"And that's pretty much the short and simple of it."

The two siblings remained in awe from hearing what all their brother had endured throughout the past two weeks. Not once did they anticipate that he would have had so many injuries, traumatic experiences, or negotiations with stubborn politicians, some of which who wanted him dead. It was only made worse when they were told exactly what he was doing with him and the others.

"That's quite a precarious predicament your pal's managed to put himself into." Discord cosigned. "But he's willingly made his choice on what path he would take."

Stanton and Alex leaned against the wall, trying to find some comfort from their aching feet and throbbing heads. The younger sibling pinched the bridge of his nose to alleviate some of the pressure. "So... He's trying to pull a Moses in saying 'let my people go.' I knew that he was self-righteous to a fault, but this is a new one."

"Especially when there's politics involved." Alex said as he turned to the prince. "So is there any way he can get out of this, or a way of convincing him that this isn't a good idea?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned. Cadance was adamant in having him join the cause, but his latest stunt managed to put her in a predicament. Now he's adored by the left-winged politicians, essentially being praised as the 'champion of the citizenry'. Not very often have I had such praise, but then again I don't have weapons that can break swords and burrow through armor as if I was poking holes in cheese."

Discord crept a look inside of one of the bins and stared blankly at the weapons inside. "...I don't see what's so intimidating."

"Well it's not about you seeing it as much as feeling it." Alex responded. "And sometimes you won't notice it until it's far too late. By the time I even finish my sentence, you've would've been killed at least seven times over... if you were a mortal."

"Oh, I'm the furthest thing from immortal!" Discord confessed. "Similar to Celestia and Luna, enhanced longevity seems to be a common trait we share. But let's be honest, if something was to come along and disable her like any other pony, she'd fall victim to blood loss like any other. My only get up is that I can change my body to avoid the killing blow. But if I allow it to happen, then I can die."

"Yeah, well we humans are not like you. We can fall victim to a dandelion sandwich. But at the same time we can also fall off a small building and still have a chance to make it out alive." Stanton said as he flexed his muscles. "We just happen to know all the various ways we can be killed off and apply those concepts to one another."

"And we ponies are no different." Shining added. "We just happen to be a little slower in the method is all. Our technology is not like yours, we're ages behind you humans. So if you're worried about your brother being a victim to the weaponry you use, then that's not an issue."

"It doesn't have to be to our weaponry." Alex argued. "It could just be something that could kill him. Being that he's in your military, he's probably placed in many a situation that could result in him dying. And now that you've told us what's all going on with him, I wouldn't be surprised if every last fucker in that parliament signed him up to go to war with whoever, using this technology as a front-line deterrent. One man can't fight a war on his own."

Shining smiled as he heard those words. "So are you saying that you would help him whenever the occasion called for it?"

Alex knelt down to Shining, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Look here, if my little brother dies, how the hell would I explain this to our parents? If Nondis doesn't tell them what's going on, then there's no chance in hell that they would even understand anything. And that would be bad for all of us."

"Bad as in how?" Discord asked curiously.

"You don't wanna know." Stanton quickly answered.

"That said..." Alex began. "If Nondis has to fight anywhere, then you already know that his family will be there to back him up. You should already know how this big brother thing goes."

"I do, that's why I wanted you guys to understand where he was and how far he's come along. I know that it probably isn't my place to tell you what I said, but if it gives him a chance to battle back─"

"And your politician issue, we'll work that one out too. Just tell us where we fit in, and we'll get in." Stanton added, providing Shining with some semblance of relief.

"You guys are awesome. I couldn't ask for anything else outside of this."

Alex looked at the portal for a brief moment before looking back down to his phone. "Now Discord, you said that there was something did to the portal that would let us communicate with Nondis, right?"

The draconequus teleported himself to the side of the portal, turning it on as he spoke. "From what I remember, Twilight and Sunset had put some sort of system in place where he could maintain a connection with the human world, even if he were to go as far as Canterlot."

Stanton looked down at his phone when he noticed it vibrating, indicating that he had received a few text messages from his teammates. He nodded slowly as he read the messages. "Yeah, it works alright─HEY!"

Alex walked up to his younger brother and pulled the phone from his hand. "You're getting an upgrade, remember? Now shut up."

"You're paying for it?" Stanton questioned angrily.

"Of course, but your excuse is that it's a stolen phone."

"The only way my phone got stolen is that you took it from me, dipshit."

"Shining, catch." Alex said as he tossed the device to the blue-maned prince. He caught it with his magic before it fell onto the floor.

"Oh, now I see where you're going." Stanton said as he realized what was taking place, the prince being a little slower to recognize what was going on.

"What, why are you showing me this for?" Shining questioned.

"That's yours. Try not to call anyone else aside from Nondis or me, unless you know them and they have a cell phone too."

Shining nearly let his magic fall as he tried to process that they were actually giving him one of their devices. "S-se-seriously?"

Stanton reached in his pocket and pulled out his charger, draping it around the prince's neck. "Yeah, you're gonna want to charge that every eight hours... or three if ol' dude plays Flappy Bird on it all day.

"...How do I use it?" Shining questioned.

"I'll work with you on that." Discord said as he pointed towards the center button at the bottom of the screen. "You press that to go to the main menu. Then you gently tap at your screen on this icon here with the two-ringed binder, and then you scroll upwards by dragging the screen upwards─"

"Um... I don't have fingers." Shining deadpanned.

"Oh, I remember Twilight grabbing Nondis' phone earlier. Apparently she used one of her feathers as a stylus." Stanton said while eyeing one of Discord's wings. Quickly, he snatched one of the feathers from off of his wings and giving it to Shining. "Here, use this."

"ARGH! That really hurts, you know!"

"Sorry, dude. You were the closest thing I could use."

Shining magically grabbed at the feather and proceeded to tap around the screen, getting a feel for the device. "Oh, I see how I can do this now."

Discord continued to talk Shining through as he pecked and prodded at the screen. Meanwhile Alex looked at his own phone and took notice of the time. "Hmm... I wonder what he usually does at this time of the day? Usually, he's locked in his room screaming at his Xbox. But now that there's no video games here, does he ever come back for a brief session?"

Alex put away his phone as he watched Stanton walk over to help Shining work the phone, causing the stallion much delight. He pulled up the phone book and started scrolling through names.

"Okay, now let's get some preliminaries out of the way..."

Rarity remained silent as I finished my explanation to her. Her lips were parted as a hoof muted the audible gasp that fell from her mouth. For seconds on end, she would only stare back at me, unsure on what to say or how to react. After a while, she shook her head with disbelief.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Surely you jest." She murmured.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked towards the stairs we just left from. "Nope. Twilight apparently told me that I was going to have to make my confession to Shining Armor eventually. And telling him what's all going on between us is going to be the hard part, anything else after that is pretty much child's play."

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Rarity questioned, grabbing my hand out of worry. "I mean, the two of you just got back on good terms. Anything like this would ultimately cause a rift between the two of you."

That much is true, but I'm more than likely won't tell him until after the law's been neutralized. That way he can kinda chill out when I break the news. But for now, I don't need to cause any trouble between us, especially since we have a bigger cause to give our attention to. "I think it's more about the timing. I need to let this one simmer down while the pan's still warm."

Rarity took a deep breath as she let me go. "So... you and I?"

I know that something in my moral compass is driving me against this, but considering what all my promise entails... "Let's just say..."

Before I could finish, a cheery voice called from up the stairs, ringing throughout the halls as it sustained the second syllable of my name. "Non-diiiiiiiiiiiisss!"

Quickly, Rarity and I backed away from one another and maintained a unsuspecting distance. When I turned back to the hall, I could see Pinkie prancing down the stairs towards us. She seemed awfully enthusiastic about something. "Pinkie? I thought you left already."

"Nope." She answered quickly. "I was just in the bathroom and I was wondering about a few things. Of course, when you sit in the bathroom, you start to notice that time really flies past you. So when I finished, I ended up walking back into the hall to find absolutely nopony there. Then walked through the halls and saw pretty much everypony else, like I saw Cadance and Twilight talking in her room about something that the two of you were going to do, and you won't believe what I heard!"

While I started to feel my palms sweat, Rarity glanced back to me nervously as she asked. "What did you hear?"

The pink pony turned her head in every direction before she whispered to us. "I heard that Twilight said that she was going to help Sunset Shimmer break the ice with Non-non's friend, Cliff!"

Oh well that's not what I expected to─WHAT!? "Uh, what's going on?"

"Yeah, Sunny likes Cliffy! I think it's soooo cute of her!"

Well this could either end in disaster or awkwardly. Cliff still has a very deep attraction to the human female, last I checked. "Wait a minute, hasn't anyone thought about how Cliff feels about all of this? I don't think this is─"

"That's the deal, Nonnie! You're gonna find out for us, so that way we can get the green light to put it all together."

In the anime community, they would call this kind of instance 'Shipper on Deck'. "No. I can't. Cliff's taken for." I lied.

"Really?" Pinkie questioned with a quirked brow. "Cause when Sunset danced on him, she asked if he had a girlfriend back in his world, and he said he didn't. So are you saying he's lying?"

Shit. "Well, I'm saying that he might not be open to seeing a pony right now, if you know what I mean. It took me a while of being deprived human company for me to even become... err..." Desperate enough to get a curious glance of every mare's ass just to conjure up some sort of image that I could masturbate to. The level of cognitive dissonance I had to overcome was pretty staggering, though I can say the process was vastly accelerated when this pink pony pressed her plump party-having ass against my pelvis. By that time, my dick completely lost the ability to tell the difference, all while I was questioning my sanity and sex preferences. Either way, it took me more than four months. "...interested."

"Nonnie, you gained interest when I danced on you." Pinkie stated openly, driving a metaphorical nail into my brain. "It wasn't like I couldn't feel it, I just wanted to see what it looked like, you know?"

She's gonna get me killed. "Well... why would you do that in the first place?"

"Realistically speaking, most stallions chub when I dance on them. Seeing yours in hiding made me kinda curious. Frustrated in more ways than one, but curious."

There is one thing I will never not give her credit for, and it's being honest. "Okay, let's change the subject. Sunset crushing on Cliff and we've confirmed that there's a very little chance of that happening. Closed book, let's move on."

Rarity blinked as she had to shake herself out of the conversation that took place in front of her. "Oh, yes. Now what else did you hear?"

Pinkie tapped her hoof against her chin as she continued to speak. "Well, I saw Discord and Shining talking to Nondie's brothers. They seemed really upset about something that you were getting involved over. I didn't hear what it was, but it kinda got them riled up a bit, even saying that they'd do whatever they could to help you fight! Hee hee, it looks like you got some brawling buddies, Non-non."

Dammit, I told Shining not to fucking recruit anyone! "Augh, shit! Where are they now?"

"Portal room. But after that, I started to make my way down the hall and then I meet up with the two of you whispering to each other. What kind of secret are you two hiding?"

"Nothing, gotta check on these two knuckleheads. Later!" I was quick to drop her question and dash back up the stairs and down the hall to find the two siblings staring back at me angrily as I walked in.

"So, little brother..." Alex said as he folded his arms. "Guess what game we're going to play."

Aww shit.

The next morning, I had awoken from the same nightmare that plagued me late Friday night to early Saturday morning. Only this time, there were a few more shadow-like figures that ended up tormenting the eldrich horror to a hellish scream. And as I woke up that morning, I couldn't help but to instinctively throw a fist directly up into the air and fight off whatever was facing me. Thankfully, I didn't hit anything besides some dust particles. But to my disadvantage, I ended up falling out of the bed.

A rude awakening made somewhat better by the mental note that everything that I had saw was nothing more than a terrible dream.

Normally in a human bed I wouldn't fall out of it from a little toss and turn, but obviously this wasn't my actual mattress I was sleeping on. I went back to the hotel shortly after my departure from the castle. I guess I kinda preferred the silence... and the fact that I wasn't missing any small amount of hair.

Yeah, Twilight has a bad habit of chewing my hair when I slept. I guess that's a good reason why her mane is so short in contrast to the others. If she had anyone else's mane length, she'd be a wreck with it. I even asked Shining about it once and he said that she normally does it to whoever she sleeps with. Naturally, that included him as well...

Now that I think on it, I remember the night I got mugged by Caramel. Her mane was all over the place, and it looked like the bit of hair she had going down the back of her neck took some damage. Perhaps she also does it whenever she's stressed about something.

...Why am I even thinking about all of this?

Oh right, the reason why I decided to sleep in my hotel bed as opposed to sleeping with the princess who appropriated my actual mattress. Not to mention that I didn't wanna have to wake up to her asking me to make sure that my end of the promise was going to be fulfilled.

I know. She's asking me to do something that I don't want to do when it's all said and done.

The fact that she even suggested a break up, and it wasn't like it was after everything was done and we were just tired in bed. She said that shit as she fucking edged me off! And hell, from that point onward I was trying to fuck her out of desperation so that she'd somehow change her mind mid orgasm. But as soon as I woke up in the morning, took my shower, and went to confront my brothers, she says it again.

That's because she was mad that I kissed Rarity.

So... Twilight is pretty much doomed to fade out of the picture. How am I even supposed to make things right between me and Rarity?

...It's almost like I have a reason to keep this law in place, no matter how wrong it is. Almost.

Bullshit, I can order seconds.

So what, I just hop up to Rarity's front porch and say 'Hey, you and I both know that I'm unofficially single at the moment. Whatcha got planned?' That shit is disrespectful.

And that's something to be proud of?

My attention was brought to the door as the arguments in my mind continue to swirl around, leaving me with much to think about and little time to process it completely. Upon opening the door, I was greeted with a familiar face.

"Hey."

"Good morning, Twilight."

She didn't seem too energetic this morning, she looked rather tired. Can't say that I've been keeping up with her nightly habits as of late, but something's been gnawing away at her... not to mention her mane. "May I come in?"

I didn't want to let her in, I knew where she was gonna go with this conversation. It's been played out. But due to the fact that I didn't want to seem disrespectful... "Sure." I couldn't bring myself to refuse.

She walked inside and hopped on the bed, allowing herself to lie on her belly as she spoke. "Did you sleep well?"

Nope, was busy tossing and turning from night terrors. "It was okay." Worrying her was the last thing I needed to do. She's obviously stressed about something that's going on, so I won't put anything on her.

She looked at me, almost with a pleading expression as she patted her hoof against the bed, beckoning me to sit by her. "You know I had a dream about you last night. It really scared me."

"Let me guess, I died again, right?" As usual. I don't understand why she keeps getting those.

As I sat down, she used her magic to push me against the mattress. Slowly she climbed on top of me and sat on my chest. "You pretty much guessed it. I know that's not what it means, but I'm just worried that something might happen that could hurt you. The message isn't what scares me, it's the image that I keep getting shook over."

Right then, my mind took control of my mouth and quietly whispered out in complaint. "Why are you even here?"

"Personal reasons." Twilight answered back, leaning her head against my chest. Eventually, she started to pat her hoof lightly against my abdomen in a rhythmic sequence of three. Two light taps followed by a rest.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

"They say that the style your heart beats in shares the same rhythm with that of a waltz. In some of the books I read, a courting between higher-ups and royals can be decided with a waltz. If the two hearts beat as one, the two will dance as there's no coda. Eventually, the music does stop after a while."

Now I'm confused. It's not like I don't understand the musical terms, but still... "What are you─"

"Unfortunately, I realized that my pace may have been too fast. I know I'm trying to get used to the love thing, but I never thought it would be so... thrilling."

"Let me guess, there's no change in what you're gonna do?"

She stopped tapping as she raised her head to look at me. "Nondis, I love you. That won't ever change. But I can't let ourselves get hurt over this."

"...What if I said that I was perfectly fine with being hurt?"

"Then I'd call you a masochist."

"Just chain me to the wall then. I can take whatever you give me."

"Well you're just gonna have to be chained to that wall. I can't give you much of anything anymore."

"Is there any way I could convince you... to reconsider? I would─"

Twilight pulled herself towards me, our eyes meeting as she drifted over me. "You would let me get hurt again? Would you risk getting me in trouble again? Would you actually make me accept that my name has little to no merit?"

Somehow, I knew what she was alluding to. And for once, I let my greedy self take over. My hands started to slowly slide to her hips, suggesting that they'd take a dip towards south. A frustrated groan left the princess' lips.

"No." She said as she pulled herself back upwards. "Look... it's not like that would ever happen again."

"But you want it to, don't you?" I murmured as my greed got the better of my words.

I rose from off of the bed and turned the tables on her, pinning her to the sheets. She looked away from me while letting some of her mane eclipse over her mouth. My face became a bit flushed as my hand slid towards her abdomen. She sighed heavily as she started breathe a little faster. Her hips slightly adjusted upwards, her forelegs pulling onto me as she shifted her entire body upwards so that I'd reach my destination a little quicker. "Yeah... But I can't."

I started to pull off as she said those words, but her magic grasped at my hand, still guiding me lower. "I thought you wanted me to stop."

"Just keep going. You'll see what I mean."

Unsure as to what to expect, I quickly brought my hand down her body unceremoniously. The tips of my fingers finally came into contact with the moist surface of her nethers. She bit her lip with the intentions to cut her gasps short as my fingers started to work their way in.

OW, SHIT! "Aah! What the hell was that!?" I screamed as my fingers quickly pulled out in response to the painful jolt I had received. Instinctively, my fingers went right into my mouth, not really thinking about where I had just pulled them from as much as my intention to nurse them back to health.

Twilight closed her eyes, and for the first time of my knowing her, pulled her tail between her hind legs to cover herself. "That's just it. Cadance placed my chastity rings back on, only this time with a bit more... enchantment than usual."

Finally realizing what I had just did, I quickly removed my fingers from my mouth and settled on shaking the pain out of them instead. "...Can't you just take them off again?"

"Not this time, my magical signature is nullified whenever it even comes close to it. It's magically sealed now, so I can't take them off even when I want to. And they stay that way until Cadance and I are within ten yards of each other. The good news is that the enchantment should dissipate in a second or two. The bad news..."

Within a second of Twilight's pause, Cadance appeared from a bright-blue flash of light, standing with a serious scowl on her face. Quietly, she growled at me and walked towards Twilight.

"The bad news is that it immediately alerts Cadance when somepony else touches them." Twilight finished as her sister in law grabbed her hoof and pulled her off of the bed.

"Twilight, are you okay?" The pink princess questioned.

"I'm fine." She answered as her face started to turn red.

"Any side effects?"

Twilight sank her head as she let her wings unfurl a bit. "Not really..."

"Twilight."

"Okay, it tickled me a bit!" She blurted out loudly before a curtain of feathers shaded over her face.

"Well that's good to hear. I don't want you getting hurt from the effects." She answered before cutting back to me.

"I guess that was karma biting me in the ass. I totally deserved that one." I openly confessed.

"Nondis, you are just too eager to get yourself into more trouble then you're already in."

I took a step back, thrown off guard from Cadance's sudden animosity. "Wait, hold on. What did I do?"

Cadance stormed up to me, her words becoming sharper as she got closer. "You managed to completely ignore my advice when I told you not to go with Rarity. You totally wrote Twilight off when she suggested a date with you. You then hurled insulting words and foul comments at her while trying to guilt-trip her into believing that you're making so many sacrifices for her, completely disregarding the ones she makes for you! AND THEN YOU TRY TO FUCK HER INTO BEING WITH YOU, AFTER SHE SAID THAT SHE'S DONE WITH YOU!?"

Wow, hearing it from the outside sure does make it seem like I'm a total ass. "...You know what, I'm not even going to apologize."

"EXCUSE ME!?" She screamed violently.

"Let me finish. I won't apologize because saying something like that would indicate that I have any regret for actually trying to make amends in my relationship. Yes, I know the physical aspect is kinda... yikes─"

"Then why the hell are you even trying to─"

"Have you ever known what it was like to have nothing, then go from that to having everything you could want, only to be knocked on your ass by some law that shouldn't even exist, and then have that everything fall apart because of some outside influence? Because I sure as hell felt desperate to do anything to keep what I had gained."

"IT WAS TWILIGHT THAT TOLD YOU THAT THE TWO OF YOU SHOULD'VE NEVER EVEN GOTTEN THIS FAR!"

"Cadance─" Twilight tried to stop her sister-in-law, but felt her voice becoming all the more quiet.

"AND FRANKLY, I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU SACRIFICE! YOU DON'T GUILT SOMEONE TO KEEPING SOMETHING WITH YOU, YOU DON'T 'PERSUADE' ANYONE TO STAY WITH YOU, AND YOU DON'T TRY TO COERCE THEM SEXUALLY TO DO WHAT YOU WANT!"

"It's not like that─" Twilight tried to explain, but was cut short.

"Twilight, we are leaving!" Cadance tried to pull at the younger princess' hoof to get her to move, but Twilight sat on her haunches to protest. "What are you doing!? We are not staying here with this poor excuse of a colt!"

That's it. I had enough. "Cadance, get out of my room. You're not welcome here, you never were."

"EXCUSE ME, I AM YOUR SUPERIOR─"

"WELL EXCUSE ME, SHINING ARMOR! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU TRADED YOUR BALLS FOR TEATS AND A DICK CANAL!"

"Nondis, that was too far─" Twilight chided, still finding herself lost between the two of us.

"OH, IN SPEAKING OF TRADING BALLS, GUESS WHO'S GOING TO LOSE THEIRS!"

"ENOUGH!!!" Twilight shouted over the both of us, her horn lighting up the entire room. Both Cadance and I were frozen in place as she and I angrily scowled at one another. Twilight huffed and puffed as she held the two of us in stasis. "Cadance, I made an agreement with Nondis. I wanted to protect him by pretending that he and I were still in our relationship. After that, I decided that it would be best for me and him to go our separate ways once the Approval Process law was repealed."

"And you and I made an agreement as well!" Cadance argued. "You said that as long as the two of you were going to pretend that you were going to carry on this ruse, you would limit your advances on Nondis. I know how you can get, and I also know how it feels to be caught in the heat of the moment. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to put your hoof down and say that you want to hold off on anything that you two used to do behind closed doors. Why, because the two of you no longer share each other, you both decided that it was over. And by definition of it, that would mean that you two would carry on a friendship without any beneficial attributes."

I looked back to Cadance with a shaken expression, feeling somewhat guilty. "What? Twilight didn't tell me that she was going to do anything like that with me. And I was at the castle for another two hours before I left. We were chopping it up just before I left, and not once did this come up!"

Cadance looked back to the purple princess. "Twilight, is this true?"

She looked back to me and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't... I didn't want to bring it up because..."

I looked back to Cadance and immediately realized that this entire situation was all brought up because of a simple matter of miscommunication. At that point, I knew that we escalated to a point that was excessive and unnecessary. I decided that it would be best that we would make amends, but only after I get some sort of explanation from Twilight. "Twi, you gotta tell me this stuff. Just look at this mess, Me and Cadance trying to be on the same side while screaming our guts at each other isn't going to get shit removed any faster than what it's taking. You never told me that you would hold off on us... doing... you know."

"I'm sorry, I panicked!" Twilight confessed as she looked to Cadance. "I didn't keep my promise because I still felt that if I didn't at least keep his personal interest, he would altogether lose interest in pretending we were still with each other. And I know that Rarity is vying for his attention, I'm still a bit jealous of it all. And seeing him with somepony else while pretending to be with me was... hard. I couldn't sleep last night just thinking about that."

That explains the damaged part of her mane. "So that's why you've been chewing on your mane? Not because of some dream of me dying?"

"I didn't want to appear possessive." She said quietly, releasing her magic and allowing me and Cadance to interact with one another once more. "But honestly, I don't want to give up on you. So I'm going to stay with you, not just for pretend but for real, until we get the result we want."

"And should we fail to do so in less than three more months?" Cadance questioned.

Twilight looked to me with remorse. "Then I guess we'll end up being unhappily married."

Actually, that doesn't sound too bad on it's own. But I know all too well what that would lead to. "And that would leave me living with the guilt of being married to the girl I feel for, while powerless to do anything to prevent others from dealing with the same situation down the line. Sorry to say, I'm not Shining Armor."

Cadance shook her head. "Honestly, Shining didn't even have a chance to oppose them. They kept him busy by sending him on missions to places that were worlds away for unreasonable lengths of time. And there were situations where I asked to be escorted to those places by him, only for the request to be denied because of his assignments. You're different because of your species, and your weaponry makes your work significantly faster."

Yeah I almost forgot that I completely unloaded on her. "Cadance, I'm sorry about what I said."

The pink princess held a hoof to her head as she leaned her head back in shame. "Ugh, and I tried to use my authority as a means to supersede your personal affairs and space. I cannot believe I let myself become so angry to use that card against you. Not only that, but I came barging in with the understanding that you and Twilight had a conversation about what she and I agreed on, only to find out otherwise. I guess I also owe you an apology."

Twilight sighed as she started to smile brightly. "Now that everything's settled─"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Both me and Cadance shouted as Twilight tried to ease her way into another subject.

"You still need to tell him what all you can and cannot do!" Cadance continued. "I'm not going to risk you getting into any more trouble than what you've already gotten yourself into. And you already told me that you were just a mind-change away from getting yourself into trouble again."

"Seriously?" I questioned.

"Oh yeah, she told me all about the way you two dissolved your recent spat. Of course she didn't tell me all the juicy details, but she did tell me that she thought about just giving you a piece of her mind, if you know what I mean."

Twilight shoved the older princess with a hoof as she cried out. "Cadance, you weren't supposed to tell him!"

Honestly, I would've indulged. "I got the hint a while back. She had a book with her, marked on the page introducing the subject of 'intercrural engagement'. I never knew thighs and haunches could feel so fucking─"

"NONDIS!" Twilight screamed.

"Sorry, got a little drooly." In both places.

Welp, that ended well. Cadance told me her reasoning, Twilight told me why she held out on the explanation, Cadance and I blew off some pent-up steam, and I end up finding out more about the magical enchantments that can be applied to items of sexual chastisement. And as an added bonus, I can no longer participate in any sexual activities with Twilight until either the law is repealed or we were to marry. Now add the fact that I spilled the beans to Rarity just yesterday afternoon on our status.

You can imagine how she's acting.

"We have two more stops before our little roundabout is done. Just a few more items and we'll be ready to head back to the boutique."

Yup, I'm with her today, running some errands while I'm out and about. We met earlier while I was walking in the street towards Sugarcube Corner to grab myself a snack. Instead of finding something to land in the bottom of my stomach, I found myself being nearly abducted as she pulled me off and quickly threw things in my arms... lots of things. You can imagine how that conversation went.

"Nondis, it's so great to see you out and about today!"

"Hey Rari─"

I didn't even get a chance to continue as she started to use her magic to pile stuff on top of me. "I was just in the need of an extra pair of hooves to assist me with a few things. But since I can clearly say that hands are much more versatile for my needs, I will be pulling you instead."

"Actually, I was just─"

She added something that caused me to lose my balance for a bit before stumbling back in place. "Hold these things for me, and follow me to my next stop. We haven't a moment to lose!"

I stared at the pile of junk she dropped in my arms as it towered just above my eye level. I can't believe she's doing this to me... again. "Did I just become Spike?"

Rarity called back to me as I started to place everything on top of a nearby vending cart. "Oh *pfft* goodness no, dear. Spike would do whatever I want without having me to ask him. With you, I have to drag you by the ear to get you to go along with me."

"Or pull me away from my lunch." I answered as I got rid of everything that was unwillingly shifted into my possession.

Rarity pulled out a short list and a pencil, checking off a few items off of her list. "You will have to forgo that meal, I'm afraid. Our day will be very much busy and I will not be back at the boutique for quite some time."

"We could eat out?" I recommended, pointing to my destination down the street.

"And pay more bits to enjoy something I could make in the comfort of my own home? You are so funny." She answered while walking up towards me.

"Rarity, come on."

Her tone softened as she looked at me with pleading eyes, her sapphire orbs seemingly shimmering as she stared, pursing her lips all the while. "You wouldn't refuse a lady, now would you?"

Puppy-dog eyes, I can't stand it. "That's cheating."

"So do I have your yes?" She questioned, shifting from side to side like a shy child.

If there's one thing that equines have as an advantage, it's that their huge eyes can really make their expressions stand out a whole lot more and become greatly exaggerated. This has been the nth time I've been begged to while a pony uses that expression. And the worst thing of it all is that it's very difficult to say no to. And don't say no the first time, or else they'll be using that expression on you for the next ten minutes followed by dog-like whimpers.

I was not gonna win this one. "Ugh... ponies."

It's been about four hours since I was dragged from the street to the nearest thread outlet. And in my time running around, I dropped everything twice. Rarity would help me pick it all up, but would still run around with her hooves and horn free while I was walking damn-near bowlegged, buckling from the weight of everything.

Oh the joy.

"Wow, Nonnie! You look totally swamped!"

Looking to my side, I found that Pinkie had managed to suddenly appear to my right. With a concerned expression, she stared at the large pillar of items I was holding. "Thank you for noticing." I answered back sarcastically.

"You need help, give me some of that." Before I could react she immediately nudged me over, knocking over some of the stuff I was carrying. She then caught everything I dropped and balanced it all on her back. Whatever loose items hit the ground, she managed to place inside of her saddle bags.

Rarity then turned around to see that Pinkie was suddenly standing next to me. "Pinkie, when did you get here?"

"I saw Non-non struggling with a tower of stuff from like a mile away. I didn't want him to have too many problems with everything on his own, so I'm offering to help."

The fashionista shook her head while she started to levitate some of the stuff from off of Pinkie's back and back into my possession. "Miss Pinkie Pie, this is an issue of manual labor. Nondis is more than capable of handling it. Just think of it as a form of... endurance training."

Pinkie was not amused. "Rarity, you're putting way too much on Nondis. Shouldn't you kinda slow down a bit on trying to work him to death?"

"Madam Diane, we're only doing this for two more stops. And after that we're headed back to the boutique so that I can recap on his measurements."

Again, the pink party pony was unamused. "Nondie, I know you've been walking around all day. Did you get anything to eat?"

"Oh, I had a large breakfast." I lied, knowing that I didn't have any. But in some oddly contrived way, my stomach decided to speak out of term, informing Pinkie that I was hungry.

She stared daggers at me. "You didn't eat very much between then and now, did you?"

"Nope." I confessed.

The pink pony turned back to Rarity with a frown. The seamstress already knew what was coming. "Pinkie, we have only two more stops to go before we finish our tour. Then when we finish, we're going to head back to the boutique to get his measurements for a new outfit and then I'll make him dinner."

Pinkie rolled her eyes and pulled against my arm. "Non-nums, let's get you a snack. You don't need to keep working with low blood sugar."

"Pinkie, I'll be fine. How long could this take, really?" An hour, at least by Rarity's standards.

"You can't even stand straight." Pinkie argued as she pulled me towards one direction.

"Pinkie, we can't! You'll spoil his appetite by giving him something before dinner!" Rarity proceeded to pull me in the other direction.

"I also need to talk to Nondie! You can't hog him the whole day and starve him to death!"

"I won't let him starve! Now if you would excuse us, we have more errands to finish!"

And suddenly I'm a makeshift rope in a game of tug-of-war. "Girls, I'm still carrying shit!" I shouted, finalizing that they should stop pulling me apart like a wishbone.

The two backed off a bit while they stared at one another. Pinkie was the first to speak. "I need to have a moment with him, it's urgent."

"Well in that case just say what it is, Pinkie. I'm your friend too, don't just leave me in the dark." Rarity voiced with concern.

Pinkie sighed as she grabbed the items Rarity placed back on me and whispered to me. "I can't do it. I can't do it anymore, Nonnie."

Looking at her face, I could tell she was really disturbed about something. Even when she first showed up, she didn't smile as often as she normally would. "What's the problem?"

The three of us walked onward as Pinkie began to explain the situation. "So yesterday, I had a long conversation with your brothers."

"So I was told." Alex even said that she sent Cheese out of the bakery just so she could say what she wanted to say.

"Yeah. After I left the castle, I came back into the bakery only to find Cheese sitting in the kitchen talking to Mr. Cake about something. They were discussing a bunch of things that involved flowers, chocolate, cheesy poetry, and then there was this one thing that really had me in a foul mood was... the talk of a ring."

Rarity squeed loudly as she hugged the pink pony. "Oh gracious Celestia! Pinkie Pie, he must be talking about the two of you getting married!"

Pinkie didn't even laugh nervously or crack a fake smile as she pushed Rarity away. "I know."

"Then our first stop should be the Boutique! I've already got your measurements down, so it would be easy for me to get you set up."

"I thought we had two more stops." I noted to the excited unicorn.

"We'll forgo those two items and find them on sale tomorrow."

Seriously? Then why are we still out here? "Okay, please tell me you have plans on dinner while we're at it."

"NO!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly, interrupting the two of us while gaining the attention of the entire town square. "I don't want a dress! I don't wanna plan anything! I don't want a wedding! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING THAT'S WHITE OR FRILLY!"

Rarity reared back in response to her friend's outburst. "Pinkie Pie, don't you want to─"

"I don't want to. I don't want things to go further between us. I can't do it." At that point, she started to break down while she leaned against me. "I'm just not ready for it. I'm scared."

I placed everything to the side as I gave my attention to the crying pink mare. "What are you scared of?" I whispered, hoping to diminish the attention we were getting.

"I'm terrified that I'm leading him on. I'm scared that he loves me so much, knowing that I don't feel for him as strongly as he does for me. All this morning, he's been really chipper towards me, smiling at me, hugging me all the time, kissing me. I know I don't deserve it, but it's like he doesn't care that I still have feelings buried for somepony else. I try to talk to him about it, but he cuts me off by telling me how much he wants me. I had to run away from the bakery because I kept feeling like I couldn't breathe."

I gave her a pat on the head and a light scratch behind her ears as the folded. "Have you ever tried telling him that you felt like you needed some space?"

"I couldn't." She whimpered. "I keep saying that we need to talk, we need to talk, we need to get some things out of the way, but he doesn't let me when all he keeps saying is he loves me. I'm scared, Non-non. I'm hurting him and he's acting like there's nothing wrong at all."

"Pinkie."

"I can't marry him... bottom line. I won't do it for somepony I can't love, or give him what he wants."

"Oh... dear." Rarity said as she paid attention to the gathering crowd of ponies. Both Pinkie and I looked up to see what she was gasping at, but found very little other than a large wall of eyes glaring back at us.

Immediately, I started to direct the traffic. "Okay, move it along! Nothing to see here, folks! Mosey on out of here!" I continued to point the ponies in various directions, trying to disperse the attention from us. But as I had gotten closer, I began to see what exactly Rarity held her breath at.

Standing in the midst of the throng, was none other than a burdened Cheese Sandwich. He stared at the pony who made her tearful declaration, his face wrought with disbelief and despair. In his left foreleg was a box of chocolates with a string connecting a small box to it. Pinkie looked up to see that I had become nearly petrified, and grew to show the same expression as I did once she caught a glimpse of the stallion standing before me. Rarity didn't change her face as her horn glowed, her magic removing all of the items from Pinkie's back and saddlebags. The pink party pony stumbled forward as she saw the absence of life all over his body. The only thing that seemed to not lose any of it's color was the bouquet of flowers he held in his mouth.

"Cheese..." She called out weakly.

He didn't say anything as he dropped everything in his hooves. Pinkie took a few steps to reach out to him, meanwhile he continued to stare back at her. She quickly galloped over to him, getting close enough to where she could hug him.

"Cheesy... look. It's not like─"

In an instant, he snapped out of it. An oddly wide smile blew up on his face as he draped his hoof around her. "Are you kidding!? I thought we were speeding things up too! I can't believe I was so ambitious to put myself out there like that! I felt like I was being pushed to the brink! Phew, thank Celestia I wasn't the only one!"

Pinkie's eyes closed, her tears began to run freely as she tried to caress the hoof that draped around her neck, only to be abruptly pushed off. "No. Don't, please."

"Pinkie, I'm fine! I'm just happy you could express yourself! I know I've been really doubling down on showing you how I really felt! I mean, that conversation I had with Mr. Cake on how settling down was going to be the best decision I ever made turned out to be a big lulu! Watch that first step, they'd always say!"

Pinkie grabbed his hooves and tried to speak to him. "Listen to me─"

"You know, I had an idea or two about how I was gonna propose to you, after knowing you for over two years! I thought I was going to finally come to Ponyville and put myself aside to settle down with you! I cancelled every party I had booked for the next two years, just to focus on starting something with you! I mean, what's one or two runts running around!? But I could care less!"

Pinkie tried to hug the stallion, embracing him for a short second before he shoved her off and erupted at her. "Cheesy─"

"I couldn't care any more, you keep pushing me away! You keep talking and talking and ranting and raving about 'this guy' and what he does for you! I know that I'm not up to par when it comes to certain things, but I know that my heart is still there! Meanwhile you send me out of every room whenever you start to talk about him! You kicked me out of the bakery yesterday when the other humans came along, and you talked about him then! I just have to accept the fact that I was always playing for second!"

"That's a lie!"

"YOU'VE BEEN LYING TO ME THIS ENTIRE TIME, PINKAMENA! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD YOUR SISTERS OR YOUR DAD THAT I WAS IN THE PICTURE! EACH TIME YOU TALK TO THEM, I'M THE ONE THING YOU DON'T MENTION! But I get it now... so I'm happy with whatever you choose."

Pinkie shook the stallion, her eyes growing colder as her mane started to deflate. "No. Don't be happy, please. Be angry. Be furious. Say that you're gonna fight for me. Just scream at me, call me whatever you want! I deserve it!"

Cheese shook his head as he held on to he roses in his hoof. Cracking his usual smile, he kissed her on the cheek. Looking up to him, Pinkie felt herself overcome with grief as he held her chin up to where his eyes met hers. "I love you, Pinkie Pie. That will never change."

His jaw quivered, his forelegs grew shaky as he looked at her. His breathing patterns became erratic as he tried to hold back the tears that welled in his eyes. And in one quick movement, he made an about-face and made a beeline down the street. The flowers still in his possession as he ran away from the demolished pink pony, who could only lie sobbing with her face in the ground. Rarity and I looked to one another as we tried to process what had just happened.

"Perhaps we should've held our tongues until we were behind closed doors?" Rarity said quietly as the crowd of ponies whispered amongst themselves.

At that point, I just didn't care for being nice to anyone who remained. The only thing that was my concern was getting Pinkie out of the public eye with her emotions soaking the cobblestone streets. I ended up playing a role I didn't want to play at the moment. And I know that I would have to apologize for my being rude, but I wasn't going to let everyone stare and point at Pinkie. And it wasn't like we could drag her from the area with the road this clogged up.

We returned to the boutique with Pinkie and our items in tow. Rarity carried half of what I was once carrying, I guess she figured that now wasn't the time to test my might. I was finally relieved to be someplace where I could rest for a while, but it all came at the expense of Pinkie having a breakdown in public. So it went without saying that I couldn't enjoy the rest, not as long as Pinkie continued to sob on the couch. After setting everything down, Rarity walked up to the depressed pony and gave her a light nuzzle.

"Pinkie, darling. Everything is going to be fine." She said in an attempt to cheer her friend up. "Things like this, fights and whatnot, they all happen at one given point of your relationship. So it's only natural that there would be a breakdown somewhere."

"This isn't a breakdown." Pinkie responded with a somber tone. "I completely destroyed everything. This is all my fault."

I walked over to offer my own words of wisdom. "So you've made a mistake, we all make them. Relationships are never perfect, you're bound to get something wrong later on down the line. It's not that you made the mistake of telling the truth, it's that you didn't put your hoof down and tell him sooner. But at the same time, he feels betrayed because he let himself get to a point where his expectations could not fit reasonably within the current situation."

"I should've just went along with it." She moaned as she let her face fall into the cushions. "I didn't want to have him look like that."

I shook my head as I pulled Pinkie from the cushions. "Look at me. This 'blaming myself' game isn't gonna make you feel any better." Some awfully hard preaching that I might find myself trying to practice. "But you also need to realize that rushing things would've only made things worse. You didn't need to go along with anything that you felt you were not ready for, bottom line. It's true that I might've pushed you two together and hoped that things worked out for the best. But you can't just make comparisons every time you're with someone else. That hurts, you know."

Rarity also threw in her two cents. "Besides, you said it yourself: You were not ready for a marriage. I can't convince you to just give up on what makes you comfortable if you're not ready to commit. The aspect of marriage takes two to come together, not one to make a decision and for the other to comply."

"And your relationship can't go any further unless both of you are giving it one hundred percent. Half and half in relationships only makes for a half of a whole. A whole and a half doesn't make things work either, you can't just make things work by cutting corners." I added. "On the other hand, you have to realize that this was going to happen anyhow. Yes, his finding out about all of this was painful to take, but would you rather let him live in a lie as opposed to telling him the truth that you're not ready and wanting to slow things down?"

She looked at me with reddened eyes as she tried to gather herself. "So, me crying was gonna happen anyways?"

"Yes, fucking cry! Get it all out because telling someone the truth is going to hurt regardless. But I'm also going to tell you that mostly everything from here onward is going to only result in your benefit. Why, because there is a unity between the two of you and there is an established mode of communication. Furthermore, a trust has been built between the both of you. This means that the two of you will begin to open up on getting to know each other in greater detail."

Rarity placed her hoof around the pink mare's shoulders and brought her in for a hug. "All it takes now is you telling him that this isn't the end of things, just a request for you and him to drag your hooves a little. Yes, distance can make the heart grow fonder, but it can also distort your view of things. That's why you feel as if it's moving too fast, because you've gotten to know the Cheese on paper than in reality. You can do this, I know you can."

Pinkie wiped her eyes while she tried to get herself together. Sniffling, she took deep breaths to stop her from crying anymore. Stepping off of the couch, she stood to face the door. Her puffy eyes then looked up to me as she spoke. "Nondie, you're gonna help us work things out, right?"

"Later. Now go get your boyfriend before I have to hear about him going missing." I suggested before giving her a firm slap to the rear end as a means to invoking a fire. "Now... MOSEY!"

Pinkie didn't so much as budge as she turned back to me with a incredulous expression. "Non, the next time you do that, I'm biting your hand."

I guess that doesn't work for her. Strange, it usually works for everyone else... oops. "Sorry about that."

Flicking her tail at my face as a means to return the favor, she snapped her attention back towards the front door. With a deep breath, she galloped at her fastest speed out of the boutique, searching for the stallion that broke down before her. She cried out his name as she ran, gaining much attention from random onlookers while she zoomed her way through town.

Rarity walked up beside me and leaned against me. "You really don't understand just how potent your words can be."

I shrugged my shoulders as I walked back into the boutique. "I had practice with Melanie for a few years. After a while, I've gotten used to being the one who gave comfort... or at least lied enough to make her happy."

"Lie?"

"I had ulterior motives at the time... not my proudest achievement. I guess you could say I once played the role Spike plays now." I admitted to the fashionista, who only mumbled in response.

"Oh, I see..."

"The past me, the one that lived before the accident that nearly snuffed the air out of my lungs, I wasn't a very proud thing to look at. I was selfish, angry, misguided, self-righteous, and manipulative. In the end, I said some things that mostly benefited me, and ended up being the sleaze I proclaimed myself to protect her against."

"So, what you told Pinkie."

"Nah." I shook my head before she could even finish her thought. "That was all for her. I don't benefit from that, don't want to. Being here has taught me a lot of things and it also made me want to refresh my image. I wanted to become a better me, one who helps others without any ulterior motive."

"So you become something that you're not?" She questioned.

"I became something that I need to be."

Rarity used her magic to grab my hand and pulled me into the kitchen while simultaneously closing the front door. "Then, would you become something that I need you to be?"

I watched as she started to pull out numerous items from the cupboards, pans and seasonings quietly floated onto the counter. "Depends. If they're not unreasonable or questionable to my morals."

She pulled out a chair to sit in and quietly spoke. "Well I'm afraid that you're going to be a bit conflicted with my request. It will be a bit of a tall order, but it isn't one that's impossible to fulfill."

I'm already getting bad vibes from this. "Is it about the modeling thing?"

"No... It has to something to do with Spike."

"Cheese!?"

For three hours, Pinkie Pie ran throughout the town in a desperate attempt to find her distraught coltfriend. And in those three hours, he was nowhere to be found. Each area she searched, a pony gave her confirmation that he headed towards one place or another. Eventually, a pony notified her that he appeared to be leaving the town through by means of the path leading through the Everfree forest.

"Cheese where are you!? Please answer me!"

Her pace slowed significantly from when she first started her search, going from a pink blur to that of a slowed trot. The sweat on her brow beaded down her face as she looked from side to side. Meanwhile, her mind was awash with the grim scenarios that were to be a possibility if she delayed her efforts even once. One such thought was finding him unconscious in the woods, passed out on the verdant path ahead. Another was that he just simply disappeared into nothing, unable to be found or heard from ever again. And her worst fear came to play out in her head as she felt an icy chill run down her spine. The last thing she'd wanted to see was him lying in some bush...

...A cadaver who's eyes gazed into the infinite darkness, his cold hooves locking in place as the color faded from his coat. "You know I don't like coming out here, this isn't funny! Unless you're more into dark humor, but I'm not too much of a fan of it!" She said aloud in some attempt to assure herself that her recent thought was nothing more than playing into whatever joke he set up. Unfortunately for her, it was highly unlikely that he would ever pull such a prank on her given the circumstances. Her heartbeat began to increase when that grim image started to sink into her brain.

Pinkie continued to walk further into the woods, her eyes widened to catch anything that moved or resembled a pony. Instead, she only ran into a cloud of pale orange haze that hindered her view of the path ahead. Her mind was made up when that scene played out in her head once more, her internal cries becoming more and more realistic. After a slight hesitation, she mustered whatever strength she had remaining and darted forward.

The further into the cloud she went, the more it started to affect her. Her eyes watered from the mist, stimulating her allergies enough to where she could do nothing but sneeze. Whenever she tried to breathe through her mouth, she ended up coughing a little. Placing a hoof over her muzzle, she took a deep breath and called out into the woods. "Cheese, I don't like this. Whatever sneezing powder you got going around, it's not making me feel any better."

Unfortunately, the response she got was one she didn't call for.

Turning to her left side, she heard a loud thud resulting into the rustling of the leaves above her. She jumped back to see a black face squirming in a tree, complete with light blue eyes, sharpened teeth, and a craggy horn. It continued to hiss at the pink pony while it appeared to be stuck in place. "A changeling?"

Another voice came from the direction of the ensnared changeling. "Your time has come, the hour is nigh. You invaded my home to take me, and now you will die."

Pinkie recognized the voice and felt some form of relief as the shadow behind the changeling emerged. The silhouette slowly started to resemble the shape of a zebra. "Zecora?"

Quickly, the shaded zebra lunged forward, pressuring a crudely-made spear against her throat. "HALT IMPOSTOR, STAY SILENT AND COME NO FURTHER! UNLESS YOU'D RATHER ME RETURN YOUR LIFELESS BODY BACK TO YOUR HOLE-INFESTED MOTHER!" The cautious zebra appeared before her with green paint masking her eyes and cheeks, her muzzle was covered with a tattered cloth that was being used as a makeshift mask.

"It's me, Pinkie!" She pleaded, trying to spare her own life.

Zecora looked back at the changeling, who still struggled with being caught between two massive tree roots. She turned away from the creature once she confirmed that an unassisted escape was highly unlikely, and replaced her weapon at the neck the sweating pony. "Your symptom of poison joke, reveal that much to me. Only then will I recognize you as friend and let you go free."

"My tongue swelled up to the size of my hoof and had grew blue polka dots. I couldn't get through a sentence without spitting on something or somepony. You had a book containing the cure, ironically one that Twilight had when she was back at Golden Oaks─"

"Very well, I'll let you on by." Zecora interrupted, confirming that the pink pony wasn't an impostor. "But do tell the reason why you are here, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie sighed with relief as she watched the spear leave her personal space. "I'm just looking for somepony. Have you seen Cheese Sandwich anywhere around here?"

Zecora found the name to be unfamiliar to her, could only quirk a brow in response to Pinkie's question. "I... do not follow."

"You know, orange stallion, really lanky, puffy mane and tail like mine but brown, bright green eyes, cutie mark of a cheese sandwich sliced in half and stretched apart." Pinkie quickly described in one breath.

It took a while for the description to process an image, but Zecora stomped her hoof as the revelation came to her. "Oh dearest me, I did see somepony of your description. Though I couldn't help but to hold my spear with heavy suspicion."

Pinkie quickly grabbed the zebra and shook her. "You didn't attack him or anything, did you?"

Zecora shook her head as she pried herself from the vice-like grip of the pink hooves. "Quite the opposite, I called out for him to hear. A warning I offered to him, that there were changelings still near. Not nearly as many who continue to roam, but the one you see stuck tried to take me in my own home!" She spat venomously while glancing at the changeling she chased earlier.

Though Pinkie was relieved to hear that nothing had happened to her, thoughts of the changeling stragglers continued to add to her fears. "He didn't say anything?"

She took a moment to think, only to recall that his lips produced words not directed towards her. "No, I don't seem to remember him saying much. But he walked with a mope, holding flowers... a bunch. Tulips and daisies was what he had, but he picked at the petals as he seemed so sad."

"I know he is." Pinkie confirmed before she sneezed once more.

Zecora took off her mask and tied it to Pinkie's muzzle. The pink pony looked at the zebra oddly as her cheeks seemed flushed with an otherworldy shade of red. She proceeded to look among the brush for a large leaf she could use to make do with a temporary replacement until she could return back to her hut. "Perhaps there is more to know about this fellow? You must know more of him, for your tone to be so mellow."

Her allergies were still triggered, causing her to sniffle as the pink pony spoke. "He's... my special somepony. Or at least I think he still is."

Using her spear, Zecora cut a large leaf from a nearby tree. Brushing off the surface, she covered her muzzle as she questioned Pinkie. "Forgive me as I know that this is not my place, but would you tell me the reason why he walked with tears streaming down his face?"

Pinkie closed her eyes and replayed the events that transpired just a few hours ago. "He overheard me talking to Nondis about our relationship and how I felt about it all. I told him how I wanted us to... you know, slow down."

"Slow down? That doesn't seem too bad. Though I could only─"

"I mean, he apparently had aspirations for us to get married from the very beginning, like before we reunited. I wanted to slow it down because I wasn't comfortable. I just felt like we were taking things too fast and he was pushing me to love me in a way where... I just became so unsure about myself. I mean, he's a good pony, and I really adore him. But I just want to keep things simple between us. But I might've said some things that might sound bad out of context. I said that I didn't want to marry him, I even made a huge scene about it in town... I'm so embarrassed."

The zebra gave a slow nod as it started to make sense to her. "Ah, now I see why those eyes resembled a saddened pup. From your latter words, he derived the tell-tale signs of a breakup."

Pinkie looked down the misty path and saw nothing but the pale orange haze grow even thicker ahead. "So where did he go?" She quietly asked.

"I'm afraid that he silently wandered to the verdant paths further in. As for what direction he took at the fork, I don't know where to begin. But I do fear that his safety may be all but secure. As quite a few changelings, his love for you will lure. And should his essence be discovered, they'll become enraptured. Then sooner or later─"

The pink pony gave off an audible gulp. "He'll end up getting captured!"

Pinkie started to make a dash for the path again, only for her tail to be ensnared by the zebra's teeth. "Wait, do not leave, your scent is still strong! These changelings will find you and feed on your love, it will not take them long."

"I'm sorry, I have to find him now!" Pinkie argued, trying to grab her tail away from Zecora.

The striped shaman dropped her spear, lunged forward, and grabbed the pink pony with her hooves to further deter her progress. "No! Do not go! These spores are too dangerous for you to ingest! You must wait until the mist dies down before you can progress!"

Pinkie looked at the reddened face of her zebra friend while trying to free herself. "Zecora, I need to go now! If Cheese is captured, then─"

Zecora wasted no time in trying to verbally convince the pink pony that going on was bad idea. Instead, she threw the pink pony down to the ground and pinned her to the leaves below. Slowly the leaf fell from her hooves, leaving a panting Zecora to stare back at Pinkie. The party pony looked up nervously as she noticed that she was receiving an unusually distant stare from the mare above. When she tried to move, the zebra inched a little closer, panting all the while. "Nnngh... The spores being spread, simulate the effects of estrus. You must go now, seek help from Nondis! We ponies are far too sensitive, submission occurs far too soon. But I know that the humans... they will most assuredly remain immune."

Pinkie then began to realize that no matter what she tried, it was going to become a whole lot more difficult to move deeper into the forest, even with the mask protecting her. But she also noticed that Zecora was uncharacteristically close to her, even going as far as petting the pony's cheek. She turned her head away as she avoided the zebra's gaze.

"Go now, while you still have a chance. I must remain here, and─" She couldn't finish as she felt a pair of hooves thrust into her chest, causing her to fall back. For a brief moment as Pinkie got up, the Zebra could already see the pony's face growing slightly redder by the minute. But her eyes seemed to show signs of panic.

"We're gonna get you help! Stay here!" She screamed before galloping on the forest path back to Ponyville. Her tale quickly bounced up and down as she ran, leaving a frustrated Zecora to remain.

"Hurry now, race back to the town! Before these spores take you and your coltfriend down." She called out before slowly retrieving her spear and turning her attention to the still struggling changeling.

For a while, she stared at the changeling while holding the spear to it's crown. Suddenly, a sharp thrust of pain surged through her abdomen, causing her to lose her balance and fall back onto her haunches. Using her spear as a means of support, she took deep breaths to alleviate the discomfort. Her eyes clenched shut as the pain passed through her body, rendering her temporarily immobile. A sharpened cry left her lips as she failed to suppress her aches.

It was far too much for her to operate on. "Nngh... An antidote, I must concoct. To give to the unwary traveler a means to surpass this terrible onslaught. But first..."

The changeling looked up as it saw the spear raise over the zebra's head, falling down onto it. Another surge of pain caused Zecora to throw her aim off, hitting the tree trunk instead. It became apparent that she wasn't going to be fighting with her cramps hindering her movements. So she made the decision to come back whenever she found a means of relief.

"I pray that the human male come not to see me... lest he permit that my imagination would run free." She joked before setting off to her hut for some medicine.

Zecora felt herself become alert as the unfamiliar voice echoed throughout the forest. Pulling the spear from the tree, she readied herself to fight. "WHO GOES THERE!"

Before she could get an answer, a bright green bolt of magic barreled towards her. Zecora leapt out of the way, only for the bolt to land amongst the tree roots that contained the changeling. "Oh please, zebra. Put that thing away, you'll poke your eye out." The voice called out before a shadow manifested itself before her. As it's hoof flicked out, a large black flower landed before the zebra, emitting a light cloud of pale orange dust as it landed.

"Drakeseed spores." Zecora grimaced as her suspicions were confirmed.

"It's a good thing that I decided to spread these around the forest just to see what effect these will have on the local population. A remote location that's not too far as to avoid a travel route, and not too close to draw attention. But having you, the local population, fall victim to it's effects is nothing short of a bonus." The shadow crackled. "But having you in my possession, the spores being released, it's all but a ploy, a smaller part of a much larger masterpiece."

"ENOUGH! I will run you through!" Zecora shouted as she got back on her hooves. "My spear is sturdy, the point is jagged, and my aim true! It seeks to find it's way inside of YOU!"

With a mighty cry, she barreled forward to the shadow figure before her, only to be quickly undermined by a magical blast that sent her into a nearby tree. Zecora moaned in pain as she tried to recover from her hit, just to have a much larger body pressed against hers. A green magical aura held her in place as she felt a large pair of hooves immediately glide down her body to her most sensitive parts. "Yes that's cute. And you seem to be very... stimulated. Is that why you're so quick to turn, so that I wouldn't find out?"

"...Go to hell..." Zecora hissed from the side of her mouth, looking everywhere but the creature that violated her.

"Oooh, I love it when you snarl. It makes you look so brave, so determined to mask your fears and weaknesses. But behind those eyes, there is nowhere you can hide. The truth is revealed right through them, and I can already see the image of my objective."

As the larger hoof brushed itself between Zecora's haunches, the shaman tried to wriggle herself upwards as a means to lessen the contact. "I will not... submit..."

Zecora tried her best to keep her eyes closed as the hoof continued to rub against her, increasing it's pace while pushing up against her. She found herself unable to adjust any further and took the brunt of her molester's advances. She grunted as she shifted whatever way she could as a desperate means to free herself, but her actions only made her situation even worse as she felt herself endure a small surge of pleasure that left her assailant's hoof moistened. "It seems you already have. Now tell me something, zebra. You live in this forest, you know it's creatures and it's workings. So that means that you would immediately identify if something were to appear out of place. Something that was rumored to be... different."

Zecora gritted her teeth while the hoof worked quickly against her, her eyes clenched so hard that she felt herself become slightly dizzy. The creature whispered into her ear as she turned away.

"Tall..."

The hoof that was free began to push the zebra down lower as she whispered once more.

"Strong..."

The hoof rubbed against her at an alarmingly rapid pace, causing Zecora to breathe heavily. Writhing in pleasure and shame, she arched her back and screamed in disgust.

"So full of life..."

The green magical aura manifested it's presence upon Zecora's chin, to face her attacker. The zebra's eyes grew from shock as a pair of lips forced onto hers mid-gasp, her tongue being tortured by an invader of similar function. Quickly, they separated with an audible smack as the zebra's eyes met with that of a changeling's.

But rather than the usual blue glossy orbs that were often shared amongst the regulars, they were large, green, reptilian, and filled with greed. The zebra shook with horror as she realized that she was being violated by not just any changeling. A sinister yet playful giggle was heard as the infamous queen herself grew giddy from the taste of her victim's tongue. Chrysalis smiled deviously as she imitated the voice of a recent visitor.

"So, have you by any chance seen the otherworldly creature I've summoned?"

This past month has been a difficult one for me. The past month has been met with a variety of issues IRL. One such issue was that the transmission died on my car, so I've been having to work extra hard to get it paid for while trying to maintain everything else. Unfortunately, I still have a bit of work to do before I can fully pay it off.

So I apologize if this chapter isn't quite up to standard, ideas have been really hard to push with everything going on. But I will try to make up for it in the next few chapters.

But lo and behold, the mastermind shows herself. What is it that she has in store and what is she up to? Will Nondis be able to find Cheese before it's all over and done with? Or will Cheese find himself being another victim to the changelings? Next chapter, folks. See you then.

Minor spoiler for next chapter: Rarity will explain herself to Nondis.