[6:45 a.m.]

…Okay, this is confusing. Right now not only do I feel unbelievably sore in parts of my body from the workout yesterday, and achy from how bad the mattress on the couch was, but somehow I still had a good sleep altogether. Actually, if I was in my own bed, this would probably be the best sleep I ever had. Maybe it’s because of whatever I’m holding onto that made my sleep all the more relaxing… But what the heck is it? It’s warm, soft, smells sort of like… Lilies? Wait, I know this scent before. It’s my favorite kind of soap from Mare de Fur’s brand. I don’t think I scrubbed this on me last night… Come to think of it, something’s tickling my nose. Feels like a few strands of hair that also smell nice, and whatever I’m holding is… Breathing. Not to mention it's also soft and round, and thumping like a heartbeat.

Still half-asleep, I groggily opened my eyes, my vision dark and blurry without my glasses, but something in front of me contrasted the colors of my surroundings. Though it was dark, it looked… Pink. There were also white stubs sticking out that flicked a little every now and then. My feeling of exhaustion quickly escalated to terror as I scanned the object in front of me, and gave whatever my hands were holding a few gentle feels, and received a moaning sound in reaction.

… Okay Ozzy, try not to freak out, but I think Fleur is in bed with you, and you just groped her breasts. Don’t you fucking scream to wake the girls up, or Shining will literally kill you for what you’re doing with Fleur. Try to focus on breathing first like the counselors told you to. In… Out… In… Out… In… Out... Okay, I think I can put my logic back on. Before you do anything, try to think back to what happened last night that might brought me to this situation.

[Last night, 9:30 p.m.]

The girls sat there wide-eyed at me as they tried to drink in the question I had no idea why I said it in that particular fashion. The three of us were still, the air in the room deathly silent like a graveyard that I’ll probably be buried under for bringing up the question.

“… What?” Shining asked first.

OZZY, WHAT THE FUCK WENT ON IN YOUR HEAD MAN?! I SAID THINK OF SOMETHING TO DO FOR TOMORROW, NOT ASK THEM ON A FREAKIN’ DATE! Oh god the air’s getting heavier with awkwardness with every passing second. You gotta say something to get yourself out and not have Shining beat you to a pulp!

“To the movies!” I exclaimed, making the girls jump in surprise. “I meant… Do you two want to go out to the movies tomorrow? Maybe see Guardians of the Galaxy?”

“But… I thought you were kidding earlier,” Shining pointed out.

“Me too… That’s why I played along,” Fleur added in.

“I was!” I waved my hands out front. “But that was only a one on one, date kind of scenario I was implying. This is with just the three of us without the massage at the end. Just going out as friends, grab a bite to eat first, then the movies, then come back here and sleep. That’s it… Just the three of us going out as friends, having a good time like the welcome party you threw for me last week, but without the fight to ruin it… Just something to throw out there for an idea on what we could do tomorrow…”

Silence filled the room once more as the girls switched gazes between each other and me, drinking in the clarification I just made up.

… It’s hopeless… I fucked up. I don’t even know why those words came out the way they did, I just wanted to think of something to say without getting a boner… Well it didn’t come up at least, because all of those hormones are now being replaced with adrenaline as I stepped too far into the girls’ territory, and not only will I be talked down, but perhaps even fired on the spot… Though the girls may not want me as a friend anymore, it was nice while it lasted… Maybe I can get a new job here in Manehattan. Looks like there are loads of job opportunities here compared to Canterlot. I’ll have to make do with what I have like back on Earth. Alright, time to face the music… Let me have it.

“… I think I can work with that,” Fleur answered first, leaving me wide-eyed in reaction. “It sounds nice. Not going all out like the last two big occasions we went to. Just something simple.”

“We won’t need to get too dressy for the occasion either,” Shining added in, my attention now turned to her who had a thoughtful expression on her face while looking down. “Maybe we’ll just take it easy tomorrow morning before we start rehearsing for the interview, stroll through the city, grab lunch, catch the movie, and then come back here to relax the rest of the evening.”

“I like that plan. Ozzy? What do you think?” Fleur asked me.

… I can’t believe it… They actually bought it?! It may be this world that’s making me saying this, but thank Celestia I dodged a bullet on that one! There’s still hope for me yet!

“Uh yeah, that sounds great,” I said before I pretended to be tired by yawning as I stood up from Fleur’s bed. “Well, I’m getting tired. Better catch plenty of Z’s before the big day tomorrow.” I walked over to my bed, and tried to adjust to the discomfort the mattress was acting on my body as I pulled the covers over me.

“I’m tired too, that train ride took a lot out of me,” Fleur said as she floated a sleeping mask out of her bag, and strapped it over her eyes before she got under the blankets as well.

“It has been a long day hasn’t it?” Shining asked as she settled herself in her own bed. “We’ll take our time with getting breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good. Good night everypony,” Fleur said.

“Good night.”

“Night,” I bid last before I closed my eyes, and let my tiredness took me over.

[Present day, 6:55 a.m.]

Okay, so all of that happened. Glad things didn’t go to shit, but now I’m in an even bigger pile of it. Let’s process the situation. Sucky couch bed? Check. Fleur in front of me? Check. Clothes? Check and Thank god for that. Morning wood? Check, and goddamn my hormones. So I can conclude that I didn't somehow get out of my bed and slept with Fleur in hers in the middle of the night, but the vice versa happened… That still confuses me to heck though. What brought Fleur to this anyway? She seems peaceful, for now at least. She still has her sleeping mask on. Does she even know she’s here with me? I don’t know, but I think the best course of action right now might be to get up, and out of the room before the girls wake up, gets confused on how things turned out, and we’ll talk over it before breakfast. much better than Shining waking up first, finding us like this, and probably go more bat shit crazy than what I had originally feared last night. Alright, let’s do this.

With my plan in mind, I started things off by carefully lifting one of my arms over Fleur, and back behind me. The second one was going to be tricky, since she was on top of it, and it’s slightly asleep from clotted blood flow. I adjusted my body to where it was easier to pull my arm off before I made my next move. I slowly and carefully pulled my arm out, and I was thankfully home free. It limped idly like a rag doll as it was still asleep, and the feeling of needles piercing into me was starting as blood was flowing back into my arm. With no time to wait for it to make it fully mobile, I made my way to the front door, picking up one of the keys to get back in the room along the way as I walked quietly in the dark.

Things were going good until I came across an abrupt, loud, and painful obstacle… Stubbing my toe against the corner of the wall that was near the bathroom.

“A—MMMMMFF!” I covered my mouth with my hand quickly to muffle my scream of pain. I stood frozen still, waiting for the possibly pending doom that was before me.

"Oz," Shining said, my whole body tingling from anxiety. "Go get the... Strawberries from that... Giant cake, and I'll get the... Chocolate syrup from the river so we can..." She then fell silence once more, besides the sound of her breathing from sleep.

Oh thank GOD that was a close one! I thought I was dead meat for sure... But what the heck was she talking about in her sleep? Were we making sundaes in her dream or something?

I set those thoughts to the side for later before I limped my way to the door with room key in hand, and my stubbed toe still throbbing in pain. I quietly opened, and shut the door behind me once I stepped out of the room.

I then laid on my side on the floor in the hallway, holding on to my aching toe for dear life. “FFFffffffuck,” I silently swore. As I was on the floor, a passing pony stood over me with a confused expression on his face. “The floor’s real comfy here. You should try it sometime,” I said before the stallion walked away, pretending he didn’t see me.

I sighed as the pain in my toe was starting to fade away, and rubbed my eyes. “This is going to be a long morning,” I said to myself. “Guess I should try and get some more sleep until the girls wake up, and we’ll talk by then…” I settled myself against the wall, and closed my eyes, having the chilly air in the hallway not letting me get any rest.

[9:30 a.m.]

“Ozzy, I must deeply apologize for what happened this morning,” Fleur said with her eyes shut tightly, and hands together in a prayer-like position.

The three of us were in the room, me sitting across from the girls on the beds while I had a blanket wrapped around me, and a glass of water at my side. When the girls woke up, Fleur immediately felt concern when she realized she was on my bed, and Shining found me outside of the hallway, shivering from the cold. They immediately brought me inside, and wrapped a blanket around me before I told them what had happened when I woke up. Shining twitched a little in the eye when I mentioned about… The breast thing, but Fleur stopped her from doing anything brash, despite the deep flushing in her cheeks. Thankfully Shining pulled back on her anger… For the moment anyway, and I didn't tell her about what she was saying in her sleep, as I wasn't sure if that may tick her off more. We come to the present with Fleur apologizing to me about the weird situation that was before us.

“Can I just ask what brought you to my bed in the first place?” I asked. “I’m just seriously drawing a blank on how that came to be.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time something like this happened,” Fleur said while looking to the side with ears folded. “I was unaware that I switched beds, and when I woke up, I completely forgot to mention something important to you since you moved in with me.”

“Fleur has… Sleepwalking issues,” Shining said as she looked to the side while scratching her head. “This usually occurs with a specific nightmare she sometimes get, and she does what just happened last night: getting up, and move to another pony on their bed to sleep with.”

“But she usually sleeps by herself in her home before I came along right?” I asked. “You aren’t seriously suggesting Fleur just got up, and walked all the way over to Shining’s house to sleep with her in bed right?”

All the girls did was blush while looking away, confirming my answer to the question.

“Wow… That’s pretty bad,” I said. “Did you see a doctor or psychologist about this?”

“I did,” Fleur answered. “They said it may have been because of a traumatic experience I had that made the nightmares in the first place. Even when Princess Luna came back a few years ago, all she could do was pull me out and talk to me about it in my dreams before I woke up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do for something so severe.”

“Wait, one of the princesses here is able to get into other ponies’ dreams? Isn’t that considered an invasion of privacy?” I asked.

“Adding into raising and lowering the moon, guiding ponies through their dreams is part of Princess Luna’s duties of looking out for her subjects,” Shining answered. “This especially goes to fillies and colts of young age, as whatever causes the nightmares could possibly hinder their growth to become good, healthy ponies of Equestria.”

… This could be concerning if she comes across my recent nightmares over the past week. I’m not sure if this may affect my staying here in Equestria, but I should prepare for her arrival the next time that nightmare comes around.

“There’s something that concerns me about this occurrence though,” Shining said as she looked down in deep thought. “This usually happens about once a month, and even when Fleur’s past secretaries moved in with her, she would still sleepwalk over to my bed in my place before she was found the next morning… So how did she have this nightmare only three weeks since the last one, and was found in Oz’s bed this time?”

Fleur’s and my own eyes widened at such a change in her sleepwalking patterns, speechless to come up with a valid response.

That does sound concerning. If for some reason these nightmares are getting worse, then Fleur might be in for some kind of trouble in the long term.

“Fleur? Did Princess Luna came to you in your dream last night? If so, does she know what might have happened?” I asked her.

Fleur suddenly blushed a little in her cheeks before she looked to the side. “Um… She did came to me, yes, but I’d rather not talk about the details of the nightmare if that’s okay?”

I nodded in response. “Understood. Just let us know if you need anything Fleur.”

“Thank you Ozzy,” she replied with a small smile.

Still… What could be so traumatizing that would give Fleur monthly nightmares? And why did this happen just last night? Could stressors trigger hers like mine somehow? If so, considering what we just talked about last night… Call it a hunch, but I think that Solar Flare bastard had something to do with this. What could he have done that would cause Fleur so much pain and misery if cheating on her wasn’t bad enough?

“So can you forgive me for sleeping with you last night? I’m really sorry I might have caused such a scare to have you wait outside of the room for a few hours,” Fleur apologized with her ears folded, and guilt filling up in her pale violet eyes.

“It’s okay Fleur, I know it wasn’t your fault now,” I replied with a small, yet assuring smile. “I was more worried about Shining beating me to a pulp if she found us in such a position without giving me a chance to explain. I still don’t know how my hands could have wandered to someplace like… That, while I was asleep.”

“Well, I can’t say you could be wrong, I’ll say that much,” Shining seethed with a small twitch in her eyes, probably still irritated about hearing something like that. She then stood up and sighed harshly while rubbing her eyes under the glasses. “I’m going to take a shower to calm myself down. We’ll go have breakfast once we’ve changed.” She picked up her change of clothes for the day, and went to the bathroom with a loud enough door slam that made me flinch.

Fleur then moved to sit next to me, and leaned against me like last night. “Thank you for understanding Ozzy, and I apologize for Shiny’s behavior this morning.”

“It’s no problem.” I waved off. "I'm just sorry that I... Well, you know."

"Let's... Just forget something like that happened, and hope it doesn't come again," Fleur said before she looked to the side, and her face flushed red once more. "... Did they feel good?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Did you say something?" I asked.

"I thought you did," Fleur said.

"I didn't."

"Me either," she responded.

"... Anyway," I continued. "I’ll have to think of some sort of outlet for her to vent on so it doesn't explode on me. I thought she was going to lose it back there.”

“I’ve suggested some things for her to do while you were out, so as long as she took at least one of those to mind, she should be fine.”

“What did you bring up?” I asked before I took a few sips of water from my glass.

“Oh you know, punching a pillow, focusing on her breathing, angry masturbation, things like that.”

“PBBBTH! What was the last one?!” I exclaimed after a spit take.

“Well you heard of angry sex right?” Fleur asked. “Well it’s pretty much the same concept except using toys or fingering herself to climax. I mean what better way exhaust yourself than the afterglow of an orgasm?”

“Okay, you’ve gotta be pulling my leg,” I chuckled. “I mean we’re talking about Shining Star here right? She couldn’t possibly resort to something like that to…” I trailed off before I heard some strange noises.

Though it was drowned out by the running water, I could hear muffled moans and swearing from the bathroom’s direction, causing me to flush very hard on my face once I recognized it was Shining’s voice. All Fleur did in response was give me a devious smirk, half-lidded eyes, and raised eyebrows.

“Welp! This is getting weird. I’m going to change someplace else and just wait this out until you’re ready,” I said as I stood up, quickly grabbed a change of clothes, and a large plastic sandwich bag I used for carrying my bathroom essentials to store my nightwear. I then grabbed the room key, and dashed out of the room while Fleur had a laughing fit after I left.

[10:30 a.m.]

After spending a couple minutes in the bathroom to release my tensions, I sat on one of the chairs in the hotel lobby, wearing jeans, sneakers, a purple shirt, and a gray zip-up jacket with my bagged nightwear stored in its inner pocket. While I waited for the girls, my mind was wandering with conflicting thoughts.

I swear, if I didn’t find a private place to jerk off, I thought I was going die of blue balls. I can’t remember the last time I even gave myself some wanted attention by myself. If there’s one thing that makes working as a secretary difficult, it’s dealing with the arousal from a complicated, yet attractive at times manager, and a devious, sexy supermodel. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact they’re also bipedal ponies. Yeah, that certainly makes my situation better. It’s pretty clear some of the mares I’ve come across have no problems hitting on me even as a different species, and want to be alone with me in a bedroom, and that’s before they knew I was a freakin’ virgin. I can’t even fathom how they’d react once they know that much about me. Laughing at my expense, more eager to get in my pants, or everything in between just turns out bad in the end for me.

I need some kind of sign that what’s going on in my head doesn’t make me crazy. Heck, a part of me is thinking right now that feeling up Fleur this morning was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. That’s both shameful, and pathetic if that’s the biggest highlight of my lifetime so far. I just need one couple. One couple of a human and a mare of any genders and sexualities who’s gutsy enough to go against social norms, and show both worlds that kind of relationship is okay, or at least one human doctor, counselor, or psychologist to tell me I’m not some kind of sick human being to have these feelings for mares. I’ve only been here for a week, I’ve tried to put these feelings aside while I focus on my job as a secretary, I know Fleur told me I shouldn’t worry about questioning it and just experiment, but something is just telling me, ‘You’re a pathetic snot. There’s no way any girl would fall for someone like you. All you’re good for is being a plaything for them’… Something that was ingrained in me for so long by the biggest bastard I’ve personally known that may top off Solar Flare on my hate list... The main source of my own nightmares.

“… Fuck you Robert,” I snarled quietly.

“There you are Ozzy! Sorry for the wait!” A cheery, familiar voice exclaimed. I looked up, and saw that it was Fleur coming over with Shining at her side. Fleur had her usual eye shadow on, along with a spaghetti strapped, white camisole, matching purse, and black jeans. It was definitely something more casual than usual for Fleur.

Shining on the other hand had a light gray colored tee with a scoop neckline, blue jeans, a blue purse of her own, and her mane was down. She looked… Creepy. I mean the clothes she was wearing were great, but she was practically glowing with positive energy while she sported a warm smile. It was twenty minutes ago she was on the brink of tearing me a new one. This time it looked like she was not only refreshed, but she was like her name implied, shining like a new mare.

“Sorry for the wait, I guess Shiny needed more time in the shower than she thought,” Fleur said.

“Are you… Feeling okay Shining?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Never better!” Shining exclaimed. “I’m just practically giddy for how we’re going to spend the day.”

Not convinced, I stood up, walked over to her, and felt her forehead with one hand while another was on my own, comparing our temperatures despite Shining’s slight redness in her cheeks.

She seems to be feeling fine. Not delirious or anything of the sort, but this still can’t be the same Shining Star I’m talking to right now. Not once have I ever heard her use the word ‘giddy’ in any sentence, not even when she was so excited for Fleur’s interview yesterday. Was one masturbation session all she needed to get like this? I know she had a tight grudge for guys until she started to change that last week, but she must have pleasured herself every now and then right? How fucking pent up was she until this morning?

“Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my manager?” I asked Shining, at least that’s who I thought she was, while I stared into her pale green eyes.

She giggled in response before answering. “It’s still me silly. I can be a fun mare too you know. Since it’s late in the morning already, we’ll have to make do with brunch while we try to rehearse for Fleur’s interview tomorrow. Now let’s get this day started everypony!” She exclaimed before she turned, and led the way. Fleur and I were walking at an arm and a half’s length behind her as I crouched over to Fleur’s ear.

“Okay, what’s her deal?” I whispered to Fleur. “Bipolar Disorder? Dissociative Personality Disorder? There’s just no way she can be this… This…”

“Joyful?” She finished for me.

“Yes! How can she be like this after just one session of self-ministration in the shower?!”

“You’d be surprised how sex can brighten somepony’s day dearie,” Fleur said. “Believe me when I say that even with her hate for stallions up to now, every mare needs some form of release, especially during our heat. She usually finds the time to relax a little when nopony’s around. She’s just being more open with herself about it now since you came along.”

“… Excuse me for saying this, but you mares are weird,” I said.

“Says the human who can’t admit he’s attracted to us mares,” Fleur rebutted with a smirk. “You gotta learn to lighten up and enjoy the little things sometimes Ozzy. You’ll break yourself apart if you keep stressing yourself like this. Maybe you’ll feel better once we get that stomach of yours full, so let’s get some food… To… Eat,” she trailed off before her expression of playful calmness turned to worry and fear.

I followed her direction of the gaze, and saw that Shining was glaring at an earth pony stallion, probably the most I’ve ever seen out of all others she came across. The light green stallion in question was very trendy, wearing a white dress shirt with frills at his cuffs, a light green, satin vest, a teal ascot that matched his eyes, and black slacks. His aqua and white striped mane was pulled tightly back, and tied into a ponytail, while his real matching tail in question curled at the end. His expression was one of disinterest, which was surprising since most other stallions I’ve seen usually feared Shining’s glare at lesser degrees.

“Shining Star,” he deadpanned.

“Puff Tie,” Shining returned with same tone, but almost like she spat his name like venom.

“Still playing manager for Fleur here?”

“Yes. She and I were called in by Vogue for an interview tomorrow.”

“What a coincidence. I actually just sent an application to them as one of their top designers. Perhaps we may be working together soon enough.”

“You fucking wish. Vogue must be crazy to think they could take in an ascot wearing douche bag like yourself.”

“At least I'm going places in life. Unlike you who had hit rock bottom, and are only walking in Fleur’s shadow to make up for it. Quite ironic since you helped moi to get where I am today.”

“Out of all the mistakes I’ve made, you were the one I regretted the most. Why don’t you take a hike before I make you into a mare like you really are?”

“HMPH! How very unladylike, but I’m growing rather bored here anyway. I wish you and Fleur the worst of luck at the interview tomorrow.” He then turned to me, and briefly scanned my form before meeting my gaze. “You the new secretary I’ve heard in the news?”

“Um… Yes?” I answered with a raised brow.

“I see… Shining definitely needs to get a new prescription on her glasses. Her eyes must be getting worse for hiring an ape such as yourself. Now move over,” he ordered before I stepped aside, and he strutted past us.

The three of us stood on the sidewalk with only the noises of city activity filling the air as we watched him walk away. I turned to Shining with a raised eyebrow, along with Fleur who looked concern.

“Um… Who was that?” I asked, feeling way out of the loop on what had just happened.

“That, was Puff Tie,” Shining answered. “One of the more recognized, growing designers in the fashion industry of Equestria…” She then twitched in the eye, and gritted her teeth, desperately trying to hold out the next few words as though they were poison to her if she said it.

“… And my ex-coltfriend.”

Author's Notes:

Well this certainly brings up a ton of questions. What's Shining's history with that douche bag? What did he mean when she hit rock bottom? What caused Ozzy's and Fleur's nightmares? Will Ozzy ever acknowledge the fact that he likes mares? You'll have to find out next chapter.

This is Dudeler signing off.