It was the late afternoon and the farmhouse was quiet. The littlest foals were sleeping. The family had returned home. Dinner was being prepared by Semillon. Upstairs, Barley was sleeping, Luna beside him, the Night Princess would be well rested for this night’s duties. All was well. Except for one troubled colt who needed advice…

“Father?”

Looking up from his book, Bucky looked at Sentinel and immediately knew that there was something wrong. Using his levitation, he set the book aside and watched as Sentinel crawled up into a chair across from him.

“Sentinel, what is wrong?” Bucky inquired, looking at his colt.

“Something happened,” Sentinel admitted as he stretched out his wings, grabbed one grasping thumb on his wing knuckle with the other, and began to tug on them fretfully, leaving his wings wrapped around his body.

“That much is evident,” Bucky stated, his eye narrowing. “What?”

“This is going to be difficult,” Sentinel squeaked. The colt closed his eyes and took a deep breath, which he did not let out right away. Held it, his cheeks bulging out, and then he waggled his ears slowly before letting out his breath in a prolonged hiss. “This is about Diamond Tiara.”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to suck in a deep breath and hold it for a moment. “So this is going to be one of those sorts of talks,” he said, exhaling slowly as he spoke. “Just spit it out Sentinel. Tell me what happened.”

“It started off with us talking… and I started feeling… you know… awake down there… and then… um… she kissed me and I sort of slobbered everywhere because I was excited and then I completely unsheathed and uh… well, I was all hard down there and she was kissing me and then her hoof went sliding down my front and she sort of brushed up against it… and then she looked down at it and got a really good look… then she shoved me over and pushed me onto my belly and then things got really awkward after that,” Sentinel confessed, telling his father everything he could think of, stammering badly from embarrassment. He took a deep shuddering breath. “Oh… and she offered to let me have a good look at her because she had seen so much of me.”

This was not a conversation that Bucky was ready to have with Sentinel, but he bravely resolved to be there for his son. Clearing his throat, Bucky poured himself a drink from the decanter near his chair, and then, after closing his eye, he swallowed his whole glass of brandy in one go. Opening his eye and feeling the burning warmth of the brandy, Bucky screwed his courage to the sticking place and proceeded. “So… did you have yourself a look?”

The colt closed his eyes and made a face of awkward embarrassment. Reaching up with one front, hoof, he rubbed his nasal bridge. “I had… I had a good look and a sniff… but I swear there was no more touching. After that we were both very well behaved and we talked just a little bit about the… uh… um… uh... wet dreams that we’ve both been having.”

“Well, there is nothing wrong with looking at your age… Berry Punch assures me that it is natural even though it just feels wrong to me… but that’s probably my own bias and my own screwed up thinking from how I was at that age… and I don’t want that for you… really. I don’t want that kind of screwed up thinking from you at all. So look but do not touch. Not until you are older. Do nothing foolish. If you do… I’ll know,” Bucky said, the last two words spoken causing a metaphorical chill to appear in the room.

“I know you’ll know… probably from me telling you because I can’t live with the idea that I might be letting you down… it bothers me,” Sentinel responded gloomily. The colt squirmed in his chair and his gaze found its way to a bookshelf, where he stared at the spines of books that sat upon the shelves.

“You shouldn’t live in so much fear of letting me down or disappointing me,” said Bucky, feeling a deep sense of concern. “I used to live that way. Always afraid I was letting somepony or another down. It held me back. I’d use it as an excuse to sabotage myself. Because I was so afraid of disappointing my teachers or Princess Celestia, I would intentionally get myself into trouble so I wouldn’t have to do whatever activity it was that I was afraid of failing and by extension, letting somepony down. I don’t want to see you suffer as I have.”

The books were no longer quite so interesting and Sentinel looked back at his father.

“Sentinel, I have been talking with Celestia and Luna both. There are things I want for you. Good things. But I can’t just give them to you… well, with the exception of one thing. I want you as my heir and they understand that. The only thing I can give you freely is leadership of the griffons. Everything else… I am unable to give you no matter how much I want you to have them. I want you to be a prince… of Equestria. You’d be good at it. You have the right temperament, the right attitude, the right sense of duty, you understand self sacrifice. You will make a better leader than I ever could. But because of the way things are slowly shaping up, there will be no more inherited titles in Equestria,” Bucky said, revealing his desires and feelings to his colt.

Blinking, Sentinel continued to stare at his father.

Drawing in a deep breath and collecting his scattered thoughts, Bucky focused upon his son, calling to mind everything he hoped that Sentinel would have in his future. “Sentinel, a day is going to come where you are going to be called to be tested. I can’t tell you everything… mostly because I don’t know… but Celestia and Luna are going to call upon you to destroy what is left of Sombra’s shadow. I can’t. He is still too much of a threat to me. Luna is afraid that direct contact would be bad… possibly possession. But they are going to ask you to hunt him down, find his hiding place, and rid the world of him. This is going to be your test to determine if you are worthy to be my heir. This will be your test for knighthood… and your chance to earn your title as an Equestrian prince. You will be the first of your kind to hold such a title. Just think Sentinel… you could lead the lunar pegasi and the griffons together into a new era of prosperity… the griffons were meant to be the protectors of the equine species… you could restore that lost legacy. You could command a vast army to protect all of Equestria and its allies. Both the griffons and the lunar pegasi would benefit from your leadership. Does this interest you?”

“Yes father… more than anything I want a chance to prove myself… I will not let you down… I will focus more upon my lessons and redouble my efforts at once. I just want a chance to serve in a meaningful fashion,” Sentinel whispered in reply, his eyes wide with a fearful hope.

“To this end, Moonbow will be a strong asset for you when you are older. As a Myrmidon she will give you the edge you need. She will cover what you lack. She is being groomed to give you every advantage and cover up all of your shortcomings,” Bucky stated, his calculating nature as an accountant manifesting.

“And what of Diamond Tiara? I know we are young… things might not work out between us, but I do hope that they will… I have very strong feelings for her,” Sentinel questioned, revealing his feelings as he did so.

“She is being groomed as well. The way things are shaping up, it looks as though Rarity and Coco will be teaching her fine social graces. Diamond Tiara will be learning a different method of combat. We are going to get her help. Have her continue to see a behaviour specialist. Get her sorted out and well again. Diamond Tiara has a wealth of experience to bring to the table because of the troubles she has endured. If we can get her through this, she will come out stronger. Better. More capable. I’ve already spoken with Big Mac… the Apples are going to give her a spine. Teach her integrity. Sentinel, even if things do not work out between you and Diamond Tiara, she will be made whole and left in a position to make something of her life. And you are not to say anything to Diamond Tiara about this, but Luna is going to start visiting her dreams on a regular basis to rebuild her mind and make her stronger. We still want a behavioural specialist though to teach her coping mechanisms and other things she needs to know,” Bucky answered, telling his colt everything he knew in a brief summary.

“So Diamond Tiara has become a project,” Sentinel breathed in a barely audible voice.

“Does this bother you?” Bucky inquired, now feeling some concern.

“No,” Sentinel replied. “It makes me feel better. She needs the help. I’ve been so worried about her not getting the help she needs… she knows that she needs help and she told me she has nightmares that she goes back to being how she was… it is her greatest fear and it scares her a great deal.”

“Well, that puts my mind as ease just a little bit,” Bucky huffed as he felt some of his own tension began to ease off.

“Father?” Sentinel questioned in a soft nervous squeak.

“Yes Sentinel?” Bucky replied, his tone questioning and curious.

“I am going to ask a very difficult question… I am very sorry father,” Sentinel warned.

“Go ahead Sentinel. Whatever you ask, I shall answer it to the best of my abilities,” Bucky offered as he braced himself. He poured another glass of brandy and held it at the ready.

“About sex… how do you overcome the embarrassment and all of the weird feelings of knowing that you are about to stick part of yourself inside of another pony’s body and touch them on the inside? I mean, you are touching them… not on the outside, but on the inside… where you could hurt them… where… where their life is. Where they bleed and have organs… you are touching them where the stuff is that makes them… them... you are touching them where they are made of food... I have so many thoughts inside of my head and I don’t know how to express them. How do so many ponies take such an act and treat it with such disrespect? Like… -ahem- rape. Like what that pegasus did to those earth pony foals in the cave we found. And how could somepony do this with somepony they barely know? I’ve been thinking about this and I feel very confused by the world around me. 'Hi… how do you do… I’m going to stick this inside of you now and spend some time grunting…' I do not understand,” Sentinel blurted out, releasing a long stream of his up to now hidden inner thoughts and feelings, letting everything held in on the inside out.

“Oh my Sentinel,” Bucky gasped. He took a deep breath, slugged down his brandy, and then he exhaled slowly. “Where to start. First off, trust. Trust is very important. Yes, you could hurt a pony quite badly by just jamming yourself in there. This happens quite a bit actually. I know all about how exceptional your hearing is and I know you listened about what happened to those three earth pony foals. So there should be trust. And gentleness. Love and affection. That said, ponies do engage in various acts of sex with no real love involved. It is like scratching an itch. Satisfying a need. So long as it is consensual, there is no harm done. Some ponies even sell their bodies and other ponies are willing to pay for it.” Taking a deep breath, Bucky paused. He poured himself another drink, gulped it down, poured yet another drink, and held it at the ready.

“As for the embarrassing and awkward parts… just remember, your partner is feeling the same sort of apprehension you are… possibly. 'Oh hey… somepony is about to stick something inside of me…' It can be intimidating for everypony involved. Especially the first time… when you are fumbling around and trying to figure out how everything works… what goes where. These are very intimate moments where we are very exposed totally and completely to another pony… or a griffon or any other sapient consenting form of life. Being vulnerable can be very intimidating. I… I don’t know what empty meaningless trysts are like or if they are satisfying. The first partners I had were the first two mares I married. Uh… that’s a whole different can of worms. So long as you are responsible and you are in a loving, trusting, meaningful relationship I do not see a need for you to wait until marriage Sentinel. Ponies should try these things out while they are young enough to enjoy them. But not too young. Look at Rising Star, Sparkler, and Loch Skimmer. They’re about the right age and maturity level. Eeeeeeuuuugh… I don’t like thinking about it,” Bucky said, just letting everything out in one long steady stream of words. When he was finished, he gulped down his drink and grimaced.

“Father, might I have a drink as well?” Sentinel asked, his expression was one of extreme discomfort and the colt looked terribly unsettled.

Blinking a few times, Bucky processed Sentinel’s request. “Well I suppose. A little drink couldn’t hurt you. Hold on, let me conjure up a snifter and I’ll pour you some brandy. Gotta warn you, this is a Cognac made by some members of Clan Pickled living in Fancy. It is quite strong.”

Author's Notes:

The talk...

I speak typo fluently.