Edited by JimboTex and Regreme, pre-read by Pusspuss

Tink winced as she trotted along the corridor, having just been told by Doctor Horse that she was being discharged. Her casts had been taken off, and most of her injuries had healed. Her wings were still pretty much useless though. She certainly wasn’t going to be flying for a while.

Lyra—whom she totally wasn’t still absolutely terrified of—trotted alongside her, sporting a triumphant smile. It had been a long night.

After Lyra had turned to leave in the hospital, Tink had broken down and confessed. She’d openly admitted her attraction to Kye, half expecting the unicorn to finally show some anger in response, but no such anger came. Lyra had instead adopted a rather smug expression, and it hadn't left her face since.

"How you holding up?" the unicorn asked with an odd look that was mostly genuine concern, yet still bore noticeable traces the aforementioned smugness.

"'M fine," Tink mumbled, avoiding eye contact. The two of them continued wordlessly down the corridor: Lyra with a confident trot, and Tink nervously padding along slightly behind.

So much had changed in the past few days that Tink was having a little trouble adjusting. She'd basically went from one herd she was terrified of to another that she was even more terrified of, though her fear of the latter was evidently unwarranted. Kye and Lyra had shown her nothing but kindness, but she still couldn't completely shake her lingering fear of the grandmaster and her exotic, yet entrancing coltfriend.

An amber glow enveloped the double doors at the end of the corridor, prompting them to swing open and reveal yet another corridor. The once-white paint on the walls was cracked and faded in places, giving the place a slightly dilapidated feel. Several unused gurneys were littered haphazardly throughout, and a few of the magical lamps lining the ceiling were flickering.

Lyra stopped walking, causing Tink to bump into her flank and emit a small “eep” along with a badly disguised flinch as she backpedaled a few paces, fearing reprisal.

Lyra simply rolled her eyes and glanced along the empty corridor. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re lost. You don’t happen to remember the way back out, do you?” she asked.

“Um...I was unconscious,” Tink nervously replied.

“Oh, yeah…” Lyra brought a hoof to her chin, clearly contemplating something. After a few moments, she spoke again. “Well, I could teleport us... that is—if you’re feeling up to it?”

Tink was about to respond, saying she would be willing if it got her out of the hospital—which she was getting rather sick of—but was interrupted by Lyra firing a small blast of energy from her horn. It promptly sailed past Tink and blew one of the corridor doors clean off its hinges, along with several bricks from the adjoining wall. Tink shrieked, quickly dropping to the floor and hiding beneath her wings as another voice cried out in pain.

A jet black unicorn mare with a bleach white mane and tail floated out from the clearing dust in an amber telekinetic field. She was holding one forehoof with the other, wincing slightly and glaring daggers at Lyra through dark green eyes.

Tink recognised Nox immediately. She’d obviously stuck around since yesterday, or came back to spy for Coco under the guise of visiting Ace. Without even thinking, the pegasus shuffled closer to Lyra.

Nox was a particularly nasty piece of work, third in command of the Chrome herd and often as cruel as Ace himself. She was similar to her stallion, in both appearance and attitude, and she often used to bully Tink out of nothing more than simple boredom.

Lyra shot a reassuring smile and the barest hint of a wink at Tink before relinquishing the telekinetic field. Nox crumpled to the floor with an undignified thud and a grunt of pain. The slightest grimace flashed over her features before she returned to scowling in earnest, getting to her hooves and flicking the dust from her tail in agitation.

Lyra’s horn flashed twice in quick succession before she addressed the eavesdropper. “You mind telling us why you were following us?”

Nox remained silent, her face still imitating the likeness of a smacked flank.

Lyra waited a few seconds, before slowly turning toward the other, still-intact door. “Well then… If you won't deign to answer, perhaps your alpha will tell us.”

Tink blinked in confusion, but shrank back in fear as the remaining door swung open to reveal a wheelchair—a wheelchair in which a thoroughly bandaged Coco Drop sat. A fleeting look of surprise briefly flashed on her face before it returned to her usual obnoxious expression. "Making a mess of things as usual I see," the mare sneered as she rolled up behind her companion.

"Well, I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn't sent your lackey to spy on us," Lyra coolly retorted.

Nox nickered, but otherwise held her tongue. Coco threw a glance at Tink before returning her icy gaze to Lyra. "You think you can steal from us and get away with it?" she spat.

Tink frowned. She had no idea as to what Coco was referring to. It was only when Lyra’s expression darkened that she began to understand.

"She's a pony, not a possession."

Coco scoffed, turning instead to Tink. "You, home. Now."

The pegasus blanched, attempting to backpedal but accidentally stumbling into Lyra. She wanted to tell Coco "No" but the words wouldn’t come.

"Did you not fucking hear me you little cun-"

SLAM!

The rest of Coco's sentence was replaced with a rather loud scream of pain, probably due to her being launched into the ceiling—where she remained, pinned into the crumbling plaster by the amber telekinetic field. Tink gasped. Lyra was now sporting a particularly murderous expression.

"You don't get to speak to her like that anymore."

The grandmaster's words were spoken calmly, yet the underlying malice was unmistakable. Coco whimpered in response, whilst Nox merely observed with an oddly vacant expression.

Something was definitely a little sketchy about the situation. Coco wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box, but she wasn't completely stupid either, and going up against Lyra with anything less than a small army was downright idiotic. "S-Stop," Tink stuttered. Lyra raised a questioning eyebrow, but the light of her horn quickly receded. Coco fell back into the chair, a little shaken but otherwise unhurt. "She's just trying to get you in trouble," Tink said, determinedly avoiding Coco's subsequent glare.

The unicorn made an effort compose herself. "You think you’re so clever, don't you," she growled, flicking bits of plaster out of her mane with a bandaged hoof. "After everything we’ve done for you, you just up and run off with this freak and her alien coltfriend."

Tink fliched, her ears lying flat in defeat. Coco's words stung, as usual, but Tink was wiser now. She knew they were hollow, just another attempt to control. There were many things she wanted to say; how all of them berated her at every opportunity, how she was always the “victim” of their pranks, how Ace had physically beat and tried to rape her, but she was afraid. She was always afraid.

Lyra frowned, her tail flicking in agitation. She slowly turned to Coco. “Leave. Now.”

Coco smirked. “This is a public hospital. We’re well within our rights to-”

CRACK!

An almost blinding flash of amber light briefly illuminated the dimly lit corridor, causing Tink to squint in an attempt to regain her vision. When she opened her eyes, all she saw was an empty wheelchair... well, that and a grinning Lyra.

“You... w-where did you send them?” the pegasus asked.

Lyra gave an odd little chuckle. “I’m not entirely sure… somewhere in the hospital, I think,” she added, poking a hoof through the rubble, before sighing to herself.

Tink watched as Lyra inspected the damage. “Will you get in trouble for that?”

Lyra sighed again. “Maybe... I dunno. Either way, Twilight’s probably gonna yell at me,” she surmised, closing her eyes. Her horn began to emit pulses of light in an exponentially increasing frequency.

Tink frowned. “Why would Twi-”

CRACK!

There was a bright purple flash of light this time, followed by the slap of wet fur on marble. Tink opened her eyes to see a bewildered looking Twilight Sparkle sprawled in front of Lyra, soaking wet and dripping all over the floor.

A brief moment of silence passed, in which Twilight seemed to piece together what the hell had just happened to her. “LYRA!”

“Oh, hi, Twilight... Um... are you busy?” Lyra asked, bringing a hoof up to her maw and scrunching her nose up. It almost looked as though she was in pain, until Tink realised Lyra was merely trying not to laugh.

Twilight was clearly not amused. "You think this is funny? Why am I no longer in my bathtub?” she growled, flicking her wet mane out of her eyes and getting to her hooves... or at least—she tried to. As soon as she began to lift herself up, her forehooves slipped, and she fell flat on her face. This prompted an angry nicker and a flash of searing hot purple flames. Tink shrank back, attempting to avoid the heat as the water was instantly vapourised. Twilight self-levitated for a second, before landing neatly on her forehooves and levelling Lyra with a deadly glare.

Lyra snickered somewhat, before failing entirely in her attempts to hide her amusement and openly chuckling.

"I thought I told you to only use that spell in emergencies. If this isn’t life or death, then I'll-... why is there rubble? Why is there always rubble!?" Twilight yelled, pointing a purple hoof to the crumbling remains of the hospital wall.

Lyra cleared her throat. "Oh, well, Coco sent somepony to spy on us. I may have overreacted."

"You always overreact."

"Could you fix it, please?"

“Maybe I should just leave it for a nurse to find. Maybe that way, you’d learn not to go around destroying buildings when people upset you!” Twilight snapped, her voice rising in intensity.

Lyra obviously had no argument, as her ears drooped in what was presumably shame. After a few seconds, she glanced at the purple unicorn with an adorable little pout. Barely a moment later, Twilight sighed, her expression softening somewhat.

Tink did a double-take. Never in a million years would she have expected Lyra to look so docile… almost vulnerable, even. It was a stark contrast to the stoic, powerful mare she usually portrayed herself as.

Twilight’s horn began to glow, and Tink couldn't help but gasp in awe as the rubble strewn throughout the old, disused corridor suddenly danced into life. It wouldn't have been anything special—but the precise manner in which the particles rose up into the air seemed overly coordinated and mechanical for a mere levitation spell.

Tink's suspicions of more advanced magic at play were confirmed when the particles suddenly flew toward the damaged wall and began fixing themselves in place with little flashes of purple light. The sight was something akin to a needlessly intricate, three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Even the Coco-shaped dent in the ceiling gradually disappeared amidst the influx of flying rubble, each tiny piece creating a bizarre strobing effect.

In a matter of seconds, the damage was completely repaired. Twilight had made it look effortless, though Tink knew she’d be hard pressed to find another unicorn within a thousand mile radius capable of casting such a spell.

“Thanks!” Lyra chirped, grinning sheepishly at her friend.

“This is your last bailout, Lyra—I mean it,” Twilight warned, before giving another sigh and glancing at Tink. “Oh, hi there, Tink. How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” Tink replied, answering the question for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Good. I heard about what happened, and I personally wrote to Princess Celestia regarding the matter,” Twilight said, her chest puffing out with pride. “Naturally, you’ll be looking to move out—which means, you’ll need somepony to go and collect your possessions. I could help you with that.”

Tink smiled. “Thanks,” she murmured, feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have to set hoof in that grimy old house again. The few possessions she owned were replaceable, all except one—a small crystal locket that had belonged to her mother. It contained two feathers—an everlasting primary from each of her parents—proof that they had once been living, breathing ponies, and not just forgotten remnants of a life she no longer had.

Twilight beamed, turning to Lyra. “Where is your coltfriend? I think I have something he’d quite like to see.”

“I bet you have a few things he’d like to see,” Lyra snickered, bringing a hoof up to her maw in an attempt to stifle her chuckling.

In a rather spectacular display of altering pigmentation, Twilight’s cheeks suddenly turned a bright, rosy magenta. “Oh… um, has he… um… nevermind,” the unicorn stuttered, wildly glancing around the corridor as though looking for a change of topic to spontaneously appear.

Lyra’s jaw dropped, her maw briefly opening in a dumbfounded expression before she began to giggle like a schoolfilly. Even Tink couldn’t help but crack a smile at Twilight’s little slip-up, and the subsequent adorkable display thereafter.

“Quiet you,” Twilight halfheartedly shot at Lyra, her face still bright red. “Come on, let’s go. This corridor isn’t even open,” she mumbled, evidently doing her best to ignore the still snickering unicorn as she magically refitted the blasted door. Lyra continued to chuckle, but complied—falling into a steady trot alongside the blushing lavender mare.

Tink followed the two unicorns out of the disused corridor, feeling a lot better than when she’d first stepped hoof into it.

The discreet sound of shallow breathing partially roused Kye from his glorious slumber, creating an odd contrast with his own slow, deep breaths. He barely acknowledged this somewhat odd phenomena, however, as he was still lost to the throes of semi-consciousness.

He could perceive, though, that he was incredibly comfortable. Sunlight was streaming onto his face, creating a pleasant warming sensation that complimented the exquisite heat coming from the unicorn draped across his body. A serious case of morning wood raged between his legs—a consequence of the alluring scent of female occupying the air.

He yawned, idly running his fingers through Rarity’s mane—or at least, he thought he was. His fingers brushed through the fine, soft fur of miniature ears, and onto an equally miniature, spiral engraved horn…

Wait… no. That’s ridiculous…

As a motor reflex—his right hand quickly moved to assess the validity of the information gathered by his left. The result was alarmingly congruous.

Aww, hell no!

Upon opening his eyes, they wasted no time in confirming his unsettling assumption. What he thought had been Rarity’s head on his chest was actually the fashionista’s little sister, Sweetie Belle.

Rarity was lying against his side with her back to him, still very much asleep. Sweetie Belle however, was sprawled on top of his naked body. Kye could even feel the little filly’s tail against… well... his own.

“Whoa... what the... Sweetie Belle!” he frantically whispered.

The little filly slowly opened her eyes and yawned. “Morning,” she purred, with an air of lazy nonchalance.

“T-This... this isn’t cool Sweetie. I’m naked!” Kye stuttered, hastily grabbing her tail and pulling it away from his dick. He tried to ignore the fact that various patches of the silky strands seemed to be coated with a thin film of moisture... moisture that had probably come from him. Oh god, why!

“So,” she said, nonplussed. One of her tiny ears flicked as he released her tail. She blinked, her youthful lips curling upwards into an innocent smile. “I still don’t get why you like clothes so much.”

“I told you... I told all of you. It’s just how things work where I come from.”

She gave him an adorable little bemused look. "But it's weird. You wear clothes like you have to, not just for fun—like ponies do. You know you don't have to in Equestria, right?"

He gave a sigh that turned into a light chuckle. "Yes, I know. But I still prefer wearing them," he said, quickly glancing around for his boxer shorts. He soon spotted them on the floor where Rarity had left them. "Hey Sweetie, I think I left my bike keys downstairs. Could you go get them for me?"

"Aww, do I have to?" the little filly whined, burying her cute little muzzle into his chest. "I'd rather stay here with you," she mumbled.

Kye almost caved, very nearly resigning himself to just cuddling the adorable little unicorn all day. Then, he remembered he was naked. "Yes."

"But-"

"It'll take you like, a minute—tops," he argued.

"But Kye..." The filly pouted.

Kye kept his resolve.

She then proceeded to lightly paw at his chest with one of her miniature hooves, whilst fluttering her eyelashes and cocking her head to the side… So not fair, Kye thought, barely restraining himself from scooping the little ball of adorableness up into a hug.

"Go," Kye urged, pointing at the door.

Sweetie Belle briefly stuck her tongue out at him before finally heeding his request, quickly scampering off the bed and out of the room.

Kye sighed with relief, taking the opportunity to gather up the various items of his clothing that littered the floor. He quickly dressed, having just pulled his shirt on when Sweetie Belle came bouncing back into the room.

"Found 'em," she announced, levitating the keys along in front of her.

Kye was mildly surprised, considering he'd only asked her to go check so he could get dressed. They must have fallen out of his pocket when Lyra teleported him. "Thanks," he said, slipping them back into his pocket.

"I wouldn’t wake her up, she can be real grouchy in the morning,” Sweetie Belle warned, gesturing a small hoof to her still-slumbering sister.

“Don't you have school today?” Kye asked, turning toward the couch. Fluttershy was still sleeping, though she looked a little uncomfortable. Her mane was tangled somewhat, and one of her forehooves was hanging haphazardly over the side.

“It’s Saturday,” Sweetie replied, deadpan.

“Oh, right.”

Without out even thinking, Kye scooped the slumbering pegasus up off the couch and sat down with her cradled in his arms. Her sleeping form conformed to his body: her forehooves seeking his chest, and her hindlegs curling around his hip. She gave a barely audible little sigh as her ears flattened against her mane, her breathing slow and steady.

Sweetie Belle giggled at his doting, but Kye barely even noticed—he was too busy admiring the beautiful pegasus in his arms. There was something about the her that utterly captivated his attention every time he was in her presence.

“Kye and Fluttershy sitting on a bed,” Sweetie Belle chanted, in a deliberately immature, sing-song voice.

“Really?”

The filly ignored him, lowering her voice to an eerie whisper. “Just be wary of her shed.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she chirped. “You should probably put her down now, her wings are going all funny…”

Sure enough, Fluttershy’s wings were becoming rather rigid, and trying to extend between his arm and chest. In fact, the rest of her body had become pretty rigid as well, and her breathing had become inaudible.

“Hey, Kye, you wanna see a filly climb a tree?”

Before Kye could even so much as get a word out in response, Sweetie Belle hopped up to the bed and launched herself at Fluttershy.

“Eep!” the pegasus shrieked, to which Rarity responded with a half conscious groan of protest.

Sweetie Belle bounced off Kye’s chest, rolled over the bed and eventually ended up half-laying on her sister. Rarity refused to wake up, despite the giggling filly’s antics.

Kye rolled his eyes, glancing down to the pegasus still cradled in his arms. She had her forelegs held together like a meerkat, and her almost comically large, beautiful azure eyes were regarding him with timid curiosity. He could even see his reflection in them.

“M-Morning,” he stammered, suddenly unable to articulate properly. “Y-You looked pretty uncomfortable on the couch, s-so I…” Kye trailed off, distracted by her sweet smile. It was clear to see that she was a lot more comfortable around him after their shared nap the previous night.

Fluttershy snuggled into his chest, gazing up at him through now partially-hidden eyes. Kye brushed her mane out of her face, and she leaned her cheek into his touch. “What time is it?” she purred, her voice sounding sinfully seductive despite the noticeable grogginess.

“Eleven thirty,” Kye answered, ascertaining the answer from the clock on the wall.

“...Wait, what?” the pegasus exclaimed, her wings flaring as she sat up in Kye’s lap. “Oh, no—Angel—I should have been home hours ago! I have to go.”

With that, she leapt into the air, her wings spreading to keep her aloft as she quickly darted out of the room. Kye barely had time to mourn her departure before she reappeared in the doorway, flying right back at him with desire in her eyes. She slammed into his chest, nearly knocking him flat onto his back as she wrapped her wings and forelegs around him in a tight hug.

“I’ll see you later… um, if that’s okay,” Fluttershy whispered, softly nuzzling Kye’s neck, before taking flight once more.

Kye sighed as she once again flew through the doorway, already missing the adorable pegasus. He then inwardly slapped himself for being so needy. It wasn’t like him to pine after someone, or somepony, rather. In an effort to distract himself from his own plight, he glanced over to the suspiciously quiet filly laying on the bed.

Sweetie Belle had an uncharacteristically distant expression on her face as she gazed at the doorway Fluttershy had just flown through. It was only when Kye asked if she was feeling okay that she returned to her boisterous self.

“Yeah, so what’re we doing today?” she chirped, jumping into his now-vacant lap.

“We?”

His question was met with the filly’s trademark pout, along with more ridiculously adorable hoof pawing. It was pretty obvious he wouldn’t be able to deny her. “Fine, you can come with me.”

Sweetie Belle gave a loud “squee” of delight as she bounded out of the room, leaving Kye to wonder how he hadn’t collapsed due to sudden onset diabeetus.

The stares of a minority of residents seemed particularly unrestrained that morning, probably due to Kye travelling without his motorcycle, and only a sole underaged unicorn as his chaperone. Sweetie Belle appeared to be quite oblivious to the ogling ponies—most of which just happened to be mares—but Kye couldn’t help being a little weirded out. They weren’t regarding him with fear anymore. No. This was something else, something almost sinister in nature.

It was particularly unsettling when they were making their way through the marketplace, which—with it being a weekend—was packed. Tails swished, manes flicked, and suspiciously sultry gazes sought out the human through half-lidded eyes. A few pegasi landed on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, not even attempting to disguise their intentions of getting a good look at him. A couple of them had landed rather forcefully, almost as if they had limited control of their wings…

Kye suddenly found himself wishing he had his motorcycle with him.

One of the few stallions that was busy doing his shopping looked rather flustered, sniffing the air and urging the elderly mare that was serving him to hurry up. Once the fleeting transaction was complete, he wasted no time in collecting his items and taking off at a semi-gallop, leaving behind a small cloud of dust.

Kye glanced around for any sign of other stallions. Maybe he could ask one of them just what the hell was goin-oh, fuck no!

Glossy pink coat, slightly untidy azure mane. Bat shit crazy glint in those big blue eyes. Kye gulped, already looking for an escape route. Unfortunately, he was pretty much surrounded by curious mares, and the one he really didn’t want to see was currently making her way towards him at an alarming rate.

Sweetie Belle finally seemed to notice Kye was attracting an unusual amount of attention from the market goers, and took it upon herself to make her presence known. “Hey!” she yelled, stepping in front of Kye and glaring at the overly inquisitive ponies.

One, maybe two of the mares spared her a glance, but the rest continued to advance on him. “I heard he can go for hours,” said one of them.

“D’you think it’s true? Is he really compatible with us?”

“If he is, then it’d be like having a free cooler—one that actually works.”

“Lyra is a lucky mare.”

“Some say he even does muzzle stuff, down there.”

Kye had the urge to scream, “I’m fucking right here, in front of you!” at the gossiping mares, but his downfall had arrived.

“‘Ello, Kye,” the Pink Menace softly spoke, her eyes probably already peeling off his clothes in her mind. She moved to nuzzle his crotch, but ended up headbutting… thin air… what the?

“My sister told me to keep an eye on you.”

Kye glanced down to find Sweetie Belle glaring at Aloe, her eyes unblinking through her sweat as she maintained a barely visible, green tinted force field.

Aloe gave the filly a sad little smile, bringing a pink hoof up to lightly tap against the weak manifestation. The action proved too much for the foal to handle, and the spell promptly failed. Fuck.

Sweetie Belle collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted. Kye wasted no time in scooping her up and holding her securely against his chest. As if on cue, Aloe took the opportunity to actually freaking lick his denim clad crotch.

“Oi! Keep your tongue to yourself!” Kye yelped, stumbling backwards… right into the feathery embrace of a jasmine coated pegasus.

The mare was standing on her hind legs, her teal mane tickling Kye’s neck as she whispered into his ear. “Rut me… just don’t tell your alpha. She’s kinda scary.”

Kye twisted, breaking free of the mare’s embrace. She dropped back down on to all fours, her wings spread wide in arousal and fire in her eyes.

“Okay, seriously—what the hell is with you ponies?” Kye yelped. Muzzles were nudging him from all sides, tongues were seeking out his exposed flesh, one particularly amorous earth pony even tried to nibble on his bulge. He hastily slid a hand down in an attempt to shield the goods, but she just nibbled on that instead.

POP!

A shower of green sparks shot around fifty feet up into the air, before exploding with a rather large succession of bangs. Considering they had originated from an exhausted little foal, Kye was surprised she’d managed that much.

The noise distracted the majority of the crazed mares, but Aloe—who had one of Kye’s hands in her muzzle—was still very much intent on dragging him into a nearby alleyway to do Celestia knew what…

Kye tried to resist, but between keeping Sweetie Belle safe against his chest—and the Pink Deviant’s immense strength—he was having quite the struggle. He eventually managed to wrench his hand from her maw. “No,” he snapped, pointing at her as if admonishing an animal. To be fair, Aloe was kind of acting like one… She merely pouted, before gingerly licking his outstretched index finger in a bizarre, pseudo apology.

“Aloe!” yelled an angry, east European sounding accent. Kye, Aloe, and just about everypony else turned in unison to gaze at the glossy coated newcomer. “Zis eez not how ve act!”

Lotus trotted through the gathering of mares, flanked by Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, oddly enough. The little pegasus winked at Kye, whereas Apple Bloom just looked slightly bemused.

“Go! Go about your business, zere is nozzing to see here,” Lotus announced to the crowd, most of which obeyed her. The few stragglers that remained sharp turned tail and ran at her angry nicker.

“Oh, thank god…” Kye sighed in relief, dropping to his knees and pulling his azure coated boss into a hug. Lotus tensed up briefly, but quickly relaxed, reciprocating in kind.

“It eez not vize to be travelling alone today, Kye,” she warned, giving his cheek a friendly nuzzle. Aloe scowled. So did Sweetie Belle.

“I gathered that. Why is everypony being so… rapey?” he asked, whispering the last word.

“Eet eez heat veek.” She sighed, glancing Aloe. The mare fidgeted, her tail flicking as she stole lustful glances at Kye. Thankfully, though, the presence of her sister deterred her from making further advances.

“Wait a minute, heat week? What the hell does that mean?”

“Exactly vot it implies. Ze majority of ze mares in Ponyville vill be slightly… er, ‘ow you say… ‘ormonal, for around a veek,”

A chilling thought entered Kye’s mind. He almost resigned himself to just not asking the question poised on his lips, but he knew he had to know…

“How often does this happen?” he uttered, his voice barely a whisper.

Sweetie Belle nuzzled his chest, an unusually sombre expression adorning her features. Evidently, she knew the answer to that particular question. If her reaction was anything to go by, then Kye sure as hell wasn’t gonna like it.

Three words. Three words from the azure earth pony that elicited pure terror.

“Once a month!?” Kye repeated, almost screaming the words back at her. “You mean to tell me that for one out of four weeks I’m going to be stalked by crazed sexual deviants, pretty much all of which are considerably fucking stronger than me?”

“Vell, not if you’re smart.” Lotus smirked, pressing a hoof to his shoulder. At Kye’s incredulous look, she continued. “Zere are certain measures a stallion can take to ensure ‘e does not become a victim.”

“Please, do tell,” Kye muttered, fighting to keep the sarcasm from his voice as he got to his feet. Sweetie Belle dropped down from his embrace, trotting over to her friends.

Lotus smiled. “Stallions are excused from zere duties during heat veek, so zey are free to stay hidden, if zey vish.”

Kye still couldn’t shake his skepticism. It must have showed, as Lotus gave him a pitiful sigh. “Zere are other precautions you can take, but you vould have to ask Twilight Sparkle about zose.” She turned to her sister. “Come, ve have vork to do.”

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Kye blurted out, before realising how much of a pussy it made him sound. Dude! The fuck? He hastily cleared his throat. "I mean, you're leaving?" he asked again, in a tone that was less likely to invalidate his man card.

Lotus merely smiled again. “I’m sure zese three fillies vill keep you out ov ‘arms vay.” With that, she turned to leave.

Kye watched as the spa twins trotted off into the distance, feeling as emasculated as he ever had in his twenty-four years of being alive. He sighed, turning to the three fillies. Sweetie Belle maintained her sombre expression, Apple Bloom still looked a little bemused, but Scootaloo had a big, stupid grin on her face.

As the three mares neared the busy marketplace, Lyra couldn’t help but notice that both her unicorn and pegasus companion were being awfully quiet. Whilst said behaviour was to be expected—to a certain extent—from the latter, Twilight was usually more chatty. Normally, she’d have been about halfway through some lecture on advanced magical theory by now. But as it was—she trotted silently, her face void of expression.

Tinker Breeze, on the other hoof, appeared relatively content. She lagged slightly behind the two unicorns, a discreet little smile on her face as she absentmindedly stretched her healing wings. Soft, downy feathers fluttered in the summer breeze, carrying with it the scent of freshly cut grass, a hint of flora, and…

Lyra paused, sniffing the air.

She was certain her olfactory senses had been playing tricks on her, until she once again caught a subtle whiff of oestrogen tainted musk. “Oh dear…”

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, finally emerging from her thoughts.

“Do you smell that?”

Twilight gingerly sniffed the air a few times, before bringing a hoof up to her muzzle. “Where’s Kye?” she nervously asked.

“With Rar-”

“LYRA!”

The pony in question came barreling around the side of a nearby stall, causing the elderly merchant pony running it to yell incoherently in protest. She skidded to a halt next to Lyra in a cloud of dust, scrunching her face up in anxiety.

“Where’s Kye?” Lyra and Rarity both asked in unison.

A tense silence followed, broken only by the soft sound of Tink folding her wings against her sides. The pegasus nervously glanced between the two unicorns, almost as if she was afraid they were about to start duelling.

Lyra raised her eyebrows, and Rarity’s ears drooped. “He’d already left by the time I woke up,” she mumbled.

Lyra brought a hoof to her face, her own ears now also pointing at the ground. Of all the times for Kye to wander off to do a little exploring, this was certainly not an ideal one. “We need to find him. Now,” she said, her tone demanding full compliance.

Twilight and Rarity nodded, whereas Tink looked oddly frightened. Lyra frowned, confused by the mare’s reaction.

“Okay,” she squeaked, before flaring her wings and launching herself into the air.

Needless to say, she didn’t get very far.

After a failed attempt at flapping her wings, and a sharp cry of pain, Tink fell back down like a lead brick. She would have hit the ground if Lyra hadn’t caught her in a levitation field.

“What are you doing?” Lyra softly asked, gently depositing the pegasus on the ground and putting a hoof around her shoulder. “The doctor said no flying.”

The pegasus blinked. “B-But you said we n-needed to find him,” she stuttered, wincing slightly as she folded her wings.

“Well, we do, but I’d rather we not injure ourselves in the process.” Lyra chuckled, giving the silly mare a friendly nuzzle. Tink promptly turned a rather adorable shade of magenta. “Come on, let’s go and see if he made it home.”

Lyra set off at a brisk trot, seriously considering keeping Kye on a magical tether once she managed to find him. She didn’t care that he’d be offended; it was dangerous for him to be alone during this perilous time of the month. Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried looks before following suit, Tink ambling along after them.

“Make it do the awesome noise again.”

“...wait, there was a button here somewhere.”

“It won’t work. There’s no um… p-p… petrul?”

Sweetie Belle glanced to Kye, seeking confirmation that she had succeeded in pronouncing the word correctly. Kye nodded, too miserable to correct her.

He and the three fillies had arrived at his new house to discover that somepony had made quite a mess of his garage door. It had been torn from its frame, and currently lay on the floor—sporting several hoof indentations to compliment the hole Lyra had previously melted in the center. At first, Kye had assumed somepony had tried to steal his motorcycle. But then, he’d spotted the culprit standing right next to it, casually sniffing the seat.

“What’s petrul?” Scootaloo asked, glancing down at Kye from her perch atop the petrol tank.

“The stuff that makes it make the awesome noise,” Kye lazily replied. He was currently sitting on the floor with his back against the stone bricks of the garage wall, unable to move due to the grey earth pony half-lying on him. “Umm, Tavi? Loving the cuddles and everything, but I really wanna get to fixing my bike,” he whispered, gently scratching behind the mare’s ear.

Her only response was to give a barely audible whimper, before pressing her muzzle into his chest and inhaling deeply. One of her hind legs twitched a couple of times. Kye sighed in defeat, looking at his ride. The fairing was all but completely destroyed. The plastic that wasn’t cracked had huge scuffs in the paintwork where it had slid along the gravel, one of the front indicators was hanging by its wires, and one of the crash bungs was bent out of shape. Without any tools, Kye had no idea how he was going to repair the damage. He vaguely remembered asking Luna for help, but he didn’t know how much the alicorn would actually be able to do.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to look at his mangled motorcycle any longer. The distant sounds of the local wildlife greeted his ears, only to be drowned out by a rather sudden blast of dubstep. Octavia’s ears perked up, the mare seeming to come to her senses a little.

Kye opened his eyes, just in time to see a bizarre contraption roll up in front of the garage. It consisted of two large PA speakers—one on either side of a subwoofer—and featured a large blue horseshoe in the middle. The whole apparatus appeared to be mounted on castor wheels. A set of decks was attached to the top of the subwoofer, and none other than Vinyl Scratch was perched behind them. The weird vehicle—and the music—came to a halt, the unicorn telekinetically lifting her shades to peer into the garage.

Upon spotting Octavia, Vinyl grinned deviously. “Thought I’d find you here,” she chuckled, not quite managing to disguise the delight in her voice at finding her friend in such an embarrassing situation.

Octavia scowled. “What do you want?” she growled, her tail now flicking in agitation as well as lust.

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted your opinion on a new track I’m mixing. I didn’t realise you’d be so, ahem… preoccupied,” the DJ teased, flicking her eyes to Kye. “Y’know, a gentlecolt would be doing his duty right about now. Just sayin’.”

Kye lowered his eyebrows. “You feel like foalsitting?” he deadpanned, gesturing to the three fillies. Apple Bloom had somehow managed to climb up onto one of the turntables, and was now rotating in circles with a dizzy look on her face. Scootaloo was perched next to her, grinning as she randomly pressed buttons and turned various dials. The speakers suddenly burst into life.

“Point taken,” Vinyl chuckled, smiling at the curious fillies just as an epic bass drop tore through the garage.

Sweetie Belle jumped in shock at the volume. She ran over to Kye, slamming into his chest and clinging to him. Kye scooped her up, firing a disapproving glance at the DJ. Vinyl grinned, heeding his unspoken request. Her horn flashed and the volume dropped, just as another white unicorn slammed into his side. Kye shifted, squinting to identify the newcomer. The large amount of silky, purple mane was a dead giveaway.

“-an’t believe you left without me! I was worried sick! Do you know how dangerous it is for a stallion to be out alone this time of month?” Rarity anxiously talked at him, practically crushing his ribs with her embrace.

“Hey! He wasn’t alone,” Sweetie Belle loudly reminded her sister, just as Lyra trotted into the garage.

Kye smiled at his alpha. She responded with a wink, and trotted over to give him an affectionate little nuzzle. “Try not to make a habit of wandering off.”

Before he could respond, she plucked Octavia from his lap in a levitation field. The earth pony yelped in surprise as she was floated off into the kitchen. Lyra trotted along in her wake, nary a care in the world.

The door closed behind them, and Kye couldn’t help but wonder what Lyra was trying to accomplish. A few lewd speculations came to mind, but he quickly discarded them as mere fantasy.

“What happened here?” said a familiar voice.

Glancing to the mangled garage door, Kye spotted Twilight inspecting the damage. To her left stood an achingly familiar grey pegasus with a distinctive red and black mane and tail. It was funny, as that particular colour combination would’ve been woefully garish on anypony else, but this little pegasus somehow managed to make it work.

“Tink! You’re out of hospital!” Kye exclaimed, stupidly stating the obvious.

“Umm, yes… hi,” she squeaked, nervously glancing at Vinyl’s bizarre contraption, then at the various ponies dotted throughout the garage.

It took a few seconds for Kye to realise that she probably felt a little uncomfortable with all the unfamiliar faces. Evidently, Vinyl had noticed as well. The DJ nodded to Kye, Rarity, and Twilight, simultaneously lowering her shades and lifting the two curious foals off the decks with her magic. She gently set them down next to the motorcycle. "Later," she said with a grin, her contraption beginning to roll away the second she stepped hoof onto it.

Rarity and Twilight bade the DJ farewell, and Kye quickly waved her off as he got to his feet. Once the contraption was out of sight, he turned to Tink.

“Come on, let me show you around.” He grinned, gesturing a hand to the kitchen door. The pegasus was somewhat hesitant at first, but upon seeing Rarity’s encouraging smile, she padded towards Kye.

The crusader fillies had once again resigned themselves to playing on his bike. Twilight appeared to be examining the turbocharger, no doubt trying to decipher its secrets. Kye shook his head in amusement, leading Tink into the kitchen.

He proceeded to give her a brief tour of the house. The furniture he’d purchased since moving in was sparse, but enough to make the place feel like a home. The lounge however, did look a little empty, what with the lack of a television. But thankfully, Lyra had filled the empty corner space with her golden Lyre. Kye still had yet to hear her play, but kept forgetting to ask her.

"Y'know, there's a bed in the spare bedroom, if you'd rather not sleep on the couch," Kye said as they climbed the open-plan staircase. He'd insisted she go first—in the interest of being a gentleman—but soon found himself blushing at the unexpected, yet nonetheless pleasant view.

"Anywhere is fine," Tink squeaked, completely oblivious to the reaction she had unintentionally wrought.

Kye mentally slapped himself for letting his eyes wander. Tink had survived a horrific ordeal; she certainly didn't need anypony—or human in this case—lusting after her.

They reached the top of the staircase. The door to the master bedroom was closed, and Kye had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on behind it. He quickly gestured to the spare bedroom, following his feathered companion inside.

With the bits Rarity had near-enough forced him to accept, Kye had managed to make even the spare bedroom liveable. He still hadn’t got round to decorating yet, but there was indeed a bed, a small dresser, and a set of blinds for the window.

“So, when are you going to get your belongings?” Kye asked, idly peering through the blinds. With the Chrome herd’s residence presumably unoccupied for the time being, it would be an ideal opportunity for them to collect Tink’s possessions without too much fuss. “I’m assuming you still have a key?”

“I, um… they never gave me a key.”

Kye turned to look at her, his frown deepening. Tink was looking at the floor, her ears flat to her head. To think those horrible bastards hadn’t even deemed her worthy enough to have a key to her own home… He turned back to the window, trying to quell his rage. “Well, you can have my key to this place.”

“What? N-No, you need it-”

“Lyra has a key. I’ll just get her to go to the hardware store to get another one cut,” he concluded, reaching into his shirt to pull the loop of ribbon from around his neck. The key dangled on the end of it.

“B-But…” Tink stuttered, gazing up at him with those beautiful, blue eyes as he approached. Kneeling down in front of her, Kye placed the ribbon around her neck.

“Are you sure about-”

The rest of her sentence was slightly muffled, due to Kye pulling her into a hug. He moved a hand up to scratch behind her ears—something he’d learned was a friendly gesture, but not too intimate as to cause offence. Tink shivered in his arms, and Kye thought he heard the tiniest little squeak as she nuzzled into his chest.

“I want you to know that you’ll always be welcome here,” he whispered, holding her close.

Tink gave a muffled sob, her forehooves wrapping around his chest, and her wings spreading to embrace his shoulders. A few blissful moments passed, during which Kye simply enjoyed her company.

Unfortunately, Octavia chose that moment to give a rather loud, explicitly lewd moan. Kye failed to suppress a smile. He also failed to stop that smile from turning into a slight chuckle. Quickly jumping to his feet, he cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should continue.”

Tink nodded, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Their next stop was the bathroom, its sparkling blue tiles glinting in the light from the large bay window. The glass was blurred, no doubt to deter the prying eyes of any unruly pegasi.

“Wow,” Tink exclaimed.

Kye smiled, glancing at the awestruck pegasus. “You like?”

“It’s big.”

Kye grinned, barely stopping himself from saying, “that’s what they say.” It was only when it occurred to him that “they” most likely wouldn’t say anything of the sort that his grin faded somewhat. Tink gazed up at him with a heart-stoppingly adorable, puzzled expression, and Kye lost his train of thought.

He grinned again. “That’s what I thought, too.”

She smiled, and the simple radiance of her expression warmed his heart. “Thank you for letting me stay here, Kye.”

Unable to stop himself, Kye dropped to his knees again and embraced her once more. “I wouldn’t dream of seeing you out on the street.”

The pegasus suddenly gave the softest moan of pleasure. Kye frowned in confusion, until he realised where his left hand was. He’d subconsciously began running his fingers through the sweet spot in her mane. “Sorry,” he quickly said, retracting the offending digits.

“Don’t be, I… I like it.”

Kye smiled, but ultimately settled for holding her close to his chest. She needed to recover. After all, there would be plenty of time to get to know her in the future.

“How’d you do that?”

Twilight barely even registered the little unicorn’s question, much too busy trying to persuade the polymers of the strange material to bond together again. It had taken precisely seven and a quarter minutes to determine the structure of the chemical compounds, and she was now very close to discovering a viable method of rearranging them into their original format. After a few more attempts, the cracks and scratches slowly disappeared, leaving no indicators that there had ever been damage at all.

“Practice,” Twilight finally replied as the last of the damage melted away. Sweetie Belle gazed at the newly repaired motorcycle in awe, gently running her forehooves over the seamless material.

"... Wish I could do that," the filly muttered, more to herself than anypony else.

"You'll get there one day, Sweetie," Twilight reassured.

Focusing once again on the motorcycle, Twilight allowed magic to flow through her horn. A simple X-ray vision spell revealed the machine's daunting complexity beneath the panel she had just repaired. "Wow," she breathed. The technology was simply astounding—years, maybe even decades ahead of anything currently available in Equestria.

The electrical circuitry alone was mind boggling. Kye’s species had somehow managed to successfully harness and commercialise what was essentially lightning, and safely use it as not only a power source, but a means of data transfer as well... And then there was the "engine" as Kye often called it. Twilight could see the cylinders he'd mentioned, but she could also see a lot of other things—most of which she had no clue as to what their purpose could be.

"Um... Twilight, dear, are you okay?" Rarity asked.

Twilight blinked, letting the spell fade. "Kye's explanation of how this machine works doesn't do it justice. It’s amazing."

"Yes dear, we've already established th-"

“Holy crap…”

All eyes turned to the kitchen door, where Kye stood staring at his motorcycle, his jaw practically touching the floor. Tink trotted up behind him, a small smile on her face as she too glanced at the two wheeled contraption.

“Y-You fixed it…”

“Yes,” Twilight beamed, “It was easy once I figured out the molecular structure of the mphh-”

Her words were suddenly muffled by Kye’s surprisingly firm chest. “Oh my god, I freaking love you, you little purple genius!” he cried, hugging her tight.

Twilight gave a muffled squeak, thoroughly overcome by the strange sensations of the human’s sudden proximity—as well as his bold proclamation. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she took in his scent; the exotic aroma driving her senses to a fever pitch. Her cheeks burned red as her ears began to flick involuntarily. It was suddenly a lot clearer why Lyra had chosen him as a mate.

“Oh, so you’ll say it to her?”

Twilight froze. So did Kye.

All eyes turned once again to the kitchen doorway. Lyra was casually leaning against the doorframe, sporting a particularly sly grin. She was clearly happy about something, and Twilight had long since learned that a happy Lyra often meant trouble was just around the corner.

Kye opened his mouth to say something, but the unicorn spoke first. "You're grounded."

"Look, Lyra, I... Wait, what!?"

"You heard me."

The crusaders stopped what they were doing, swivelling their little ears to listen in. Kye looked as though he'd just been told he could never race again. "You can't ground me; I'm a grown-ass man!"

Lyra giggled. "Hell yeah I can—I just did."

"Why?"

"Because you'll probably end up locked in some mare's basement, otherwise."

Comprehension dawned on his features. He let go of Twilight and got to his feet, deliberately raising himself to his full height. She nearly fell over at his sudden absence, not realising she had been leaning on him for most of the conversation. With a small blush, she steadied herself, quickly dismissing the confusing thoughts trying to form in her mind.

"I can handle a few frisky ponies," he scoffed.

Lyra smiled, taking a step towards him. "Is that so?" Her horn began to glow.

Kye’s confident expression diminished somewhat, but he stood his ground. “I said frisky ponies, not overpowered Still Way prodigies…”

Lyra chuckled at his comment. “Rarity, what do you think, dear?”

Kye gave the fashionista a pleading look, but it was to no avail. “I’m sorry, darling, but it would be rather foolish of you to venture out over the next week,” she said, trotting over to affectionately rub her side against him. “Celestia forbid what would happen if you fell into the wrong mare’s hooves.”

Kye scowled, but scratched behind her ears anyway. This earned a little squeal of delight from Rarity, and Twilight couldn’t stop herself from wondering what those dexterous appendages felt like.

Sweetie Belle—apparently done merely observing the argument—hopped onto her sister’s back. Rarity jumped in surprise, but Sweetie had already launched herself into Kye’s arms. He barely caught her, not expecting the filly to pounce. “I don’t think he should be grounded,” she boldly pronounced to both Lyra and her sister, “and I’m sure they don’t either.” She gestured to her friends.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both nodded, and Kye grinned rather smugly at his alpha. “That’s three against two. Read it and weep,” he chuckled, affectionately ruffling Sweetie’s mane. The filly giggled, wrapping her forelegs around his neck.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Foals don’t count.”

“No, no, I’ll allow it,” Lyra said, holding up a hoof and sporting a particularly confident smile on her face. She turned to the grey pegasus that had been doing a rather good job of hiding in the corner and evading the debate—up until now. “Tink, what do you think?”

The pegasus was so startled at suddenly being asked her opinion that she gave a little squeak and fluttered her wings in fright. Lyra was quick to give her an encouraging smile, though. “Um… I…” she started, nervously glancing between the hopeful human and the smiling unicorn. Her eyes eventually settled on Lyra, her ears laying flat. “... I-I think Kye should stay indoors.”

Lyra grinned, whilst disappointment briefly clouded Kye’s features. He was quick to move things along, however. Unfortunately for Twilight, that meant all eyes were now on her. Oh dear… He set Sweetie Belle down on the motorcycle.

“Twilight.” Her name rolled off his tongue, almost exaggerating the syllables. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he claimed one of her hooves in both of his hands and gazed into her eyes. Oh dear, oh dear… “If anypony can talk some sense into Little Miss Dominatrix over here, then it’s you,” he purred.

Twilight gulped. Heart rate quickening, ears twitching of their own accord. His hands felt warm against her hoof, not as as warm as her cheeks had suddenly become, though. Lyra snorted, seemingly oblivious to Twilight’s inner turmoil. “Dominatrix, yeah, quit pretending you don’t love it when I’m in charge.”

“I’m not loving it now,” Kye deadpanned.

“Well, hard luck, honey. I own you, remember?” Lyra chuckled.

Kye scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Twilight, tell her to stop being so old fashioned.”

Twilight cleared her throat, if only an attempt to hide her giddiness. Kye’s hands still held her hoof. His look was one of near desperation. Lyra merely looked expectant. After a few tense seconds, Twilight decided on a compromise—though, she knew Kye wouldn’t like it. “How about one last outing?”

Kye’s face fell. “Twiiii!” he groaned, giving her a fake pout.

“Just hear me out. It really is dangerous out there—not just for you, but any stallion. The worst is still to come, but you could probably get away with one last outing.”

Kye huffed, getting to his feet. “Fine, but I’m going alone.”

A barrage of feminine protest shot through the garage. Even Tink was giving Kye a stern look, almost as though he’d suggested going skydiving without a parachute.

“Hell no. I’m going with you,” Lyra shot at him.

“As am I!” Rarity chimed in.

“Me too!” Sweetie Belle chirped. Scootaloo smirked, nudging Apple Bloom and whispering something into her ear. Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to notice, though.

“Alright, everypony calm down!” Twilight all but yelled. The room fell silent. “I think Kye should go alone.”

Lyra made a motion to protest, but Twilight held up a hoof. “... on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Kye asked.

“You take your motorcycle.”

Kye rolled his eyes. “It’s empty.”

“Yes, but you said it has another power source. The battery still has stored chemical energy, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, taking a key from his pocket and sliding it into a slot near the front of the machine, “but not much.”

A brief whirring sounded, followed by a faint click. Kye sighed.

Twilight smiled, casting her X-ray spell once more. After a brief scan of the internal mechanics of the machine, she found what she was looking for. A large collection of carbon atoms, surrounded by trillions of free electrons. Hoping her calculations were correct, she cast a low powered duplication spell. Her tongue ran the length of her lips as she concentrated on increasing the number of electrons, whilst taking care to avoid overloading the battery.

“Umm… Twi?” Kye said.

Twilight persevered with her spell, even though it must have looked like she was zoning-out to the others. After a few more seconds of focus, she blinked, the magic fading from her horn.

Kye was giving her a rather confused look.

“Try it now,” she said, grinning at him.

Kye shrugged, turning the key once more. The machine made the same whirring sound, followed by the click. Only this time, Kye’s face lit up in surprise. “... W-What? But… how?”

Twilight began to explain, but for the second time that afternoon, she was cut off by Kye’s unexpected embrace. She gingerly patted his back with a hoof, wary of Lyra grinning at the display in her peripheral vision.

“Can we keep her?” Kye suddenly asked his alpha.

Twilight blushed. She had no idea how to react to such an unusual question about her. She settled for burying her face into his chest in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. The crusaders giggled at the scene.

Lyra gave a mock sigh. “If we must, but she’s your responsibility.”

Grinning, Kye gave Twilight one last squeeze before getting to his feet. Her cheeks were still burning, and she attempted to avoid everypony’s gaze.

“I’m serious. If she craps on the carpet, I will fucking end you.”

The whole room burst into fits of giggles. Twilight groaned, her mortification intensifying. Lyra gave a guilty grin.

Kye swung his leg over the motorcycle, picking it up off it’s stand. “Later,” he chuckled, his face full of joy at getting to ride again. Twilight felt a comforting sense of accomplishment upon seeing how happy he was. She had done that, and she was more proud of it than she would ever admit.

Just as he was about to pull away, Sweetie Belle clambered up to her perch atop the machine, clamping her teeth down onto the tether.

“Sweetie, Kye said he wanted to go alone…” Rarity began to say, but the motorcycle had already whirred out of the garage, leaving behind a trail of dust in its wake.

Eight gloriously green little bars shone from the yoke-mounted power module, just visible over the top of Sweetie Belle's mane. Kye hadn't a clue how she’d done it, but Twilight had managed to charge the dual-carbon battery almost to capacity. It hadn't even taken her thirty seconds... Not only that, but she’d actually talked Lyra out of acting like an obsessed, overprotective parent.

He would have to think of some way to make it up to her; perhaps a gift of some sort. Only, he had no idea what she liked, or what would be considered appropriate...

"Go left, here," Sweetie Belle said, pulling Kye from his thoughts.

The filly was clutching his arm with one hoof and pointing to an old dirt track that wound up the side of a hill. It looked like it led to a secluded part of Sweet Apple Acres. Kye complied, turning the bars and opening the throttle. The motor whirred enthusiastically as the trees began flashing by at an alarming rate.

Sweetie Belle giggled, clutching his arm a little tighter. “Faster!” she yelled above the sound of the rushing wind.

Kye grinned. Hunching over, he began to slowly open the throttle further. The loss of traction light blinked a warning at him in response, and sure enough—the back began end twitching on the loose road-surface. Ugh… Equestrian highways suck…

Backing off the power, he let the bike roll steadily up to the top of the hill, eventually stopping by a large oak tree. Sweetie Belle hopped off the tank and began stretching her legs in a way that strongly reminded him of a housecat.

"This is where I come when I need to think," she said, turning to gaze out over the landscape.

The entire town was visible from the top of the hill, as well as the farm buildings of Sweet Apple Acres, Canterlot Mountain, the Everfree Forest and Whitetail Woods. All were surrounded by the same vast, rolling green hills that had fascinated him on his first day in Equestria. Even now, they struck him as alarmingly surreal, yet pleasantly serene. This place truly was nothing like Earth, and if Kye was honest with himself, he was grateful.

"What are you thinking right now?"

“Huh?” Kye blinked, looking down at Sweetie Belle. She was sitting by the enormous tree trunk, gazing up at him with a wistful expression. “Oh, just thinking about my old world,” he sighed, sitting down next to her and leaning against the wood. Sweetie Belle climbed into his lap and nuzzled his chest.

“Do you miss it?”

Kye thought back to the long, tedious days at work; the spit-showers from his unbearable supervisor, the ridiculous time schedules, the horrendous rush hour traffic… And that was just the daytime. His evenings were often spent alone, dreading the next working day. The only thing he really missed from Earth was his family, even though he rarely saw them to begin with.

“Sometimes,” he answered, idly scratching behind her ears. Sweetie Belle leaned into his touch, her little ears tickling his palms as she smiled up at him with her eyes closed. They both sat in silence for a while, content to just let the world roll on by.

Kye’s thoughts once again drifted towards his family. Some of the sadness that usually overcome him when reminiscing about them had been replaced by a twinge of guilt. He’d thought about them less and less as of late, and it was starting to feel like he didn’t even know them anymore. Visits had been few and far between in the months leading up to the TT, what with all the overtime Kye had had to work to pay for the trip… Of course, they’d been busy with their own lives as well, but he couldn’t help regretting not making more of an effort to see them.

A gentle flick of Sweetie Belle’s tail against his leg brought him back to the present. “Kye…” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the summer breeze. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

Caught off guard slightly, Kye blinked. “Of course I do. You’re adorable!” he half laughed, giving her a light squeeze in emphasis.

The filly frowned, and Kye’s grin faltered somewhat. Evidently, that wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. “I meant, do you think I’m pretty like Rarity is?”

A very uncomfortable penny dropped in Kye’s brain. Oh dear… He attempted to think of an appropriate response, but dealing with problems of a delicate nature in a tactful manner often eluded him…

Sweetie Belle began to say something else, but she was interrupted by a muffled snicker from somewhere above them. Kye looked up to the branches of the oak tree. What he saw did not sit well with him.

Instantly forgetting the awkwardness of their discussion, Kye hugged Sweetie Belle to his chest and leapt to his feet. A ridiculously proportioned serpent… thing was wrapped around a branch, its goat-like head hanging down to where they’d been sitting a moment ago. Its body was a mismatched collection of animal parts that had no business having anything to do with each other, yet they were all arranged to form its utterly bizarre physique.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account!” it laughed, dropping the ear-trumpet it had been holding in a fit of giggles, “this is priceless!” Kye surmised that it was male, given that it spoke in a deep, unsettlingly articulate voice.

“Oh, shut up, Discord!” Sweetie Belle growled at the creature, “Nopony likes you!”

Kye hastily took a few steps back towards his bike, barely even registering that his little unicorn companion appeared to be on first name terms with the creature. All he wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

The creature gave an exaggerated gasp, dramatically clutching its chest with a paw. Its other forelimb appeared to be a claw. It just didn’t make sense, biologically speaking… “Sweetie Belle! You cut me deep!”

The filly in Kye’s arms scowled. “What do you want?”

The aptly named “Discord” slid down from the tree, raising himself up to his full height—which was considerably taller than Kye. “I merely wish to be acquainted with Ponyville’s newest celebrity.”

The manner in which he pronounced the last word made Kye’s skin crawl. Despite coming to terms with the fact that they weren’t in any danger, he still wanted to get them the hell out of there.

Discord, however, had other ideas. “I thought you’d be taller,” he said, taking a step forward with his cloven hoof.

Kye grimaced. His brain still hadn’t quite decided if the specimen before him was, in fact, real, and not just a cruel manifestation of his imagination.

“I do hope for your sake the wind doesn’t change; your face might stay like that forever,” Discord casually commented. “Then again, such an occurrence may just be an improvement…”

The derogatory quip brought Kye out of his short-term speechlessness. “What the actual fuck are you supposed to be?”

Discord gave another overdramatic gasp. “Such language! Have you forgotten there is a foal present?” he chastised, motioning to the still-glaring filly. “Even if she has been having less than innocent thoughts about you, you’d do well to use your filter.” He was clearly going for a look of indifference, but he failed to hide the smug grin that plastered itself all over his face.

Sweetie Belle suddenly looked as though she was trying to make his head explode with nothing but her thoughts. “Go to Tartarus, Discord!”

Kye decided enough was enough. Discord may not have been dangerous, but he was a bit of an asshole. Quickly depositing the fuming filly on the tank, Kye swung his leg over his ride and mashed his thumb on the starter button.

The engine fired… for all of about three seconds. It was enough to distract Discord, though. Without wasting any more time, Kye opened the throttle. The rear wheel promptly sprayed a bunch of dirt and dead leaves everywhere as the bike took off down the track.

Grinning in light of his problem solving skills, Kye glanced into the mirror—only to recoil in horror. A violently purple, blue-spotted scooter was in pursuit, with Discord sitting atop it like a cheery merekat. In no time at all, it had caught up and pulled alongside the R1.

“Lovely riding weather we’re having, don’t you think?” Discord casually chattered over the clattering of the two-stroke engine, “The pegasi must have got their bonus this week.”

“...the fuck?” Kye yelled. There was no fucking way he was about to be upstaged by a hair dryer on wheels. His right wrist flicked, and the bike surged forward, pulling slightly ahead.

It was at that precise moment the rear shock gave a particularly violent jolt, and Kye felt something wrap around his sides. It took every ounce of restraint not to lock the brakes in panic. Instead, he threw a glance over his shoulder. A large amount of what looked—and smelled—like cotton candy obscured his vision.

“Hi! Oh my gosh, this is sooo fun! No wonder I never see you walk anywhere.”

God damned pink horse!

“Pinkie Pie, you scared the crap out of me!”

“I did?” she said, glancing down at his ass.

Kye slapped a hand to his face, backing off the throttle lest he lose control of the now-crowded motorcycle. “What are you even… Where did you… How?” he spluttered, trying to figure out where the hell she’d come from as they turned off the old dirt track and headed back into town.

Pinkie seemed unperturbed by Discord’s presence. In fact, she appeared quite happy to see him.

“Hi, Discord!”

Discord did not reciprocate the enthusiasm. “Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie,” he said, giving her a weary look.

“I didn’t see you at Gummy’s birthday par-woahh… Kye, what are y-WAHHH!”

Having no interest in being anywhere near Discord anymore—and having encountered a more Bridgestone-friendly surface—Kye chose that moment to open the throttle. All the way.

Pinkie Pie screamed. A lot.

Discord began to fall behind as the bike shot through the town square like a rocket, ponies in the street barely managing to jump out of the way. Pinkie was nearly crushing Kye’s ribs by the time they tore past Pony Fountain. Damned earth ponies and their strength.

Kye chuckled… until he saw Discord effortlessly keeping up alongside him… riding sidesaddle… whilst drinking a cup of tea… he even had a fucking saucer.

“Biscuit?” he said, offering Kye a bourbon.

Pinkie paused in her screaming long enough to accept the offering. “Thanks!” she said, quickly wolfing it down then immediately going back to screaming at the top of her lungs.

Kye merely gaped in shock. But… how? The speedometer was showing one hundred and twelve miles per hour… How the fuck could that little scooter… Oh.

Kye slammed on the brakes. The tyres screeched loudly against the smooth stone of the high street, the bike eventually coming to a complete stop next to a group of mares. Fucking magic. Evidently, unicorns weren’t the only creatures that could break the laws of physics. Speaking of which…

“Woohoo! Can we do that again? It was really fun!”

Sweetie Belle giggled at Pinkie’s cheering as Discord pulled up to a stop beside them. “Not very social, are we?” he pouted, “Or, maybe it’s just me?”

He snapped the long digits of his paw, and the scooter disappeared with a flash. A long, fancy-looking couch that looked suspiciously similar to the one Rarity kept in her Boutique took its place. Discord flopped down onto it, holding his claw to his forehead. “Oh, woe is me! Celestia knows I have trouble making friends.”

Kye rolled his eyes. He was beginning to find Discord’s sarcasm extremely annoying, and to make matters worse, the group of mares they’d stopped beside were beginning to take notice of him. Fucking ponies and their twisted perceptions…

Discord also seemed to notice the mares’ interest. “If only I was more like you, then I’d have no problem making friends,” he said, snapping his paw once more. The couch disappeared, and he was suddenly leaning against a streetlamp, wearing a… Fucking really?

He was dressed in a purple leopard skin suit with flared pants, a matching fedora, and had a long, thin cane in his claw. His paw appeared about twice as large as it normally did, and he bore a smug expression. “Perhaps I could be your… ahem… manager.”

Kye glared at him. “You have got to be fucking kidding me…” Behind him, Pinkie Pie gleefully snickered into her hooves.

When one of the mares—an overly-curious pegasus—attempted to sniff his crotch, Kye decided that he’d had quite enough of his “one last outing” and acknowledged that a week spent indoors suddenly wasn’t sounding so bad. Perhaps he could catch up on Sudoku, or something…

Without so much as a second glance at Discord, Kye blindly twisted the throttle. The bike gave a violent jolt, then promptly fell over. The curious mare gave a start and galloped away.

Oh, for fucks sake!

Managing to stay on his feet, somehow, Kye quickly scooped a confused-looking Sweetie Belle to his chest before she slid off the tank. Pinkie Pie, however, wasn’t so lucky. She ended up falling flat on her face. It didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest.

Throwing a hateful glance at Discord, Kye inspected his motorcycle. To his utmost displeasure, he discovered that the wheels were now square.

A string of rather colourful swear-words exploded from his mouth. Pinkie Pie actually blushed. Discord, however, merely looked pleased with himself. “I decided your mechanical steed could do with a couple of… improvements.”

Kye scowled. “What the… Corner?” he stuttered. Further inspection of his utterly useless wheels revealed that they were now branded with the word “Cornerstone.”

“This isn’t funny,” Kye pointed to the bike in emphasis, his arm shaking with barely contained rage. “Fix it. Now.”

Discord crossed his forelimbs and pouted. “I thought you’d like it.”

Kye was about to come back with an angry retort, but he was distracted by the sight of a speeding pegasus soaring toward them over the rooftops. Even in her haste, she looked devastatingly beautiful.

“Discord!”

Upon hearing her voice, Discord hastily snapped his paw. The pimp outfit vanished, as did his smug grin. “Hello, Fluttershy. I merely sought to-”

“No!” Fluttershy cut him off, her hooves slamming into the ground next to the fallen motorcycle. “I told you to stay away from him until I could introduce the two of you properly!”

Kye’s anger dissipated somewhat. He’d never seen the timid pegasus so angry before; it was a little unsettling. The memory of two blazing, paralysis-inducing eyes came to mind… Thankfully though, she didn’t resort to that terrifying stunt.

“Yes, but I thoug-”

“Go. Now.” Her voice was edged with steel.

A peculiar expression fell like a shadow across Discord’s features. It took Kye a second glance to notice it was genuine sadness, something the creature hadn’t shown up until this point. He snapped his claw, and the motorcycle wheels returned to normal. Another snap, and he was gone.

Fluttershy slowly released a sigh. Her beautiful blue eyes were wide and apologetic, causing him to forget all about his anger at Discord. Hell, they could probably cause him to forget to breathe…

Pinkie Pie snickered from behind the motorcycle, rather breaking the moment. “You look funny when you’re mad, ‘Shy.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes at the comment, causing Kye to blink. He’d still been staring into their depths like a lovestruck idiot. Unconsciously shaking his head, he picked the bike up off the ground, groaning when he spotted the fresh scratches on the fairing. He would have to do some grovelling to Twilight later…

“Thanks, Flutter-” Something brushed against his crotch, and Kye nearly dropped the bike again in surprise. The curious pegasus was back, and she’d brought some friends. “We should go,” he muttered, swinging his leg over the bike and dropping Sweetie Belle onto the tank.

“Yes,” Fluttershy sighed, gently nudging the frisky mares away from him.

Pinkie Pie plonked herself on the pillion seat behind Kye. “It’s time to ride!” she yelled enthusiastically, earning an eye-roll from Sweetie Belle.

With a flick of the throttle, the bike took off along the high street once more.

Author's Notes:

...I say this a lot, but sorry about the delay in updating.

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