Warning:
This chapter will change perspectives, this is merely a notification that informs you the readers of this change as it will probably confuse a few of you.
In any case, enjoy.

My morning was the furthest thing from pleasant. I didn't get any kind of sleep, nor did I take any semblance of a rest when I had gotten back into town. I went from managing the security protocols, to guarding the rooms where He and the humans slept, to conversing with my mentor about how I would go about my day. Don't get me wrong, I've staked out for much longer than this, but that doesn't make it any less tiring. I'm not some sort of anatomical enchanted device that can run off of the air. I have other needs and desires to be attended to... many of them are needs.

Aside from that, when I went to wake him up, he seemed unresponsive. But at the very least his snoring was an indication that he was still alive. Still, I have never seen him so out of it. I was almost scared because when my brother dumped ice cold water on his face, he just snored right through it as if nothing had happened. I never seen anything like it, and neither did Cliff or Rickey. Eventually, he did wake up from his dream. And hilariously, he was reprimanded for his inability to correspond with the schedule I had established from the night prior.

Later in the day, I traveled with Shining Armor and Cadance to help with the ceremony. Celestia and Luna would be here any moment and I had to make sure that the town was in tip-top shape. Even the roads had to be cleaned to a specific degree. Pinkie had the cakes and pies all ready for this evening while Fluttershy was getting her show ready. Applejack was helping with the stage and platforms, reinforcing them to allow three humans, as well as other ponies, to stand on.

If I knew anything at all about humans, they were generally much heavier than very many of us ponies. And that stage was going to have not only Cliff, Rickey, and Nondis, but also me and the other royals. Plus if we add on mayor mare and my friends, Filthy Rich and his daughter, we'll definitely need to ensure that this stage is going to take whatever punishment it gets.

Rainbow Dash is going to fly an air show with the Wonderbolts to celebrate the occasion. I tried to inform the Wonderbolt Corps that adding in a show was a little overkill, but Captain Spitfire insisted that she'd put on a show...

Something tells me that her version of a show goes a little further than what I would like.

After confirming all of the evening activities and jotting them down on today's schedule, I had to gather everything I could from the bakery and send it off to the town square. Finally, it was time for me to check in on the three honorees.

Upon my return to the castle, I had found a rather unusual surprise waiting for my siblings and I. Sitting in my chair was none other than a human female, more notably by the name of Melanie. She looked at me, then back to Nondis, whispered to him, and then looked back to me before fainting.

Forty minutes later, Sunset had managed to get her out of her comatose state. And after rearing my brother on what not to do when encountering a human female, I tried to hurry and get us to the boutique so that Rarity can get the three honorees dressed and looking their best. But on the way out, Melanie and I stayed behind to have a little... conversation.

She started off with a smile and some small-talk, but she was very much about cutting to the chase. To sum it all up, she wasn't too fond of Nondis dating me. Instead, she was very adamant on trying to invalidate what we have, because of some of the laws from her world. She said that he would be at risk of jail as well as being considered as a sex offender. Scary stuff he's dealing with on that end, considering that he's practically labeled as a criminal every time he crosses over. And her trying to say that I was not anything he needed... it just made me go off.

I really tried to be friends, I tried to be loyal to Nondis' request of keeping the drama between us down, but he only specified that I didn't start it. And being that she came at me so aggressively, I had no other choice but to put up a front of my own. So I explained to her that I was so much to him already and that we were well on our way to marriage, which she didn't believe. And even further, I had to solidify the fact that I wasn't one she would want to engage with. So in a fit of jealousy and selfishness, I took to the air until we were seeing things eye to eye.

Never once have I actually had to fly on snipped wings. Not once have I actually had to undergo such an affair over such a trivial thing. But having my wings clipped, I had to use my unicorn magic to enhance every stroke just to keep me airborne. And then teleporting from one place to another while doing my previous task leaves me with very little energy left to stand on. After the final time, I had to feign a triumphant front while quietly trying to keep myself awake. But it went without saying that I proved my point to Nondis' friend.

So I left the room and went to his side, asking him if he could carry me on his back. After his usual response of calling me lazy, I climbed aboard and leaned against him. From there on, I knew that my trip going forward would be a little easier. At the very least I can take a quick power-nap on the way there. But it didn't stop me from getting my final message through to the dumbfounded woman, who knelt over and stared at me from within the room I left.

She may feel welcome in our world, free to engage in any activity she'd like, only if she should choose to behave from now on. But for her show of disrespect to me, I will refrain from opening another door for her.

She's a human, she's smart enough to be able to see her own way out.

I'm still trying to process what is going on at the given moment. I wouldn't be able to tell you who from what, but the only thing I could tell you is that her little power-show did manage to seal my mouth shut for quite some time. This Twilight girl is dangerous and Nondis knows it, which is probably why he's reluctant to break things off completely with her. Imagine if she was to just snap at him and completely lose her shit, I don't think there would be much of a single flake of ash that would even exist of him after she was done.

Even with her smaller stature, she could be pretty intimidating.

After I trailed behind the group, we managed to come out of the castle and onto the streets of what seemed like a pretty medieval establishment with a bit of a rustic charm to it. As I looked on, I could see a prism of colors walk past me, whether it was one direction or another. The colors weren't in any given order, it was just an explosion of colors, wandering around on four legs, bidding each other a lovely day.

And I'm just sitting here staring at their asses like the tramp-stamps they wear are a mere fashion statement. Hell, looking straight at them, I'm not exactly sure which one is the fucking male or which is the female. But I could definitely tell the white one who stared at my boobs just a few minutes ago was indeed a male.

Kinda easy to notice the set of cojones swinging from hither to yonder. Thought it is kinda interesting... and funny to watch him walk. I could imagine a clock's pendulum swaying with each second that passes.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Left-right. Left-right.
Bouncy-bouncy-bouncy─Okay I really need to stop staring at this guy's balls.

But then again, it's kinda hard to tell what's what if they're standing still, mainly because their tails do get in the way of things and then I'm forced to guess just from what the shape of their ass looks like.

...Nevermind, it isn't even that hard anymore. Anyone of these guys with a box-like build of the rear end, those are males. Anything with curves that glide on down to the back legs, those are females. Also, the female's tails tend to sway a lot less during a walk... for a damn good reason.

I noticed that the pink one's tail barely even moves at all when she walks. I mean you can see her hindquarters shift at a diagonal tilt with each step. But if you're some curious onlooker, you're not going to catch much but a blonde-pink-and-purple curtain blocking your sight. Obviously, the girls here knows what's up and how to hide the goods from any perverts.

But that only makes me think.

In historical times, there was the often-practiced concept of comfort mating. In other words, this was a concept used during times of war or in times of a long departure. Soldiers, sailors, pirates, anything of the like, they all would often have moments where they'd have their pent-up frustration become an issue of how they operate, both mentally and sexually. It's even practiced in the prison systems today. If there are no females to seek after, then it was common at the time for them to bring along cute, young servants to have a little fun with.

For some, it was a rite to manhood (gross), but for others it was just simply a means of getting off until the next contact with a female. Of course, those activities weren't exactly exclusive to human boys. At times, animals were put into play of being comfort items. And for a time, that was actually the norm for many soldiers and men out at sea.

Though they did have their practices, there were also sets of rules in regards to the situation. Many of which would commit intercrural acts, meaning that there was no case of penetration. Being that the concept of intercourse with another man was often displeasing to the mind, they would settle for the inner-thighs or the crevice of the the buttocks to give them a place to create the friction needed to achieve an orgasm. But with animals, some of their guilt just went out the window. Of course, you'd have those who would go further than the practice of intercural sex and go straight into penetration.

And that's what concerns me in this situation.

Nondis, being here for well over six months without any sort of visual stimulants, any human-like female anatomical features to stimulate the arousal, nothing but females of another species, he grew desperate and found a need for a sexual release. Now add in the purple pony with wings, who he called 'Bella' and stated that he was 'cared for' by her. That means that she was with him for a substantial amount of time for him to grow somewhat attached to. And being that they could express some very sapient thoughts and reactions, it would be easy to trick him into something akin to a relationship.

And this time, Nondis is being given what he wants, but at a price of some sort.

Honestly, Nondis was always a sucker for attraction. If any girl wanted him to do something, she'd only have to act nice for him to do it. That's how he was throughout high school. And to my own shame, I too have taken advantage of that weakness of his more than once in the past. Whenever I just had a nasty break-up and needed someone to tell me that I wasn't worthless, I'd call him up just so we could hang out. When he'd find some other girls that was just as available, he'd take the opportunity to at least try.

But for some strange reason, he grew out of favor with those other girls. It was almost like he was clearing his plate for something important. By our senior year, he wanted to give all of his attention strictly to me. And then came prom, he asked me out. Being that we had known each other for quite some time, two years to be exact, I agreed.

That's when he dropped the bomb on me. Those three words that indicated that he was clearing the table all this time, just to prepare himself for me. And what did I say to him? Nothing... I just stopped dancing and walked towards the parking lot. He followed me out there, but I didn't want to give him an answer until I knew for certain what was on my mind. So I just told him that it would take me some time to think it over. It only took me three days, and on the following Tuesday I told him that I had appreciation for him and his honesty.

From then on, I could see on his face that he was a broken man... but he was one that still held hope that things would turn in his favor. But when it came to me, I was just experiencing a slight amount of pain whenever we spoke after that. He made a vow that the two of us would never speak of what happened that night and the events after it again. But I knew that he, just like I did, didn't want to focus on such a blemish to our friendship.

Honestly speaking, I wanted a do-over.

Throughout our college years, we'd run into each other every so often, but not as frequently as we did in high-school. He had classes that interfered with my schedule. But we did show ourselves for each football game, and that's when we had our little exchanges to get ready for Sunday.

Those weekends we spent with each other, I had every chance to make things right, but I just couldn't grow past how frequently our conversations started to go towards sex. It was awkward for me to talk to him about something like that because of the fact that I considered it as a major red flag to what we had. And not only that, but I was really active in that area of my life whereas he was not.

I was more comfortable having sex with other guys because I knew that the consequence to it was minor in comparison to getting into a rout with Nondis. I've considered him as a partner, but never have I gone through with the thought of saying that I could do it. Not to mention that each time we'd veer onto the subject, I started to feel a little guilty because of what I was doing. But after a while, I started to realize that our conversations were starting to excite him a bit.

There was one time where he hugged me a little longer than what I wanted. His hands wandered for a bit, sliding from the top of my waist and down towards my... It was the only time he did that after I slapped him for trying to cop a feel. That was during sophomore year of college, where he got evicted out of his house and placed into an apartment just off campus. He wouldn't stop texting me for days, apologizing and saying how he'd never violate our friendship like that again. And after hearing those words from him, I continued to hold him to his words as much as I held him to a respectable distance.

We remained like that until sometime around senior year of college, where he and I had gotten into a dispute about him joining with a fraternity to make his fifth year as memorable as possible. I felt like he was doing something wrong, something that would result into him becoming disappointed in his life and making some unintelligent decisions that would cause people to look at him a certain kind of way. I knew that the humiliation he'd endure would cause others never to take him seriously. Of course, he ignored me the first time. He looked around at a few frats, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Beta Sigma, Gamma Rho, and finally Delta Phi.

It goes without saying which one even considered him for joining.

After hearing about a series of antics the newbies were performing, I decided to go to one of their house parties and see for myself. And of course, the first thing that greets me is Nondis dressed in a French-maid outfit complete with high heels and headdress. I couldn't do nothing but take him outside to scream at him, especially after he was an inch away from kissing my feet at the request of his 'big brother'. So we got into this huge spat that ended with him losing his cool and calling me a bitch.

At first, I was in total disbelief that he would go so far to insult me. And then I had just become so angry that I left the party and stayed home for the weekend. Even after I heard word of him and his cross-mates being inducted into the fraternity ranks, I decided to purge any thoughts of the probate from my mind. He called me about fourteen times the day after and text me over thirty messages, telling me how sorry he was. And the only thing I did was pick up my phone to call back and screamed 'just go die' to him.

Huge mistake.

Even though I was angry with him, I had no right to react the way I did. And two months later, I get a call saying that his car plunged into the gulf. Oh my God, I was so destroyed in hearing that. My heart dropped to my bladder and I nearly pissed myself as soon as I made another call to confirm what I had heard. And when they showed the news report, the footage of his car being pulled from out of the water, I lost it.

But as soon as it came up that his body was nowhere to be found, I had instantly made up in my mind that he was still alive. I continued to stare at my phone for several minutes before making the first phone call to find him. The police declared an ongoing search for him and I decided to aid his family in the search however way I could. I also met up with one of his fraternity brothers in the process and he and his friend offered to help.

Though it was true that Rickey and I ended up dating, I was still emotionally invested in my search. But even our time together, I just couldn't focus on him, and he couldn't focus on one girl for the time being. So again, my relationship ended in sadness. And in due time, I was introduced to Jasper, who was eager to help me find Nondis at first. But overtime, he started to whisper into my ear that it was past time for me to give him up, that he was nowhere to be found. He even made the statement that he was eaten by the fish, that there was nothing left of him.

So, he started to 'convince' me that I was just doing this search because I was feeling guilt for whatever I said to him beforehand. And to be honest, he was right. I was trying to find some way to apologize to him. I was trying to do whatever I could to keep in my head that my search would lead me to seeing him again, starting our relationship from square one. I wanted to get a second chance at him so that I could prove just how much he really was worth to me. I didn't want my final words to him to be something I wouldn't dream of saying to him. I wanted to make things right.

And nine and a half months later, I got a phone call from Rickey, my ex. He says he has a surprise for me and that I should come over right then and there if I wanted to see it. And when I saw Nondis standing in the middle of the room, I buried my head into his chest, just wanting to hear the heart beating inside. The warm air that flowed from his nose to the top of my head, the beating drum underneath his skin, the heat of his arms being coiled around me... it was real.

But what I didn't expect to be real was this alternate reality he was stuck in for several months. Even with my best efforts, I wouldn't have even come close to finding this place. I would've been better off trying to find the mystical land of Narnia than trying to find this place.

In speaking of places... "Ugh... Hey, do you guys know where we're going? We've been walking for several minutes."

Nondis turned to me as he walked ahead. "Oh, we're going to see a seamstress so that Cliff and Rickey can get their clothes."

A pony seamstress, making human clothes, here? Well then again, that seamstress must have a lot of experience considering that Nondis is well-clothed. But that does leave the question, how the hell did they even get her to make the clothes if there were no humans to exist beforehand? "Okay. How much longer would that be?"

"Just a few more blocks." He answered with a bright smile. "Just kinda hang in there, you can walk for another mile or two."

Another mile? Excuse me!? "Oh, I didn't think I'd need my walking shoes for this... Is there any possible way we could take a taxi or something?"

"Nah, this is a pretty small town. It's not like we're walking towards Sweet Apple Acres or anything." He answered as he turned his attention to the road ahead, leading to an exotic-looking, carousel-shaped building. Meanwhile, I'm looking head in misery as my legs start to ache. As I looked towards Cliff and Rickey, they pointed towards the carousel-looking building and rambled on about how their clothes were gonna fit. And I'm just sitting here wondering how the hell Nondis goes through with this walking routine everyday. Imagine if I had to walk a total of five miles a day just to get my clothes. And then go out and fight whatever the hell he's fighting. I can barely hang in for three miles at this rate.

I can't go on like this.

"Welcome all! And I do say that I have been waiting for quite some time for you gents to come along."

As we entered, I've noticed that this place had a pretty swanky interior. The curtains seemed to be made of an expensive material, the walls were adorned with Victorian-era silver and lavender accents, sparkling jewels glimmered on every candlestick, every photo on the wall perfectly straightened, and every pony outfit looked as if it came straight off the runway. Even the chest on the far end of the wall had the fucking Gucci print all over it, only with the letter 'R' and diamonds adorning it instead of the two G's intersecting. And just on the other side of it was a small box full of... baby-blue sapphires?

This bitch, she must be loaded.

"Sorry, Rarity. We were caught up with a little something." Nondis said as he walked off towards an area that had at least three mirrors sitting in front of it.

Gotta admit, she's got it going on. As I slowly made my way towards an area with a velvet curtain, my eyes grew wide with mounting anticipation as well as childish curiosity. As I placed my hand on the curtain to take a peek, a voice shouted from behind me.

"Goodness gracious! Nondis, when did you invite yet another friend of yours!?"

"Oh, Mel? She just got in maybe an hour ago."

Immediately, I could feel something cold and bright swallow my hand and pull it towards the opposite direction of where I was looking. Effective immediately, I was slapping at the blue-ish flames that manipulated my arms, but was stopped as soon as I felt something else come into contact with it. Looking further on down, two hooves grasped at my hands as two sapphire platters blinked and sparkled brightly as the white unicorn seamstress (at least that's who I think it is) smiled from ear to ear.

"Dear Celestia! I can't believe that you're actually here! We've been hearing many things about you from Nondis, but never have I actually considered that the honor of seeing you would come so suddenly! Surely the two of you must have quite an archive of adventures!"

And she's well-spoken with a Trans-Atlantic accent to boot. Well I'm severely outclassed. "Um... charmed?" I didn't want to sound so... normal around her. At least I wanted to show that I was somewhat cultured.

"Oh, and I do apologize about the magic, dear." What was she talking about? "I just tend to grab Nondis the same way whenever he gets a little curious. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to let anyone back there out of a confidentiality agreement with one of my clients."

"Magic? Grab? Clients?" Yeah, slow it down please? I'm still stuck on the somehow-grabbing-me-from-across-the-room part.

"Oh yes. I forgot that you humans aren't too savvy with magic. I suppose Twilight should better explain it."

Nondis shook his head as he walked over to a nearby couch. "Not even once. That lecture costed me an entire week of afternoons and miss purple princess here gave me a pop-quiz on it afterwards. You don't want to hear her lecture on it, and besides..."

"She's out for the time being."

The pink pony laughed lightly as she walked up to the purple one and summoned a light-blue aura around the purple pony's body to slowly lay her down on the couch. "That's Twilight for you. Expend all of her energy and go on a binge of organizing events, disregard her sleep schedule for making her work schedule for the next three months, and then trying to get everything done for this event on the next day."

The white stallion apparently summoned a sheet from I-don't-know-where and placed it over her sleeping form. "Yeah, she's always like this. Sometimes, you have to stop her before she overworks herself. She goes through quite a bit to keep a portion of the country running at full-speed."

Oh yeah, she is a princess. "But doesn't she have a secretary who does that for her, or at least one that she keeps around her to help out?"

Nondis didn't seem to say much as he walked towards Cliff and Rickey, but he did scoff a bit as he walked over to a nearby rack and filtered through most of the outfits on there. But the seamstress didn't have a problem answering my question. "Oh, Spike is away at Canterlot on business... or so Nondis tells me."

"In short, he's helping a few of the politicians with some important paperwork. That's all we can really say on his behalf." The pink one stated as she looked towards Nondis with a bit of concern.

Immediately, I recognized exactly what the issue was with the situation. I whispered to the white stallion who stared at my boobs. "So, do they not like each other or something?"

"Honestly, I have nothing to do with those two. It's best that you don't ask me."

Nondis pulled out a black bag that looked very much like... a body bag. Okay, now I'm REALLY concerned. "Um... do you think they have some sort of rivalry going on?" I questioned to the pink pony.

"That is a personal issue that I'm not allowed to speak on out of respect for the parties involved. If you need to ask anyone, you need to speak with Nondis. The two of you are friends after all, I'm more than certain he'll speak with you about it."

As if he'd speak with me about anything. It took him a whole two weeks for me to even get in on what he was doing here. I don't think he'll be so eager to share with me what's going on. Nondis meanwhile pulled out another body bag and handed the two bags over to Cliff and Rickey. As soon as they pulled out two matching pairs of tuxes, my face contorted into a mix of confusion and anger. The white seamstress unicorn giggled cheerfully as she urged them both to go change in an adjacent room. Nondis was merely looking on as he remained silent of anything.

Perhaps I needed to ask him about this on a later date. It seems to be a bit of a downer subject for today.

Rarity walked up to me and gave me a bright smile as she spoke. "And as for you, I can see that my dimensions would have to undergo a drastic change for me to conjure up a little something for you to wear."

"Yup... As far as those three are concerned, I don't share any of the baggage they got."

She tapped a hoof to her chin and continued to stare slightly downwards towards my chest. "Hmm, I suppose your *ahem* pectorals would be a far-cry different from that of the gents. Perhaps there's a reason for it?"

"Rarity, what are teats for?" Sunset called out from the other side of the room.

Immediately, I could see a massive surge of red fill her cheeks as she coughed into her hoof and looked away, trying not to bring her attention to my tits. "Well... Um... I suppose that you'd use those for the nurturing process."

I leaned down to her and whispered back. "Between you and me, these things get the boys attention. They can also be used for... stimulation."

"They're also a major pain in the back when they're big enough." Sunset whispered to Rarity as she walked beside her.

Wow... she gets it. "Oh my gosh, and try running with them without getting any attention to yourself."

"Or mind you showing a little cleavage. Sometimes the girls gotta breathe a little."

"Fucking thank you! Breast sweat is like the most annoying and embarrassing thing to have whenever you're around a guy."

"And don't even get me started with bra sizes."

"Especially if you're trying to go for a match with your panties."

"Yeah, I mean sometimes I walk into a store and see all of this cheap shit and ask myself─"

"Why the fuck can I never find anything that matches with the top or bottom I like?"

"EXACTLY! Or why the hell does it seem like I'll be showing too much when I'm just casually walking about?"

"Yes. Have you ever walked around the house with just your t-shirt and panties?"

"No bra included?"

"OH GOD, that is just like the most liberating thing. If I didn't have horndogs trying to get between my legs every other day, I'd do it more often."

"Tell me about it."

Yes, she knows the struggle... Wait a minute, she's a PONY! HOW THE HELL ARE WE EVEN RELATING TO EACH OTHER LIKE THIS? "Um... See you know too much, where are you from?"

"I am a pony by birth, but I've spent my time in another universe, one populated with another breed of humans that have trace amounts of magic. And we can transform once we cross over from one side to another. I'm a pony now because I'm in the pony world, but for over nine years of my life have been me being in the human world. So I know how to rock the opposable thumbs as well as a guitar."

Wow, I think I might like to hang out with her more often. She seems like a pretty cool girl to hang out with. "Sunset, right?"

"Yeah, and I know you... well heard of you. Nondis talks about you all the time."

So I've been told. "Well, I don't really get to hear much of you guys on my end. So how about we get to know each other for ourselves?" Yeah, cause poor Rarity (I think that's what Sunset called her) has been just watching us gossip while she's been completely left out.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Sunset said as she summoned a cellphone from out of nowhere. "So what's your number?"

"Oh so you can use cellphones here?"

"Well actually, we really couldn't until Twilight and I did a little fiddling around in your world to get the transmission signals to operate whenever the portal is open. And judging from my lack of reception, I'd say that the portal is out. So not right now, but maybe later."

"You've been to my world?" I asked with amazement?

"Yeah, unfortunately the only place I've been to was Nondis' apartment. But he never usually finds out about us going there until we tell him what we've added on to the portal. Like now, you can access your phone's networks and stuff like that."

"Oh. Well, I guess this would be kinda cool to talk between dimensions." We'll be like fucking Star Trek at this rate. I pulled out my phone and swiped at my screen as I gave her my number. "Okay, my number is 512-235-9913."

"Sweet. My number is 821-348-5640. Hit me up if you wanna hang out or need some Q-and-A about anything Equestrian."

With a smile, I locked in her number and tabbed her into my contacts. "Great, I'm probably gonna harass you about Nondis every now and then. He seems as if he doesn't want to tell me anything lately."

"Oh I'll keep you updated. I'm usually called in whenever he gets hurt and I need to use my magic to perform healing spells on him." She answered with a pretty smile.

"Really, you ponies can do that?"

"Crazy, huh? I made up a series of incantations that would work well with the human anatomy."

"I'm a former med student, fuck yeah I'll keep in touch with you!"

It took the guys a total of fifteen minutes to get themselves situated. While they were getting ready for the ceremony, I decided to get myself acquainted with the workings of this world. And to be perfectly honest, much of any of it eludes me. The big thing I can't seem to wrap my head around is how magic in this world works. Hell, I'm more on the fact that magic is even a thing. I wanted to know the things like why does magic exist in this world, what would be the purpose of having it here if it can be such a source of mischief, how is it that a miniature horse that has wings smaller than their body can fly as if they were fucking predator drones, and how is it that Nondis (who's been here for nearly a year) is incapable of using it?

Obviously, I wasn't going to get all of the answers in one go. But that still didn't stop the blue-haired stallion from giving me a crash course through the subject.

"...And that's how object-manipulation is applied to the process of magic."

In a nutshell, it's how they can lift shit. "So it can even manipulate moving or living objects?"

"Of course, it's how we can carry others to safety in the E.U.P."

"E.U.P.?" An acronym, I don't know what the fuck it means.

"It stands for the Earth-pony Unicorn Pegasus guard, E.U.P. for short." The pink one is called Cadance, I just recently figured that out. At the very least she has a pretty normal name in comparison to the others.

But I'm still curious about a few things. "So if it's the E.U.P., then why was it that Nondis was able to join if it's strictly for the three groups you mentioned?"

Cadance tapped against her husband and leaned against him with a proud smile. "Yes, you would think that it would only be for just strictly ponies. But actually, there's an array of beings who enlist. There are ponies, bulls, minotaurs, mules, and donkeys who enlist. There are even the meat-consuming races such as the diamond dogs, griffons, and dragons on extremely rare occasions. Nondis would be the very first human to set foot into the ranks. He's also the very first true biped to endure the training."

"And as for the reason why we don't expand the acronym... well there's just too many letters to remember it by." Shining added as he turned to his smiling wife.

Understandable. It's like they took the cautious way out and just decided what would be best in terms of budget. If they'd list every being that signs up into the organization's name, one's representation would eventually become lost in the translation. It's similar to the LGBT movement. At first it was just those four and now it's gone to LGBTQQIAAP complete with asinine amounts of pronouns that pratically translate into a mix of fucking Elvish and Klingon.

Not knocking their cause, but they could cut down on trying to force the college board into making us students remember so much shit on top of our classes. I shouldn't have to worry about if this person wants to be called 'zergself' over 'bunself' on this particular day of the week. Lets just agree on 'themself' as it is gender neutral, it already exists in the English language, and there's not too much to worry about fucking up on it, okay? Okay.

Either way, I can see the primary reason why they just kept the original moniker. "Okay, I gotcha."

"Yeah, don't let my husband get on to you or your friends about joining. Nondis has already warned him of it, but Shining just rants on and on about how the guard would be if there were a squad of about ten of you guys."

"What, I can dream!" Shining argued back. "Besides, think about what ten of them could do to an army of changelings. Queen Chrysalis would be scraping her changelings off the walls in her own castle if Nondis had some serious help. Plus there'd be a lot less visits to the hospital."

"He does do a lot of the work and come back hurt every single time, but that doesn't mean that he's incompetent." Cadance stated as she lightly pushed her husband. "Remember when I told you about that time he fought off about fifty of them with a sword, and then with just a brick?"

Okay, now I know Nondis is bullshitting around if he's going around spreading stories about him taking on fifty alien-like monsters (I'm assuming) with a sword and a brick. "Seriously, who came up with that story? Was it Nondis?"

Cadance actually gave me a bit of a bone-chilling stare as her toned softened. "Actually, it was Rarity who watched him do it. Furthermore, he saved her younger sister and Spike in the process. I just came in on the tail-end of things. You should've seen him, he was drenched in blood."

...Okay, that definitely doesn't sound like Nondis. "Oh...kay... Are you sure you didn't get the wrong guy?"

"To be fair, he's not a shy individual to fighting. Back in basic training, I sent about four or five guys to take him down all at once. The first few weeks he struggled, but later on he started to hold his own, even wrestling down all of them by the end of training. I gotta admit, you humans are no pushovers. You guys can be really scary." Shining stated as he walked over to the platform standing before three mirrors.

"In speaking of scary..." Cadance began. "Is it true that you all had wars that killed over several millions? I know Nondis brought it up at one given point with the parliament, but I doubt eighty million is the not-so-magical number."

Sadly, World War II did yield that many deaths, and that's not even taking into account of those reported missing. "Unfortunately, but that war ended several decades ago. My grandfather wasn't even alive for that one."

The pink princess shuddered for a brief second as she closed her eyes with disgust. "I can't believe he wasn't making that up."

"Yeah, it was pretty ugly. But the average citizen didn't really grasp the true horrors of war until like sometime during the Vietnam War. Since then, our nation's been a little more reluctant on their recruiting methods. Back in those days you were drafted into the war."

Shining groaned as he turned to face himself in another mirror. "Eugh! I'm not interested in trying to grab colts and send them to a hell they're not prepared for. I knows how to feel to be on that end."

"Really?" I questioned curiously. "I didn't think you guys had the draft, being that you had to volunteer for your forces."

Shining looked back to me with an unhappy expression. "Yeah, they used to have them almost four-hundred years back. But after that war, there was far too little stallions to go around for mares. The population faced a severe collapse if we had continued to draft colts into the guard. From then on, the majority of draft laws were abolished."

"Yeah, we weren't looking too spiffy on our own drafts either. We were sending boys straight from high school to the field. It was how Nondis' grandfather got enlisted into the military."

"Seriously? Nondis is a legacy of military?" Cadance questioned with amazement.

"Actually, it was only his parents who didn't sign up. But from what his mother tells me, everyone from his grandfather on up was either an enlisted or a draftee. No doubt he had family who served in either one of the World Wars."

Shining chuckled as he tapped his chin. "So... Nondis is a legacy brat... Guess he's got more pull than I had originally thought."

Before our conversation could go any further, Cliff and Rickey both approached from a nearby room, dressed in some really suave tuxedos, complete with jeweled accents and cuff-links. My jaw fell to the floor as I just thought to myself how the fuck did they manage to look like they were on their way to a high-class ball, considering that there were no human tailors here.

That Rarity horse is a fucking god.

"Hey Mel, how do we look?" Rickey questioned as he brushed off his shoulders.

"Dayum." That was pretty much my only response for the time being. And their outfits were neatly done.

"Bruh, she did this just in a day." Cliff said as he looked beyond the podium with the mirrors. "She don't play around. This shit so clean!"

As they were too busy admiring their new clothes in the mirrors, my mind had slowly drifted back to the one man who wasn't in the room. "Hey, have you guys seen Nondis?"

Rickey was fixing his hair, trying to comb it back as he spoke. "I think he went upstairs to get his hem fixed. Rarity's up there with him."

Actually, Nondis hasn't really said much since we first got here. I think it would be best if I checked in on him. I don't want him to linger on about some bad blood with this Spike character.

Now that I think more on it, didn't Cadance say he saved his life?

Quietly, I walked up the stairs and ignored the mix of voices coming from the foyer below. Instead, I let my ears lead me towards another room down the hall, the door partially cracked open. I tried to be quiet as to listen in on what they were talking about, as it had sounded like they were really going back and forth. They weren't arguing about anything, but it did seem like there was a discussion taking place.

"Sweetie, you're going to have to stay still."

"Rarity, that's enough. I'm good."

"No, you're not. Now stay still while I put this makeup on your face."

Makeup? What the hell is she doing that requires him to wear any sort of makeup on his face? As quietly as possible, I snuck towards the doorway, leaning in as they continued to speak towards one another.

"Rarity, I can manage just one little scar." What scar? I don't remember him having anything like that.

"I swear Nondis, you humans have a really bad habit of accumulating perspiration on the brow."

"Well sorry, that's just how we're made. We sweat just like you ponies do."

"Yes but we don't sweat nearly as much."

Creeping my head around the corner, I could see what appeared to be a massive scar running down Nondis' face. Instinctively, I placed a hand over my mouth to prevent myself from making any kind of noise. How did he manage to hide something so large from everyone for so long? And it isn't like he can just pretend that thing doesn't exist. I continued to watch the conversation unfold.

"How long do you think this will take?" He asked as she used her magic to pat some makeup onto his face, obviously to hide the scar.

"It won't be long. Just keep still and this won't take very long at all."

Nondis rolled his eyes as he sighed with dejection. "This wouldn't have happened if I chose to stay at my apartment and do the paperwork Cadance sent me."

"It's not on you, darling. That was all Twilight and her lashing out at you."

"Who's to say I didn't deserve it though?"

"You didn't. Now stop putting yourself down over that."

He gave out an exasperated sigh as he spoke. "Sorry, it's just a little hard not to, you know."

She placed the pad she used to powder his face onto the nightstand as she used a hoof to cusp his chin to face her. "...So our date was what caused this?"

Date? WHAT!?

"Rarity, don't, please. I already have enough on my plate as it is." He answered, trying to turn away, but her magic holding him in place.

Softly, she leaned him downward to give him a kiss on the forehead. "I understand why you would feel this way, but it was not your fault Twilight discovered us."

"Yeah, I know." He answered with a dismissive scoff. "Cadance was probably the one who told her. I told her about the date because I had to explain to her that I was trying to get my evening free to make good on a promise I made. And as soon as she heard that, she just stormed out of my place with this really foul disposition. In all honesty I'm not even surprised that she would do that, considering that Twilight and her are so close. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if Cadance was even trying to convince her that I was─"

"It was my fault, actually." She interrupted while politely planting her hoof against her muzzle. "If Cadance had something to do with it, Twilight would've intervened far sooner than she did."

Nondis frowned as he lightly tapped her horn and turned away from her completely. "You're just saying that to make me feel─"

"I took Sweetie Belle to her earlier that morning... I needed her to watch over her for the time being. Applejack was gone, Fluttershy was with Discord again, Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo for some training to get her to fly, and Pinkie was busy for the day. I didn't have a choice."

He laughed in disbelief as he stood from his seat and walked off. Out of mischievous instinct, I pulled my head from view and hid around the door quietly, my heart-rate started to pick-up a bit as I heard his footsteps come even closer to the door. As he got closer, he spoke to the white unicorn pony.

"You can't be serious. You mean to tell me that you just... Rarity, you don't walk into the den of a sleeping lion and announce yourself."

The patter of hooves clopping grew louder as she ran towards the door, planting his back against it. The door slammed shut just before she spoke. "I had no other choice! If things had gone on like they did after you dropped me off, it would've been a fairly indecent situation, one where I wouldn't permit my younger sister to be here to witness."

...Again, WHAT!? Did she imply that she had PLANS TO SLEEP WITH NONDIS!?

"Seriously? Do you think that I would've taken it any further than where we had gone?" I heard him speak through the door. "Originally, I just wanted things to end in just a hug, I'd walk away and go back to my place. I took things too far, I'll admit that. And I know that doing something like that was just completely idiotic and dysfunctional on a intimate level. Not only was it disrespectful to you that I just acted out of an impulse, but now if Spike hears about this, it's gonna drive an even deeper wedge between the two of you."

...So who's this Spike guy and why is there this talk of wedges between them? Could it be that this guy is actually sprung for her and she's just not into him, or she and he got a little something going on that Nondis is stepping in on, or maybe a bad case of chasing pavements between all three of them? Like seriously, what fucking soap opera am I listening to right now?

Though I've gotta admit it does sound kinda juicy.

"Nondis, I've told you where I stood with him. You know where I stand with him. And you should also know that my feelings for you would not count on his personal desires. I already explained it to him dozens of times that I wasn't interested, and he responds by... by... essentially violating my privacy. There's been many of times where I've caught the clues of him burrowing through my personals and journals, looking for various ways of trying to prove to me that he was the 'big thing' for me. It had gotten so bad that I just stopped writing in my journals just to see what he would do next."

"Okay, now I know that Spike can be a little possessive and a lot of protective... and somewhat overly obsessive, but I know he would at least have the decency of acknowledging your privacy. He'll be quick to preach to me about doing that, so why would he go against his principles like that? It doesn't make sense to me."

"...I did sometimes ramble on with him as much as I would to you. But I do notice when your name comes up, he grew this really sour disposition and acted as if he was the one that I was to give a chance to. And I've already explained this so many times, why do I have to explain this again?"

"Because, I don't know, you're probably not giving him the whole truth of it all. I don't mean to come off wrong, but it sounds like he's being obsessive for another reason besides him crushing over you. I've been on his side of the fence before, I know what he feels." Doesn't he, I've put him in that position so many times before, and for a selfish reason. Nondis continued to speak. "Better question, what is it about me that you'd say is sufficient enough to make a judgement of my having more value than him? Again, I can understand the age thing and the 'baby dragon' story is something you don't need to go into detail about."

Hold on, baby dragon? A baby dragon is at the center of all of this? Wai-wha... What did I miss?

"Do I really have to spell it out? Ugh, you and him... you say that you and he have had the same struggle at one given point. But your mind is at a different point of time than his. Not only have you matured in the mind, but you've got the strength to match. I would say that I could easily fall in love with any colt or stallion with the fortitude Spike has."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Nondis, how dare you. You know that real love doesn't just poof itself into the mind and continues be this burning thing that drives one towards the edge of insanity. This thing I feel about you has been cooking up for months and even after nine of them, despite the words you spoke, in spite of them hurting me in various ways, I can't bring myself to stop. I promised to be friends with you, but I don't want that from you."

"But I don't want a relationship─"

"That kiss you left on my lips says otherwise!" She stammered. Suddenly I could hear the sound of the wooden door creaking, almost as if the weight was being shifted along it's surface. Within a few seconds, I could hear a soft smack followed my a deep breath from the seamstress pony. "That kiss... you just told me that you wanted a little more from me."

"...I'm not gonna give you anything."

"And you don't have to right now. But if you want to, I'm here for it."

The heavy weight of my mandible drove a subtle separation between my lips, my fingers found their way over the open gap from where the air escaped. My mind was cluttered with shock and confusion, leaving all rational thoughts by the wayside.

"...Rarity, please just finish this makeup so I can leave."

I could hear the sounds of footsteps and hooves trailing away from the door. Quietly the sound of a heavier body sitting on a smaller wooden chair penetrated through the door as a strange, ethereal whirring noise stirred. For quite some time, they continued to be quiet as my back remained plastered against the wall for whatever reason.

I really was not ready for today. "Oh my God." Was all I could whisper to myself.

"It sounds like you ran into something that wasn't supposed to happen."

Chills descended through my entire body, my arms and legs growing colder by the second. The goosebumps on my skin became super-sensitive to the sudden change in the air. Looking behind me, I could see the familiar face of a purple pony staring back at me, her horn brightly lit with a magenta glow. Around me, I could see the walls and the ceiling glow a similar color, seemingly highlighted by the energy her horn gave off. I shrieked briefly before covering my mouth. By then, I knew that someone would come by the door in a matter of a second.

"Oh no, you can scream and shriek as much as you'd like. This spell I'm producing is a bubble of silence, nothing outside of it can hear anything of what goes on inside. But the same does not apply from within." She said in plain volume, almost as if she had not a shred of regard for whatever's going on inside of the room.

I could feel my stomach turn as she took a few steps towards me. And my legs started to lose their strength as she held me in place. What really put the icing on all of it was how innocently she smiled as she approached. Now I was utterly terrified.

"As much as I would like to ask more of the history between you and my fiance, I'm afraid that my mind is on a more important matter. So what I want to know was what Nondis and Rarity were talking about in that room."

As Rarity continued to apply the makeup over my scar, I could feel an unusual tightness within my chest as I felt my whole entire world spinning around me. And all throughout this treatment, it was obvious that Rarity started to become a lot more sensual with how she approached me. The way her hoof would turn my head as she stared closely at me, it felt as if she was beyond motherly. But the lingering taste on my lips from just a few seconds ago is what gave me the hint that her 'maternal' care was far from. With the remaining hint of mint in my mouth, I could still feel the sensation of her tongue crushing mine in it's own dwelling place. Even her breath was noticeably icy as she lightly tilted my head to the side and kissed my neck. And as I sit in front of this mirror, I can see all of her emotions spilling from within her.

"I don't like playing second..." She said with a sniffle, her voice breaking as she spoke and her tears slowly crawling down her face. "But if that is your wish, then I will do whatever it takes to satiate your desire, both quietly subtle... or immensely gross. I love you, my dearest captain."

Now...

Now I really know how much I fucked up.

PLAY THIS.

As for why I added this music to the end of the chapter, it just went perfect with the theme at the end of the chapter where Nondis realizes he fucked up as Rarity is busy kissing on his neck while putting the makeup on his face. The composition also works well with the heaviness of what's going on between Twilight and Melanie. So it went without saying that this chapter... yeah.
It has gotten several shades of real.

Also I thought it would be refreshing to change up the perspectives. For now it will be just between Melanie, Twilight, and Nondis. I may consider Rarity and another character, but that will be for later. I only hope that this chapter wasn't confusing to some of the readers. If you think this is a bad idea, I'll consider not doing it again until certain chapters. If so, I will see if I can implement the change more often. Comments are always encouraged and appreciated.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, and thanks for reading.