After Moonlight finished apologizing profusely to Thomas for her earlier negligence, and with Talon as the bridge, the groups eventually began to warm up to one another. Surprisingly, aside from giving them their space, the surrounding ponies paid them little attention. Thomas attributed this to the frequent activity in Ponyville desensitizing the populace, or maybe the sight of two locals and a royal guard were enough to appease their herd mentality that all was well. A light squabble between three mares, a griffon, and a creature apparently out of myth barely even registered. However, in addition to Moonlight continuing to glare at Lyra while keeping Thomas within arm’s reach at all times, and the way Lyra would sneak glances at Thomas’ feet when she thought no one was looking, there were still some matters of tension.

“I’m still mad at you,” Lyra lightly punched Talon in the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a human living in Canterlot?”

“Bout that,” Talon rubbed the back of her neck guiltily. “For a while, we were kinda supposed to be keeping the chimp a secret. Order from the Princesses. You understand, right?”

“Order from the Princesses?” Bonbon paled. “Is he a matter of national security or something? Did he escape? Is that why there’s a guard here, to take it back to its cage?” The earth pony clung to her unicorn’s arm frightfully, watching in terror as the human in question face palmed.

Protective instincts and training kicking in, Moonlight moved between the human and earth mare. “Sir Thomas is not some wild beast. He is a very kind and gentle young stallion and wouldn’t harm a fly. He is no threat to anypony and I think we would all appreciate if you refrained from referring to him as ‘it’.”

Bonbon gulped, realizing her faux pas, but still warily clung to Lyra. “Sorry.”

“It’s, um, alright,” Thomas managed to say. The mare’s nervousness wasn’t doing much to calm his own nerves.

Frowning, Bonbon looked up from Thomas to Moonlight. “Is he alright?”

“Sir Thomas has a very timid nature and doesn’t normally open up to strangers. He’s still adjusting to life in Equestria, but once he gets to know you he has plenty more to say,” Moonlight explained to Bonbon’s apparent satisfaction.

Thomas exhaled. It’s a little annoying that they’re talking around me instead of to me, but I guess I’m not exactly being all that inviting. Maybe they’re trying to be accommodating?

“Right,” Talon nodded. “Anyway, the Princesses, both of them, wanted to keep the chimps existence on the down low basically to avoid any incidents with crazy ponies pulling stupid stunts.”

“Hey!” Lyra whined.

“Oh shut up, Lyra,” Talon chided gently. “You know you earned it.”

“You kinda did,” Bonbon shrugged, eliciting a pout from her fillyfriend.

“Anyway,” Talon resumed again. “Word from up top is that the little guy’s being granted a bit more freedom to travel, but he still needs an escort for his protection. That brings us to smarty-corn here,” she gestured to the unicorn guard by Thomas’ side. “Moonlight Shield has been assigned as the chimp’s personal protector by none other than Princess Luna, and I think she’d be awfully grateful if you didn’t damage her…” Talon pondered then shrugged, “her Senior Concubine.”

Lyra and Bonbon snapped to attention as their pupil’s shrunk. “Her what?” they whispered.

Moonlight beamed angrily at the griffon. “Was it really necessary to tell them?”

“Necessary? No,” Talon admitted. “But Luna already admitted as much to the papers, so it’s not like we’re keeping it secret anymore.”

“They talked about humans in the papers!?” Lyra’s jaw practically fell to the ground. “Which paper?”

“The Canterlot Canter, I think,” Talon answered. “It was a while ago.”

Lyra’s face scrunched adorably in frustration. “I knew we should have subscribed to them. All the cool stuff happens in Canterlot.”

“I told you we’re on a budget,” Bonbon admonished gently. “You’re already subscribed to three of those silly conspiracy magazines.”

“Well not anymore,” Lyra shook her head. “If those idiots can’t even keep track of stuff in the mainstream news, they ain’t getting one more bit from me.”

“So…” Bonbon spoke up in an attempt to make small talk with the unusually quiet subject of her concern. “You’re Princess Celestia’s Senior Concubine?”

“Luna’s,” Thomas answered. He watched Bonbon’s eyes widened in brief surprise and figured the idea of any but Celestia having a harem, even her sister, was simply something the mare hadn’t bothered to consider until now.

“That’s so cool,” Lyra cheered, her perkiness returned with a vengeance as she bounced about, her fillyfriend struggling to hold on. “So Princess Luna must like humans as much as I do. That’s amazing!”

After a brief moment of staring at the way Lyra’s breasts and booty lifted into the air and jiggled when she came back down, Thomas averted his gaze with a blush. However, he managed to catch Moonlight’s ear flick and her nostrils flare as she stared down at him. He followed her gaze down to the tent in his shorts and tried to discretely adjust his shorts to hide his shame.

Talon watched the odd movement before she realized what was happening. “Sorry ladies,” she apologized to the fillyfriends before taking Thomas by the arm and leading him away. “We’ll be right back. I just remembered I needed to tell the chimp something really important.”

The mares looked on curiously, but neither understood what was happening.

“I thought the Princess’ spell was supposed to take care of this,” Moonlight bemoaned from the entrance to an alley way.

“It keeps his sweat under control, but that don’t do squat if he gets aroused the regular way,” Talon explained as she looked down at Thomas with mock condemnation. “Ya had to do it, didn’t chya. Ya had to go and stare at the bouncing titties until you got yourself all hot and bothered.”

“Not my fault,” Thomas snapped as he faced the wall to hide his embarrassment. “It’s an involuntary response.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that one before,” Talon exhaled sarcastically. “Anyway, we should take care of this,” she said as she leaned in and reached around to Thomas front.

“Hey,” Thomas slapped her claw away. “What are you doing?”

Talon frowned down at the human. “Don’t worry about it,” she flexed her claws. “These babies have handled the delicates of mares and stallions alike. I know how to be gentle,” she reached down again, only to be blocked a second time.

“We don’t need to do that,” Thomas insisted. “I can just… think about other stuff till I calm down."

“Every mare and stallion in town is gonna be able to smell your arousal,” Talon reminded. “Normally most ponies would just ignore it as part of everyday life, but you’ve got a really exotic smell. Luna cast that spell to keep your sweat in check, but I’m not sure if she remembered to account for this. Now she’s gonna have to modify the spell, then she’s gonna have to keep remembering to take it on and off whenever you’re not on duty… ugh.” her ponytail swayed as she shook her head and cracked a smile. “You really are a lot of trouble, you know that, right?”

Thomas, lowered his gaze and slumped against the wall. “I know.”

“Oh, hey now. Come on,” Talon grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t get all mopey on me again. I’m just giving ya a hard time. It’s not that bad, really. Come on. Talk to me, bud.”

Thomas looked past Talon towards Moonlight. “Was I really being confined to the castle?”

Moonlight’s stifled her concern as she stood at attention. “Precautions and protocols needed to be made while you stayed by the Princess’ side,” the unicorn guard explained with a mix of seriousness and sympathy. “Guards needed to be informed of your existence, including how you were important to the Princess and not a threat. It was for your own protection.”

Thomas glared at her, and then at Talon. “And neither of you told me?”

Neither griffon nor unicorn had an immediate response for that.

“Heh. Not even Luna told me I was under house arrest.”

“You shouldn’t think of it like that,” Moonlight stepped forward.

“Then how should I look at it?” Thomas snapped.

Moonlight stood fast, unfazed by his tone. “The Princess was acting in your best interests, keeping you by her side where you’d be safe,” she paused, seemingly fighting against the urge to stay quiet. “You always looked so happy when you were around her.”

Thomas gave a relenting sigh. “Yeah… I just wish someone would have told me.”

“You’re right,” Talon nodded. “I didn’t know that you didn’t know, but that’s no excuse. You should have been told and have every right to be upset. Friends shouldn’t keep secrets like that.” Cautiously she leaned in to get a better look of Thomas’ face. “You wanna head back to the castle?”

“No,” Thomas waved her away. “I’m fine. I’m good. This is just me being stupid. No need to cut our trip short just for-ow!” He flinched as Talon flicked the side of his head.

“Didn’t I just say to stop getting mopey?” Talon frowned. “Seriously, chimp. You need to learn to lighten up about stuff. Luna should have been more open with you and you’re right to be upset, but I’m sure she didn’t do it to hurt you. Plus you have to remember what she’s been going through for the last thousand years.”

Nightmare Moon. The name was still a taboo, even if Luna wasn’t around, but they still held their tongues out of respect.

“Now, I can’t say for certain,” Talon continued, “but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if being possessed for so long has left her a little bit rattled, even now. I don’t want to go assuming anything, but when you do confront her, as you should, I’d recommend doing so gently.”

Thomas felt a tightening in his chest. Could that really be true? Has Luna been suffering the lingering effects of Nightmare Moon and just not told anyone about it? Thomas grimaced at the thought of Luna, his mare, keeping something like that from him, only to reflect on his own hypocrisy on the matter. Relationships are hard sometimes.

“Also, even ignoring that, just because she’s a Princess, doesn’t mean she can’t get a little scatter-brained from time to time." Talon began snickering. “Oh the stories I could tell you about Leste.”

Eventually Thomas began laughing along with Talon, and even Moonlight gave a light chuckle. But even then Thomas held onto his worry for Luna.

“Better?” Talon asked.

“I guess,” Thomas looked down at his shorts as he moved away from the wall. “And I guess that problem took care of itself.”

“Maybe,” Talon nodded in disappointment. “But if this happens again, we really should do it my way. It’ll help keep ya calmer for the rest of the day.”

“I don’t think so,” Thomas dismissed. “Kissing mares is one thing, but I don’t think she’d like it if we did stuff like that.”

“It’s not like we’re sneaking around behind her back,” Talon shrugged. “She understands that you’re different from most stallions. So long as you tell her what we did and why, I know she won’t mind. Hay, I’ll even tell her with you if it makes ya feel better.”

Thomas nodded. “I appreciate the thought, but it still feels like cheating.”

“Besides, she doesn’t expect you to be exclusive. The Princesses want us to be happy, and if that involves other ponies, then all’s the merrier,” Talon trailed off. “I get that your culture was monogamist, so that’s causing a bit of an issue. I was in the same boat. However, as your friends, you need to feel free to open up to us so we can help you. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Thomas sighed and looked up at the imposing griffon. He’d felt a lot better since last night, but there was still some stupid block that kept him from telling her just how much he appreciated how much she was trying to help. Instead, he figured a light smack on the arm and a brief nod would be just as good. Judging by the way Talon started beaming happily, and even how Moonlight’s smile grew just a bit, he was probably right.

“Or, ya know, we could just let ya accidentally trigger every mare in town into an early heat and then watch as they run ya down,” Talon smirked sinisterly. “You ain’t that fast, but I can think of worse ways to go.”

Thomas shivered at the griffon’s description. In his mind’s eye he could see the stampede of pony shaped skittles coming right at him, giant breasts bouncing all over the place and eyes filled with mad lust like some lame harem fantasy. Then he remembered that, if such a thing were to happen, the mob would have stallions in their midst too. “I think I’ll just try to ask for help a bit more.”

“Good colt,” Talon messed his hair affectionately before turning to Moonlight with an evil grin. “This applies to you too, smarty-corn. It’s your job to protect him. If that means getting on your knees and learning the benefits of eating meat, I expect you to do your duty.”

The orange mare turned red apple red, unable to make intelligible sounds.

Thomas’ eyes shifted between the two before settling on Talon. “Are you being serious right now?” He asked, thinking Talon was only making one of her dirty jokes. Little did he know, ‘eating meat’ was actually a recognized element in pony courting rituals.

Talon gave the human a sly smile. “If you can’t tell by now, that just goes to show we’ve still got a long way to go.”

**********

Eventually the trio returned to the pair who were now sitting on a nearby bench.

“There you guys are,” Lyra waved them over. “Must have been a pretty intense talk.” She looked like she wanted to inquire further, but decided against it, “Anyway, ya gotta tell us, what’s Princess Luna like, ya know, in bed?”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss such matters with civilians,” Thomas answered confidently.

“What he said,” Talon snickered. “Rules haven’t changed just because it’s a new Princess.”

“Worth a shot,” Lyra shrugged. “Anyway, you guys want to get something to eat? Bonbon here,” she wrapped her arm around the other mare’s shoulder, “used to work over at Sugarcube Corner. In fact, if we head over there, I’m certain she’d be willing to whip something up to make up for the trouble we’ve caused you.”

“We?” Bonbon asked incredulously. “I’m pretty certain you’re the one who caused all the trouble here today.”

“Semantics,” Lyra waved dismissively. “We’re fillyfriends, practically herded if we could just find a stallion. That means we share everything, the good and the bad.”

Bonbon beamed at the smiling unicorn. “You’re lucky I love you, or else I would have strangled you in your sleep a long time ago. You know that, right?”

“It has been brought to my attention,” Lyra bobbed her head whimsically, finally forcing Bonbon to crack a smile.

“Ah, young love,” Talon sighed. “Now don’t you two go making the same mistakes I did. Be open with each other and never forget to make the other one feel loved.”

“No problems on this front,” Lyra affirmed, taking Bonbon’s hand in her own. “We tell each other everything.”

Bonbon snorted. “Yeah. I swear I can’t even get to sleep anymore unless this one starts yapping about her crazy theories for at least half an hour.”

“Happy to be of service,” Lyra joked to the amusement of the others. “Speaking of my theories,” she brightened up as she turned to Thomas. “I was hoping you might confirm a couple things.”

I was wondering when we’d get to this part. Thomas thought amusedly. “About humans? Sure. What’d you have in mind?”

“Well…” Lyra trailed off as she began thinking. Clearly she had so many questions that is was proving difficult to choose where to start. “What about magic machines and super iron?”

“Super iron?” Thomas perplexed.

“Yeah! Super iron,” Lyra cheered. “Legend has it that humans have a way to enchant machines to make them move all on their own and iron to make it super strong without the use of magic.”

“Lyra, that’s absurd,” Bonbon bemoaned. “Machines are like lab equipment, trains, or even refrigerators. All of which use talismans to function, which, need I remind the unicorns present, is a kind of magic. You can’t enchant something without magic.”

“Bonbon’s right,” Thomas admitted.

“See,” Bonbon bragged.

“It’s not enchantment, but we can make our machines move.” The human became aware of all eyes fixed firmly on him, giving him a sudden onset of self-consciousness. “Well, I don’t really know the mechanics of it all, but for things like trains we burn coal to power the engine.”

“But you just said you don’t use magic?” Bonbon countered. “Of course trains use coal, but how do you get the energy to the wheels without talismans?”

“That’s how your trains work?”

“Naturally,” Bonbon said a bit too proudly.

I guess that makes sense. This world uses magic to do roughly the same things humans do. That probably also explains why their stuff looks so similar to ours. “I’m not much of an engineer, so I can’t really say, but I think all the power from the heat goes to a mechanism which turns the wheels in just the train engine.”

“Mechanism?” Talon asked.

“I knew it!” Lyra exclaimed. “Humans do use machines to compensate for their lack of magic. What other kinds of things do you do? Like, how do you make your refrigerators work?”

And much of the remaining walk left both Thomas and Lyra disappointed in his lack of engineering knowledge.

Talon seems like a real attention hog. I mean, it’s part of her personality, but it’s getting to the point where she monopolizes all the attention, even from the main character. Though in his defense, he does get really shy around strangers. At least the griffon was willing to offer her services to help a friend in need, because how many of you have friends who are willing to help you rub one out at the drop of a hat? At least he was opening up more a bit at the end.

Bummer about Luna forgetting to tell him something so important, but more so at the implication of why. This part was altered considerably after the chapter was originally written, so I’m not certain how well it gels with the rest. In any case, as Thomas is learning to open up more, it seems like Luna could use some help herself.