muzzle, try not to stick your hoof in it and falsely accuse an innocent witness of things they never did!” I told him, only mildly gratified by his sudden flinch as I stormed out, then ran out of my own apartment, trying to flee the scene as fast as I could.

I think I only made it to the alleyway outside before I started to cry.

Reconciliation

By the time I’d gathered myself and returned upstairs an hour later, Nicholas was gone. He left me a note of apology, one thanking me for all I had done for him and his daughter but saying that for as bad as he’d reacted and as badly as he’d hurt me, he thought it best for both of us that he simply leave Equestria now. For all I knew he was already on his way to the portal, and if so there was little chance of stopping him.

He may have felt bad, but all I knew at that point was how awful I felt. Now that I had some time to think about it, his reaction to what we did was perfectly understandable given his past traumas, and even the Princess herself had warned me that he might have a bad initial reaction to intimacy.

In any event, his reaction was certainly no different than ones I’d had in the past, especially regarding Miral. I wasn’t ready for my first interspecies affair, despite being around him just as long as Nicholas was with me, so why did I expect him to react any better?

I kept trying to compare him to Shaun, who’d had no issues with it, but there were times I kept having trouble getting it through my head that he wasn’t Shaun. And right there was yet another lesson to learn—that every man was different, no less than ponies, both physically and mentally.

Then it occurred to me—he couldn’t have gone anywhere without Judy, who was out at a movie with the others. So I found them at the coffee house, and one look on my face told them what had transpired. Judy was crestfallen and the others scarcely less well as I explained in clipped passages what had happened, though I didn’t finish before breaking down entirely, needing to be comforted.

When I recovered enough, I announced I was going looking for him, but I was told gently but firmly no by the other four Gentlemen, who promised they’d find him and talk to him. They instructed me to wait back at my headquarters for them with Judy, who stayed with me, reminding me repeatedly that she wasn’t mad at me and wouldn’t hold what happened against me.

“You tried, and that’s all I asked. Sounds like he had fun but couldn’t handle it, Miss Five Stars. It’s a big step for him, I know,” she assured me, and though upset and worried herself, she tended to me and finally told me to get some sleep, saying she’d wake me if anything happened. I tried, but did so very fitfully, various nightmares going through my mind again as I had no idea what had happened to or would happen with Nicholas.

I got my answer the next morning when we got a summons from the local constabulary saying they were holding all of our future Gentlemen in jail for starting a bar brawl. When we arrived—by which I mean me, Judy and the other mares—we found the five looking fairly beat up, and Nicholas unable to even look at me, sitting on a bench bent over with his cap off and his head clutched in his hands.

The story we got was that the other four found him getting drunk on cider and cheap human wine in a dive bar. As it was related to me, they asked him what the problem was, and he wouldn’t answer except to say he didn’t want to talk to them, telling them in rather obscene terms to go away. But they wouldn’t take that for an answer, and things quickly went downhill.

“… so by then it was pretty tense and he was pretty soused. We told him he was an idiot for the way he was acting and he told us to mind our own fucking business. It might not have come to blows, but then he said some crap about not deserving you or anyone else,” Scoop explained through the bars like he was reciting facts for an article.

“And that’s what started it?” Amber Ale asked incredulously, only for Freefall to shake his head and speak up.

“No. What started it was me saying that if he didn’t want Five Stars and was so set on leaving, he could go ahead and leave her and Judy behind, and I’d happily screw them both in his place!” Freefall chuckled, sporting a badly blackened eye and rubbing his swollen jaw ruefully as our collective jaws dropped open. “What can I say? I didn’t mean it, I was just trying to prove he was full of shit by getting him to react. And he did. Up and decked me on the spot,” he admitted.

“You deserved it,” Broker said unsympathetically, and even as appalled as I was at the fighting, I was still hard-pressed to disagree. “So once that happened, the entire bar erupted, and well… you know the rest,” he finished, nursing a split lip and holding an ice pack to the side of his head.

Indeed we did. Regardless, wounds were treated, fines were paid, and further jail time foregone by the magistrate on the condition that the five not engage in fighting or public drunkenness again, with the additional admonition that if there was further trouble, they might end up “thrown back through the portal and returned to the Celestia-forsaken Tartarus they started in!”

It was late in the afternoon when we finally got them bailed out and returned to headquarters. In the end, I was kept away from a sobered-up Nick until everyone else had a chance to talk to him, including and especially Judy, who spoke with him for nearly an hour. I’m still not privy to that conversation, but I certainly know what happened in its aftermath as Nicholas finally appeared at my office door again, knocking politely and asking to speak to me.

I’m sure my own heart was pounding just as hard as his was at that point as I bade him enter, looking at him with all the wariness he did me. I immediately tried to apologize to him for how badly I reacted to his earlier venting, but he held up his hands in a halting motion.

“Just… please let me be the one to talk,” he requested, his expression every bit as hangdog as my own.

I nodded in response, sat back and waited as he gathered himself carefully, sitting down on the office sofa lounge a respectful distance from me. “When I was in college… I had my first and only girlfriend. No girl ever gave me a second look before her. She was friendly, she was pretty, and I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world that she was interested in me. Except she wasn’t…” his lip tightened, and went on to explain how he’d been betrayed and only found out how badly when she framed him for murdering her ex-boyfriend; a crime utterly unimaginable in Equestria. The truth had only been revealed at his trial, where he was defended by his now-dead legal mentor—not only had she not been interested in him, but she’d just been using him to hide the evidence of her deed, even going so far as to convince her twin sister to sleep with him in her stead so she didn’t have to deal with him…

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. His story sounded like a cheesy legal drama or cheap romance novel plot! But, as I watched his emotional reaction to recounting it, I knew every word of it was true, and what it had done to him. “She ripped my heart out and broke it into a million pieces, Five Stars. And after that, I never trusted women again. Pretty much turned that part of me right off and saw every other potential love interest as her. And then you came along, and…” he clutched his head in his hands.

I sensed he wasn’t done, so I waited for him to continue, restraining the impulse to go to him and comfort him as any mare would wish a wounded stallion. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s that you’re not a woman so you get around that block, or maybe it’s that we do have a lot in common… a desire to help people and a lot of pain in our pasts that we can relate to. The Princess suggested both during our session. But whatever the reason is, in the end… you made me care. You made me feel again when I thought I couldn’t any more… or maybe I just didn’t want to,” he shuddered. “But whatever the reason, in the end, I just couldn’t handle it.

“I didn’t want to admit it, but the Princess was right. I’ve clung to my grief and pain for so long that it felt like I didn’t dare lose it, because it was what defined me. In an odd way, I needed it, and if it was suddenly all ripped away… then what was I left with?” he asked almost rhetorically. “Just the knowledge that all I had become, I had chosen to be; that in the end it was nobody’s fault except mine for staying this way.”

I didn’t know what to do or say to that as for the first time, I saw tears well in his eyes. “Platinum was right too—my mentor once told me to seek the truth and everything would be fine. And in a courtroom, I always did, trusting in my clients’ innocence. But this is different. This is the first time I can remember that I’ve genuinely feared the truth. Not for others, but for myself.”

“And what is the truth?” I asked him. I suspected where he was heading, but needed to hear it from him.

With that, he raised his eyes to mine. “That I do have feelings for you. Very strong ones—ones you proved beyond any reasonable doubt are both real and mutual,” he answered with a sharp exhalation of breath. “That I can be with mares, that I can help and love them like I couldn’t love women back home. That maybe somewhere along the line, in my grief and pain, I lost sight of everything I do have…”

“Like friends who care deeply for you? Or a daughter who loves you?” I suggested, carefully not mentioning myself.

“And that’s it right there.” He nodded his agreement ruefully. “The truth is, all this time, I’ve kept everyone at arm’s length, pretending I don’t care when the truth is… it’s all an act. I do care. I hate what happened to me, Five Stars. And I’ve been wallowing in pain and self-pity for it, selfishly hurting everyone around me in the process. Including and especially Judy… and now you,” he sighed.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of the things I said to you last night, and you were right—I falsely accused you of all that crap just so I wouldn’t have to face the truth: that everything we did and everything you offered… was exactly what I wanted and needed. A friend. A lover. Someone to pull me out of this pit I’ve fallen into.”

He got up from the lounge and walked over to the window, facing out of it and away from me, removing his cap with one hand and then running the other through his hair. “Judy and I just had a really long and hard talk. You know she wants to stay in the worst possible way and now, after what we did and what I felt… so do I. You were right and in the end, so is she, Five Stars. I need to be more than I am. I need to feel wanted and useful. I need to help others. It gives me purpose. It makes me happy. But no matter how badly I may want to, I can’t do it in a courtroom any more.”

I held my breath, sensing where this was going but needing to hear it from him. “So what are you saying, Nicholas?”

He took a deep and somewhat shuddering breath, closing his eyes as if to steel himself. “I’m saying that… you’ve shown me a new way I can help others, and maybe help myself in the process. A way that’s both different and very rewarding; one I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do again. And again. And again. What I’m saying is that for you, for Judy, and yes, even for me…” he raised his eyes to mine. “May my old mentor and her sister forgive me, but… I need a new beginning, and as improbable as it is, I think this is it. I accept your offer, Miss Five Stars. If you’ll still have me… I will be your lover. And I will become a Gentleman.”

I didn’t get a chance to reply before both human and pony cheers erupted from the hallway outside my office, startling us both. Angry, I stalked over to the entrance and stuck my head out, finding the entire staff with their ears to the door and ordering them all in no uncertain terms to leave… all except Judy, who ran in and hugged her Daddy, telling him how proud she was of him and how happy he’d made her. As always, that seemed to brighten his mood instantly. They embraced for the better part of a minute before Nick asked her politely to leave, saying he ‘really wanted’ to be alone with me for a bit.

She didn’t immediately take his meaning but when she did… “Oh. Oh!” her eyes went wide. “Oh, um, sure, Daddy! Just don’t end up in jail this time, okay?” she instructed, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran outside, giggling as she closed the door behind her.

My cheeks went warm at that, and so did his. “You’re a lucky man, Mister Carpenter, to have a daughter as loving and understanding as her,” I told him.

“I know. And like I said, I lost sight of just how lucky I am and everything I do have,” he gave his sad smile again. “I have her… and now I have you.” He told me, and then he smiled, not his usual sad one, but something almost coy. “And if you’ll allow me to, I’d like to show you just how much…”

Breakthrough

You’ll forgive me for not describing this encounter either, but I’ll at least say that unlike the first time between us when it was pure passion and lust, this time he well and truly made love to me, taking me slowly and gently, letting me know what he felt for me and how much I meant to him now. Like any good Gentleman, he saw to my needs first, and that was the way he wanted it… for that was how his own needs were met, and only when I was well and truly satisfied did he allow me to return the favor. It was when I lay there floating afterwards that I truly knew he’d make the perfect Gentleman, because his satisfaction came from that of his mare—of his future clients.

We became bona fide lovers after that, making him “my” Gentleman much as the other mares had found and selected theirs. I have to say, it did make things at least slightly awkward when we had to, well, swap partners for the purposes of training them on all three pony races, though I think it was particularly difficult for the two of us, for as much time as we were spending together enjoying each other’s company.

I’d say in the end he wasn’t so much a one-pony person as a one-client one, as he preferred to focus on just a single individual at a time much as he did during his career as a defense attorney. And indeed, that was the niche he would carve for himself, concentrating on just a few select clients and sometimes seeing them exclusively for months until he was satisfied he’d done all he could for them and had gotten them to a far better place. They loved him for it, and though sorry to see him move on, they allowed him to since he’d enabled them to.

But that lay well in the future. With our grand opening coming up, we had to get everyone trained up and dressed for success, and to that end, we worked them out hard in both in the weight room and the bedroom for the next six weeks, then took them all to the recently opened Rarity for You boutique just a few avenues over.

The shop was new—brand new—and the owner, Lady Rarity herself greeted us, though she wasn’t quite as famous then as she is now, trying to expand her brand and name outside of Ponyville and Canterlot.

Her presence was expected. The other pony there was decidedly not, as we saw a rainbow-maned pegasus in a pleather ‘bomber’ jacket we never dreamt was her friend—Rainbow Dash! We all knew who she was, as she’d made a name for herself by then not just for being a Wonderbolt and the only pegasus who could perform the sonic rainboom, but for being one of the first ponies humanity ever saw on earth when the portal initially opened. They called her ‘Rainbow Streak’ then for the prismatic trail she left in her wake, and that name seems to have stuck as several of our men initially addressed her as that, only to be quickly corrected.

Judy and the other men immediately asked for her autograph, which she was only too glad to give, happily chatting and bantering with her human admirers and even doing a few flying tricks right there in the shop, which seemed to have some heavy ‘wubs’ as I’d heard it called going on in the suite above. While Rainbow Dash basked in the glow of her adulation, Lady Rarity sized up the five men she was going to be asked to fit, openly delighted by the task before her—“I’ve never gotten to try human fashion before! I’ve had so many ideas in the past but no clients to try them on until now!” she said almost giddily, and immediately set herself to taking their measurements while she spoke to each in turn.

Freefall was up first—it seemed proper since he was the first recruit—and while the others waited, they chatted with Rainbow, who said she had to head out soon. Nick introduced himself to her last, as it turned out. “Nicholas Carpenter,” he finally announced, offering his hand, content to let Judy and the others go first. “As you can see, my daughter’s a big fan…”

“Hey, any fan of me’s okay in my book! But your name is ‘Nicholas’?” Rainbow Dash blinked as she bumped her hoof against his, considering him as she hovered before him. “Nah, too much of a mouthful. I think your name could be cooler…”

“Uh… ‘cooler’?” he said with a look at me and Judy.

“Yeah… about twenty percent cooler. Oh! I know! Instead of Nicholas, I’ll call you… ‘Nix’. That sounds cool!”

“Ooo… that does sound cool!” Judy immediately agreed to the laughter of all of us as Nick himself simply shook his head and sighed.

“Fine. Guess it’s just another odd entry for my nickname checklist…” he rubbed his hand behind his head. They spoke for a little while, and I overheard Nicholas mention he was a lawyer in his previous life.

“A lawyer, huh? I’ll have to remember that!” She clapped him hard on the back from her hover, causing him to stumble and cough. “Gotta go now, sorry! Good to meet ya, Nix! Guess if I ever get framed for some crazy murder rap, I know who to call! Oh, and you should definitely take your daughter to come out and see me with the Wonderbolts sometime!”

“We’d love to!” Judy spoke for him. “Thanks for the autograph, Ms. Dash!”

“Anytime, Judy!” she high-hooved her, then shot out the door in a rainbow streak and was gone. She certainly knew how to make an exit!

“Wow, she’s so cool…” Judy gushed. “Don’t you think so, Daddy?”

When he didn’t immediately reply, we both looked up at him. He seemed to have gone pale and was still staring through the door Rainbow Dash had departed through. “Something wrong?” I asked him.

“Daddy?” Judy asked, putting her hand on his other arm.

“Oh! Uh, it’s nothing, honey,” he shook his head as if to clear it. “Just that when she said that line about being framed for murder, I got the strangest sense of deja vu…”

A New Suit

Finally, and only after the rest of the Gentleman had been measured and interviewed—we ended up going in order they’d been recruited—it was Nick’s turn. Rarity made small talk with him as she’d done for all the others to start, explaining that “getting to know my clients enables me to tailor to their needs far better!”

Upon discovering he was once a defense attorney, her eyes lit up and she said she’d always been “an enormous fan!” of legal dramas, her magic materializing a book she’d been reading called Mare in Manehattan, whose cover consisted of a courtroom scene of a mare defense attorney facing off with a pegasus prosecutor across a courtroom pit.

“My favorite character is actually the prosecutor you see on the back. Oh! I know! Perhaps I could recreate his suit for you?” she said hopefully.

Nicholas actually started when he turned the book over and saw a picture of the prosecutor antagonist; a silver-haired stallion wearing a black vest, white cravat and burgundy jacket. “Uh, no offense, Miss Rarity, but I’d really rather you didn’t…” he mentioned as he showed the book to Judy, who giggled in what I can only assume was some kind of private joke.

At her behest, he removed his toboggan cap to show off his pointed, backswept hair which quickly sprang back into shape once he ran a hand through it— “Usually I have to style it like that, but ever since I got here, it seems like it automatically falls into that shape,” he admitted to some embarrassment, reflecting the experiences of many humans who discovered odd magical effects on them upon arrival in Equestria. Once she saw it, Lady Rarity went starry-eyed, telling him that he ‘shouldn’t hide such a magnificent mane!’ and then asked what he wished from her.

Unlike Freefall, who I doubt had ever worn a suit before in his life, he did have a very good idea of what he wanted. To that end, he showed her a picture of him in the royal blue suit with red tie he said he wore as an attorney, and I have to say, he made a very striking figure in it, asking her if she could recreate it. She praised the photograph of him, gushing over how ‘dashing and debonair!’ he looked, then stepped back to consider him. “To answer your question… I can recreate it easily enough, and yet… I will make you a counteroffer, Counselor. Your look is unquestionably classic, but I’m certain can yet be improved upon.”

“Improved upon?” he asked as she began to magically wrap tailoring tape around him while her other staff attended the other Gentleman.

“Indeed!” she said as she hurriedly jotted down his measurements. “Trust me, Mister Carpenter, fashion is my forte. I will borrow from your old look, but make it fresh and new. And once I am through, I promise to make you look like a million bits!” she proclaimed.

“And how will you do that?” he said with an incredulous look at me and Judy, to which she only giggled.

“With a little something I believe I will call… The Art of the Vest!”

In the end, he indeed got his suit along with the rest of his fellow Gentlemen, and I have to say, Lady Rarity outdid herself… after a few false starts. Her third try was indeed the charm, as it turned out, and both Nick and the others couldn’t have been happier with the final result.

“Oh, Daddy, you look so handsome!” Judy told him upon seeing him in his new suit, hugging him; even Nicholas himself remarked almost wistfully that he looked like he belonged in court again.

“And don’t forget these absolutely darling accessories!” Rarity offered up a series of pins, pocket watches and lockets on gold chains, and Nicholas did indeed avail himself of one. He selected, to some surprise, a heart-shaped locket that opened up and had room for at least a small picture inside, asking Rarity if she could cut an existing picture of Judy to fit it. She did him one better, simply using her magic to copy the photo onto suitable paper so he didn’t have to sacrifice his wallet picture of her, giving it back to him to complete his ensemble.

Grand Opening

It was just a week later that our bar and nightclub opened for the first time. To showcase our new establishment, we had our five new Gentleman acting as ushers and waiters while we hired Vinyl Scratch, one of the more notable pony DJs, to entertain, having had the fortune of finding her in her dance hall loft above Rarity’s boutique. As far as anyone at the time knew, our men were simply some eye candy there to demonstrate the fact that we were human-friendly and meant to promote cross-species mingling.

However, a secondary purpose was to showcase the men themselves and see if any mares that came that night were interested… and we were all quite gratified when they did indeed get a surprising number of looks by mares who didn’t realize that fit and dressed-up human males could turn their heads.

Watching from behind the bar—which is where I spent that first night along with Amber Ale, making and serving drinks—we took careful note of who was interested in whom, and especially those who outright flirted, of which there were a few!

We had a decent, if not spectacular, turnout, with more than a few humans visiting, delighted there was finally a place they could get a ‘beer’ or other more exotic alcohols we’d been able to stock. Though I hadn’t touched a drink in years, I indulged in a single mug of frothy human ale that night and was surprised to learn that I actually liked that ‘beer’ more than our cider! It wasn’t sweet, and yet, the pure grain essence came through, quite pleasing to a pony palate.

“It’s like bread in a bottle,” Amber Ale remarked when she tried it, and she liked it so much she eventually opened her own microbrewery.

After closing, we were comparing notes, trying to determine who was most interested and whom we might approach. It was then that Vinyl Scratch, who was still packing up, approached us.

“Okay, sisters. What’s really going on here?” she asked with a sly grin at the Gentlemen beneath her magenta shades that suggested she already had a pretty good idea. “My momma didn’t raise no foal. I can tell this wasn’t just about eye candy. You were advertising these guys.” She smirked and nodded at our five men, flipping up her glasses to show red eyes.

We all looked at each other and realized we were ‘busted,’ to use a human term I’d only recently learned. Knowing she had influence in certain circles and worried she might turn it against us if we lied, we told her the truth, to which she only laughed. “Thought so. Then I’ll tell you what…”

With that, her horn flared and she grabbed Nicholas’ tie with her aura and began dragging him off. “Had my eye on you all night, Mister Attorney! Name your price, and I’ll pay it tomorrow. For now, though, you’re mine!” she proclaimed as Nicholas could only barely protest that she had to sign a contract first while everyone else laughed as they disappeared into her dressing room.

The pair didn’t emerge until the next morning, and the other boys made it a point to applaud when they came out, teasing Nick mercilessly for it. And when they asked her how he did? Vinyl just reared up and kissed him deeply, asking if she could see him again next time she was in town, to which he could only somewhat wanly but breathlessly answer ‘yes’!

In the end, she indeed paid well and became his first regular client—indeed the first regular client of G4M period!—and over time, more followed; word got around from her and soon we had inquiries from others, even one from my old florist friend, Morning Glow! Before long, we had two, then three, then five, then eight, then twelve new clients…

And by the time Platinum finally returned a month after opening our doors, we had a working business.

Open for Business

That was just the start. Over time we doubled and then tripled our staff to support both more Gentleman and more clientele. Within a year, we had nearly twenty Gentleman hired and trained, serving perhaps a hundred clients; within half a year more we were starting to outgrow our headquarters and looked to open our first branch office in Las Pegasus. And yet, for as big as we’ve become, we never forgot our origins, or those who were with us from the start.

Our first and oldest Gentleman have earned the right to do things on their terms. In Nick’s case, instead of clients choosing him, he’ll choose his clients from those interested in him, seeking those who need his particular brand of love and attention the most. He tends them sometimes exclusively for weeks, building them up until they’re ready to stand on their own. I daresay he treats them as courtroom clients in a way, giving their needs and interests all his attention and skill, and few Gentleman are more loved for it. For those who are interested in him, I’m sorry to report he’s stopped taking new clients now, save one—he was the carefully chosen choice of a very special pony, and I daresay she might be the one who could land him!

And now, to conclude this final article, I’d like to share a letter from that very special Gentlemen, who joined reluctantly but like so many others found new purpose and the way to help others he so badly needed. He may not be with us much longer at this point, but his impact will never be forgotten.

Well, what can I say that hasn’t been already, Five Stars? I’ve read through this whole thing, and I can only marvel now at the person I was and the person you helped turn me into. I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least say that you were right all along—what I needed most of all was to help people or ponies, and without that, I was lost. You found me and showed me that part of myself, and I couldn’t be happier for it.

It’s true that I’m going to leave, but you already know why as well as my plans. As my contract is up in April, Judy and I are at long last returning to Earth, our two-week stay having turned into thirty-plus months! She’s going to take what she learned here to start putting on some genuine magic shows, while I intend to work towards reclaiming my life and law license. God knows I spent enough time moping over it and wallowing in self-pity, so thank you for knocking some sense into me, beating me on my own terms to do it and showing me that there was no reason I couldn’t live for myself as well as others. It was a hard hurdle to get over, and I apologize again for how I acted at first, but you stuck with me, and in the end made me a far better man—and Gentleman—for it.

I never dreamed I would say this early on, but I will miss my clients and do feel a little bad about leaving them, especially one in particular I’m sure you can guess. She was my most important assignment, but in all honesty I think I ended up falling for her as much as she did me. I told her she’s welcome to find me on Earth sometime… and something tells me she will indeed take me up on that someday.

I know I said I didn’t care much for money, but it sure does make things easier. Once I get my end-of-contract bonus, I’m going to turn around and use it to restart my talent agency back home, of which my daughter will be the first client. And from there, who knows? I know I can’t clear my name or get my law license back immediately, but I do kind of like the idea of mentoring a young new attorney or two for a while.

I promise now that I’ll make it back into the courtroom at some point, but the suit Lady Rarity made for me will go into storage again until then. I don’t know what awaits me back on Earth, but whatever happens, I’ll face it with a smile, knowing I can return to Equestria at any time. For the friends I’ve made and the mares I’ve helped, I leave with plenty of good memories… and though I never thought it would be this way at the start, you’re certainly foremost among them!

I know there’s probably enough hints here to reveal me, but one thing hasn’t changed since you found me outside that coffee shop—I really don’t care what anyone thinks of me for it. I do what I feel is right and make no apologies for it; as long as I can help others, whether it’s in a courtroom or bedroom, whether it’s as a father, lawyer or lover… that’s all that matters to me. In the end, you made me finally realize that, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

Congratulations on reaching the end of your articles, and I’m certainly flattered you chose to conclude them with our story! Take care, and once I leave, come visit me and Judy on Earth sometime. I’ll return to Equestria next summer for Scoop’s wedding, of course—he wants all the original Gentlemen he was recruited with to be his groomsmen, and I can hardly say no to that!

With love and affection,

—“The Attorney”

You’re very, very welcome, ‘Nick’. But I wish it known that I learned as much from you as you did from me! You were my guinea pig, to borrow yet another human term, and you taught me what it took to recruit men and all the issues I was likely to face. I consider it very lucky, in fact, that I was able to land you in the end, and I can’t help but feel if it happened later on when I was more experienced, I’d’ve lost you for moving a bit too quickly.

Regardless, you will leave here missed and respected, and not just for your work with clients. Your legal expertise got us off the ground and kept us afloat more than once during the worst of this past year. I wish you and Judy the best of luck and look forward to hearing about your new courtroom exploits! I also promise to someday visit you on earth, as I’m sure your most notable client indeed will… though in her case, I imagine it’ll be sooner rather than later!

As I’ve spoken to her about him, I have no doubt she will, Five Stars! As by her own admission, she’s attracted to ‘brilliant minds’ and those who fight for their friends, he fits that bill perfectly!

—Platinum

As you say, Platinum. Well, we’ve finally reached the end of this article, and the series, save for the final Q&A. There are more stories I could tell of how we initially took off or other Gentleman I recruited, but nothing that would match the ones I’ve already done. Every Gentlemen is different, and each is special in their own way, serving mares and helping to bring two races and worlds closer together. That was Platinum’s intention all along, and now, I think we can safely say that we’ve succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Like Platinum, it is still my greatest hope that one day G4M will be obsolete, simply because human/pony relationships become so commonplace there’s no longer anything that special about them.

No, I take that back. It will be because so many mares and stallions have experienced the benefits of humanity, and Equestria is forever changed for it.

It already is, Five Stars! And never doubt your own role in it. I can’t say this enough—none of this would have happened without you.

Or without you, Platinum. This was your brainchild, not mine. I was merely your agent, and we needed your support to sustain us during the worst of times as well. Thank you, for the bottom of my heart, for giving me a purpose and a life I now love.

I still think you give me too much credit, darling, but I will accept your accolades all the same. And I understand you have some major plans for this holiday season?

Indeed, I do! In fact, by the time this is published, I’ll be on my way there. The Q&A has already been completed, and by the time it runs, I’ll be reading it from a new location. Still an old friend or two I need to see, after all, and think it’s past time I do so. Who is it? I’ll leave you guessing, but don’t be surprised if I publish a bonus article for it later!

It’s been a blast, folks. Thank you for following, thank you for all the support, and above all else, thank you for reading and learning about Gentleman for Mares via my not-so-humble story. It’s been a long trip down memory lane for me, and one thing I did not expect to happen was that others from my past would join me there. The reunions these articles sparked have been wonderful, especially the unexpected ones with past lovers like Braeburn or Shaun, and I never dreamt this writing would also offer me closure on matters such as Las Pegasus or Miral. It wasn’t all good, but it far outweighed the bad in the end, and I wouldn’t give this experience up for anything.

The Q&A will follow next week, but as it’s already written, I’ll say my goodbye and take my curtain call now. On behalf of myself, Platinum Corona, all our Gentlemen, and all the mares they serve, this is Five Stars of Manehattan… signing off!

And there you go. It took me a while to really get rolling on this chapter, as I couldn’t figure out how to approach the scene, only to finally realize... I didn’t need one. That in fact, it would do far better without any overt sex.

There is a story within a story here that remains untold, though I believe I’ve given enough information for everyone to work out what it is and exactly what was going on with Cadance and ‘Platinum’. Needless to say, Cadance needs plausible deniability for being Platinum, so she needed a stand-in, and the only pony willing to do it... was exactly the one needed to back down Nicholas and help him.

Thanks goes to my entire prereading crew of Silentwoodfire, AJ_Aficionado and of course Denim_Blue, who spent three straight hours giving the chapter an editing pass last night! You’re a trooper, DB, and have I ever mentioned how much I love the comments you leave on the google doc?