Their game concluded, the winner not needing to be named because, in a way, they both won just by playing, Luna decided that it was overdue that they pay a visit to the royal masseuse. While Luna’s groans left no doubt that she enjoyed what Thomas did for her, there was no arguing that he could not compete with professionals. After dressing in more casual clothes, save for Thomas’ loincloth, and Luna enchanting her mane with its ethereal flow, they made the short trek through the castle to the private spa. The facility was fashioned quite extravagantly with violet streamers, pink and blue walls, and red carpeted floor. It was a place that only opened its doors to royalty and those who held royal favor, such as the concubines.

Before they entered, Luna explained to Thomas about the selective-hearing spell. Such a spell was incredibly complex, so special charms were made long ago to save unicorns the trouble of recasting it. In this case, the masseuses wore green stones around their necks to ensure that they could do their jobs without being exposed to private information. The charms were too expensive and complex to mass produce, which is why the royal guards were rarely assigned them, but there were enough to rotate among those who needed them. In the case of the masseuse ponies, their charms made it so that they could only hear their client’s instructions as well as other verbal signals on whether or not they were working the right areas in the right ways. Thomas figured this was related to the behavior of ponies to do as they’re told, to follow the herd so to speak. Luna concluded by assuring Thomas that he should feel free to speak no differently than when they were in private.

“Princess Luna,” a pale gray unicorn stallion greeted warmly. His mane was a white Mohawk while his knee-length tail wagged excitedly behind him. He wore a white vest, short shorts, and the charm that was a necklace with a green stone around his neck. “I was wondering when you’d visit us next.”

“A pleasure as always, Firm Touch,” Luna tilted her head. “It has been difficult to find the time, what with the many duties of the night court.”

“Which is exactly why your attendance here is so important,” Firm Touch added sternly. “The stresses of ruling can leave the body in such wretched pain. What will Equestria do if they need their Princess to make a split-second decision, but she is unable because she is distracted by some bothersome wing ache?”

Luna giggled softly. “That is a bit dramatic, but we can think of no valid argument.”

“Excellent.” Firm Touch nodded firmly before his eyes fell on the human. “And this must be Senior Concubine Thomas, yes?”

“That’s me.”

Firm Touch frowned. “I’m especially disappointed in your absence until now. Not to betray the confidentiality of my other patients, but suffice to say I have worked with the other concubines and know better than most exactly how strenuous a job like yours can be.”

“It’s not that bad,” Thomas assured.

Firm Touch frowned and craned his neck to look at a pink earth pony mare, dressed the same as him, who had been standing silently behind him. He gestured to Thomas and the mare closed the distance between them. She stroked her chin as she stared down at him judgmentally. Thomas squirmed uncomfortably under her stare, trying not to notice how similar it was to the look Luna sometimes gave him before they… did things. This was made harder by the fact that her vest was a V-neck that seemed to stop just above her belly button, showing off far too much cleavage.

God damn these ponies and their inability to comprehend how sexfully they dressed. Thomas swore, briefly wondering if perhaps they knew better than they let on.

“Mister… Thomas, was it?” the mare asked. “It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Back Breaker and I will be your masseuse for the evening.”

Thomas flinched. “B-Back Breaker?”

“Oh? Have you heard of me?” she asked with a faint smile. “I hope it was something good.”

“N-no. It’s just that, um, how’d you get a name like that?”

Back Breaker hummed in contemplation. “Don’t know. Guess it’s just what my parents thought sounded cutest.”

“Cutest?” Thomas blurted as his mind labored to make sense of her last sentence.

“We can talk more about names later,” Back Breaker dismissed as she reached out and began prodding at his arm. “What matters now is that you’ve got aches all over your body. I swear, if I were less professional, I’d ask what you’d been doing to get it this bad.”

Thomas flinched as the mare meticulously applied pressure to different parts of his arm, eliciting several jolts of pain. “Gah!”

“See,” she said audaciously. “This is worse than I thought. I’m afraid we’re going to have to give you some extra… TLC.”

Thomas swore he heard ominous music playing at the mention of that word.

“Be sure to take good care of my little human,” Luna offered as Back Breaker took Thomas by the hand and began dragging him off.

“Hold on a sec,” Thomas pleaded as he struggled vanely against the earth mare’s superior strength. “What do you mean by that? What are you gonna…” he was cut off by a sudden yank of his arm and brought fully into Back Breaker’s arms.

“There’s no need to worry, little Thomas,” she smiled sweetly, but her eyes promised something far less benign. “I’m a professional.” And with a few quick jabs around his neck and shoulders, Thomas fell lifelessly into her arms.

“Oh dear,” Luna said worriedly as she brought her hand to her cheek. “Was it truly necessary to put him under so quickly?”

Back Breaker nodded assuredly. “There’s no need to worry, your highness. This isn’t my first rodeo. Trust me on this. You’ll both thank me by the time I’m done.”

Luna gave a defeated sigh and nodded. It bothered her to see the masseuse resort to such a drastic measure as to use pressure points to knock Thomas out. However, she did trust the mare’s professionalism. She was also disappointed that he would most certainly remain unconscious for the next few minutes, especially considering the surprise she had planned, but took solace in the mare’s words that they’d both be grateful for her actions later. The Princess of the Night nodded to Firm Touch and he led the way to the room that had already been prepared for her. Inside were three massage tables arranged in a triangle with the heads all facing inward. Two of the tables were large enough to fit an alicorn, one of which was already occupied.

“Hello there, sister,” Celestia greeted calmly as she lay naked and belly down on her table while her own five masseuses went to work on her lower legs and shoulders. “What ever happened to Thomas?”

“Alas, dearest Thomas is in need of much more intense treatment, so they felt it best to put him under for the more painful parts,” Luna explained as she disrobed and Firm Touch guided her to the other large table. Back Breaker gently laid Thomas onto his own table.

“Shame,” Celestia hummed. “Oh well. I suppose we should take advantage of this and have ourselves some mare-talk.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow in intrigue as a smile broke upon her lips. “Very well. What did you have in mind?”

“Stallions,” Celestia scoffed as though it should have been obvious. “It’s just not mare talk without stallions.”

Luna giggled softly at her sister’s deliberate contradiction. “Any particular stallions you’d wish to discuss?” She asked, her eyes trailing over Thomas’ unconscious form.

“You do know the world doesn’t actually revolve around him, right?”

“We are aware.”

“Just making sure.”

The doors opened once more and five other masseuses entered. They surrounded Princess Luna and began gently tending to her extremities while Firm Touch departed. Back Breaker cracked her knuckles and began her solo work on the human.

“Anyway, it looks as though you’ve really been working the little guy over if they needed to knock him out for this.”

As if to make her point, Back Breaker shot her arm up into the air before bringing her elbow down hard against Thomas’ back in with a force that would impress most wrestlers.

“Indeed,” Luna sighed as her faced scrunched in pleasure at the masseuses expert touch. “He has taken to his training with Lady Talon quite well.”

“She’s said he’s been very enthusiastic so far,” Celestia hummed. “However, he seemed especially reluctant when she suggested a stallion as an instructor.”

“Ah yes,” Luna said knowingly. “It seems as though dearest Thomas is bent towards mares.”

“Bent?” Celestia inquired with a frown. “That is rather unfortunate.”

“Indeed. Honestly, it is a tragedy for such ponies to be missing out on half the world’s pleasures.”

“Haven’t you mostly preferred mares anyway, sister?”

“That’s hardly the point,” Luna dismissed. “We merely express sympathy to dearest Thomas for being unwilling to know the pleasures of being with a stallion as we do.”

“That’s just the way he is,” Celestia shrugged. “But I was referring to the fact that, quite often, your past harems would consist exclusively of mares. Perhaps this makes him an ideal fit for you, in more ways than one,” she snickered at her own implication. “However, I love the feminine form as much as the next pony, but how could you deny yourself the unique skills of a stallion?”

“Who says we did?” Luna grinned mischievously. “Perhaps it is you who have denied yourself the joys of a mare wielding a phallus?”

“Oh you,” Celestia laughed. “You are just awful.”

The sisters joked with one another, certain that the selective-hearing spell placed over the masseuses would keep their conversation quite private.

“No worse than you, sister,” Luna retorted. “But regardless, we see your point. Having him as our only stallion would not be… unappealing.”

“Oh, temper your enthusiasm, Lulu,” Celestia said sarcastically. “Wouldn’t want ponies to think you were actually eager to sleep with your lovers.”

“Hush you,” Luna said, fighting against a smile.

“But speaking of joys, have you partaken of your more… exotic appetites yet?” Celestia asked with a wide grin.

“Not at this time, no,” Luna said dispassionately. “The little dear is still adjusting to the nature of this world. We have been training him to feel comfortable in the embrace of our magic and, as with his other training, he has been quite enthusiastic.”

“Very good,” Celestia nodded. “It is good that you are being considerate of his culture shock and taking things slow. Is he still ashamed of his body?”

“You mean that silly nudity taboo? Alas, yes. He is quite comfortable while we are alone, but the instant another pony comes in, he becomes adorably bashful,” Luna beamed. “He explained once that, back in his world, nudity outside of bathing was taken as a sign of amorous intent. That is why we asked our old attendants to wear swim suits while we bathed, to make him more comfortable.”

“Old attendants,” Celestia frowned. “Then I take it they weren’t to your liking?”

“Sadly not.”

“I am sorry they did not work out for you.”

Luna shrugged as best she could while lying down. “No need, sister. You made the choices as best you could, which we appreciate, but in the end they simply had no appeal to us.”

“Have they been formally dismissed yet?”

“Not yet. We have already instructed Lady Attentive Eye to give them notifications that, rather than tending their usual duties, they are to meet us in our office this coming Monday after breakfast.”

“Hopefully they will be more cordial than the last attendant I had to dismiss,” Celestia grimaced at the memory. “Guards had to carry her off castle grounds.”

Luna chuckled at her mental image. “Indeed, but we do not think these three will be so dramatic.”

“Regardless, it is best for you to make the next selections anyway. How goes that?”

“We have a list and Attentive Eye is in the process of narrowing down potential candidates.”

“Hmm, lovely,” Celestia sighed, referring more to the massage than her sister’s words. Throughout their conversation the masseuse ponies had moved about the alicorn’s bodies, attending to every strand of tension they could find. The sisters were so relaxed that, if an assassin were to burst through the door armed with war-grade magic, the Princesses might actually be slow to react.

“Verily,” Luna sighed dreamily as her eyes drifted towards Thomas. “Lovely.”

Celestia hummed again before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “But on the matter of his world’s taboos, what about his reluctance to accept your dream walking?”

“On that he remains quite stubborn,” Luna huffed. “He says that the mind is far too private and personal a domain to be intruded upon.”

Celestia frowned. “He does not trust you to go about your duties and tend to his dreams?”

“We do not think it is a slight against us, personally, but rather something to do with his views on free will,” Luna explained as best she could, but it was clear even she didn’t fully understand what she was saying. “It may be a matter of difference between our species, coupled with the norms and taboos of his culture. We conversed about it once and he still finds it odd how ponies are so much more willing to accept their roles than his kind ever would. As such, he is unwilling to expose the most private parts of himself.” Luna concluded with a regretful sigh.

The sight of her sister looking so sorrowful was too much for Celestia, so the elder alicorn did her sisterly duty and attempted to lighten the mood. “Did you not tempt him with the possibilities of all that can be done within a dream?”

Luna leered across at her sister.

“My mistake,” Celestia laughed. “Of course you did. But he truly said no after that?”

“Alas, he has. He seemed especially reluctant when we brought up the possibility of meeting you in his dreams.”

Shock took Celestia’s face and the masseuses did their best to pretend not to notice.

“Calm thyself, sister,” Luna said reassuringly. “We do not think it has anything to do with a lack of attraction. His body reacted quite normally when we went into detail of your… scrumptious body.” Luna licked her lips, eliciting an appreciative grin from her sister. “But it seems he was quite adamant on denying his attraction out of the fear he might offend us.”

“Offend?” Celestia tilted her head, ears splayed. “How could him having an attraction to me possibly offend you? He is a male with his eyes intact. Does he feel he is not allowed to use them? Further, does he not know what we’ve done in the dream realm?”

“His culture also holds strange notions of exclusivity. From what we have been able to gather, while in a serious relationship, it is quite taboo for his people to express even passing interest in those outside the relationship.”

Celestia’s face scrunched as her mind strained to try and make sense of what she was hearing. “Then… how do they expand their herds?”

“He was most uncomfortable by that point, so we did not press further. We also did not tell him of our… shared activities,” Luna beamed at her sister who returned a knowing and naughty smile. They both knew what they did together in the dream realm, that place of nothing but intangible thoughts where you could do whatever you want without consequence, but it was too embarrassing to say so in front of others, even with the selective-hearing spell in place. The fun the sisters had together in the physical world was all well and good, but what went on in the dream realm went above and beyond the comprehension of mortal minds.

“Ugh… wha…” Thomas grumbled as he slowly came to. “Whah happnd.”

“Welcome back to the land of the living, little human,” a soft and welcoming voice greeted.

Thomas stirred and strenuously turned his head to face the speaker. His eyes shot open at the sight of Princess Celestia, on her belly and surrounded by ponies in white uniforms. But most of all, she was naked, without so much as a towel draped across her plump black side. Her very full breasts retained much of their shape as they squished down into the patted massage table while a pillow propped up her chin. But before any dirty or panicked thoughts could form, Celestia gave him her signature maternal and calming smile that told him all was well. Then he felt a rumble shudder through his body and he lost all feeling below the neck.

“W-what happened? W-why can’t I feel anything?”

“Relax,” Back Breaker assured from outside his line of sight. “Just need to keep you still a little bit longer while I work… out… these… kinks!” She strained on those last words, as if doing something especially challenging, but Thomas couldn’t feel anything. The human was totally helpless and beginning to breathe rapidly.

“Dearest Thomas?” Luna inquired worriedly.

Thomas shot Luna a look with panicked eyes. “I… I can’t move.”

Luna frowned, taking his meaning and looked up to the pink earth mare. “Miss Back Breaker. Would you kindly restore feeling to our concubine?”

“You sure?” Back Breaker inquired skeptically. “We’re still into the less than pleasant part of his…”

“Miss Back Breaker,” Luna said firmly. “Please.”

Nodding, Back Breaker made a series of quick jabs along Thomas’ spine. They all knew it worked when Thomas let out a long pained groan.

“What the hell did you do? It feels like you twisted my spine in a knot.”

“Well I did,” Back Breaker said flatly.

Thomas jerked up to get a better look behind him, wincing in pain as he did so. All seemed where it should be, save for his missing loincloth.

“I put it back. Most ponies don’t like that part, which is why I had to numb you first.”

Thomas let out a more annoyed groan as he let his head fall onto the pillow. “Why me?”

“There there, dearest Thomas,” Luna cooed gently. “Back Breaker has worked her magic on us before. You shall not come to harm under her care, or our watch.”

Thomas felt uneasy at just how at ease his body fell at Luna’s assurances. Does she really have me so well trained that I calm down just because she tells me to? Briefly he considered that this might simply be a matter of trust, but that thought passed quickly.

As Luna watched Thomas visibly relax into the cushioned table, she couldn’t help but let out a soft yet fond sigh. He had been panicking just a moment ago at the prospect of being rendered motionless. He’d been rather uncomfortable the first time she’d levitated him with her magic, but he’d grown used to it. That he’d return to such a state while in the grasp of another showed that, while his alien psyche probably made it so that there would always be things about pony society that made him uncomfortable, at the very least he trusted her. All it took were a few kind words from her and her lover was put at ease.

Meanwhile, Celestia watched both her sister and the human intently. From her angle, she had a pretty good vantage point of both their faces, granting her a unique insight. Thomas was assured by her sister’s words, but at the same time seemed strangely bothered by it. Luna, on the other hoof, wanted nothing more than to faun over the stallion who trusted her so, all without noticing his subtle hints of discomfort. There were some who speculated that Celestia could read minds, but in truth she was merely an expert in reading body language. Her sister was almost as skilled as she, but Celestia attributed her lack of notice to yet another thing that she needed to relearn after being out of practice for a thousand years.

Momentarily Celestia remembered their conversation about Thomas’ alien norms and wondered if perhaps she’d been misreading his signals. Perhaps Luna, as the one who spent the most time with him, really did know he was perfectly fine and that the elder alicorn was simply seeing things that weren’t there. However, she dismissed that thought as it did nothing to diminish her original point. Celestia’s elder sister instincts had kicked in and she rekindled her vow to help her sister learn modern ways and relearn her old skills.

“So, uh, what were you two talking about?” Thomas asked, wincing a bit as Back Breaker set her hands back on him.

“You,” Celestia said with a smile. “We were talking about how well you’ve been adjusting to Equestria, but it would be nice if you could offer your own input.”

“I, uh, guess I’m doing alright. Haven’t caused any major scandals yet, so that’s something.”

Something about his tone bothered the Princess of the Sun. “You know she was just being dramatic, don’t you?”

Thomas looked up at Celestia with confusion. “What? Oh. You mean what Attentive Eye said. It’s no big deal.”

Celestia frowned. Once more something about the way he spoke bothered her. There was the faintest hint of hesitation when he said ‘Attentive Eye’, as if the name alone had somehow hurt him. She shot her sister a look, which the younger alicorn thankfully noticed and understood.

“Dearest Thomas,” Luna began gently. “Lady Attentive’s words were poorly chosen, but even worse was our failure to notice how much they bothered you.”

“I… what?” Thomas forced a smile. “N-no. No. It wasn’t… I wasn’t…”

“Thomas,” Celestia said sternly. “Your mare is expressing concern for your wellbeing.” Her face softened as a loving smile graced her lips. “She’s only looking out for you, you know.”

There it is again. Thomas remarked as a feeling of relief washed over him. Guess it’s not just Luna who can do this to me. Is this magic? Is she somehow enchanting her words to make me believe her? Maybe spending so much time with conforming ponies is rubbing off on me. Either way, why? Is it really so important for Luna’s fuck buddy to feel good about himself? Thomas paused mid thought before the answer became clear. Of course it probably is, but still... why don’t they just send me to a therapist or something?

Thomas felt he would never go to see a therapist anyway. He hadn’t burdened his parents with the knowledge of his problem, nor with the accompanying bills just so he could talk with someone who probably got some useless degree who couldn’t do anything anyway. But did that apply here too? The Princesses were rich, but he’d probably only be talking to someone, er, somepony paid off with taxes, and that was just as bad. Although, if the Princesses recommended a therapist, he or she probably wouldn’t be some amateur looking for a quick buck or bit.

The human was shaken out of his rationalizations as he felt his eyes start to water and he buried his face into his pillow. Thomas needed to hide it, obviously, but he couldn’t quite figure out what had brought this on. He wasn’t in one of his moods, he thought, but this felt different. The rationalizations of why he couldn’t come out were there like always, but they suddenly felt quieter. Once more the human’s thoughts were shaken by the realization that Back Breaker was no longer touching him. He looked up just in time to have his vision engulfed in indigo fur as Luna nuzzled his face.

The Princess of the Night had stepped off her table, naked as the day she was born, and was leaning down beside her human, her stallion. Her long arms snaked around his back and held him firm as she pressed her face into his. With some amusement, Luna briefly considered what the papers would say about her to learn that she had let her stallion feel neglected, even if he was a concubine. The amusement came from the realization at just how little she cared. Thomas was her stallion, titles be damned, and she’d make a terrible excuse for a Princess and a mare to neglect any of her lovers, especially those in such a state. Luna gave no comment as she felt the tiniest of drops stain her fur. There weren’t many, but the fact that Thomas was now leaning into the nuzzle told her enough.

Celestia surveyed the masseuses, giving each of them a gentle unspoken warning to not share what they had seen. Naturally they bowed in acknowledgement. She returned her attention to her sister and her human, smiling approvingly. This was good. Ponies in general were physical creatures and Luna was no exception. A well timed and placed nuzzle spoke louder than any words. However, Celestia frowned as she began to consider the possibility that perhaps humans had a preference for the verbal. There were only a handful of ponies he could hold extended conversations with, including Talon, but even then she often had to initiate. Was willingness to speak with others as significant a gesture for humans as, say, nipping a pony’s ear? Perhaps, but even if that were the case, something about Thomas’ behavior still felt off, something that went beyond the culture gap.

The Princess of the Sun grimaced at the realization of how much thought she’d been dedicating to Thomas’ wellbeing. True that he was an alien from another universe, and one with rather appealing features at that, but he wasn’t her responsibility. He was Luna’s. Luna should be the one fussing over verbal vs. physical cues, not her older sister. Thomas held no magic, so there was no possibility that he might be casting some spell over them to make them think about him this way. She puzzled about it a moment before deciding to return to this line of questioning later. For now, it seemed, the matter had been resolved.

Luna had pulled away from Thomas, but kept her face close as she kissed him on the lips. When Luna asked if he was okay and he responded with an affirmative, she nodded and returned to her table, never taking her eyes off him.

From Celestia’s perspective, this should have been it. A nuzzle like that would normally be enough to ease the worries of any mare or stallion, but deep down Celestia suspected that more was needed. Still, she didn’t want to overstep her bounds, especially with her sister’s love life. This would have to be handled delicately. However, for the time being, the silence demanded to be broken.

“But speaking of scandals that incident with the Prench emissaries was a rather close call,” Celestia teased.

“Not my fault,” Thomas stated flatly as he shot Luna an accusing glare. “I blame her for that one.”

“What? How dare you,” Luna scoffed in false indignation. “We don’t recall hearing any complaints.”

Thomas quickly surveyed the masseuses, but was reassured by none of them paying attention to anything other than their work. “I had a massive plot shoved in my face. Exactly how was I going to complain?”

“He has you there,” Celestia chuckled, reasonably certain that the worst had passed, at least for now.

“It would be more fitting to say that it is we who have him,” Luna said in a posh manner.

“Can’t argue with that,” Thomas laughed along with Celestia until Luna joined them. “Still your fault, though.”

After the massage was finally concluded, the alicorns and human sat up on their respective tables, though the latter did avert his eyes and request his loincloth returned. Thomas remarked how loose his body felt and thanked Back Breaker, though he did flinch at the mare’s suggestion he come back for regular appointments. When Celestia offered that they move onto the sauna together, one look at Celestia body in all its nude glory was all Thomas needed to answer with a very fervent no. Neither Princess showed any signs of disappointment, sharing a wordless agreement to try this again later after Thomas was better adjusted. As Luna and her human departed, Celestia made a mental note their relationship warranted further investigation.

Luna and Celestia have some mare talk centered around Thomas. He’s been adjusting largely to Luna’s satisfaction, but Celestia still has her doubts. Must be her Princess sense or something. Also, it is implied that Luna and Celestia might do things in places that are not tangible and thus have no legal or social consequences in the real world. Luna and Thomas have a moment which Celestia suspects he doesn’t fully comprehend. At least someone is finally noticing.

I like what I came up with regarding the physical thing. It's a culture gap that's not quite so obvious as, say, a pony's herd mentality making them more willing to simply do as they're told. Humans are arguably more visual and physical too, but our body language doesn't account for things like the movement of ears, so it makes a bit more sense how both parties would bee missing signals from the other.

It's actually kind of funny how I've sort of written myself into a position where I feel the need to keep justifying things. Thomas has depression, which I base off my own experience with the condition. This is the first real time I've written such a character, so I'm likely to stumble. So far, people seem to like this portrayal with the primary gripe being that Thomas if a bit flat, which I agree with. Dude needs his own interests, which I will hopefully be able to address in future chapters.

As always, constructive criticism is more than welcome.