"Cheese... You're here."

My eyes darted from Pinkie to the colt in the kitchen doorway and back to her again. It was obvious that this guy was the pony in the photo in the hallway outside of her room. This was Cheese Sandwich, the pony she had strong feelings for prior to my meddling. But why was he here?

"Mr. Sandwich had came by to pay you a visit just earlier this morning. I told him that you were out of town and that you could be coming back home by no later than the final afternoon rush. Of course, I was mistaken. But as he showed his desire to speak with you, I allowed him to stick around." Cupcake informed Pinkie. "Oh, what it is to be young and in love."

"In love?" Pinkie and I asked. I cocked an eyebrow while she covered her mouth and gasped. I saw that words wanted to escape from her lips, but she was reluctant to let herself speak so freely.

"Why yes!" Cup confirmed. "He's been here all day, ranting on about how much he missed you and how bad he's been wanting to come back to Ponyville just to see you, Pinkie."

At least I know what that letter was. He was confirming his feelings for her. I remembered what she had told me during my second month here. He said that he would send her a letter saying whether he was to come by and stay or talk about how everything's been since he's decided to move on.

"But... what are you doing here, Cheese?"

"I sent my letter over a week ago. But you didn't send anything back. To be honest, I had gotten really worried."

A WEEK!? So she was lying about when she had received it? "Wait, if you got it just yesterday, then how did-"

"I guess I should clear the air about the letter situation. There was a mix up with the local mailmare and several other letters. We had even gotten one addressed to Filthy Rich. So after everything had gotten straightened out, that's when we started to get our mail again."

Wow, I've heard about the local mailmare being a bit clumsy, but I've always dismissed those rumors. I guess they were true after all. But then again, everyone makes mistakes.

"I didn't get a chance to write you. I'm sorry." Pinkie said as she started to backpedal to the door.

Cheese Sandwich ran after her, giving her a heartfelt hug. "Pinkie, it's okay. I'm here. I just wanted to see you, especially after being away from you for so long."

"Cheese-"

He broke off his hug and smiled enthusiastically as he held on to her. "I really do want to be with you. That's why I've decided to make Ponyville my newest base of operations!"

"You WHAT!?" Pinkie shouted in a high pitch, completely blown away from the news.

"Yeah, I know! Quite a whammy, huh?"

Pinkie almost smiled as she looked at the stallion, but became even more depressed as she saw me standing far behind him alongside Cup Cake. "Cheese, you can't do that."

"I chose to because I wanted to. And besides, where else could be better when I have one of Equestria's best here in town?"

"You don't have to do that. I never asked for that." She argued.

"You asked me if I was interested in taking root here in town. I said at first that it wasn't likely due to my travels. But now, I know where I can come back to. After long days of planning and partying, I could come back home to celebrate the one thing I-"

Suddenly, she gently pushed the brown stallion off of her, frowning as she looked to him. "Just stop, please."

Taken aback, Cheese backed away from her in confusion. "Huh? What did I say?"

"You don't mean anything. You're just here to-"

He stood before her yet again, this time holding her foreleg in his. He clasped the pink hoof with both of his own. "Pinkie Pie, I am... I really do like you. I-I want to be here for you. I want to help you make others smile and I want to make you smile."

She turned away from him, pulling her hoof out of his. "You can't be here for me. You shouldn't be here."

He walked around her, trying to look her in the eye. "And I am. My heart never really left Ponyville. And even it did, it would find you wherever you left to."

"No!" She exclaimed, stomping her hoof into the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Cheese wrapped his hoof around her as she stared out the window. I could see in the reflection that she was already producing tears. "Pinkie... I think... I AM in love with you. And every waking second that I've spent away from you have been slow and painful. I can't bear with the weight of not being around you. It kills me."

For a silent moment, he quietly stroke her mane and back as she started to sniffle. A small but frail smile showed on her lips, but soon collapsed as she looked back to the figure in the window's reflection; she saw me. "I... I can't."

The stallion halted his motions and backed away in disbelief. "...Why not?"

"I don't know." She sounded out as her voice broke.

Cup walked up to her and offered to comfort her. "Pinkie, what are you saying? Cheese came all this way to-"

"I DON'T KNOW!" The pink mare shouted loudly. She walked over to the brown stallion and nuzzled him gently. "I just wanna make everypony happy! But I can't. I like Cheese because he can make me smile. He never stopped being wonderful to me. I never felt so happy as when I'm close to him. He brings me joy and he's willing to go distances for me. He actually loves me and I love him. But..."

"But?" Cup inquired.

She then left the company of Cheese and ran towards me, deeply nuzzling against me. "But Nondis makes me feel secure. He protects me like no other. He's willing to sacrifice himself for me and I can't thank him enough. He's willing to talk to me about some of my most painful secrets and he never tells a soul. He's a true friend and I can't bear to hurt him like this. Or you."

Finally seeing an opportunity to speak, I opened my mouth to voice my opinion. "Pinkie, it's okay if you-"

"NO IT'S NOT! I can't choose between two stallions who can show me as much compassion as the both of you. I won't." She whimpered as she backed away from me and backtracked to the stairs.

Cheese called out to her. "Pinkie-"

"I'm so sorry, both of you!" She finally erupted in a fit of tears, running up the stairs to take comfort in her room. Cheese reached out for her, but his body failed to respond. I stood in a guilty silence as his ears folded and the brightness in his eyes soon waxed cold.

"So, Pinkie loves you?" He whispered to me in a gloomy tone.

"Well, yeah. But I-"

"So she's decided to move on then?" He asked, sounding heartbroken.

"No! That's the problem. She's stuck on you and she's interested in me. I don't want her to-"

Slamming both of his forelegs into the ground, he turned to face me head-on. "I won't accept this. I can't let Pinkie be down because of you!"

Feeling confronted, I stepped forward in response. "Me!? How about you!? You've been roaming the countryside and she's been running into her ex boyfriend-"

"Caramel..." He mumbled.

I wanted to carry out my rant, but was silenced by his apparent knowledge of the infamous ex. "Oh. You've met that bastard too?"

He nodded his head in agreement. "I've been notified by Pinkie that he had hooked up with her in the past. And after their first time sharing a bed, he left her alone." I started to see him grow even more tense at the mention of her story. It was obvious that he was already angry with him as it is.

Imagine his reaction if he knew the truth that was going to come out of my mouth in the next sentence.

"Oh, so you didn't know that she was being beaten and raped?"

For a split second, I could see all of the muscles in his entire body go limp at the sudden revelation. "She was what!?" He quietly questioned me.

"Yeah, that happened." I held an inward smile and kissed my teeth as I thought about the pictures of the aftermath, about how she was so shaken up that she didn't want to tell anyone about it. Not even some of her closest friends knew about it until the trial a while back. As a consequence, I ended up reminding Cup what all her favorite employee and foalsitter had to endure.

"Oh... heavens." Instantly, she bolted up the stairs and galloped down the hall. "Pinkie, dear! I'm coming up!"

Still trying to process the thought of Pinkie being in such an abusive situation, Cheese's tone grew dark. "She was..."

"Yeah. And Caramel is the one responsible."

"Where is he?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Prison. And that asshole won't be out till forty-plus years from now."

Kicking the ground in frustration, Cheese snorted and hissed at the mere name of the stallion. "This is horrible. I can't believe that she was hiding something like this from me."

"You and me both. It took her sisters to tell me everything."

Finally taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he grabbed a chair from an adjacent table and sat in front of me. I followed suit as he started to talk. "I understand. But how was he reported if she didn't want to press charges?"

I chuckled a bit as I started to explain everything in a short amount of time. "Actually, he tried to press charges against me for hiring a gang of mares to assault him. And those mares were her sisters. So after some time, our defense attorney had come in with some aftermath shots of when he mugged me before he got his from Maud and the others. Then when the father came in as a surprise witness for the defense, he exposed the history of violence that Caramel inflicted on Pinkie."

Cheese hummed in frustration.

"I'll never get the sight of her with bruises out of my eyes." I mumbled to myself as I rubbed my head from the headache that whole circus had caused.

"So, that's why she wanted me to stay in town. To protect her." He concluded.

"I wouldn't say that. She just wanted you to be around. She loves you, deeply."

"But now she loves you."

"Only because I protected her from harm. Nothing else."

We sat in silence for a long while as we heard the two mares upstairs conversing amongst each other. "So how do you feel about her?" He finally asked, breaking the long, awkward silence.

"You know, you're not the only pony that asked me that. Her sisters asked me the same question just yesterday. And I told them the truth."

"What did you say?"

Scratching my eyebrow to relieve myself of an annoying itch, I quoted my answer. "I told them that she was an amazing friend. I liked her just for who she was and that she didn't need to validate her worth to anyone. Plain and simple."

"So... you don't love her?"

Throwing my arms in the air in complete exasperation, I tried to explain myself. "That's just it. I do, but not in the way she wants me to love her. I can't return her feelings like that. I mean, I do love her but I'm not in love with her. I've tried to tell her that, but she was so insistent on telling me her feelings first. I don't mean to lead her on. Even just last month, she confirmed to me that she wanted us to be, quote-unquote, just friends."

"I see."

Stretching in my seat, I gave out a big, exhausted yawn. "So yeah. Big misunderstanding. I'd like to be friends with her, and I'd like to try and help you get her back."

The brown stallion gave me a small chortle. "How do I know that you're being serious?" He said, questioning me with sarcasm.

"You'll just have to take my word for it."

"Why is it that you don't want to be with her?" The stallion inquired, still confused on why I was rejecting her.

"Because I have someone else that I'm interested in. She knows it, and yet tries her hardest to win me over."

"So what are you going to do?"

I rose from my seat, walking over to the stairwell. "I'm gonna go upstairs and tell her the truth. I don't like her like that, she has you to lean on, you two mend the relationship that I inadvertently walked in on and the both of you start planning for your future together." I simply outlined.

"You know, that sounds a lot easier in theory."

I shrugged my shoulders, noting his statement. "Oh I know it's difficult. I've been on the receiving end of rejection countless times. I know what she's going to feel. I will coach her through that bit and eventually get her back on track to you. Sounds good?"

"You know, I don't think you know what you're passing up on."

I rolled my eyes in response to him. "Aren't you the one who's in love with her?"

"Well-"

"Then just say yes so we can get you and her back together."

"I'm just saying. Pinkie Pie is-"

"I know. I've lived with her for a month. Now come on, let's go get your marefriend."

Reluctantly, Cheese rose from his seat and joined me at the foot of the stairs. "Okay."

As we walked up the stairs, I decided to fill him in on the details of my stay. "Now just to clarify on the month I've lived here. We didn't do anything outside of hugs."

"Did she kiss you?" He asked as we reached the top of the stairs.

Letting my mind wander back to what had happened just before Pinkie and I came inside, I had realized that I had actually forgot to take into account that she and I did kiss. But it was very briefly and practically one-sided. Still, truth was truth. "Okay. Maybe twice, but that was only when we were coming in just earlier. And even then I was trying to convince her that I wasn't interested."

We stopped just outside of her door as he asked me yet another question. "Was she willing to... you know?"

Cringing in realization, I did acknowledge that she was willing to show me how much she cared for me... on top one of the dining tables. "Again, misunderstanding. But I know that she will when she sees that you're willing to spend the rest of your life with her."

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

Lowering his voice so that only the two of us could hear, he questioned me yet again. "Why are you doing all of this? You could have Pinkie for yourself and yet you choose to give her to me."

Facepalming in defeat, I groaned loudly. "I thought we went through this already."

As I opened the door to Pinkie's room, Cheese gave me a sagely nod. "Thank you."

"Get your ass in the room, sandwich boy."

Shortly after our meeting. Pinkie was left alone with Cheese Sandwich while Cup and I talked downstairs. As we conversed, I had brought up the possibility of giving back Pinkie's room since Cheese was going to be in town. Eventually, we had started to veer on the subject of me moving out to stay elsewhere. Cup objected the idea, saying that I was being too rash. But I had further explained to her that living here with both Pinkie and Cheese would be awkward due to Pinkie's lingering emotions towards me.

And being that I wanted to bring Cheese and Pinkie together, I needed to step outside of the picture.

As soon as the suggestion was brought up to her, Pinkie instantly protested to the idea of me living elsewhere. And of course, she had gotten Carrot involved in her protests. But when I had broke down the living expenses of three tenants and the current room available to accommodate all of us, they started to realize that I had a solid argument. I did offer to stick around as a temporary hire, so the business end still ended rather well. So much to Pinkie's objections, I had packed all of my belongings and sought company with another close friend that I could room with.

Unfortunately, I couldn't go back to the castle. The reason this time was because I was disallowed access to the grounds by none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why she feels the need to distance herself from me, I'll never know as long as she keeps me in the dark. I asked the guards outside of the main entrance why I couldn't see her, their response was a quiet, long stare. I wasn't going to get any sort of response from these guys, so why even try? I think I've had it up to the hairs on my head with Twilight's bullshit. I think it's best for me to move on.

And yet, she stays stuck in my mind. It's like I'm a cigarette junkie who's gone cold-turkey. And every waking moment I don't have my fix is another day where I get even closer to choking the nearest person or pony I see. I wanna say that I should move on, but I can't help but to remain fixated on her. She was the first thing I knew when I had gotten here and now that comfort was gone. Even when I was living with Pinkie, I held out hope.

By now, that hope is hanging on a fishing wire and I'm steady taking the bait.

For a short while, and by a short while I mean two hours, I was completely homeless. I couldn't stay with Fluttershy because she was already housed with her animal friends and Discord. Not to mention that it would be uncomfortable to live there and woken up by the sounds of those two going to town with each other every other night. Applejack was a no-go based off of my inability to stave off of swearing. I'd be getting an ear-full every time I'd stub my toe. And Rainbow Dash... well let's just say I'm not exactly air-worthy.

So that left me with one possible suitor.

"What the hell is that smell!?"

I got out of my bed and ran down the hall as I smelled the unpleasant odor of smoke filling the air. As I passed by Rarity's room, she ran out in her night robe, screaming all the while.

"SWEETIE BELLE, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT COOKING WITHOUT MY SUPERVISION!?"

"I'm thirteen! I can cook fine on my own!" Sweetie called back from downstairs.

She's thirteen and already burning the house down. One day, that little mare is going to make some stallion very proud, followed by very angry and very stressed that the rates of his homeowner insurance premiums have skyrocketed. Either that or she's going to jail for arson.

It was obvious that cooking was far from her special talent.

"D'ooooh, Sweetie Belle! When I get down there, we are going to have a serious talk about your insistence to destroy my boutique!" Rarity shouted as both she and I ran towards the kitchen downstairs. As we had entered the hallway where the kitchen was, I was already feeling my lungs filling with smoke.

"Well it's not my fault that omelettes are so darn hard to make!" Sweetie called back.

"And your language is absolutely atrocious, young lady!"

"I guess I'm to blame for that?" I joked as I stuffed my nose inside of my shirt to avoid taking in any more of the smoke. Sadly, it was to no avail as the thick grey miasma seeped it's way through my sleeves and into my nostrils.

As we broke into the kitchen, Rarity filled a bucket full of water and doused the flames out over the stove. "You think!?!"

"Shit!" I shouted out as a plume of gray smoke barreled from the extinguished stove. Coughing and gagging, I waived the offensive air away from me. "I can't breathe like this."

After saving both my life and that of her younger sister's, Rarity scolded the young filly. "Sweetie Belle, what in the wide wide world of Equestria are you doing?"

"I was trying to make breakfast before you two had headed out to Canterlot this morning."

"That is still no excuse to burn the house down!"

"It's not my fault that this stuff is so hard to make!"

This has been going on for the entire two weeks that I've moved in here. And I can honestly say that this was the third time this month that she almost burned down the entire boutique. This go around, she was pretty damn close.

"Look ladies, can we just agree to go out to eat this morning? I'd prefer to be out of the gas chamber today." I recommended, hoping to get the two to stop arguing with each other.

"Well we wouldn't have to if our stove wasn't a charred mess." Rarity pointed out to the black and crispy cookware. "It makes me wonder sometimes-"

"I just want to be able to do something without having to rely on you as much!" Sweetie interrupted, screaming back at her sister.

Seeing that arguing with her younger sister wasn't going to get either of us anywhere, Rarity took a deep breath and lowered her tone as she gently placed a hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "Sweetie Belle, precious, I can understand your desire to come out as your own mare, but could you at least be a little more cautious? You won't make marehood if you're constantly throwing your own life into peril." She looked back over to me, seeing that I was still trying to recover from the massive amount of smoke I inhaled. "As well as the lives of others."

Feeling remorseful, the young filly turned to me and bowed her head. "I'm sorry." She then turned back to her older sister. "Both of you."

"Ohhh!" In the blink of an eye, Sweetie Belle was magically scooped up by her older sibling and cuddled like an infant. "You're fine. I'm just glad that you're unhurt."

"I get it." Sweetie responded in deadpan as she was still being cradled.

"You silly filly, I'll make sure that you'll get the best-"

"Rarity!" She shouted, getting her older sister to place her back on the ground.

The fashionista blushed and laughed nervously. "Oh. Sorry."

After passing her sister a serious look, Sweetie looked to me again. "Sorry about that, Nondis. I really wanted you to taste the food this time."

"Oh no, you're fine. I'll be okay." I was spared of a fate most unfortunate today. Not only I wasn't burned alive, but I didn't have to be Sweetie Belle's taste tester. Well I'll be damned. There is a god.

"Maybe next time." Rarity addressed to her little sister, much to my horror. "But for now, we should be getting ready to head out."

As Rarity ran to go get her bags from up the stairs, I was left questioning our departure time. "I thought the train didn't head out till about eleven."

"Ten, darling! And can you guess what time it is now?"

I looked over to the clock across the room. "About eight thirty."

"Precisely. We would need to be at the station within the hour, should we expect to be ready for when the train comes into town. After all, the train leaves the station at ten, not after." Rarity called from the top of the stairs she would walk down. Instead of holding just one bag, she moved several. About five bags worth of fabric, a case for her mobile sewing machine, a bag the clothes she'd be wearing out and my own travel bag.

"So we'd be loading the train at about-"

Before I could finish my statement, I found my own luggage being shoved into my chest. Meanwhile, Rarity levitated hers towards the front door. "Nine thirty to say the least."

"Oh shi-" There are foals present, dumbass. "-ippie." Okay, not as clever, but I guess it'll do.

"Oh 'shippie' is right." I can't believe she just said that. "We need to get Sweetie Belle to another-" Then the door bell ran as she spoke. Quite some fortunate timing here. "Oh! He's here."

The three of us quickly walked towards the door. As soon as Rarity opened the door, Sweetie Belle ran towards the guest standing in the doorway.

"Daddy!" Sweetie hollered loudly, hugging the stallion.

"Heya there, munchkin! How ya feeling today!?" The stocky stallion asked his younger daughter.

"I'm doing great! This morning I was-"

"Hurry up Nondis! We've got to get to that train station. We should be meeting up with Spike within the next half-hour."

As Rarity happily trotted out of the boutique free-hoofed, I was busting my spine carrying all of her bags for her, not including my own. "Just... where... nngh... are we... meeting up... dammit... with Spike?" I struggled to speak from behind the mountain of luggage. Meanwhile, her father shook his head and trailed behind me with my bag.

You know, I understand that Rarity has a lot to carry, but how is it that her younger sister and her father was able to help me while she runs off somewhere else, unburdened on top of it all?

"Spike will be meeting with us at the train station. He will accompany us to Canterlot."

I nearly dropped everything in my hands as I took a wobbly step forward. "He is?" I asked nervously.

"Whatever is the matter? I thought you would appreciate the assistance."

"Well, when it comes to him, he doesn't like to share his personal belongings. And by 'personal belongings', I mean you."

And it's true. Spike never did like me spending time with Rarity because he thought that I would steal her away. It didn't help my argument any since he actually caught me receiving a kiss on the cheek from her a two months ago. He was extremely territorial when it came to Rarity, with any male in general. And what makes it all scary is that he'll act so calm and civil when she or the other girls are around to see him.

That dragon was a two-faced fucker who wouldn't mind cracking a innocent smile, all while watching the skin boil off of your bones.

The freelance fashionista chortled at my testament. "Oh, nonsense! You'll be fine. I'll be sure to keep an eye on Spike. If he should ever act unfair towards you, then you are at liberty to notify me at once."

"What will you do to him if he does?"

"Simple. I'll give him a stern talking-to."

I can see that he'd be angry about having to get a lecture on how he should behave around others, especially when it came to me. So it brought in the question that stayed on my mind for quite some time. "What if he ignores you?"

"He won't. Now come, Canterlot awaits!"

While Rarity veered off, I was still struggling to carry all of her bags. Her father did managed to lighten my load a bit while Sweetie Belle rode on top of his back. He had some pretty formidable strength to be able to multitask like he did. But I did want to ask him how his daughter became so... well... misplaced. Because he, nor does his wife or Sweetie talks in a Mid-Atlantic accent like she does.

I don't even know if there's even an Atlantic here in Equestria.

"Thanks a bunch." I muttered back to the burly stallion walking beside me.

"Sure thing mister." The stallion answered as Sweetie Belle did her part to carry a bag or two.

"Where does she get this desire to leave her bags with everyone else?" I voiced out with concern, seeing that everyone in our party was literally walking with Rarity's bags while she was nowhere to be seen.

"Beats me. I'm her father and I couldn't tell you."

"That's just how she is. If there's a male around, she would prefer them to be the gentlecolt and carry her belongings for her. She's a proud chivalry-enthusiast. You'll get used to it." Sweetie added.

I've been getting used to it for the past two weeks.

As I rode on the train, I stared at Spike and Rarity, who sat across from me. They continued to talk amongst each other as Rarity outlined her plans for the evening. It seemed that she had a pretty packed schedule tomorrow morning. At first, she would meet up with a fellow associate and have a long conversation about some of their clients. Then their conversation would finally get into some of the jobs they had for her. Soon after, she would hit up all of the local retailers of fabrics and other fashion goods to replenish her supplies. By the end of that, we'd head out to dinner with another client and talk about some of the ideas she has for her new line, what's in season, what's out, what accents would work, what she could get away with, et cetera.

While her schedule seemed like a lot on her plate, my mind was already at a clutter from my recent run in at the train station.

As we met up with Spike, I had seen that the others had showed up to bid us a safe travel. Even Cheese Sandwich was present, but it seemed like there was one who really wish she wasn't there.

Yeah, you all know where this story is headed.

As I walked into the station to relieve myself, Pinkie found an opportunity to sneak into the bathroom as I sat in one of the stalls. As soon as she walked in, I could see the pink coated hooves slowly walking towards my stall. But instead, she turned to the stall next to mine and locked herself inside.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" I asked as I flushed the toilet.

After waiting for the water to stop rushing down the bowl, Pinkie Pie responded. "I just needed to talk to you."

"Is it about Twilight?"

"She's really trying her hardest to act like you aren't here."

I shook my head, confirming my earlier suspicions. "I've noticed."

"Each time you say hello to the group, she looks away and finds something to distract herself. This time, she was reading one of her books."

"So I'm assuming that the book she was reading had something to do with driving a guy insane." I asked sarcastically.

"No. Just a typical romance novel. But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about."

Evidently, it had to be important for her to come into the colts restroom. "What is it?"

"Her brother just came back from his tour of the badlands sometime three weeks ago. He's posted in the castle as well. And apparently, he's the reason why she hasn't been speaking to you in the public eye. Much less two weeks ago when we were here."

Yup, that's pretty damn important. "So she wouldn't tell me this and why?"

"Because... I don't know. I wish I could tell you something, but I don't wanna lie to you."

Don't wanna lie to me? Pinkie, you've been lying to me since I stepped foot on Equestrian soil. "You didn't seem to have a problem with that when it came to telling me your feelings."

"I didn't want you to get too close. But in doing so, you only gotten closer to me anyways." She rebutted.

I hummed dejectedly, thinking about another instance she had lied to me. "Then how about you not telling me about the letter you had gotten from Cheese the day before we left to the rock farm?"

"That wasn't a lie. I can't lie if I don't tell you about it, silly." She responded.

"Okay then, how about the situation between you and Caramel?"

She grew quiet at the mere mention of the stallions name. "...I may have rehearsed that story to myself a bit. Eventually, I had convinced myself that what had happened between me and him wasn't as severe. But deep down, I knew the truth."

"So you admit to lying to me?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know if I could trust you."

"Then why did you lie to the others?" I inquired. By logical reasoning, she should've at least informed them of the problem she had if they were her closest friends.

"I didn't want them getting involved."

I rolled my eyes at her answer. "They're your friends. They should be getting involved whenever it comes down to shit like that."

"You don't know them like that." She murmured.

"How so?"

"Applejack hasn't been too fond of Caramel for a while, not even Big Mac liked it when he came around asking for her."

My ears perked at the new bit of background presented to me. I had already knew that he was in a relationship with Pinkie, but now he tried to get with her best friend? Wow, that's a bit low. "He tried to get with Applejack?"

"Yeah, but her cousin Braeburn had already warned her about him in a letter. That aside, if AJ would've found out... I don't think I would want to see her become a criminal for my sake."

I laughed at the mental image of him running for the hills as Applejack tried to hogtie him and beat him senseless. "Yeah, I know. She would've kicked his ass six ways to next month"

"Rarity doesn't really show it, but she is a fighter. And a skilled one to go along with it. She'd destroy him on the spot."

A prim and proper seamstress going Bruce Lee on a cowardly stallion. "That I'd love to see."

"No you wouldn't. Even Rainbow Dash would've unleashed everything she had at him. And when she's mad, she doesn't hold back."

And seeing her perform a corkscrew dive from high in the air to deliver a hind leg to his jaw would've been exhilarating. "I can see that happening."

"Fluttershy doesn't like fighting, but when it comes to defending her friends, she'd do anything to break him."

Okay, this is where I fail to follow up with an image in my head. "That sounds very unlikely."

"Discord used to be our enemy. She single-hoofedly tamed him to be harmless to us. And if he could defeat both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna without the Elements of Harmony, then he'd tear us, and all of Equestria, to shreds. She did it alone, using just her words alone. Think about that."

And even now, Discord is her proverbial bitch. That in itself is an image that shows in my mind. "Okay, I could see that happening now that you mention it."

"Twilight... I don't even want to think about the levels of violence she would've stooped down to."

Her violence towards me was more emotional than physical. If that's what she meant, then I guess he would have a hard time dealing with her. But still... "How bad could that be?"

Pinkie paused for a moment. "...She fought a centaur over fifty times her size in Rambling Rock Ridge. She destroyed a mountain, was knocked against another, knocked through that mountain and thrown towards another. After all of that, she came out of it all without so much of a scratch."

I scoffed at the absurdity of that story. I didn't believe that she'd be able to fight off a titanic mythological creature and walk away from it unscathed. "I call bullshit on that one."

"Well let me put it to you this way, it was because of that fight that the castle stands in the center of Ponyville today."

Okay. But I'll still call bullshit on that one. That just sounds downright fictional. "Sure, and it was born from a magical box that flew high into the air on a rail of rainbows, into the ground, which then grew the magical castle in one gigantic piece. And then Twilight slayed the Jabberwocky and went on to save Narnia. And then we all lived happily ever after."

"You're not that far off, actually. The only part that didn't make sense was the Jabberwocky-"

"Of course it doesn't make sense! That's why I said it."

"But really, that's what actually happened. We even went to-"

I didn't need to hear anymore weird stories on how ponykind was made, I had a train to catch. "That aside, I'm going to take your word for it." I interrupted as I rose from my stall, pulled up my pants and walked out.

"Hey, Nonnie. You know, if you want to, there's some extra room in this stall. Maybe you can hide in here with me." Pinkie called out to me in a flirtatious manner.

Washing my hands, I answered back to the pink mare in the stall. "If you're suggesting that we'd do nasty things in there, then I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to say no to that."

"Well, that wasn't on my mind... But okay! Just be gentle when you pull my tail. I really, REALLY like that kind of-"

Before she could go into any boner-inducing details, I tried to haul ass out of the bathroom as quickly as I could. "Ahhhhhhhhhi ain't got time for this shit!" I sounded out as I opened the door.

"But Non-non, you-"

As I opened the door, I was suddenly greeted with a familiar face. A face full of righteous fury, indigo bangs with pink highlights, large purple eyes and a sharp, pointy horn that lit with a magenta flame.

"Twilight. Hi." I whimpered anxiously as she raised a hoof towards me with a low growl.

"I was going to tell you that you're in the little filly's room." Pinkie called out from the stall. No wonder why the place smelled of potpourri.

As I nervously laughed, the next thing I felt was the impact of a purple hoof on my shoulder. As she gave me a comforting smile, I uneasily smiled back, trying to back away. And much to my fears, her hoof held me in place as her smile very quickly disappeared.

Yeah, that wasn't gonna end well.

Even as I sit aboard this train, I could still feel the out-print of a horseshoe against my cheek. At the very least, she could've cursed me out or something. But instead, all she did was slap me and teleport me into the train.

Some hello.

"Nondis, are you even paying attention?" Rarity asked me from nowhere.

"Huh? I-what?"

"Darling, we're going to be delayed for a while. It seems that a cave-in of one of the tunnels leading to Canterlot had placed us under a significant waiting period. We're stranded until they can clear the tunnel and inspect for anymore possible ruptures."

So that meant while I was in la-la land, the train had come to a stop and a tunnel had caved-in right in front of us. I really need to get my mind off of Twilight sometimes. "Damn, that sucks. What's the time of delay? Does anyone know?"

"Well, from what they're saying, we might not get to Canterlot until nightfall."

"How far are we from Canterlot now?" I asked, looking at the motionless scenery of the mountainside outside of the window.

"We're a lot closer to Canterlot than we are to Ponyville. All we have to do is scale up the mountain and we're there. To get to Ponyville, we'd have to travel all the way back." Rarity said as Spike handed her a newspaper to read for the time being.

"That means we're stuck here for a while." The young drake stated as he laid himself on the seat to go to sleep.

Well that's lovely. If I were some of the passengers on the train, I'd be asking for some sort of compensation. But before I could voice my disgust, the speakers squeaked loudly as an announcer spoke on the system.

"Attention all travelers, attention all travelers. We are still currently waiting for the tunnel to clear out. Since a team has already been assigned to clear the blockage, we will be expected to arrive at our destination by around 9:54 p.m. To help accommodate you during this wait, we are issuing first-class dinners to all passengers free of charge. Thank you kindly for riding and dining with us. We hope that this event does not dissuade you from joining with us in the future. Once again, we thank you for your patience."

Wow, I actually summoned that one up, didn't I?

After our long wait, we had finally arrived at our primary destination. Canterlot; the crown jewel of all of Equestria. Not only was this the nation's capital, but it was also home to some of the country's most prestigious members of society, including that of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Both Twilight Sparkle and her older brother were born in this very city. And now, I was standing in the middle of it.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the time for tours. So rather than gawking at the city lights, Spike and I were pressed to carry Rarity's bags as we followed her to our hotel. As we passed by some of the more elite locations, I had noticed that there was an increase of guards in the area. I guess it was for security purposes, but in actuality this was the home of two royals, the two most powerful and most important no less.

In contrast to the more dormant night-life that Ponyville has, Canterlot was bustling with life as ponies walked the busy streets. In comparison to the last town outside of Ponyville I paid a visit to, this had a much more energetic feel. There still weren't any foals running up and down the street. Teenage colts and fillies were abundant as the moved in drones from place to place. Some of the more mature ponies have taken themselves to sit alongside the lily-pond bridge and watch the lights brighten up the city.

Canterlot was beautiful.

When we had entered into our hotel, Rarity had purchased two rooms for us to stay in. I asked her why she didn't want to save some money and go for just one, her response was that it would be far too crowded for us and that she preferred a more privatized arrangement. When I had asked her about renting out a third room, she said that the cost was far too much for the budget she had planned.

By now, we had to set out our living arrangements. I recommended a room to myself, stating that I could easily place the beds in one single unit. But not only did Rarity voice her complaint that Spike had a habit of snoring loudly, the hotel had rules against that kind of thing, so that idea went out the window. I proposed that Spike and I share a room. But Rarity argued me down, saying that Spike wouldn't be fair to me if I was in a room alone and unsupervised with him.

I couldn't believe that Rarity was actually making me do this.

By the time Spike and I carried the bags upstairs, Rarity had unlocked one of the rooms. As soon as we placed the bags down to wait, the young dragon fell asleep on some of the luggage we carried. I giggled at the sight of him falling to pieces just before he had a chance to walk into the room. It was one of those moments where I wish I had my cell phone on me to take pictures. As Rarity opened the door, she levitated the tired form of the baby dragon onto a nearby bed. Unfortunately, that left me to move all the bags into the bedroom she and I was going to sleep in.

After lugging in all of the bags, I flopped myself onto the nearest bed. Despite the small size, it was still pretty comfortable. But I suppose that it would be in comparison to the seats on the train. Rarity was the first to use the shower as my first instinct was to find the television remote. I started to open the dresser and that's when I had finally realize that there was no television. Instead, the drawer were filled with books, and what stood on the opposite side of the wall was a radio.

I guess my mind hadn't completely slip out of the human world just yet.

Rarity walked out of the shower wrapped up in her rose-colored night robe. Her mane was done in a series of curlers and she held a pair of small blinding straps in her magical grasp. I knew that she needed one to focus on her sleep but I didn't think she'd carry an extra. Just before putting hers on, she threw one over to me.

"If the night lights get on your nerves like they do to me, then you can wear this."

I inspected the mask, looking at it as if it was some foreign device. Unfortunately, I didn't see myself having much of a use for it. My bed wasn't beside the window for one and for two, the shades blocked out any light that wasn't already within the room. Not only that, but light never really did have that much effect on me. I gave it back to her.

"No thanks. I'm fine without."

"Your loss." She said as she turned herself in for the night.

I suppose that it was time for me to do the same. It was getting late anyways. The small alarm clock on the nightstand read eight minutes before midnight. We did get in later than what we already had planned and even later than that of our delayed arrival time. The travel was stressful and, in my case, without nourishment. I don't eat flower or hay-anything so my menu was dwindled down to a glass of water and a small salad. If anything, I needed to save my energy for the morning.

But at the very least, I should take a bath first.

I still can't sleep.

It's been two hours and my mind has been wandering around this whole entire mess of Twilight and her brother. Not only that contributed to my lack of rest, but also the small bed size. So after senselessly tossing and turning for about thirty minutes, I gave up and moved the blankets and pillows from the bed to the floor. After making a make-shift futon, I laid myself on the ground, hoping that I'd get some sort of comfort from it all.

Instead, all I had gotten was a massive ache in my side and a more annoying headache.

How did I even get into all of this mess? I understand that I was in the midst of performing illicit acts on a royal, but did it all have to go to hell afterwards? She didn't even lose her virginity and yet she punished herself. Then her brother has it out for me, damn near killing me. I move in with Pinkie for a short while. Then her boyfriend comes to town and she's torn emotionally between me and him. So I move out to move back in with Twilight, but her brother still has it out for me. So she bans me from the castle grounds and I'm forced to live with Rarity. I get that, but why in the hell am I being punished so damn harshly?

As I stare at the clock across the darkened room, I knock myself on the head as I realize that the lights are out. Laying by head back down to the pillows, I try to close my eyes in hopes of gaining some rest. But as usual, my mind brings me to the world of now. I'm still awake and thinking of Twilight.

About how close we were to each other.

I could still see the after-image of the purple mare greedily pressing herself against me. I could still feel the warmth of her walls clenching around my fingers as I inserted them inside of her moistened lips. I could still imagine her going even further than we did before her brother had walked in on us.

I found my hand clenching down on my erection as I thought more about what was within my grasp. The pain of my boxers constricting me had become more than a distraction. By now, it only added to the growing list of problems I had with my sleep. I looked over to see if Rarity was still sound asleep. Needless to say that she was at this time of the morning. Hell, I was the only one awake at the moment.

That meant that I finally had the opportunity to do what I haven't done since my arrival in this world.

Freeing myself from containment, I allowed my hand to work up and down the shaft of my erection. Closing my eyes, I started to use my imagination. I visualized that very day where Twilight pushed me to her bed. My legs started to stretch out as I tried to massage the suppressed tension out of my body. I didn't want to wait entirely too long to approach my orgasm, as I still had an early morning to wake up for.

Mourning the session that could've been between me and Twilight, I sped up my pace and tensed my body to force myself to reach my climax. Eyes still closed, I visualized a number of scenarios where Twilight and I could go even further.

Despite the guards walking down the hall, she whispered to me how she hated being so aroused. As her hind legs shifted, I reached my hand back behind her, firmly clasping my fingers around the purple cheeks of her plump, princess posterior. My mind became awash with lustful intentions as my other hand met with the second, untouched cheek. As her kiss deepened against me, I allowed my hands to venture further down the base of her tail. Her body sweltered in this area, the air thick and humid as she cooed quietly into my mouth.

Gliding a finger around her swollen lips, I calculate my method of entry. I could easily just turn her around and have my way with her, but that would be too quick for either one of us. Even she should have to know the pain of being built up for so long. My body instinctively thrust against her wandering hoof. She trails her hoof up and down my hardened shaft, causing me to shudder at the mere thought of feeling her heavenly passage blessing me with a shower of her juices as I struck inside her.

A frustrated sigh through clenched teeth leaves me as she uses her magic to slowly unzip me. Her body rocks against my hand as I press myself towards her hoof. Twitching in excitement, my staff nods to her every touch, her every motion. Pleasure rattles my senses as I decide that the touching has been far too much. Twilight could still see that I was very much needing what she had wanted. We both desired the raw, undignified embrace of our lustful exchanges. I needed to feel her. She wanted me to plunge into her. And I was more than willing to accommodate.

I could already see her moistened slit, glistening with arousal.

Despite my vivid imagination, it paled in comparison to the sensation of flesh mashing against flesh. I couldn't stand the insanity any longer. For the first time in my life, I had dared to do the one thing that I didn't think I could ever do.

I rose from the floor, walked over to the occupied bed, where a white unicorn mare slept peacefully. I instructed myself that I wouldn't dare go any further than a peek. As my hand moved up and down my shaft, I could see her tail veiling much of what I had wanted to see. I snuck my free hand to her, trying to be as careful as I could not to wake her. Her body lied motionless, upward facing, and unsuspecting of what I would do.

My heartbeat increased at an exponential rate. I could feel it beating in the palm of my hand. I was so nervous, scared, and yet excited. I knew that the consequences would be severe if I had gotten caught, but that just added to the thrill. I knew that this was beyond wrong and yet, I wanted to do it. After a minute of cheering myself onward, I had finally placed a finger at the base of her tail.

I started to speed up as I felt the familiar warmth of her nethers radiating onto my finger. I couldn't hold off for much longer, but I still desired something substantial to tribute to. I gently hooked my other fingers around the base of her tail to move the hairy curtain out of the way.

Slowly now.

Carefully.

Quietly.

Almost there.

She shifted!

I pulled myself back, my fingers removed themselves as the mare adjusted herself. I retained my breathing to a minimum as I kept my mouth covered. As my free hand cupped my mouth shut, I could smell the light musk around my fingers. The grasp around my shaft tightened even more as I basked in the smell. Yet I didn't move. I couldn't risk it.

After a minute or so of being stationary, teasing myself as I waited, I proceeded to work my hand against my stiffened erection. As I looked down, I had noticed a miraculous change of fortune. Her tail had completely unveiled the very area I sought to provide tribute to. My aching form quivered as I lowered myself to get a better look. In the shadow of darkness, I couldn't see much, but I know that what was in front of me was the very thing that every stallion desired. Even the light odor she gave off was too much for me to handle.

I wanted to taste her so much. Greed had overtaken me at this point. My climax neared as I placed a hand on the well-toned curve of her plot. Instinct had screamed at me to insert myself, but I staved off that desire. I just wanted to feel her. Just a touch. My body started to rock back and forth as I started to feel myself approach the point of no return. I slowly guided myself towards her, tracing the outside curves of her flank and finally landing in the crevice above her haunches. I slowly thrusted myself against her.

The first thrust seemed unreal. The flesh and the warmth that graced me was absolutely beyond definition. I grew anxious and ambitious, thrusting myself against the darkened valley a second time. My eyes failed to focus, rolling to the back of my head in ecstasy. A quiet moan escaped my lips as I prepared for my almost inevitable release.

"What do you think you are doing?"

I looked down to see an angry mare, still in her resting position, yet she stared at me with open eyes. I knew that she did, her blindfold had concealed that, but I knew. As I tried to back away, I felt a force resisting against me. When I had looked behind me, I could see the light blue flames holding my body in place. And as I turned around, I had received an eye-full of light, initially blinding me. But as soon as I recovered, I had saw that she did not wear the blindfold. Instead, her eyes were glaring coldly into mine.

I could easily see the sense of betrayal that swam in her mind.

"How could you?" She asked in a whispery tone.

"Rarity, I'm sorry! I-I-"

I didn't get to finish as she magically pushed me off of her and back onto the floor. She took a deep breath and screamed to the top of her lungs.

"SECURITY!"

So what will happen to Nondis next? See what unfolds in the next chapter. Also, the last segment is part of a dream. Feel free to read the next chapter to see how it concludes.