"Luna, my dear sister, I am so glad you invited me," Princess Celestia joined her sister, greeting her with a warm hug. The royal guards that had escorted her to the garden saluted and left leaving the two Princesses their privacy.

"I must apologize that it be so early, Tia," Princess Luna replied and returned the hug. "I realize we have a meeting with the financial advisers scheduled this morning so I shall endeavor to keep this short. I hope tea and this, especially, makes up for it," she motioned to a small but elegant white-frosted cake adorned with masterfully-arranged red and blue edible flowers.

"There is nothing to make up for, I always have time that I can spend with you," Celestia followed Luna over to the the wrought-iron table and waited for her sister to sit before she made her first cut into the cake, the knife diving through the niveous layer of frosting to reveal a layered dark fudge and raspberry center. At this revelation the intended second cut was adjusted to give herself a slightly larger slice.

"You look troubled, sister. Perhaps something to do with your friend, Mr. Aelius?" A delicate amount of the cake disappeared into Celestia's mouth as she gauged the response to her guess. Despite ongoing support, her sister still found it difficult to relax around her subjects which Celestia attributed to her lingering guilt over what she had done as Nightmare Moon. While initially hesitant with the task, Luna started showing enthusiasm before and after interacting with the alien and when Luna had told her they recently agreed to drop honorifics with each other Celestia had been immensely proud of her sister, so, whenever possible, she referred to him as "your friend" which had the obvious effect of bringing a smile to Luna's face. The Solar Princess stuck to using the formal "Mr. Aelius," half the reason being she hadn't met the human yet and considered it impolite for her to assume that level of familiarity with him and half because it was another way to reinforce her sister's sense of accomplishment.

Luna finished pouring her cup of tea and took a deep whiff of the steam rising into the morning air before answering, "A commendable deduction; that is one of the subjects I wanted to discuss." She took a sip of the brew and savored the minty undertones for a moment in silence before continuing, "Regarding the first matter: since his arrival you've trusted me to handle every aspect of overseeing Titus' stay, even going so far as to forward Twilight's unopened reports to me for which I must pass along my gratitude; they have proven to be enjoyable to read."

Silently she stared into her tea for a minute, "A recent development has lead me to believe your involvement may be necessary."

"Oh? Is this the dire subject you wished to discuss, dear sister?" Celestia took another bite of cake, chewing slowly as she waited for Luna to continue and the shake of her sister's head was greatly calming.

"No, I thought I'd start the morning on the lighter end of the spectrum." Luna regarded her sister over the lip of her teacup, "Last night while I was guarding our subject's dreams I came across one that involved Titus in a rather vivid fantasy, containing limited anatomical images that seemed to be drawn from personal experience rather than imagination. Upon further investigation I found the intimate dream belonged to Twilight Sparkle. With this revelation I felt that, because your student is now involved, you would want to be informed. In fact, I have reason to believe she may have appropriated a few scenes of her dream from the 'books' in your private collection because she seemed especially keen on one involving a shower."

Ah, yes. Princess Celestia couldn't help but chuckle that she knew exactly which novel that had come from. Steamy Shower Stallion had been one of my favorites as well, and, while the title was cheesy as all get out the writer had painted some very alluring scenes. Celestia recalled her first edition printing was worth a fortune by itself and adding in that it was hers, of all ponies, would probably cause the price to skyrocket even higher; with so few still in circulation she had a good idea where and when her student had gotten to read it. "And, being the dutiful protector you are and the fact that it involved your friend, Mr. Aelius, you made sure to witness the whole dream should you be required to recount it for court purposes or in case it proved vital to the protection of your charge. Would I be correct in assuming that?"

"Of course." Luna knew her sister would be able to read her so it was pointless to act like she hadn't watched the dream in full.

Celestia went back to her cake though she now chewed around a constant mischievous grin.

Luna chose to ignore it and continued with her tale, "As I have told you before, Titus' dreams are obscured from me, though the reason I could see them when he was unconscious is still a mystery. Unlike pony dreams where I get distinct images and can even intervene all I can get from his - in the event I find them at all - are the general mood he's feeling during them. That is why I've been visiting every few nights to converse varying subjects ranging from his well-being to where he was from. Just for your information, my last meeting carried on rather late so he postponed telling me of the planet he stayed on which he said has four moons. Four. Moons. How absurd." She gently shook her head at the notion and took another sip of tea, "And, even more ridiculously, each night they took turns in the sky and raised by themselves. I was eager to hear more tales of it but when I went last night for our scheduled meetup I found your student sound asleep, tangled up in one of his arms with a happy grin and drooling slightly-"

A melodious laugh rolled across the garden, "Oh dear! Forgive me for laughing, Luna. That is a face I am all too familiar with. I would regularly find her wearing it when she fell asleep in the Palace library late at night."

"It is quite acceptable, Tia, I myself almost laughed at the sight though Titus was quick to explain how they ended up in that situation. Dearest sister, I could not help but not that with no fur humans turn the most amusing shade of red when embarrassed!" Luna waited for her sister's laughter to stop before continuing, "Well then. Shall I take your reaction to indicate the situation does not require an intervention?"

"Yes, I imagine that is the right course of action. Twilight is a grown mare free to make her own choices and, from everything you've told me of him, he sounds like he could be a good fit for her," she decided not to add "and you seem to be taking to him, as well," as a footnote for fear she would be pushing her sister a bit over the line what with the earlier ribbing she had given her over watching Twilight's dream. Instead the fork plucked the last remaining bit of delectable cake into the Princess' waiting mouth, "If I must be honest, I'm proud that she was able to share her feelings with him... though I believe that her estrous cycle may have had something to do with how uncharacteristically forward she must have been to end up in that position so quickly."

"Indeed. Titus seemed a bit surprised and perhaps a little overwhelmed with how forward she had become so I made a spell that should provide a bit of relief and with her permission I used it on Twilight."

Celestia regarded her sister with concern, an eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

Luna felt it was a challenge and, placing her cup back on its saucer, took to defending herself, "The spells I weaved together were all stable and of base-level, something a first-year at the academy could cast without fear of magical feedback, and the expenditure of my Harmony I calculated to be minor. I shall end it in a week and, theoretically, it should dampen the symptoms of the heat and provide both of them a measure of breathing space. But how, dearest sister, did you know she is currently on cycle? Twilight confirmed it with me but I made no mention of it to you here."

"Twilight has always had a cycle a week or two before her birthday. Which reminds me: I need to find something special as a present," Celestia absentmindedly tapped the empty fork on her muzzle as she contemplated what to get her student, her tongue stuck out to one side in thought. Something came to mind and the bouncing fork stopped though it had already left a few dark fudge crumbs behind stuck to her fur.

"Luna?" The fork settled on the empty plate as a knife sliced off another helping of cake, Celestia reasoning it would be a wasted opportunity to not indulge in the surprisingly delicious cake, "If you would not be opposed or feel imposed upon I would like to accompany you to one of your meetings with Mr. Aelius. I believe it is time I formally introduced myself to your friend that has my student so amorously enraptured."

"I would be most happy for you to join us, Tia!" Luna exclaimed and was clearly looking forward to the idea of sharing the experience with her sister, "I will inform Titus of your intent at our next meeting! Hopefully we will both get to hear of the four moons and the vessel that could tow entire planets."

Luna's cheerful demeanor faded as she pushed her teacup and saucer away before focusing magic into a spherical barrier of complete privacy around them both, "Sister, as our time is dwindling we must unfortunately move on to the unpleasant subject I invited you here to discuss - we have lost contact with the agent and it is feared her cover may have been blown."

Twilight woke feeling a level of happy warmth she hadn't experienced before. She struggled to untangle herself from the bed sheet pulled over her head and groggily slid her hooves to the floo- Whoa, wait, why am I so close to the floor? And... why is my pillow so lumpy? She shifted on the thin mattress, confused as to why her bed felt so different until the cool temperature of the cargo bay woke her up sufficiently to remember where she was. Recalling the events of the previous day elation bubbled up inside her and she couldn't help but giggle gleefully into her pillow which, upon second inspection, turned out to be the bunched-up cloak and t-shirt her human friend was wearing last night. Mmm, the shirt still has his scent. She rubbed the article against her nose and relished in the pleasant smell and memories of yesterday it brought.

Not feeling Titus on the mattress with her Twilight poked her head out from under the blanket and quickly retracted it as the cold morning air poured into her warm cocoon. I think I saw him over near that small craft... ugh, it's so cold! I wish I could just stay in here all morning. Thinking what she could do and wishing she had brought her pajamas she was busy snuggling into the blanket and pillow when an idea came to her. Hmm...

A minute or so of squirming later she was ready for the cold morning air and, stalking quietly across the deck, she found Titus was under the speeder bike like she had thought she had seen him.

He was double-checking the modifications of the antigrav generator when he felt several gentle bumps to his foot and upon lifting his head in what little room he had he spotted four violet hooves. "Hey, you," he said warmly. Planting his feet against the deck for leverage the mechanic's creeper he was laying on slid smoothly from under the machine and Twilight was there to greet him when he emerged. Putting the hot soldering iron he had been using in a place she wouldn't bump into it he flipped the goggles up onto his forehead and turned his attention to the mare looking down at him him. She was wearing his t-shirt, but Titus probably would have described it the other way around - it looked more like the shirt was wearing the unicorn for how large it was on her.

Twilight's front legs protruded from the sleeves and her head poked out of the neck normally enough, but it was comically large to the point that the cloth almost touched the floor beneath her and the hem hung down well over her rump though this seemed to be perfectly suitable (or potentially calculated) because she was careful to get the fabric between the chilly metal floor and her backside when she sat down.

"I'm surprised you didn't wake me up. Rainbow was right, you are good at sneaking," Twilight pretended to scold, gently placing a hoof on Titus' chest and applying a little weight when he tried to sit up off of that wheeled scooter thing he was on, "I would have liked-" she leaned in to bring her face closer to his but wasn't aware the creeper was built to roll in all directions. The sudden lack of expected lateral resistance combined with her hooves getting caught in the over-sized shirt when she tried to correct her balance caused her to topple onto the prone human. Not that Twilight minded the outcome. Not one bit.

"So, like I was saying," it was clear she was enjoying that the situation was in her favor - one of his arms was pinned beneath her while the arm opposite her was forced to push against the floor to keep the creeper from sliding away any further, "Every mare wants a proper kiss in the morning from the stallion she likes."

"Twi, I can feel the grime from this repulsor on my face, let me get cleaned up first-"

Twilight snorted. Excuses!

She cut his protest off with a nuzzle to that ticklish spot on his neck, causing his bracing arm to reflexively come up to fend her off and sending the sled and its two occupants rolling away from the speeder bike at a decent speed and into a nearby crate. Twilight was lost in the sound of the laughs and the wonderfully intoxicating scent of her friend as her nose ground against his skin, oblivious to the objects that teetered off the crate above them. A quick series of rather unfortunate events followed.

What first alerted her that something was wrong was a heavy smack to the back of her head, the blow cushioned by a hand that had moved to intercept it a split second before. Dazed, she felt her horn jab Titus when he rolled on top of her. A grunt and the sound of liquid splashing; an empty can falling from his back and rolling away. A muffled *thwump!* was next, followed by the distinct noise of licking flames as Twilight felt two hands push forcefully against her chest, sending her almost airborne in a trajectory away from him.

A shrieking alarm echoed in the cargo bay as Twilight shook her head to clear her impaired senses until she finally processed what she was seeing; before her lay the human, his lower half and part of his torso clearly having been doused in some liquid or another, frantically kicking off his pants as the flames traveled up his legs. He managed to get them off and stripped the shirt off just as the bottom hem caught fire before scrambling away and coming to sit next to her.

In a state of shock all Twilight could do was speechlessly watch the R6 droid speed into the room, a flashing light on top of his round dome blinking as he beeped and chirped at the top of his mechanical lungs. An arm popped out of his cylindrical torso to spray a cloud over the burning clothes until all that remained was a patch of frost and with the fire completely extinguished and smoke billowing up into the air the droid zipped back to Titus with the still-frosty cone on the end of the arm pointing directly at him.

"Wait. Arsix, it was an acc-" Titus was interrupted as a brief blast engulfed him in a chilling cloud, forcing him to hold his breath until it dissipated during which time the series of the clearly annoyed whistles and clicks faded away into another room as the droid returned irritably to his work.

"Sometimes I really contemplate reprogramming his personality," he said, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the last bit of fog before looking at the pony sitting stock-still beside him, "Hey, you okay, Twi?" When she didn't respond he bumped her shoulder with his to jog her from her stupor and asked again.

She continued to stare at the charred clothing on the floor.

"I'm fine," Twilight finally replied, quickly turning to check on her friend once her brain had had a chance to reboot. Finally getting a look at him he was dirty, his hair and eyebrows were matted with a heavy layer of frost, he had a cut on his temple, and he was shivering - whether from the cold or the adrenaline high he was coming off of, she didn't know - as he sat next to her, his arms resting on bent knees and the only thing left still covering him were some tantalizingly form-fitting black shorts. "Forget me, what about you!?"

"Well... let's see, I've been assaulted, battered, cut, drenched in turbine lubricant, lit on fire, forced to strip down to my underwear," his head bobbed from side to side as he recounted his morning, "And blasted with an extinguisher by a displeased droid. All in the span of a just over a minute. Are mornings with you always like this?"

Twilight's heart would have sank if not for the goofy, shit-eating grin he had on his face and the playful shove she got to accompany his question which brought a similar smile to her face.

"Ugh! You are incorrigible!" Glad her friend was not only unhurt but still in a playful mood Twilight ducked her head into the loop created by the arm resting on the knee and dove into a hug that ended up in the fast-becoming-familiar position of her laying atop him. She ground her face his dirty skin, coming away with a few spots on her fur. "Now we're both grimy, so there goes your excuse," she said, leaning in and rubbing her nose against his, "Still waiting on that good-morning kiss, you know."

The lack of clothing made it easy to spot the bruise on his shoulder where she had bit him yesterday and, much to her dismay, it was painfully obvious what had caused it. Oh geez, I'm never going to hear the end of it if any of the girls see that.

"Oh, and I'm the incorrigible one?" The wide smile that came with the unicorn's happily nodding head were hard to argue with, "Fine, you win, Twi."

Twi? I like that... Twilight replayed his voice several more times in her head happily. The arm she had dove under climbed its way up her back, the fingers tracing lightly along the spine and scratching every now and again with their nails until the hand was resting at the base of her skull.

"Good morning."

Titus would have pulled her in for the kiss but she needed no motivation and practically smashed her muzzle against his face, her tongue pushed asking demanding entrance past those scintillating fangs and their tongues quickly began fencing for dominance. She couldn't help but laugh around one of the fiery kisses, Dash is right, winning is awesome! Twilight lost the duel when a hand made a sneak attack on her ear, kneading and massaging her into an unconditional surrender.

"That..." Twilight groaned, her head having dropped to his chest, "That was unfair."

"Victory at all costs," he chuckled at her complaint before his voice took on a somewhat teasing tone, "I mean, I could stop..."

The eye that snapped open was clearly telling him that he'd better not and for a few more moments she lay there in complete silence.

"Hey," Twilight finally said and pushed into the kneading hand as much as she could, "Could you, um, do the other ear too?" When the hand stopped to switch ears her eye opened again, this time to look at him curiously, "Sorry, I meant at the same time." It was then that Twilight realized he hadn't used his other hand for a while now so she forced herself to sit up and motioned to the arm he'd been keeping at his side, "Come on, let me see your other hand." When he reluctantly turned it over for her to see she hissed at the cut that almost ran the length of the palm.

"It'll be fine, just a bit stiff at the moment." Her ears were flattened back so he reassured he was fine by placing the uninjured hand on her cheek, "I could get up and put a bacta patch on it right now or we can stay right here a bit longer."

"Or we could do both!" Twilight evidently had the perfect solution for that and with a glow of her horn wordlessly floated the spray he had left by the saddlebags over and into his hand. A quick spray and a pained hiss from him but shortly his palm was suitably numb and on its way to healing so for the next few minutes they enjoyed each other's company; embracing, laughing, and sharing nuzzles and kisses of varying degrees of intensity. Twilight felt her arousal building and, eager to take the opportunity to explore the newly-revealed expanses of skin, squirmed her way down the human's torso for a better view - ending up partially between his legs, to which his face flushed.

She memorized the curves and depressions of every muscle group for future recording, eliciting little squirms as she poked and traced with her hooves, which worked their way toward her intended target. Her first prod got a raised eyebrow, "Is it normal for males to have teats?" Another prod, but this time she ran her hoof in lazy circles around it.

"For humans, yes; both genders have them, though they serve no function on males." He did his best to explain the reason and fleshed it out with what he knew about the development of the human fetus. I'd rather not put Luna's spell to the test. Come on, distract yourself... kark! he swore to himself in Huttese, a habit he had picked up from his Master, Quick, think about grav-ball!

Twilight, while interested in the biology lecture, was only partially listening because she couldn't help but be distracted by another type of biology: the protrusion that was currently pressed against her belly just below her ribs. Hmm, hard to tell if the Princess' spell is working. Perhaps a further test. Her heart was fluttering as she leaned in, planting a small lick on the nipple that caused Titus to arch his back slightly; a hitched breath that cut off his lecture in the middle of a word.

"Whoa Twi..."

She looked up at him, her eyes lidded, "Another spot for me to keep in mind."

Twilight pulled herself back up his body, acutely aware of his veiled stallionhood dragging across her belly through the t-shirt she still wore. Continuing to pull herself upward, Twilight didn't stop until she latched her mouth to his though she still startled herself as she felt the rod slide out from under her and press against her needy mound through the shorts. O-oh, Tartarus....

Both Princesses were in court listening to two financial advisers squabble about something or other (Luna had always been the one with a head for finances) when Princess Celestia noticed her sister shift in her seat for the nth time in the last few minutes, but this time catching a minute trace of a grinding in her hips. Concerned, she stepped in to the argument and addressed the court, "Thank you for both for your insights in the matter, you shall have our joint ruling for the next session. At this time the Court will be excused for a short recess."

Once the court had cleared the white alicorn turned to her sister, "Luna, pray tell, what is wrong?"

"I am alright, sister. I believe there to be an error-" Luna cut herself off with an audible sigh, though Celestia was fairly certain it was not one appropriate for Court, "in the spell I crafted. A retreat to my chambers is necessary, I'm afraid I will be indisposed and you shall have to preside over court until I am able to sort this out." With a cobalt blue flash she teleported, leaving her sister alone in the deserted room.

The deep navy cushion Luna had been sitting on did a fabulous job of hiding the wet spot.

Princess Celestia, however, had a very keen eye.

Whatever spell Princess Luna used seems to be working! The overbearing intensity of Twilight's heat was definitely muted compared to what she had experienced yesterday. Currently I still feel capable of cognitive thought outside of desire... Twilight could feel the control slipping as her powerful imagination took over. Desire of him. Like to be rutted so hard as to leave an indentation in the floor or wall. Or laid over on that crate there. Ooo! Or carried to the shower and-

"Hey. Stop," he applied a gentle pressure to the side of her neck, "Something about the look on your face tells me you've hit the limit of Princess Luna's spell."

"Sorry, you're right," Twilight reluctantly broke away, though she was somewhat relieved that he had taken the initiative to ask to stop this time, "Please understand, before we... do anything serious I need to-"

"To run the tests," he finished for her with a pat on the back, "I know. That's why I spoke up, Twi."

Twi. Yup, I definitely like it. Again she couldn't help but smile with the thought but eventually sighed, "I-I'm really sorry to keep doing this to you. It must be frustrating."

"It is a bit frustrating, physically speaking, but at the same time it's a bit of an emotional relief as well; honestly, I've been wanting to say this and please don't take this the wrong way, but it just feels like we're moving a bit quick. Although I guess I'm just as much to blame for that. I mean, you've only known me for a little more than two weeks and we've only started seeing each other like this in the last twenty four hours."

The pony's ears fell flat and she looked a bit worried. Damn this cycle to Tartarus, I've been rushing him.

Titus felt the need to explain, the look on Twilight's face was worrying him, "I used to have a couple of friends; fellow Jedi I grew up with at the temple. However, the Council was very absolute in their stance on romantic attachment, so all we could ever be was very close."

"Why would your Council prohibit that?" Twilight didn't understand the reason to prevent what must be sheer joy of finding a special somepony, "Princess Celestia has told me that love is one of the most powerful forms of Harmony!"

"Powerful, yes, but a double-edged sword - capable of blinding a being to reason. There's more than one historical case where loss or betrayal by a loved one has lead a Jedi to the dark side. I'm not saying there weren't relationships within the Order but most of them were covert. I was privy to a few."

"Did you ever...?"

"No," he replied with a solemn shake of his head, "Because I was an idiot."

"So... what? Does that make me your first?" she teased with a nudge. When he didn't respond like she expected him to Twilight nudged again, though this time softer as a quizzical expression crossed her face, "What happened? Why do you say you were an idiot?"

"I was too much of an idiot to see what had been staring me in the face all my life," Titus wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable talking about the subject but supportive nuzzles from Twilight, the first person (for lack of a better term) he had an indescribable feeling that he could genuinely trust after having to watch his back for so long, gradually eroded his reluctance.

"I can't believe I'm telling you this..." he said almost laughing in disbelief, "There was a girl, Aurelia Flavia, that the Order took in at the same time I was; in fact our two families knew each other well enough that they grieved together when we were taken. As Younglings at the temple we were practically inseparable to the point that we were thought to be brother and sister despite how different we were - we were almost polar opposites of each other, but regardless we always had each others back. When we had become Padawans we saw less of each other because training occupied almost every waking moment of our time, though that didn't stop us from having fun when we could." Titus recounted one incident where they had stowed-away aboard a clone trooper assault transport that ended up leaving the star system for a battle and, when their Masters finally caught up to them, both of them insisted it had been their idea and not the other's. He promised to tell Twilight more of the mischief they had gotten into sometime and went back to his story, "Even after we completed our trials of Knighthood we were often on different ends of the galaxy fighting for the Republic. We'd still regularly send each other holovids of where we'd been, missions we'd been on, and generally just check in with each other."

"There was one time aboard a star cruiser where we got to sit down and have a meal in the mess hall before leading a strike on a Separatist stronghold. I had wanted to tell her exactly how I felt right then but you can't throw something like that in someone's lap, especially on top of the stress that comes with leading a mission, so I resigned myself to tell her after. That plan fell through when her squad was extracted to a cruiser at the end of the battle while Master Krua and I were immediately dispatched on another mission - the mission which we would still be on when Palpatine revealed he was Darth Sideous, making that the last time I got to see Aurelia. About a month or so after Order 66 was issued I felt her connection to the Force just disappear-"

"I feel terrible for teasing you now, I-I'm so sorry," Titus could feel the air being squeezed out of his lungs as Twilight put as much emotion into one hug as she could, "I'm sure she knew how you felt."

"I really hope she did, but what's done is done. As much as don't want to make the same mistake of letting another opportunity slip by, you're the first person I've been able to trust in a very long time and I don't want you to come out of your cycle and feel like all of this was a big mistake." He used the shirt Twilight had borrowed to wipe the dirt from her face, "When you indicated you wanted to slow down and do things 'by the book' I was really hoping you meant that and, you know... you still do."

Twilight could tell by the look on his face he was concerned he might have said something to offend her or make her angry so she squeezed her hug just a bit tighter as a sign she wasn't either of those, "Yeah, silly, I did. Believe me, if it wasn't for this aggravating biological function I'd probably still be working up the courage to nuzzle." She couldn't help but imagine how that would have gone. He's right about slowing down though, studies have shown that starting a relation based off of nothing but the feelings during a cycle had a low rate of continued success past the two week mark, somewhere around 40% and dropping to 35% at the end of the second month, though my figures might be stale. Note to self: update data for future reference.

"Thanks, I feel better for being able to get that off my chest," he returned the squeeze, "Now come on, the sooner we get you back to town the better; I'd rather not have an angry mob of ponies armed with torches and pitchforks at my door wondering what happened to their librarian."

The image that painted earned a shared laugh and while Titus got into a set of clothes an appreciative Twilight took the time to think. I'll need to confer with my two experts, but what I've read can be summed up in a basic set of steps: Step 1: Research - learn about your subject; Step 2: Date - spend time getting to know each other and grow closer; Step 3: Commit - drop the courtship question. I'll begin the first step while the tests are running.

"Ready to go?" her friend asked, emerging from the hallway as he zipped up the orange jumpsuit he was wearing.

"Yup!" Twilight responded and levitated the dusty saddlebags behind her as she headed for the door.

"Hold up Twilight. We're not walking," he tossed her a pair of goggles, a microphone headset, and a hat and scarf, "We've got a ride." She looked a little confused so he beckoned her over to the speeder bike and as she got closer he threw a leg over the seat, smoothly donning the helmet she and her friend had found him in.

Rather than jump on Twilight gave the open-air craft a dubious look.

"I'll keep it at a slow cruise," he assured her while leaning over to take the saddlebags which he placed in the storage compartment behind his seat, "And don't worry - as much as I want to, I promise there'll be no acrobatic stunts."

That seemed to assuage some of her apprehension and she took a step closer though by the way she glanced over the bike she wasn't sure where she'd be riding it. "You'll have to sit behind me and hold on, the sidecar attachment is up there," he pointed to an area above him that was outlined with yellow and black striped tape, which Twilight guessed was a storage area before he even continued, "That's the lift to the subhangar storage where the bike is usually kept and I'm afraid if I open it there will be an avalanche of cargo or whatever else might have come loose in the crash."

With a bit of assistance Twilight found a position wedging herself between the back of the seat and the back of Titus, her hind legs to either side of his hips while her front hooves latched around as much of his torso as they could was the position she felt the most secure in. The pair did a couple of slow laps around the crash site so she could acclimate herself to the vehicle's handling and with that time the human answered any and all of her questions regarding how the machinery functioned to also help put her at ease; she was particularly interesting in documenting how the craft's repulsors kept it afloat and made mention of several every-day uses that could benefit Equestria.

Once Twilight indicated she felt adequately prepared for the journey Titus pressed his back against her as he did a sharp zero-point turn with a flick of the throttle, pointing the nose of the bike down the trench toward town and accelerated faster than he probably should have judging from him experiencing an acute loss of hearing as a squeal of surprise rang through his helmet's comm link and Twilight's grip around him tightened to crushing levels in response.

"Sorry!" Titus called immediately throttled down to about half of what he was doing before.

"Could we go a bit slower, please?" Twilight shouted right into the mic out of inexperience, once again causing the human's ear to ring. She peeked over his shoulder and squeezed the hooves she had around his neck a bit tighter when she looked down at the ground many body-lengths below them.

Despite already feeling like they were going at a crawl and his helmet's speedometer indicating as much Titus cut back further on the throttle as they flew along at treetop level where he could feel the slightest out-of-place vibration at the low speed. Not an immediate issue. He realized he probably wouldn't have caught it if they hadn't had slowed down and made a mental note to check his alignments before flying again. And would you look at that, Twilight seems to have grown to enjoy the ride. Paying closer attention to her movements he noticed her head switch shoulders once again to look at the forest from the new perspective. As comfortable as she is and as much as I want to I doubt she'd let me get off lightly if I punched it for the last klick of our trip.

"Hey Twi, we're almost there," Titus turned his head slightly toward hers though she could hear him fine the headset, "Do you want to stop at the edge of the forest and go on foot or go right to the library? We could even land right up on the balcony, if you want."

"No-" When his hand shot to where his ear would be she realized she was yelling again and lowered her voice, "Sorry! No, park at the hill. Flying in on this... what did you call it, a 'bark speeder'? Well, that might startle somepony but I'm sure you'd be able to land there without incident. Given a day or so seeing you operating it at low speed," she paused to emphasize that part, "I think will acclimate might get used to you riding it."

Titus cut their altitude as they closed in on his usual salvaging ground and the bike glided to a smooth stop at the base of the hill where the usual early-risers could be seen and got quite the show for their commitment to arriving before he usually would. Titus didn't pay them much mind, however, and after powering the craft down and retrieving the saddlebag and his own weathered satchel bag the human jogged his way over to where Twilight was busy craning her neck like she was looking for something in the distance.

"Twilight," he waited for her to take a break in her search before he asked, "Can we go over the plan while we walk? What sort of tests will you be doing?"

"Hold up, Titus. We're not walking," Twilight couldn't help but smile at the role reversal from earlier that morning, "I guess you could say 'we've got a ride.'" Still wearing his helmet, she couldn't see Titus' eyes go wide a fraction of a second before she cast her spell.

Titus suddenly felt like he was being stretched, squashed, twisted, and pulled and his head was spinning in every direction at once.

"Hey, what's wron-"

"Urg..." he grunted as he fell over onto the deck with a thud. Nothing made sense anymore; up was down and down was up, colors shifted between everything on the spectrum and muffins were bananas... the completely odd and spontaneous images and the phantom smells of the food popping into his head tipped him over the edge, causing him to cough and empty his stomach in his helmet until Twilight yanked it off him (and almost took his head with it).

One look at the human, who was now on his knees and suffering through more retching, made her go white. "Oh no, what... I-I've got to get you to the hospital!"

Twilight frantically looked around for help. Vomiting in ponies was a serious, potentially life-threatening problem because of the way their esophagus connected to their stomachs and without ready medical assistance in the form of equipment, alchemy, or spells a pony could end up quickly choking to death on something that got stuck in the valve between throat and stomach. The look on Twilight's face was one of worry bordering on hysteria.

"Twilight! What's going on?" Spike, who had been upstairs and came to investigate the noise, was shouted at to get Doctor Horse. The commotion attracted the attention of a few ponies in the street and caused them to pause and stare up at the balcony.

I've got to do something! Twilight had turned around and was making for the door when she was interrupted mid-stride by a firm tug; a hand had latched itself onto the only part of the retreating pony within range - her tail. Ignoring the spike of pleasure working its way up her backside Twilight turned to see why in all of Tartarus' burning fires he was stopping her.

"Twi, I don't ne-*bluugghh!*" he panted before another gut spasm and a third bout of vomiting prevented him from saying anything else, his hand having to go to the planks to support himself as he once again doubled over; he was lucky to have gotten that much of a coherent sentence out with how jumbled his brain felt.

"Just hang on!" Twilight pleaded as a siren in the distance grew closer.

By the time the siren arrived Titus was lying on his back having just gotten through the torture of a phase of the dry heaves and was looking up at the sky and waiting for the clouds and a few onlooking pegasi atop them to stop spinning.

Nurse Redheart forced a thermometer in his mouth, narrowing her eyes threateningly when he tried to shoo her away with an aggravated moan. "Ninety seven point nine," she declared for the doctor, removing it and giving him a pat on the head that seemed to patronizingly say "There. That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"I-is that normal, Doctor?" Twilight ventured to the pony examining a chart.

Dr. Horse put a stethoscope to the human's chest and listened in several areas as Twilight's question went agonizingly unanswered for several moments before he shrugged. "I've got no idea what his vitals should be," he replied, the stethoscope roaming around in an aimless fashion as he recorded his findings on a patient form, "Which is because I'm a pony doctor, for cases like this you should have called a veterinarian."

Twilight had to make a conscious effort to ignore that quip.

With no way of helping Twilight, Dr. Horse, Nurse Redheart, and Spike gathered around the human's head, entering his swirling field of vision to look down on him with concerned faces and a silence hung in the air until Spike spoke up.

"Yo Titus... y'alright?" with the question the scales on one of his eyebrows climbed up. Spike interpreted the thumbs-up gesture for the uninformed medical ponies, "'Yeah, you're gonna be fine.'"

There services no longer needed Twilight escorted the nurse and doctor to the door while explaining what had happened and was informed it was probably a case of . Spike trundled off to get a bucket and a mop, which he gladly left at the door when Titus said he would clean the balcony himself.

It took a few more minutes for Twilight to return, and a few more after that before he began to feel normal again. For starters, he could tell where he was and process just how nasty he felt - his hair was matted from when he puked in his helmet and it had gotten on his jumpsuit. It's even in my nose...

"That was a really stupid thing for me to do," Twilight said, now sitting next to him, peeking out from behind her bangs to give him a "I want to go hide under a rock for the rest of eternity" sort of look. She couldn't have possibly come off as more dejected even if she tried, "H-how can I make it up to you?"

"First, promise you won't warp me somewhere again, and..." Titus slowly sat up, the motion brought back a bit of the head-spinning sensation sent him flopping back down to his previous position, "Let me do my laundry, then we'll call it even."

"That's it?! So you're not..." Twilight's head shot up before she resumed a meek pose, "Nothing makes you mad, does it?"

"'Anger eventually destroys the vessel carrying it, one way or another,' is what my Master would say," he propped himself up on one elbow and this time the dizziness didn't return. "I was taught to rid myself of the feelings of hate, anger, and fear. Besides, getting angry over something small like this, especially after you realized and acknowledged the mistake, would solve nothing." Titus pushed himself up to his feet, "Ugh. I do, however, feel like I've rolled around in a bantha pen."

"LUNA!" Celestia's voice boomed down the corridor as she stormed past the unflinching pair of Royal Night Guards, through one of the ornate obsidian & gold-inlay doors that had been blasted from its hinges earlier, and into the chambers where her sister, her back to her, was hunched over a desk. "Not only have I had to sit through the rest of the financial summit by myself, which, I might add, I spent worrying about you, but I have just spent the last ten minutes calming the ruffled feathers of the visiting Griffon delegation because of your little explosion. Little sister, you have been acting oddly since after our breakfast and you will explain what is going on!"

"The blast was an accident, Tia, I was... startled." I am not telling her that it felt like somepony tugged my tail, and I am most certainly not explaining how it felt! "I reverse-engineered the spell I made and found the error. Actually, it was more like a series of oversights." Luna turned around from her desk and walked (in a somewhat funny manner) for her balcony, "Those oversights will soon be remedied."

"Remedied?" Princess Celestia's tone softened when she caught the strange gait, "Luna, please. Tell me what is going on so I can help you."

"Thank you, but assistance will not be necessary, dearest sister Tia. I will deal with this personally." For the second time that day she disappeared in a blue flash.

Scanning the parchment her sister had been scribbling on it was easy for Celestia to connect the dots, shortly coming to realize what had Luna in such an agitated mood. Well, that would explain it, but just what are you planning, Luna?

In a silent mist Luna appeared on a balcony in Ponyville, discretely entering the building before anypony below could see her. The Princess of the Night could feel the gentle throbbing as she closed the door to the balcony behind her. The weaving shouldn't have had this much of an effect on the outcome of the spell. She made her way down the hallway and peaked into an empty room as the throbbing turned into an almost-steady pressure, causing a hitch in her breath. Nothing but a laundry room, though the washer is going so somepony is here. Over the din the sound of running water from down the hall caught her ear.

Of course. The shower. The sound of the laundry machine covered Luna as she strode for the marked door, her teeth grinding against the feeling in her royal rump. It now felt like something had pushed its way inside of her and it took every ounce of self control for Luna to keep from obliterating that half of the library with a torrent of magic. The door to the bathroom, however, was not spared her wrath.

Titus was enjoying feeling clean, though he was just starting to get over the awkwardness that had transpired a few minutes ago. First, when I got out of my jumpsuit so it could be washed Twilight asked why I had changed underwear from earlier that morning and I had to tell her she left a little wet spot on the black pair after she had ground herself against them. There also was the fact that, until the suit came out of the dryer, all he had to wear was a long bath towel, Twilight having accidentally (and that was up for debate as far as Titus was concerned) taken his shorts with the other laundry when he had gotten in the shower. I was going to wait until they're out of the dryer, but I've already been in here for fifteen minutes.

Up next, the only shampoos Twilight had on hand hoof whatever and could loan him were rather scented, so he settled for the least fragrant one which smelled of flowers and grass. Lastly, the fixed shower head poked out of the wall at shoulder level so he had to hunch over to get his hair washed, causing a crick to quickly form in his back. It can't be helped, this shower was built with ponies in mind- His thought was cut off as the bathroom door exploded like it had been wired with a breaching charge, the sudden noise causing him to bolt upright directly under the shower head with a *Dink!*

"CEASE YOUR ACTIONS AT ONCE AND BE STILL, YOU RUT-HAPPY MARE!" The whole library seemed to shake as the Royal Voice reverberated off the tile walls, cracking the mirror and knocking over the toothbrush holder while Luna towered in the bathroom door like an ominous obsidian monolith; wings spread and fire in her eyes.

The tremors from Luna's voice had shaken the bar of soap from its holder where it promptly skidded across the shower floor and went directly under his foot, causing him to pitch forward and grab the shower curtain for support. *Slip!* Naturally the curtain was about as supportive as wet tissue paper and quickly tore out of its rings with a series of quick pops. Still falling, his forehead connected with one of the horizontal bars on the shower wall. *BONK!*

Lights out.

Luna stayed in the doorway, breathing heavily and unsure what to make of the scene that unfolded, the silence that settled like the shower curtain over a large lump on the shower floor only disturbed by the patter of water hitting the plastic curtain like a drum.

"P-Princess Luna?!"

A door in the hallway behind her creaked open and Twilight, glistening like she had galloped a mile, appeared in the doorway. If she's there, then who...?

"I d-didn't realize y-you were here-" Twilight stuttered until she noticed the corner of the shower curtain lying on the floor, "Ti-TITUS!?" she squeezed past the Princess and flung the curtain aside to reveal the crumpled figure and the red-tinged water swirling around the drain.

Not even bothering to turn the water off she skidded next to the human, lifting a shoulder to rest his unmoving head on her forelegs. "Hey! Say something! HEY!" Twilight begged, rubbing one of his cheeks with a hoof.

What... Oh sister, what have I done? Luna almost froze but forced herself to act. "Come," she surrounded his body in her magic and lifted him from the tile floor, "we must move him to someplace more comfortable." Spike appeared at the top of the stairs to inspect the new commotion, a dish towel over one shoulder, to follow the pair as Luna floated the human down the hall and into the open door Twilight had come through, placing Titus on the star and moon covered sheets of the bed.

Spike thoughtfully spread the dish towel over the human's groin, figuring if Titus wore clothing he'd still want a bit of privacy in this situation. Not that he understood Titus' desire to wear clothes all the time, but with the way Twilight was obviously trying - and failing miserably - not to stare it seemed like a good thing to do.

Princess Luna assured him that the human would be alright and thanked the dragon for his thoughtfulness, "Spike, would thou let me speaketh with Twilight for a moment?" She waited for him to leave the room to explain what made her presence necessary.

"Y-you mean you could feel... as I...?" one of the gears in Twilight's mind stripped its teeth as she processed what the Princess had told her. I was basically using my cooler on the Princess. I'm so getting banished. To the moon. "I-I-I'm so sorry, I had no idea! Can you dispel it?"

"No, unfortunately that is not an option," Luna gave a sigh, "After careful research the spell seems to be a strange hybridization of several schools, potentially making this is a whole new class of spell. As you know, alicorns do not feel the symptoms of the estrous cycle, so my original intention was to transfer your urges via a modified Sense-Link spell. Unfortunately," she paused to watch as Titus' face twitched before turning back to Twilight to continue with a air of scientific bluntness, "It appears any arousal or sexual sensations you experienced to your genitalia were also transferred, in response your body began to produce extra chemicals to make up for the sudden loss your receptors were receiving. So, because of the tax it would have on your body, I can not and will not dispel it."

Twilight was a little confused, having not had the chance to sit down and examine the spell components and how they fit together like Luna had back at the palace. It took a bit of time for Luna to convey her research but it allowed Twilight to get caught up to a certain degree so they could have an intellectual discussion on the topic. "Could you explain a bit further what 'tax' you are talking about?"

"An answer to your question requires a question of my own: how in control are you right now?"

"Um..." Twilight gave it some thought, "Fairly? I mean it's been a struggle at times today, but with a reminder or a bit of help I've been able to stay in control. Dispelling your cast would cause a feedback of the chemicals, is that the conclusion you've drawn?"

"Your inference is correct, Twilight. The feedback would not be additive, either."

"Multiplicative?" With an extreme exercise of willpower I might have been able to handle additive...

Luna shook her head, looking grim, "No, exponential. If the influx didn't put you into a coma there is no doubt you would be unable to control your actions. From the numbers I've figured, we're looking at a return index of-"

A groan and movement from the bed drew both the pony's attention. Titus sat up slowly and whispered what the ponies could only assume was an expletive. "By the four moons my head is splitting," he pulled something out that had been prodding him in the back while he was lying down and, upon closer inspection, realized calling it "extremely phallic in nature" would have been an understatement. A hose and hand pump attached to one end, the flat-tipped device flopped around slightly as he held it up. "Uh... What happened?" He really wanted to make an anal-probing joke but realized it would be way too cliché, the addition of the Princess' presence tipping the scales in favor of keeping his mouth shut.

Twilight's magic quickly encompassed her cooler, flinging it into the closet - a wet slap as it hit the back wall - and slammed the door. She almost melted into a puddle from embarrassment.

Luna moved to one side of the bed. "We doth offer our most sincerest of apologies for, through our rash actions, what hath transpired to place thou in such a position is decidedly and without question our fault," having fallen back into the habit of using formal decorum with her friend the degree of worry the Princess was experiencing was obvious. She proceeded to explain her findings, though she eventually returned to her casual tone at Titus' friendly behest. "Again, I must apologize for my failure in crafting a useful spell."

"I wouldn't say it's a complete failure, it could have a useful application," Titus offered, carefully adjusting the small square kitchen cloth to better cover himself. Add K.O.'d to the list of things to happen to me today... He noticed Luna looking at him curiously while Twilight just looked at him. Okay, time to stop re-positioning the towel, Titus.

"What sort of application might you be referring to?" Luna inquired.

Twilight was still too embarrassed from the cooler incident to speak, though the human's fiddling with the cloth certainly had caught her attention.

A hand gingerly explored the lump forming on his forehead, "Well-" it retracted with a wince, "As Twilight told me yesterday, the herd's estrous cycles eventually line up and place a strain on the stallion to perform. Sounds to me like your spell could help a stallion take care of, um, business with multiple herd mates at once. With a male potentially capable of assisting multiple mares at once, herd sizes might increase and help reduce the number of mares unable to find a herd."

"Hmm, an interesting thought, though further study would need to be conducted. You see, the sensation of the stallion climaxing is what brings the relief-" Luna, noticing the human growing uncomfortable, stopped her line of explanation, "Right, back to why I'm here. The only option left to us because I can't safely dispel the magic is to keep you two separated until Twilight can ride out her cycle."

That snapped Twilight out of her stupor, "Wait, is that necessary?"

"I believe it is. Your cycle is only on the second day and it will only continue to take more of your willpower to control yourself. You don't need the distraction of him to make that any more difficult," she gave a look to the human, "That is why Titus will be accompanying me back to the palace in Canterlot for the week."

"No offense Princess," it was Titus' turn to object, "but I can't afford to lose an entire week of work. That first week of downpours practically turned the crash site into a bog and my ship has been sinking a bit further every day. If the engine intakes sink too far into the mud-"

"So you would have no objection coming with me if your vessel was not in danger of sinking is what you are saying. Very well, we shall solve that problem tonight. Come with me, Twilight," Luna lead her out of the room, as a bell ringing from down the hall signaled the dryer was finished, "you may voice your objections in the living room while Titus gets dressed."

Why didn't I think of asking Luna for help? After all, she raises what equates to a small planet each night, something like the ship shouldn't pose a problem, right? He waited for their hooffalls to fade down the stairs before walking to the laundry room and putting his clothes back on; the bag he brought from the speeder bike was also leaning against the dryer. Tossing a strap over a shoulder he headed downstairs to join Luna and Twilight.

"-which is the other reason he, rather than you, will be accompanying me to Canterlot," Luna's voice carried through the door as Titus came down the stairs, "you are more than welcome to send a letter if you wish as I will happily forward any to him."

He knocked on the wall to alert them to his presence before entering, "Hey Twi, I've got a few things I need to do before Lu-sorry, Princess Luna-"

"I thought we agreed to drop titles, Mr. Aelius," Luna teased with a mock tone of seriousness.

"That we did, I was just unsure if that carried over to when we were in other company. Anyway, I have some work to do before Luna comes by tonight to help with the ship so I should get going as soon as I can. What did you need me to do for those tests?"

"Oh, one moment," Twilight disappeared to her basement laboratory, but not before telling Titus of the brunch Spike had prepared for him. She reemerged wearing a white lab coat a short time later. "I'll just need a little blood," she gently dabbed a cotton swab on the cut on his forehead, "There, that should do it. I've got some equipment that will separate the leukocytes for use as test samples."

"I believe that finishes my business here in Ponyville for the time being," Luna approached Titus, the soothing magic of a spell flowing from her horn to quickly heal the cut once Twilight had gone back to the lab, "I shall go to make preparations for your stay and see you shortly before dusk." With a nod of farewell Luna climbed the stairs and left via the balcony.

Titus had just finished his grilled-cheese sandwich and pickle brunch, voicing his appreciation for the tasty meal to the dragon chef as he passed the kitchen on his way to the front door when Twilight caught up with him.

"Trying to sneak out without saying goodbye, were you?" Twilight tapped his knee, a sign for him to come down for a hug. "Mmm, your hair smells great," the scent from the shampoo filling her nostrils when she wrapped her hooves around his neck and rubbed her muzzle against his cheek, "I'll see you in a few days, okay?"

Titus returned the hug. "See you in a few days, Twi," he added in an extra little squeeze before getting back to his feet. As he left, he popped his head around the closing door and gave her a wink, "Lab coat looks good on you, by the way." The last thing he saw before the door latched was a huge smile spreading across Twilight's face.

Hmm, the turbine alignment is alright... Titus had spent the last hour of the afternoon under the speeder bike, unable to ascertain precisely what was causing the minor vibration; it had gotten better, but it was still there whenever he revved the idling bike.

The Human-Watchers had come out in force once news had spread through their ranks that he was working on a strange riding machine, the occasional pony poking their head under the bike to examine the craft; usually giving him a nervous smile and quickly disappearing if they made eye contact with him.

While a constant murmur of hushed intellectual conversation droned on in the background - the group having made a tight circle of sorts around Titus' work area - the noise would immediately die down and be replaced with the scratching of pen on paper as the more scholarly of the group recorded any sort of verbal observation the human made. Titus had been having a bit of fun walking them through his tinkering and offered up his next anecdote while he searched through the tool box he had built into the back of the bike's body, "I have corrected a point zero zero six deviation of alignment in the frontal turbine. The severity of the vibrations has been reduced but are still present." Spotting Lyra in the crowd, he embellished his statement with a few flips and twirls of one of the tools he had been looking for, garnering himself a bit of applause before he crawled back under the bike. A little showmanship now and again for the non-studious members of the crowd.

"What about re-calibrating the overdrive cores?"

Yeah, a burnt out O.D. core could be the cause- He did a double take as the realization that the suggestion had come from a pony that had no business knowing the guts of a modified speeder bike. Wait, what? When Titus turned to see who had made the suggestion he got a face-full of bouncy pink mane so he immediately knew the pony it belonged to.

"Oh, hi P-*pfft. pfft!*" he sputtered as a particularly long strand of bangs found its way into his mouth, "Hello, Pinkie."

"Hey, your Fluffle is pretty good! *pfbt! Pfp-pfp-pfbbt!*" she mimicked his sputtering noise, "Here's a hint: you were going a bit lip-heavy, you want to use your tongue a bit more."

"Thanks, I think? I'll keep that tongue thing in mind," talking with Pinkie was nothing short of an experience, to say the least, "How did you know about the overdrive cores?"

Pinkie just shrugged, "Seemed like this thing would have some."

"Some? It has sixteen." Not that she'd care, but it had been a lot of work cramming twelve more over the legal limit. Titus wiggled his way over to the panel covering the part in question. Removing the panel and holding a small glowrod in his mouth to get a look at the cores, he realized he'd need one of the instruments on the ground near his waist. He patted around in the grass for a few seconds, unable to find it. Microdial adjuster, no. That's the fusing pen.... I don't think I got the spanner out. He suddenly felt the familiar texture of his hydrospanner tapping against the back of his hand and, when he turned it upward, it dropped into his palm. Glancing toward his feet, he saw the grinning face of Pinkie, who had at some point slipped out from under the bike and retrieved the tool for him. How did she...? No, better not to ask.

"Thanks," he quickly unmounted the cores and placed the spanner back near his waist. "Hey, Pinkie? Could you get the output analyzer? It looks like a-"

"Here ya go!" she pushed the exact tool he needed under the bike before he could describe it.

Curiosity finally got the better of Titus. "Okay Pinkie, how did you know what an output analyzer would look like?"

"Oh, that's easy!" She bounced around the bike, producing a little *boing!* with each hop as she explained. "It's my Pinkie Sense! I just closed my eyes and thought," she squinted super hard and rubbed her temples, "I said to myself-not out loud of course, or you wouldn't have asked me. Unless you can read minds! That would be super if you could because ponies like to insist I've lost mine when it's right in my noggin. Anyway, I asked myself 'Pinkie, if you were a out-pudding alligator, what would you look like?' And then I realized I'd look like a little box with two prongs and some dials and a screen thing! Though what that has to do with alligators or pudding is beyond me, you should name your things better."

Titus took another look at the pink face that cheerfully looked back at him like nothing was out of the ordinary. "Pinkie, you are on a whole other plane of existence, you know that?" he stated, checking each of the cores and passing the analyzer back to Pinkie. Only three frakkin' cores still operational. At least I still got a few crates of spares. Heh, stealing those from an Empire lockup had been fun.

"No I'm not, I'm right here," she looked slightly confused for a second, then went back to her cheerful springy self as she traded out the output analyzer for the hydrospanner, "but I do visit sometimes; I've got this great timeshare."

He finished reseating the overdrives with the spanner and just shook his head as he crawled out from under the bike, I'd probably get home faster hitching a ride on Pinkie's transdimensional sense of reality than fixing my ship. Titus turned to the crowd for his next announcement, "With the help of my lovely assistant," he indicated to Pinkie Pie with a little flourish, "we have checked all of the overdrive cores with something called a power analyzer. If I could have you all take a few steps back and make a hole, I'll see if that fixed the vibrations."

Throwing one leg over the seat, Titus - finding Lyra to give her a wink - flicked a few switches and with a hammy wiggle of his fingers, he slowly and dramatically brought the hand down to push the ignition button.

"Mares and Gentlecolts, objective complete!" The sound of machinery humming to life, especially machinery he had recently been working on, always brought a warm feeling of contentment to Titus and this time was no different. "Hey, Pinkie, seeing as you helped if you ever need to... go someplace..." his statement died in his mouth, having found Pinkie leaning in the shade of a tree with her mane greased back, hooves crossed over her chest, rolling a toothpick around in her mouth and wearing a black leather jacket and a pair of black sunglasses she had procured from somewhere.

"I can dig it, but right now I gotta lay a patch and split," Pinkie jammed her hooves into the jacket pockets, and walked to a black and chrome two-wheeled vehicle. Throwing a leg over the seat she kicked a pedal and the black beast shuddered, a deep guttural thrum turning into a throaty bark when she feathered the throttle with a hoof. A few ponies covered their ears at the racket.

To Titus it sounded positively divine.

A stern look on her face, Pinkie looked over her shoulder at Titus, "See ya around, T-Bone." And with that she roared over the hill.

It's Pinkie: obey the cardinal rule of "don't question it."

"Sorry for such short notice, Fluttershy, I only found out myself this morning," Titus ruffled Dex's ears, the dog blissfully panting at the familiar sign of affection, "Twilight can contact me if you need anything."

"Don't worry, that's quite alright. It's always nice making a new friend," she smiled at the dog sitting next to her, though the petulant rabbit in the window didn't look like he shared her opinion on Dex's presence.

"Thanks again, I owe you one," he gave the shy pegasus an appreciative nod while remounting the speeder bike, "I'll see you in a few days."

"I'll take good care of him!" Fluttershy said with a wave as the human sped off on his strange contraption.

Right, that takes care of my co-pilot for the week. Titus kept a meter or so above the ground, enjoying the tactile feedback the bike got as it bobbed along with the terrain. All that's left is to secure anything loose before Luna stops by. He opened up the throttle a little more and the bike greedily consumed the extra freedom given to it, tearing down the road at a breakneck speed. After that reseating, the cores could probably use a test- his thought was cut off as something, moving fast, popped up on his helmet display. Only one thing here moves that fast...

"Hey Stretch!"

Rainbow Dash. Titus sighed, watching the pegasus pull up along side him and do a flashy barrel roll around the bike to give the machine a cursory glance. "Hello Dash."

At the less-than enthusiastic reply Rainbow turned to the human, a pair of worn flight goggles on her brow. "Oh come on, what sort of greeting was that, Stretch?"

"Two reasons. For one," he had to fight the urge to give the bike all the "freedom" it could handle, but he knew a measly three cores probably wouldn't be enough to get away from the pony that made it a habit of grating on his nerves, "I already know you're thinking about a race, so here's my answer: No. I just want to get back to my ship, I've got a lot of work to do which I'm sure you'll find boring, so feel free to just leave now and find a cloud to nap on."

"Actually, smartflanks, I wanted to ask why Twilight had been acting giddy all day, and why she's being evasive as to where she was last night," Dash wished he wasn't wearing that helmet, she had proven to be exceptionally good at reading his facial expressions and she was sure she'd be able find an answer to her questions. Of course her original intention of approaching the human had been to challenge him to a race and she wasn't surprised he had guessed that. Since he had recovered sufficiently from the crash (he had been walking which was at least what she had considered sufficiently recovered) she'd been pestering, nagging, and doing her best to goad him into any sort of race but every time he would decline, "Now that you mention it though, yeah, your machine looks fast... but not nearly fast enough to beat me, Stretch-"

"And there's the second. I've got a name, Rainbow, and it's not 'Stretch.'" Titus gave a bit more juice to the repulsors and gradually ascended before he changed his flight path to take him over the treetops; it had been a rough day and right now all he wanted was to not have to deal with the cyan nuisance any longer.

The pegasus followed, "What's your deal with that nickname? It's not like I meant anything."

"Look, I get it; I'm not what passes for normal but it'd-" Titus was going to say more but felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. On instinct he jerked the speeder into a sudden roll to one side and sensed something unseen sail past him. What the?

What's he- Rainbow Dash watched the human do a little aerial stunt and accelerate; a giant glowstick thing appeared in one of his hands as he shouted for her to go back, That cheeky cheater sneak! He's trying to fake me out, he wants to race to his ship! She got about two seconds of acceleration of her own before she found her wings pinned against her, bound there by sticky strands that wrapped around her barrel, legs, and neck.

The pegasus let out a cry as she plummeted from the sky.

The upper layer of canopy did an adequate job cushioning the majority of her fall though the trip through the underlying limbs was anything but soft. Leaves and branches slapped, scratched, and beat at her until she landed hard on something woven into the upper boughs that knocked the wind out of her and when she recovered enough she found herself still wrapped in near-invisible chords that stuck to her like glue a hint of her claustrophobia bubbled up. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and fell back on a survival guide she'd read because it had been advertised as Daring Do approved, (so how could she not buy it?) and with that knowledge she checked herself for injuries as best as she could. Alright, scratches and there'll be bruises for sure, but thankfully nothing's broken. Hoof feels like it's twisted, though, need to be mindful of that. Now where am I? The surface she was laying on was semi-springy, made up of hundreds upon hundreds of the same strands that bound her, though these weren't sticky. Dash noted the tree canopy was too thick to fly through, even if she could, so she looked around and spotted several openings that lead to what could best be described as tunnels. She was still checking her surroundings when she heard a rapid high-pitch clicking coming from down one of the holes. It was an odd coincidence but a chapter from the same Daring Do book that had the survival guide advert also had a description that sounded a lot like that-

Oh buck no. Buck. No. Louder and more frantic the chittering grew. Struggle as she might, the restraining bonds held Rainbow fast like a steel cable.

When the noise suddenly stopped, Dash turned to one of the tunnels and watched in horror as a single spindly leg emerged; the tip narrowing down to a menacing needle-sharp point; then another emerged, and another. Eight disgustingly thin legs suspended a bulbous, hair-&-spine covered body out of the shadow of the tunnel and what little light came through the leafy canopy reflected off a series of eyes. The fangs, almost as long as her foreleg, stopped tapping together and instead quivered in place while the creature moved closer to inspect the prey it had caught.

As the spider slowly stalked closer, Rainbow was frozen, her arachnophobia on full display until one of the thin hairy legs brushed against her. "BUCK YOU!" she jolted into action and landed a good kick on the leg, causing the creature to retreat and tap its fangs together rapidly, the sinister clacking noise resuming as similar calls echoed from the other tunnels. Hearing the response the arachnid reared up, bringing its spinnerets to bear on the pony. Rainbow rolled out of the way of the first shot but the dead-eye spider compensated for the motion and landed the second, a sticky blob making contact right on a hoof to immobilize her. Another shot landed on her other front hoof, which was raised in the air at the time so she was careful not to put it down anywhere.

Despite what appeared to be a lost battle Dash wasn't about to give up, her fear had transformed into anger. When the spider got close enough she bucked with all her strength; both hind legs connected right in the middle of its head with enough force to crack the hard chitinous plating and send the thoroughly-dead spider rolling end over end and down one of the tunnels as three more spiders, then two more, emerged out of nearby shafts with fangs clacking angrily. "Five on one, huh? Bring it!" she snarled.

Snapping branches and swishing leaves above her caught her and her foes attention, the form of the human landing lightly - almost impossibly so, Dash thought - next to her, the blue glowstick thing still in his hand. Dash's ears went back and eyes narrowed menacingly, "Stay out of this, Stretch, I'm about to show these bugs they messed with the wrong mare."

"Fine, but they're not bugs," Titus made one stroke with his lightsaber at the webbing that held her hoof in place, the sticky substance smoldering away as she shook the remaining bits of it off before it reached her coat to singe her.

Dash gave him a grin, half out of appreciation for freeing her and half because she couldn't wait to smash these things into paste.

"And, for the last time, my name's not 'Stretch.'"

Titus and Dash, most of the sticky webs removed so she could fly, dropped down from over the canopy and cruised along the trench toward Ponyville as dusk began to set in.

"I didn't need your help, you know," Dash flew a bit closer to the speeder bike so she could talk with Titus, "Totally had it under control."

"Yeah, I saw. You handled those five in front of you just fine," he hollered, not wearing his helmet for fear of it getting stuck on his head because of the webs in his hair, "Meanwhile, I dealt with the seven behind you."

"Seven? Oh please," the pegasus rolled her eyes, "Don't try to boost your numbers just because I got more of them than you; in fact I squashed four more bola spiders before you even showed up. So, HA! I. Still. Win." In truth both of them had lost count in the action of how many spiders they had slain but for good measure she stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"Whatever," he huffed, genuinely not wanting to get into a debate over who had "won" because he frankly couldn't care less, "Hey, you're going straight to the guardhouse to let them know about that nest, right?" Mindful of Twilight's earlier statement he dropped back on the throttle and brought both the bike and the pegasus down in speed as they neared the end of the trench.

"Duh! I can't wait to tell them about how awesome I am to knock out that nest for them. I'll probably get a big medal or something... that I can put on the shelf with all the others!" she caught Titus looking at her out of the corner of his eye as they both slowed to a stop at the top of the hill outside of town. Thinking she knew why he was glaring at her she shrugged, "I'll be sure they know you helped a bit so you can get an honorable mention or something."

The thanks he gave her was thick with sarcasm.

"We should spar some time. Not going to lie, you have some pretty sweet moves that I want to see again and... Oh hey, I know!" she flew right in front of him at eye level with very little consideration of his personal space, "Me, AJ, and Lyra all get together in AJ's barn to watch E.F.C. Fight Night and next time you-" For emphasis she prodded him in the chest with one hoof and gave a push, "You are going to join us."

"S-Seriously?!" he looked back up at her, but with his question confusion was plainly written on her face that he hadn't understood her offer because to her it seemed like it was fairly straightforward. Titus gritted his teeth and breathed his frustration out in one long breath before he spoke, "I can't believe you forgot about the gunk on your hoof."

"Uh," when she tried to pull her hoof away the front of the jumpsuit pulled with it, "Whoops? Can't you use your glowstick to burn it off or something?"

"The blade is wider than the gap you can make between the suit and your hoof and I'm not going to breach one of my last, perfectly good flight suits," Titus sighed in annoyance, "So here's what you're going to do; you're going to take the suit to Twilight-" With no other warning he unzipped the front of the suit and climbed out of it while he went over the plan, the zipper thankfully having been kept clear of the webbing by a flap of velcro, "-I'm sure she'd love to hear about our little adventure while she finds something to dissolve or breakdown the adhesive so you can go to the guardhouse."

"Wow you are hairless..." she took a long look at the almost-naked human before focusing on his shorts, "And what's with the clothes under clothes? Unless you were planning to surprise somepony with those that's just weird." She also spotted the bite-mark on his shoulder and a laugh echoing in her mind. Oh, so you're a biter, Twilight? Kinky.

He didn't need to say anything, the look he gave her clearly said "Shut it."

A nod of the head also indicated for her to get going so with a bit of effort Dash fluttered a short distance in the direction of Twilight's house - the webbing still in her feathers was playing havoc with her flight pattern while the clothing just proved awkward to carry while flying. When she suddenly stopped and turned back to Titus as he was getting back on the bike she caught him off guard, "Hey, you never finished saying why you didn't like that nickname."

Titus thought about it for a while, "For starters, it'd just be nice not to be referred to like some thing to be gawked at. I already get enough of that every day and I don't need to be reminded that I'm literally the only one of my kind on this whole planet."

Geez, I didn't realize that's why he hated being called Stretch... Though she didn't apologize Dash instead came up with a counter-offer as she continued to struggle to stay off the ground, "How about we find one you like when you come over to watch Fight Night?"

"I think," he turned the bike around back down the trench, "You should ask Applejack and Lyra for their approval first." With that he gunned the speeder bike without waiting for a response from the pegasus, the three overdrive cores working in tandem to send him hurtling down the trench to his ship. He was already late in meeting Luna.

Author's Notes:

I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, though I'm currently stuck between doing a chapter of Titus' adventures in Canterlot (got more than a few ideas there) or just saving that for a potential future project when I want/need a break from the main storyline.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it.