“What’s that look for,” Moonlight asked with a half-smile.

The orange mare had the Sunday off, so she wasn’t wearing her armor. In fact, getting up early on the Sunday evening, as was typical of all those who worked the night shift, she saw no reason to put anything on at all. Still, before leaving her room in the barracks, she took a moment to admire her body in the mirror. She was a very lean mare, not curvy like how most stallions and mares liked, but she was still proud of her figure; although she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want a bigger plot. Her toned stomach and bulging triceps were a testament to her dedication to the guard’s standards of physical fitness. In fact, when she covered up her horn with her hand, she mused at how much she looked like a shorter earth pony rather than a unicorn. Even her blatant dismissal of even informal attire was reminiscent of earth ponies. After all, it’s not like she was planning anything that required formal attire; only meeting a friend at one of the local teahouses.

“You know,” Talon leaned in teasingly. “When do I get to meet your parents?”

“My parents?” Moonlight grimaced. “And why, pray tell, would I take you to see my parents?”

“I wanna see the look on your daddy’s face when he sees you bringing home a concubine,” Talon smirked.

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “If I understand your meaning, then I’m afraid you’d be sorely disappointed.” She emphasized by taking a calm sip of her tea.

“Oh?”

“If you expect father, or any of my mothers to be shocked that I have been associating with one of Celestia’s concubines, I’m afraid I’ve already told them.”

“Associating?” Talon pouted. “You make it sound so cold.”

Moonlight took another sip to hide her smile, but the griffon’s smirk told her she wasn’t fooling anypony. “Yes. We associate with one another on a fairly regular basis. Hence, we are associates.”

“Huh,” Talon scratched her chin. “Ya know, I don’t think anyone’s ever referred to me like that before.”

“Anyone?”

“Oh, shut up. I’m inclined to agree with the chimp on this one. Saying things like ‘anypony’ is just silly pony centric nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense,” Moonlight defended calmly. “It’s part of our culture, going back thousands of years.”

“So are words like ‘thee’ and ‘thou’, but if Princess Moonbutt can put in the effort to adapt to the times, why can’t the rest of you ponies?”

“Does it really bother you so much?”

“Meh,” Talon shrugged. “Not really. Just seeing if I could get a rise out of ya.” She took a sip of her own tea, only to shudder. “Faust above! What the hay is this?”

Moonlight leaned in to examine the cup’s contents. “I believe you ordered Jasmine.”

Talon shifted her predatory gaze between Moonlight and the cup, as if uncertain which she believed less. Then she shrugged and took another, more generous sip, followed by a light chuckle. “Wow. Guess castle life is spoiling me. Either that or I still have Steel Hoof’s aftertaste.”

“Aftertaste?” Moonlight asked, only for her eyes to widen as the griffon’s meaning hit her. “Oh.”

“Oh? What’s the ‘oh’ for?”

“N-nothing,” Moonlight trailed off, focusing on the patterns on the napkins.

Talon set her cup on her own napkin and leaned in close, setting her elbows on the table to support her chin on her claws. “Never had one that big before?”

Moonlight flushed. “I, uh…”

“Ya know, I probably don’t need to say this, but for a minotaur, he’s got a thing for ponies. I’m certain he’d be willing to give ya a taste if ya asked really nicely.”

“That’s, um, nice of him, but… I…”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Talon interrupted with a much gentler tone. “I get it. I was worried the first time too, about how big he was. But bulls aren’t like regular stallions.” Her wings ruffled. “It’s kinda hard to explain, but,” she leaned in and whispered, “their dicks are actually pretty pliable. So if you’re worried about size…”

“Please stop!” Moonlight seethed from between clenched teeth, but still managed to keep her voice down so as not to alarm the other patrons. “And that’s not even the point.”

Talon rested her arms down on the table and looked seriously at the unicorn. “Sorry about that,” she reached out and took Moonlight’s hand. “But you know I didn’t mean anything by it, right?”

Moonlight gave a slow and deliberate nod. “Yes. I know.”

“If there’s something wrong, you can tell me.”

Moonlight only answered with a quick exhale.

Talon tightened her grip on the unicorn’s hand. “Promise I won’t tell or laugh.”

Moonlight looked up to meet the griffon’s sincere eyes. “Well… it’s just that… I’ve never really been with a… stallion before.” She flinched, waiting for Talon to do her worst.

The griffon only raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Never?”

Moonlight straightened up, but tightened her own grip around the griffon’s claw. “N-never. Only other mares.”

Talon nodded in consideration. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but exactly how old are you?”

“I turned twenty four a few months ago,” Moonlight answered meekly, knowing where this was going.

“That’s gotta be at least twenty two heats.”

“Actually, it’s only been twenty,” Moonlight offered, but the griffon’s deadpan glare told her it didn’t matter.

“How does a filly manage to go through twenty heats without a stallion? I mean, look at you,” Talon gestured to Moonlight’s body. “You’re freaking adorable. Stallions would trip over themselves to help a pretty little thing like you.”

“I…” Moonlight hesitated. “I don’t know. My friends said the same thing, but I guess I just never met a stallion I liked like that.”

Talon remained silent, but gestured for Moonlight to go on.

“I don’t think I’m bent. I, um, like romance novels,” she lowered her head as a slight smirk took her lips. “Especially those with more… erotic scenes.”

Talon gave a low snort. “I’m the last wren to judge a pony on their tastes in erotica.” She followed with a look demanding Moonlight go into further detail.

“Well, I, um, really like things between two or more stallions.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever met a mare who doesn’t,” Talon smirked, and they both shared a giggle. “But that still doesn’t explain how you managed so many heats without a stallion. I‘ve been around ponies long enough to know heat basically drives you mares crazy if you don’t get yourselves a healthy dose of stallion meat.”

“I managed,” Moonlight gave a half-smile. “And my friends were willing to help with, you know, cooling me off.”

Talon grimaced. “Even so, that sounds like it must have been a real pain.”

Moonlight gave a defeated sigh. “Like I said, I manage. Besides, lots of mares go through heat without stallions all the time. It’s not that bad.”

“I could help, ya know,” Talon offered with a soft smile. “And I’m not just saying that cause you’re a fine piece of flank, which you are and don’t ever let nobody tell you otherwise, got it?”

Moonlight blushed and turned away, but tightened her grip appreciatively around Talon’s claw.

“No friend of mine is gonna go through heat alone,” Talon smiled sincerely. “On your next heat week, you come straight to me, got it?”

“I… sure. I think that’d be alright,” Moonlight gave a relieved sigh.

Heat week. The infamous time that rolled around twice a year for each mare when she went crazy for, as Talon had so affectionately put it, stallion meat, was just a part of life. Mares helped mares in heat. It was just common sense and common courtesy. With how few stallions there were, it was inevitable that some mares would have to go without from time to time. They would take it in turns to use special strapons called coolers equipped with liquid dispensers at the end to, as their names implied, cool a mare’s heat. Every mare knew that it was nowhere near as good as having the real thing, but it was making the best out of a bad situation.

The simple necessity of coolers meant that their use was not considered a sexual act, but rather something that just had to be done. Two mares could use a cooler for days on end to satisfy their heat, only to return to their normal relationships without developing any romantic feelings for each other, although cooling was still considered personal enough so as to only be done between close friends. Obviously mares dating one another without a stallion would use coolers too, but those sessions usually involved a lot of kissing and intimate groping, which made it different. These were the sort of obvious cultural norms one learned just by growing up in the culture, meaning a certain non-pony was looking forward to a really awkward conversation, whether he knew it or not.

Talon gave a firm nod. “Then it’s a date.”

Moonlight rolled her eyes and finally took back her hand. “In the sense that we have agreed to meet on a specific date in time, then yes.”

Talon folded her arms over her chest and gave a huffing pout. “What? Am I not good enough for you? Not into wrens?”

Moonlight stared down at her tea cup and shook her head with a soft smile. “You’re too much sometimes. You know that right,” she answered mirthfully.

“Only sometimes? Guess I’ve been slacking lately.”

Moonlight chuckled as she resumed nursing her tea. “By the way, what ever happened with Blueblood?”

“You don’t know?” Talon cocked an eyebrow.

“I was standing just outside the room at the time.” Moonlight’s teacup shook in her grip. “The things he said about…” she breathed to calm herself. “If Swift Scabbard hadn’t held me back…”

“Go on,” Talon motioned encouragingly.

“If he hadn’t been there, I swear I’d have kicked blue balls in his blue balls so hard he’d never be able to sire a foal.”

Talon slapped her claw across her eyes, throwing her head high in the air as the room echoed with her bellowing laughter. Suddenly feeling the stares of the tea house's other patrons fall upon them, Moonlight tried her hardest to stifle her friend’s laughter without letting it infect her. It was a challenge. After about a minute, the griffon finally calmed down. “Good filly.”

“Good filly?” Moonlight repeated, taken aback.

“Yeah. You’re a filly, and you’re not half bad.” Talon took loud sip of her tea. “Protecting your stallion like that; it really makes a gal wonder how you managed to go without one for so long.”

A touch of pink tinted Moonlight’s cheeks. “He’s not… Sir Thomas is not my stallion.”

“You’re a mare and it’s your job to protect him, right? How does that not make him your stallion?”

“Th-that’s hardly accurate. I was assigned to guard him by the Princess. We’re friends, but anything more than that would be fraternization. Besides…” she trailed off. “He’s Luna’s stal-yaw!” She winced at the sudden pain on her cutie mark. The unicorn leaned under the table just in time to see the retreating griffon tail. “What was that for?”

Talon propped her head up on her fist as she smirked back at the unicorn. “Didn’t you already tell the story about your daddy, one of Leste’s concubines, and how he met with your mommy, an officer in the army?”

Moonlight flushed as she saw where this was going. “That’s not the same,” she breathed heavily. “And besides, you still never told me what happened with Blueblood.”

Talon let out a defeated sigh. She was no Celestia and her skill in matchmaking was one of the few things her lover didn’t rub off on her. A pity, too, because something deep down told her that Thomas and Moonlight would be so cute together. She could bring up exactly how many of Celstia’s concubines used to be her personal guards, or how many of her current guards now herding with her other concubines, but that would have to wait. Moonlight clearly needed more time to figure out her own feelings on the matter. Oh well. If it was meant to happen it would happen, just not tonight.

“Well,” Talon swirled her claw in her tea. “Since the little prick threatened me too, Leste thought it appropriate if I got to sit in and watch.”

Moonlight’s horn lit and levitated her chair around the table until she was beside Talon. The mare leaned in, inadvertently pressing her shoulder against her friend’s soft and warm fur. Talon reciprocated by affectionately pushing her own shoulder into the mare’s. Talon silently remarked on how nice the unicorn felt, and was looking forward to her next heat week, even if was quite a ways off.

“In fact, pretty much all of us were there,” Talon continued, pausing to create dramatic tension for her eager audience. “We were standing in a semi-circle around him, with Leste at the forefront. She was snapping a belt and that really got him squirming.” Talon tittered. “I don’t think this was the first time she had to use it either.”

Moonlight joined her friend’s quiet snickering.

“Oh, but I should probably stop,” Talon frowned as she pulled away. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about…” she was cut off by a sudden yank of her neck feathers pulled her face to face with Moonlight.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Stop.”

“Not the first time I got a mare to say that,” Talon smirked. Her joke successfully dislodged her from the unicorn’s grip, but that didn’t stop her from glaring daggers at her. “Fine,” Talon gave an exaggerated sigh of defeat. “If you must know,” she leaned in closer as the pair huddled. “Leste… gave old blue balls… a stern talking to.”

There was a pregnant pause as Moonlight slowly turned to meet Talon’s eyes, her own expressing sheer disbelief. “She… what?”

“What?” Talon shrugged. “Did you honestly think Leste was going to do something seriously bad to her own nephew?”

“I, um…” a flushed Moonlight trailed off.

“Besides, you don’t know just how scary Celestia can get when she really wants to.”

“Scary?” Moonlight asked. It was such a strange word to associate with the beloved Princess of the Sun. Powerful. Maternal. Awe inspiring. Trusted. Even, dare she even think it, sexy. These were just some of the perfectly fine terms one was allowed to use when referring to Princess Celestia. But scary? No. that just wasn’t right.

“Yeah,” Talon nodded. “Like you can’t even imagine. A couple minutes in and Blueblood was actually starting to cry. I honestly couldn’t even bring myself to feel bad for the guy. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he won’t be bothering the chimp again any time soon.”

“Should you really be calling Sir Thomas a chimp,” Moonlight asked in concern. “It seems rather mean.”

Talon just stared back at Moonlight, not saying anything at first. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, by now, that the little guy has more than a few confidence issues.” The unicorn nodded in silent agreement. “Don’t know when you came on, but he’s practically a chatter box compared to how closed up he used to be.”

Moonlight gave a low hum. “I… had noticed. And I get that you’re trying to help him open up. I really do. It’s just I’m wondering if there might be a gentler way.”

“Oh? And what would you propose?” Talon asked.

“W-what?”

“You said there might be a better way to get him to open up. So now I’m asking what ways you’d like to try?”

“Try?”

“Well duh,” Talon scoffed. “That’s the whole point of our training; to get multiple mares to tell him how awesome he is until he finally starts to believe it. If you’ve got ideas, I’m open to them.”

Moonlight nodded, still a bit surprised at the griffon for letting her take the lead. It took her a moment to come up with something. “Well, if you’re really asking, then… do you remember what Lady Attentive said about him causing a scandal?”

“I wasn’t there for that part, but I think I got the gist of it,” Talon nodded along.

“I didn’t much care for the way she said that. It definitely was needlessly cruel, especially for such a sensitive stallion.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Talon agreed. “So, what’d you have in mind?”

“Well, you’ve pretty much taken charge of his newly acquired free time, so at first I was thinking maybe we could let him decide what to do on his next day off.”

“Sounds fair.”

“But then I realized I have no idea what he’d want to do. He’s never really asked to do anything,” Moonlight said solemnly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but between you, Princess Luna, and even me, he pretty much spends all his time being led around by others.”

Talon gave an exasperated sigh. “So you noticed too? Then I guess it’s not just me.”

“Tali?” Moonlight inquired.

“I know I can be a little… overbearing sometimes,” Talon confessed after briefly smiling at the mention of her nickname. It was an appreciated sign of how much the unicorn trusted her. “He laughs along and is usually pretty mellow about stuff. But still, he’s really submissive even by stallion standards.”

“He’s not a stallion,” Moonlight reminded gently. It wasn’t anything defensive, but merely a statement of fact. “Maybe human stallions are even more submissive.”

“Or maybe it’s just the opposite,” Talon put forward grimly. “Maybe human males are the assertive ones and our little chimp is a… I guess exception would be the word.”

Moonlight nodded along, uncertain what she could add to that. Since Thomas was their only basis, pretty much all speculation was equally valid. The unicorn grimaced at the thought that there might be something wrong with her friend and that she had no idea how to help.

“Even if there was something, he’d probably deny it if we confronted him about it. For now, let’s go with your idea and let him decide what to do next.”

“Thank you,” Moonlight nodded appreciatively. “It’s probably a little rude for us to be talking about him like this, but whether or not there is a problem, we should probably show him that we’re here for him.”

Talon shook her head with an amused snort. “Not your stallion, huh? Cause you’re sure acting like his mare.”

I had no idea what to do with this chapter when I started. Really my only intent was to have the two established as friends without the need to obsess over Thomas who, despite being the main character, I feel is far too much the focus of the story. Did alright on the first half, but then I carried over some elements from the previous chapter and Thomas was once again the focus. Still, overall I liked how these two interacted.

Was originally going to have them planning to introduce him to a stallion friend, but I realized the story is still pretty packed at the moment and I’m not really sure a new character would fit, especially a recurring one.

Sorry to disappoint those who wanted more out of Blueblood’s punishment, but I couldn’t imagine Celestia really doing anything that bad. Blueblood is still her nephew, after all. May have to do a few more stories of these characters interacting without Thomas in the future. We’ve already seen how terribly boring Luna’s nights can be and I can’t imagine Celestia would fare much better. Maybe something with Celestia and her concubines, preferably with little to no mention of Thomas, just to establish that he is not the center of the universe.