Author's Notes:

Last installment of Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 is in the works with a good chunk of it already done!

"Ha! No fires, no alarms! Really, I do not think I did that bad," Krua unfastened herself from the seat's harness and brushed aside an instrument gauge that had popped out of its mooring in the ceiling and was now dangling by its wires in front of her face. Standing up, she looked at the nearby monitors that displayed the outside of the landing bay and gave a satisfied grunt, "The landing gear absorbed the impact and we're both in one piece. See, Little Koochu? You had nothing to worry about."

"Rather than your karking 'landing' I'm thanking the- ow... the engineer for opting to beef it up for a ship of this size. Still, I'm pretty sure you managed to almost bottom it out, Master," a younger Titus responded, picking himself up off the floor where he had fallen because he hadn't had time to get into his seat before an impatient Krua had attempted the touch down. As he rubbed his sore shoulder that he had hit on one of the bulkheads in his topple an angry alien voice barked into his headset.

"Bosh'tet! Vali ben hal dhekroo mae sebei qundovleg?!"

Shooting his Master a look of frustrated annoyance that he hoped would convey this all had been easily avoidable if she had just let him fly he only got a shrug from her before she left the helm to get ready, her hand roughly tussling his hair playfully as she passed because she knew it annoyed him. Opening the comm channel to respond before further insults were hurled toward him he realized at the last moment and scrambled to finish the docking procedure that Krua had only half completed, his hands flying over the screen to press the buttons purely on muscle memory so he took no notice that the writing was a jumble of indecipherable shapes, "Apologies for being rough on your station, our aft repulsors took a hit while going through a debris field a few sectors back. I had to rig up a fix just to get us this far and it looks like they finally gave out. I don't suppose you could recommend a parts vendor or salvage depot so I could make some repairs?"

The alien didn't see past his lie because the mention of the impending parting of credits was far more important and after getting direction to the traffic controller's preferred venue (which was sure to cut her a commission) Titus powered the ship down and headed for the locker to select his gear where Krua was already kitted out. "I'd better check that shop the Weequay recommended, they might have a few odds and ends we should stock up on. We can leave Arsix and Treadwell here to do a systems check for any damage," he said to get the ball rolling on them making a plan for their brief stay while sliding the shoulder bag on and checking that his blaster was on his thigh before hiding the lightsaber hilt in the small of his back, "Tonight I'll see if I can start getting that AI module online. This ship is way different from what I've dealt with before so any information it can provide will be a major help. There's also a few tools I'll need to keep an eye out for-"

"Do not spend so much that you draw attention, Titus," she cautioned while checking the datapad he had given her with a list of items they would need to reach the remote destination. She waited for Titus to finish getting ready and walked with him down the hall, both of them doing a final check of each other's gear, "Flowing credits breed probing questions; the Empire knows they are not yet done dismantling the Republic and learning of two Jedi even out this far would be a target they would not pass up on-" Suddenly she snapped what looked to Titus like a metal band around his neck and made sure it was secured before looking him over, "-Blending in is our best bet."

Titus didn't question the metal band because she obviously had something planned and instead wanted to clarify their itinerary as she pushed him out the airlock, "I understand, but Master? I think we could use a-" he paused at the top of the landing ramp and stared at the alien waiting for them. T-That's not right... it was a Weequay that was the deck attendant, not a Dug.

"Halikae ghey imbravec ber vae selav gnavoe?"

Krua turned to look at him when she didn't hear his footsteps clanging beside hers, "Koochu, did you forget something?"

The Dug and the Weequay are switched, the Dug was supposed to be on the comms and the Weequay was the one that greeted us. Titus gave the little alien another look before he rubbed his temple and shook his head as the memory of how the day had went corrected itself in his mind. Now that he focused more on it he almost felt weightless but at the same time lethargic and attempting to forcefully recall other events only blurred them to obscurity. It... it feels like a dream. I almost feel like I could wake up, if I wanted to, but I-

"[What's wrong with the slave boy?]" Having seen the control collar and heard the disparaging title she called him by the Dug barked again, this time in Galactic Basic, and because the species walked on their hands it pointed one of its feet at Titus, "[Looks healthy but stupid. Good for hard work.]" He was about to verbally correct the Dug but when it asked what the purchase value for the human was Krua instantly rounded on him and snatched him by the long snout tendrils just like Titus remembered.

"More than you could ever dream to afford, skerg vernoe!" She gave him a glare only Krua was capable of and waited for him to garble an apology for misinterpreting before she roughly released him so the hand could rest on her hip which had the added benefit of providing a glimpse at the blaster she was wearing.

The Dug quickly brought out a datapad, his eyes remaining fully downcast on the screen though they nervously darted to the holstered weapon and angry humanoid wearing it several times as he inquired about their business aboard the space station.

"Ship parts. Supplies for my journey to deliver this cargo," Krua responded curtly with a jerk of her head to indicate Titus before she crossed her arms over her chest from a clear lack of patience with the alien, "Hurry up with putting that info in your log so I can leave. You have succeeded in putting me in a foul mood and I can already spot several enticing garbage jettison chutes just your size." Krua leaned in closer to flash her pointed teeth at the Dug stopped typing, "Done wasting my time? Good. Best scamper off before I see how long you can hold your breath."

Titus knew it was a wholly empty threat but he watched the little Dug rush way to keep from riling the irritable Zabrak slaver any further. When he had disappeared around a corner barking orders at a crew of droids to hurry up and get their supplies and ship ready to depart Titus turned back to his Master to find, again, as he remembered she had already started off without him though he still let himself sigh at being left behind. Well, I'd better follow her. I want to see where this is going, plus it... it's like I'm actually with my Master again.

Thankfully Titus was able to catch up to Krua and, upon glancing down for the NAV marker on his wristpad, he finally took notice that attempting to read anything on it or the surrounding signage was impossible which slowly began to confirm that he was, in fact, in a dream. There wasn't much to the corridors of the space station however, mostly various blurs for which Titus' brain filled in alien species sitting in their shops to peddle their wares or services though he fell a little behind Master Kura so she could lead the way.

"You're oddly quiet," she commented out of the blue which caught Titus off guard, a warm laugh he hadn't heard in what felt like forever coming over one shoulder as she glanced curiously at him, "Did the dock master offset you, Little One? As distasteful as I find it, his assumption that I trade in slaves is a benefit as it saves us from establishing an identity and makes it more likely we'll be left alone to do our business and leave. Come with me, having nothing but rationed nutripaste over the course of our journey I am in need of food with texture... and flavor, for that matter."

"Actually, I don't really mind it-" Titus offered his opinion but the Jedi Master quickly turned on her heel to poke him in the chest with a sharp finger.

"Then you are in need of more help than I thought, Koochu," she huffed and made a show of covering her mouth to sigh into a hand as if she was disappointed. With a small shake of her head she grabbed Titus by the wrist, "As much as I know you'd like to dive into the heaps of junk like a Caltouran Burrow Beetle, scrounging for our ship parts can wait. Right now we need a real meal that sticks to our ribs."

Ignoring his mild protests Krua's grip remained firm as she marched them both through the main throughway of foot traffic, her head snapping left and right at the neon and painted signs that Titus had no hope of reading until she came to an abrupt halt in front of a dingy-looking hole with steps leading down into the darkness. Warm brassy music echoed up the flight of stairs when Titus remembered to listen a little closer and after turning to his Master to inquire why they had stopped as he had done he found she was nodding in thought.

"This will do."

Without letting go of his wrist Krua began descending the stairs, dragging her pupil behind her until they passed through a dark hallway into a very colorfully-lit cantina where they were quickly approached by staff to be promptly sat in a partially-enclosed booth. Waiting for their server, Krua tapped the table in front of her to make the holographic menu display for her perusal, "Let us see... quite the selection. Ooo, and a wide range of quality Core World boozes to boot!" Lightly pressing a finger against the display placed her order and after dismissing the menu with a swipe she leaned on a palm to wait for Titus to finish.

Titus remembered what he had ordered - a shellfish variety dish which he later came to regret while clutching their ship's toilet that evening - but currently he only stared at the gobbledygook and eventually the menu faded on it's own with no input from him. Despite this their food and, in Krua's case, the tankard of whatever potent drink she had ordered was delivered by a Pa'lowick server who held a brief introductory conversation with Krua before giving them their space. With this all being a dream the food was flavorless, or the flavors were not readily identifiable as good or bad tasting being a more likely cause, Titus made himself content with watching and remembering Krua wolf down her meal and swill her drink with her usual gusto fondly. Thank you, Master. Thank you for everything-

"Ah ha! Ha ha ha!" she suddenly exclaimed around a mouthful which she quickly washed down and wiped the foamy mustache the drink had given her on the back of a forearm before slamming the mug to the table, "Fancy seeing you on this bog-end of the galaxy!"

It was clear that Master Krua's words were directed at someone or something behind him but before he could turn himself to get a good look at who he felt two limbs wrap around his head and pull him in face-first into the soft pillows of their chest which fully obscured his vision before he could get anything more than a passing glimpse of blonde hair. He felt slightly smothered and he squirmed slightly so his breathing wasn't impeded but the feelings of safety, happiness, and love that accompanied the sensation otherwise kept him where he was. W-Who is this?

"D'awww!" Twilight hummed as she peeked over Lyra's shoulder, "Titus seems so content, look at that smile!"

Somewhere in their sleep during the night or early morning Lyra had shifted and had come to be clutching his head against her chest though after both she and Twilight had woken up a little while ago Titus had stirred in his sleep and buried his face in her soft belly. Outside of it being a little ticklish Lyra didn't mind, however, and instead gently brushed a hoof down his hair, "He's probably having a good dream."

"Maybe with us in it, judging by how tightly he's latched on to you," Twilight quipped with a small nuzzle to her friend's shoulder then just rested her head there to watch before deciding to touch back on the subject they had been talking about, "I wish you'd consider talking to him about this, even just so he's aware of what you're thinking. He really cares about you, and he's told me as much, so I think if you just approached him from the standpoint where you're open to either option I think you'll find he might be willing to help. On the off chance he's uncomfortable with that we can pitch the second idea to him."

"Thanks, Sparkles, but as close as you seem to think me and the big guy are I think you might be overestimating him," Lyra responded and touched her snout against the top of Titus' head to give him a hug when he nuzzled her belly in his sleep, "And as for you helping me out and then getting him to snuggle with me afterword I just have to pass on that idea too, that would be like dangling the key in front of a manacled prisoner. Plus, this is your first cycle with him so chances are you'll probably be so engaged that I'd feel bad taking you away from the big guy for a quick cooler session, even if you say you are willing. That's why, with Bonnie out of town, I'm just going to visit my parents and sleep this cycle off there."

Twilight was visibly disappointed and scowled from behind Lyra. Ugh, she sure can be stubborn. Still, it's her choice. "Alright, if you're sure that's what you want to do. You'll at least tell him what you're doing, right? If you up and disappear without saying something I just know he'll get worried that he should have done something."

"Of course he would, the big foal," the mint unicorn said with a sigh of endearment. "It wasn't like I was going to leave without saying something anyways, I planned to wait a few days. With the reprieve from the press the big guy got I was hoping to spend a little more time with him - when he's free, of course - so I'd stick around until the urges started to get bad then hop a train to Canterlot."

Titus' arm, which was draped loosely over both unicorns' barrels, suddenly tightened much more firmly and pulled them in with a surprising amount of strength behind it, his nuzzle against Lyra's belly also reaching a new level at the same time. Lyra couldn't help but smile and gave him a small smooch on the forehead, "Wow the big guy is being adorable... is he usually this cuddly?"

"Mmhmm," Twilight nodded with a giggle, a little envious that Lyra was on the receiving end of all the snuggles but she said nothing to that effect. Instead she got to her hooves on the squishy cloudbed and carefully maneuvered to lay herself down against Titus' back and sandwich him between herself and Lyra, "I don't think he realizes it though, and if he did he'd probably make some sort of an attempt to be less so because he might be embarrassed. I look forward to waking up early and getting to cuddle with him like this so I'd be disappointed if he tried to stop. For now let's not tell him, okay?" A small glimpse of the sensitive spot along his jawline was too tempting and she chanced a small nuzzle of her own as Lyra assented he was being a welcome treat and didn't want to do anything to change that.

Unfortunately for the enjoyment of both unicorns the stimulation to Titus' jaw was enough that his face pinched and he groaned. After a second of quiet a sigh followed and one eye cracked open to look up to Lyra then back to where Twilight leaned into view. "Kark. It can't be morning already..." he said with another groan before expelling a wide yawn and burying his face back against the warm stomach in front of him.

Lyra was a little taken back and had loosened her grip on him so for Titus to suddenly snuggle back in rather than create some space like she had expected was a little surprising. After giving Twilight an uncertain glance to see if she knew what she should do she was only answered with more giggles and a shrug so not knowing what else to do and acutely aware of the amusement Twilight was getting out of it she hesitantly reinstated her grasp. Much to her relief he gave a warm sigh in response and she found herself brushing a hoof over his hair again, "H-Heya, big guy. You seemed like you were having a good dream so we didn't wake you up."

"I appreciate that because I actually was. It was a nice memory," he said without opening his eyes, though after a short pause one cracked open to peek at Lyra, "But hold on a second, both of you were awake this whole time? You do anything weird to me while I was out?"

Without the backstory to that joke his teasing tone escaped Twilight but put Lyra at ease almost immediately as she huffed and made a playful show of shoving his shoulder lightly, "That's rich coming from the guy who's nuzzling my tummy! Though I might have been tempted to, but no... Sparkles was up before I was-"

"Mmm, was she?" Titus rolled from his side to his back expecting to give Twilight an equally teasing look but instead he was ambushed midway, Twilight locking her lips on his to quickly push her tongue into his mouth. Titus hummed in surprise which sent a small vibration through Twilight's jaw which she found oddly satisfying and made all the more intimate when one of his hands cupped the back of her head to keep her from breaking the kiss off too quickly. Their mouths continued to work against each other for several seconds more before the pressure on the back of Twilight's skull lessened and she could sit up with a small gasp, breathing having taken a back seat during their short-lived demonstration of passion, and when she stared down at him his warm lopsided grin stretched across his face, "Well... an enthusiastic 'good morning' to you, too, love."

Both of them caught Lyra trying not to look like she was watching and, while Twilight hid her blush by jumping into nuzzle, Titus turned his grin toward Lyra with no shame, "What? Feeling left out?" She didn't respond and instead looked down to her now-empty hooves at which point Titus dropped his teasing tone and reached a hand out to brush her shoulder, "That wasn't the intention, Lyra..."

Very slowly she looked back up at him with darting eye contact and after several moments of hesitant contemplation she nodded her head in affirmation and with baited breath she watched Titus slide an arm under her so he could wrap both around her in the biggest bear hug she had ever gotten. Her body responded automatically to the warm embrace and literally pulled him partially atop her as she rolled onto her back and kicked her hind hooves in glee at being included in their morning ritual.

"Whoa!" Titus was caught by surprise and wasn't ready for Lyra's enthusiasm but after the harrowing evening that had left her in a state of shock it was encouraging to see her that happy. "Good morning, Lyra," he said with a smile that couldn't be held back which she met with an equally unabashed expression, their grins getting wider the longer they stared at each other like a pair of complete fools.

From the sideline Twilight - who was staying stock-still and absolutely silent so as to not interrupt or ruin the moment - watched as their noses crept closer with each passing unsure moment shared between them. In comparison it was over in an instant, something so simple as a soft peck genuinely shared between them and not for any watching cameras causing both Lyra and Titus to light up more than Twilight thought either of them possibly could.

"It is now, big guy-!" She gave him a small nuzzle and one final squeeze that ended with a nearly instantaneous release when he grunted in pain. "O-Oh! Oh no I didn't mean to! A-Are you okay?!" Lyra realized too late she might have gone overboard and stammered several more apologies at once but was relieved that he quickly recovered and tussled her forelock before sitting with his back up against the wall between her and Twilight.

The latter voiced her concern for his discomfort and, before he could respond, lifted his shirt up to check that the small enchanted band-aids the nurse had applied to speed his healing before he had been cleared to leave the hospital. Twilight did this with little regard to Titus' approval, as was evident by the overly dramatic rolling of his eyes he shared with Lyra, but when his shoulder was shifted and the shirt as pulled higher up so the thorn injuries on his back could be looked at he decided enough was enough and took the hem to pull it back down.

"I'm fine so let's try and keep my clothes on, yeah? This is nothing a trip to the medbay for some symoxin or perigen wouldn't get rid of for a bit..." he grumbled and turned midway through his admonishing to scoop a surprised Twilight up onto her back so he wouldn't be blocked swinging his legs to the floor on her side of the bed, "And nothing some exercise wouldn't limber up-"

"You are not seriously thinking about training, are you?" Twilight cut him off abruptly and despite being able to tell by the twinkle in his eye that he was just trying to rile her up she wanted it clear what her opinion on that was. Even though she knew from previous conversations they'd had about his rigorous and rough regime that it was something he wasn't about to abandon outright he had been open to hearing her out and, on more than one occasion where she had argued her point well, he had taken things easier in some regards, "Couldn't you take a day or two off to recuperate? According to the workout books and magazines I've read muscles need rest to rebuild the fibers that were torn during exercise so, if you absolutely won't take a break, maybe you could just do some light stretching instead?"

"I wouldn't mind a few minutes working the bag but frankly I'm not in any mood to exercise," Titus said flatly, "I'm more inclined to just take it easy and enjoy the reprieve from the press, preferably with you two. How about we make a plan for the day over breakfast?"

Lyra had gotten to her hooves and stood beside where he was sitting, by all estimations waiting to follow them wherever they went, but he had another idea and shifted Twilight to hold her with one arm so he could open the other for Lyra. She hesitated, and though she was feeling much more welcomed since their combined efforts last night to show their desire to include her she fell back on being submissive to the alpha mare with a look searching for her approval. Twilight, who was now sitting upright and supported by a shoulder, started to say that he shouldn't strain himself carrying them both and offered to give her spot to Lyra but was quickly silenced by a small bounce, the hand that supported her also giving her flank a light squeeze out of Lyra's sight that Twilight bit her lip against.

"I'm not straining myself," he laughed because the enticing look she gave him was wholly unconstrained and something he would probably get comeuppance for later in the morning, not that he minded the thought of that. Still wearing the smile as his laughter faded he turned once again to Lyra and opened an arm, "Neither of you will ever be a burden I wouldn't happily bear, so get over here."

Lyra climbed aboard much in the same manner of Twilight, though for her the arm around her was only for support and her flank went without being goosed, and after getting hefted into a more comfortable position for walking Titus pushed himself up from the bed with a grunt which he camouflaged in a request for ideas with what to do with their day. "Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about," she answered after a moment of quiet as she had expected Twilight to already have come up with an agenda but, as a quick glance over revealed, she was too busy nuzzling at Titus' jaw to say anything, "Sparkles and I discussed this while you were asleep but I've decided to take a trip to Canterlot-"

"This doesn't have anything to do with last night, does it?" he interrupted out of concern, his face immediately snapped to hers and his brow furrowed deeply however what went unnoticed by him but was plainly felt by Lyra was that his arm around her tightened just a little bit, "I understand if you want some space because I can get like that from time to time, too, but if that's not the case I want to help so if there's something, anything, I can do to keep you from feeling like you have to leave just say so." Titus became acutely aware of Twilight stopping the nibbling and nuzzling she had been so engrossed with to sit up and give the mint unicorn a look of uncertainty that flew several red flags for him.

Twilight started to speak but Lyra didn't need to be spoken for so she reached across to put a hoof on her shoulder, "It's okay, Sparkles, I got this." Twilight nodded that she understood and was soon back to her nuzzling though Lyra suddenly found herself unsure where to start or how to word her thought until the hand on her hip brushed against her fur as if it was an invitation to take her time. She remained in quiet contemplation for only a moment more though it was enough for Titus to carry them to the main hallway and almost to the lounge before she spoke again, "The last thing I want is some space right now, big guy, trust me. And please don't think my trip has something to do with the attack, I'm just going to hole up at my parents house because what I, um... well I'm in much the same boat as Sparkles here, not being wholly myself and easily getting all hot and bothered-"

"Hey! I've got it under control..."

At the outburst Lyra shot Twilight a teasing grin. "Okay, sure you do, Sparkles. You practically devoured his face the instant he woke up," she said as Titus first set his grumbling fillyfriend down on the circular bench and Lyra soon followed to take a seat not long after, "So yeah, warning you now, big guy: don't go getting too adorable and cuddly with me in this state or I might jump you."

Titus stood over the table for a second in thought before he spoke in a hushed tone, "Okay... I wasn't aware of the situation. H-How did you know about Twi?"

"Oh, me and Sparkles have had our cycles line up for the longest time now which is why I know she's only got a few days before her hormones kick into high gear because I can feel the same thing happening to me. A-And I was just joking about avoiding being cuddly and adorable, by the way, I can handle it," she explained as Titus quickly brewed up three cups of piping hot coffee and started making a thick meal of oats on the stove Applejack had shared a recipe for.

"But you're able to just sleep it off?" he asked while stirring the pot rhythmically, "That seems like a much easier or less intrusive solution than a cooler."

"Well it's another option to using a cooler but it needs a spell that puts you in a semi-hibernation state. Most hospitals offer it as a service but it's pretty expensive; you have to pay for a bed for a week or more, mare-only staff have to routinely check on you, and the IV hydration and vitamin supplements you'd need for the duration of your sleep aren't cheap because they're hard to make and Equestria is in near-continual shortage. Hibernation is not very popular because a lot of mares can't afford it and the recovery period afterwords keeps them off work which means bills tend to pile up. That's why coolers are the predominate choice."

Lyra could tell Titus was deep in thought by the way he stared into the bubbling pot of oatmeal and she wasn't sure how to ease his mind or whether she should interrupt his contemplation to do so. A quick pleading look to Twilight for help served to bring her into the conversation, "I was the one who said she should talk things through with you because I figured with what you and her went through you'd worry if she suddenly left town with no explanation. I tried to suggest alternatives to leaving, such as offering room at the library and help with the cooler like usual. There's also um, the other option of..."

She trailed off and looked at him which was enough for Titus to draw an accurate conclusion on what she was implying. "Or you're suggesting I could 'help' as I'm uniquely um, equipped to do so," he finished the thought for Twilight and fell silent as he poured the goopy oatmeal into bowls and topped them with tasty treats like cinnamon sugar or maple syrup and then added fresh raspberries for Twilight and a handful of dried cherries in Lyra's.

Titus slid the two bowls across the table with utensils for each and took his seat heavily, his sigh from being sore causing Twilight to teleport herself and her breakfast over to his other side so that he was sandwiched between her and Lyra once again. "I don't want you to go, Lyra. After Show and Savage I really don't," he said softly after a moment of using his spoon to play with the oatmeal, "But I just, I wasn't prepared for this... it's just quite a sudden jump going from the 'let's try this out and see how we feel' that we were talking about on the log last night to suddenly saying I can 'help' with an estrous cycle the next morning." Titus saw her slump just slightly as he finished what he was saying and immediately felt like he had let her down which caused his gut to ache.

"That's totally okay, big guy, I understand. I was fairly set on going to Canterlot anyway to see my parents so I would've been pretty surprised if you had agreed to help to that degree," Lyra assured him which visibly lessened his guilt so she bumped his shoulder playfully in hopes of lightening the mood to the usual airs that they had with one another, "Besides, with this being your first cycle with your fillyfriend I wouldn't want you to wear yourself out helping me. Ask Sparkles, I can be pretty demanding-"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that with him!" Twilight quipped with a giggle as Lyra blushed from realizing the unexpected alternative meaning behind her words, "Remember our fillytalk when we were drying your mane? I actually did a little comparative research of public health data; in terms of stamina he's in the top-"

She would have gotten further in her discourse had Titus not jammed a heavily loaded spoon of oatmeal into her mouth. The thick gluey cereal prevented any other words from escaping until the mouthful was worked and swallowed and while she struggled Titus crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a rather disapproving look, "Okay that's enough of that talk, Professor Smartbutt."

"Oh, if I'm the 'Professor' would that make you the student?" Twilight hummed around the mouthful and Lyra watched as her friend's hooves hooked over Titus' shoulders so she could pull herself onto his lap. She lowered herself down onto him, the sudden disappearance of his pants and shorts having completely gone unnoticed while Lyra stared on in shock as Twilight bottomed out and bounced back up to begin the slow descent again. Twilight made a dramatic show of swallowing the remaining oatmeal before pressing her lips against his, their mouths working against each other while his hands brushed down from her shoulders over her barrel to clamp down firmly on mint hips-

"Wait, green?" Lyra looked up to suddenly find herself face-to-face with Titus and the way his eyes shone betrayed how hungrily he wanted her as she pistoned up and down on him. Lyra was overwhelmed by the sensation of driving him in and out of herself with the added force of Titus pushing her hips downward, one of his hands eventually leaving her flanks to caress her hurt horn while the other took a firm grip on her tail which sent her head rolling back toward the ceiling in esctasy. Oh, big guy...

"Lyra?"

In an instant her vision cleared and she was back in her seat. As her brain struggled to figure out the sudden shift she felt the familiar sensation of a palm brushing her shoulder and as her focus returned she found Titus looking at her with concern. Twilight was also looking in her direction and was leaned forward so she could see around him, a spoon held in her mouth as if she had abruptly stopped eating. Putting two and two together Lyra could feel her face and ears ignite and she was sure it was apparent when Titus gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"We were joking around then you spaced out for a second and mumbled something about the color green," he said, noticing her cheeks flush and he almost caught the red tips of her ears before they flattened back to hide them from sight. Startlingly, her eyes locked with his and in them was clear anxiety that he couldn't source which only heightened his worry, "Lyra, is everything okay?"

"Nothing to fret over," recognizing the look on Lyra's face Twilight could guess she had experienced one of the cycle-induced day dreams and ran interference for her friend to save her from any embarrassment explaining, "She just looks to have been lost in thought. Right, Lyra?"

"Y-Yes, just thinking of something. Something to do with the day, I mean," she stumbled and her mind raced to fill a silence created when Titus dubiously asked what it was. "Oh, um... well, with the press hopefully leaving us alone maybe all three of us could go out somewhere? I want to spend time with you guys." She waited as Twilight and Titus looked to each other to share a nod of agreement which gave her just enough time to formulate a rough plan from the scraps of reasoning her mind was slowly recovering from her daydream, a plan which would easily be made possible due to the resources available to her family, "I know Sparkles and I are overdue for a visit because we haven't gone together in ages, but if you really meant what you said about relaxing I think you'd enjoy a trip to the spa, big guy-"

"Ooo! Yes yes yes!" Twilight almost leapt up onto the table in excited enthusiasm about Lyra's suggestion, "They offer fantastic massages and hooficures, and they have a big hot tub and a sauna to unwind in... oh, please can we go? Please?!"

It took a little bit of convincing but after having it explained that because an appointment had to be made Aloe and Lotus - two ponies he had previously met but hadn't connected to the spa - would be the only ones in the room with them and they were very discrete in all matters he somewhat hesitantly agreed to go.

As he would find out, however, the spa's largest available towels were still on the skimpy side for someone of his size.

"Wow, where did those three whole days go?" Lyra asked with the widest of smiles which she directed at Titus and Twilight, "Thanks for carrying my baggage, Sparkles."

"No problem at all! Anything to get your horn better as soon as possible," Twilight responded cheerfully and set the pair of bags she had carried from town on one of the train station's luggage carts though in her heart the last few hours had caused an increasing amount of anxiety for the impending departure of her friend. She turned to watch Titus help the attendant load the bags before turning back to Lyra for one last attempt, "Are you really sure you want to go? Titus and I would love it if you stayed and I'm sure we could still work something out for you, I feel like you and him made a lot of progress..."

"Already got the tickets, Sparkles, sorry," she said with a trace of sadness in her voice, "Plus, based off the letter I got, mom and pop are excited I'm finally coming home to visit, even if it's just to sleep through my cycle."

A shrill whistle blew once to signal the train was making final preparations to leave which cut their conversation off momentarily. "Well say hi to them for me, okay?" Twilight pulled Lyra into a hug and was told the message would be passed along just as Titus finished getting the bags to Lyra's seat. Stooping out the passenger car door he made a quick jog over to where the two unicorns were waiting for him.

"And you! While I'm gone you'd better take good care of Sparkles-whoa!" Lyra began but was caught by surprise when he hardly slowed down and scooped her completely up to his shoulder in one smooth movement. With the same enthusiasm he showed she wrapped all four hooves around him, her tail also inadvertently wrapping around his thigh, and though she tried to be careful not to use full strength she found herself squeezing him tightly when he pressed his face against her neck and a hand rubbed between her ears. "Mmm. Hey... it's okay, big guy," she said softly when he finally loosened his hold just enough that he could lean back and they could look at each other, "I'll be back here driving you crazy for ear rubs before you know it."

"You know I don't want you to go, are you sure you have to?" he asked.

"Yeah, like I told Sparkles I've already got the tickets." Lyra cast a glance down to Twilight before her ears folded back and, though she wanted to, her eyes refused to meet his as she grinned sheepishly, "U-Unless, ya know... you're ready and willing to give me the poke..."

Titus did his best to search her face whether she was making a joke or not but couldn't exactly tell because she wouldn't look him in the eye long enough which lead to several moments of hesitation before his hand slid up to begin kneading an ear gently, "Maybe?"

"Sorry, big guy," Lyra sighed half out of disappointment and half from the as-always satisfying ear rub, "I... I can't... risk staying on... a 'maybe.' I d-don't want you beating yourself up about it either, it's only a week that I'll be gone."

"You can't come back soon enough-" he responded through a nuzzle against one of the hooves on his shoulder but was interrupted when a bright flash of light to one side drew all three of their attentions. Gathered on the grass at the end of the station was a small group of media ponies, and though their three days of peace had only just ended Titus didn't want to make a fuss over telling them off and decided to ignore them as a second blast from the train whistle and the conductor called all passengers for a final boarding. Titus carried her over to the car door he had just left and put the reluctant-to-let-go unicorn down before dropping to a squat, "It's going to be different not having you around for a week but when you get back we'll start right where we're leaving off, okay?"

"You're acting like I'm going on a trip around Equestria," she laughed briefly and then elbowed him with a sly grin, "But seeing you're offering I'll accept, and now you can't go back on it! We'll start with another trip to the spa."

"I should have known... tell you what, if you can make it without using any magic until the doctor clears your horn for use you've got a deal," he chuckled and scratched her bandage which seemed to melt Lyra into a puddle more than it usually did and at nearly the same time that her head came to a rest on his knee the strobe of camera flashes intensified. Jerking a thumb over to the gathered ponies Titus got enough of Lyra's attention that she opened one eye, "What do you think they'll do while you're gone?"

"I'll be holed up in the privacy of my parent's house, but after what you said at the hospital I think it'd be a safe guess they'll be an annoyance to you two. Have fun with that, Sparkles!"

The conductor was the same one from the day Titus had returned from Canterlot but much to Titus' and Twilight's surprise he had approached them mid conversation and, having been warned by his boss that one of the daughters of the major investor in the railroad would be their VIP for the trip, waited for an opening to politely interject, "Lady Heartstrings? Please pardon me for interrupting but the train is prepared to depart. If would you be so kind as to wrap up your conversation as soon as you could and find your seat we can keep to schedule."

Lyra nodded and once All Aboard had gone out of sight she snagged Titus and Twilight in a hoof each to pull them in for a hug, "Gah! I'm going to miss your two adorable faces every second so the sooner I go and get under this hibernation spell the sooner I can get back!" She was very quickly smothered as they both glommed on for a final hug and wished their farewells which were drowned out by the piercing whistle and hiss of steam from the locomotive. Lyra reluctantly freed herself from their embrace and dashed onto the almost-moving car to find her seat because she knew if she had waited any longer she would be seriously tempted to stay with her two friends. When she stared out her window, however, her flight to avoid such an outcome was jeopardized when she found they were moving with the train to keep her in sight as long as possible. Bye, you two. She waved and gave them a smile to hide the knot that had formed in her throat and though the train had already gotten up to a good speed Titus and Twilight kept pace at a near gallop though as they ran out of raised terminal they came to a screeching halt.

"Hey, Twi? Have you ever hibernated through a cycle? Why didn't you do that when I had to go to Canterlot with Princess Luna?" Titus asked and was answered that she had only done it once because of how unpleasant the after affects were which caused his brow to crease as he stared off at the train click-clacking into the distance out of sight, "What do you mean? What happens?"

"Well I was incredibly groggy for almost two whole days, my access and control over my magic was unreliable at best so coupled with the grogginess I could barely do anything for myself," Twilight started and continued on to list other symptoms congruent with those one might experience immediately after waking from a very deep sleep after being sick. There was a long stint where Twilight fell quiet at the end of which she found herself leaning a shoulder against Titus' thigh simply for the comfort of contact with him, "Another issue is that when you're under the spell you're constantly drifting in and out of sleep into this state of being half awake at times so it becomes impossible to differentiate what's real and what's a dream, so when the hibernation ended and Lyra or one of my other friends weren't around I felt overwhelmingly alone and lost."

Titus fell quiet for a moment himself though only briefly before his jaw set with determination. "I can't let her go through that. Not after what happened." He squatted down beside Twilight and made two loops with his arms against either hip, "Get on. We're catching that train."

His tone was flat but resounded with resolution that made Twilight climb into the position she had seen Lyra use without question though her curiosity finally got the better of her when he stood back up and retreated down the platform in the opposite direction the train was headed, "If we're going to catch up we need the speeder, but that's disassembled in the cargo ho-OOOOOOOLD!"

The word got caught in Twilight's throat when Titus launched forward like a shot. In what felt like a single bound he cleared a third of the platform and by the time Twilight had caught her breath on the next stride the shocked faces of the press ponies passed beneath them as they hurdled over the edge of the train terminal and landed on the grass a good distance away. Turning to look over her shoulder she stared in disbelief that the train station was disappearing behind them as Titus' speed increased further. Had it not been for the hold he had on her hind hooves Twilight thought she might have fallen off during his initial acceleration so she tightened her grip on his shoulders and hid her face from the wind behind his head. Although she hadn't gone for the piggyback rides Lyra had and therefore hadn't been introduced to the Force-assisted sprint she was fairly confident she knew what was allowing him to reach such a ludicrous speed that the train had come back into view and was growing closer with each long stride.

Cresting a hill Titus tightened his grip without much of a warning outside of a brief shout.

"Hold on!"

Twilight's already-tight grip clutched tighter just as he catapulted them in a low arc bordering on flight that, when she chanced a peek downward and saw his legs churning emptiness, made her stomach do a small somersault from how they were rocketing through the air. Bypassing the slope of the hill in such a manner closed the distance on the train much faster and after an impossibly-soft landing in the waist-high grass a fresh burst of speed caused the last stretch between Titus and the caboose to evaporate.

Lyra sat in her seat and stared out the window, her chin propped up on a hoof as the scenery passed by before her eyes though she might as well have been blind because she was paying absolutely zero attention to it. I wonder what mom's going to say about this whole deal with the big guy and me. She thought back on her decision to not expose the ruse she was playing for Twilight's sake because her mother was a bit of a chatterbox and, if things played out like they normally did, sooner or later she and Twilight's mom would have been having their usual tea or coffee date and something would slip. Should I even tell her it was just an act? I mean... by the way things are going, and with the help from Sparkles, me and him are hopefully going to hook up eventually so is it even worth complicating the matter in the here and now with my parents by trying to explain it? Though I guess if I don't that might cause mom or dad to raise the question of why Sparkles is the alpha-

The train car behind them, which had already been annoyingly rowdy since they had left the station, suddenly hit a new level of commotion which spilled out into the hall. The ponies in the cabin all shared a curious look and one of them asked if they thought there was a fight when the door was suddenly thrown open and several more passengers pushed in to crowd around Lyra and the window while more filed in from the corridor behind them.

"Can anyony see Titus? I lost sight of him when I was moving from car to car-"
"If he hasn't slowed down he'll be coming into view in a second, the cabins behind us will see him first."
"Who's that riding on his back? She looked terrified, the poor dear."
"It's scary that he's this fast, imagine if he was trying to catch you for supper..."
"I know a few ponies that wouldn't mind getting caught! Did you hear the rumors that-"

Lyra, who had gone unnoticed by the intruders in their excitement, pushed them away to get some of her breathing space back, "Just what the hay has gotten into all of you, barging in here like that? And what's this you're saying about the big guy?" She never got an answer as very soon she noticed the ponies were looking past her right when the commotion she had shouted her question over grew to a new level.

Rounding about in her seat her eyes went wide when she found Titus was there, sprinting at an even pace with the train and searching the window until he saw her at which point she watched him say something over his shoulder to Twilight who clung to his back like a pegasi foal going for her first flight on a parent's back. In her shock it took a second to process that he had moved closer to the train before she, much like everypony else in the cabin, scrambled for the window however because she was already seated she effectively crowded them all out. Try as she might she couldn't get the latch holding it closed to work as without her usual access to her magic she discovered her hooves weren't quite dexterous enough which was made all the harder because it had broken long ago and the stub was impossible to get any grip on with her hooves or teeth.

"Come on, damn it. Come. ON!" she snarled at the confounded device. That's it, buck being gentle! Getting enough of her hooftips under the window ledge she forced the thing open by outright breaking it - she could replace it or pay whatever fine the railroad wanted to stick her with, all that was on her mind was to find out why Titus and Twilight were chasing her train. Leaning on the sill she poked her head out the window and was immediately buffeted by the wind that drowned out the commotion behind her, "Hey, what're you doing, big guy? Is everything okay?!"

Titus tried saying something in response but his words were lost to the wind so when Lyra shook her head and cupped an ear with a hoof as a signal he came right up alongside the window before one hand grabbed hold of the bottom while the other secured Twilight. With a glance down he found a ledge for his feet so with carefully timed coordination he performed a small hop which left him hanging securely from the side of the car. "No, it's not," he repeated loud enough to hear this time but before he could continue he felt Twilight squirm on his back seeking cover from the wind so he adjusted his posture to provide better protection before returning to the unicorn that was leaning out of the window, "I had to come talk with you. Twi told me about the after-affects you'll have when you come out of your hibernation. I can't help with your cycle but I don't want to let you go through that alone. I'd like to be there when you wake up to welcome you back, if it's okay."

"I'd be coming, too," Twilight added just loud enough from behind him.

Lyra looked a little lost in thought for a moment but then suddenly leaned further out the window. "That'd be a huge relief, having you and Sparkles at my side will make recovery a breeze!" she paid little mind to how far she had come out of the window in her excitement and had it not been for Titus' proximity to catch herself and several hooves from behind grabbing hold she would have fallen right out, "That's a promise, right? I can tell mom and pop to expect a visit from the big guy?"

"Absolutely, Lyra-"

Titus suddenly felt two hooves grab either side of his head to hold it steady before Lyra shot forward. The softness of her lips pressed against his but what shocked him was the fleeting sensation of the roughness of a tongue probing and brushing playfully which he found himself responding to out of habit of doing so with Twilight but before he could adequately greet the intrusion the passengers yanked her back through the window out of fear she was falling out. Titus was knocked off balance but his reaction was more than quick enough to hit the ground running however the Force Sprint he had used to catch the train had drained almost all of his energy so all he had left in him was to safely reduce their speed, the train slowly pulling away as he did so though Lyra fought off the other passengers to pop her upper body back out through the window to wave.

"Love you, big guy! See you soooon!"

Coming to a weary stop Titus dropped to his knees in the tall, soft grass and waved an arm back at Lyra until she and the train disappeared over another hill at which point he flopped himself forward and sprawled out. That... that was quite a run... I might have overdone it. Panting heavily to catch his breath one of the labored exhales turned into a chuckle when Twilight, who was still clinging to him tightly, tickled the back of his sweating neck with a breath of her own and a poke of a cold nose for a sniff before her muzzle brushed gently against it on a path for the edge of his jaw.

"You know, you could have warned a girl before dashing off like that. A 'hey, I haven't shown you this before but I'm about to outrun a train with one of my abilities' would have gone a long way to preparing me for that," she scolded in a teasing manner in his ear before nipping his shoulder playfully though in her eagerness it was harder than she intended and he grunted softly, "So, we are going back to the lab for a little show and tell where you are going to show me everything you can do while I do some thorough study and documentation!"

"Okay, fine... I should have told you what I had planned," he continued to pant as his breathing began to find a semblance of regularity and he grunted again when another bite - thankfully softer than the last - was administered to the back of his neck. He felt a kiss follow it and then Twilight's grip shifted and she stood up on her hooves just long enough to roll him onto his back with some quick magic before sitting herself lightly on his chest where the half-lidded glare she gave him was more than telling about what mood she was in. She had been holding him extremely tightly and though he wouldn't know this it hadn't taken her long to get over being startled at which point she had instead focused on his body moving in her hooves which, partly because of the elevated hormones, had lead her to be in the state she was in. Titus attempted to reach out to her but both hands were quickly pinned to either side of his head by a hoof, allowing the unicorn to posture to dominate the space over him, "What that was was something called a Force Sprint which us Jedi only used occasionally because of how much it strains us, but with the speeder out of commission I felt like I didn't have any other options to catching up to Lyra. I just barely had enough steam to get out this far so I'm going to need a rest before I can get us back to Ponyville and the library-"

Twilight cut him off by leaning her head down to meet his, her lips pressing down hard as her tongue slithered into his mouth to communicate that she wasn't particularly interested in an explanation, or at least not at this time. With barely a break in concentration a hoof released a hand to fumble behind her and in short order the hem of Titus' shirt was pulled up to his armpits so that Twilight felt the relief of smooth familiar skin that she ground herself against in earnest while moving on to his belt.

Back at the library a little later Twilight skipped happily down the hall to answer the light pattern of knocks coming from the front door. "You can come in~! The library is open, after all..." she called, as always curious why nopony seemed to enter the library without knocking first despite it being a public building. Maybe I should get one of those open signs so ponies don't feel like they're barging in. Ooo! There's some pretty cool lighting on the ship, I'll ask if Tius has any extra parts to make a sign. While I'm at it see if there's some possibility of Spike's idea of making an automated checkout system with his technology, too. Twilight filed that thought for later and was nearly to the door when it opened to reveal Quickbolt and Nightwatch and a few other out-of-uniform guards milling about behind them.

"Oh, hello sergeants. Is everything alright?" she asked as the pegasus and batpony stepped inside with a request to their comrades to wait up for them for a moment. Twilight backed down the hallway a ways and for a second her stomach lurched from remembering the last time Sergeant Quickbolt had knocked on her door which she attempted to shrug off with a nervous laugh, "I take it neither of you are here for a book...?"

"Na, just out with the gals for some fun, Twilight. Can we come in real quick?" Quickbolt asked while Nightwatch made a small apology for the disturbance. The pegaus walked a little past Twilight to peek first into the library section of the house but only found the small dragon re-shelving a few books, "We'll try and make this quick. We saw the two guards outside; any chance T is around?" Turning about she poked her nose around the doorway into the living room she saw a pair of bare feet poking out from under a bundle of blankets on the couch though she waited for Twilight to nod that she could continue further inside.

"He's taking a nap. He wore himself out running for a train this morning," Twilight said thinking the Sergeant would take that to mean he had quite literally chased a train but she only hummed knowingly thinking of something less extreme. She followed Quickbolt over to the couch with the batpony in tow to stand next to the small coffee table that was laden with the snacks he had devoured before passing out, "I think Titus would be okay with you waking him up, especially if you need to. He generally doesn't like to sleep in the middle of the day."

"We just need to pass on a correspondence," Nightwatch clarified as she procured a sealed letter from a bag beneath her wing - a 'flyer's pouch,' as Dash had identified the one she had been wearing when she had playfully dive-bombed Titus one day and he had commented on it. Nightwatch showed the envelope to Twilight who barely took a look at it before recognizing the elegant dark blue script though an odd detail outside that neither guard had paid any attention to that caught her's was the glittery shimmer that was embedded in the ink and just as Twilight came to realize there was a faint amount of Harmony emanating from it the batpony spoke again, "This came to us this morning directly from Canterlot. Princess Luna said it's of a somewhat urgent nature and that when Titus opens the letter she'll be alerted-"

"Because of the spell in the ink," Twilight had already scanned the faint trace of Harmony she had detected and dissected its simple weaving which allowed her to learn the spell in the process, "Interesting implementation... very efficient."

Neither guard had much interest in spells, of course, and rather than comment on what the unicorn had said Nightwatch kept the conversation on their job of delivering the envelope, "Sgt. Quickbolt and I are only required to be present while he reads it, we were told it's just a formality. We'll get out of your mane once we can both report back that it's been received and read."

Twilight was half tempted to ask if she could open the letter herself to see if there was some further alteration to the spell and why the envelope was so heavy but it was coming with very specific instructions from a Princess which she told herself she should follow, she could always look at the letter later after all. Moving past Nightwatch and Quickbolt to one end of the couch Twilight reared up and pulled a corner of the blanket back, revealing a small portion of Titus' face. "Hey Titus, I need you to get up..." she said softly while imparting a gentle nuzzle to encourage him to wake up.

Slowly his eyes blinked open. "Need me, huh? C'mere."

She wasn't ready for an arm to slide out from under the blanket to scoop her up and pull her under because she didn't realize in his nearly-asleep state his vision had only focused as far as was necessary to see her so the presence of Quickbolt and Nightwatch went unnoticed with the rest of the blurred room. Despite her small surprised squeak and embarrassed mumbling Titus' eyes closed again. "Between the run and having to help you out in the field I'm still pretty tired," before she could make any further attempt at waking him up he had settled in against her with every intention of continuing his nap with Twilight close by, the arm that had dragged her in now looped around her barrel which pulled her back against his chest while his chin found a comfy spot to rest lightly between her ears, "Just another hour, okay? Then I'll be energized enough that we can go again."

"W-When he says he was 'helping me out in the field' and that he's tired it's because of a spell I've been studying. F-For my report to Princess Celestia, of course!" she stumbled and fought to keep her face from showing any hints of embarrassment that they might have interpreted it to mean something else. Little did she know both Sergeants had picked up on the faint musk of her estrous cycle the minute they had entered the living area and Nightwatch was just too polite to say anything while in Quickbolt's case it was that she was definitely wise enough to not say the smart-ass thought that popped into her head to the personal student of Princess Celestia.

Neither guard seemed to question her excuse so Twilight relaxed a little until something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. From Twilight's new perspective on the couch she noticed on the other side of the large chair that was part of the seating arrangement a pile of clothes that was out of sight of both Quickbolt and Nightwatch and because of the way he had folded himself up to fit on the couch she realized she could feel a large amount of exposed warm skin against her fur. Trying not to draw either of their guests' attention to the pile by staring she quickly scanned the discarded clothing in a series of glances however she couldn't see the black bit cloth she was looking for so very subtly she conformed her body to his and settled herself in against him.

Just by feel she could tell he wasn't wearing anything at all underneath the blanket. Shoot. I should have told him to put something back on after his shower and before letting him crash. Okay, I just can't have him bolting upright with these two here, he'd be really upset. She remained still and said nothing for a few seconds out of fear of startling him awake, half of her hesitation was from how comfy she had become in such a short time, though eventually she bumped his arm with her shoulder, "Hey... Nightwatch and Quickbolt dropped by with a letter for you from Princess Luna. They need you to just give it a read and after that you can go back to sleep."

Upon mention of the pegasus' and batpony's names Titus' eyes shot open and he would have sat up had it not been for Twilight's hooves wrapped around the arm he had around her that helped keep him in a lying position. "O-Oh, um... hello, ladies," was his slightly-startled greeting to which Nightwatch maintained her professional demeanor unlike Quickbolt, who didn't bother stopping herself from snorting in amusement. Remembering in the nick of time his state of indecency Titus carefully snaked an arm out from under the blanket so as to not expose himself and took the envelope from the batpony and broke the wax seal with a finger whereupon there was a small spark and a quiet pop to accompany it as the spell activated. Opening the envelope revealed two separate letters rather than the single correspondence he was expecting so the small key that dropped out onto the blanket was a further surprise. In the interest of getting to the bottom of what all this meant he pulled the folded paper in front out first and discovered the heavy card stock bore an angled handwriting that was distinctly not Luna's.

By Order of His Royal Majesty:

It is hereby decreed that Sir Titus Marius Aelius, the visitor from afar, is to be welcomed and officially recognized by His Royal Highness for his contribution to protecting the well-being of His Majesty's subjects along the Griffonstone Equestria border. In doing so His Majesty, King Gréagóir IV, son of his late Majesty, King Gall, wishes to extend an olive branch of peace and friendship on behalf of His Court and the Griffon Kingdom. His Majesty The King regrets that he is unable to attend to award the honor himself He has hereby commanded that an official ceremony shall be held to commemorate the event where a gift of exquisite Griffon crafting shall be imparted on behalf of His Royal Highness to Sir Titus Marius Aelius by His Emissaries at the Royal Palace of Canterlot.

His Royal Majesty's wish is that Sir Titus attend the event and accept the token in ceremonial clothing acceptable to his people as a sign of acknowledgement of His Majesty's benevolent gesture, though His Grace shall understand if Sir Titus is unavailable and asks that an appointed surrogate accept the gift in his stead.

Titus finished reading the letter and took a moment to scan over it one last time before moving on to the large signature at the bottom. Next to this was a royal crest pressed into wax and adorned with a ribbon which he stared at to give himself time to process what he had read. "Well, that certainly is a surprise," he said after a moment and passed the letter to Twilight so she could look for herself. Meanwhile, he pulled the second letter out which had his name on it in Luna's writing so he opted to read it to himself before making a decision whether or not to share its contents aloud.

Titus:

Hello, my friend! It has been much longer than I would like since we last had the opportunity to spend time together so I write to you in hope that this letter finds you well. Up until now my duty as Princess has come at the expense of my ability to see you, which was much to my dismay after becoming aware of what befell you and your friend, Lyra Heartstrings. I offer my most humble apologies that I am only to be freed from the shackles of my responsibilities here in the near future at which time I would seek to commit the time to once again meet with you on a regular basis.

However, much to my excitement, there has been a fortunate alignment in that several weeks ago my sister was contacted by the Griffon King and they had begun organizing a ceremony. More recently Tia noticed how much it was bothering me not to be able to leave the Palace so she very thoughtfully allowed me to take over preparations! I was very excited to take on the role and as part of my arrangements for the ceremony the room in the Lunar Wing you used on your previous visit has been prepared for you. Furthermore I have declared it to be officially reserved for your use alone, the key for which you will also find enclosed, meaning there is and will always be a place for you here and at my side, my friend.

If you have not already, please read the other enclosed letter before continuing. If you have read the summons from King Gréagóir, which I would imagine you have seeing as it was put it at the front of the envelope, I sincerely hope you will agree to attending the ceremony. I will admit most of this is born of a selfish desire, however, I cannot be faulted for it on account of how much more dull and tedious Court paperwork feels without my personal assistant to liven things up with an occasional paper war or night on the couch watching a movie.

Your Princess and Grateful Best Friend,
Luna

In a separate pen and a completely different color of ink was a footnote that looked to have been hastily scrawled, almost as if somepony snuck it in without the original writer's knowledge.

Lulu is prancing around the Palace in eager anticipation of your arrival. Please, Mr. Aelius, I implore you to attend even if it is only for the afternoon because she is beginning to drive me crazy. She has even set up clocks to be visible from every hallway to count the hours and she continuously checks that your designated room is prepared to her satisfaction. If there is anything I have to do to make this happen please relay your requirements through Sgt. Quickbolt, she has been given a direct line to me.

-P.C.

The emphasis on "anything" was striking as it was underlined heavily several times. Well, looks like I'm making a trip back to Canterlot. Titus folded Luna's letter neatly back into the envelope and tucked it under his pillow, ignoring Twilight's obvious curiosity to the contents as he turned his attention back to the guards, "Thank you for dropping that by. You can report back that it's been read."

"Princess Luna must be pretty busy, she hasn't been out to visit in a while. Everything cool between you two?" Quickbolt unabashedly inquired which brought the exiting Nightwatch to a grinding halt as she whirled around.

"Y-You can't just ask something like that!" she scolded and grabbed Quickbolt by the collar to begin dragging her to the door, "The private affairs of the Princess and Sir Aelius are none of our business-"

"Hold up," Titus called and brought both the guards to a stop, "Princess Luna was writing to pass along a summons; I'm supposed to get some award or something from a griffon king so I'll be headed to Canterlot for a bit. I figure if I'm leaving it's fair you two should know because the advanced notice will help if you need to take any special precautions necessary to guard my ship. I'll let both of you know once I have a firm date on when, according to her letter Luna has just been too preoccupied to visit and she'll come by for my answer soon." Nightwatch nodded and said something about drawing up a patrol schedule for his approval which he only partially paid attention to because Quickbolt's expression made it clear she was still expecting something. "And yes, Sergeant, everything is still fine between us," he said, shaking his head at the grin the pegaus shot his way though she didn't get to interject any further remarks on the matter because after a final farewell Nightwatch resumed dragging her out into the hallway and shortly after the sound of the door closing signaled they had left.

A long silence filled the room as both Twilight and Titus waited for the other to say something until he finally let out a loud sigh and flopped back out on the couch after which Twilight twisted herself around enough that she could see if he was falling back asleep like he initially had wanted to but found he didn't look like he was about to nod off. "Well, I'm glad that was something worth waking you up for. Do you think you'll go back to sleep again or are you too awake now?" she asked as his hand found the hoof she had taken his arm with and squeezed it gently while his thumb went to work on the soft underside, something she had voiced was very relaxing the first time he had done it at the picnic and since then occasionally he would treat her to all four hooves when they both curled up together.

"Na, I'm ready to get up. Still, let's take this as an easy and relaxing day," he said, stretching with a long yawn though when he came out of it he noticed Twilight's splayed ears just before she could flip them back forward. Guessing it was a giveaway that she still felt guilty for disturbing his rest when, in fact, Twilight had begun to hope there would be an opportunity to take a small nap of her own cuddled up on the couch together, Titus nuzzled the base of a nearest ear, "It's supposed to be nice out, want to go to the clearing? Lazing around the pond for a while sounds rather appealing."

Twilight's ears perked up at the mention, "Actually, you're right, that does sound appealing though it has been a while since we went. Would you be open to continuing my swimming instruction?" Since their date at the clearing Twilight and Titus had retreated to the pond and the privacy the disguising spell provided on several occasions during which time the lessons had continued and she'd made a fair amount of progress. Twilight was even feeling confident enough that at one point she had gone by herself to the public pool to swim a few laps and simply think after discovering how conducive swimming was to being alone with your thoughts. "One special request? Could you wear the swim trunks you showed me rather than just going in your undershorts? I know it means you'll need to go to your ship, but I'd actually like to go for a swim and with the legs of them being longer I'm hoping it'll stave off another estrous episode by covering more of you," she explained and was told that was perfectly acceptable. Though she was comfortable where she was she let his arm go so he could sit up before doing the same, "While you're doing that I'll get some towels and food together then we can meet up at the café in say, an hour?"

Titus was quickly dressed and on his way though because Spike assisted Twilight in collecting a tablecloth, some towels, as well as packing a small bit of food for their stay on his own initiative she was out the door and at the café well before she had planned.

Deciding to take a seat at the outskirts of the patio tables she looked to pass the time waiting for Titus by cracking open the ancient book he had given her and though she only intended to read her notes soon the datapad followed it out of her saddle bag and notes were spread over the table, held down against the light breeze by the pair of condiment bottles and a few more pilfered from other tables nearby.

"Your sandwich, miss."

The voice of the waiter right before a plated sandwich was placed in the only open space startled Twilight from her absolute focus on the translating and she quickly stated she hadn't ordered anything. "Ma'am, if there is something wrong with your order I would be more than happy to fix it but you most certainly did get something. In fact, I was the one that took the order for this rather specific sandwich," he stated rather curtly before showing her his small notepad of orders, "Unicorn, table six; 'dandelion and lemon grass sandwich on dark rye with mayonnaise only on slice opposite lettuce, lightly toasted with one sliced pickle on the side.' And here is your berry smoothie, unless you'd like me to read that order as well."

After the sandwich specifics it did sound like her regular order and Twilight looked slightly confused for a moment which is why she didn't register the waiter's snark. Why did I order something when I know I've already got plans? I just must have been so engrossed in my notes. "No, that's okay. Sorry for spacing out like that," she apologized for the confusion and began to clear a space for him to put down her smoothie without messing up the order of her notes. Twilight was passing the waiter Bits for her meal when two familiar faces moved past him to find seats at the table at which point paused with her hoof halfway outstretched much to the server's annoyance that he wasn't getting to his other tables as quickly as he'd like.

"Rarity, what are you doing here? A-And Rainbow Dash? When did you get released from the hospital?" she asked in surprise that they would all be at the café before pushing the Bits into the waiter's hoof to forego her organization and rush to clear them a space at the table, "I'm just waiting for Titus; he and I are meeting up here before we go to the clearing for some swimming."

Rarity and Dash shared a look before the pegasus' head tilted slightly and an eyebrow crept up her forehead, "Uh, you forgetting something?" Twilight was clearly confused with the question and it was clear her mind was chugging to work out what it had meant but she saved her the struggle and huffed, "Today was one of the days you wanted to grab lunch. You know, with us? Us two specifically..." Dash was doing her best to be discrete because the fair weather meant it didn't take long for the café to fill the empty tables around Twilight with other customers and with an image in the papers of Titus clutching both Lyra and Twilight tightly after the attack it was a rather hot topic to discuss theories as to how close they actually were.

Twilight's forehead remained creased in thought for only a second more before her eyes went wide. "Wait, that was today?! I-I could have sworn..." she sputtered before the gears in her mind worked through her confusion and her face came to rest in a hoof, "Crabapples, I'm sorry girls. The last few days are a bit of a blur so I must have lost track."

"That's perfectly understandable, it was quite the dreadful ordeal," Rarity patted Twilight's hoof reassuringly which the violet unicorn made known was appreciated so Rarity left her hoof there while placing an order for a suitably sophisticated lunch with the waiter who was still standing at their table. Once Dash had done the same Rarity turned back to Twilight, "By the way, how is Titus? I haven't seen him about town lately so I can only imagine what the poor dear must be going through."

"He's..." Twilight faded out and visibly drooped, "Honestly I think he's been avoiding going out as much as he can but whether that's because he's worried about getting hounded by the tabloids - most other papers and news stations are respecting his request and are now going through me or Princess Luna - or whether he's worried about other ponies with a grudge I don't know. It definitely impacted him though, as much as he tries to act like it didn't, and I don't know how to get him to feel that Ponyville is still a safe, welcoming place to call home."

Much like Twilight Rarity's ears animated her emotions and folded backward, "It will just take some time, Twilight, you can't expect him to rebound immediately. If you think it would help at all I would be happy to offer some of my free time to escort him on his errands-"

"Stretch doesn't need an 'escort', Rarity, what he needs is some muscle to tag along," Dash smashed a hoof into the other and ground it like she was squishing something between them with an almost alarmingly eager grin, "I'm still on sick leave from the Weather Team but the doc said I should stay active so I've got all sorts of free time on my hooves! Tell him I'll come along to knock any jerks skulls together!"

"Those offers are both appreciated and I'd really love it if you would ask him yourselves, I think it would go a long way in making him feel better," Twilight thanked them genuinely but shook her head, "But I don't think it will be entirely necessary. The few times when I haven't been able to accompany him and he's needed to go out either Sergeant Quickbolt or Nightwatch, the two Royal Canterlot Guards in charge of protecting his ship, have acted as his companions. From what I understand they got somewhat chewed out after the incident with Show Stopper's herd and they're now under strict orders to keep at least one guard with him at all times, as inconvenient as that can be for he and I."

"Oh dear, I can imagine! Speaking of," Rarity was quick and took control of the conversation before her pegasi counterpart could, "It has been a while since we all got together so perhaps you could update Rainbow and I on how things are going for you two? It caused quite the splash when Titus declared to everypony that he would valiantly protect you, as backwards as that is for the stallion to say. I would assume such openness by him would mean some form of progress has been made?"

"So, you saw that news story. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, who hasn't? Um..." Twilight fidgeted lightly under Rarity's scrutiny. The violet unicorn was unsure how or what to disclose though in the moment she was constructing her answer Dash leaned forward on the table on her elbow.

"Oh-ho-ho!" she chuckled and that evilly mischievous grin stretched across her face, "Somepony looks guilty! 'Progress?' Rares, I think the egghead here has been making some progress for a while now! Come on, Twilight... you're banging him, aren't ya?" Twilight going red and stammering out incomplete sentences in protest of the inquiry was confirmation enough for the pegasus and she did a small hoof-pump before pointing at Rarity, "See?! I called it, I totally called it!" She didn't give the unicorn a chance to respond to the victorious gloating and instead turned back toward the librarian to find her ears were splayed back and head lowered as if to try and make herself smaller which came to Dash like a punch to the gut, "Hey, hey, hey. Chill out, Twilight, I'm not trying to upset you or anything I just sorta... figured with your... um... thing going on it was probably going to happen, if it hadn't already."

Rather surprisingly Twilight's expression changed from one of anxiety to clear annoyance.

"Why does everypony seem to know about my cycle?" Her grumble ended with a sigh as Rarity politely pointed out that they both had noticed the symptoms so she resolved to put everything out on the table; these were her experts, after all, and if she wanted their help and input it would be best to just give them as much information to work with as she comfortably could so she put a small privacy spell on the table that prevented any outsiders from listening in by making anything said immediately forgotten.

"Y-Yes, Titus and I have been um... intimate but it didn't have anything to do with me being on my cycle, together we made that choice before it started," she explained and after getting that off her chest she realized she felt much more at ease speaking now that the subject had been broken, "I couldn't be happier either, Titus and I feel so much more in tune with each other now. He's been incredibly understanding, and even though since then I feel like I've been, um... pushy at times to instigate things he just goes with it and doesn't seem bothered, although with the onset of this week I think he's starting to get a bit physically worn out. But oh my gosh... he is amazing!" Twilight sighed with a happy smile and before she knew it she had divulged many of the moments they had shared together in one long, uninterrupted expulsion of everything she had been keeping bottled up but had wanted to share.

"W-Well, it sounds like you two are getting along famously," Rarity commented, clearly flustered at the overwhelming amount of information that had been shared though after a moment one ear fell flat back and the other rotated forward as her head tilted to one side which was a tell-tale sign she was about to ask a question, "If you don't mind me, dear, I'm curious and a little concerned; how are you two going about the delicacies of your time? I daresay you've never voiced a desire of starting a family."

"Oh," halfway around a bite of sandwich Twilight realized she hadn't shared the information of her discovery so she chewed what was in her mouth quickly before continuing, "Remember when he came back from Canterlot? Long story about that. Anyway, before he left I had tested his genetics and found he's incapable of giving me a foal, though because of his transmogrification I recently checked again to be safe and confirmed that there's no risk. If we did or do want to at some future time, however, there's a few spell options I can look into-"

"Okay hold on," Dash sat up from her hunched position rather quickly and, much to both her and Rarity's unrealized relief, interjected before Twilight could delve further into regurgitating the vast amount of information she had discovered during her test of Titus' blood before he had gone on his first trip to Canterlot and after he had gotten back. "So let me get this straight, Twilight... you're in heat, you've got a dude that can't knock you up, and you've described him as a grade-A rut on top of that?" the pegasus asked with a subconscious fluttering of her wings, foregoing all of the subtly and polite consideration that Rarity had pulled her aside to stress the importance of for a second time that morning before they had entered the café, "Because uh... that sounds sorta like a heated mare's dream, what with how much cycles totally suck and how they make you want to just retreat from society for a week. I saw that one magazine with all the images and stuff, but um... with him not being a pony is it still sorta normal, or whatever? Does everything, ya know... work?"

"Does what work, Dash?"

Rainbow nearly jumped out of her fur as the words came from right behind her and by the time she had covered her mouth from the rather un-Dash-like squeak everypony at the table had picked up on the human's sudden appearance. "D-Dude! So not cool, Stretch!" Rainbow scolded and tried to get her still-fluttering wings under control which served as a good guise for hiding her flushed face, "Something as big as you shouldn't be able to sneak up like that, it's not fair!"

"I had to dodge a few of those tabloid muckrakers that were hanging around the ship so I made myself go unnoticed. It's also easier to get about town. Sorry," Titus answered somewhat unsympathetically because he knew the pegasus wouldn't have paid him the same courtesy however he lowered himself to balance on the balls of his feet between the chairs Dash and Rarity had taken as he wasn't keen on undoing the amicable rapport he had established with the latter, "Good afternoon, Miss Rarity. I hope you'll forgive my sudden appearance and overlook the fun I had at Rainbow's expense."

"Well, I suppose I could forgive you. After all, who knew the daring and cool Rainbow Dash could squeak at such an octave?" Rarity giggled and had already committed to keep a very vivid memory of the noise Dash had made. It would serve as a juicy bit of blackmail on the off chance she would need a pegasus model for any commissions in the near future because she was of the opinion that a real pony was always better than a mannequin when it came to proper fitting of a garment. It was also a little known secret and one which she guarded determinedly but Rarity took some serious satisfaction in dolling up the boisterous and unladylike pegasus in frilly petticoats and large lacy bows. Putting that aside for later, as well as subtly shooting her dress-up target a coy grin, Rarity was unsure how to proceed with their meeting now that the subject of their gathering had suddenly joined them at the table and simply made herself look occupied with her own food, as did Rainbow.

Titus paid it little mind and turned once again to jab a finger at the pegasus once her mouth was full. "And you! I would have probably a little more open to approaching the table normally, but remember when I said I wanted to sneak you some tasty non-hospital food? Well, I went all the way to the hospital to check up on you a few days ago with a big bag from Hayburger and you were gone! I had to ask Nurse Redheart if you had been transferred to another room and after the rather uncomfortable drop-dead look she gave she tells me you dismissed yourself almost immediately after me, Twi, and Lyra left the night of the incident. A head's up would have been appreciated to save me the trip," Titus crossed his arms over his chest to really drive home he wasn't pleased, "And to make things worse the bag I was carrying got greasy on the bottom. It split open to drop everything at my feet so the Nurse caught me with all the contraband I was smuggling to you."

Dash laughed and told him he deserved it for scaring her like he had before going on to explain she had checked out early to spend a night at home in her own bed before having to do some administrative paperwork assigned by the Weather Team during her absence. A slug to his shoulder accompanied the statement and subtle reminder that she was looking forward to the race he had promised once she was fully recovered and almost as suddenly as he had appeared the grim look he had been directing at her vanished. "Come here. I want you to know I'm really glad you're going to be okay, Dash," an open-armed invitation was quickly filled by the pegasus who also wrapped him in a winghug on top of that though once she had a hold of him his face shifted to a cocky grin, "I've got something for the winner, a sur-prize for whichever of us takes first place."

"If you bought it and you're participating wouldn't that disqualify it being a surprise?" Twilight pointed out once the two had let each other go. Neither seemed have heard her and the lighthearted quarrel over who was going to win resulted in a back and forth of playful shoulder punches before Titus abandoned the game and turned to her, his eyes lighting up just as his smile did and very soon she felt a hand on an ear.

"Sorry I took so long, love."

Both Rarity and Dash bore witness to the quick peck the two shared though Rarity was clearly the more interested and after he had pulled a chair up against Twilight's and draped an arm over her shoulders the fashionista found she couldn't contain herself any longer when they rubbed noses, "*Squee!* You two look positively adorable together! Ooo! I have just the idea! Could I persuade you both to stop by my boutique for a small photoshoot? Hearts and Hooves day is on the horizon and will be creeping up on us before we know it and it just so happens that I have several fashions that will be a part of a magazine spread that I think would be absolutely stunning if you two were to model them. It will just take a bit of work to make a set for Titus, however..."

"I'm definitely not opposed to helping a friend out but I'm sure there's got to be somepony better than me to model them for you," Twilight responded and almost immediately suggested Fluttershy who she believed was better looking than she was and would undoubtedly make a better showmare of her friend's clothing, though there would of course be the small hurdle of her shyness to overcome. Titus quickly followed her by voicing a sentiment that Rarity might be offending some of her clientele by including him in on her designs because the last few days had made it startlingly clear there were those that were volatile in not accepting his presence.

Both his and subsequently Twilight's concerns were quickly dismissed as Rarity tut'd at him, "Oh please, dear. I hope we're familiar enough with each other that you'd know I wouldn't concern myself with their opinion let alone want such a bigoted and repulsive lot adorning themselves in my artwork. No, I simply must have you two as my models now or I will feel as if I am settling for less."

Twilight shrugged and looked to him to confirm it would be alright and, after a nod, turned back to the white unicorn, "Alright, we'll do it. It'll have to wait for a bit because we're both headed to Canterlot for something but when we get back we should be free. Does that still give you enough time to get your layout together for the magazine?"

Rarity indicated that was more than enough time for her to create a matching outfit for Titus at which point a small quiet fell upon the table that he, being the latecomer, took advantage of. "So..." he started and looked from the white unicorn to the cyan pegasus, "Did Twi invite you along or did she just happen to bump into you here on your lunch?"

Rather than answer Dash suddenly shoved half of her food in her mouth and Rarity tried to abruptly dismiss and redirect the topic to something else which was behavior that caught Titus more than a little off guard. Turning to Twilight, however, was equally as fruitful in the search for answers because she simply peeked over the top of her book and gave a sheepish laugh at which point Titus guessed they hadn't happened upon each other and something was up, he just wasn't sure what, and the easiest target to break was obvious. Without a word he stood up and walked to the other side of Twilight and dropped down to the balls of his feet again which put him directly at eye level with Dash who he simply stared at as she nervously chewed her mouthful, "You said you went home after discharging yourself from the hospital. For someone recovering from an injury you sure came a long way out here to Ponyville for a simple sandwich, especially with that wing still wrapped up like it is. Surely there's a similar restaurant in Cloudsdale that would have something comparable to save you the trip... though I'm getting the feeling you're here for something else."

Rainbow chewed faster and Titus could tell she was trying to keep her lips sealed on the matter so he forged onward. "Determined, aren't you? I really shouldn't be surprised, you're Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty after all... but I have ways of making you talk, my little pony," he teased and wiggled his fingers comically, very subtly watching Rarity who was successfully stifling her laughter behind a napkin, "I can leave how we go about getting what I want up to you, of course, whether that be the easy way or the hard way, though you should probably know I've shown Twi the technique and after some experiments in her basement laboratory even with some of the stronger spells she wasn't able to stop me." Visible sweat dripped down the pegasus' brow and she shoved nearly the entire half of her remaining sandwich slice in her mouth, her hooves returning to the table and if she had had hands they would probably have been clenched with determination to resist. Titus was focused almost completely on breaking the will of resistance before him as part of his plan however he wasn't oblivious to both unicorns, the one of interest quite literally on the verge of losing her composure for an unknown reason and the other struggled to hide behind her book when she wanted to come to her friend's aide. He leaned on the edge of the table to draw himself just a little closer, "Rainbow? Would you like me to show you-?"

*Pomf!*

"Oh-ho ho! Oh my!" Rarity burst out in a fit of giggles when Dash's wings popped rigidly out to their full span but she quickly regained her composure with a small ahem, "Titus, dear, using such terms as 'experiments' and 'laboratories'... you paint a rather libidinous scene for which the imagination fulfills the gaps. And Rainbow, you should get yourself under control. Twilight's spell might disguise our words but we are not shrouded." Dash's face was downcast at the table but one could guess the color of her cheeks by the red tinge of her ears that nearly matched one of her stripes as she pulled her outstretched wings in and pinned them against the back of her chair.

This wasn't the outcome Titus had sought and it was clear Rarity was in possession of the knowledge why the pegasus was acting so strangely.

"Well, perhaps our winged friend would care to explain why she left the hospital so quickly," Rarity responded when asked and scooted her chair to butt up against Rainbow's, "Come on, dear. Twilight has been open with us, it's only fair you be open as well." There was a moment of silence during which time Dash glanced up to Titus then shook her head that she had nothing to say, something Rarity crossed her hooves over her chest and scoffed at before she leaned in to whisper at what she thought would be a level Titus was incapable of hearing, "Rainbow, dear, if you're concerned about speaking of it in front of Titus you should remember how Twilight felt much the same way at our first meeting. She trusted us with delicate information, it's your turn to do the same."

"F-Fine."

There was an audible gulp from the pegasus before she squeezed her eyes shut and just blurted everything out before she could stop herself, "I-I dismissed myself... because of my cycle, okay? Flying between Cloudsdale and Ponyville as often as I do means it never normalizes with any of my friends so I can't predict when it hits like either of you can. I didn't want to be in the hospital when that was going on because they would've moved me to the Estrous Recovery ward and I didn't want to be stuck in a room of heated mares so I left. When I tried to fly home I realized too late with my wing the way it was I wasn't going anywhere so I stumbled to Rarity's to see if she would let me hole up there." She huffed in relief to have spewed everything out at once and while she caught her breath a sigh emanated from Rarity.

"The sight of the poor dear standing on my doorstep, all bandaged up and in quite a mess... I just couldn't turn her away!"

"I'm just about out of the woods... uh, I mean out of the worst of it, Stretch, but you getting all hot and flirty like that was sorta unexpected so... yeah..." In a rather un-Dash-like manner the pegasus gave Titus a meek look, "I knew you could be a tease but I didn't think you'd be mean enough to give a girl the stiffies..."

"W-What? Hot and f-flirty?" Titus stared at the pegasus blankly as several of his neural pathways felt like they short circuited, "That's not... no, I didn't mean... T-Twilight can tell you, I was talking about using the Force to see your thoughts..."

"Regardless of what you meant, dear, it was the manner that elicited Rainbow's reaction," Rarity revealed before leaning closer to Titus across the table, still thoroughly enjoying herself, as one hoof partially shielded her mouth from Dash's view and her voice dropped to a whisper, "Meaning, dare I say it, but for a stallion you came off as rather commanding and dominant-"

"R-Rarity!" the pegasus interjected as she reached a whole new tint of glowing red, "Why did you have to tell him that?! What happened to you being stuck on ladylike behavior or whatever?"

"Oh please," Rarity swished a hoof through the air as if she was swatting the objection aside like a fly, "I certainly won't go into any of the sordid details of your stay in the presence of a gentlecolt. A little risqué gossip between friends is perfectly acceptable and quite common, however, even in the upper echelons of Canterlot. I must be perfectly honest, dear, the only reason I made such a comment was because I was so shocked by how unassertive and compliant you became when I had to help you." When her words made Dash's eyes go wide Rarity's head tilted to one side as if she was curious but this was clearly a feign because both of her ears went completely backward and her tone had a rhetorical ring to it, "Oh. Perhaps I misinterpreted the range of what you deemed acceptable conversation by your eager foray into inquiring the details and 'workings' of Twilight's love life at the start of our meeting-"

Her hooves immediately shot to her muzzle to stop the escaping words, but too late Rarity realized in her scolding she had inadvertently given away that the three hadn't coincidentally bumped into each other and her eyes darted to Titus to see if he had caught on.

Despite his discomfort from the reaction he had caused Rainbow it was clear he had, though she wouldn't know he had anticipated she would be the one to divulge the information, and the fashionista slumped at her mistake, "I'm terribly sorry, Twilight. It would seem I have said more than I meant to."

"It's okay," Twilight nodded. She had actually been meaning to pull her two mentors together to let them know she felt the frequency of their meetings was no longer necessary and, as it would turn out, this was as good a time as any to come forward to Titus about the secret. Beckoning the human to return to his seat and a moment later Twilight slid under his arm when he had done so and leaned into his side. "I um... you were right, we didn't bump into each other today. Rarity, Dash, and I have been getting together over lunch for a while now because I needed their help," she started and from what she read on his face he had moved a little past his unease and was listening though discernible only by her was the slight trace of concern.

Twilight was eager to relieve it and decided to expedite what would have been a long explanation, "I think we can both agree I was a bit of a scatter brain or dolt trying to get things between us started. Well, I had no idea what I was doing and because I was embarrassed about my ineptitude I was initially hesitant to ask for help... pretty quickly I realized I was more afraid of messing something up that would destroy any chance I had with you so I asked the best qualified ponies I knew. I've been meeting with Rarity and Dash on at least a weekly basis, though sometimes more, to get advice and help on things that were concerning me. In fact, while you were on your last stay in Canterlot they were the ones that helped plan the meal and decorations of our first date at the clearing-"

Still getting her wings under control, as discretely as she could anyway, Dash's unintentional interjection came in the form of a small flutter and when everyone's eyes came to rest expectantly on her she stumbled a little before speaking genuinely, "Twilight would come to us with some question or problem, give us a few details on what was going on, then we'd give her some advice so she'd make the right moves and didn't stray too far into getting overly eggheaded with things. We were like her wingmares, making sure she scored."

"Oh but we've been very discrete with anything sensitive she has said!" Rarity chimed in with an enthusiastic nod to help assuage any doubts he had, "Our goal and only desire was to encourage our friend to believe in herself and ensure she had the best chance at making her feelings known in the right way to you. Nothing shared at this table has been discussed elsewhere with anypony... to the best of my knowledge, at any rate."

A heavy stillness hung in the air as the ponies collectively fell silent in anxious expectation of Titus saying something though his continued silence as he nodded slowly in thought caused all of them to hold their breath. Finally his eyes closed and he sighed, "I see."

"Wait. T-That's it, Stretch? That's all you've got to say?" Dash was the first to speak of her surprise, "I mean, just from my experience, the guy usually would get all flankhurt that the mare didn't come to him and be open."

"I actually..." he paused and again silence fell upon the table, though this time it was much shorter and ended with his fist clenched in determination under the table, "I actually have no right to be mad. I wrote someone I came to know for a limited amount of love advice because I was a bit uneasy discussing it in person but admittedly I probably could have used a more long-term support group, if I had only had the guts to approach someone. So, if I was going to say more it would be a thanks to both of you, Dash and Rarity. I'm glad Twi was able to get some direction from her friends on how to go about all of this when I couldn't because, believe it or not, I'm even less experienced than she was due to my upbringing as a Jedi."

Rarity leaned across the table and spoke softly, a small but friendly smile on her face that the revelation of their meetings hadn't upset the human, "Twilight did say something to that effect, that Jedi were some sort of celibate fighter monks or what have you-"

"Not that that's made much of a difference," the pegasus scoffed and completely derailed any heartfelt comment Rarity was about to make, "You're dynamite in the sack according to the stories Twilight has told us anyway, especially the ones today."

"D-DASH! Cut it out!" it was Twilight's turn to cry out and she quickly looked up to Titus as Dash simply guffawed at her outburst, "I didn't..."

That's as far as she got before she slumped meekly, her head lowering almost to the table and her ears folding back flat because she couldn't outright lie to him like that, "I might have told them a few things, and I might have bragged a little. B-But it was never for the purpose of embarrassing you! It was just that there were times where I had to give them a little information so they could know how to help and when I was bragging it was because I was simply so ecstatic and maybe a little perplexed that someone as wonderful and amazing as you settled for a pony like me-"

Titus interrupted Twilight by putting her in a loose headlock to place a rather loud raspberry on her forehead close to the base of her horn. Suitably stopped from going further and slightly red-cheeked he rather suddenly picked her up and deposited her in his lap so he could get both arms around her barrel, "There was no 'settling' involved, you dolt, let's get that straight for starters. Secondly, I'm not too worried about your meetings because you trust your friends, and from what I know about them and what I've seen them do when you all come together as Element Bearers I get the impression they have a lot of trust in you, too." He gave Dash and Rarity a quick glance (though it mostly lingered on the former) before squeezing the unicorn in his arms, "Though just so I'll be prepared to hear about it later, maybe you'll enlighten me to exactly what you told them during your swimming lesson. You're still up for that, right-?"

"A 'swimming lesson,' huh? That's what you two are calling it?" Rainbow shot him a cocky grin, one borne because she had mostly gotten over popping stiff wings in front of her friends which she had picked up Titus' embarrassment for being the cause of and sought to capitalize on it for some vengeful teasing. "Look, the egghead is pretty new to the scene so I can't be sure her inexperience isn't causing her to over-exaggerate," Dash explained and pretended to look him over from head to foot even though the table was blocking most of his lower half, "So, think you've actually got the skills to cash the check the egghead's mouth has been writing, Mr. Steamy a.k.a Mr. ... Four-Times-In-One-Go?" That made it abundantly clear to Titus the scope of knowledge the pair had been fed but before he could recover from his wide-eyed shock and respond Twilight leaned an elbow on the table and intervened.

"As far as I'm aware I'm not over-exaggerating anything, but why are you so interested in knowing?" she inquired with an innocent tone and equally innocent look up to Titus however he could see the glint in her eye and knew she was biting back against any further singling out of him. Feigning a small jump of realization Twilight's head twitched to one side as her attention returned to the pegasus, "Oh! I see what you're asking. Well... I-I mean, as long as it's okay with him if you, Rainbow, or any of the girls need help with your cycle-"

"W-Wait, what? No, I was just teasing. I'm not... I wasn't trying to say... Stretch, not that I, um..."

Twilight was suddenly squeezed from behind by the arms around her which preemptively cut off further verbal pursuit. "Twi, stop being mean to Dash. She was just having some lighthearted fun as far as I'm concerned," Titus scolded softly as he came to the rescue of the obviously flustered and retreating pegasus who seemed grateful for the intervention. Twilight grumbled something to the effect that she had only been coming to his defense and didn't see the problem with giving Rainbow as good as she gave out. Titus, however, quickly stemmed her objections with a nuzzle to a nearby ear, "Thank you, but I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. My point is I don't think you'd appreciate being in Rainbow's shoes right now, especially in her vulnerable state. That's a bit of a low-blow to resort to using that against her when you've got me to help you through yours, it doesn't put you two on equal ground. Now, if I were to- *nom!*"

A gentle nibble of the ear with his pointed teeth aroused a visible full-body shiver and soft mew from Twilight that, much like Rarity, she immediately sought to stop from escaping with her hooves as her face flushed bright red. A glance around the table revealed the two amused grins from her friends and while Rarity politely hid her amused giggle behind a hoof Dash just outright guffawed though she quickly shook her head and declared the embarrassing noise Twilight had let loose made things equal with her getting wing-stiffies. Her grin turned mischievous and she shared a wink with Twilight as she playfully hinted that they should team up to get back at him however Titus interjected with a hopeful tone that he'd likely already had his turn from the stories she'd heard.

Twilight, in the meantime, was still beet red so Titus gave her another reassuring squeeze before he suddenly glanced at his wristpad nervously. "Shoot! I've been keeping them longer than I meant to," he said with a start, only now realizing how much time had passed since his arrival. Twilight was quick to ask what his anxiety was stemming from and after a look back to the café doors he shook his head, "On my way back here I bumped into Quickbolt and Nightwatch and asked them if they'd like to act as my official escort but really just tag along to kick back and enjoy their afternoon off. They agreed, so they're waiting out front because I told them I was coming in to get you and I didn't think bringing Dex in here with me was the smartest idea." He went on to say he had obviously gotten distracted by the conversation before his eyes shifted to Dash and Rarity, "We are just going swimming, so if either of you are free you're more than welcome to come along-"

Rarity sat forward eagerly and hardly waited for him to finish, "Oh, that would be positively fantastic! I've been working on orders so much recently I've neglected to make any time for myself or friends and relaxing in the warm sun sounds just like what I need to get the creative juices flowing again." Dash made a comment about flowing juices of another kind of hers and received a well-masked kick under the table. After the pegasus had recovered from the sharp sting she shrugged and said she had nothing better to do at which point it was a sealed deal that they would be joining Titus and Twilight at the clearing. However, after the human had set his fillyfriend back on her hooves and before he had gotten up a white hoof reached out to touch his hand in a bid for him to wait.

"Titus, my dear, if I may be so bold before we exit our sanctum of privacy? There may have been mention of the intentions and displays between yourself and Lyra Heartstrings developing into being something genuine and not a façade. Given your statement earlier about desiring a support group or somepony to talk to - somepony discrete like myself, for example - in regards to these developments between you two would this... possibly be a topic you would want help with?" Rarity asked with poorly concealed interest which she only came to realize by the small twitch of a smirk before he replied he thought he had things under control this time but would be happy to talk with her if she could give him some advice on the matter. Naturally this was an offer the gossip-hungry fashionista could hardly refuse and in the interest of getting at such morsels of information she expeditiously flagged their waiter down so they could pay. Because Twilight had already taken care of herself and rather than keep her and Titus waiting, Rarity indicated they should catch up with those that were waiting outside so as to not cause them any worry and that she and Dash would be along momentarily.

With a nod and a word that he was happy they were joining them Titus pushed himself up to his feet and started after Twilight who had already made a small start for the exit.

"You said you asked somepony for dating advice? I'm actually pretty curious who it was because if it had been Pinkie or Fluttershy I probably would have found out through some slip of information; Pinkie being terrible at keeping secrets and Fluttershy would have been too, well, shy to talk about it with anypony, let alone a stallion. You could have been like me and asked Rarity and Dash, but if that was the case I'm sure they would have said something in one of our meetings," Twilight said once he had caught up and worked through the possibilities as they moved across the restaurant, though she stopped when she noticed Rarity still at the table. From the body language of the whispered conversation Rarity was going to be covering Dash's meal, probably with the promise of getting paid back later on account the pegasus hadn't brought any Bits after her stay in the hospital, if Twilight had to guess.

Getting a wave from the white unicorn to not wait and continue on without them the pair stepped out into the street where Nightwatch and Quickbolt were both waiting for them, the off-duty Solar Guard sporting a beach towel and a large inflatable ring while the batpony had donned a skirted one-piece swimsuit almost the same shade of her coat and a set of large sunglasses sat on her brow. Looks like they're geared up for some fun. Twilight gave them both a nod and quickly resumed where she had left off though her voice dropped a little lower in hopes of getting an answer before they were within earshot, "So, in terms of ponies that are familiar with me that you have regular contact with, that doesn't leave you with many options. You often walked back from the edge of the Everfree so I'm tempted to guess Applejack, but then you said you've written them which wouldn't make too much sense for somepony local so... no way, was it P-Princess Luna? Or Princess C-Celestia?!" She came to an abrupt halt and stared at him in shock, forcing him to stop and turn, too.

"No, neither of them," Titus looked at her with a deadpan expression before an eyebrow slowly arched itself, "Ever wonder why Shining's reaction was so extreme when you told him I was your coltfriend?"

It was the following afternoon when Titus sat up from his position hunched over the workbench and set his soldering pen aside to stretch the stiffness out of his back with a grunt and several audible pops as he rolled his neck, "Aaaand that's all it takes to re-fuse a dynamic inducer chip."

"Saying 'that's all it takes' doesn't negate the fact that we've been soldering at these things for over an hour," Twilight also sat up while placing her own pen aside to check the dinner plate-sized chip she had been working on and, though her soldering was a little sloppy compared to his practiced hand at it, it was much to her elation to see that the components of her inducer looked aligned identically. Even more rewarding was that his thorough check that the circuits were all complete came back with every light blinking green that the chip was functional.

"Wow, you've really got a knack for this..." he mumbled, turning the chip over in his hand in awe that Twilight had fixed it with minimal instruction on his part and instead had relied mostly on pure observation. When he looked up from the suitably repaired inducer Twilight was attentively staring at him and it was apparent she had overheard him so she got an ear rub and smooch as a congratulations, "Not joking, love, you did fantastic. With your help repairs to the ship will go much faster."

Admiring her hoofwork for a moment more from the increased praise she shifted her attention to watch from her stool beside Titus as he gently slid his inducer back into the housing frame he had pulled from the Computerized Numerical Control machine, the act finalized by dragging his forearm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat that had been building up. Floating the datapad she had been using to track their progress throughout the day closer so she could read it she moved the protective goggles she was wearing up her forehead and out of the way, "Alright, once you get the chip I did back in that wraps up the mechanical work on the fabrication machine. Next on the agenda is... huh, that's actually everything on my list. Hold on, that can't be right, can it?"

While Twilight was double checking the datapad to make sure they hadn't missed out on anything Titus propped himself up on an elbow and found himself watching her. Save for the two clean violet circles around her eyes where the goggles had been moments earlier her coat and mane were covered in dust from the air duct they had crawled into to inspect some circuits that were causing a few problems and her face was black with soot from when he had shown her how to weld a patch to the hull's armor, and lastly glistening in the light were the splotches of greasy grime on her forehooves from their cleaning of one of the starboard repulsorlifts.

Staring at the sooty, grimy, dusty mare with mechanic's goggles balanced on her forehead he found himself whispering around a grin. "By the stars, you are beautiful..."

"No, I look horrendous," Twilight corrected as she put the datapad down and tried to wipe some of the dust from her coat with one of the rags stocked in one of the work bench's drawers for such a task but only managed to grind it in before looking to the equally dirty human beside her, "I'm covered in just about every variety of filth we've discovered on this ship so far, including mud that's still stuck in little pockets from the crash so I can't even begin to understand what you're seeing."

Any further talk on the subject was cut off momentarily as Titus leaned over to wrap his arms around her shoulders to pull her and subsequently her stool closer whereupon he pressed his lips firmly against hers. Twilight's surprised yet warm hum at his unexpected embrace allowed the soft caress of his tongue to brush past hers until she recovered enough to join in, her eyes drifting lazily closed as she let him take the lead and pushed any complaints about their appearance off of a mental cliff where they were quickly forgotten. Her stool quickly butted up against his as it came to a stop between his thighs, the kiss lasting a few seconds beyond that before a hand slid to the side of her face to rub her velvety and sooty ear as she opened her eyes to look at her beloved human.

"Well let me try and explain then," he started, continuing the light ear massage between occasional leans in for more kisses which Twilight eagerly met him halfway on, "Underneath all of this grit and grime is the mare of my dreams, the mare I go to sleep every night thinking of and wake up every morning aching to see. I see the mare that makes my heart sing with every smile, I see the love of my life that I find hard not to touch, hug, and kiss at every opportunity in the hopes it can communicate an iota of how much I treasure her. No matter what you look like at any given time, Twi, I will always see you as that beautiful mare that I love absolutely."

"And you are my handsomely grimy human," Twilight was not one to miss out on one of their kissy-face sessions, especially this week, and wrapping her hooves over his shoulders she shifted herself from the stool to his lap, a short distance thanks to him pulling her closer, and the sound of her stool being pushed back away was followed by his legs coming together to form a seat for her. She sat up as straight as she could to gain the height advantage and conquered his mouth for a few moments, her hooves looping behind his neck to steady herself before she rested her forehead on his to allow them to cuddle for a bit, "The same grimy human I love who constantly reminds me on a daily basis that I am the luckiest mare in Equestria."

"I'm just as lucky; you crawled around in this ships guts with me all morning and, I might add, I love a woman that can roll up her sleeves to tear apart machinery and doesn't mind getting all dirty in the process." He gave her a lust-filled grin as he slid his hands down her sides and to her flanks where he gave her cutie mark a soft pat, "Just let me say, Twi, you make one hot, grimy mechanic."

"And don't you forget it!" she exclaimed around her own lusty grin as she came forward again to kiss and nibble at his neck, one of the few spots of available skin that was clean on account of his suit's high collar, "Plus, it's not like it was all bad crawling through muck. Following behind you through those access tubes meant I got to stare at those flanks of yours as much as I wanted!"

It was true that the dark blue jumpsuit he was wearing was a little tight in the seat though Titus had assumed Twilight had repeatedly grown quiet during their belly crawls because she had felt a little claustrophobic or, as has occurred on several occasions when they had come to a junction in the tubes, she had wiggled under him him to get a better look at where they were going, "Oh, so that explains why you were so pushy... next time I'll give you a map so I can follow you."

That suggestion earned an "Ooo!" and a waggle of her eyebrows before they both came together again, ignoring that the dirt from her coat was getting all over his jumpsuit and the grime from his jumpsuit was working into her fur as they simply held on to each other, Twilight working her muzzle deeper down his collar to get several satisfying squirms out of him before she retreated to sit up with a wide, appreciative smile. "I actually wouldn't mind the chance to go back in and wander around because there was a lot of interesting machinery we passed that I want to take a better look at, but that'll have to be another time because as much as I love the way you're looking at me right now I just feel gross and could really do with a good scrubbing. Shower~?"

The sing-song question was accompanied by a hoof tracing slow circles on his sternum though more telling of Twilight's other intentions came from her scooting as close as she could to him to slowly grind herself against his lap, a motion he eagerly encouraged by gripping her hips to apply a small amount of downward pressure as he agreed that a shower was definitely in order. Crawling around in the tubes had been extremely dirty though the cramped quarters they had been in had occasionally required Twilight to squeeze beside him or on top of him to help manipulate wires or test components while he held something and that closeness had really gotten her blood pumping, so much so that she had crawled under him at several points just to feel his weight atop her as the early waves of her estrous cycle took hold. She bit her lip as she considered, just for a brief moment, retracting the idea to just jump him right then and there in the cargo bay which she realized might be extremely exciting with the risk factor of R6 or either Quickbolt or Nightwatch walking in on them in search of him for something however her growing gallery of imagined images on what that might be like was shattered when he moved. Rather than set her down so she could walk, one arm snaked around her back in a hug while the other slid under her as he stood up, her hooves instinctually locking around his hips to bear most of her weight which left his hands available for much more entertaining purposes.

Cutting a wobbly path through the ship with his squirming armful Titus made several stops to prop Twilight's back against a wall and just press himself against her, her hooves responding with an increase in the strong hold she had on him to pull him closer. Her muzzle sought out the special spot on his jaw to nuzzle and nibble at which would prompt one of his hands to brush from her shoulders all the way to the base of her swishing tail while the other tangled its fingers into her dirty mane to provide small tugs, both of their actions driving the other to respond in kind. This, of course, caused it to take much longer to reach the shower than it should have though neither party complained.

Entering the small locker room Titus put Twilight down to get undressed but found his jumpsuit literally disappeared from his form in a small pop of violet magic, his startled expression quickly changing to mild annoyance. "That suit was still good..."

"I know, I know! Sorry, I'm just... it's really hard to think straight right now so I de-materialized your suit before I knew what I was doing. I'll commission a new one from Rarity tomorrow, okay?" Twilight huffed as the request that she be sure that no frilly nonsense be added to it by the seamstress was made. Rolling her eyes and letting out a frustrated groan that her cycle was causing yet more troubles she reared up to give him a light shove toward the shower door, "Yeah, okay, I will. Just get in there!"

"Feeling it pretty bad this time?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice because she seemed much more out of sorts than the previous days. Catching her forehooves as she fell back to all fours he held her up so she could walk upright with him and as he lead her into the shower he tried to stop to close the door behind her however Twilight forged forward, pushing him back against the far wall at which point her hooves wiggled from his hands to wrap behind his waist. Along with the enthusiastic nuzzle and occasional pinch of a nibble he was getting to his stomach and chest or gentle kiss on the still-healing cuts and scrapes he had gotten from the fight with Show was answer enough to how much Twilight's estrous cycle had gotten her going and her own unintended strength pulled him down to a sitting position. She finally let go when Titus' hands pulled her shoulders upward so she could meet his gaze, "Slow down a sec and tell me what you need."

"First things first, I really need to get clean," she sighed and went on to remind him how gross she felt, the end of which was punctuated by a large glob of congealed something rolling down her shoulder to splat on the floor. While she was adjusting the shower controls to her desired temperature she floated him the brick-sized dispenser of gritty fibril soap they had used to scrub away greasy spots on previous occasions. Laying down on her side next to him so he could smear some of the soap onto his hands she watched contentedly as he worked what he had taken against her coat. Slowly but surely the scrubbing did away with the grime buildup as Titus employed a gentle but firm circular motion that felt great and removed some muscle aches that had arisen from crawling around in cramped quarters for so long.

With another sigh she lay her head down on the shower floor and stretched out to relish in the massage but not even a minute into her relaxation there came an upbeat chime from out near the lockers which repeated a few times before ending and a voice could suddenly be heard, "Hey, Spike, are you sure this thing on? Hello~, anypony there?" The only sound in the room was the soft and almost rhythmic patter of the shower on the hard floor as both human and unicorn froze stock still before casting a glance at one another then at the clouded glass shower door from which they had heard the voice.

"Twi, I think you left the auto-answer on," Titus whispered so the datapad microphone wouldn't pick it up. A quick discussion of their options ended with the unavoidable - Twilight should answer the call because, for whatever reason, somepony had gone to the trouble of going to the library to use the datapad to get in touch with her. A moment later the device was encased in a glow and floated over the top of the shower door to come to rest on the floor in front of the unicorn. Twilight plopped down on her stomach while Titus lay down beside her in the still-running stream of hot water just out of view of its camera, the datapad having been carefully positioned so that what was visible to her friends was only Twilight from the shoulders on up.

"Oh hey, there you are! 'Bout time, Ponyville needs us again," the voice of Dash was heard just as a hologram of her blinked above the datapad and several more faces of her friends pushed into view before Rainbow retook the center, "Why are you all wet? You in the shower or something?"

"Y-Yes, I am. So what's going on?" Trying not to look too exasperated at the interruption Twilight then noticed the necklaces they were all wearing and immediately knew what was coming and her face scrunched in disgust. "Do we have to do this now? I'm sorta... busy," she pleaded lightly in hopes that this was something minor that her friends could handle without her because the distraction of Titus tracing the largest star of her cutie mark had started her hind leg trembling and was getting extremely hard to ignore. Why now, of all times?! Ugh!

Judging from the mischievous grin he gave her when she chanced a peek back at him he was doing so intentionally, probably to see how long she'd last before making some embarrassing noise or squirm, both of which she almost did when he upped the ante with a nibble. This has got to be for what I told Dash and Rarity. Oooo I'm so going to get you, mister! Keeping both eyes locked on the datapad to keep from raising suspicions that something was going on in the background Twilight bit her lip and swatted at him to get him to stop - in hindsight a good bit harder than she meant to - however he easily intercepted it with his superior reflexes and held it to begin massaging the bottom of her hoof as further teasing.

"I mean you could probably finish your shower, but it's urgent. Okay, so this is going to sound crazy at first but here's whats happening, just stick with me... The Great and Powerful Pain In Our Flank thought it would be smart to take one of those Experience-The-Adventure comics-" Dash was briefly interrupted as Spike waved several of the ones he had in his collection so Twilight would know what they were talking about. That was unnecessary as the unicorn was familiar with them because Rainbow had asked her to pick up a few Daring Do comics with a similar gimmick from the convention she had gone to in place of the image-conscious and complete closet-nerd pegasus who then pushed Spike back out of the frame.

Rubbing her temple it almost looked painful as Dash tried to explain the level of boneheadedness that was going on and needed their immediate attention, "Anyway, in her genius she thought it'd be a good idea to erase the original ink but leave the magic in place so she could draw her own home-brewed adventure to prove to her fans how great she is, right? Well, of course, she messed up the comic's spell and now one of the giant evil creatures she drew for the reader to fight with her escaped and is headed right for Po-"

Dash's eyebrow arched in curiosity when Twilight shifted position to try and keep her mane from drooping back into her eyes which caused the holocamera to pick up a portion of Titus beside her. "Wait... what was that? Hey, Stretch, that you back there?"

At that point it was pointless for him to try and remain off camera so he leaned into view against Twilight's barrel to sarcastically tell Dash that no, she was in the shower with another human. Rarity's cheeks flushed at the suggestive idea, Applejack looked the other way and begged his pardon for intrudin', meanwhile Pinkie hollered something about a shower party and Fluttershy shielded her eyes though she peeked through the space of her primary feathers. Spike, however, only looked puzzled and he quickly asked what the big deal was to see them hanging out which prompted Applejack to take charge and declare they would definitely need Twilight's help to get the creature back in the comic book though she was obviously uncomfortable with looking at the hologram and turned her face from it while covering the entirety of Spike's with her hat.

Dash retook the center of the camera for a moment to grin coyly at the unicorn's hologram, "Tell you what, you two go ahead and finish up with your 'shower' and we'll be there in about five minutes-"

"Thanks, but that won't nearly be long enough," Twilight grumbled under her breath as she got up to begin drying off but Titus' technology, miraculous as it was, unfortunately did its job a little too well and compensated for the change to transmit that at full volume.

The pegasus looked a little lost for a second before shaking her head with that wicked grin of hers, "Uh... care to elaborate?"

"No, no time right now. First things first, we need the comic book to fix the binding spell and trap it back inside. Spike, I'll need to do some speed research on the way over so bring me the book from my nightstand and the large book from the third shelf in the Advanced Magic section - it should be pretty obvious which one, it has a plastic sleeve over an olive cover," Twilight said, already half into her magically super-absorbent bathrobe as she headed for the door with the datapad floating in front of her. Meanwhile Titus reached for a towel to wrap around his waist, the clouded shower door keeping his modesty intact for whatever few snippets could be seen over Twilight's shoulders. A quick conversation followed as she dried off and came to the agreement it would be fastest for her friends to bring her Element to her so they could have some time to cook up a plan to lure the monster away from town.

Dash gave a jokingly snide remark about how she'd be back "taming another beast in no time" before she hung up, leaving Twilight to sigh heavily in her exasperation with the pegasus' constant ribbing. Turning around to apologize for her sudden need to leave she was reminded of her own pent-up sexual frustration that neither she nor Titus had gotten to finish by the tented fabric of the towel he had wrapped around his waist and the feeling of her continued winking which got an irritated grunt from the unicorn, "Ugh! Times like is is when being an Element Bearer is... it just sucks!"

"There were times I felt the same way about being a Jedi but in the end I had to accept that it was my duty, my responsibility. You and your friends are no different, you can't choose when you want to be the heroes you just have to do what needs to be done, no one else can do it for you," Titus pointed out calmly with a tone befitting a teacher which earned a small grumble of how much nicer of a job it would be if she could call in sick or if the baddies would just learn to take holidays from time to time. Titus chuckled lightly as he took a seat and flipped open the locker he had left a set of clothes in, pausing to stare at them for a moment before casting a questioning look Twilight's way, "I wouldn't know how to help with the magic but with a lightsaber I could keep it busy-"

"Don't even think about it!"

Twilight realized her tone had came off a little strong and was immediately in front of him and rearing up to plant her hooves on his knees so she could reach his lips for a long, heartfelt kiss before they stopped to rest forehead to forehead. "Hey. I know you're strong and tough and brave and I admit I'm overprotective a lot of the time. I'm sorry if that makes you feel like I don't believe in you but... but I do, it's just that I won't be able to focus on spells if I'm constantly worrying about you getting hurt-" she cut off his protest that she should give him a chance with a shush and a brief nuzzle of his cheek, "We don't know what sort of monster we're dealing with yet and I understand you want to help but knowing you're safe will make my job easier. Consider that your important responsibility in this, okay?"

"Alright, fine," with a sigh of conceit Titus shrugged his shoulders and gave Twilight a smart smack on the flank, "I'll keep the bed warm for your triumphant return, Supermare." His response earned a playfully exasperated grunt and roll of the eyes from the unicorn before they both grinned at each other in shared sympathy of how unfortunate this was but with time running short they headed for the airlock. Titus followed beside Twilight in only the bath towel in the interest of speed and when they came to the twin set of doors he waited at the inner one, leaning on a shoulder against the cool bulkhead with his arms crossed across his chest as she continued for the door.

"Hey. If you won't let me go take the MagnaGuards with you." Reaching over to a coat he had left on a hook near the door he reached into a pocket before tossing her something which only after catching it in her magic did she realize it was a small communicator which she could fit snugly into an ear. He nodded to the device as she gave it a curious look, "And put that in; with the repairs we made repulsors are functional so if you guys get into trouble call me and I'll bring the ship and every weapon battery for some close air support-" A shaking head interrupted him as Twilight tried to reassure him that wouldn't be necessary and that she and her friends had dealt with worse but he was adamant that she take the device, "You know it's smart to have a backup plan and the only way you're going to keep me from following you out that door, even if I'm in just this bath towel, is take that communicator with you. I'm going to have everything ready to go at a moment's notice. Just... be careful, okay?"

Twilight could tell his concern was genuine so she put the communicator in and gave him a big beaming smile before she pulled the lever to open the door and disappeared into the blinding sunlight that poured into the ship.

Much to Titus' dismay, though, when his eyes adjusted he saw that Sgt. Quickbolt happened to be right outside at the top of the stairs. She got a full look at him, tented towel and all, before she launched into laughter which earned curious looks from her guards that couldn't see into the ship as to what would cause the outburst.

Frag me, I'm going to get an earful about this when she escorts me next. Maybe I better wait for Nightwatch's shift to go out. With a sigh at that realization he flipped the switch to close the door, cutting off the pegasus' hooting in the process, and walked back into the main corridor where he stopped and thought about what to do to occupy himself. There were a few things in piloting that he could do to get the ship slightly more combat ready though some of that involved accomplishing a few tasks in preparation outside first, which brought one of the most glaring things he'd need to take care of before any of that was possible. Adjusting the towel, he looked down at his waist, "Well, definitely not how I wanted you to go away, but-"

Suddenly there was a flash of light and a collective holler and Titus found himself taken bodily to the floor by something that wrapped tightly around him. Blinking away the blinding white that filled his vision he quickly came to see blurred shapes and colors, five of them standing in the middle of the airlock hallway to be precise, however it was the purple one latched to him that came into focus first as once again soft lips met his. It was short and sweet but contained so much love that Titus' surprise left him momentarily breathless as Twilight pulled away with the faintest boop of her nose against his.

"I was in such a hurry I forgot to say 'don't do anything without me,' okay?" her voice was low so none of her friends that she had teleported inside the ship with her heard what she had said. That was probably because, for the moment, they were a little too preoccupied adjusting to their new surroundings and just as they were realizing what had happened she moved off of him enough that he could sit up. Picking up the crown where it had fallen in her diving tackle Twilight placed it back on her brow before tilting her head to one side with an anxious smile, "Duty calls, I guess."

Titus sighed and reached out for her closest ear which she eagerly leaned into, "Go be the hero, love."

"Twilight, dear, we really have no time for such frivolous distractions," Rarity scolded but quickly craned her neck to one side to peek around her to the nearly nude human sitting on the floor, "O-Oh my... good afternoon, Titus. Do pardon our intrus-"

In a second violet flash they were gone again and he was left sitting in the empty hallway, his hand still reaching out for an ear and pony that were no longer there.

Titus moved with the small crowd as he walked down the narrow cobbled street looking left and right in search of the address that he had written on slip of parchment, each mailbox he passed indicating he was getting closer and closer to the destination. This was a part of town he hadn't been in before and he realized it would have been easy to get lost because aside from the labeled streets - literally labeled, the name of the street was painted in large letters onto the cobblestones every so often - every modest house he passed was identical to the ones beside it, though a small amount of variety was present in the colors or drapes in the windows or miscellaneous ornaments of achievement present on the lawn. I should have just had her karking mark my map. The Guard aren't able to point me to the address and I'm not about to ask somebody in the street because they'll probably want to talk. Readjusting the shield that was slung over a shoulder Titus paused to look at the address one more time, the flow of ponies moving in the same direction as he had been paid little mind and parted around him while a few that stood stationary shouted in search of someone to trade with. Continuing down the street in the direction he thought he should be headed he soon heard a small bell and a message was deposited into his bag which he quickly opened to read.

"Where the kark are you, my friend?"

His eyes rolled as a small icon of a pony tapping her hoof impatiently played next to the text before he responded.

"Well that's what I want to know, too! I think I'm close, but we've never actually been to your house because we've always just set up camp so when you zoned out and told me to meet you there I wasn't prepared for this scavenger hunt throughout town looking for your address."

The message disappeared in a green flare of fire and, figuring he should wait for further instruction from Luna, Titus stopped once again in the middle of the street and plopped himself down in wait of her reply.

He didn't have to wait long and before the sun-soaked cobblestones even had a chance to warm his backside the familiar call of Luna's voice reached him. "If you were lost you could have asked to trade some coins to have somepony guide you. But no matter, you were close enough that I could see you on my map-"

"Wait, you can do that?" he asked, unfurling his own map to see if there was some obvious marking function he had missed but found little in the way of a button with which to accomplish that feat, "How do I do that? I can't see you on mine..."

Lumiere, Luna's avatar, rolled her bright green eyes at him and sighed like this wasn't the first time he had asked her how to do something so simple that should otherwise be second nature to anypony even remotely used games like this - which, of course, he was still getting accustomed to. Still, it wasn't that Luna was impatient with him, she just enjoyed the amount of character the animated and voiced emotes provided and had a tendency to use them whenever applicable. "That's because you don't have that ability, and it's not something you'll get as a Knight class unless you dual-spec into magic and become a Spellsword but that's a decision a good way down the road for you. We can discuss your specialization and other ways to add markers to you map later," she explained as he fumbled to close the map interface and instead accidentally opened up his inventory on top of it however she happily waited until her friend was free and able to close both windows before she continued, "That guild that hired us to help clear the octopus boss is waiting at my residence but you weren't far away so I dismissed myself to come get you. They've already passed along the other half of the payment though I believe one of them that got a piece of loot did some number crunching and realized it wasn't an optimal statistic combination for her and wanted to trade it to you."

Falling in beside Titus as he stood up Luna walked shoulder-to-shoulder to lead him back the way he had come and down a small unlabeled side street he hadn't noticed that wound away from the bustling main thoroughfare of hoof traffic until it was out of view which got an emote from Titus conveying his question how she had expected him to find it easily. Ignoring it Lumiere continued onward and not much further after that the numbered mailbox he had been looking for was before them.

"Here we are!" Luna exclaimed happily and opened the heavy iron privacy gate for both of them and quickly stepped in before him so she could open up a menu, "One second, if you would. And... there! I added you to my house registry so you can open the gate and doors, plus you can choose to zone-in here from now on instead of using the public spot." Titus confirmed that his zone-out and zone-in button had changed its destination and when Titus crossed the gate he immediately felt reinvigorated; a quick glance at his character stats showed he was slowly being healed from the small amount of damage he had suffered in the solo encounters he had been doing before Luna had logged on, as well as his stamina also gradually refilling.

"I guess we haven't gone over the housing system, have we? Sorry, that's my fault. You should stop by on a regular basis," Luna caught him with the character window open and explained what he was seeing, "The skill learning cooldown goes twice as long as you're in your house, and in addition resting in a bed at a home location boosts experience rates when you're out exploring, too, so try to teleport back here whenever you want to log out." Titus nodded in acknowledgement of the advice and caught up with Luna before they continued up the short walkway to the rather large house that hadn't been visible from the gate. On their short trek several of her lawn ornaments were pointed out with an explanation of the buffs they provided before they climbed up the stairs and entered the front hallway.

Immediately several voices ran through Titus' headset whereupon he realized too late he had forgotten to leave the voice chat that he was set to automatically join whenever Lumiere was in proximity and once they had entered the house the other occupants had been merged into the same group. The sound of Titus and Luna entering must have been heard (or more likely it was the lobby alert message) because almost immediately several familiar characters came out into the hall to meet them.

"Sorry for suddenly stepping out like that," Lumiere apologized to the trio and the group moved back into the living room where they had been waiting, "Aside from the starting area and a few outlying quest hubs this is the first time we've been back to a city and it's a little hard to find this place if you don't know where to look."

"Na it's cool, it's an intentionally long trip so newbies can get a handle on their class and get leveled and geared enough to start in the main dungeon once they get here. You two must have done some extra grinding though," the leader of the guild, a healer with the name of Event Horizon who was clearly the youngest of the group, nodded to Titus' character, "Pateesa here has tanking gear from the wilderness that got us through floor sixteen and the octopuss boss without much issue. Our raid group really appreciated the run, girls, I know at the time other guilds out there were offering more in terms of skill and compensation. We were-" All of her character movement came to an abrupt halt and she stood still aside from the idling animation, Luna and Titus both noticing that the other two had as well which they both knew meant they were either in menus or were using the whisper function. After just a few seconds Horizon started moving again however she stepped aside so their damage dealing berserker-class pony could come forward.

Very abruptly a trade offer window popped up on Titus' screen which he quietly accepted. "This dropped on our clear," she spoke almost as jarringly as the window had opened and very soon after an item was dropped into her side of the menu, "It wasn't an upgrade for me, wanted you to have it. It's better than the armor you've got." It most certainly looked like it was and the green button that the trade was accepted by the other pony lit up before Titus could even offer to give up a few of the items he had gotten as compensation and after typing out a message asking if she was sure she didn't want something in return he had a brand new set of plate armor.

As he was examining the stats on the newly acquired gear Horizon became animated again. "Like I was saying, we really appreciate that you got us to floor seventeen's teleporter so collectively our guild can start clearing it on our own and eventually preparing for that boss," the guild leader explained though there was a pause and the voice chat went silent for a brief second as more private messages were exchanged by the trio though it was much shorter than the last and Horizon spoke again, "Unfortunately then we'll be right back to where we were before. We were just discussing this but Star Smasher insisted she wanted to get that armor to you before we asked so you didn't feel obligated or bribed, but-"

"As you've seen, our raiding roster is what you'd call a bit... sparse. The larger guilds snipe most of the talent the instant it becomes evident," the grumble came from the third pony, a dexterous stealth archetype character. She was actually the one that had recruited their services in a very forward manner a few mornings ago when Titus and Luna had bumped into her gathering crafting materials out in the wilderness and she noticed they didn't have any sort of guild affiliation, "The competition out there for good players is pretty fierce so smaller guilds like ours struggle to acquire anypony."

"Right, and because you can only go so far by playing solo it's pretty hard to find anypony at the higher levels to fill roles for a boss fight or floor clear without treading on the hooves of another guild," Horizon more or less picked up where she had been taking the conversation before Duskstalker had cut in, "That's how a lot of the long-standing guild wars and lesser feuds started so I hope you'll excuse me for being a bit pushy but the fact that a knowledgeable mage such as yourself, Lumiere, hasn't been snatched up by one of the high-tier guilds is an opportunity I as guildmaster can't pass up."

Luna remained quiet for a moment but stepped Lumiere close to Pateesa while Titus was preoccupied rearranging his inventory to equip the new armor. "Aside from the occasional team-up to complete harder quests or offering my services as a hireling for groups such as yours I've been content playing the game solo," she started explaining and though the trio's characters didn't show it she could imagine the ponies at the controls slumped in disappointment. She and Titus had briefly had this discussion before about why she hadn't sought to join or accept any of the larger guild's numerous invitations - she was worried it would be discovered that she was Princess Luna which would raise more problems than she would care to deal with. However, this was the first time her human friend had also been part of the group she had run a dungeon with and it was his interest in their invitation that had lead them to join the group for the boss fight. "Pateesa is... actually somepony I know that I introduced to the game," Luna continued slowly as she carefully picked her words with practiced precision born from experience in turning down such invites, "I already had this character long before we started but once he was spawned in we've just been exclusively questing and exploring to get him caught up with me so I don't think it would be fair to suddenly abandon him and leave him on his own by accepting an invitation that wasn't meant for the both of us."

"Well yeah," the tone of Horizon made it clear she was a little surprised that had even been a concern, "I wasn't about to go splitting your party up and I'd be an idiot to not ask a tank main to join; no offense but DPS have been a dime a dozen these last few expansions so every guild is feeling the tank shortage. I was a little hesitant about our boss attempt at first when Dusk brought you two back because you're not running the normal setup of an Earth pony tank and Lumiere said you don't use voice chat but there were a few times you made it work and saved us from a wipe." Horizon's compliment got a nod from Titus and a pause of silence as she thought before she turned toward Lumiere, "Um, I'm totally on board for both of you to join, and that was our original intention. It's just... I don't know how long we'd be able to keep clearing with a key member like a tank not in communication with the dungeon floors and bosses getting progressively tougher... even if, you know, you two are sitting right next to each other we'll eventually need you to talk with the rest of us. We managed to get through the octo boss just fine, though Thestral traits aren't optimal for a Knight class because you're missing out on the HP pool of an Earth pony character, however the Thestral's extra dodge ability wasn't as jarring of a change from what I'm used to healing-"

An unexpected voice suddenly caught everypony by surprise.

"I mostly just liked the way they looked." Titus' hesitant venture to speak brought a silence that left him anxious because he worried this might turn out similar to the other time where he had been playing without Luna and had joined a group which had an unpleasant reaction when he had said something.

"No way, you're a dude?!" the rogue's voice was the first to break the silence in the lobby to the point it was quite loud in everypony's ear, and it was similar to the outburst that had turned Titus off from the voice comms in the first place, "Lumiere, is this your coltfriend? Is that why you're always playing together?"

Before Luna could work through her own surprise at the remark to explain Horizon's voice joined the continued chatter from Dusk, "Oh, that's good you've actually got a mic. I assumed every time Lumiere was saying 'he' or 'him' she was referring to your character because the name Pateesa sounded like a mare's name, like a batpony's or foreign at least, and you're always changing the armor models to the mare version... sorry-"

The voice channel was a bit of a clutter of noise which Titus had a hard time hearing through though his attention was diverted when he got a private message from Luna.

Though you let me pick the name I, too, have been curious as to why you didn't opt for the Earth pony build I recommended. Do you really like the Thestral?

Amid trying to respond to Dusk who had been informed her insinuation was incorrect and was now asking if he played any other games that they could team up on while another trade window was opened by Star to be filled with coins and on top off all of that he tried to explain that he switched armor models because the stallion versions were usually nothing more than skimpy codpieces. With his attention so split on several conversations at once he typed out a message to Luna with some effort.

Yeah, I do. Bat pony? Plus you? I figured it was fitting if I was going to be acting as your knight on this adventure.

Luna whispered back the laugh emote and a message conveying that she thought that was a wonderful sentiment before returning to the voice chat. "As it was his choice that lead us to accompanying you I'll leave it up to him; should he accept then I will as well," she said. This was a bit of a surprise to Titus that the decision was being handed to him and very quickly Luna got a private message saying as much which she only half glanced at, "As you said at the start of our meeting you were wanting to attend the guild event so we won't keep you any longer. Thank you again for honoring our agreement of payment and thank you for your invitation, it is something he and I will discuss at length and contact you again shortly." With that the trio excused themselves and bid farewell, though Horizon lingered a little behind and made sure to say that if they tried to contact her and she didn't answer it was probably because she was in school so a standard message could be used if they didn't get a response. After they had all used their home teleports there was a muffled shuffling from Luna's end of the mic that was indicative she had shifted on the couch.

"I must say you've made quite the amount of headway without me," she said softly of her string of absences as of late from their usual play times while she inspected his stats; she was still way ahead of him in terms of gear quality and overall character strength but he had made a surprising dent in the gap in her time away. "Court and other princess duties haven't been the only things occupying my evenings and early mornings, however. I have also been working on a long project that I hope will lead to more chances for us to meet and just recently I made an exciting breakthrough," there was a long pause before Luna returned with an equally soft voice but one that poorly hid a trace of hopefulness, "Are you, by chance... occupied?"

The question brought a confused crease to Titus' brow, "Um, no? Other than waiting for an important call that may or may not come in I'm about as occupied as someone sitting in their underwear playing a video game can be-" There was a second series of rustling sounds before Lumiere suddenly stopped moving and the mic went dead.

In the time of him trying to get an answer from Luna in game she had arrived - or more appropriately, appeared - in his front hallway making it an unexpected surprise to say the least for the human whose statement of playing in nothing but underwear had been factual. After he had rushed to get dressed all she had said was that she wanted to talk about a few things before he had lead them to the cargo hold, though she made clear the invitation to the guild wasn't one of them. With very little in the way of furnishings Titus took a seat at the work table though Luna declined his offer of the other stool and took a few steps further down the carpeted path toward the distinctive form of the speeder bike which was concealed under a tarp at the moment.

"Friend, do you recall the night of your trip to Canterlot?"

He tapped his chin in thought. "Hmm... you mean the night you teleported me halfway across Equestria with no warning whatsoever and the first impression I made on your sister was violently puking my guts out at her royal hooves before passing out in a heap? Nope, totally karking forgot about that," Titus scoffed and rolled his eyes as if he would ever forget.

Luna's face went completely devoid of amusement, effortlessly switching into their bantering mode almost as if they were in a private party waiting to delve into one of their dungeon runs rather than together in the cargo bay, "There you go again, blowing the proportions completely out of hoof. T'was significantly less than the 'half way across Equestria' you tout it to be, furthermore none of your entrails were dislodged in the process and Tia thinks no ill will toward you for it and, if I may say so, still feels she should share in the blame for not cautioning me beforehoof. Might I point out, however, that had you not kept us waiting while you were out on a grand spider-slaughtering adventure we would have had time to provide ample explanation of our travel arrangements. Regardless," she waved a hoof to dissipate any building chance of his rebuttal and shook her head, "That is not why I am here and the original intention of my visit is two fold. Matter the first: if it strikes your memory I wish to rekindle the conversation we were having about your chariot on that night."

Titus nodded slowly before he indicated he vaguely recalled their conversation about her interest in the controls and learning to pilot it as well as several more conversations they'd had spanning her other visits in regards to the option of using magic to control the bike, however that had proven to be a dead-end as the rider had to feel how the bike was responding to their input. While magic did convey the input coming from the controls to the caster, unlike the brain which would discern feelings to the appropriate body part the same could not be said for magic which didn't send its signals through a network of nerves. Instead, magic fed its information directly into the pony's or alicorn's brain which made it hard if not impossible to correlate which of the numerous magical fields that surrounded the throttle, shifter, left or right hand maneuvering controls and brake triggers and either foot-manipulated altitude pedals the feedback was coming from. On top of that, focusing on keeping said fields active while maintaining awareness of their surroundings and instruments both Twilight and Luna - certainly two of the most gifted ponies in terms of magical aptitude, as far as Titus was concerned - had strained themselves to the absolute limits of their skill at a very low speed and would have crashed had Titus not been sitting behind them to intervene and assume the controls. Luna had even accidentally launched a barrage of blaster fire from the bike's armament in one such attempt, though thanks to their foresight of traveling to the gorge for their tests nopony was hurt in the process as Twilight had been well out of the line of fire though she still had leapt behind a boulder just to be safe.

With his retelling complete and a nod from Luna in agreement that everything matched up to her recollection Titus openly sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately nothing has changed because I've hit a wall on my end of things; none of the control modification ideas have panned out like I thought they would," to prove his point he strode over to the bike and pulled on the tarp until it fell to their feet, "I've sort of been distracted with other repairs and... um, yeah."

"Repairs and other activities, as we understand it," Luna left her statement open to interpretation but was grinning because, as she was the Keeper of Dreams and if Twilight's dreams were anything to go by, she could guess that it wasn't only repairs that had distracted him. Deciding not to goad him further on the subject due to her interest in getting to the point of the matter Luna asked permission take a closer look at the machine she so desired the ability to use. It was something she always did when it came to her friend and his machines out of deference to him and received an answer in the affirmative as well as a repeated statement she was always free to look at whatever she wanted. Luna made a slow lap around the bike to examine it thoroughly, following the lengths of carpet and rubber mats laid out until she ended back beside Titus and turned to look at him with hopeful curiosity, "Despite our failed attempts at learning to tame your mechanized steed I still harbor the desire to experience the freedom it provides you with. Do you recall the conclusion of our original conversation on the matter? I wanted to defer to several experts before returning to speak with you on the subject of genetic manipulation-"

At the mention of genetic manipulation - the reason behind his brief and rather unproportionally-exhaustive transformation into a pony and all of the complications that had come with it - Titus was beyond wanting to hear anything further. Immediately he stood up and looked like he was going to begin pacing before he simply leaned against the wall instead, his face scowling and his arms crossing over his chest as he shook his head adamantly, "Nope. Stop this train of thought and let me the kark off, there is no way-"

"Oh do not allow your undergarments to become knotted!" Luna snorted, using a phrase Titus had once said to her or as far as she remembered something similar to it and rolled her eyes in exasperation that they potentially would be having this conversation again, "You have made your stance perfectly clear that that was the last time you would let myself or any other pony use Starswirl's Innermost Examination Spectacles on you, and despite my profuse apologies and assurances that such an... unfortunate timing of events would not occur again I have respected your choice. And you know how I shoulder full responsibility for everything that befell you shortly after... so, with that option closed I pursued different avenues and contacted a myriad of ponies in various fields of magic whom I thought could be of assistance and shared notes and weaving schematics for their input. Using the data I managed to collect from the Spectacles and the collective knowledge that was sent back to me in many, many thesis-sized letters I have been-"

Though he wasn't saying anything the continued shaking of his head in stubborn refusal was apparently enough to interrupt her so she stomped her hoof and gave him The Look.

Titus, however, wasn't intimidated by the pouting Luna in the slightest. "What? You weren't the one displaced into a new body, chased through the streets by a gang of heated mares, and only then nearly finding yourself on your deathbed. So you'll have to excuse me, Princess, for not being too keen when I hear you want to involve me in that sort of magic again."

"As I have said, I still feel guilt for putting you through that.” She waited for his grumbling to end before she got more serious to clarify her intentions. “I will say now there would be an involvement on your part however not on the magic side of the equation so please hear me out fully before coming to a decision. After much deliberation I came to the conclusion it was too complex to weave a multi-target spell that allowed for easy recognition of what field was receiving input, the technical details of my examinations I'm sure you'd rather not hear-" judging by the bobbing head she had correctly assumed a recounting of the intricate spell mechanics was not necessary so she continued, "As that was the case I pursued alternatives to no avail until an idea came to me in the middle of a nap; when I recounted how it came to me Twilight Sparkle referred to the event as a positive, um, if you will pardon the impropriety of the term... positive flatus of the brain."

Though she was slowly making progress on the matter possibly in thanks to their almost-daily playful jesting and poking fun at each other both in person and over the voice chat in their game but when it came to something improper relating to the body Luna was still adorably squeamish. There had been one such even where she had come over during a series of small court holidays to transfer some items her character had picked up on one of her solo dungeon runs. Titus and Luna had returned to his quarters as they had numerous times before to power on the game machine she had gifted to him and, following her through the door and granting the bunk to the alicorn as it was more comfortable for her to lay on, he assumed his usual spot on the chair whereupon a fold of fabric formed and pressed into his lap somewhat uncomfortably when he sat down which necessitated a rearrangement. Though he tried several times the uncomfortable pleat was being obstinate which rather unfortunately required an awkward adjustment to the spot it had been poking and despite his best efforts to be subtle Luna had, of course, caught the motion though she didn't let on until another try or two later. Things had only gotten more awkward when he was mid-adjustment and she finally asked why he was repeatedly fiddling with the fabric of his shorts and he had tried to explain in the most polite of ways he could think of that sitting down had caused a sharp fold to jab him right in the crotch and that he needed to rearrange himself "down there" to get comfortable.

Luna had almost glowed from her embarrassment for having watched on with curiosity for so long and sputtered an almost-incoherent protest that she had thought he had another, much more devious intention for having her come visit. This was something that he easily discredited by the fact that she had been the one insistent on coming over for the afternoon instead of just going along with his suggestion of mailing the cartridge with the character data to him. On top of that there was no danger of anything "devious" happening as, if she so desired, there was the very real possibility she could quite literally delete him from existence by briefly opening a miniature black hole in his skull (or something to that effect) though by then his explanation to why he was adjusting his shorts came too late as she had already convinced herself that he had been "diddling" himself while they had been playing. Titus hadn't been familiar with the term and quickly regretted asking her to clarify because things went from bad to worse as Luna's ears turned an astonishing shade of pink that was visible through her fur and she disappeared in a blue flash, abandoning her controller and character cartridge in the process.

That had eventually lead to the visit from Princess Celestia who was understandably a bit concerned that there had been a fight or other such disagreement between the two. From her description Luna had returned to the Palace and made a straight beeline to her quarters without providing the customary enthusiastic recap of the day's events and instead locked both sets of doors in addition to placing a warding magic so that nopony, not even Celestia, could teleport inside. After an awkward explanation of what had lead to her sister's hasty retreat that only culminated in the solar alicorn getting a very hearty laugh at both of their expenses and it had been outwardly obvious that she thoroughly enjoyed the red tinge to Titus' face when she explained the term Luna had used.

That had been the last time he and Luna had gotten to see each other however her letter delivered by the Sergeants earlier in the morning had come as a big relief that the diddling incident wasn't to blame for it.

"I must say that I find it to be an odd colloquialism, to say the least, as equating a sudden moment of clarity to something so... base seems like a disservice," Luna's words woke Titus from his thoughts, "However to its credit I realized I couldn't rely on established methods of weaving and have successfully engineered a spell - a spell for use on myself, I must point out - using the data I gleaned from you before your transmogrification that should serve as a foundation for observation to establish the groundwork for new weaving to remedy the problem. I have since conducted a brief test to ascertain its viability within the privacy of my room and found the spell functional, which is the progress I was mentioning on Vanguards of the Oubliette before I came over. With your permission I would like to show you the fruits of my labors and, if you find it agreeable, perhaps being testing its application with your chariot."

"As long as it doesn't blow a hole in my ship or turn me into a newt I'd love to see what you've got," Titus replied as he pulled the stool over and took a seat, genuinely interested in seeing what his friend had come up with and seemed so keen on sharing.

"Haha! Excelsior!" Luna exclaimed triumphantly at his agreement to proceed and without warning disappeared a second later in a sudden billowing cloud of smoke that obscured her completely from sight and expanded to fill a good portion of the cargo hold. Titus was caught completely off guard and his first surprised breath caused him to cough when he breathed the thick air in though after the ship's atmosphere scrubbers started to catch up through the rapidly dissipating fluff he spotted the upright silhouette that began materializing in the depths.

As the smoke cleared further and more details of the figure appeared Titus' jaw hit the floor, "L-Luna? Is that... you?" It was a dumb question but it was also the only one his stupefied mind was capable of pushing out of his mouth at the moment as the dark blue hair was most certainly Luna's however the rest of the bipedal figure was starkly less so.

The alicorn, as to be expected, was taking this far better than Titus was.

Her arms had shot out parallel to the floor to twirl in little circles as she leaned forward and tipped precariously backward, her tongue popping out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on maintaining her balance. Determined, she stared at one of her bare feet as she slowly inched it out a short ways to widen her stance and thereby steady herself slightly until she eventually reached a state of equilibrium she was comfortable with though her arms remained slightly extended from her sides just in case.

Looking up from her feet she beamed proudly at her accomplishment, "Indeed it is I, my friend! What do you think of my appearance?" She watched Titus look her over from head to foot, his gaze lingering on her chest briefly before he shifted on the stool though no answer to her question came and Luna thought she knew why, nodding slowly so as not to upset her balance, "Ah yes, um... these were a point of confusion for me as well." The alicorn, if she could still be referred to as such, had switched into the detached mentality of a scientist much the same way Twilight occasionally would, allowing Luna to mostly forget about her squeamishness as she carefully lifted her delicate-looking hands to gently cup the small breasts, though they were still large enough that they spilled around the hands just slightly and they seemed perfectly matched for her frame. "At first I had thought I had made a mistake with the weaving and it was until only recently that I discovered from that newspaper article that such swollen breasts were typical of human females, though I fear for the application I assumed this form for they may get in the way," she paused to push her bust upwards and let it fall back into her hands before turning her attention back to Titus, "What is your opinion on it, friend? Are they necessary?"

Titus was a confused mix of emotions at the moment. First and foremost was that this was the first human he had seen since his crash which stirred up the long-buried thought that he might never see one of his kind again which was something he had thought he had gotten over and, apparently, still harbored which understandably unnerved him. Second and not far behind the first was the realization that this was his best friend and someone that he already admired was now standing in front of him stark naked and he couldn't help that his gaze slowly roamed over her as he saw Luna in a whole new light.

Her hair was free-flowing but non-ethereal much like it had been when her magic had been drained, however the bangs had been pushed behind either ear to keep her face free and though she was still facing him Titus estimated the length to reach somewhere in the middle of her back. Going slowly down from her shoulders lead to the ample amount of cleavage Luna was creating as she cupped her breasts and pushed them up and together, a sight that he drank in for a long second before moving further down where her sides curved in and then elegantly out to her hips, a cute little navel situated just above and a little below a thin patch of midnight blue hair almost pointed to the gap of her shapely thighs that provided a window to what lay nestled between them. Not lingering for too long lest his libido lurch into high-gear after it had been so abruptly interrupted when Twilight had been called Titus tore his eyes away after only a glimpse and followed her form down her long smooth legs to the feet that were spaced slightly apart and angled just a little inward from her fight to find her balance.

After not getting an answer Luna pivoted on her feet, turning her body enough so that Titus could get a look at her back to provide an accurate evaluation of her work and, feeling a little confident in herself, she went up on the balls of her feet to demonstrate her balance as she looked over her shoulder to rephrase her question, oblivious of the muscles in her calves, thighs, and flanks going taut in the process, "What you see now is just the basis in engineering a more precise spell to manipulate the controls of the bike. Though I appear entirely human several elements are still very Equestrian in nature, namely my brain as I wanted a hybrid so that the human nervous system could be mapped to that of a pony brain - by doing so I can later make a system of magic fields to mimic the nerves which will eliminate the problem of not feeling which field is which! We also took several liberties with the form as we thought it right that we should still bear our cutie mark-" Like with her pony form her cutie mark adorned her hip which she had no trouble drawing his attention to.

"Are there any modifications you think need to be made or does our transmogrification otherwise seem within the acceptable bounds of human proportions?"

Poised on the tips of her feet like that caused Luna's back to arch slightly and pushed her already perky cheeks out that much more which Titus could only sit with a hand partially over his mouth and try his best to maintain eye contact through. His gaze stubbornly refused to stop darting to the beautiful full moon Luna had raised and his brain screamed at him to say Kark yes it does! but all he managed was an incoherent mumble until he cleared his throat and gave her a thumbs up, "It's very, um, you look great... now, about clothes-"

"Aha, success! He approves!" the lunar alicorn beamed, her cheer cutting the seated human off as she quickly shifted her attention to the uncovered bike. Her earlier examination of the machine had come to a stop at the frontal prong that bore one of the engines so turning toward it and away from Titus she carefully leaned forward until her hands made contact with the long nose of the craft to steady herself on her two odd alien legs before she slowly shuffled her way down toward her goal: the driver's seat. "By a fortunate bit of scheduling I just happen to have the rest of the afternoon and evening free, at least until I have to perform my nightly duties," it hadn't taken her long to slide her way down the bike and, hands securely grabbing the control bars, she cautiously shifted her weight to one leg to get the other over the seat before Titus, who was a little distracted by the shapely butt pointed in his direction, realized what she was doing, "Perhaps we could restart our training? Let's see, the ignition is..."

"Luna wait!"

"WHAAAA!" Not being aware that repulsorlifts, in general, were a little rough before they warmed up Titus' attempt at a warning came too late as the bike rose up from the blocks it had been resting on with a shudder that sent a sudden and completely unexpected sensation shooting up Luna's nethers. A hand instinctively shot between her legs to shield her sensitive region from the assault as she rushed to dismount the bike and in her hurry her foot caught on the seat as it came over though thankfully Titus had already been moving toward her and quickly got an arm out in front of her to catch her before she hit the floor.

"Hey, you alright Luna?" he asked worriedly while reaching with his free hand to flip the ignition off which sent the bike slowly floating back down to the cushioned blocks before he gently lowered her to her knees. She's shivering. Looking down it was easy to see that Luna had been spooked and she was currently catching her breath against his steadying arm, one hand remaining firmly between her legs. Titus gingerly put his arm around her and rubbed a palm on her back in an effort to get her to snap out of her shock and respond, "Luna. Hey, are you alright!? Are you hurt at all?"

"I am a-alright, thank you for your concern," Luna finally answered, her free hand going to Titus' shoulder to help herself a bit more upright where she gave him a weak grin as she was aware she was blushing if the burning warmth of her cheeks and ears was anything to go by, "I was just startled is all, if you give me a moment to collect myself I would like to try again. I f-feel a bit foalish, in my excitement I fear I rushed ahead without thinking," Titus helped her to her feet though she was still a bit wobbly-kneed and clung to his shoulder for support, "And I must admit this is a very strange and exciting experience." Luna admitted somewhat embarrassingly that her earlier test had basically been nothing more than a study of the stability of the spell as well as to take her immunization shots before they met, making this the first time she had gotten to experiment with what it was like to have hands.

Still holding onto Titus she slowly pulled her hand out from between her legs to reach out and brush her fingertips over the smooth metal panels on the bike, briefly shying back at how cold it was before pressing her whole hand against it which left a five-fingered outline for a few seconds when she pulled her hand away. It was a spectacle that she had never seen before though she quickly deduced it was from the condensation formed from the warmth of her hand touching the cold metal and subsequently with the help of her friend to brace her everything within reach after that got a brush or a graze from her hands; the coarse surface of the work table, the nearby crates and their pointy corners, and she even wrapped her fingers around a few of the tools strewn about the bike. Everything she was familiar with or sensation she thought she was accustomed to was now alien and new and, returning her electrified gaze to Titus, she looked from him to her hand hesitantly.

"M-May I?" Moving it slowly toward his face she gave him time to object should he want to, keenly observing for any sort of nonverbal sign that she shouldn't like retracting away. When no protest was made and he remained still she gingerly touched the edge of his jaw which briefly tensed as he swallowed and she spent a moment going back and forth on the skin there before dragging her fingers toward his chin.

Luna's head was cocked to one side as she tried to process five different and highly acute signals coming in at once from a limb that usually only sent one as she continued her exploration of Titus' facial features. Her fingers brushed around the outer rim of his ear, snaked deeply into his hair to tangle with it then ran down the bridge of his nose, pausing briefly as one finger extended to brush over his lips. The digits dragged up his cheek to his eyes which closed to allow her to very gently skim over his eyelids where she hovered, giggling as his eyelashes tickled at her fingertips.

An idea suddenly came to Luna and her hand left the human's face to plant itself on the other shoulder where it snaked its way down to his hand and, tongue sticking out in concentration, she intertwined her fingers with his. "This is really amazing," she whispered and squeezed his hand gently, "I never would have imagined hands would be this sensitive!" In a sudden and rather surprising maneuver she untangled the hand that had been supporting her to wrap around it his back with her other arm and pull him close. So this is what it's like for him when he hugs? Stars above, I feel so close! Her heart fluttering, she closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder where she eagerly waited for him to repeat the embrace in kind.

It was at the point that he didn't return the hug that she noticed she wasn't the only one wearing a crimson tinge. "Y-Your face is all flushed," she commented in a hushed tone. Physically speaking they were certainly closer than than usually were, though not much as they would huddle together on his bunk to watch a movie which usually consisted of Titus reclining with his back against the wall where she could easily and comfortably rest her head on his arm or thigh. Because of this Luna didn't feel odd about her proximity to her human companion and he had never voiced or displayed any such aversion himself so she was confused and a little hurt with the way Titus was suddenly making a point of not looking at her, "Pray tell, is something bothering you? My friend, I apologize if my touches have made you uncomfortable as that was never my intention, I-I was simply curious what things felt like with hands and fingers..."

"I-It's alright, Luna, I understand you're probably really excited about this," Titus awkwardly patted her on the back while staring up at the ceiling before he cleared his throat, "But c-could you maybe... put some clothes on?" Luna was roughly half a head shorter than him and as she hadn't released him from the hug he had to lift his chin over her to keep from jabbing her with it which had the added bonus that he could look elsewhere - anywhere - but down at Luna's impossibly beautiful face and the alluring valley of cleavage below it that had been created when she hugged him.

Not that looking away did much of anything to alleviate the sensation of her breasts pressing firmly against his chest.

"Clothes? I'm afraid I didn't have the foresight to bring any clothes with me though I doubt anything in my wardrobe would be suitable-" no longer solely focused on the sensations of her fingers her attention expanded to the rest of her body where she became aware of something prodding her just above the bellybutton as she held him close. Shifting to one side, she cast a curious glance downwards at the disturbance and quickly found that she wasn't the only one that had gotten excited over her change. Immediately and involuntarily her brain dug through her photographic memory and brought up the opposing part of the human diagram from the paper - that of the human male - and realizing what was afoot with Titus she pushed out of the hug as the blood rushed to her cheeks and ears. In her hurry and being wholly unaccustomed to being on two legs she failed to counter her backwards momentum and fell, depositing that shapely rump of hers on the strip of carpet running parallel to the speeder where she held out a hand to stop the startled Titus from helping.

"P-Please friend, do not mistake the intent of our actions for we never meant to arouse-" she tried and stumbled through a combination of an apology and explanation, her brain struggling to keep up with weeding out terms that might seem inappropriate for the context of the situation before they slipped out of her mouth, "I-I-I mean, I never desired... um, w-we harbored no such design for this unexpected outcome!"

Luna sat with a hand extended as a barrier between them for several long seconds as she caught her breath and thought over what she was supposed to do. After she had calmed down a little bit she scooted to lean up against the nose of the bike and drew her legs a little closer to hug her knees before she cast a darting glance at Titus who had sat down cross-legged with his back to her at the opposite end of the bike.

The two remained in those positions for what felt like an eon, neither one quite sure what the other was thinking and both unsure how to break the awkward silence that now filled the cargo hold moments after it had been so lively and full of energy; on Titus' end, he turned away from her to give her some privacy as he berated himself for both not speaking up sooner on the matter of clothes and for taking advantage of that to get a look at her very shapely body in a way he knew he shouldn't have. In addition to feeling like shit over that, he was worried he had given his lunar friend what seemed to be the strongest anxiety attack he had seen her to have to date.

Luna, meanwhile, was kicking herself for her lack of forethought on the matter of bringing clothing and for not catching on to his change in mood earlier. She assumed that he assumed that she had been leading him to think she wanted something else out of their friendship that she wasn't sure she wanted or not - the thought process was all rather complicated and left Luna in a mix of emotions as she tried to sort out in her mind who was assuming what of whom. At least in terms of her accepting it, it wasn't that she didn't understand that he felt the need to cover himself but she had never specifically sought to ask why he wore garments all of the time because she had just thought it was a character quirk much like her propensity for antiquated formal decorum and, due to her limited free time with which to discuss such things, she had dismissed what minor curiosity she had in favor of hearing things of much greater interest like that of other planets and all the star constellations he'd seen and places he'd been. Her fear, however, was more deeply rooted than what her friend was feeling and the way he had turned his back on her stung as she was sincerely scared that she had just lost a friend and not just a friend, but her best friend, and that familiar seed of dread greedily wormed its roots deeper into her thoughts the longer she went without saying something. At the same time and as an unfortunate coincidence she was growing increasingly frightened that by voicing something he might confirm that this had been some point of no return and their friendship had ended, the thought of which enabled the tendrils of fear to knot around her vocal chords which further rendered her silent.

Please... not again.

A sigh from the end of the bike broke the stillness as Titus clapped his hands on his knees, "Right, I think I've had enough of sitting here in silence. Luna, can you please end the spell so we can have a face-to-face talk?"

"No, I-I'm afraid I can't," she replied after mustering the courage to speak and suddenly found it to be a relief to have something to say. After a short pause as the seed attempted to reassert itself the words instead poured forth to explain, "After the incident with sharing Twilight's estrous cycle I took several steps to significantly reduce the amount of energy it took to maintain the effect, which also served to increase the stability, because I feared having an active channel could potentially leave me in the drained state you encountered in Canterlot. The spell's crafting was made to use a pre-determined duration rather than continually expending an increase of energy - somewhere in the four to five factor range due to not being optimized yet - on an active link to actuate an integrated subweave to reverse the effect at any given time. Actively sustaining the spell would have also interfered with my data collection."

There was a pause as Titus deciphered the technical jargon coming from Luna before his head turned slightly toward his shoulder, "So... what you're saying is it's on a countdown timer and you're unable to end it prematurely? Alright... so my next question is this; just how long are you stuck like that?"

"Yes, that would be one way sum up the situation. As for the duration of my transmogrification... I was really looking forward to using this form to make some progress on your chariot and with my afternoon free there's still somewhere in the range of s-several more hours," Luna replied sheepishly and rested her chin on her knees. It felt odd not to have a fur coat covering her and, for the first time, she noticed two things; the first was how chilly the air felt so she tucked herself into a tight ball to try and warm herself up a little and the second feeling was one she could't quite put her hoof on.

Titus could sense from her tone and with the Force that talking seemed to be having a positive effect on Luna's anxiety so he tried to keep her going in hopes of further improvement, "Jeez, several hours, Luna? That would be a hefty amount of time training on the bike... wait, why can't you just cast something to dispel it?"

"Well, for starters I was unsuccessful in amending any sort of horn into the weaving and from my calculations such bodily modification would cause a steadily-growing dissidence within the spell's mesh until it triggered the safety measures and destroyed itself after a few moments, returning me back to my original form. At this time such a hybridization lies in the realm of theory, however I have an instinctual feeling that I still have some access to my magic which I believe I could access through these, oddly enough," Luna wiggled her fingers at Titus though he didn't turn to look which meant she had to vocally communicate her ten new-found digits would probably function in much the same way a horn would before she continued, "E-Eventually I believe such feats and more may be possible or, with enough research, a horn could be integrated however, until I can test their aptitude I-I do not think it would be wise to attempt a dispelling in this form."

Agreeing with her statement Titus suggested he fetch one of the unicorn guards outside to do the dispelling though that also was vetoed after Luna sighed into her knees, "As with what happened to you, this isn't one of the established forms of transmogrification that originated with the Changelings, such as those that can temporarily turn one pony type into another or even have an output something like a griffon. I would have agreed with your idea as their casting mechanics have all been fairly optimized and streamlined in their simplicity over the years however this is an entirely experimental custom-woven spell and, quite frankly, its dispelling would be beyond the scope of skill most unicorns would posses without a thorough study of the weaving process."

Titus hummed briefly then let out a loud sigh, "So basically you need Twilight or your sister to do this."

"Twilight Sparkle, preferably. While I believe Tia would have no trouble she is, um occupied this afternoon... and I fear the gravity of the situation is not severe enough warrant interrupting her Court session." Silence fell back on the cargo hold for a brief moment before an idea came to Luna and she sat up hopefully, "What of Twilight Sparkle's friend, the minty one posing as your fillyfriend? Was she not gifted like our sister's pupil?"

"You mean Lyra? I'll need to bring you up to date on things but yeah, she's definitely good..." Titus' brow creased and he nodded though it slowed down as he considered how things would probably play out.

"Hey, Lyra? Luna and I here need some help, could you dispel something for us?" I would say.

She would respond, "Sure thing, big guy, whatcha trying to dispel?"

"Oh nothing, there's just this spell that's turned Luna into a human, complete with working hands and fingers."

Yeah, as if she wouldn't immediately demand to know how to cast it. Kark, she'd probably even refuse to help if we didn't tell her first.

Titus gave it a few more minutes of thought before finally shaking his head, "Lyra's got a horn injury that prevents her from accessing her magic but she's definitely got the skill to do it, Luna. Unfortunately for us she's taken a trip to Canterlot and even if you have a means of getting through to her I'm not sure if involving her with a spell like this is a wise choice; even if you didn't tell her how to cast it she's deceptively smart and could probably backwards engineer the spell and the last thing I think you or I would want to do is stand in front of Celestia to explain whatever calamity might arise from Lyra procuring a set of fingers for herself."

Luna wasn't overly familiar with Lyra so she had very little way of knowing Titus was only joking with the latter statement, "Very well, that leaves us with not many options other than to wait for Twilight Sparkle... where is she, might I ask? When I arrived I was slightly surprised to discover she was not in your company as she so oft can be found." She watched the human's back as his shoulders raised up and fell back down in a shrug, a gesture she realized she mimicked several times in response to learn to do herself in the new body.

"I was... showing her how to fix a few things as a way to spend time together when there was some situation that came up that required her and her friends' immediate attention. They all charged off with those amulet things-"

"Oh, the Elements of Harmony. I see..." Luna went back to propping her chin on her knees and tried to huddle tighter as a second wave of chills washed over her, "I would say it is safe to assume they will have their hooves full for some time which further reduces the likelihood of Twilight intervening sooner rather than later."

"So... what do we do?" Titus asked the obvious question on both of their minds though neither of them was sure how to answer so, once again, silence ruled over the room.

The sound of chattering teeth soon broke that stillness.

"Would it be possible to increase the temperature in here?" Luna managed as she reached for the tarp that had been covering the bike to use it as a blanket, "Lacking our usual fur the air feels positively frigid! How can you stand it being this cold?!"

"I actually find this to be pretty comfortable, though on my travels I've had plenty of time to adjust to the temperature level the ship maintains to conserve power and keep the computer systems running optimally," Titus heard a rustling behind him but caught himself in time to stop the impulse to turn around, "It will take a few minutes, but I can see about bumping the heat up-"

"Ugh! What is this stuff?!" Luna's exclamation cut Titus off as she tossed the tarp off her back. Whatever it was, it was gritty and goopy at the same time and she could feel it sticking in patches all over her.

The violent rustling of the tarp behind him caused Titus to turn around where he found Luna chucking the cover away, large black smears of dirt and grease from the speeder bike's turbine engine he had been working on apparently had come off of the tarp and coated her arms, shoulders, and matted into a few spots in her hair as well. She spent a second in confusion looking at her hands and shoulders before trying to wipe it off which, as she soon discovered, only further smeared the deposits over a larger area. "Whoa! Hold on," he intervened by taking hold of one of her wrists when she tried to wipe her hands clean on her knees which only left more smudges on her light skin, "Just stop a minute."

Luna looked up at the human gently keeping her from smearing more of the muck on herself; she was cold, grimy, unfamiliar with the body she was in and upset the adventure she had expected turned into a big flop, and she was still afraid that because of their earlier exchange she might have lost the only friend she had. Understandably this was a bit much to handle all at once and her nose became runny which she snuffed and sniffled to keep it from dribbling as several tears rolled down her cheek which she tried to wipe away with the back of her hand and felt just more grease left behind.

Please, not again.

To her surprise Titus gave her a soft smile and pushed her hand away to cup her cheek while a thumb wiped at the spot she had just dried. The hand on her cheek felt rough which was something her fur hadn't let her feel before but the overwhelming sensation Luna got was that it was warm and immensely comforting.

"You're going to get grease all over yourself at this rate, Luna," he scolded, turning her head this way and that as he examined his cleaning job while Luna's hand hovered where he had pushed it away. Satisfied that he had gotten the gunk off before it could adhere to her smooth skin he gave her a lopsided grin, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. I've got some gritty soap that'll get that stuff right off, then we can get you some clothes to warm you up. From there we can decide what to do until the spell wears off. Deal?"

W-What? He's back to acting like normal again, like... we're still friends. The seed of fear withered slightly as Luna gazed up at the kind smile for a few moments before he held out an arm to her which she delicately placed her hands on.

"Who knows, maybe we can fire up the game machine and I'll have a chance at kicking your butt for a change now that you're at the disadvantage."

"V-Very well, we are up for the challenge."

Following his instructions to hold on she planted her small feet against his much larger boots and she suddenly felt herself pulled up as he kept his arm rigid and leaned his body back onto his other foot like a big counterweight though unfortunately she came up a bit faster than she could adjust to keep her balance and in an extremely cliched manner she fell forward into him.

After checking that she hadn't gotten any of the grease on his clothing she placed a hand on the forearm that had helped pulled her up to steady herself and she followed along in a careful shuffle. She attempted to show him she was capable of making some progress in terms of self locomotion though as before it was clear Titus was making an effort not to look at her as he directed them toward the double doors and again as before this fed her fear. Luna was distracted as she thought how she could remedy the apparent situation between them and was unaware they had reached the end of the carpeted path. As soon as her feet made contact with the bare deck she gave a small squeak and jumped back at the shock of the metal-plated floor sapping the heat from her feet almost to the point of stinging, much more so than in her alicorn form.

Titus' brow furrowed; the easy option would to be to just carry her but based on the last time he had picked her up to carry her to her couch back in Canterlot he doubted she'd react much differently as she had far too much dignity to allow such a thing. As it turned out, the look on his face was enough for her to tell what he was thinking and she stoically affirmed she would rather soldier through the discomfort than have him "heave her about like a rucksack" as she put it. Titus had another idea and Luna watched from above as he dropped to his knees where he unlaced his boots. "Here."

"My discomfort shall not lead me to deprive you of your shoes!"

"I'll be fine, but you don't have the hard hooves you're used to so I'm not letting you walk barefoot on the deck because there's a good number of sharp corners and things you could stub a toe on or get a nasty gash if you're not careful. My feet are already callused and used to it so the other option, as I see it, is carrying you which you've made quite clear is the last thing you want-"

"P-Perhaps I could stand on your boots while you walked?" she suggested and though he started to protest she insisted they try before moving on to him giving her his shoes. Tucking the laces back into the top of his boot he stood back up and took her hand, steadying her while she carefully stepped onto one of the hard toes of his boot and then the next before she wrapped her arms around his chest and he called out for her to shift her weight to one leg and they took the first step. They got just a little through the double doors like this before Titus called for a stop though he needn't explain why as Luna again felt the awkward prodding and saw the disappointment on his face, and while she now realized that touching his face and holding his hand hadn't be the catalyst she wasn't aware how disappointed Titus was with himself.

With one boot still unlaced he easily slipped out of it and put a socked foot on the deck and crouched to undo the other. Why am I feeling like this? Okay yeah, being drop-dead gorgeous and butt naked is obvious, but this is my best friend so should I even be attracted to her? Is it because she looks or is human? I... I don't think so but this magic stuff is boggling so I just don't don't know. She probably doesn't feel that toward me and I don't want to make things more awkward by saying something to that effect and outright asking is beyond the question. I like what we have, it's nice having someone to talk to and commiserate with how alien I feel and I don't want to jeopardize it. The quick glance up to gauge what sort of expression she was wearing was caught and Titus immediately looked back down at his boot though there was a small squeeze on his shoulder. Jeez, I can't tell if that pained look is because of me or the floor.

What is going on with him today? While Titus had been unlacing his boot Luna's mind was swamped with her own thoughts, so much so that she almost didn't even feel the cold metal floor under her feet as she stared past him. I don't remember him ever being like this. C-Could it be because I took on a human form...? I hope I haven't rekindled his feeling of being the only human in Equestria. How could I do that to him? At that point Titus quickly glanced up at her though before she could think to give him a friendly smile he had looked away so to try and let him know she was there for him she squeezed his shoulder lightly, hoping he got the message though he only continued to focus on removing his boot. Please do not have become disheartened by my actions, my friend, if it is still safe for me to call you that...

"Lean your weight on my shoulder and give me one foot," the command was almost as cold as the floor and, doing as she was told, she offered one of her feet which he gently took at the ankle and slipped the toes into his boot before swinging it down to the floor, "Alright. Next one."

But that still leaves the issue of him becoming heated in question. Surely it cannot be that holding hoov- hands or a touch to the face is intimate enough to cause such feelings... unless, rather than being the cause, that only brought them to the surface? The process repeated for the other foot and when he was finished Titus gave the laces a tug and shoved the ends in the top of the boot without tying them as they didn't have very far to go. Though I don't believe that to be the case, however much Tia likes to tease me that it is-

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

The dull sound that the large boots made as they clumsily flopped down with each footfall was something that Titus couldn't help chuckling at and he risked a glance back at Luna as she lightly held on to his forearm. She had, of course, looked to him when he had done so and the two finally made eye contact after quite some time though it didn't last more than a fleeting second before Titus turned his eyes forward again.

"You laughed," Luna whispered, part statement made to herself and part hesitant question posed to Titus.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. You just reminded me of something from a long time ago; two little Younglings on a long flight getting their hands on Clone Trooper boots much too large for them and stomping around a Venator-class while some poor Clones looked for their missing gear..." he replied and continued forward at her pace as more of Luna's clomping echoed down the hall though rather suddenly both of her arms slid past his forearm to pull it into a small hug. She stopped and tightened her hold, forcing him to come to a halt as well so he gave a distracted look at one of the screens on the wall even though it was blank.

"Do not apologize, it was a welcome relief to hear and you know I enjoy your stories," the Princess tugged on the arm to get his attention until he turned enough to look out of the corner of his eye, "But I fear things have become... different between us, and from the bottom of my heart that is not the outcome I foresaw when I wanted to show you this spell." She held onto his arm for a few moments waiting for him to respond but he said nothing so subconsciously she tightened her grip both as a comfort for the question she finally couldn't repress any longer and in preparation for his answer, "W-We are still friends, are we not?"

Titus regarded the Princess clinging to his arm for a moment, unsure what to think of her question. Why would she ask that? I'm the one who went and made things weird. He felt another squeeze on his arm and realized she was gradually tensed up in her continued wait for an answer and what urged him into a response even more was that he could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her eyes darted about his face looking for some sort of hint, "I might have handled things better and not made this completely awkward for us, but I would hope so. I don't want to lose my best friend over it."

Yes! YES! Figuratively speaking Luna brought her hoof down and ground the budding seed of fear that their friendship had been over into the dirt while, in the real world, she demonstrated she still possessed some of her alicorn strength as she squeezed the arm to the point that Titus winced briefly though she was far too happy at the moment to catch it. Yes! We're still friends!

"T-Titus, again it does raise our spirits to hear you refer to us as a friend and we cannot begin to translate our joy to know that you think of us as a best friend, which is a feeling I happily share of you. I would have been sorely distraught to have lost a friendship I hold so dear." Despite her elation she still took notice of Titus' aversion to looking at her except in fleeting glances so when he turned back away from her Luna's head cocked to one side and her brow furrowed in thought. I must find out what is causing him such discomfort that he will not look at me, for if it is the transmogrification spell reminding him of his solitude as the only human in Equestria I shall endeavor to end it with all due haste. Feeling a slight pull from Titus she resumed her clomping gait behind him, though with the silence between them broken she felt no hesitation in striking up a conversation with what was on her mind, "While I am grateful there was no loss of friendship between us, I do not understand why you will not face me. Forgive my prying, friend, but I believe if I were to understand what is making you feel, um, uncomfortable I could perhaps do something to alleviate it."

"Look, Luna..." Titus continued looking down the hall where the doors to their destination had just come into view, "I appreciate your concern but I don't want to talk about it right now. The short of it is I won't feel comfortable until you get some clothes on. Sorry."

That was another oddity, as far as Luna was concerned.

"Clothes?" she took a quick look over herself. When she first saw the headline "Monkeys Unclothed" and the printed image of the nude humans in the morning paper with Titus' face having been clearly edited in on the male's she had been a bit shocked to say the least, though once the shock had died down all that was left was her ire at the unashamed ridicule of her friend. She had stormed into the newpaper's office unannounced to thoroughly chew-out the publisher for her indecency during which time she caught sight of the appropriated datapad on the desk. She was keenly aware it was one of the items he had claimed to be missing and it had taken a good deal of effort on Luna's part not to bring the building down on the smug-looking mare that sat behind her big desk and hid behind the damnable "freedom of the press" statute her sister had instituted during her banishment.

Truth be told, however, Luna's visit prompted the mare to see her doctor for a prescription for high blood pressure brought about by extreme anxiety after she had gotten off of work that afternoon.

After Luna had recovered the piece of technology and returned to her quarters she had set it down on her desk with the intent of mailing it back to him when the device turned on with a small, cheerful chime from what the Princess had assumed was a dormant state. She was immediately intrigued as it displayed the exact pictures she had seen in the paper but in startlingly more detail and quickly picking up on the controls Luna had been able to examine every inch of the bipedal models and much to her surprise she felt none of the same shock as she had before and instead felt wonder and curiosity. Foregoing sleep she had spent the remainder of her morning on the small tablet reading until eventually dozing off sometime in the late afternoon when Celestia's laughter at the sight of her sister drooling on the screen in her sleep had woken her up.

Jumping back to the present to now look over her current alien form after being informed she wouldn't be told what was making her friend uncomfortable until she had been clothed, Luna still didn't feel any sort of shock or embarrassment and from her perspective her overall features were congruent with what had been in the image. Puzzled, she still didn't understand what was so wrong, "Does your unease stem from the transmogrification? I tried my hardest but if something is grotesquely wrong-"

"Kark no, nothing is wrong or remotely grotesque about it!" Titus found himself saying before he could check himself and her head leaning to one side in a bid for him to continue with his explanation meant it was too late to retract the statement. Instead he cleared his throat and decided to soldier on as carefully as he could, "To answer your question, yes my discomfort stems from the spell but not because of any mistake you've made with it. I just... you're aware how much I love Twilight."

The sudden inclusion of the unicorn's name received a strange look from Luna and in inquiry as to what she had to do with it which meant his attempt to leave the rest up to the alicorn to conclude on her own hadn't worked.

"Well, what with being in a relationship with her it's really hard not to feel a bit trapped when... it's hard not to feel conflicted because I'm genuinely in love with Twilight and suddenly my best friend shows up and elicits the sort of response I shouldn't be making toward anyone but her... and I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything because this is all really complicated and I feel like crap for causing this."

"So nothing is wrong with my appearance yet it causes you unease which comes by way of your intimate relationship with Twilight Sparkle, correct?" Indeed it was complicated and Luna, who was still coming to grasp with how society had changed over the course of her banishment and was roughly in the same boat of Titus for trying to process the intricacies of herds, hesitantly offered her understanding for his correction though she did so with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, "By that should I conclude you mean you find my transmogrification of sufficient attractiveness to be desirable-?"

"No!"

The sudden outburst clearly startled the alicorn and a second later Titus' shoulders sagged because lying like that didn't sit right with him. "Yes, the truth is yes. While it would vary culture to culture, by most human standards you would be considered attractive," he explained carefully. Internally he was thanking the stars that she had kept walking and they wouldn't be stopping to have this conversation in the middle of the hall because had they stopped he would have found that their lack of motion gave him very little else to focus on. To make matters worse Luna then asked specifically what his opinion was, "I... I think you look very attractive, b-but that's always been the case. Look, can this wait? It's really difficult to talk about this right now but I will say any awkwardness you think has developed is purely my own fault and I'm disappointed in myself for being unable to control my body to the degree I'm used to."

"Oh. I-I don't know what to say, thank you, however I feel I should I apologize for pushing you into being uncomfortable, it most certainly can wait. Furthermore, it would not feel right to let you monopolize the blame in this," Luna said firmly with a shake of her head that left no room to argue, "Although I hope you will understand that I haven't been conditioned as you have to feel exposed in my body I realize I was careless in my desire to surprise you with a potential breakthrough that I failed to think. I overlooked what sort of impact this might have on you and for that you have my apology and my sincere promise to see this through until you are once again comfortable looking at me." Luna slowed to a crawl until Titus turned enough to look at her out of the corner of his eye whereupon she gave him a cocky grin, "Now, let us not dawdle. I believe I remember you boasting about beating me at a Vanguards of the Oubliette duel and I would be eager to show you that you have very far to come before that becomes even a remote possibility, new gear and all."

"Oh, that confident are we? Well, before I can get about to kicking your royal rump we need to get that turbine grease off of you," Titus shot back, feeling much better now that both of them had come to a passing understanding that had allowed much of the awkwardness to dissipate. This time he was the one who brought them to a stop and indicated toward the door beside them, "This is our first stop. Here, instead of waving your hoof in front the sensor like you usually would try pressing these buttons, like this..."

While Titus was able to fly over the buttons using all of his fingers simply out of motor reflex (and he might have taken a little pleasure in showing off) Luna was careful and deliberate. Only her index finger extended from her hand to press the buttons with conviction and, after taking her time to work through the sequence, to her delight the door slid open with a quiet swoosh and an accompanying small breeze. Beyond the door Luna was lead into the locker room portion of the main bathroom where Titus left her briefly on the long bench to look for something. Though she and her sister had gotten to explore the ship thoroughly prior to Snappy Scoop and Action Shot getting their exclusive press tour everything looked different from her perspective on two legs rather than four hooves. When Titus couldn't find what he was looking for in one of the lockers he disappeared in search of it but because a row of lockers blocked her sight she waited for the swoosh of the door to tell her he was gone to begin looking about her surroundings.

Running her fingertips over the wooden bench she was surprised by the feel of every minute ridge of the wood grain which spurred her on to explore other objects within her vicinity. The locker's combination dial was within reach and was pinched between several fingers and got twisted several times, the latch was locked but still got examined thoroughly before the hands found their way to a white box object on the wall nearby. Recognizing the familiar design of a sensor she made a motion in front of it which made the device blow hot air out of a vent downward onto her waiting hands and feet. Enraptured by the sensations Luna stood and moved further down the line in search of other items of stimulation, one hand brushing the locker doors as she went.

When one clicked closed unexpectedly she stopped in her tracks, only turning to face it after a second of mental second guessing whether she had actually heard something, but when she did her new digits played with the latch briefly before gently swinging the narrow door open like it was some portal filled with riches. It might as well have been because of her reaction to finding that, unlike the others, this locker had items in it and she eagerly reached for the nearest which was a small boxlike object with a slightly rounded top that looked removable. After turning the small device - which she knew was a device of some sort due to the buttons that lay flush with one of its surfaces - she gave the cap a small tug and it popped off in one hand to reveal a semi-clear substance with a light blue illumination coming from somewhere within it. Luna wasn't sure what compelled her to do so but she brought it to her nose for a small sniff.

"Ah, a familiar scent," she mused to herself and after letting the subtle yet pleasant smell work through her olfactory system she brought it up for another, deeper sniff, "Is this odd device Titus' cologne applicator?" Turning the object over a few more times in her hands Luna put it back, adjusting it carefully so it sat exactly as she had found it and moved on to the next item. A square of fabric was folded neatly on one of the small shelves and as she picked it up it unfurled to be slightly longer than her torso and while it was clear the article was a shirt of some form the fabric was what had Luna's attention. It was so smooth it felt like water running over her fingertips as she brushed against it and when she pulled at its sleeveless edges lightly it stretched easily. It wasn't until further examination that Luna remembered that this wasn't just a shirt, it was the padding that Titus wore under the protective suit he had arrived in that served as a barrier to naturally insulate heat at temperature increments too fiddly for usual suit controls, as he had explained it. Maybe once I get this gunk off of me he'll let me try this on? I would guess with this fabric it must be comfortable though it's too large, it looks as if it would reach past my hips almost like a short nightie. Perhaps the size would actually be a benefit to its comfort... Luna ran the fabric over her hand a few more times and moved to put it back the way she had found it however the folding proved too difficult a task so she left it as close to folded as she could get it.

Once again reaching into the locker for the final item Luna suddenly hesitated, her hand hovering a scant inch away as her conscience whispered a caution against touching it in one ear however curiosity whispering in the other got the better of her and she slowly let her hand descend. Luna retracted briefly when the cold metal sent a shiver down her bare spine but her hand quickly gravitated back. I shouldn't, this isn't a toy... Initially she only let her hand drape lightly over the top of it. If I'm careful nothing will happen, right? Very cautiously Luna wrapped her hand around the grip as she had seen the soldiers in white do in Titus' unconscious flashbacks though she made a conscious effort that her finger didn't slide into the loop like it felt it wanted to.

I-It's remarkably heavy. During the Princesses' tour of the ship they had been given guided access to the armory on board and, though Celestia had abstained, Luna had taken the opportunity to inspect one of the blaster rifles from the rack (Titus had removed the powercells and safely discharged any latent energy before their visit but double checked again before passing it over, of course). Though her magic aura that she had held the rifle in allowed her some vague sense of weight she was now surprised to find just how much more sensitive she was to the heft of this blaster when she dragged it off the shelf and wasn't ready for it. The small rifle didn't fall from her hand, however, due to the firm grip she had on it and after compensating for the unexpected drop she brought it back up to awkwardly hold in both hands as she regarded it. It's larger than the one we had found with him the night of his arrival. Much bulkier, as well. Taking it by the grip once more she slowly held it out before her as she had witnessed the Clones in his unconscious dreams and memories do; one hand actually on the grip while the hand of the other arm supported it from slightly further toward what she knew was the dangerous end.

Unbeknownst to her Titus hadn't left the room and his socked feet had allowed him to simply travel to the other side of the lockers without the sound of footfalls where he had closed the door out of force of habit as he passed with a wave of a hand in front of the sensor. It didn't take him long to find the loofah and fibril soap that would be necessary to remove the grease from Luna's skin though as an afterthought on his way back around the corner he had snagged a bath towel from the bar so that she could have something to wrap around herself both for warmth and decency. Rounding the corner with the items in hand he found Luna absorbed in exploring her surroundings. As quietly as he could and with absolute stealth he silently set the items down and stood at the end of the lockers to watch her brush a hand down the metal locker doors until she came to a stop to look through one that had been left open. He watched her curiosity at the stick of UV deodorant, something he had thought he had run out of but he and Twilight had amazingly stumbled upon a whole crate of the stuff organizing the cargo hold, before she returned it precisely where she had found it and moved on to his suit's thermal under layer.

Titus stifled a small chuckle which went completely unnoticed when Luna tried several times to refold the article of clothing as he had left it, her bumbling attempts clearly frustrating the alicorn judging by the crease her brow took on until she more or less placed it down in a squarish pile and reached into the locker after another item. His mirth subdued itself to take a backseat to intent interest when he saw her remove one of the many blasters he had stashed throughout the ship though rather than jump in he continued his silent observation as she studied the weapon in both hands and brought the stock up to her shoulder in a ready position.

"Pew. Pew pew! Zap zap!"

The image of the Princess playing pretend and making sound effects were too much for Titus and this time his chuckle wasn't contained which finally alerted her to his presence and she quickly whirled about and inadvertently swept the barrel over to where Titus was standing.

"That's a loaded 'DC Fifteen S' so I'd prefer to not test my luck dodging if you bumped the hair trigger," he joked but immediately a twitch of his finger from across the length of lockers gently moved the barrel to point in a safe direction to one side, "Still, if I didn't know better I'd say you look like you knew how to use that, if you wanted to."

"I-I-I didn't hear you come back," she started frantically before she realized she was still holding the blaster and after a second of scrambling what to do with it she held it out in both hands toward him, "I'm sorry, my friend. I should not have gone into a compartment and sifted through its contents let alone meddle with something like this without asking express permission."

"I wasn't worried about that, Luna," Titus said calmly and made no move to take the pistol from her, his arms instead crossing over his chest as he leaned back against one of the lockers, "Had you been careless with it or endangered yourself I would have stepped in but I could see you respected it for what it was - a weapon."

"Between myself and Tia I am the more martially-inclined of the two of us, she may be stronger with magic but she has yet to best me with a sword," Luna offered while subconsciously clutching the blaster closer at the sign of trust in her he had shown, "My curiosity extended beyond that, however. A whole world of observation has opened to me with this new sense of touch I have acquired and my desire to experience as much as possible lead me to wonder what it was like to hold something like this in ones hands. All the bumps and ridges, the heft, the balance... this is all very good data for my spell development, magic does not let you feel this level of detail without the most extreme level of focus."

His interest was immediately piqued at her first statement. "Good with a sword, huh? I remember giving someone a demonstration of my own skill, perhaps you'd be willing to do the same? Or maybe we could cross blades and see what happens." Luna indicated it had been a while since she or her sister had had time to duel in such a manner but was agreeable to the idea and offered to bring a blade on her next visit which Titus grinned at because he was already looking forward to it. After crossing the small distance to her he finally took the blaster and returned it to the shelf, pausing briefly as a final thought crossed his mind, "The ravine would be a good spot for a duel, and if you'd like we can combine that with some target shooting so you can have some hands-on experience with a blaster or two. For now, however, let's get that grease off of you. Here, I brought you some things."

Luna found her shoulders wrapped in a fuzzy towel that reached well down past her knees which she immediately clung to when she felt the warmth it provided against the cold air she had complained about earlier though she also took notice of how Titus seemed to relax once she was covered. Her attention was then drawn to the other things Titus had with him which he soon passed to her; a coarse yet spongy brick on a handle which he said she could use to reach the grease with and a metal dispenser which he said contained the soap she would need. She was then lead to the end of the row of lockers to the frosted glass door of the shower and helped inside on account of the somewhat slippery tile floor until she could sit down on the small bench.

"Just get a small amount of the soap in your hand; it's gritty so it might be a little uncomfortable at first but if you scrub at the grease for a few seconds it'll come right off," he said, demonstrating how the dispenser and shower worked then cleaned a small spot of the goop from the back of her hand before he stood up, "I'll leave the rest to you. If you need anything I'm right out on the bench, just give me a call."

Luna waited for the frosted glass door to close behind him before throwing the towel over the door and excitedly examining the texture of the soap for herself and in her excitement of the thick gloop piling up in her palm she dispensed much more than she needed. Closing her hand in a fist she couldn't help but smile at the feeling of the soap squishing out between her fingers. "This is quite a fascinating experience, my friend," she called over the door. Scooping up what had escaped she sought to squeeze it through again but because of the running shower it had gotten wet so this time it made a wet farting noise and she burst out laughing, "Oh! Oh ho! Oh my!"

"It's good to hear your laugh, I'm glad things have turned around and you're having fun with all of this now," he chuckled back, genuinely happy that he and his friend had been able to move on from the tension that been between them earlier. "Listen, looking around I just realized that was the last bath towel and because it sounds like you've got a handle on things in there I want to hop down to the laundry room and get some dry ones for when you get back out. Is it okay if I leave you alone for a minute?" Luna replied that she would be fine around a laugh and another rude noise emanated from the shower which amid her laughter she was quick to blame on the soap as he stepped out the door.

Walking down the corridor he tapped the communicator in his ear with a finger to activate it from its dormant state, "Twilight, you there? Just checking in that everything is okay."

There was a tense pause as he waited to hear from her but the voice that answered a second later wasn't hers.

"< Hey T, you just missed her, >" Spike replied over the comm with the usual distortion. While Titus was glad to hear the level of optimism in the little dragon's tone he was quick to restate his question which got a slightly surprised response that he would be so concerned, "< Yeah, everything is fine. She and the others got the monster back into the comic book but they had to follow it in. She told me I'd have to wait here because 'the comm device might interfere with the magic of the comic book so she couldn't risk taking it with her.' She was saying something about having to seal the tear in the containment magic from the inside to keep the monster trapped and how they'll have to finish the adventure after that to get back out; me, Nightwatch, and Quickbolt are guarding the comic so nopony messes with it until then. >"

Titus came to a halt in the corridor and breathed a sigh of relief, "So everyone is safe? Did Twi tell you I was ready to provide fire support with the ship?"

"< Yup! Twilight gave me the comm thing and told me to make sure you didn't worry about her. I'm pretty sure at this point we're basically wrapping this up on this end so I don't think assistance will be needed, as cool as it would have been to see. Oh! And those droids of yours were really helpful-! >" In the background the gutteral bark of a MagnaGuard could be heard and Spike politely asked it to carry something to a different spot before his attention came back to the comm, "< They did a great job of evacuating homes ahead of the monster and keeping everypony out of harms way after that. They even helped steer the monster's path back out of town when they joined the fight! Like the comm, though, they couldn't follow Twilight into the comic book so I've got them helping out by cleaning up rubble from some of the houses that got destroyed. Hope that's okay... >"

"Absolutely, whatever you need them for. Listen, it sounds like you've got things under control, bud, so once Twilight gets back go ahead and pass the comm over to Nightwatch or Quickbolt so they can continue to utilize the MagnaGuards. Until then I'll stay on standby in case anything changes," Titus said and reiterated that the ship was ready to go should they need it before Spike signed off. "Iana, cycle the weapon systems into hibernation mode but keep us ready to respond. I want to be able to dust off and have weapons hot at a moment's notice," he said aloud and was answered with a cheerful chirp from the A.I. before several more subtle noises from deep within the ship confirmed the order was being followed.

With that worry safely put to rest Titus continued his jaunt next door for the large bath towel he knew he put in the dryer, though Titus also grabbed an extra one so she could dry her hair. Still thinking of the comm call, the fact that Spike answered bugged him a little. Battle-hardened Jedi Master with a lifetime of experience and training under my belt. Yet here I am being told to stay safe at home while she brings the baby dragon with her... I know I could have helped her, I just wish she had given me a chance. He put the impending conversation with Twilight aside for later and was halfway out the door before a playful thought struck him which lead him to dip back in to search through the laundry Twilight had left folded in the basket nearby. Very easily finding what he was looking for thanks to Twilight's meticulous organization of his garments he was able to make a swift return to the locker room where Titus found Luna had already gotten out of the shower.

Luna had taken a seat on the bench in front of the hand drier and was bent over with her head under the vent, happily tilting her head from side to side as the air quickly dried her hair with added floof which she ran her fingers through and played with. "Ah! I realize this is probably not how to use this but I must say it functions suitably as a mane drier," she greeted him with a chipper tone and a smile over one bare shoulder. Her wet towel was on the floor somewhere close to the shower door and she watched as Titus' hand snapped up to cover his eyes though his lopsided grin crept onto his face as he held the new towels out for her. Reaching out she took the larger one and wrapped it around her torso just under the arms and the other she made an attempt at doing up around her head though her motor skills weren't trained nearly enough and she ended up simply draping it over her head like a hood. She then noticed Titus was holding something else in his hand and after making a simple knot out of the ends of the towel on her head so it wouldn't go anywhere Luna stepped closer.

"Is that for me as well?" she asked and was answered with a nod so she stooped for a closer look whereupon she found it was a pair of the black shorts he wore. Luna took the article of clothing passed to her but looked a little hesitantly at them, "In the interest of expediting the ease of your discomfort might I ask for assistance, like with the boots? I do not yet possess your balance, my friend."

Wordlessly he squatted down on his knees, and despite the towel Luna had around her coming down past he thighs which made it safe to look at her his eyes remained on the floor as he took back the shorts though Luna could still see the corner of his grin. She watched him lay them out in front of her with the leg holes arranged to stay open. "Step into them one foot at a time. Use my shoulders for support if you'd like," he instructed.

Very carefully the first foot wormed its way down the leg of the shorts, its toes wiggling to dig a path for the foot following it until it was securely planted on the floor. The second foot had a harder time because Luna tried her best to not lean on Titus as much as she wanted to and had to be mindful of her balance so she wouldn't pitch forward into him and make the situation catastrophically awkward. She got a word of warning before she felt her ankle gripped softly as the fold of fabric she had gotten caught up in was straightened out and her foot was guided to the cold floor at which point she could stop leaning on his shoulder. Again he gave her a warning of his intention and, after bidding him to continue, she felt the shorts slide up to her knees only to come to a stop.

"Take them by the hem and hoist them all the way up to your hips," Titus said and waited until she had firmly grasped the shorts before he pivoted around and stood so his back was to her and she could have privacy. There was a moment of silence and then a small squeak of surprise followed by more quiet at which point she said it would be alright to face her once again.

Luna stood upright and put on a stoic face but she knew he noticed that her thighs ground together and when he asked if something was wrong she squirmed slightly, "T-They are quite, um... snug."

"Oh, yeah that sort of thing happens all the time so please, by all means... adjust them until they're comfortable," he said crossing his arms over his chest and Luna instantly knew why he had been grinning before he had even continued, "You don't have to worry about me thinking you're diddling yourself."

Luna glared at him with glib annoyance, "You know very well that was a misunderstanding, one which I have apologized profusely for after having calmed down-"

"Yes, you did, but in the meantime your sister had stopped by worried about what had happened because you refused to talk to her and she thought we had gotten into a fight over something," he supplied and took a seat on the bench as she pulled the crotch of the shorts down slightly to a comfortable level, "I had to tell her what lead up to you vanishing in a flash of light. She... she had quite the jolly laugh explaining your vocabulary and at my embarrassment, I imagine."

"You never told me she came by..."

"Well yeah. I was going to say something but you were so distressed and apologetic when you got on the game the following morning that I would have just made you feel worse," he answered as she joined him on the bench to ask if putting on the shorts was a form of getting back at her. "What? No, not... okay maybe a little because I knew you'd be squeamish, but it's more about getting clothes on you," Titus explained, slowly growing more comfortable now that she was covered and he bumped his shoulder against hers playfully before sliding the boots over to her so she could put them on while seated, "But I'd say this makes us even because I remember you having a bit of similar fun at my expense immediately after I was turned into a pony when you floated me out of the pile of clothes I was covered in. Plus the jollies your sister got for that and the diddling incident..."

"Very well, but knowing Tia I would say that would be generous of you," she said and bumped him back while making a mental note that she would have to plan another prank on her sister for teasing her friend so unjustly. At the same time she also recognized that because of his small act of retaliation she could feel justified in saying he had just stepped onto the battlefield and opened himself up to proverbial attacks from her and potentially her sister, the prospect of which made her laugh evilly in her head, "I will happily clothe myself if it means we can act a bit more normally with each other, and though I begin to understand the discomfort my form has caused you I am glad that we are able to overcome such an obstacle together. Should there be anything else I might do, please... ask so that I might make things right."

Luna thought that Titus was oddly quiet for a moment as he stared forward, his hands clasped tightly together in his lap in thought so she leaned her shoulder against his in support, "I am here, friend."

Titus didn't or couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her as he spoke softly, "It has taken some time for me to adjust to Equestria, which we've discussed at length on numerous visits, but because of the situation I find myself in in not being able to go back you, Twilight, Lyra, and the others I've come to know have tried harder than I could ask or deserve to make that transition easier. Thanks to all of your combined efforts I feel like I've found a place that I would actually be happy to stay, but... well, it still goes back to that discussion we had in the garden. I thought that I had gotten used to the idea of being alone in this world but back in the cargo hold when the smoke had cleared my stomach tied itself into knots when I saw another human-" Luna tried to cut him off with an apology but he quickly shushed her and shook his head, "No, that's not the point I'm trying to make. What I'm trying to say is, well, in the back of my mind I was telling myself you were a pony and this was all just the makings of a spell but... for a second I lost myself and forgot all of that."

"Do not be ashamed of feeling lonely, my friend, anypony in your position could rightfully feel so," Luna offered in an equally soft voice and rather awkwardly placed an arm around his side, "If truth be told I have always admired how well you have handled it and that you haven't let it consume or control you. You have friends, however, and as one of them I shall not fail again as I have and be too far or too occupied to make time for you when you need somepony there."

To her surprise one of Titus' hands moved to lay atop the hand she had wrapped around him and after another moment of silence passed he gave a sigh and stood slowly. "Come on, we've still got to get actual clothes on you, not just underwear. This time, however, you'll be choosing," he said, helping her up with a steady arm to pull against as an excited smile crossed her face at that prospect. When she was standing she once again though rather than begin the trek he paused oddly and when softly bade to speak he did so hesitantly, "We're going just down the hall a short ways, but... could I ask a favor? It's been a while since I've had human contact, and outside of something like this spell it's looking more and more like I won't have another chance so... would you be willing to... hold my hand while we walk?"

She stared into the face of her human friend at the odd request and for the first time she could recall she saw the smallest hint of trepidation in his warm chocolate eyes. Such a small request and he's actually worried I'd say no? Without an ounce of hesitation she slid her hand into his, intertwining her fingers in his to grasp it gently, "I would be glad to!"

Titus, however, tightened his grip as his eyes closed, relishing in the feeling of someone's hand gripping his for several long moments to focus. In his attempt to commit the sensation to memory his mind could not be stopped from recalling the time as a Youngling he had anxiously clutched the Master's hand at their first appearance before the Council where it was determine whether or not she would be allowed to take him on as her Padawan at such a young age. During their appearance the gesture had been pointed out to them as inappropriate and not befitting their relationship as master and apprentice and the fear that they were already too familiar with one another had been voiced. It was, of course, hardly an uncommon sight around the temple as young children became attached to their new mentors and none of the Masters seemed overly concerned it would corrupt their pupil in the slightest, some members of the Council were simply bullheadedly adhering to doctrine though their slight disapproval of both Krua in general and her methods might also have been to blame.

"Dhans vali, mae dhulsgae..." he whispered softly.

A soft, almost unintentional squeeze on Luna's part was exactly like the one Krua had failed to hold back when the same members voiced their disagreement of her proposal and the vivid memory of his Master standing her ground rushed back to Titus causing a catch in his throat. At the same time and unbeknownst to him because he was so wrapped up he failed to recognize the feeling of several tears rolling down his cheeks.

"What was that? You spoke with a different tongue so I don't know if what you said was meant for me," she inquired hesitantly from not wanting to disturb Titus' thought however his eyes soon opened and a forearm was quickly raised to wipe them. Luna keenly observed this and shifted her gait so she could lean against him without tripping but made no remark and let her actions speak for her concern that he was alright.

They did and Titus nodded slowly and composed himself, "Sorry, I've been teaching Twi some Galactic Basic so I've recently fallen back into using it sporadically. I said dhans vali, which means 'thank you' and mae 'my' dhulsgae 'friend-'"

"M-May dulls... how did that go?" Luna eagerly asked and had him repeat the phrase a few more times to try herself until she had gotten the pronunciation, "Well, mae dhulsgae, as I believe we talked about during your time in Canterlot my sister and I enjoy discussing linguistics so dhans vali for the introductory lesson." A thought suddenly hit her that caused her to giggle before she bumped the curious Titus' shoulder with her own, "Time permitting, perhaps we could learn to converse in this 'basic' language? I know Tia would be so internally flustered not knowing what we were saying if we were to have a secret conversation in front of her! Oh how we could pull all sorts of fun tricks on her!"

"Careful, it sounds like you're already planning on involving me in a prank on your sister, your prakinoe. It's something I'll think about," he said and gave a final tidbit of alien lingo as they arrived at their destination in the crew quarters hallway however before opening the door he lifted their intertwined hands into view, "Thanks again for this, I... it means something special, Luna."

This being one of those occasions where her ears would have perked up had she not been in this unusual form she realized, however, her posture had straightened in their stead, "Would that be because of something or somepony in the past? Or is my holding your hand that significant without me realizing it?"

"Who says they have to be mutually exclusive?" he replied rhetorically and was happy to receive another squeeze of his hand and oddly shy grin from Luna as he lead them into his Master's old quarters. "Okay, here we are. Rarity picked through a lot of this and took some for design inspiration. Because none of this fits me and I have no use for it otherwise just take whatever you like," he said while opening the closet door to show several racks of clothes available and motioned his head toward one of the shelves at the rear, "At the back you'll find the finer stuff, I know there's a formal dress or two back there she used for a disguise on a few occasions. Everything else you'll probably find a bit plain for a Princess to wear-"

Luna cut him off with a shake of her head, "I do not wish to dress up like I am attending The Gala or a party for the Court. If it would be alright I would much rather try the type of clothes you wear instead, they look much more relaxed and comfortable." Letting go of Titus' arm she shuffled a few steps past him into the closet, one hand keeping the towel around her while she perused what was available. While a few shirts were getting a little more attention than others Titus pointed to the pants folded nearly on one shelf (Twilight's work, no doubt) and excused himself to the hallway to give her some privacy in which to get dressed. Once he had left Luna let the towel drop to the floor to examine her choices much more thoroughly, taking the shirts by the shoulders to hold them against herself for an approximate fit and, much to her delight, Master Krua appeared to have been a similar size though a little shorter if she had to guess. Continuing to dig through the rack Luna stopped at one shirt and held it out before her whereupon she subconsciously voiced her thoughts, "Maybe this one? The art and symbols on the chest are rather appealing."

She set it aside and tried to pick out others to compare but no matter what caught her eye she still would put them back in favor of the first blue shirt. Hmm... there's just something about it. And it's blue, so Titus will like it too. Clothing for her lower half got much the same treatment though the variety was much wider and she was left going through all sorts of different pants and skirts. Eventually she whittled her choices down two items but put the jet black ankle-length twin-slit skirt back in favor of some lightweight grey shorts simply from how soft they felt which she theorized would be very comfortable and warm enough, the initial shock of the cold air against her skin forgotten as she had slowly grown accustomed to the temperature.

With the two articles feeling like a good choice Luna meticulously put everything else back where it had been though as she was doing so a small basket caught her eye and with a peek inside she found what she quickly identified was more underwear. These, however, differed from what Titus had provided in that these didn't look like shorts and instead had the legs cut off leaving them in something close to a V shape. A second glace at what she was wearing caused her to hold the shorts she had picked out against her waist where she confirmed her suspicion; the bottom hem of Titus' underwear was longer than the legs of the grey shorts she wanted and would therefore stick out which she got the feeling wasn't supposed to happen. Variety was much less of an issue in this regard as every garment looked fairly similar in their simplistic design outside of the color and, in the interest of speed and not overly interested to digging through the clothes again to find a replacement for the shorts, she just took the simple route and picked the plain black set that was on top.

Shuffling over to the bed Luna laid out her outfit and gave it an approving smile. It's more than I would normally wear as a pony, but that was more fun than I thought it would be. I think I picked out something that matches, too! Luna was keen to see how she would look and more so what Titus would think of her choices and quickly sought to change into the other underwear. "I have an outfit picked, dhulsgae, I shall be out momentarily!" she called through the door. Arranging the underwear on the floor as Titus had done in the bathroom she wiggled the undershorts off of her hips and just let them fall while she eagerly stepped into the other pair however she was soon reminded of her struggle with her balance as she leaned over to pull the underwear up and pitched over into the dresser with a loud crash which earned several urgent knocks and a concerned inquiry about her well-being from the hallway. Luna was going to scramble (or make the best effort to, anyway) back onto her feet and make a rush for the door to assure Titus she was alright but she realized she had more flexibility than her pony form and discovered how much easier it was to put the underwear on while laying on the floor.

Pulling the underwear up to her hips, however, she discovered just how much more uncomfortably "snug" these other pair were in the crotch in comparison. Why would anypony submit themselves to these? Surely this is redundant if I am to wear something over them. Calling out that there had been a slight hiccup which was now remedied Luna reached the shorts down off the bed and after removing the restrictive underwear and repeating the process to get into the shorts she was pleased with how much more comfortable she was without. Hoisting herself up so her chest was level with the top of the bunk the next challenge came from the shirt; in pulling it over her head she got a little lost trying to find the hole for it to go through and got stuck when she inadvertently tried to go through one of the arm holes while an arm snaked through the collar. Karking moons, I'm in the wrong hole. When she finally freed herself she set the shirt down to look at it from a different perspective and after breaking down the issues she encountered she rolled the bottom hem up to just under the armpits and slid the shirt over her head successfully at which point it just took a little squirming until she had gotten her arms through the holes. Ha ha! Excelsior! Upon pulling the hem down to her waist, however, she realized her mistake and had to pull them back out again because she had put it on backwards which she quickly and easily fixed before moving to the door.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms above her head for fanfare when the door opened, "Lacking the usual magic and being not wholly coordinated it was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. What do you think, dhulsgae, is my choice acceptable?"

Titus regarded her for a moment before nodding and added that what mattered more was if she was comfortable before he pointed to the blue shirt she was wearing, "That's an oddly fitting-"

"Oh. Is it too small? Too large?" she asked in disappointment and slight confusion because to her it felt fine but in retrospect she had noticed the bottom hem lifted above the waist of the shorts which had exposed her belly button when she had put her arms in the air so the thought that it might be too small seemed feasible. Despite this she could recall the same thing happening to Titus on several occurrences; if he reached too far for something his stomach and belly button would also be revealed so this lead her to hypothesize that perhaps female clothing should fit differently.

Thankfully Titus was quick to answer before she got too far ahead of herself. "No, no, no. The shirt is fine, I meant the lettering is oddly fitting for who you are," he said which got the response that she had chosen the shirt because she liked the design though she hadn't been certain if it was text or not which lead her to ask what was written. "It says 'Lunar Logistics,'" Titus explained as he indicated to the letters and broke them down word by word in his translation before moving on to the image they were set against. "It's a big company in the Artanis system. They were in the business of surveying uninhabitable moons for minerals but sometimes they'd survey larger asteroids and then they'd sell their findings to the planet-cracking scale mining companies that would come in and completely mine them out. They eventually got to the point of outright buying these moons and selling mining exclusivity to certain companies and would set up a temporary headquarters in orbit but when the moon was stripped and the mining company had pulled out it wasn't cost effective for Lunar Logistics to move or repurpose the stations so they'd just abandon them. Caused all sorts of problems, but anyway..." he shook his head as if there were more than a few tales he could share, "Krua used one such station as a training ground for me for a while when I was a Youngling, then when we were on the run we used another to dock the ship and disguise it by welding scrap to it. I guess that's where she picked up this shirt."

"The logo does seem familiar now," Luna nodded and glanced down at the shirt with newfound realization before she returned to Titus, "If I recall correctly you briefly did some mercenary work for them."

"That's right-" he responded and made a move to lead the way to where the game system was set up but before Luna stepped out into the hall she zipped back inside the closet for a pair of socks to wear with his boots. Titus leaned against the bulkhead and would have continued however she asked for assistance in getting into them due to their high ankles so he squatted down in front of her instead, "First foot. The owner of the company was surprisingly humanitarian, when he heard a mining company had stripped a moon and left with an infestation of these creatures that only later were discovered to be mutated rakghouls swarming the tunnels he recruited teams of mercs to bolster his own small corporate army to extract the civilians that were no longer protected by the mining company's security force. I had only read of such creatures..." Titus was busy loosely lacing the boot up when he felt Luna's fingers snake into his hair which caused him to look up out of curiosity.

"Ah yes, those are some of the first memories I observed while you were unconscious in the library," she said with a warm smile, once again elated that their friendship hadn't suffered a blow from her folly and they were talking like normal, "Despite the risk of exposing yourself for being a Jedi I could feel that you took on the job to help those people. From what I remember you also took very little of the pay for yourself which was one of the many actions which lead to my decision that if given the chance to recover and given an explanation as to what happened to bring you here you could safely be welcomed, a decision which was further cemented when I witnessed you covering a cold and slumbering Twilight Sparkle with a blanket. I will admit, however, your sudden jump up from the bed into pained action when I said something was rather startling and left me uncertain what to do!" They shared a laugh at the memory and by the time they were done the other boot had been secured.

"Well I wasn't sure what you were or what your intentions were, all I saw was something with a sharp pointy bit that could gore me until Twi stepped in and diffused the situation," he said as he stood up and offered an arm with which Luna could steady herself with, "If you still want to play Vanguards I have to get my stuff from Piloting. I'll help you across the hall then run and grab it so we can do some split-screen-"

Luna's hands tightened on his forearm before she even spoke, "Might I accompany you? The last time I was here for the tour the central command hub of your ship was still under repair so I'd be eager to see the progress you've made." Titus didn't have any sort of problem with her request and slowly lead the way until they had made the short trip to the bridge.

"< Greetings, Pilot. Systems prepped for departure- >"

This being the first time she had heard it, the A.I.'s voice chiming as the door slid open caught Luna by surprise and she looked around for whom it belonged to as she expected to see a droid. Titus had some fun and let her look for a second before explaining the shipboard computer to her, "Iana, this is my best friend, designation: Princess Luna, security clearance level one-"

"Oh! Your talking ship function is working!" Luna gasped excitedly over Iana as it confirmed the profile was biometrically scanned and logged, "Hello there, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Titus has spoken of your repair for quite some time so I am happy to see he has had success. Titus was more focused on describing his progress so I would be interested to know what duties you perform as he didn't go into much detail other than to explain you were a navigational assistant."

"< Sentiments acknowledged, Princess Luna. My primary objective as this ship's Artificial Intelligence is to protect my Pilot. Secondary functions include aiding in whatever means the Pilot requires through the use of superior computation speed, course mapping, probability analysis, adaptive learning to scenarios, and full sensor recording and monitoring of all activity in and around the ship. >"

"Adaptive learning?" Luna asked and looked to Titus, "Do you mean to say you are able to teach Iana new things?"

"Sort of," he nodded, "At first I thought it was just a personality subroutine the development lab had constructed to make Iana more identifiable on a personal level but I quickly came to realize she's like a growing mind, with some technological limits. From what she's told me her programmer was trying to make an A.I. that could fully control every aspect of the ship however before such advancements could be made to her she was installed on the ship as a stand-in for its demonstration to the Empire's inspectors. That, as you know, never happened because Krua and I made off with it and subsequently Iana. When I first got her installed she had all the basic functionalities of an A.I. but the longer she was active the more she started to develop this ability to handle situations and decisions like I would. Where before I'd have to ask her to do something she quickly got to the point where she started to perform those functions automatically as I needed them to be done, like she was reading my mind though that's certainly not the case. Let me tell you, being able to focus fully on flying while Iana handles a majority of would-be distractions makes her an invaluable part of my crew."

"< Pilot, at the time of your compliment I logged a minor power surge in my processing circuits though it was not at a level that would be detrimental to functionality. Running a system diagnostic. Query: to draw a similarity for my own understanding by studying the data compiled and backlogged since sensors were brought back online, could this be similar to the three to eight percent increase in heart rate I have been observing in both you and Princess Luna when either one of you interface with the other? >"

"Aha... um, that could be similar, I suppose..." it was Titus' turn to be caught by surprise and at the question he nervously glanced over where he found Luna had gleaned the underlying message in the A.I.'s wording if her red face and timid grin were anything to go by, "Sorry, she's still trying to grasp when it's okay and not okay to say something like that." Before he could cut the speakers to the room off at the nearest console Iana spoke again.

"< Confusion. Have I made an error? Evidence to back my findings include current biometric scanner readings of increased heart rate and pheromone levels that indicate the Pilot wants to mate with the female- >"

"Okay. Iana; voice modulator off." Titus quickly locked the speakers offline before the A.I. could further unravel the normalcy he and Luna had only just begun to rebuild and he hunched himself over the nearby console as he sighed annoyingly. Iana wasn't shut off so a window of text popped up asking for explanation for his actions which he ignored for the time being and turned around with the intent of apologizing profusely.

Luna, however, was standing where he had quickly left her with a hand over her mouth clearly stifling an embarrassed giggle which caused Titus' shoulders to slump with yet another sigh of defeat. "You do not need to apologize, dhulsgae, at this point I think that we can both appreciate how awkward my visit has been and hopefully just laugh at it together. That is my wish, anyway," she offered with a shrug of her shoulders and Titus snorted in agreement with her statement on the series of events. Despite her words, however, she was internally uncertain how to take what the A.I. had said. S-Surely the readings are simply Titus' biology betraying him, as he stated earlier... though what if it is like sister says and he truly wants to be more than friends? Coming from a patriarchal society I know he feels that he should be the one broaching the subject however from what I know of him and from Twilight's dreams he undoubtedly would have trouble doing so due to his inexperience... which I admittedly share. Perhaps I should make an effort to stay alert for any signs that that is the case if or until he is comfortable saying something to that effect?

Luna left the thought for later and, looking curiously about the room at its many consoles and the array of screens that displayed the outside like a giant window, sat herself down at the center-most terminal in the room which much to her delight lit up in all sorts of colors when it sensed a registered user of sufficient clearance. "Oh! Is this how you fly the ship?" she asked, frozen in place as her hands eagerly but consciously hovered over the complicated display so as to not accidentally touch any of the buttons.

"It's one method, but I don't use it to just fly, everything had to be consolidated into that console so I could have easy access to all the other stations like weapons, navigation, and sensors. Here, look."

Though Titus was showing her all of the different buttons and functions of the console his close proximity as he leaned over one of her shoulders was entirely distracting due to her earlier thoughts so when he asked if she wanted to cycle power to the repulsors and take the ship up off its landing gear she embarrassingly realized she couldn't remember anything of what he had said. To cover for this she shook her head, "P-Perhaps another time, this is all very complicated and with my lack of dexterity I fear I may miss a button and end up doing something like firing a laser or... what was it, tor-pee-do? Yes, shooting one of those into Ponyville. If I can get more used to my hands and fingers I would love the be shown again and maybe try then." Scanning the odd writing for anything familiar she quickly gave up and pointed to the large screens in front of her that served as a view-port, "I believe some Vanguards of the Oubliette may be just the practice I need. You said you were playing from in here, where is your game machine so that I might turn it on?"

"It's still set up in my room like normal, actually. I was just redirecting that terminal here so I could leave at a moment's notice," he replied. As he fetched the controllers from where he had left them at another console Luna peered at the screens set up like a window, watching intently as a pair of guard conducted their patrol around the ship but didn't even look up at the Princess who felt like she was in plain sight. This, of course, wasn't the case as the bridge was centrally located within the ship and the monitors only made it feel like there were windows so the ponies she was watching were half a ship-length away, however Titus found her wonder endearing and rather than ruin the magic of the moment getting technical continued where he had left off, "That being said, my room's furnishings are miles more comfortable so unless you're really set on playing in here I'd suggest we move locations. I've made a few changes since your last visit."

"A tactic to stall your imminent defeat at my hoo- um, hands no doubt, but no matter," Luna said as she pushed herself up from the console. Truth be told she didn't really care where they played as long as they could spend some quality time together after she had been occupied with Court duties for so long, "Very well, we shall retire to your quarters. I trust the usual snacks and refreshments are still available-?" That odd feeling from earlier that she had pushed to the back of her mind suddenly returned and she finally realized what it was in earnest, "A-Along the way there is a bathroom, correct? C-Closer rather t-than further, I hope."

Judging by her tone Titus could guess it was urgent and instead of finishing unwiring the controllers he left them where they were and quickly lead the way down to the bathroom situated in the same corridor and just a few doors down from his quarters. Slipping inside, the door was all but shut in his face however through it Luna expressed her thanks. "While you're in there I'll go finish getting the controller and meet you back in my room," he said to the closed door and after receiving a muffled acknowledgment he returned to Piloting.

Arriving at the terminal where he had left the controllers another text box from Iana popped up with a soft bleep calling a second time for clarification.

"< Were my readings off? Biological signals indicate the Pilot is interested in designation Princess Luna. >"

"It's complicated," he said aloud because it left his hands free for the task and the A.I. had only been cut off from speaking so she was fully capable of taking verbal input, "I like Luna, she's my best friend-"

*Bloop.*

"< Continued confusion. Does the Pilot liking designation Princess Luna not make the decision easier or more acceptable to follow instinct and mate? >"

"You're not understanding, it goes beyond such a simple instinct. As higher creatures our minds have opened to new levels of thought and considerations not capable by base animals," Titus tried to explain in response to the new text box that had popped up which had interrupted him, "So basically while my physical body might exhibit signs of a desire I, being an evolved being, am not a slave to it and can make choices that contradict and override that."

*Ba-bloop.*

"< The sensor data may be correct but it is not applicable or is only partially relevant due to this, is that the conclusion the Pilot wishes me to come to? Before the Pilot interrupted, the sensor data was also observed within Princess Luna however should this new factor be present in both subjects it would account for why one or both of you has not made a move on the other. >"

There was a pause in Titus' response which Iana used to send yet another message.

*Bloop.*

"< Detecting the Pilot is uncertain. From my study humans and other sufficiently intelligent organics can often state one thing as fact while meaning or knowing it to be another, whether this be intentional or subconsciously done. Is the latter what the Pilot is potentially experiencing? I believe lying is the term that best fits this description, however, because I have not been programmed to lie the closest I could achieve would be hypothetically returning a false positive though I cannot foresee myself performing such an illogical behavior. Observation: the dangerous possibility exists that I could do so without detecting it thereby violating the Primary Directive. One moment, expanding knowledge of deceit to establish new subroutines to counteract this security flaw... >"

"I'll leave you to that," Titus responded wearily and finished extracting the cables before the computer could question him further. Jogging back to his room with the gaming gear in hand he instead found it oddly empty so he got everything hooked back up like normal thinking Luna wouldn't be far behind him. Even after setting out some snacks and drinks he still had time to mess around in the game to accomplish a few tasks in preparation for their play together though eventually he ran out of things to do and there was still so sign of her.

Setting the controls aside once he was in a safe area he poked his head out into the hall and could see the bathroom door was still closed in its occupied mode. Curious and a little worried he knocked politely, "It's me, I've got everything set up. Just sorta... wondering when I can expect you."

There was a long silence which was disconcerting enough that Titus was about to knock again when Luna's muffled voice finally made itself heard, "Friend? I am embarrassed to say it, but... I am stuck."

Titus' brow creased in confusion. "What, the door is stuck? Let me try from my side-" The door slid open easily enough, or would have but he had barely cracked it open an inch before it was slammed shut with alicorn strength.

"No, not the door. I-It is too embarrassing to say directly," she said a little louder to be heard properly and his assurance that he could help but only if she would tell him what was going on or let him open the door. Another long silenced followed but Titus patiently waited this one out until she was ready, "The door will remained closed except as a last resort. In as few words as possible, I can't move."

It was Titus' turn to fall briefly quiet in thought until Luna's call if he was still there shook him back, "Yeah, yeah, still here. How are you stuck? Did you push any buttons? Or do you mean stuck as in your foot is lodged somewhere or something like that?"

Luna realized giving Titus at least the bare minimum of details was better than the alternative of him opening the door on her in such a vulnerable situation, despite how much she trusted him. "I do not think I bumped anything... however I can't be certain as I was in a rush," she said and tried to remember what the pad of buttons and nobs next to the toiled had looked like before she had sat down but to no avail, "I only noticed when I tried to get up; I cannot pry myself loose from the seat and there is nothing to grab hold of for leverage."

"There's the towel bar-"

"By the sink? I've already torn it off, I fear it was not secured with alicorn strength in mind," she answered in a matter-of-fact manner that left Titus a little dumbfounded as if he hadn't heard her correctly, "When it broke I fell backwards a little and sank lower into the seat. I am now more stuck than I originally was and it feels like I'm being sucked deeper!"

"Oh!" he exclaimed in realization as the key to the puzzle was unveiled, "It sounds like you must have engaged the zero gravity operation mode that keeps... um, the contents from suddenly floating around if or when there's no gravity to do so. There's a dial to your left-"

"I see it!" Luna should have waited for him to finish because when she twisted the dial the suction became much, much worse and pulled her almost inside the toilet. "Release me, infernal contraption!" she growled and in her surprise and scramble to turn the dial the other way she bumped something else which caused a wholly unexpected spout of lukewarm water to spray her backside.

"W-Whaaaa!" Despite her cry she heard Titus shout to pull on the dial instead of twist it at which point and with much more gusto than was necessary she tore herself from the seat but the grey shorts around her knees tripped her up and she pitched uncontrollably forward. The automatic sensor slid the door open before she careened into the hard metal surface saving her from a very nasty bump on the head however that left Titus standing directly in her path. Naturally he was wan't expecting the Princess as she came rocketing face-first into his chest and got the wind knocked out of him before he could catch any of her momentum which carried them to the floor, Luna's weight landing on top of him further emptying his lungs of air.

Both of them were panting to catch their breath, Titus for obvious reasons and through several dry coughs while in Luna's case she was coming down from being rather startled. Several moments passed before they were calmed down enough that they summoned the energy to look at the other but when they did the hallway fell to an absolute silence.

They stared at each other for a long wordless second but when one saw the other trying not to chuckle at the absurdity of it all the other found it contagious and very soon they were both laughing to the point of being out of breath again and another moment to calm down was necessary. Letting her head slump onto her friend's chest Luna let out a weary, full-body sigh, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Na, you caught me by surprise is all," he replied and let her hike her shorts back up before propping himself up on his elbows to brush the hair out of her face and check her forehead for any injuries, "You fell pretty hard yourself, you okay?"

"I am... unharmed, thank you," Luna said somewhat absentmindedly as the cool touch of Titus' hand against her brow distracted her, "Had I been in my alicorn form my horn would be buried in your chest right now." As if there was an echo her words processed through her brain and she pushed herself up off of him and into a sitting position, "W-What a morbid thought! I am sorry, I suppose that is one more reason I am happy to have used this spell rather than not."

Also assuming a sitting position Titus was curious and asked what she meant.

"Well, with all the data I am gathering on the human nervous system's wiring with each passing experience I'm sure with enough experimentation I'll eventually be able to construct a spell capable of properly controlling your speeder bike," she said and rather than stay sitting she got up and offered him a hand with which to do the same - a mistake, in hindsight, as when he took it she almost fell over onto him again. Luna gave an apologetic smile as he got to his feet of his own power before taking him by the hand once again, "I have a new level of appreciation for all the things you make look so easy - your balance and coordination, fluidity of motion, and your speed and dexterity are that much more impressive now that I have seen how poor mine can be when put into a human body-"

"I can claim the same thing when I was turned into a pony," Titus countered and told of his struggles on the walk from the train station before he shook his head at her last statement, "I've just had a lot more practice in this body, given time I know you could be as graceful as you are in your pony form." With one arm offered for support together they slowly walked the short distance down the hall and into the quarters.

"Your confidence is appreciated, however I do not foresee myself using this spell any more than I have to to gather the necessary data because of how much of a time commitment it is to prepare. Besides the preparation time, the actual weaving took almost half of a day just so I could be ready to finalize it in the cargo hold this afternoon when I was ready," Luna explained.

This was the first time Luna had visited in quite some time so the renovations were a pleasant surprise and the addition of a marshmallow-soft loveseat was greatly appreciated over the cramped bunk they used to share though despite this they still made themselves comfortable leaning against each other in much the same casual fashion. After a moment of enjoying getting to play with the finger-friendly snacks she relaxed into Titus' side to begin their video game though she returned to their previous conversation when asked if the spell could be simplified, "Being that it is a first generation weaving and there is no precedent of transmogrifying into your species I'm afraid not, not without a great deal of study to learn the safest and most efficient way of optimizing it. To that end I could submit all of my notes and calculations to the Academy but their Research and Development department already have their hooves full with other funded projects and short of a private scholar or similarly talented pony taking it on and committing their own time and resources whatever I submitted would probably just collect dust on a shelf somewhere. In the end I only created the spell with mapping out a system of sensory fields in mind and because of its complexity and otherwise lack of utility I have no plans for its repeated or long-term use."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye Luna couldn't help but think Titus looked a little disappointed. "I am sorry, friend," she said and added a little of her weight into her lean into him to accompany her apology and let him know she recognized this, "In future, if you desire my 'human' companionship-"

"That's not it," Titus interrupted her offer and though Luna continued with the suggestion of using another spell he quieted her when he shifted so that he could put an arm over her head and around her shoulder while she leaned on him without having to pause in their game. Because Luna struggled with the unfamiliarity of handling the controls they were engaged in a tough fight with an otherwise routine monster so they focused on that until they were in a safe area at which point he turned toward her, "It's nice to see a human face besides my own in the mirror, but regardless of what form you take you'll always be you. No face will ever change that, Luna."

With a happy smile she hummed warmly then shifted herself to rest her head on his hip in response which to Titus meant she had appreciated what he had said however the exact gravity of it that Luna left unspoken slipped by and instead he forged ahead to begin the next encounter in the dungeon.

Some time later a sudden knock at the door startled both Luna and Titus, the latter of whom gave his companion a confused look before quickly disentangling himself from the other biped to see who was there. Twilight probably wouldn’t have knocked, mostly because of her heat, but she’s also familiar enough with me and this ship to consider it a home that she would just come in. Maybe a guard, then?

Cracking the door open slightly to peek out Titus went rigid. “Oh. Princess Celestia,” he said with clear shock in his voice that the alicorn would be standing in the hallway with no alert she had come aboard however a second of thought lead him to remember he had shut off Iana’s modulator and thereby prevented her from being able to. Sliding the door open the rest of the way and stepping back into the room he opened a path for her whereupon she nodded her thanks.

“I beg your pardon for barging in like this completely unannou-”

Celestia came to an abrupt halt once she was past the threshold and stared past Titus. “M-Mr. Aelius... w-who is this?” surprise rang in her voice and Titus followed her gaze to find it was locked on Luna though to Celestia it was an unfamiliar human.

Titus and Luna shared a glance of surprise that the Princess hadn’t recognized her younger sister and very quickly everything fell into place after a somewhat evil glint sparkled in Luna’s eye. Titus turned his attention back to the confused alicorn and held a hand out for Luna to take, "I'm glad you stopped by, Princess, I'd like to introduce you to... uh..."

“Mae prakinoe?” Luna said as Titus floundered, directing the alien words and a pointing finger at the white alicorn which served as a good distraction.

Celestia had absolutely no idea what was being brokenly said to her and gave Titus several uncertain glances as the humanoid Luna stepped closer to her with a repeat of the unfamiliar words so she composed herself as best she could for the unexpected shock and gave the stranger an uncertain smile, “U-Um, hello there...”

Titus just hummed in nervous hesitation to say anything that might explain the situation which was as much of a green light as Luna needed and she quickly patted her sister’s forelock. “Prakinoe! Good!” she said the last word slowly and with an accent that made it sound like she struggled with it before she wrapped both arms around the alicorn’s neck in a gentle hug.

“Oh my! Well, you certainly are the friendly one-” Celestia’s smile vanished and her eyes went wide when, in one smooth quick motion before either she or Titus could stop her, Luna flung a leg over her sister’s barrel and rolled herself up into a sitting position just behind Celestia's wings. Despite the overwhelming urge to buck the intruding biped off Celestia was rigid with shock and stood stock still though her eyes betrayed the absolute surprise she felt when they locked with Titus’.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

The next thing Luna knew she was being lifted from under her arms off of her sister’s back and was shortly deposited on her feet a stride away. She was largely disappointed in Titus and shot him a pouting scowl that he hadn't let her continue at her sister's expense as she had planned to swat Celestia's flank and go for a wild ride, all of which went unvoiced for the time being.

"Apologies, Princess," Titus started genuinely and placed a hand on the other biped's shoulder, "Luna came over to show me a spell and when you didn't immediately recognize her in this form we sort of... had some fun. Again, sorry." Luna was quick to wiggle out of his grasp and come stand behind him, peeking around his shoulder as she did so, and as Celestia recomposed herself Titus noticed Luna was keeping him between them. Turning curiously for some hint as to what was going on he caught the briefest glimpse of Luna poking her tongue out at her sister before ducking back behind him when he scowled. Something is up, it's like I'm being used as a shield. What the kark did I just get myself into?

Before he could say anything further Celestia nodded stiffly. "Good afternoon, Mr. Aelius," her voice was lacking the usual happy undertones and Titus was quick to notice that her eyes were firmly glued to the human behind him, "I had been wondering what became of my sister and spent a short time looking for her about the palace. Eventually I stumbled upon her gaming system which was still running, at which point I could reasonably assume I would find her in your company."

The emphasis placed on Luna's video game machine was borderline nefarious and immediately brought her partially out from behind Titus. "What did you do?!" Luna growled, meanwhile Titus was feeling more than a little trapped in a no man's land between either side so he put his hands up as if he was being held at blasterpoint in an attempt to diffuse the situation, or at least try to deflect anything that might be hurled his way, "If you messed with any of my games..."

"Oh please. Rearranging and renaming your save files a second time would hardly be original though I feel its severity might be a fair recourse. I have been having a rather trying day and when I sought a relaxing soak I came to discover somepony put an anchoring spell in my shampoo then enchanted my bathtub to gallop off with me in it," Celestia shot back as both sisters ignored or seemingly forgot Titus' presence for the time being and instead left their usual composure on the wayside, "It was a good attempt but I had been on my guard for a prank and was able to dispel the anchor spell before the tub took me too far down the hallway and out of the door into the Palace garden for all to see, which I'm sure you're disappointed to hear."

"Indeed I am, sister. And yes, I drew inspiration from the Endlessly Dancing Shoes trick you played on me however I would say in comparison to your recent retaliation the bathtub was subdued. We both have piles of backlogged Court paperwork and documents on our desks and to afford the time in my schedule to visit my best friend I voiced several days ago that I would be sitting down for numerous hours to make progress," though Luna was relieved to hear her games hadn't been meddled with again she was far from happy and stepped back behind Titus before snagging and clutching the nearest of his arms tightly against her chest, "To use that knowledge so you could replace my ink pot with one of a disappearing variety not only undid all of my work but caused a large volume of blank documents to be mailed out... though most offensive is that you jeopardized the time I was making for seeing Titus."

It looked like Celestia was going to recount yet another act of Luna's however, fearing tempers might come to a head and with no progress being made, Titus cut her off, "Okay, things seem to be going back and forth which is getting us nowhere. Perhaps playing a trick on you was inappropriate given what you went through with the bathtub however I had no way of knowing. I don't want to see either of you get in a fight over it, especially aboard my ship after all the repairs I've been making or for that matter with Luna stuck in this form-"

Celestia blinked several times before her face split in a grin which was quickly concealed behind a hoof, "Stuck? Oh ho ho! My poor, poor sister, whatever shall we do!?" As Celestia chortled heartily a few more times at her predicament Luna's elbow jabbed Titus in the ribs softly as punishment for revealing that secret at such a time. "Pray tell, what lead to such an amusing outcome?" the elder sister asked and moved to a position so that the hiding Luna was more exposed to her scrutiny, "Dare I guess that it is for the chariot machine and she went overboard as she is likely to do in excitement?"

Titus ignored the jab in his side and shrugged noncommittally to both questions, "Due to the complexity of the spell we were going to wait for Twilight to get back from a situation requiring the Element Bearers so she could hopefully dispel it. Now that you're here, however, maybe you'd be willing to help?"

There was an audible breath followed by a long pause as Celestia regarded her alien-looking sister for a moment before she nodded, "As much as I want to leave her in her current predicament as punishment for her prank I suppose, being her sister, I'm obligated to help. However, my only condition is that such a request be politely made by her."

Luna stepped forward and looked none too pleased with having to ask and was pushed to the very limit of her patience as Celestia knowingly egged her on with minor interjections like having her explain her oversight and refer to her as "Big Sister Tia" in her request until the solar alicorn was satisfied with everything that had been put together.

"In my blind excitement of demonstrating an inadequately tested spell to my friend I failed to think ahead. I now find myself without reliable access to my own magic and am stuck with no means to remedy the situation. Please, Big Sister Tia, would you be so kind as to aid in rescuing your foalish little sister from her predicament? I would... be ever. So. Grateful," Luna finally struggled with a fake smile while in the back of her mind countless retaliatory ideas raced by which she intended to sort through later.

"Well, I suppose that will do," Celestia sighed like she was disappointed in the effort and walked over to the two-cushion couch she gently brushed aside the two controllers Titus and Luna had just been using. She fully stretched herself out with a long groan of contentment at the end of which she poked her head over the back of the loveseat to instruct Luna to sit in the nearby armchair. While her younger sister sulkily trudged across the bedroom Celestia turned to Titus, "Apologies for the rather embarrassing moan, I have been on my hooves since before dawn and, although it is not the bubble bath I was looking forward to, the opportunity to stretch out as I have comes as a great relief. To that end I hope you will tolerate my monopolization of your couch, Mr. Aelius, though there might be a little room with which you could squeeze beside me." Titus shrugged his acceptance and instead leaned himself on the footboard of the bed which satisfied Celestia who then summoned some magic into her horn and regarded her sister.

Several moments passed where Titus witnessed nothing happen outside of small movements of Celestia's head as she continued to look over her sister from head to toe and he stood by as long as he could until his anxiousness spurred him to speak. "Did you run into a problem, Princess? This is taking longer than I thought it would," he asked and tried to give Luna a reassuring smile because she was sitting completely still, her hands clutched into fists and resting on her knees which wasn't too comforting of a sight for Titus.

"Patience, Mr. Aelius," Celestia hummed and when she turned around her eyes were glowing a ghostly white which faded after a second back to their normal magenta, "A simple dispelling like you are thinking of will not work here. This is my first encounter with the spell and had Luna thought to share it earlier-" She cast a disproving glare at her sister before returning to Titus, "-I would have at least some knowledge of it. As that is not the case and with the spell being so complicated I need to study it so I can have an understanding of how it was woven together and how to deconstruct it."

"I was told it was functioning on a timer, in layman's terms," Titus offered in hope the disclosure would prove useful, "Could you find that and set it to zero so the spell ends on its own? Or give her a horn because she said the spell would undo itself if she had one, from my understanding anyway-"

Luna was about to explain the technicalities of why that wouldn't work when Titus was suddenly engulfed in a flash of pink light and as quickly as it enveloped him it disappeared, taking every stitch of his clothing with it and leaving him completely exposed before both Princesses. Titus was clearly in minor shock and didn't immediately make a move to cover himself but instead his attention was drawn to the door which had been left open.

In a state of shock of their own Luna and Celestia, who hadn't the presence of mind to immediately look away from the nude human, were slower to follow his gaze. They only caught the violet blur as it launched itself into and across the room where it collided with Titus with such conviction that he was sent tumbling backward over the footboard, onto the bed with a small bounce which then carried him into the narrow space between the mattress and wall in a heap of human limbs and hooves. The alicorns shared a wordless look of surprise and concern with each other before Luna sat up a little straighter so they both could see over the back of the couch where they could hear a few bits and pieces of a whispered conversation and just barely see a pair of ears poking over the edge of the mattress.

"You... no idea... waited for this."

"Twi we can't..."

"It was... couldn't keep my mind from wandering... hard to remember spells in the fight..."

"Twi! Wait! Princess Luna and Celestia are sitting right there!"

Suddenly the ears went still and disappeared but a second later a horrified unicorn peeked over the edge before quickly dipping out of sight.

"*Ahem.*" Celestia cleared her throat as a means of breaking the silence of the room which had the added effect of bringing Twilight's face slowly out of where she was hiding.

"P-Pr-Princess... es..." Nervous, almost broken laughter accompanied her exit from the small space after she presumably disentangled herself from the human who didn't follow her and instead remained out of sight. Once Twilight was out in the open her head dipped in abashment, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't see either of you sitting there. I-I can't believe I almost... in front of you..."

Celestia looked to Luna to see if she wanted to say anything but her red face and down-turned eyes made it clear the elder sister would have to take point in dealing with the situation. "There is no cause for you to apologize, my student, you had no reason to expect us to be here let alone tucked out of sight as we are. It is we who should be apologizing for the intrusion," she nodded with her usual composure of the mentor figure but shifted her attention back to the bed, "Luna and I couldn't help but notice Mr. Aelius took quite the tumble during your, ah, entrance. Is he alright?"

"I'm good," the grunt came from out of sight and after the bed cover had been dragged into the void between the mattress and wall Titus stood with them in a bundle around him, "If you remember you've seen me take worse tumbles..." His face was also red and he couldn't bring himself to look at either pony on the couch though if he had he would have seen an equally red-faced Luna whose eyes were locked on the floor, and after he extricated himself he carefully rearranged the long covers to something a little more manageable. When he glanced at Twilight, however, his stern face immediately melted and he hurriedly knelt next to her, "Hey! Hey, are you okay?"

Twilight was covered from horn to hoof in small scuffs and scratches and as she looked herself over she shrugged wearily. "Y-Yeah, I hadn't even noticed. Applejack took the brunt of it all, this just looks worse than it is," she reassured as she leaned heavily into the hand placed on her shoulder but couldn't resist the urge to get as close as possible and was soon pushing her face into his bare chest and her voice dropped to a whisper, "Dang it, I de-materialized your clothing. Again. Sorry, I'll add more to the order for Rarity."

"I'm more worried about you," he still wasn't happy with the state she was in and his concern turned toward the princesses. Before he could say anything of his desire to take her to the med bay Celestia simply nodded and a warm light washed over Twilight which seemingly erased the minor injuries.

"That should help with the pain," she said but saw the way her student was looking at the human and understood why which caused the light giggle Celestia couldn't hold back before she dismounted the loveseat, "You must exhausted, Twilight. I fear I will be causing a commotion with my magic though I believe there was a room across the hall with similar accommodations. Might Luna and I relocate there to continue and give you some quiet with which to rest and privacy for Mr. Aelius to change?" As she and Luna made for the door it was clear Twilight's attention was pulled between her racing hormones and Titus and then the odd spectacle of Luna's form which she desperately wanted to investigate for herself but before she could decide what to pursue the alicorns had exited and closed the door behind them.

Celestia shoo'd the slow-moving Luna into what was Krua's room and got them rearranged on the available furniture. A good chunk of time passed in silence as she continued examining the spell at the start of which, unbeknownst to her sister, Celestia had concealed another spell within it during her recasting. Once she had the information she needed she broke the silence, "You are being oddly quiet, by now I would have expected to have my ears talked off about the fun you and Mr. Aelius had during your visit."

Luna fidgeted and looked at her toes for a moment before letting out a long sigh. She didn't follow it up with any explanation which didn't appease Celestia's desire for conversation but before she could voice her disapproval Luna mustered up the courage to speak.

"Everything is fine now, however I..." she said softly and suddenly her hands clenched each other in her lap seemingly of their own accord though she came to realize this was one of her body's ways of handling anxiety, "I had hoped he would be excited by the effect of my spell to learn to ride his mechanical steed. Instead there was a point during my visit that I thought my actions jeopardized our friendship." Celestia worriedly asked if that was true and thankfully Luna shook her head, "No, he confirmed we are still very much best friends..."

The long pause hung in the air and despite her ongoing examination of the spell Celestia was able to raise an eyebrow through it, "I sense a 'but' coming on."

"You would be right. I fear things have... changed, sister," though she attempted to mask it the anxiety was clear in her voice and her face remained looking down at the floor, "Putting aside our tempers and other feelings from our prank war, if you would be open to a serious discussion I would very much like to get your opinion on the situation."

The near plea was most unexpected so the elder alicorn ended her channel of magic and nodded however, thinking this was yet another case of her sister worrying too much, Celestia was left to think for a moment after Luna had recounted all of the important details of her visit since leaving Canterlot. "As I have said before, the bond you and Mr. Aelius share is one the likes of which I haven't seen you enjoy in an eon so I do not wholly understand your aversion or anxiety towards such a change or, for that matter, moving toward one," she replied honestly and after a very short pause Celestia's head cocked to one side in thought that she shared in hopes of lightening her sister's mood, "But for all we know he is experiencing similar concerns and is discussing them with Twilight as we speak."

"I sincerely believe they are otherwise occupied, given Twilight Sparkle's condition," Luna scoffed to try and squash her apprehension with a brave face but failed and her whole body slumped again, "I just don't know what to do, Tia. What would you do? Titus' friendship is a treasure I'm afraid to lose by reading things wrong or assuming something he doesn't feel and approaching him. If I knew, I..."

Luna trailed off to silence again and in response Celestia walked over to put a hoof gently on her sister's knee in reassurance, "What I know is that Mr. Aelius has always treasured your friendship as well, sister. Back in Canterlot after the incident where you were strained and shouted at him I found a moment of privacy to thank him for being there but Mr. Aelius said there was no need for me to do so because he was proud to have you as a friend and, as he put it, 'if one of my friends is falling off a cliff I don't hesitate to jump right after them.' He cares, Luna, and I sincerely doubt you coming forward to share how you feel or talk about your worries with him will have an adverse affect on that. Who knows, if he is experiencing a similar anxiety maybe it will give him the courage he needs to speak of his heart as well." Her sister looked up hopefully and her small human eyes searched Celestia's face to find the feeling was genuine and very quickly Celestia found herself wrapped in a hug and was receiving a nuzzle to her neck.

"A-And what of Twilight?" she asked hesitantly, "Were we to share these feelings, would that affect your plan for her?"

"That is not something to be concerned about. But speaking of my student, I have reached an impasse and need her opinion on a complicated point of the weaving before I can begin dispelling your transformation," Celestia explained and briefly returned the hug before pulling away altogether, "If she is, um, available we may continue our discussion when I return if that is what you still desire."

Moving out into the hall a small smirk crossed Celestia's face as she quickly changed gears. Recalling the information she had gleaned from Luna's spell she put her hastily-conceived plan into motion and began by casting her own imitation of the spell on herself - it was far less complicated and utilized only the physical changes, therefore making it much easier to manage, and in a puff of smoke and a light pop Celestia was suddenly standing on two legs along with the same clothes Luna had been wearing. Not my original intention for the spell, but you and Mr. Aelius both pranked me so it is only right to get back at both of you at the same time.

Composing herself she started for the door only to realize walking as Titus did was much more difficult that it looked when she put one foot forward and was left feeling completely unbalanced and in her desperate arm-flailing and hip-twisting to stay upright almost toppled backward onto her rump. Much to her relief she slowly refound her center and, once steady again, she decided it would be best to lean against the wall and scoot her way down the hallway to the room she and her sister had recently left. Pausing briefly she caught her breath and got into character as best she could before knocking gently on the door.

A moment later it slid open to reveal Titus standing in it rapidly pulling a shirt over his bare chest. "Oh, Luna. Did something hold up the dispelling?" he asked because he thought the next time he would see her she would be back in her pony form. She looked apprehensive and cast her eyes to one side briefly which worried him and with a glance back at the thoroughly spent and now slumbering Twilight he quietly stepped out into the hall and closed the door, "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Celestia's cue came when she felt the anticipated comforting hand on her shoulder so she turned to look at him, "I do not mean to disturb you or Twilight. Everything is fine, M-" She had to catch herself because she almost called him Mr. Aelius by mistake so she feigned more hesitation before opening her mouth again, "Everything is fine, my friend, however I do not know how best to say what is on my mind... o-or in my heart so please bear with me." Falling into her role Celestia looked into his face like she thought her sister would in the same situation, "Today has... opened my eyes to many aspects of the treasured friendship I so happily have with you. It has also given me much more to think about because for some time now I have felt both uncertain and slightly afraid of what course to take."

Titus' brow furrowed, "What do you mean, what are you afraid of? Is this about, um, everything weird and awkward earlier?"

"P-Partially, yes," Celestia responded as she tried think several moves ahead in the conversation and used the discussion she had had with Luna to further construct her responses in fact, "If I were to be completely honest I'm worried about saying something of a delicate nature based on an assumption I've made. M-My sister tried to advise me but if I find it was completely wrong and that somehow ends up costing some measure of our bond I... I couldn't live with that."

"That's it? You're worried about saying something that will upset me?" Titus asked in relief and gently pulled her closer into a hug, one which was soon returned as Luna's arms wound under his and around his back, "You don't need to worry about that, Luna, after everything we've been through and shared with each other you're not going to suddenly stop being my best friend just because you say something. I treasure your friendship, and you, too, and far too much to let something as simple as words mar it. So, what's on your mind that's causing you so much trouble? Twilight is asleep so why don't we go to the lounge to talk-"

Celestia didn't say anything; she couldn't bring herself to. Along with the surprise hug Titus sincerely thought he was talking with Luna and the solar alicorn began to feel a little bad that her sister wasn't on the receiving end of such warm sentiments which suddenly caused her to abandon her orchestrated plan to subtly cast a very weak version of her student's Need It Want It spell on him and lead him to where she had left Luna before doing the same to her. Still, it was far too late to bail out so revisions had to be made. Tightening her hug briefly she leaned her forehead against the human's chest, "Thank you, my friend, as always it is a relief to hear how much you value me but please accept my apology as I find I am not yet ready to go into detail. A-Although perhaps... perhaps during your upcoming visit to Canterlot I will have had the time with which to compose my thoughts coherently. No disrespect meant to Twilight, but when I am ready might it be just you and I meeting together on my balcony? I would prefer it be over dinner, however Court duties and watching over the Dream Realm would undoubtedly interrupt us at some point, so if it would be alright perhaps we might push a traditional dinner back into the late afternoon when I could provide my undivided attention?"

"I mean, if that's what you feel would be most comfortable for you I'm certain I can explain things to Twilight so she'd understand why I'd need some time to myself," he answered and was glad to see the anxiety gone from Luna's face when she stepped back away at which point Twilight's voice could be heard through the door calling out in confused, anxious search for him, "There's something I had on my mind, as well."

"I am sorry if my silly fear caused you worry, I just felt compelled to talk with you before Tia and I finished up and left for the night," Celestia responded and retreated back down the hall as another needy call came for him, "I shan't keep you from your love any longer, my sister and I will let ourselves quietly out once I am back to normal. Until I see you again; goodnight and sweet dreams, my friend!"

Celestia was careful to move at such a speed that she hadn't reached the door by the time Titus had disappeared back through his which sprung the revised second phase into action which began with a soundproofing spell on their door. I will just have to postpone my plan for later but what better way to iron out the kinks in the greatest prank yet! Prepare yourself, sister! And prepare yourself as best you may, Mr. Aelius... Pushing the thought aside for later she realized this phase would be more difficult than the first as she had to modify the spell to reflect his appearance but more challenging then that was to get herself into character to a level her sister wouldn't suspect something was amiss. Reflecting on all of their shared reactions to get a better handle on how she would need to act she cast the spell and instead of copying the outfit he had pulled on she conjured a set of blankets to wrap around the nude form of Titus she now wore with the reasoning that if Luna was lead to think Titus was mildly uncomfortable it would give her a larger margin of error in her acting. With a final sigh of preparation she waved a hand slowly in front of the sensor and the door slid open.

"T-Titus?!" Luna sat upright from a slouch in surprise that it wasn't her sister who came through the door and quickly stood up in concern when he tripped over the bed cover he wore around him, though thankfully he managed to catch himself before taking a hard fall, "Oh dear, you seem unsteady-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Celestia waved a hand that she didn't need help and took a seat on the nearby bunk though despite this Luna moved from the chair to sit beside her, "Just worn out from, uh, Twilight." The disguised solar alicorn skirted a very thin line and correctly gauged just how much to say without going out of character which she confirmed for herself as Luna nodded in understanding before she asked what brought him. "Celestia knocked on our door and started talking spell stuff with Twilight. I had already been lying on the bed awake in thought before I answered the door and I couldn't really contribute anything to their discussion," she replied and leaned back a little to prop herself up against the nearby wall only to quickly sit back forward in shock when she contacted the cold metal, an action that drew the unwanted attention of her sister which Celestia hastened to occupy elsewhere lest the ruse be blown, "So... with your sister coming in to talk to Twilight that left you alone so I came so you wouldn't be. Alone, that is."

"I see, thank you for thinking of me. The complexity of my spell required her to seek council with Twilight Sparkle before she could finish," Luna sighed, "You have my apologies for her intrusion which came on my behalf."

"No, no. It's okay. Like I said, I was in thought and before she fell asleep I, too, needed to speak with Twilight about something. She brought up some good points and made me realize I may have been missing something right in front of me so when your sister came in I felt now was the best time to make things right, or attempt to," he said and readjusted the covers which had fallen slightly when he had sat down. Titus remained quiet for a long moment during which time Luna watched him in curious wait for him to continue as it was clear he was in thought before he closed his eyes, "Luna, I... we've had our moments of misreading each other, I think you can agree with me on that, but it makes me immensely happy each time we can overcome them and our friendship then becomes stronger in turn. This afternoon has been such a case, however as the day has drawn to a close there's been something growing on my mind and as much as I want to just come out with it I'm worried it might be another misread on my part and I'm genuinely terrified it might be the one that causes an irreparable rift between us."

"Pray tell, what would concern you so?" Luna turned quickly and leaned forward in earnest as her heart leapt up into her throat. She searched his eyes for some sort of clue but the longer she did so the more she felt there was something different deep in their depths though what it was Luna couldn't readily identify and chocked it up to his anxiety which startled her that much more. "My friend, please, such thoughts are not good to bottle up and dwell on," Luna pleaded and reached out to clutch his hand, once again intertwining her fingers with his in the manner that had brought him such relief earlier before her voice dropped low, "That comes from a pony with experience in the matter. Again, please do not fear sharing your thoughts, if there is something that troubles you I wish to show as much support as you have shown me and then some on top of that."

Celestia's expression naturally softened without her having to act and again she was made to feel remorse that this wasn't a moment her sister could genuinely share with her friend though hopefully the end game she was playing for would outweigh that. Squeezing the hand in Luna's she shook her head with a small smile of appreciation, "Thank you, friend, but this is something I feel I still need to think on. My intent for stopping by wasn't to share them with you right this minute however, given just a little more time I am certain I can sort out and make myself comfortable with my thoughts-"

Luna cut her off by pulling the hand in close to her breast and reiterated her opinion on dwelling on such thoughts before asking if he would share them as soon as he was comfortable. "I just need a little time, my upcoming award ceremony and the trip to Canterlot that entails should be enough," Titus answered which caused Luna to relax slightly before he paused again in hesitation to speak but did so eventually without any encouragement from her, "My reason for stopping by was to ask this; if you and your balcony will be free after the ceremony could we talk over a late lunch or early dinner before your Court duties begin? I wouldn't want to interfere with them."

That came as a clear surprise to Luna but she nodded enthusiastically, "I actually planned to approach you before leaving tonight to hopefully secure some time in your schedule to spend together, so this works out perfectly."

Oh? How fortuitous, Mr. Aelius voiced similar eagerness to meet. Perhaps my orchestration will be just the catalyst needed to get the ball rolling. Celestia couldn't help but smile at that thought which meant Luna saw Titus smiling and took it as a good sign and once again pulled his hand close to her. "Well then, I'm sure you'll have a better idea what to eat than anything I could think up so I'll leave the meal up to you," the disguised alicorn said but began to realize the drain keeping the channeled spell going was having on her and sought to draw things to a close with a jerk of her head toward the door, "With that off my shoulders I think I can finally get to sleep. I'd better head back-"

"Wait! Before you go," Luna suddenly released his hand and leaned forward to wrap both of her arms over her friend's shoulders into a hug with a small trace of her alicorn strength behind it to pull them together which caught Titus more than a little off guard. "Short of saying you no longer wish to be friends, whatever is on your mind is not burdensome enough to end our friendship," she whispered into his ear, "From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know how happy I am just to have someone to spend such an awkward afternoon as this with and that I am even happier that it was with you, Titus, my best friend..."

Celestia didn't even have to put on an act when she pulled her sister in. Hearing Luna be able to speak from the heart to somepony she trusted brought her such joy she couldn't contain herself as tears rolled down her cheeks at the monumental stepping stone her sister had achieved and she fought to maintain her channel of Harmony lest the spell sputter out and expose her true identity.

Luna half expected some form of response but when none came and Titus just squeezed tighter than she could remember it took her a moment to realize that was a response in and of itself and carried more weight than whatever she was expecting him to have said. Finally he sighed heavily and shortly after eased out of the embrace and placed both hands on Luna's shoulders on the off chance she dove back in for another hug, "Between whatever Twilight might need of me tomorrow, packing for the trip, and preparations to leave the ship behind I really should get going, friend." Pushing himself to his feet he quickly remembered the bedsheet around him when it slid down his legs and nearly fell completely off which got an amused snort from Luna before she turned away, but not before catching a good flash of his butt. Titus recovered remarkably well and seemed to pay it little mind as he made for the door slowly but turned around before completely exiting the room and gave Luna a happy grin, "See you in Canterlot."

"I eagerly await it, mae dhulsgae," she responded in kind and with that he shuffled out of sight but as the door began to close behind him Luna heard her sister's voice.

"Oh, Mr. Aelius. I beg your pardon, I did not mean for my conversation to displace you."

"That's alright," Titus' voice came down the hall softly, probably close to his room if Luna had to assume, "I just needed a moment with Luna. Goodnight, Princess."

"Sleep well, Mr. Aelius," Celestia replied back to no one as she stopped the door from closing and dropped the concentration necessary for the voice-changing spell she had been using in the hall while she had changed back to her normal form. With a weary sigh at how much the ruse had taken out of her she was unprepared for Luna to almost jump her in excitement.

"Tia! Tia! You won't believe what just happened!"

"Normally you'd be right," she grinned and because her original prank hadn't gone according to plan she couldn't quite resist getting at least a little jab in to satisfy her thirst for playful revenge for the bathtub incident. Pointing to the two pair of underwear Luna had left and forgotten at the base of the mussed bed they had been sitting on a smirk crossed her face, "But it is hard to argue when faced with such evidence."