“I assure you that it’s no trouble,” Moonlight said as the others refused her offer to carry their bags as they walked the moderately busy streets of Canterlot.

“It’s alright,” Thomas assured. “I mean, you’re my guard. It seems you should be carrying as little excess weight as possible so you can spring into action.”

“Chimp’s right,” Talon chimed in. “Celestia help us if some pony comes walking up demanding an autograph.”

“Autograph?” Thomas asked.

“Or maybe a paparazzi or other garbage wanting an in-depth interview about what it’s like to be in depth with the Princess,” the griffon rambled. “Weird how we haven’t seen any tonight.”

“Is that sort of thing normal?” Thomas asked worriedly.

“I usually get at least one little annoyance every time I go out. But guards actually do more to attract those types than repel them,” Talon gestured over to Moonlight. “They know that guards are only assigned to VIPs, very important ponies, so it’s kinda like a bug zapper effect. But on that note, there’s been something I’ve been wondering about. Why exactly does the little chimp have one of Luna’s guards following him around town?”

“I was assigned to protect Luna's Senior Concubine by order of the Princess, herself,” Moonlight answered proudly.

“Okay,” Talon began. “First of all, saying ‘Princess, herself’ doesn’t really stand on its own ever since we got two. Second, and no offense to the little guy, but he’s just a concubine.”

“None taken,” Thomas shrugged.

“Sure, the little guy’s cute and all, but Senior Concubine Sun Dancer doesn’t even have her own personal guard. So what makes him so special?”

“I…” Moonlight began. “Wait. Celestia’s Senior Concubine doesn’t have a personal guard?”

Talon shook her head. “It never occurred to you to ask why a whore needed a bodyguard?”

“Now that was kind of offensive,” Thomas added.

“No,” Moonlight shook her head, unconcerned of Thomas’ response. “I had just assumed this was normal procedure.”

“Well, last time I checked, I am Luna’s only concu… er, consort,” Thomas offered. “I’m also one of her close friends. Maybe she just wants to make sure I’m safe.”

“Hmm. That makes sense,” Moonlight pondered in agreement. “You’re small and you don’t have any magic, not even earth pony strength. You’re the only one of your race in all of Equestria and by all accounts, you’re about as helpless as a foal,” she explained without noticing Thomas grind his teeth in frustration. “And the way Luna always has you following her around suggests she’s either really concerned with your wellbeing, or maybe she’s being…” the guard pony snapped her jaw shut to stop herself from finishing her next thought.

“Needy?” Talon suggested, earning shocked glares from her traveling companions. “What? We were all thinking it. It’s pretty obvious.”

“I really don’t think we should be talking about this in public,” Moonlight whispered. “Or at all for that matter.”

“Well it’s not like I’m passing judgement on the poor thing,” Talon reassured. “I mean, after what she went through I’d probably be a little clingy too, especially with the first decent lay in a millennium.”

“I’m with Moonlight on this one,” Thomas agreed awkwardly. “Maybe we should talk about something else.”

“Just one more thing and I’m done,” Talon promised. “On the note of first decent lay in centuries,” she looked down at Thomas and smiled impishly, “she’s probably gonna be feeling extra lonely all night. Somepony’s gonna have to deal with that come sunrise.” The griffon let her words linger in the air while smiling at the thought she’d just implanted in the human.

“So, Moonlight,” Thomas began louder than necessary. “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? What lead you to joining the royal guard?”

“There’s really not much of a story there,” Moonlight hesitated.

“It’s either that or let Talon decide what we talk about,” Thomas answered flatly.

Moonlight looked up at the griffon who was wearing a threatening smile. “It all goes back to my mother,” she began enthusiastically. “She’s a Lieutenant in the Equestrian army and she always told me about her adventures in our bedtime stories. One of my favorite games as a foal was swordplay with my siblings. Not to brag, but I won almost every single match I had with them,” she said with her head proudly held up high.

“Oh, you have siblings?” Thomas asked curiously.

“Of course,” Moonlight nodded. “Don’t most ponies?”

“I was always an only child,” Thomas shrugged.

“That sounds like it must have been lonely growing up,” Talon added sympathetically as she draped her wing over Thomas’ back. “There were two other eggs in my clutch, so I had to work real hard if I wanted to be alone.”

“Only two?” Moonlight asked with a smirk. “I had eight,” she said braggingly.

“Eight!?” Thomas gasped. “Your mom had eight kids?”

“No,” Moonlight corrected. “My mom had three foals, including me. No goats. But if you want to get technical, I had six other half siblings by my herd mothers.” Thomas’ continued gawking told the unicorn that more detail was needed. “There were four mares in my father’s herd,” she said as if it were self-explanatory.

It took Thomas’ brain a moment to remember how to use his mouth. “F-four? Your dad was polygamous?”

“Four is a pretty impressive number,” Talon added while nodding approvingly. “Most stallions I’ve met can barely handle three mares in their herds. How’d you’re old man manage to keep four mares happy?”

“Now hold on a sec?” Thomas held out his hands to halt the conversation. “Ya’ll need to back up a second here because I’m totally lost. Are you two saying polygamy is normal here?”

Before they could really get into the conversation a stomach grumble and the sight of the moon high in the sky signaled that it was time for lunch. They picked out a newly opened restaurant in one of the middle class districts called Dusk’s Cider House. As the trio took their seats, Thomas couldn’t help but notice the disproportionate number of ponies wearing the Princess Luna’s colors, though none were wearing the uniforms he’d become accustomed to.

Talon sensed his question. “It’s become something of a fashion trend as of late to wear Luna’s colors at night. Despite what most might think, it takes more than just maids, guards, and chefs to keep a castle running,” she paused as they took their seats. They found a booth where Thomas and Talon sat side by side while Moonlight sat across from them where she could watch the door. Talon ordered them all apple cider, insisting that it would be rude not to sample the restaurant’s namesake. They all picked up their menus as the griffon continued. “And so many of Luna’s staff have been going out into the city to help with the adjustment to the night court that other ponies just thought it was the next big thing.”

“I heard that Sapphire Shores commissioned a new line of clothes based on the trend and that’s how it became official,” Moonlight finished.

“That’s fascinating, and all,” Thomas nodded. “But right now I’d really like to know what the deal is with the polygamy.”

“Is it really that odd?” Talon asked. “Granted that it doesn’t happen so often with griffons, but considering what the Princesses do, it can’t be that weird, right?”

“That’s different,” Thomas insisted. “Royalty having harems is a hell of a lot different than, what’d you call it? Herds?”

“While you’re right that there are differences, the basic models are more or less the same,” Moonlight answered.

Thomas rubbed his temples to ease his headache, not considering that the cider might be having an effect yet. “How about we start from the beginning? Pretend for a second that I’m a foreigner to Equestria and am still getting used to your culture.”

“Fair enough,” Moonlight nodded understandingly. “Well, all ponies engage in herding. Even a monogamous relationship between only two special someponies are technically considered a herd. But monogamy isn’t all that common and a lot of places don’t look too kindly on it. Even so, it’s a tried and true method that makes happy ponies and happy foals.”

“Kinda like the classic mounting position,” Talon added crudely. “Tried and true, but every now and then ya wanna spice things up a bit.”

“Anyway,” Moonlight stressed. “Most ponies choose to have herds of a more proper size. Usually that’s where you have the one stallion and multiple mares. There are exceptions, but it usually works out that way because mares outnumber stallions four to one. Like Ms. Talon said, most herds rarely get bigger than four or five ponies. The reason my dad was such a stud, at least according to him,” she smirked, “is because of all the practice he got in Celestia’s harem.”

“Your dad was one of Celestia’s concubines?” Thomas blurted.

“And the plot thickens,” Talon grinned as all eyes fell on her. “Yes, I heard it,” she groaned. “I swear that wasn’t deliberate, but I make no apologies.”

Thomas snickered at the bit of unintended levity.

“But yes,” Moonlight continued as she took a sip of her recently delivered mild cider. “My father used to be one of Celestia’s concubines. That’s actually how he met my mother. On a day like any other, they walked past each other in the castle and were immediately smitten with one another. She started courting him and his first mare and it wasn’t long before mom popped the question and she became the second in my dad’s herd.”

“Mom’s bedtime stories were about her adventures in the army, but dad always told us about Celestia,” Moonlight trialed off a bit as she reminisced about her foalhood. “Naturally he left out all the stuff we were too young to hear, but he made working for the Princess sound so very glamorous. So I decided to combine the inspirations from both my parents and join the royal guard.”

“What about your other three moms?” Talon asked.

“Baker, teacher, and weather engineer,” Moonlight answered. “They’re still my moms and I love them all, but they never had much in the way of stories.”

“What about your dad? Is he still one of Celestia’s concubines? Maybe we’ve… met before,” Talon said with a suggestive smirk.

“Doubtful,” Moonlight shook her head with a friendly smile, apparently taking no offense from the griffon’s lewd implication. “He retired about a decade ago to be a full time parent. Unlike the RGR, Celestia’s service comes with full benefits.”

“In more ways than one,” Talon said cheerfully as she rose up her glass to the unicorn. The mare didn’t take long to recognize the gesture and rose her glass to meet the griffon’s with a resounding clink and both drank. “Ahh,” Talon sighed.

Thomas took several long gulps of his own cider while processing all that he had heard. “Okay. I think I’m catching up here, but I think you’ve just raised even more questions so I’m still pretty far behind. Let’s go back a bit. Your mom, your birth mom, was your dad’s second wife?”

“That’s right,” Moonlight nodded.

“Your dad married her while he was working in Celestia’s harem?”

“Also right.”

“And she was alright with that?”

“Of course she was,” Moonlight answered with a shrug. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

“Because…” Thomas strained to say, wondering if he was treading into any social taboos. “It was his job to sleep with somepony other than his wife, er, wives. Isn’t that… infidelity?”

“Heh,” Moonlight laughed under her breath before taking another sip of her drink. “Is that how it works back on your world? Concubines and prostitutes aren’t allowed to work anymore once they get married?”

“Oh! I know this one,” Talon chimed in. “Apparently his world doesn’t just have backwards ideas on nudity. They also frown on sex as a profession. In fact, they’re really stingy about love in general.”

Moonlight frowned as she looked at Thomas. “Are you judging my father for something you do?” she asked with barely concealed disdain.

“What? Nonononono!” Thomas waved his hands insistently. “I swear, I didn’t mean any offense by that. Promise! I was just asking cause I’m still not sure how a relationship like that works.”

“Pretty well, I’d say,” Talon interjected to try and relieve the tension. “Most of my fellows in Celestia’s harem are married to really nice herds.”

“They are?” Thomas looked over at Talon while stealing glances to see if Moonlight was still scowling suspiciously at him. Thankfully, she seemed to have accepted his apology.

“If they aren’t, then all that bragging about their foals suddenly gets really creepy,” Talon said with a laugh.

“But, I thought…” Thomas began as he looked down at the crescent moon on his loincloth. “Luna said that wearing this uniform meant that my… ya know… belongs to her.”

Talon frowned at the young man beside her. “While you’re on the clock, genius,” she chided as she flicked his ear with her tail. “We can’t all spend every night and day sleeping in the same bed as our Princess. Unlike you, the rest of us have lives outside of following the Princess around like a lost love-struck puppy. Some of us sleep in the servants’ quarters, but everypony else has apartments and houses in the city. I can take you to Sun Dancer’s place and introduce you to her family. Her stallion’s quite a stud too so she’s married to two other mares for her herd.”

“Alright. Alright,” Thomas waved his hands in front of him. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just trying to figure stuff out.”

“It’s alright,” Talon backed off. “I didn’t mean to go off on you like that. It just seemed like you really should have picked some of this stuff up by now. I mean, for Celestia’s sake, you’ve got to be the most ignorant Senior Concubine in the history of Equestria.”

Thomas lowered his head in shame and sighed “Yeah. Guess I am.”

“Oh, now hold on there, chimp,” Talon said while wrapping both her claw and wing around her friend’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not…”

“You’re right,” Thomas said flatly. “All I’ve got is a fancy title and the only reason I have that is because there wasn’t any competition.”

“That’s not true and you know it,” Moonlight said sternly. “You earned that role by making the Princess smile, something everypony in the night court worked our flanks off to try and make happen. You’re the one who finally got her to smile and that’s something amazing.”

“Damn right,” Talon agreed. “And it’s not even really your fault that you're ignorant. Luna’s harem is new and you don’t really have any peers who can tell you about this stuff. But all that really matters is that you know enough to make your Princess happy. And you do that, right?”

Thomas let out a relieved sigh and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks guys.”

“There ya go,” Talon consoled. “Just keep making that mare smile and everything else will fall into place.”

“Agreed,” Moonlight added. “And if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask.”

“Well,” Thomas began. “Now that you mention it, there were a few things I was wondering about.”

A bit of background for Moonlight Shield reveals that polygamy, aka herds, is a perfectly normal thing in this world. Who'd a thunk that a clop story would allow for the possibility of the male lead having multiple female suitors. The scandal of it all. Oh well.

On the not so good side, I've decided to only do updates once per week instead of twice. I've hit the inevitable slow down, but I still want to stay consistent to my viewers for as long as possible.

As usual, let me know what you guys think.

9/15/15 Edits have been made to make herds the default form of pony relationship.