This was easily the most bizarre writing session Thomas had ever been a part of. It wasn’t enough that he was half naked in a room with two large women, one of whom was fully naked. Oh no. His cock was firmly wedged between the griffon’s toned buttocks while she sat in his lap, trying not to move too much. Meanwhile his other female friend, dressed in loose clothing that still managed to show off her lovely figure, was doing her best to pretend this wasn’t the situation as she held the book out for Thomas to read. She had to hold it for him because Thomas, due to his being unable to fully pull himself up where he’d only get a face full of griffon wing, had to support himself on his hands. It was the Prench incident all over again.

“And, uh,” Thomas strained to find the right words. “You really need more white space here.”

“White space?” Moonlight asked, holding a pen at the ready.

“Yeah. That’s what you call the space between paragraphs. See, walls of text aren’t very pleasing to the eye. They’re a bit exhausting just to look at, let alone read. Like here,” he indicated the page in front of him. “This paragraph is way too big. You should include breaks here, here, and here,” he pointed at spots along the page.

“Hmm,” Moonlight hummed as she studied the spots Thomas had pointed to. “I think I see what you mean, but does it really matter that much? By this point ponies would already be reading for the story.”

“That’s exactly the p-point,” Thomas stuttered. Talon had just taken the opportunity to stretch and it caused her buttocks to shift around his dick, much to Moonlight’s annoyance. “Y-you want the reader to be engrossed in the story. But little mistakes like this take them out of the moment. They make the reader think about the mistake instead of what they’re reading. I know it might seem small, but stuff like this can add up over time.”

“I see,” Moonlight nodded as she made the appropriate marks. “Thank you.”

“Sheesh, chimp,” Talon bemoaned. “What crawled up your butt and died?” She let her words hang in the air as she turned to meet her friends with the sort of grin that can get someone punched in the face.

“Not funny,” Thomas deadpanned.

“Agreed,” Moonlight added, though she made a mental note to save the line and circumstances behind it for later. It was stupid, but the sort of stupid her readers might enjoy, just as soon as she got some readers.

Talon narrowed her eyes on Moonlight, giving her an accusing leer as though she could see what the unicorn was doing in her mind, but then turned back around to face away from them. She’d considered turning around fully in Thomas’ lap so that she could face them and be a bigger part of the discussion while his cock would still be hot dogging her ass. However, that would require far too much movement, far more than his now twitching cock could handle. She’d do it right next time, though. This was far too much fun for a onetime thing. Talon then realized that she’d been so wrapped up with her own thoughts that she’d tuned out the others.

“And then I was thinking to have the bandit leader make his reveal right around here,” Moonlight continued. “I wrote notes here for some things I want her to say and I wanted to get your opinion on…”

Realizing she could only be the third wheel among these nerds, Talon returned to the realm of her own thoughts. This position really was nice. It was arousing, especially when she considered how she was only a few inches away from full anal. Knowing that she had the human at her mercy and could have whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it was oddly relaxing, though empowering might have been a better word. She briefly considered what it would be like to try other activities like this. Remembering the Prench incident, Talon tickled herself with musings on whether Luna could actually focus better with Thomas beneath her, or if perhaps there was some way to rework this into a training exercise to help build focus. Either way, further experimentation was demanded.

“So I thought here would be a good place for Sure Prospects to meet Gold Star, the sheriff,” Moonlight explained. “Both mares meet at-”

“Ugh,” Thomas cut her off with an exasperated sigh.

“What?”

“Gold Star? Sheriff?” Thomas asked, but Moonlight’s puzzled look said that she wasn’t getting it. “Don’t you think that’s a little too, ya know, on the nose?”

“How so?” Moonlight asked with genuine curiosity.

Thomas considered trying to explain the issue, but then shook his head in defeat. There was no reason to believe this time would be any different from his last dozen efforts to point out just how suspicious it was for pony names to match their personalities and/or cutie marks so perfectly. “Never mind. So, you were saying where they meet?”

“It’s at the saloon,” Moonlight answered excitedly, oblivious to the human’s philosophical plight. “Gold Star’s usually a pretty tough mare, but when Sure Prospects trips and falls on her, she thinks she’s being nuzzled at first. They realize their mistake and apologize, but Gold Star really likes Sure Prospects’ scent and offers to buy her a drink. Things just kind of spiral from there, especially when they team up to fight the bandits to save Gold Rush.”

“Sounds familiar,” Talon said to no one in particular.

“How so?” Moonlight asked sincerely, apparently having succeeded in her effort to forget what the griffon had been doing. Although a quick glance down caused her ire to return as she grimaced and her ears splayed. She was not disgusted by any stretch, and the griffon’s backside was far from unappealing, but she wanted to keep herself from imagining what Talon must have been feeling. My own rump is a bit plumper than Tali’s. She thought proudly. Surely it would consume Thomas’ dick just as easily. Then again, I’ve yet to get a look at his human penis, so I can’t really say anything for certain. Then she recalled the conversation with her friends yesterday and considered the prospect that Thomas’ dick might be able to grow. Maybe Talon had managed to angle it somehow, that hard piece of stallion meat wedged between those soft… stop it! She scolded herself.

“That whole love at first sight thing,” Talon said as she waved her claw about as she carefully turned to face the others. “It’s in a lot of the books I read. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, especially with how many ponies say that’s exactly how their herds started, but personally I think it’s overused.”

Love at first sight is common for ponies? Thomas wondered, musing on how such things were considered unrealistic back home. Then again, I’m probably not in the best position to criticize. He then frowned upon realizing the horrible mistake he’d been making. He’d been so focused on ignoring exactly where his penis was, passing it off as something not unlike heated underwear that was also really soft, that he’d actually been ignoring Talon for the last few minutes. Damn it! We just went through that intimate moment, and then I go and ignore her. What the hell’s wrong with me? Thomas tried to reason with himself that Talon had been saying as much as she felt like saying, but couldn’t help but wonder if she had also been feeling left out. He got his answer when Talon lightly clenched around his member.

“Hmm,” Moonlight considered. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try standing out by doing something different. What did you have in mind?”

“Well…” Thomas let his gaze linger on Talon before continuing. “What if they don’t like each other right away? What if, when Sure Prospects trips, she spills something on Gold Star’s chest. She gets angry and then starts butting heads with Sure. I think it’d be neat to have two equally hard headed ponies have to begrudgingly work together for the sake of the common good, and then bond slowly along the way. What do you think, Tali?” he added at the last minute.

“Hmm. Seems fine to me,” Talon said as she carefully swung her leg across Thomas’ chest so she was now facing him. She tried to keep a neutral face, but it quickly fell apart at hearing Thomas groan in pleasured agony and she smirked.

Moonlight blinked as she considered what she’d just heard, the idea, not the sexy groaning. “You might be onto something there.” She pulled the book from Thomas and quickly began scribbling notes on a blank page. “I’ve seen that sort of thing has been done before, but it’s really rare. Given the circumstances, though, I think I might be able to rework it with a fresh spin,” she explained as she stared transfixed with her writing.

Thomas grinned as he imagined that this was how his own face looked when he was riding a creativity-high. However, that thought made him frown when he realized it had been ages since he’d had one of his own. All my old stories are back home, or rather my old house, and there’s no way I’d ever be able to remember them enough to recreate them. They’d probably be too dark for Equestrian audiences anyway. He smiled flatly. I miss my online readers.

“Something the matter, chimp?”

Thomas looked up to realize Talon had been staring at him, but for how long he couldn’t say. “Oh, nothing really. Just, um…”

“Nothing?” Talon asked incredulously. “'Cause ya kinda went soft on me,” she indicated her rear with her eyes.

“Oh,” Thomas blushed. The case against him had some pretty undeniable evidence. It only got worse when Moonlight added her own concerned glare to the mix. “Well, it’s just been a while since I was able to write any of my own ideas.”

“How long of a while?” Moonlight asked in concern, setting the book down on her lap.

“Pretty much since I got here,” Thomas admitted. “Pretty much there’s been something going on every minute of every day. I guess I’ve just been a bit too tired or too preoccupied to let the creative juices flow.”

“That’s buck brain for ya,” Talon shrugged. “Guess this,” she gestured down to her, “ain’t exactly helping much, huh?”

“Not with writing, no,” Thomas agreed with a nonchalant smile as he averted his gaze. “But I, uh,” he almost made some smart-ass comment about how she was helping other juices flow, but then he glanced over at Moonlight and thought better of it. Then he gasped as Talon slowly lifted herself up and let his cock slide out of her bottom cheeks where it flopped limply between his legs. He and Moonlight looked up at Talon in surprise, silently demanding she explain.

“Eh,” Talon shrugged. “It’s just not as fun if he ain’t hard,” she explained as she took a new seat just beside him, opposite Moonlight, while Thomas fumbled to pull his shorts back up. “How 'bout you, smarty-corn? You want a turn?”

“No thank you,” Moonlight said politely, trying to suppress her curiosity of finding out just what a human penis looked like, or even felt like. Then she noticed Talon looking just behind her and was horrified to find her tail reflexively jerking from side to side. With a little will power, she managed to stop it, but it was too late. Talon had seen it for sure, but she wasn’t the one the unicorn was worried about. She looked down at the human to find him, still propped up on his elbows, looking her in the eye. He didn’t notice! She cheered internally.

“Um,” Thomas began but stopped when he saw the worried look Moonlight gave him. Concluding he’d just seen something he shouldn’t, the human figured the safest thing to do would be to pretend nothing happened. “So!” he said a bit louder than intended as he pulled himself upright and, discretely as he could manage, tried to push his junk back into the loincloth. “We were talking about how Prospects meets, uh, who was the other one again?”

“G-Gold Star,” Moonlight answered as she slid off the bed and moved to where they’d left their tea. “B-but if you, maybe, want to talk about something else…”

“Ya wanna know what I want to talk about?” Talon asked as she faced away from them. “I’d like to talk about us doing something fun that we can all enjoy.”

“Something fun? Like wh-” Thomas began to ask, only for the answer to come of its own accord. Oh no. I was so focused on writing with Moonlight that I’ve practically been ignoring Tali this entire time. Damn it… again! Why do I keep doing that? “Tali!” Thomas bolted up, surprising Moonlight. “I’m so sorry.”

Talon frowned in concern. “Okay. What about?”

“This whole time,” Thomas gestured. “I’ve been ignoring you.”

“Ignoring me?” Talon inquired as she turned to Moonlight for answers. The unicorn merely shrugged. “You guys were just in the zone, like you always are when writing. Besides, you liked my ideas on the first sight thing, so it’s not like you were deliberately leaving me out. Plus you were nice enough to provide me some good front row seats.” Her brow rose suggestively.

“That’s no excuse.” Thomas said as he slid off the bed and stood before the much taller Talon. “You said this was supposed to be like a first date, and I shouldn’t have let myself get sidetracked. I’m sorry.”

Talon smirked and roughly ruffled his hair. “There ya go, chimp,” she said proudly. “Being considerate of your date’s feelings is a really attractive quality.”

“So… you’re not mad?” he asked hopefully.

“Considering I hadn’t even noticed until you pointed it out to me,” Talon said as she stroked her chin. “I’m a have to say yes. I am very mad.” She concluded with an unbefitting smile, leaving Thomas confused.

“What?”

“You heard me.” Talon folded her arms to show she meant business. “You have offended your lady, good sir. Honor demands atonement.”

“Atonement?” Thomas asked nervously, remembering the last time that word had been used. His anxiety only became worse when he saw the gleam in Talon’s eye. “L-like what?” Dumbass. Why would you ask that?

Talon bent over until she was nearly at eye level with the human. “Moonlight.”

Moonlight straightened up as she came back to reality. With considerable embarrassment, Moonlight crawled off the bed and stood behind Thomas. “Y-yes?”

“Ya wanna know a secret?” Talon asked, never taking her accusing eyes off Thomas. “Chimp here has been keeping a secret from us.”

“A s-secret?” Thomas stuttered nervously. How’d she figure out I’m from another world?

“Oh yes,” Talon nodded. “A most shameful secret indeed.” She straightened up and stood back to her full height before facing Moonlight. “You see, Smarty, Thomas here…”

She said my name! Oh crap. This can’t be good.

“… has failed to tell us…”

Please don’t be mad. Please don’t be mad. Please don’t be mad. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you guys about the other world thing, but Luna said… Oh crap. Please don’t be mad.

“… that he’s a decent story teller.”

Please don’t be… wait… “What?”

“Stories?” Moonlight queried.

“Yeah,” Talon beamed. “Moonbutt told me about it the other day. Apparently what humans lack in magic they make up for with imagination. The way she went on about it, it sounds like his people have more stories than there are books in all of Equestria.” She glanced down at Thomas. “She went on to say that, if he were a pony, his cutie mark would involve the telling of stories.”

“He’s that good?” Moonlight asked in awe.

Feeling the blush from Talon’s remark, Thomas also recognized the familiar weight of female stares descend upon him. Moonlight especially was looking at him expectantly. Talon’s hype was inescapable, as was the grip of the claw she set on his shoulder.

“Exactly how long were you planning to keep this from us, little buddy?” Talon asked with a threatening smile.

“I… that is to say…” Thomas fidgeted. His toes had become very cold.

“She raises a fair question.” Moonlight added as she stepped closer until they felt each other’s body heat. “I’d have liked to hear your stories.”

He dared to look back, but his heart sunk when Moonlight looked down upon him with disappointed eyes.

“This is your atonement, chimp.” Talon said firmly. “For the remainder of the evening, you’re going to be telling us stories from the human country.”

Just stories? That’s not so bad. Thomas smirked. Bet these guys’d get as much of a kick out of classic Disney, or anything of the other stories, as Luna did. Shaking his head in defeat, Thomas stepped away from the females until he was a fair distance in the middle of the room before turning back and bowing gracefully. “And what manner of stories would the fair ladies ask of me?”

“Got anything raunchy?” Talon asked immediately.

Moonlight rolled her eyes. “What about a romance story? Everypony likes those.”

“Buck that. I want something funny, maybe a little exciting while we’re at it.”

“You already had your fun with sitting on him like that.” Moonlight said indignantly. “Now it’s my turn.”

“You might have a point,” Talon nodded. “Except that he just admitted he was ignoring me that whole time to work on your book, so that makes my turn.”

The pair looked like they were about to come to blows. Thomas knew he had to do something quickly. “What if I picked one of my favorites?” He offered. “Something I grew up with and loved ever since.”

The females glanced from him to each other before agreeing that would be best as they sat beside each other on the bed. Alright then. Just gotta be a bit careful about talking about my earth, so nothing with much geography. “Let’s see here,” Thomas considered out loud. No geography, so that rules out American Tail; Indiana Jones would probably be too familiar; definitely nothing with too much special effects. Thomas continued thinking until he recalled his audience’s demands. Funny, romantic, but also some action. “I’ve got it!”

“Well it better not be contagious.” Talon retorted curtly.

“Don’t worry, Tali,” Thomas assured. “We’ve been sharing a bed, so you’ve probably got it already.”

Talon glared at Thomas before rapidly turning her head to face a snickering Moonlight. “Don’t. Say. One. Word.” She threatened.

Moonlight knew she should heed the threat, but simply couldn’t help herself. “I hope there’s a balm for tha-YOW!” She howled as Talon grabbed her breast through the shirt and squeezed.

“Hey! Hey!” Thomas moved to step between them. “No need for that.” But Talon had already released her grip, leaving Moonlight to massage her sore boob. “You alright, Moonlight?” He asked with concern.

“I… yeah,” Moonlight sighed. “I was just surprised. It didn’t really hurt.”

“Of course it didn’t.” Talon folded her arms smugly. “I’m a griffon who knows how to handle breasts. Now, before we get any more off track, how about you start the story and appease your mistress.”

Thomas exaggeratedly turned his head to survey the room. “But Luna isn’t back yet.” He smirked.

“You want me to sit on you again?” Talon threatened. “Cause I’ll do it. And I’ll make Smarty watch too.”

Deciding against reminding the griffon that Moonlight watched the first time, he decided they might as well begin. “Very well.” He took a step backwards and bowed elaborately. “Ladies and the one to the left.” He announced, gesturing to Talon. “Thomas productions is proud to be here tonight, to present to LIVE! The story,” he paused for dramatic effect, “of Robin Hood.”

While initially worried he might not remember all the necessary details, those worries quickly washed away as he began the opening narration from the rooster word for word, followed by the song from Disney’s Robin Hood. At first he felt a little self-conscious about singing in front of others, but that also passed as he got into the details of Robin Hood being a fox and Little John a large bear. Naturally he adjusted his voice between characters.

It wasn’t long before Talon and Moonlight fell under the spell of the narrative woven for them. Talon was mostly enjoying the story for its own sake, while Moonlight paid attention to the way the world was laid out with the presentation of the corrupt prince seeking to bleed his people dry, the thieves strangely holding the position of protagonists, the setting in a place called Nottingham, and how all the characters were anthropomorphic animals. There were several times the mare had to stop herself from interrupting with questions, but decided she’d politely hold her tongue in the hopes they’d be answered later.

Talon had no such reservations. “So are Prince John and Hiss married? Cause Hiss sounds like a stereotypical nagging husband.”

“I think it was intended that they seem like a married couple, but aren’t actually married.” Thomas tried to explain, not wanting to get into the history of homosexual presentation in the media. “You can think they are if it helps, though.”

“And what’s with every character being a different animal?”

“I think it’s how we, that is humans, tend to attribute certain qualities to animals.” Thomas explained. “So using animals actually helps establish the characters really early. For example: Foxes are sneaky, so it makes sense for the thief to be a fox. However, we tend to think of lions as more regal, so Prince John being a lion acknowledges the trope but also counters it. See?”

Moonlight nodded repeatedly, anxiously drinking in his knowledge of literary techniques. Talon seemed satisfied and Thomas resumed.

Next came the introduction of the Sheriff and Friar Tuck. Thomas made a show of swinging his arms out as he walked like the Sheriff, followed by pretending to peek around a corner to spy on the Friar. Thomas smiled as he watched Talon sneer as he pantomimed the Sheriff steal the coins from the crippled blacksmith. Mumbling what he assumed were assorted curses, both she and Moonlight looked ready to jump up when he took the coin from young Skippy and the blind beggar. Thomas had to talk them down before revealing that the beggar was actually Robin Hood who gave Skippy a small bow and arrow, as well as a few coins to the mother.

“The hero’s a thief and the villain’s a corrupt royal.” Moonlight said in awe. “Where’d you come up with an idea like that?”

“I didn’t. I’m just telling a retelling of a classic story of one of our myths.” Thomas admitted as he considered the reason for her surprise. “Is it really that surprising to have a royal as the bad guy?”

“Princesses have been ruling Equestria for a few thousand years,” Talon answered.

“Ah,” Thomas nodded understandingly. “The benevolent rule of alicorns has pretty much erased the idea of evil royalty from the public conscious, huh?”

“We still have bad leaders now and then, but not from the royal family,” Moonlight explained. “I mean, Blueblood’s pretty bad, but I don’t think even he’d ever go this far.”

“Here’s hoping,” Talon sighed.

The story continued with Skippy and his friends practicing with the bow, only to encounter Maid Marian and her hand-maid Clucky. Thomas had always enjoyed sharing videos with friends and family and watching their expressions. Seeing Talon and Moonlight from this perspective as Skippy did battle with Clucky, take Maid Marian into the hedges, and then be mercifully laughed at by his friends after being kissed, was incredibly satisfying.

Thomas continued with Robin Hood planning to enter the archery tournament. Moonlight’s eyes widened with eagerness just as he described Robin’s doing the same at the mention of Maid Marian. The trap was revealed as Prince John and Hiss conversed, but the audience was put at ease when he described Little John coming up in a disguise and befriending the Prince. Moonlight’s tail was wagging when Marian realized the stork was actually Robin in disguise. The tournament went on and Thomas delighted in the way both females straightened up when the Prince took interest in the disguised Robin’s performance. And when Robin was revealed and taken prisoner, the pair looked ready to jump out of their seats in protest. Thomas couldn’t help but take further satisfaction as he cruelly made drumming noises as he described the approach of the executioner.

As he mused over the females’ extreme reactions, that’s when the unpleasant thoughts came and suggested to him that his friends were putting on a show just like him, pretending to be interested. No. He denied weakly. They wouldn’t do that. They wouldn’t pretend to be interested just to pity me, would they?

“Swear to Faust, chimp.” Talon said threateningly. “If you end it here, I’m not gonna be held responsible for what Smarty does to ya.”

Surprised by her choice of words, Thomas looked over to Moonlight who was breathing very heavily as she glared menacingly back at him. Convinced that such acting was probably beyond them, Thomas resumed his telling with a renewed vigor as he described Little John threatening the Prince. Moonlight cheered when Robin and Marian embraced. Talon cheered when Little John gave the Sheriff a solid uppercut. And both were on the edge of their seats as all hell broke loose in the tournament. It was a chore to keep from smiling as Thomas animatedly described the fight. The comparison to hoof-ball with Clucky’s last charge was not lost on the listeners.

When it was over, Thomas set his hands above his knees and panted heavily. He’d let himself get carried away and his audience was vocally appreciative. As Moonlight volunteered to fetch his drink from earlier, she couldn’t help but dissect the story thus far. All the main characters are male. She realized. Maid Marian and Clucky are the love interest and side characters. Other than that last hurrah from Clucky and the one pie from Marian, the most proactive characters are all guys. Moonlight handed Thomas his drink as her mind raced to come to grips with this excitingly original idea. Mares are normally the more proactive ones. That’s just how ponies are. But if things are reversed with humans... Oh, I am so going to use this.

Talon had also noticed the reversal of what she’d come to accept as the norm for pony stories. However, as a griffon, her kind had always been a bit more egalitarian, thus the sex of the proactive characters wasn’t as big a deal for her. The story was still good, and Thomas was taking far too long to recuperate as far as she was concerned, but proactive males and passive females was around the bottom of her list of priorities right now.

Properly hydrated, Thomas picked up with Robin and Marian in the woods, singing the lovey-dovey song as the lovers stared into each other’s eyes. Then came the celebration, though Thomas made sure to be more mindful of his movements this time. Back at the castle, when Prince John learned of what the villagers were singing from the Sheriff, all good feelings left the audience as Thomas mournfully sang and described the plight of the people. And when the Sheriff took the last coin from the Friar, Thomas was thoroughly surprised when his audience joined him in yelling “Get outa my/his church!” The tense moment meant to be conveyed was broken when everyone realized they’d spoken at once and descended into low laughter.

With Friar Tuck arrested, Thomas resumed taking satisfaction from the sour looks of his audience as he described the fuming Prince John come up with his latest scheme to trap Robin. Then Robin, once more donning his beggar’s disguise, conned the Sheriff out of revealing the plan. Both females nodded approvingly when Robin, after understanding this was definitely a trap, said they had no choice but to act. Hero’s gotta be heroic, after all.

The females were on the edge of their seats as Thomas described the infiltration, whispering through much of it to add to the tension of the moment. Donning a new disguise, Robin successfully snuck Little John into the prison where he found Friar Tuck and all the other imprisoned citizens of Nottingham. At the same time, Robin scaled the tower to Prince John’s room. There he found all the peoples’ stolen taxes and, using roped arrows, created a delivery line between the two towers. Thomas smiled when his audience jumped as he rose his voice for Friar Tuck’s celebratory declaration. However, just as it looked like they were going to get away scot-free, Hiss woke up and all hell broke loose, again.

Not skipping on the sound effects and background music, Thomas told the tale of one of Disney’s great action scenes. Slapstick ensured as confused guards attacked the sniveling Prince and drove him through the walls. Arrows fell like rain. The people did what they could to evade, but they could do little else but run, leaving it up to the heroes to hold off the attack. But then the little girl got left behind, “because of course she did”, and Robin had to go back for her. Robin managed to save the girl, but was trapped behind the gate with no weapons, no disguises, and no backup. Thomas spared no detail in describing Robin Hood’s terror as he ran for his life. When the fire started the human was fairly certain his audience had moved past the edge of their seats, leaning so far forward that a slight breeze might knock them over. Having cornered himself in the tallest tower, Robin had no choice but to jump into the moat, only for Prince John to order one last barrage of arrows.

Instead of going with the ending he grew up with, Thomas decided his audience was mature enough for the deleted alternate ending. Little John pulled an injured Robin from the water, but Prince John’s forces were in hot pursuit. Both females had balled their respective hands and claws into fists as Thomas described Hiss and a cloak-wearing Prince John stumble onto the trail that had eluded his guards. The Prince and snake tracked them down to the church, where Little John had left his friend in the hands of Maid Marian. Although he’d only seen the story boards for this scene, Thomas let his imagination be carried by the momentum he’d built thus far and built the tension of Prince John slowly and menacingly approach his intended victim. As Thomas made the gesture of pulling out the imaginary knife, wearing a maniacal grin as he readied to deliver the killing blow… “King Richard!” The rightful King put the corrupt Prince in his place, as was only natural. Robin Hood and Maid Marian were married, Little John was made a Duke, and they all lived happily ever after. The End.

And with that, Thomas’ audience fell back into their seats, releasing the breaths they’d been holding since the fire started. Their emotional exhaustion seemed to match his physical exhaustion as all three panted heavily. Once more reassured that they weren’t merely putting on a show for his benefit, Thomas asked “So. Was it good for you?”

The females exchanged questioning looks before returning their focus to the man who had given them such an exciting ride.

“That was amazing. I’m up for another round if you are.” Moonlight announced giddily. “The sounds you made. They were just so… I don’t even have the words.”

“Not me.” Talon heaved. “Just… just give me a few minutes to recover. Ya worked me over pretty rough a few times back there. I’ll be ready in a bit.”

Thomas glared suspiciously at his listeners. Their choice of words seemed very peculiar. “Are you doing that on purpose?”

“Doing what on purpose?” Talon asked innocently.

“Never mind.” Thomas shook his head. “Let’s see here.” He folded his arms in contemplation. Before he could begin thinking of the next ‘round’, his stomach announced its discontent. “How about we call an intermission and have something to eat.”

“Music to my ears.” Talon said, lazily waving her hand to the spot on the wall with the bells.

Taking the cue, Moonlight stood and went over to the bells and pulled the one marked for meals. “What would you two like to order?”

They didn’t have long to consider before a knock came to the door. Moonlight casually walked over and welcomed in a maid. The maid smiled graciously and asked for their orders, which Talon answered as three spaghettis and a jug of water… for her. The others said what they wanted and the mare bowed and took her leave.

Well that was fun. This chapter was actually meant to lead into another thing, but I decided it would be best for the story if I moved that part to later. Instead, we have Thomas sharing his story telling abilities, much to the delight of his friends. I’ve actually had a bit of practice with these retellings. This doesn’t have nearly as much detail as my other attempts, but I think it works well enough here.