Chapter 0: Making the prison.

Equestria, a land for everyone, or everypony as it were. A land of friendship, love and generally so many rainbows and sugar induced comas that you would probably think this is some kind of fantasy world created by a drug induced high.

Was it weird that Celestia was being so cynical today? Most would consider it out of character for her, but there was nothing to be happy today of all days, in fact there had been no real happiness for how long? A year now? Oh it wasn't because of the fiends or other disasters, it was something else entirely.

Something worse than the worst monster.

What had happened around a year ago? Why! Let me tell you, because at the time Celestia didn't think it was so important. Oh, certainly, she loved to hear of such things, more so when Twilight decided to inform her for some reason, and she enjoyed how cutesy she had made it sound. But a year after the fact it had been brought to her attention that the one event that she had almost overlooked with little more than happiness and a nod, was more important than she thought.

One year ago the Cakes had their foals. They had been the last foals to be born in the land of Equestria.

True that some foals had been born close to them as far as time goes, but unless there had been a mistake, no more foals had been born, and even if there had been a mistake, well, the problem is that from this year forward there would be no more births anyway. In fact, after so long, it was literally impossible for a new foal to be born because ponies had been basically cursed.

Genetic, magical or poison of some kind, Celestia didn't know. She did know that Carrot Cake and Cup Cake had been the last lucky pair, and during this last year, excluding some hectic times, most of Celestia's free time had been dedicated to research.

Why? How? When? The three key questions everypony seems to ask every time something breaks for whatever reason. To utter them under this kind of duress helped little more than fanning a burning fire, trying to douse it. The questions brought more questions, the apparent answers garnered frustrations, and revelations gleamed even more problems.

She would never say this in front of her subjects, after all, at worst, she would use the friendly version that even her student dared to use when she was really mad.

But seriously, for all her niceties and neutrality in the face of adversity, Celestia just wanted to say.

"Fuck."

Then she giggled, placed a hoof over her mouth and looked around to ensure nopony had heard her. Exploring the one solution given to her had made sure to grant Celestia a lot of new vocabulary and many other things that no pony should absorb this fast. She was sure that Twilight would faint if she was presented with half the things Celestia had seen just by inspecting a magic mirror made out of water.

Speaking of magic mirrors, Sunset Shimmer was still pouting somewhere after Celestia had accidentally destroyed the one she was tasked to guard. At least she was happy being the new captain of the guard if nothing else.

"Sister! Good news!"

Asking for Luna to visit was almost like asking for Pinkie Pie to stay calm. It was both improbable in the sense that it would happen, only to end in a way that no one expected.

Celestia turned, faced her sister with a smile and offered her a place to sit in front of her table. Her room was neatly kept, though no one would be able to notice that she had, in fact, made sure that it was clean not long ago. It had been an utter mess less than an hour before, much like Celestia herself, but things had luckily changed for the better once the first bit of good news that had to do with the actual problem came through.

Luna didn't notice or didn't care. Much like she had been for a while now, Luna was actually very chipper and open with those that had befriended her, though she still used the royal We when somepony she disliked tried to talk with her, or when she was nervous. Between games, comics and other entertainment that she used to fill her hours in the land of the awake, as she was still not as sought as Celestia, but she was in fact seen by many more ponies than Luna ever thought possible, the nightly diarch was hardly in any kind of negative mood at all.

Except when she was asked to do some royal duty that didn't involve any kind of excitement, yelling or eating contest. She disliked boring speeches, hearing the stuck up ponies out or similar things. Celestia always thought, and she was proven right, that her sister was going to be forever a foal at heart.

"And what are those good news you speak of, my dear Luna?" And as such, Celestia was to be the responsible elder sister.

"I finally found my offspring!"

Luckily, for Luna that is, she wasn't drinking tea at the moment.

"I see..." Celestia placed her hooves together "Would you mind enlightening me about... your offspring?"

Luna snorted in a very unladylike manner "I mean my descendants, much like that eyesore Blueblood is to you."

"Oh" The white alicorn did her best to hide the fact that she wanted to wipe the sweat from her brow "Wait..." Until the gears clicked that is.

"What? You are not the only one that could have flings and hide it with magic, sister." For a moment Luna thought that her sister's ears were spouting smoke "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"But... you said you felt neglected and..."

Luna shrugged "Thestrals always revered me, dear sister, and back then I did have many knights close to me... some closer than others."

Celestia did her best to bleach that knowledge clean from her brain "I understand." Nodding and smiling always worked in these situations "You will have to get us together, dear sister. I would like to know my extended family as soon as possible" And, luckily for her, Luna smiled in return "But I did call you here for something serious, something that cannot wait."

"What is it, sister?" Luna wished for some pastries to be present, Celestia always had the most sweets in one place, but today the room was devoid of them. Many joked about it, but they didn't know how much energy it took to move the sun or moon "You were a bit... nervous after you meet with Twilight and the yak representatives, but..."

"Our race is dead."

Luna shut her mouth.

"Sorry sister, but there is no easy way to put it, and while there is a solution for the problem at hoof, it requires magic that only the leader of the alicorns can use, and since there is no single leader in modern times..." Celestia trailed with a hoof "I required your undivided attention for this, as abrupt as I made it happen."

Luna bit her cheek, hoping for it to go unnoticed "Explain."

"Of course." Celestia nodded, sighing as she prepared for the lecture "Do you remember the last time you heard a birth took place?" Of course she did not, so Luna shook her head "It was almost a year ago" And her eyes widened when Celestia shared the knowledge "With nearly eleven months between conception and birth, it is understandable that, even with our large population, some days are devoid of births at all. Almost twelve months? Preposterous and impossible, all in one."

"At the time I didn't notice it, in fact it was simply the last birth that day. There were others foals that were born then, so it was a normal day like any other." Celestia did her best to shrug as if it was not important, but it obviously was "This was not brought to my attention until Cadance said that Shining Armor was sterile."

"Pardon me?" Luna was unable to contain herself "Shining Armor? Sterile? One of the few unicorns that could shut that annoyance of a royal we have as part of our family in every sense of the word? Better magic, better genetics, better charisma... The only thing Shining Armor lacked was a tie to royalty, and he ended in a better position than Blueblood!" The dark blue alicorn was trying her best not to giggle, then got serious "How can Shining Armor suddenly turn sterile? We were both sure that Cadance would be with foal within days."

The daily diarch chuckled "If I remembered correctly, my bet had her pregnant BEFORE the wedding, and since we know that Chrysalis didn't get Cadance until a few days prior to the ceremony, it should've been more than possible." Her smirk turned into a frown as quickly as the smile had appeared "Cadance made her crystal ponies run some tests. She even made them compare it with most the royal guard in hopes that somepony was sabotaging things somehow, or to see if it was a changeling drone and Chrysalis had attempted something once again. She was truly desperate when she told me."

"Wouldn't you?" The question from Luna was beyond rhetorical. In any case, it was also true; Celestia would've been worried in Cadance's horseshoes.

Still, Celestia just nodded "The investigation showed something, alright: Every male was sterile" Luna looked ready to swallow her moon, stars included if she opened it a bit more "I asked her to run test on every crystal pony and any normal pony of any tribe that had moved to the Crystal Empire. Every male was the same, and quite a few females too." Celestia shook her head "Any hermaphrodite within the mix was also a negative, and the few non ponies that were with ponies also came as blank."

"Even... even mixed pairs?" Luna's mouth was having difficulty closing.

"Yes, a diamond dog with a mare" Celestia gave a light chuckle "Personally I think it is weird how most of the smarter diamond dogs tend to come to live within Equestria quite happily, but this is no time to speak on the marvels of crossbreeding." She turned her neutral face back on "I asked almost every city to run tests and to keep it hush, hush. Usually we tell the public everything but..." She bit her lip for a moment before she dropped the bomb "There is no fertile male in all of Equestria. Even semen sent from different countries dies when it is applied to a mare. There is no actual explanation for this."

Celestia got up and started pacing around. This was done more out of nervousness than anything else. She was hardly at a lost with anything, but while magical creatures had long lifespan, ponies were also adventurous. A long life was possible, cutting it short was equally plausible.

"I have gone through every book in our possession, as has Twilight and most of our top researchers." Celestia took some air, either for a dramatic pause or knowing that her sister could explode when she explained "And I mean EVERY book." Luna almost murdered her with her gaze "Yes, even the forbidden tomes don't tell specifics. It could have been a curse, poison, degenerating disease, ANYTHING." The white alicorn finally sat on her hunches, feeling defeated "The only thing that seems to be obvious is that only those interested in mares, or semen that is to be applied to mares, ends unable to reproduce. How has this been proven? There are a few stallions with other species that have managed to have kids during the last year, but they are no citizens of Equestria."

Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof, thinking for a moment. The good news today didn't outweigh the bad, at all, but still... "If it is a magical problem in any sense, then there isn't much we can do. This world would die without magic, we would die without magic. Nothing can live without it, and forcing it to change usually spells doom."

"That is true, and it is also why we have a new captain of the guard."

"Sunset? Why is she a captain because of this?" Luna had perked up instantly. Sunset was a bit of an egomaniac, like Rainbow Dash. It wasn't surprising that the two had caused enough ruckus when they were together to be categorized as a national security risk "And why did you make her captain, period?"

"Because she was tasked with protecting a very special mirror, one that I had once thought of sending to the Crystal Empire for safe keeping since it was rumored by an old friend of ours to be a door to a non magical world." Luna's eyes widened as she easily guessed who that old friend was "Starswirl found it and studied it for a long time. He ran some tests that, supposedly, showed him a world devoid of magic, at least devoid of magic to the level of Equis, leaving just the bare minimum to survive and maybe cast some spells if the average unicorn recharged for a few days and absorbed enough ambient magic."

Luna tapped her hooves together for a moment, then looked up at her sister "Didn't you say the mirror was broken not too long ago?"

"That is why Sunset was reassigned, yes." Celestia nodded "We both have the power of the celestial bodies." And calling them that was what gave Celestia quite a bit of ego back in the day "We are very powerful, but unlike Twilight, whom has a very practical use for magic that translates to her overall greater power, or Starswirl the Bearded, whose special talent was any and all kinds of magic unlike us, we aren't fit to use certain spells."

Her sister's eye twitched.

"You broke it." She half whispered half shouted "You foal! You broke the one thing you say could save our flanks!"

Celestia rubbed one hoof in circles around the ground "It was an honest mistake."

"Uuuuugggggh! Celestia!" The shout was almost yelled with the royal Canterlot voice "You have cake for brains!"

"At least I don't go around placing Tiberius in key spots to scare the manure out of royal visitors." Celestia poked her tongue out "Besides, it was a calculated risk."

"Calculated?" Luna had calmed down the bare minimum, just enough to not yell "How can a 'minimal' risk translate to 'solution is broken, please, call the repaircolt'?"

Celestia chuckled at that reference "I tested how possible it was to cross, and it was indeed possible to do so." She explained, calming her sister slightly "In fact I made sure to copy the location with the seeker stone I used." With a flash of light, Celestia brought a perfectly oval stone with small glowing runes carved on its surface "Artifacts aren't my thing, but the scientists onboard thought it much safer than just traveling. I have to agree after the fact... there was no way back otherwise."

Luna gasped "That is how you broke it! You... you tried to get back the stone and it shattered the enchantment."

"But it came back." Celestia smiled "However, after some studies, we noticed that it came back after a whole month on the other side. Its magic was almost depleted." Luna's eyes widened once more. Time displacement? Only a month was nothing worth mentioning, but it was a new world... a possibly dangerous one "Luckily the stone wasn't even touched, except for some animal remains." Celestia frowned "After some studies done to THOSE, analysis that I don't want to talk about, it was theorized that the animals on the other side lack much intellect, if they have anything above instincts. Then again, they could only identify a few species, but when we compare them to our own..."

"Very few animals lack some form of sapience." Luna hummed "Chickens, some fish, a few species of pig and the most feral monsters, such as most species and subspecies related to the Timberwolves."

"Exactly." Celestia nodded at her sister's assumption "Lack of magic probably means no sapient or truly sentient species, except maybe one, and they could be either savage or very developed. However, without any kind of magic their development would be technological, if we are right with our hypothesis." And what she had seen.

Luna pursed her lips "Technology without magic just generates pollution and refuse that is harmful to a world."

"I know that, but it is not the only possibility." Though Celestia knew perfectly well that it could be a very likely one "However, it is one realm we need to investigate."

Luna nodded. She wasn't happy, but she knew if this was just magical in origin, then it was part of magic's nature. Not even the elements would work if this was part of the essence of the world. Celestia hadn't mentioned it, but both of them knew that with the usage of the elements, quite a few times in fact, the balance had been tipped. Was this the way that harmony had to balance things out? That, sadly, was Celestia's fear, and even Twilight had to admit the idea had merit, but it was just another theory.

Then again, if it was the truth, balance could be achieved, but it required sacrifice. Not in the literal sense, mind you, but it required for things to change once more so magic would have a new variable to take into account. The idea? Traveling to that world, of course. If a mare became pregnant without the aid of magic, then it could start tipping the balance back on track.

Of course, even if it worked, there was a problem.

"The problem with this is that we need incredible power to send somepony alongside a Seeker Stone." Celestia knew her sister knew, but this had to be said, otherwise either one of them could go into denial "Using them for long range teleportation is already extremely taxing, and painful, so you know why they are used as nothing more than guides." Luna grimaced at the memory. Who knew that an alicorn could be depleted so painfully when using those things? Well, thanks to the princess of the night everypony knew "Twilight and Cadance gave me a link to their magic pool, but if we are to do this, I need your consent."

"Tia..."

Celestia knew why Luna had gulped and turned pale "Sister, if we force a rift between worlds, our immortality will be no more. We will still have around two hundred years, maybe two hundred fifty, I don't remember when we ascended anymore." She chuckled without much mirth "But we will age..."

"Tia, I... am scared of that." Luna looked away "Couldn't Discord...?"

"Discord disappeared after the test." Celestia's mood turned sour "He said something about imminent chaos that he could not partake in, and another place needing him more than us." She sighed as she looked outside her balcony. Sometimes she wanted to be as free as that damn mad god "Either way, it would've been unfair to ask him to do this."

"Possibly, yes" Luna could be quite emotional, more so than her sister, but she knew that forcing others against their will was indeed something she should not do, not anymore "But... I am scared... I can't help it, Tia, it could go wrong in so many ways..."

"I know that too, my dear sister" Celestia approached her little sister, sitting beside her, giving her a gentle hug "If you accept we will tackle this together. But think on the positive side of things." She offered her sister a smile "We would be freeing Twilight and Cadance from a life of immortality and all the pain it entails, as well as thousands of years doing the same thing, it can turn quite dull" The white alicorn's attempt at a joke did at least get a chuckle "And who knows... we could get lucky."

Luna looked at her sister, tilting her head "Lucky?"

"This kind of spell is very ancient, sister, and it had to be modified. Twilight assured me that, if it goes as she and the researchers designed it, the seeker stones we have in storage will seek mares willing to have or expand their family." Luna's lips formed a little 'o' shape "Married couples, herds, lonely mares... If they want a family they could be selected. I know some ponies wouldn't be happy. Imagine if Shining Armor found out that Cadance was sent to another world to be impregnated!" Celestia giggled at the thought. Shining was so cute when he looked at other mares and got scolded, mostly because he was a very envious stallion "But I am sure all of them could work it out."

"But sister." Luna shook her head. Celestia looked pure and innocent, but she was quite the naughty mare. She had, after all, a thousand of years of solitude to make up for "These spells usually have a price, and I do not mean only for the casters. They are very powerful, very unstable... And we would be sending ponies to a world without magic! The shock could do many things to whatever is on the other side."

Celestia grimaced at the thought, remembering the warning "Yes, yes I know. Twilight said that the seeker stones would probably latch to a possible candidate for the mare, or mares, in question. They would fixate on the creature's signature and keep it safe, but if there was anypony else there..." She bit her lip "The magic could change them to be ponies though, a solution to more than possible magical poisoning."

Luna gasped at the thought. Transformation? It could do more than just harm those it was used on.

"Sister!"

"I know, I know, and I do not like it one bit." Celestia sighed "I managed to gleam a lot from the seeker stone, sister, I had seen what is on the other side thanks to a scrying pool. The world IS technological, and there IS a singular sapient species." She avoided her sister's accusatory glance "But there is no way to force harmony to balance itself. It is either extreme measures, or our species will not live more than a few hundred years."

"So you would willingly risk others?" It was not a fair question, not when a whole species was in danger while only a few individuals could be harmed, if harmony decided that only a few were needed to tip the balance.

"It is either hope for the most plausible solution, a solution that requires going around harmony to try and make it balance itself by causing some harm, or hope for a miracle to make the balance to tip in our favor at some point in the next two to three hundred years." Celestia's smile was grim "I do not fancy being the last one of our kind alongside you, Cadance and Twilight. It would be a very miserable existence if we wait and things don't change. And considering that this is most probably magically induced, then trying to fix it with magic directly would most certainly make it worse."

"I do share your sentiment on that point: Failing would grant us a solitude worse than the moon." Luna scowled at the thought "And if this is of magic origin, of harmonic magic to be precise, then trying to fix it with magic would just make something else turn sour, like a sickness or something." Luna shook her head "This sounds bad no matter how we tackle it."

"But remaining inactive would only burn time, Luna, time that we have, but we have it NOW." Celestia looked sternly at her sister "Harmony may allow us to be able to have children almost at any age, but what kind of mother would like the idea of having one if they are old enough to just give birth before passing? That is if we don't count the fact that our species tends to be more adventurous that most ponies give themselves credit for. We could end losing most just because they decide to play sports." She snorted, thinking about Rainbow Dash of all mares "I know I am looking at it grimly, but I have been bearing this burden for quite some time now." Celestia rested her head against her sister "I am slightly burned down, sister. I would prefer to know if we are going along with this or if we will sit and look pretty until it blows over... if it ever does."

"Let's do it."

Celestia suddenly found herself flopped on the floor while Luna got up, a face of determination on her, so sure of her path all of sudden.

"What?" Celestia, though, was just confused.

"Let's do this! I can't take you being all mopey, that was my job when I came back and it drove you up the walls." Luna sighed as she remembered those days "Honestly, Tia, being sad won't help anypony, and when you are sad you raid the kitchen without need. Last time you almost depleted Canterlot's ice cream reserves, ALL of them."

Celestia gave her sister a way too cute pout for someone as old and as 'mature' as her "But it was yummy."

"And trying to cope with it by being silly won't work now." Which earned Luna a huff "Look, I am afraid Tia, and you know how I deal with my own fear."

"I stuff my face, you tend to break things" Celestia chimed with a grin "Going to break a poor guard?"

"No, I deal with fear by tackling the problem. I deal with frustration by breaking things... And I also tend to hide from my fears until I need to tackle them, which ends in frustration, so I break a lot of things." Luna chucked nervously "You, on the other hoof, turn dramatic, pessimistic and even depressed, if not outright silly to hide it all."

"Everypony copes differently" Celestia tried to give a nonchalant shrug "But are you sure? Do you want to do this?"

Luna sighed and slumped down "I have lived for as long as you, Tia, having a normal life would be everything but bad, and maybe we will make alicorns a common species instead of just the few and powerful." She sneered at that. Oh how things change, for now Luna had been getting tired of power itself when she had wanted all of it so long ago "And... and maybe this time I will have a lover I will not outlive, children that I will not need to mourn..."

"Shhh sister, calm down." Celestia did her best to approach her sister without bothering her in any way. It was true that she was much more in tune with herself, enough to calm her thoughts in most cases, even if she was hard pressed right now. Luna was much more likely to explode "If you are sure, then we can do it right now. We will use the original seeker stone and do the deed."

"You... you think we will be the first to go?" At this Luna sounded hopeful "If we are, then we can make sure that everything is okay, we can study how it works, what problems it creates... This magic may do more than simply affect others that aren't supposed to be with the one it latches to."

"It more than likely will have more than one side effect." Celestia frowns at the thought. It was practically impossible that this wouldn't create any complications "Twilight theorized that the longest time between sending and summoning would be three days, so three months on the other side. During that time anything could happen to both ponies and whoever else is affected, as well as the one that the seeker stone attunes to. Considering that they will also be pulled back..."

"This is too complex, sister." Luna's frown matched her sister "But it hasn't upset the balance to send the stone, though it is destructive when it comes back, is it not?"

Celestia shook her head "Not really. If we prepare a summoning circle the stone returns without causing any harm, we did send this one a few more times" Celestia enveloped the stone with her magic, levitating it in front of Luna "It does cause a small ripple in magic though, and tires those involved in the spell for a while, but it should be safe as far as we summon it in the right place"

Luna looked at the ceiling for a second, then she let her gaze venture outside. How much would everything change if they did it? How much would it change if she backed away? Celestia was scared, and she saw that her sister was too. This could sincerely end in disaster.

"How do we start this then?"

At least Luna could show more courage than even her sister sometimes "It is easy." And Celestia did thank her for it, sincerely, otherwise she would have been the one to chicken out "I'll pour all the magic required, you just share yours with me, here" She levitated the stone between their horns "Start giving it magic and I will do the rest."

Luna nodded and did as told. In matters of warfare she had once been the best, and magic had been easy to channel. Nowadays she knew more about games and fantasy than young colts and fillies, but she still had complete control over her magic.

Simply channeling it to bond it with her sister's was pretty easy.

In a moment she saw it happening: Her own magic aura enveloped the stone, with her sister mixing soon after, followed by two more auras almost obscuring the stone form within them. It was eerily similar to saturated magic, similar to what Spike described when he gave Rarity a certain book, or when somepony like Trixie used the alicorn amulet. When these things happened it usually meant problems, very powerful magic or a mix of both.

"I can see it sister... the first creature to be bonded to the stone..." Celestia smiled, though Luna knew not why. Her eyes were almost purely white, signaling just how much magic she was using. At least the ambient magic wasn't causing any problems "I can even see the first mare to go! It is... Wait... I feel a problem."

"Tia?" Luna tried to push away. If the connection was severed then the magic should stop. Trying to do it, however, caused physical pain and she yelped in surprise.

"Luna! The magic is forcing something to happen!" Celestia cringed as she felt it. Harmony was trying to balance this solution. It was channeling the ambient magic back in the world, Celestia could feel it "It... it is making a prison!"

While Luna wanted to stop and was unable to, Celestia just was powerless to do much. The magic was doing things on its own, much like when most dire problems were 'solved' with any kind of magic. Things do not work that way, they never do, for you can't solve them with ease and without learning something in the complicated process. Be it by nature or a test by magic itself. There is never an easy way out.

Harmony wanted to make it clear, and it did as a flash blinded both sisters.

It felt like minutes for Celestia, and Luna had it worse. The daily diarch was used to the sun on her face, literally, but Luna was literally blinded, and she was sure that it would stay that way. It wasn't painful, luckily, but somepony knew she was going to be guided around by the hoof for a few hours if nothing else.

"Tia! I can't see a thing!" No one said she would be decent and calm about it.

"Relax, sister, calm down." Celestia groaned, blinking away the dots forming around her vision "It seems magic has decided to once more give us a lesson. It appears you can't be too old for that to happen." She groaned even more when she noticed that she wasn't healing as fast as she once had. If nothing else it was obvious that the price, at least, had been paid as expected. Celestia had to wonder how Cadance and Twilight fared the shock "Luna, we need to tell everypony. There is no way around it now."

"Sister, I can't see anything and you want me to make a speech alongside you?" Luna huffed, being helped by her sister once Celestia got up. She couldn't see it, but she knew the stone had disappeared, its duty done "What happened?"

"I..." Celestia bit her lower lip as she embraced her sister with a wing to help her around "I saw... a bubble... a magic shield formed around the bonded one's house. It is invisible for the naked eye, for the creatures without enough magic, but it is there to impede the ones within to escape. It will slowly expand over time, the magic told me so, but it will force those within its border to interact, to connect... I wanted to solve the problem and instead I have ensured that magic itself forces those that go into a prison that will endanger them."

"Why? There should be other creatures out there. Lacking magic or not, they should help each other." Luna would've waved a hoof, but she wasn't about to lose any kind of balance in the state she was in.

"Yes... they should" Celestia wasn't as confident as her sister. "But if they don't connect, if the bonded one and the mare, or mares don't work with each other, they will be banned from each other's world, sister. It would be like forcing a bond and then break it. It could spell such pain, or worse, for those involved." The elder sister felt as if she had condemned someone to death "I just hope Miss Cake forgives us, and that whoever else goes after does the same."

Luna scrunched her muzzle at that "Mister Carrot is going to sick Pinkie on us."

Chapter 1: A baker's problem.

For most ponies it was a nice day in Ponyville. Why, it had temperate weather, clear skies, there were no monsters or meddling pests and no villain was left in the world to mess with things! Well, for now anyway. True that their dear princess Celestia had given Twilight Sparkle some kind of assignment, but that, alongside the magic map that resided within the castle of their fair village, was something that turned common and almost uninteresting.

But then again, I did say 'for most'.

"Sweetness, I am leaving with the kids."

Most would also consider those words to be made of pure and concentrated doom, more so with how they were said and with the mood floating around the bakery. Sugarcube Corner had never been so gloomy as it was today. It was a mix of Pinkie being out of town to help her sisters at the rock farm with some new type of rock they were trying to grow, making the bakery slightly grey in comparison to how it was the rest of the time, and Miss Cake's own sour mood that had lasted for nearly a year now.

True, no one had seen almost more than a glimpse of it, and at first it had been nothing more than the blue pony with a pink mane feeling that maybe she had been a bit over her head when she thought she could take care of two foals. It was made worse when her foals were shown to be nothing like her, or even her husband Carrot Cake, but that went away with time.

After almost a year, with the little ones already doing some magic or flying, as well as talking more or less alright, her sour mood had a different source.

"I am sorry, Carrot... I... I know I am not being agreeable these days."

The bakery was empty today, a sign of 'Closed' hung visibly on the outside. It was something hardly seen, if at all, with how dedicated Carrot and Cup Cake were, and there was no need to mention Pinkie and her hyperactive desire for baking, sweets, parties and fun. This building was the only one open every day, every week, every month, every year. True that some days were shorter than others as far as time at work went, but there was almost not a day that went by without new sugary things being made inside this one bakery. Sugarcube Corner was not the most famous bakery in Equestria, but it was the most famous and well respected for those that knew about it.

Everypony knew of how much Carrot and Cup Cake loved each other, it was hardly something that could be hidden. True that, unlike in herds, there wasn't much affection to be shown in public, but that was because there was no need to go overboard. While a herd could have a great number of ponies, or other species, involved, a marriage meant two and only two, and while they weren't usually seen as normal or acceptable when it meant to be done by the 'common' pony, they were equally revered as herds when the love was as great as the one felt between Carrot and Cup Cake.

They always had each other, they helped each other, they talked about their problems and tried their best to give a bright smile every day of their lives, always showing patience as much as they were able to and accepting everything to their best capabilities. Most thought they had no problems, and it was in fact hard to see any problem at all between both ponies.

But as the saying goes: Not everything that glitters is gold.

A few ponies knew about Carrot's one big problem: His stuff wasn't exactly potent. Sexuality problems and such were not one of the most discussed topics, ever, but it was like anything else, be it hoofball or the races. It could sprout a conversation at any moment, and if somepony wasn't interested, it could be changed. Thanks to that a few of their friends, one of which was Pinkie, knew that the Cakes weren't exactly the most fertile pair in the land.

Cup Cake was indeed very receptive, she was a great earth pony mare capable of having many foals, unlike her parents. For that reason she had always wanted a huge family instead of the little one that only had her parents and grandparents, and any of the previous generation, with just one foal per sitting. It wasn't exactly something normal, but it wasn't so strange that it could be considered impossible. It did take many generations, but things turned back to 'normal' when Cup Cake found that she could have a big and nice family, that she could MAKE one. Alongside being a baker, which she managed to do, her dream was to have as many kids as she could support.

Carrot was on the other side when it came to this.

Oh no, it is not that he didn't want kids, in fact it was the OPOSITE. Unlike his wife, Cup Cake, mister Carrot came from quite the plentiful family, which explained how it was so easy to have two kids that didn't share a pony tribe. His family was large, happy and always willing to have another member join, not only that, but they were also quite the potent bunch, both mares and stallions. Carrot was... not.

Whereas Cup Cake had been the final answer to a problem that went back a few generations, Carrot was the black sheep of his family. No one noticed, or cared, about such a problem back before he married Cup Cake, after all, who was expecting a young and lively stallion to mess up in that regard, right? As it happened, biology seemed to be in the mood to play a bit with the poor colt.

It didn't become a problem, at all, for the longest time, in fact it became a problem only recently. Who cared if Carrot had a hard time creating life? Believe you me, Cup Cake and him had a lot of fun, and despite the rumors going around town back in the day, they didn't mind sharing that fun with their friends, as some ponies could very well attest to. In fact, and knowing that they had time, oh so much time, Cup Cake was more than happy with how things were.

Then the twins happened.

And Cup Cake was ecstatic.

Cup Cake had always been a round mare, it came with the territory and a love for the sweets and baked goods that she made. Hiding that she was pregnant was easy with some help from Cookie Crumbles, a very good friend of hers. The idea had been from Pinkie of all ponies, but the magic did help with Cup Cake's range of movement, so she was perfectly fine if her friend didn't mind visiting from time to time. All that mattered to her though, was that she was pregnant, that they could have a big, big, big family, and that Carrot finally was having his own desire to have children fulfilled alongside the mare he loved so much.

It wasn't after things relaxed a bit that Cup Cake and Carrot went to make a few tests to see if things would be easier now. Some mares, even a few stallions, turned even more productive after the first pregnancy, or after a few, so making a few tests sounded golden. If they were the same as before, no biggie. If either of them got better? Oh boy, Cup Cake didn't want to stop until they had at least four or five little ones.

Instead, Carrot's results came as barren.

What a cruel joke! What had they done to deserve this?! They repeated the test time and time and time and TIME AGAIN. Always the same, no change whatsoever. Carrot wasn't going to be able to have more kids. Maybe some magic could help him back to how he was in a few years, but they were told that such kind of magic or alchemical care wasn't yet discovered, or if it was, it wasn't implemented everywhere. Normal medicines could help, but only if Carrot had a smidge of a chance, which he lacked.

Carrot was floored and Cup Cake felt destroyed. They did have two kids, two they loved very much, and they would love them to bits forever and ever, but part of the dream they both shared had been shattered. Carrot had four sisters and a brother, and he had wanted nothing less for his children, while everypony knew about Cup Cake's own desire. For all they knew, the Cakes never told anypony about this, though some probably knew what was happening.

Despite this, not even Pinkie saw what the Cakes went through. Cup Cake did her best to be the ever cheerful mare alongside her loving spouse, and both Carrot and her were still happy as could be. It was true though: They were hurting, hurting quite badly, but they went on. They had their children, they had Pinkie, practically a surrogate daughter, and they had each other. Technically speaking, and despite the sad news, they were content.

As Cup Cake's heat approached though...

"My sweet, you don't need to be sorry."

Carrot was carrying saddlebags packed to the brim. Supplies mostly for the kids, including most their toys, books and anything else they would need for a few days... or weeks. It hadn't been an easy decision, to say the least, but Carrot was sure that it was the best course of action.

"How can I not be sorry?"

Cup Cake turned to face her husband. Being behind the counter, looking at the empty stand and wallowing in misery was not a common sight as far as the blue mare went. Everypony was used to seeing her smiling, swirly tail and mane with that two tone color always reminding people of ice cream, and eyes sparkling with happiness and a bit of hunger on the side, for good measure. She was not as carefree as Pinkie, but one could argue that she was exactly how Pinkie would be if she mellowed out... a lot.

"I... I said something horrible yesterday, Carrot, I couldn't contain myself anymore." To see Cup Cake on the verge of teas was something that would hurt even the hardiest of ponies within Ponyville "I am sorry I exploded... But it is still my fault! How can I not drive you away when I treat you like... like..."

"Sssh, sssh, all will be okay." Carrot approached his wife, not shying away when she flinched as he came close "I know what you are going through, my dear, we both suffer the same since we went to do those tests."

"Worst idea of my life." Cup Cake grumbled under her breath, sighing, embarrassed as Carrot gave her a kiss on the cheek "If I hadn't, then we would be happier. I wouldn't know, you wouldn't know, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"My sweetness, we both know it would come up sooner or later whether we went to check or not." Carrot offered her a gentle smile "I am as frustrated as you... or more." The last part was added under his breath, but not low enough to avoid being heard "We both wanted a large family, and I am ecstatic to have two beautiful children with you, but that is as much as I can offer, whether I like it or not."

"Carrot..."

"That is why I am leaving for a few days, maybe a few weeks, even a month." Cup Cake's eyes watered at her husband's nonchalance. She felt as if she had broken things beyond recognition, until she saw his eyes, sad and distant, on purpose "I know you always avoided getting any other male to finish inside when we spiced the bedroom life a bit." He chuckled as a few interesting encounters came to mind "It was much like me: We can have fun, but we only want each other when it comes down to it."

Cup Cake's lip trembled, eyes wide "Carrot... please... You can't be suggesting that."

"Yes, I am suggesting just that, my dear." Carrot took a deep breath, more to calm himself than anything else "I am asking you to find a male, or somepony with the equipment required, that can give you what I cannot."

"CARROT!" The kids were asleep, her hiss barely above a whisper despite the anger behind it "I can't do that! I don't want to do that!"

"Neither do I, it hurts me to just think about it." Neither one wished to do such a thing, and anypony that knew them did know why "But what else could I do but to sacrifice what I love most if I can't satisfy my wife's desires and dreams? I won't stop being with you, unless you want me to, of course." His sad smile was met with her brutal refusal "And I know you don't want that, but I also know we both want more children. We both know there is no other way now."

"I can get some of that fancy insemination, whatever it is called, Carrot!" Cup Cake was crying by now "You don't have to do this! I DON'T want to do that! That is for certain!"

"And would you live happily ever after without knowing who the father was?" Carrot remained calm despite being equally as bad as his wife. That he could hide anything at all showed much thought on his part "Would you want somepony without a name? Somepony that would not take care of his or her kids? Somepony that would never be part of our family?"

"I don't want somepony else, period." Cup Cake's voice still quivered, but it had an air of finality "I just want you, I only want you, and whether we invite somepony else to have fun with us, or not, I only want that when you are present." She shook her head, biting her lip "Please... don't leave."

"If I remain here, then we will have real problems." Carrot grimaced as he gently touched his wife's cheek "Yesterday was just a sign of what is to come. I know you don't think that way of me." Carrot cut his wife before she could speak after that comment about the other day's little mishap "I know you don't, at all, but it is literally the heat of the moment, or what comes before the heat. Now, if you want me to stay, and I do, then it would become worse and worse if I fire blanks and just empower your heat and needs." He pursed his lips for a moment "If I stay here, I would never allow another stallion near you either... But if you accept somepony else to do this duty, then I will be happy."

"No, no you won't." Any pretense of decorum or restraint was thrown out the window as Cup Cake embraced her husband and let the waterworks begin "I am a bad mare, I know I am, I know I hurt you." She sobbed as she hugged him, afraid of letting go "I don't want to lose you..."

"And you won't, not while you still want me." Carrot hug his wife back, sighing as he tried to keep his own calm from melting away into nothingness "I... am not happy doing this, my dear cupcake, but tell me, look at my eyes and tell me, that you would be happy, that you would not explode, if I stay and I don't allow you to seek any other stallion to give you what you want most."

Cup Cake wanted to do exactly that; she wanted to pull away from the hug, tell her husband that all would be good, to kiss him and to have him all for herself, as always. But she was unable to do just that. After yesterday, after her slip of the tongue, and after all the anger that the thought of being unable to have more children brought her, Cup Cake was sure that she was an inch away from the border of a very sharp and fatal fall.

"I know it is hard, my sweet, but we both need it" Carrot gave his wife's cheek a kiss and gently pushed away, looking at her wet eyes and cheeks only made him feel worse "And you can't lie to me. You wanted kids more than being a baker"

"I want YOURS." She snapped back.

That brought a sad smile to Carrot "But I can't give you any, not anymore."

Both ponies stood there for a moment, sitting on their hunches, looking at each other with sad expressions at what was to come.

Carrot wished to stay oh so much, but he was sure he would do something stupid when his wife went into heat and started demanding attention from him. He knew what he wanted to give her, what they had tried for years, what had brought them such joy, but he was unable to and, despite how much it hurt, he loved her enough to sacrifice part of his own happiness to make HER happy, at any cost. If she chose well, if he chose somepony he could relate to, that could understand him, then, maybe, he would be happy too, when this ended, but it was a moot point when his priority was his wife's happiness, even if it hurt her to get there.

Cup Cake was no better. Fun alongside her husband? Much appreciated! It was always interesting to spice things up, and she loved that her husband was so adventurous, but both of them were a bit possessive and envious. There was no pony that was all good in every sense, no pony was two dimensional like that. She was afraid of losing the one she loved and whenever a mare was in the bedroom, other than her that is, she always did better to satisfy her husband, like he did when it was a stallion. Neither of them had a problem with the same sex either, so things were ALWAYS fun.

Now it wasn't fun, now Carrot wanted her to go alone for this one ride. She was so scared that even her coming heat, looming over the horizon as the unavoidable problem it was, left her mind for a second.

"I... I can take the herbal remedy, I can ask Zecora for a potion, I can do anything, Carrot, ANYTHING!" By now begging seemed more than acceptable if it could defuse this situation "Please... please Carrot."

"Would you really be happy with those solutions?" Carrot frowned at the idea. Not everypony had the same reaction to them. For a lack of a better word, the best reaction most had was to feel tired and moody. The worst? Purging, constantly, and then go back into heat. "Last time you tried, you were quite the cranky mare" He chuckled a bit at the memory "You threw me a frying pan if I remember correctly."

"Poor timing for jokes, love." Cup Cake cleaned her tears away, hiccupping as she sobbed one last time "Even Pinkie wouldn't dare try to cheer anypony up when like this."

Carrot nodded a few times before he got up and kissed his wife on the cheek again, nuzzling her afterwards "I know, but there is no good way to end this day, honeybuns." Cup Cake knew that, and seeing her husband turn and walk towards his saddlebags once more didn't help any "But we both know that if I stay, then this will indeed go sour. One way or another, if I stay, we both will be miserable, and while I would not mind being that if it is for your shake." Carrot gave his wife a smile that promised her anything she wanted, a smile that told her that he would do anything for her, even if it hurt him "I do not want BOTH of us to be like that."

"And how do you think I am going to be if you leave?" But the mare was plenty aware that her husband was right. She felt miserable looking forward to a life without more kids. She loved her little cakes more than anything, but she was selfish and wanted more, a desire that she couldn't erase from her mind "Carrot... I... I want more kids... but I don't think I could do that to you."

The stallion nodded as he got his saddlebags back in place. Both kids asleep and in their little cart, they didn't need to be bothered by loud voices as he approached his wife once more.

"I know neither of us was fond of the idea of herds, my dear." That was a gross understatement if Cup Cake ever heard one "My family is more than happy doing it, yours isn't, though we both know why that is." Carrot knew she would grimace, but it felt as if she wanted to tear something apart "But now? Now that I can't give you what you want? I think it is time to give it a go, because you made it clear that you would not want a stallion that would never be around his children, be it male, female or something in between. I know you don't want that, I know you do not like the idea, seeing how your family is marriage exclusive. It feels wrong, and I understand, after all, I don't want to share either."

He let out a tired sigh as he went for the cart with their kids. The more he dilly dallied, the less likely it was for him to really leave. If he stayed, then it would be a moth point "Despite all that, I won't consider it cheating." The word cut through Cup Cake like a knife "Neither of us like that 'c' word, I know that." Carrot didn't need to look her way to see her though "You do have my permission after all, and if you find someone you feel is right, then, maybe, we could be a bigger family with no problem... But even if they were to butt heads with me, you come first."

Cup Cake's eyes were boring into the ground at this point "I never thought we would resort to this." She lamented as she looked back at her happy days. Was this going to end, as she feared, or was it going to get better? "Carrot..."

"Everything will be alright, my dear." Carrot turned to face his wife, everything ready to go "Take your time, find somepony suitable and we'll talk, alright?"

That was the end of the talk, as abrupt as it was. What else could Cup Cake say? What would she like to hear? All she wanted was for things to go back to how they were, instead of this mess. But whereas Cup Cake could be incredibly selfish, she could also be selfish to a fault, and while Carrot was an envious stallion, he was also very self sacrificing.

The bakers both wanted a large family, but they couldn't get it with each other, and neither wanted to adopt. It was not that they disliked the idea, but before this problem, during the many years trying to have children, they decided they would not adopt. They had all they needed to conceive, they wanted to have their flesh and blood, and there were many other mares or stallions that, even with magical, alchemical or simple traditional help, could not. Sex change, pregnancy aids, nothing worked for them.

The Cakes? They just needed to try harder... And now they just couldn't do even that. They didn't want to adopt, they had made that decision, and they would not deprive those that simply could not have children from adopting a foal when they already had two of their own.

It didn't ease Cup Cake's mind when her husband finally gave her a sad smile, a wave, and left, closing the door behind him.

*** On Earth. Connecticut. Somewhere in the U.S ***

"Buck you, brother!" A very feminine voice yelled "Buck you with a ten foot metal rod! Buck you until you can't taste anything but iron for the rest of your life!"

"You do know that such a thing makes no sense, right?"

"I said buck you, so BUCK. YOU!"

Alexander Jacobs, ladies and gentlemen, the one man burying his head against his... sister's door. Said sister was called Olive... Olivia. Yea, you probably can see where this is going, or better say this! If you don't see it, you are blind. Now, once you have been educated in the problem, you have to be educated in the fact that it is not a problem, in fact there IS a problem, but it is not 'that' one.

Confused yet? Good, I am getting better.

Let's go step by step.

So, Alexander, right? Tall man, one ninety one, thirty three years of age, around eighty seven kilograms, red hair and a very stoic expression as well as hardy factions. The guy would be something you'd expect in a policeman, or a soldier, but the guy was a baker, nothing else, though not for lack of trying other works mind you. With a wide back, strong arms, strong legs, and a very strong chest, you'd expect the guy to be capable of doing any manual job in the world if it required mostly strength. The problem was that this one guy had the biggest butterfingers on Earth.

You don't believe me? He would slip out of BED if he was on the edge and required his hands to keep him in place ever so slightly. You know how I know? Because he slipped one day when both his legs fell asleep.

It was hilarious for his sister, it was beyond embarrassing for him.

But yes, this big lug of a man, capable of handling pastries, cakes, bread and whatever else, was incapable of using a damn toothpick without taking someone's eyes out. He had lived all his life with his parents and grandparents, and as a good family used to bake, he had a knack for it. He didn't like it mind you, mostly because he was tired of it all and trying to stop eating half the things he made, but it was one of the few things he wouldn't screw up. Why did it happen? No one knows, and after years of embarrassing himself in almost any other damn work he tried to apply for, he had just given up and accepted a job in Connecticut, a bakery that one of his cousins had left vacant when he moved to Europe and that he wanted to be kept in the family.

Around one hundred fifty thousand souls, a nice river, a more or less healthy life, and at least a third of the people here knew of the one guy that could bring down a building by touching the wrong place at the wrong time, A.K.A: All the time.

Everyone that knew of him knew that, despite his gruff appearance, Alexander was a very nice guy, easy to talk to, friendly to strangers and a bit hug friendly, though it usually ended in tragedy, in a very comical way mind you. With his usual sleeveless shirt and short pants, plus resilient booths with metal tip (you don't know how it can hurt if something falls there), he wasn't the world's most typical baker, but he was good and that was enough for him. He didn't like the idea of baking all his life, but if he was going to do it, then he was going to do the best he could.

The only thing you wouldn't see of this one guy, was his eyes. Light hurt his vision a lot, so sunglasses were needed almost at all times, and even then it was almost too bright except at night. It was not exactly photophobia, but it did bother him when he was out under a clear sky. For this reason you wouldn't see his brown colored eyes, though the general look was considered nice by most visitors if nothing else.

His sister? Well, Olivia, previously known as Oliver, was a bit special, as you may have guessed.

Born male, and still physically male, somewhat, Olivia was very much like her brother, in a sense. She was much smaller, going more for her mother's appearance with a short meter sixty three instead of her father's impressive height that Alexander had inherited. She also had her mother's blue eyes and raven colored hair, but at least neither Olivia, nor Alexander, had inherited their father's freckles, something that she liked to bring up to tease daddy from time to time. She had soft factions, an easy smile, perky nose and very lithe body in general.

Simply put: Oliver was extremely feminine, and her voice was more akin to a girl than to a boy.

With her very long hair, slim complexion and extreme attention to her appearance since she was little, it was impossible to not notice Olivia's demeanor even if you tried. The problem is that a group of people didn't even want to acknowledge it, and despite her being three years Alexander's junior, despite her being slightly worse in school and needing more attention, nobody ever wanted to acknowledge that Oliver was gay, or that he wasn't happy being a 'he'.

As you may imagine, for a very nice and friendly family, the Jacobs were quite the homophobes, at least the Jacobs that Alexander was a part of.

This was, sadly, a worldwide problem. Some areas were worse than others, and while in some you could find extreme acceptance, in others you could, and would, find the opposite. As it stood, while Olivia was more woman than anything, bar the sex, she was almost forced into a relationship she didn't want a few years ago. Her parents had thought that they could beat what was wrong with her (in their words) by forcing some sense and maybe a good lay. Let's say it didn't end well and leave it at that.

It wasn't that Alexander and Olivia's parents or grandparents were bad, but some people were just more closed in mind than others. The younger generation was much more open minded, and Alexander had no problem taking her sister in the bakery as an assistant when their parents threw her out. It had been a few years, and relations between parents and sons were incredibly strained, but at least their parents weren't going to go and take Alexander out of the bakery, thus kicking Olivia out too, just out of spite and anger at something they thought was their son 'acting up'.

Now, while both were gentle souls in a way, they weren't anywhere near perfect, and this cohabitation showed that, a lot.

Alexander was a neat freak and a bit of a bossy persona, trying to get everything done his way if possible. While this made sure everything was in order and clean, it also meant that he tended to butt in whenever someone else would prefer to be alone, in most cases messing things up beyond recognition since he could be all charismatic and stuff, but usually didn't know the right words to use when he was under pressure.

Olivia? Olivia was a bit of a mess with how much she liked to party and have fun. While it was never anything too serious, she tended to aim for guys at all times when it came to making 'friends'. With her objectives quite clear, it was obvious why she did that, but she tended to go for the guys that would use her and leave her afterwards. With a poor judge of character, absentminded personality and a bit of childish behavior to back it all up, she was a very hard person to get to know if you weren't 'her type'.

So that is what you had on your plate with both brother and sister. You had a control and neat freak with a very liberal partygoer. Both of them ready to work and do their thing, neither one the best to room with, and they both lived under the same roof.

The latest problem? Olivia's last 'friend' and the obvious end to their little encounter. Alexander knew that whenever Olivia didn't get ready for work during the weekends, out of habit if nothing else since they only needed to make bread for whoever decided to visit in the morning, then something was wrong. As any concerned brother would do, he went to knock and she poured her troubles on him once more.

Suggesting that she found herself a lady friend didn't exactly end with the result Alexander wanted out of the discussion.

He didn't mean a girlfriend, he meant a girl, space, friend. Olivia had never liked women, at all, and after their parents tried to hitch her up, things reached rock bottom faster than anything Alexander had seen. That the one woman was responsible for their parents kicking Olivia out of the house at last didn't help one bit either. Strangely enough, Olivia loved that show, what was it called? My Little Pony, right? She didn't like the older ones, but she ate the new show like chocolate, and most characters were girls.

So why in hell had she reacted like that? Fuck if he knew. Olivia knew, she had to know, that Alexander didn't care if she was gay, if she didn't like to get operated or anything else at all. All Alexander wanted was for her to be happy, and trying to get a fuck buddy every damn week, only to end up dumped afterwards, was not something she should be doing. She wasn't exactly frail when it came to psyche, but she was getting there with how many rejections she had suffered.

Okay, so he was procrastinating, he was worrying over his sister's problems when he didn't do jack for his own. This was mostly because Alexander didn't much care for his problems, other than his darn clumsiness, so the priority, at least his priority, was Olivia.

Some would shrug it off and think it would 'man up' the one on the receiving end, but this was beyond that stupid notion, and Olivia wasn't made to be a strong person because she didn't want to. She wanted to be treated as a soft flower, and if that was what she wanted, then she should get it. Why should everyone fit in a certain way? Alexander didn't mind it when he had to remain neutral until he found what some people liked or not, but his sister wasn't like that and she didn't want to change anything to fit what others wished of her.

In a way she was already strong as steel, in another she was weaker than paper. The problem here was none other than balance.

That made him snort. Balance... This house had less balance than the economy nowadays, and THAT was messed up. In any case he had never thought that the first day of summer would get this messed up. 2022 and douches still exist, that, and overreacting. My Little Pony finished a while ago, but to this day it was still very well known, hell, the fandom had managed to get their hands on most of what remained since Hasbro tried to make a new generation and BOMBED enough to be in a small financial fuckup. That day had made Olivia squee with joy for some reason, probably because most of her series was now free for everyone and most her free time was spent reading fanfiction or watching the old show.

As if on cue, the music began and Alexander decided to make himself scarce as promptly as possible. He didn't dislike the show, but he was more into more mature stuff, and he didn't mean porn. Such cutesy shit with almost no problem other than even more cutesy monsters, and the few not so cute and maybe serious crisis, were things that didn't attract him. Now, a good space opera with lasers and shit? That did hit the spot, shame that he would aim worse than a Storm Trooper if he ever got his hands on a weapon. Luckily for the world, he had been labeled as a walking catastrophe all over the country, so no weapons for him.

Okay, so he had promised to not buy a weapon unless he managed to get his hands unfucked, big deal.

Alexander shook his head at the one time he went to a practice range. Worst shame of his life, ever, but it had been a fun day. He would feel a bit safer having at least a weapon on the ground floor of his home, but there was no way in hell that he would test his luck if someone came to rob them. They didn't have much of value either, their computers and maybe some of the equipment in the bakery, but you couldn't take that and leave without some serious hardware, that, and thanks to him (and his rotten luck with his hands more than anything), at least the police, and the hospital, knew of the place quite well. Having butterfingers helped... sometimes.

If nothing else, all this thought had brought an idea to his worry riddled brain. Why not get Olivia something MLP related? It was an easy way to get her to cheer up, and Olivia ate almost anything that had to do with the show since she didn't have a favorite to speak of. She liked thestrals though, almost to a fault, mostly because she considered them cute beyond belief, so a plushy of a bat pony would make her happy for sure.

It was a simple and impossible to fuck up plan. Even if he dropped the plushy, the bag, the wallet or whatever, no one would stop him from getting to the phone, make an order and get things delivered. If needed be Alexander could call one of his friends if Olivia was in one of her moods again. It wasn't the first time they spent a whole week or more within the building, and while Olivia didn't like Alexander's friends, they didn't mind giving her a hand, even if she acted like a whiney bitch towards them because none of them were interested. Better not even mention this to Amanda though, her bluntness almost got them into a catfight last time.

With that said, and a couple calls later, there was nothing else in his mind. He had a book to read, a few recipes he wanted to try and little else, plus he disliked the humid heat that was hitting the city, and that would keep at it for a few weeks if nothing changed. Going out was not in his best interest until things dried up and his friends knew it, and seeing how hard it hit Olivia, she was going to be of the same mind for a while at least.

So... ordering lunch and dinner for a while or making sweet shit to fatten up? Either was bad as all get together, but with how much he worked and how much weight he lifted to get everything done around here, getting fat wasn't exactly a problem.

Now, entering your room and finding a panicked blue coated and pink manned pony? That was a problem.

"W-where am I?" The panicked voice of the mare echoed within Alexander's mind as primordial fear "W-where is everypony? Where is Carrot? I... I had left to search for him and then, then..."

She passed out on his bed, and Alexander could do nothing more than to watch the poor mare's eyes roll as she fainted. The smell of ozone was strong, and there were some marks on the wall signaling something akin to an explosion, but nothing was damaged. For a moment he just stared at the body of the mare, then rubbed the bridge of his nose and exhaled in distress.

Another week, another problem. Existential crisis, or whatever this was supposed to be, later, he needed a shower, to make a call or two and pretend things were normal.

Author's Notes:

Okay, these are the first two chapters! Introduction and shock! Expect a bit of drama with this story, though you probably already guessed that much, as well as some nice slice of life and such. Want to comment? Go ahead, but remember to not take this overly seriously. Oh, and follow this link if you want to know something more about the story, setting and siz: LINK!

Chapter 2: Reality; harshest dream.

Firs discovery of the day: Showers don't make colorful ponies go away, in fact they make matters worse when you discover the shit is real and it is right on your doorstep, or bed, as is with Alexander's case. Now, don't get me wrong, he had seen the series, mostly because his sister had forced him, as said, but it was also said he didn't fancy it much. He had a vague idea of who was sleeping on his bed, after all it was impossible to not know who allowed a certain pink pony to live with them. It was as if you tried to avoid light in space; yes, it is all dark, but there are stars, you are bound to be hit by it at nearly all times, so you are equally bound to know who runs the bakery in Ponyville.

No, really, it is nearly impossible to not know, so even someone that had seen only part of the first season in passing was going to know of the Cakes at least a bit. Then again Alexander knew jack diddly as far as their story went.

Okay, so he may have checked the internet, happy now? After the shower he had TRIED to go ask his sister, but Olivia had literally opened the door, only to slam it on his face. That is also meant literally in the sense that he had almost stepped in, only to have Olivia smash his nose in. Luckily it didn't break anything, but for someone around half/two thirds of his weight and not even close as far as muscle mass goes, Olivia could do a lot of damage. Point is that Olivia didn't seem to care for him enough to hear Alexander's 'great' news.

Unrelated news: He needed to clean outside his brother's room, there was a bit of blood on the floor.

In any case, pony.

Alexander had tried to act natural and relaxed as he did everything he had planned to do: He called the store and asked for a plushy with Olivia's specifications, because who hadn't made a pony OC if they were in the fandom? He had checked with a friend of his to ensure there would be supplies, because FUCK GOD if anyone thought that Alexander was going to allow the pony, or Olivia, to go out now. Olivia would try to get the local brony population to come over, just for bragging rights, and it was going to be hard enough to get her to shut up online, while the pony was a problem way too obvious to need explanation.

Problems, problems would appear out of thin fucking air in around twenty four hours, probably less. How was anyone supposed to hide a pony in their home? Yea, this floor was out of bounds for customers, but this was not one of those nice stories where everything went according to the damn plan, THERE WAS NO PLAN! This was not supposed to happen and Alexander was not going to pull all the stops to make things fine for the pony in question!

Now, hear me out, because that sounded like he was an asshole.

Humans going to Equestria? Fan. Fucking. Tastic. He wasn't against the idea, even without being a fan, simply because it always looked like it was a land of harmony, understanding and shit. They also had monsters, monsters are cool, even if they rip you apart.

Now, ponies coming to Earth? Nope! Nope, nope, nopitynope. Fucking. No.

Alexander was going through every possible scenario that could end with a pony walking around Earth, and he didn't mean the 'How the fuck are you here?' scenario that, at best, would raise more questions. The scenarios in mind had to do with how the pony could easily be abused, kidnapped, killed or simply dissected. Oh, don't worry your pretty head, things had been going quite well as far as making an unified worldwide government went, people had left many of their differences behind and most managed to at least tolerate each other.

The problem resided in those like Alexander's parents. With this he didn't mean those that had prejudice against others because of something like your sexuality, but those that were simply closed minded. The reason? Fear of those you don't understand, or, worse yet, insane curiosity to learn how they work and why.

For as many good people that were out there now, either because they had no choice, since a few things had been done to ensure no one would fuck with the rest of the countries without getting in quite a few 'problems, or because they were genuinely more good people than most thought back in the day, there were still a lot of bad people around. It is true that you didn't see many news with kidnappings, rape or death anymore, but there were still way too many shady organizations around.

Good news? This city was calm as hell. There hadn't been any crime reports for the past two years, but there were still assholes out there, as his sister could tell you in ample detail and also as loud as you'd wish her to. This didn't mean that no one would try to make a quick buck out of a pony, because people WOULD if they could. Let's remember that things were getting better, they were not yet that much of an improvement.

Now add two and two and find out why Alexander had a massive migraine as well as a fucked up nose.

"Who is up for a bet?" He chuckled darkly to himself as he rubbed the bridge of his nose to ease some of the pain "Because here it is! I bet this is going to suck balls"

The one good thing out of this? Cup Cake (If the wiky was accurate as far as her name went) had appeared here, and not in some nutjob's house. Why wasn't he going to bend to the pony's will like Olivia would? Because a lot of greens was not how the family worked despite so many baked goods, nor did they need alfalfa, hay or other things. Not only that, but ponies were shown to be quite the social creatures in the series, and there was no chance in hell that Alexander was going to allow a group to interact with her. This was, as of now, a state of lockdown.

Alexander almost jumped out of his skin when he heard soft knocking coming from behind him. Sitting with his back to the door had been a nice idea to watch over the pony while ensuring that she wouldn't escape if she woke up, but after so long Alexander had almost forgotten the time and that his sister was in the house at all. Hell, he had gone down and closed the bakery entirely.

"Brother, come to the kitchen."

Perfect, just what he needed. Going for a little talk with his sister meant leaving the pony alone, but right now he wasn't doing anything worthwhile, not until she woke up. Leaving her, however, felt utterly wrong.

"Alex?"

Then again...

"I am coming, I am coming. Give me a few minutes."

"Are you sure none of the stones have left the castle?"

"Absolutely, night mistress. None of them have even sparked yet. They just glow, showing readiness, but nothing else."

Luna nodded to her night guard, dismissing him. She had been told that there were at least twelve seeker stones ready, minus the original one used for the experiment. None of them were active yet, but supposedly all of them had been prepared once Celestia had casted the spell. That they didn't move at all, that they didn't even emanate a magical signal, worried her. It had been just a few minutes, yes, but on the other side it meant hours.

This made Luna purse her lips in distaste at how things had gone. No, better say she was utterly pissed off. The idea had holes in it, but if it meant forcing the magic to go back on track, instead of dying of as a species, then it was either that or hope that harmony would do them right. It didn't work like that, at all, as many species had found out when harmony decided to cut them off.

She was scared of the outcome, but she had never been one to sit things out and wait as hits rained all around her. Luna had been the warrior, Celestia had been the diplomat, and while she may have updated her vocabulary it was obvious that the night princess was still the fighter when it came to conflict, while her sister could convince a diamond dog to leave its jewels behind with no payment whatsoever.

Fighting, though, meant sacrifices. In this case it meant the disappearance of Cup Cake, as both sisters already knew. Twilight had seen it happen, but she was sure that nopony else was around when she just banished, and for what Carrot Cake told her, it would be assumed that Cup Cake went to another city to... well, better not talk about it.

Would it be better to count her blessings now, or consider the chaos down the line? Maybe the ancient magic would just accept one 'encounter' and that was it, or it would wait to see how it ended, only to send more and more stones at a time. Luna, for all her years and knowledge, was as unsure as Celestia. Twilight was looking into it, but this was all guesswork.

The one funny thing about this? Celestia's first reaction once she felt slightly better after the spell was to send quick letters to Twilight and Cadance. The second? Try to teleport to the other world and bring bang Miss Cake, just in case, since the magical dome was a greater danger than anything else out there. Let's say that the only thing she did was teleport a few feet, that, and slam her face against the wall in a very undignified manner that was only slightly better than how she crumpled in a heap afterwards. Despite the dire situation, and how much Luna wanted to refrain from laughing, the younger sister snickered.

You would too if you just recovered your sight and saw THAT.

That had left Luna in charge, and she had quickly made sure that the rest of the stones were either in place, or that search parties were sent in case any other had been activated. As it happened, none of the stones were out of their protective cashing in the laboratory, but they were all charged and ready to go. This meant that, at best, there was a day or two between sendings, it depended in how exact the theories were.

"Okay, I am here, what do you want?"

He sounded a bit forceful, but at the moment he thought he had a very good excuse. Not only had it been around three hours, three hours that went by like nothing because he was worked over about a colorful talking pony, but he hadn't made lunch and Olivia was probably grumpy for that simple reason, which he could understand by the way. If you ever left Olivia in a kitchen, alone, someone was going to get food poisoning, unless you wanted to bake something sugary, in which case she could do it... if you watched over her.

As it happened, Olivia wasn't hungry. Some hot cocoa had done the trick, one of the few simple things she could make without burning something too. If she ever got a mate, then let's hope for the other party to be a crack when it came to cooking, because this girl is better fattening you up with sugar than she is killing you with something monstrous you would swear was alive. If she ever asked for seafood, by god or the devil, I don't care which, tell her no.

"To know why you are coped in your room" Olivia shrugged. She had her long hair tied in a ponytail, and Alexander was trying very hard to not make a joke right now, though he did need to unwind really bad "I was thinking on going out and burning this bad mood of mine, I had an hour or two of freedom without you knocking at my door after all" At that she gave her brother a pointed look "Which is unnatural because you are on my case twenty four seven when I am even slightly upset"

Alexander was a bit too quick to react "Something came up."

Inconspicuous was not one of the abilities Alexander could say were part of his skillset. Olivia's only reaction was to arch an eyebrow and look at him as she caught the obvious half truth. Something had indeed happened, but if he said nothing, then Olivia would nag. We are talking about one girl, previously dude, that had been as flamboyant as a shotgun to the face when she was out of her house and as sneaky as a ninja while within those four walls.

Olivia was a freaking master at picking things up, as she was at hiding them. She had been trying to develop her girly looks by diets and many other things Alexander wanted no part of. She wasn't as much a trap as she was a shemale by now, which technically speaking, or legally if one wants to be anal about things, labeled her as a man since she hadn't dignified the proper authorities required for her 'official' sex change with a visit. At first she didn't do it because of their parents, then she didn't do it because 'fuck the law', as she said the one time she was picked up by the local police after a fight during one of the parties she attended.

She had never developed really big breasts, hers were decent in size, you could call them 'perky' and all, 'cute' even, though she preferred the term 'sexy'. With a quite revealing shirt, short pants and sandals, she also revealed her slim and quite nice body, and she used that mix as regular getup, like now. Back home? She hid everything under a hoodie, hardy trousers and a pair of boots that would make Alexander's set green with envy.

So yea, don't lie to this one girl, because she will bitch slap you so hard that you won't have time to notice the kick aimed to your privates. She doesn't simply pick on things, she utterly fucks you up if you don't come clean right away, but if you bring any of HER bullshit, then she is the most innocent angel in heaven. Oh yea, tell her she isn't and it is YOU who will have a sex change.

"Do I really have to bring out the bullshit-o-meter?" She asked, leaving the cup on the kitchen table "Because that one was pathetic."

"I love you too, go fuck yourself." Alexander flipped her off for added effect as he went for the fridge and the cold water bottle inside "I am not kidding when I say something came up. I can also add a very nice and long shower, jacking off while at it." Totally a lie, but it made Olivia squirm and grimace for some reason. Alongside rough housing and a lot of words not said within a ten meter radius of any children, this was the usual routine "Then I made a few phone calls and contemplated a very large problem for around two hours." Alexander paused for a second before he took a gulp of the bottle "I'd say the problem is around one meter long and around one meter tall by the way, very colorful."

"Hah, hah, hah, fuck you too." Olivia crossed her arms, the cup forgotten "Seriously, what is up? You never leave me alone until I cheer up, and while I consider your gift to be nice, it was weird that you left it besides your blood."

Alexander had to blink a few times at that. His sister didn't say anything when he did, so he had to ask the obvious question "What?"

"What do you mean by 'What?'? Your gift? I mean, I know some people made weird things with My Little Pony, but I don't think Hasbro fucked it up as badly and as desperately as to make this" Olivia got up from her spot and went to one of the kitchen drawers to pick something from within "I was going to give you a scare with this, but I think it is broken. Looks cute though"

You could say it was cute, yea, if you liked a blocky alarm clock that looked like the one that their grandparents kept around since forever. It was big and wide enough to need a bedside table all for itself, but it had a white coloration on top, much like Celestia's coat, with the Elements of Harmony drawn square center, while the downside was colored like Luna's coat, the central area having her cutie mark drawn in perfect detail, starry sky and all.

Now, it worked perfectly, or at least it looked like it, only the numbers weren't counting up, they were counting down, and there were way too many to make sense. Were they seconds? Were they minutes? Hours? When Alexander looked at them it was obvious that they were ticking down, but it didn't seem to have an exact order, or maybe he was seeing things since his mind was not exactly in the right place at the time. To add more to this little puzzle that was a magically appearing clock, there was no place for batteries or anything else. It just had the 'hour', the rest was sealed.

"It feels like cotton, but I knocked on it and sounds like metal." Olivia grunted as she used her nails on the sides. Despite showing junctions, there was no space for anything in those areas "Pretty sturdy too, since I got slightly angry and almost trashed it against the floor. It didn't look affected at all."

"Way to appreciate a 'gift'" Alexander mocked.

"But it is not a gift, is it?" His sister just flipped him off "You would have been watching over me even if I kicked you in the nuts to see if I liked it, so if you weren't there to try and hug the fuck out of me, this is not yours." She frowned for a moment "Besides, you don't like My Little Pony"

"It is not that I don't like the cartoon, I like cartoons." Something Alexander wouldn't admit in public "But I like some conflict, alright? I do not seek all that drama or tragedy or such things, but a story needs a bit of that to go forward, and all that happens in the series is... fluffy." Alexander groaned at the memory "The worst thing that happened was that guy you mentioned, the minotaur... Tirek, was it?" Olivia nodded, eyes a bit dreamy. Figures "The guy was an idiot as big as a house, a three story tall house at least, much like every other villain."

"It is a little girl's show." Olivia groaned at the more than extinguished argument. This fire had been doused many times that she could count "Seriously!"

"Whine all you want, but I cannot relate to anything that doesn't seem a bit realistic you know?" Alexander scoffed as his sister flipped him off once more "I mean, I have seen a lot of kids' cartoons, and those from the nineties had people KILLED. Modern cartoons are so soft you could bounce bullets away with them, but if you show one cartoon with these characters, their personalities and all of this so well constructed, then make the villains look at least capable! Make problems that don't have to do with a party gone wrong! Or at least do me a solid one and show someone with real problems."

"Like Trixie and her dru..." Olivia faked a cough before going on "... power addiction?"

"Hey, that is a pony and episode I could like." He nodded at the thought "Yea, that one could be fine."

"Why must you want something like that? Equestria is a place for fun, games, understanding, acceptance and all that jazz. Why should it have something bad?" Olivia could just not get her brother when it came to this. Why was he so damn hard to please?! "Seriously, what does a pony need to get you to like them? Do we really need a Trixienator V2.0?"

Alexander chuckled as he thought about that. He did remember Trixie, his sister loved the first episode she appeared in, and he had to admit that the ursas were nice monsters "Double barreled shotgun or no deal" He grinned "But at least Trixie is a danger, even by accident, and she had problems that didn't just have to do with something that could be solved with a few hugs and magic."

"Whatever." Olivia decided to sweep that topic under the rug "Now, who could have left this if it wasn't your doing?" She patted the clock.

Alexander noticed that all the numbers switched at once and a completely new set of them appeared, only to change once more. For some reason the last number to the left caught his attention. It was a four.

The thing quickly cycled though, and another set of numbers were shown, then another, the original one, though it had counted down a little. That number did seem to be blinking though. While most of these clocks had red or green as far as he had seen, that one shined blue, while the rest of the numbers shown were of a more usual red, at least for now.

His mind was fucking with him, time to change sides and give his sister some ideas "Maybe one of your brony buddies snuck around and dropped it off for you?" He grinned at the mention, making Olivia flinch "Or are you still avoiding them because a couple found girlfriends?"

"You have no right to call me picky." She growled under her breath.

"Did I call you picky? No, I told you to get some girl, coma, friendssssssss." It was incredible how childish the two could be at their age, but it is true that some people don't grow up "Not a 'girlfriend', I meant girl, friends. You keep going for guys only to get screwed."

"And you keep looking for Twi'Lek and Togruta porn every two fucking days, at best." Olivia harrumphed, lifting her head to give him an uppity look "You don't have any rights whatsoever to judge me and my likes."

"Hey, togrutas and twi'leks are hot, more than the gamorreans you seem to like for some fucking reason." Alexander shuddered. For all his time on the net there was not enough acceptance in his mind as far as a gamorrean went "But I meant it."

"Fuck you."

"Ten foot metal rod? No thank you." Alexander gave his sister a grin "Look, Olivia, I don't give a flying rat's ass if you want to get your ass plowed every other week, okay? If I could keep a relationship past the first month with my dexterity as it is, I may have something to say about your own flings."

"Last girl h ad to go to the hospital because you almost broke her legs trying to carry her bridal style." For all her seriousness at those words, Olivia was trying not to laugh. Shame too, because she had liked that one girl "Out of the ones you could fuck up, no pun intended, you had to mess it with the one that I managed to tolerate. I would say you win plus one internets, but you know what? Fuck you once more."

"Yea, every time you say 'fuck you' I hear 'fuck me'" Olivia blushed furiously as Alexander said those words "And that is the problem: You are hornier than I. I made friends with the girls I tried to date, you get one night stands and then you are angry because they don't work out."

"So what are you proposing I do?" The blush was gone and now Olivia felt angry once more.

"Go meet your buddies once more, fuck, bring them over tomorrow and have a meeting downstairs." This, Olivia noted, was said after a pause a few seconds too long "In fact I think that is a very good idea since we will not be leaving the building for a while."

Olivia paused for a second "Why the fuck would I stay here, bored out of my skull, for a few days? We don't go out much, but I have a few things I want to do next week."

"Well, I told you that something came up." Alexander crossed his arms with a grimace quickly forming on his face "Or better say that she appeared out of fucking thin air and is staying at my room, knocked out cold, it seems."

Olivia had her hands over her face in a moment "What the fuck did you do?"

"I swear I didn't touch a fucking thing this time." Alexander grimaced at the confidence her sister had on him "You know that the only things that stay here..."

"Are the ones that survive your fucking butter fingers. Yes, yes I know" Olivia quickly waved it off "But this time we are talking about a woman that you say 'appeared' out of nothingness."

"I wouldn't call her a woman..." That instantly got a glare from Olivia "It is not what you think. Come with me, but keep it down."

You know how the human ear can't catch certain levels of sound? You should, it is basic knowledge, and if you didn't then you would wonder why Olivia was doing some kind of 'squee' that was impossible to be heard since it was either so high or low pitched that a few dogs around the neighborhood started howling. Luckily it seemed that the blue mare donning a baker's apron didn't register it either, otherwise she would wake up and be freaked out beyond belief.

Normally you'd see part of the brothers' personality by their rooms, and at this point in time it was very important to know why.

Olivia's room was full of plushies, comics, games and magazines. You didn't need to search for long to find some toys either, and not only the 'special' kind, but also literal toys from her younger years and toys that don't even have a whole year behind their backs. Paired with brightly colored walls that would hurt your eyes, and brain, you could see her usual demeanor pretty well transcribed to her own private space that was cluttered with everything she could get her hands on.

Alexander's room? Devoid of almost any shit. It was as spartan as it could get, and then some. Computer, bed, nightstand, clock, bathroom on the side and a single table for the aforementioned computer, thanks, don't come again. It spoke volumes of how he could keep few things alive, be it books, jewelry, gaming systems or anything else. He tried to paint his room once, then he had to ask a friend to do it for him while he cleaned his whole body, the clothes and the corridor outside of his room. Yes, it was that bad.

For this reason it was easy to imagine Olivia dancing all over Alexander's room squeeing like a fucking banshee as the dogs outside chanted to her tune. Her brother had never seen her this hyped, nor had she ever managed to do such a thing like this, but on a scale that ranged from one to ten in today's 'fuck up meter', this barely scraped a three. The prancing was cute, though.

"Sis, shut the fuck up." It was a bit of a shame to see Olivia stop and turn with a pout, but better than seeing the mare wake up as startled as she could get "This is not one of those stories you read, okay? This is not one of the mane six, this is the fucking baker of Ponyville, and she was scared to hell."

"But it is a pony! She is a pony! I am so fucking happy right now!" And trust Olivia to not see the problem right in front of her.

Patience was key here, as well as a low enough voice "Olivia, she was asking for her husband when she woke up. This is not the fucking cartoon, okay?" His sister deflated quicker than he had ever seen "Let's wait until she wakes up and then we'll talk with her. However, I do want no mention of the cartoon or anything else until she is at least somewhat relaxed."

Whether she liked it or not, Olivia closed her mouth, formed a very thin line with it and exited the room to get an extra chair. Alexander's computer was a laptop, unlike his sister's, so the one chair he had was in the bathroom, just for commodity when he went out and changed his clothes (And to minimize possible holocausts). You'd see Alexander sitting on his bed whenever he was in his room, laptop ready as he browsed the internet. Whenever he went in for a search that was more 'personal', he'd move the chair within his room, otherwise? It was barren and his favorite place, and sitting location, was the comfortable plus bed occupied by Miss Cake.

That didn't mean that Alexander was about to give Olivia his one chair. It was his and his alone, plus it was fun to mess with his sister, as any brother should know.

Once that was settled and both were sitting there, probably failing miserably at not appearing creepy or dangerous to the poor mare once she woke up, the silent mood fell like a blanket over them. What was there to talk about in any case? There was a fucking colorful pony that was supposedly a fantastic creature in the sense that it came from a fucking magical world made for little ones. That show, ironically, appealed maybe more to adults than kids, fuck demographics, right?

Now that he thought about it, Miss Cake did look cartoony. Do not get me wrong: She had fluff, her mane and coat weren't perfectly stylized, but she looked, well, colorful in a not exactly 'real' kind of way. She sincerely looked like a cartoon, and with this Alexander meant that she looked a bit too perfect, plus she also had the big eyelids that came associated with those 'bug eyes' a la Power Puff Girls that he couldn't help but consider cute for some damnable reason. It didn't look right to him, but at the same time, it gave off the impression that she had to look that way. Maybe it was the magic these ponies had? Because in all seriousness, at the moment Alexander was about to say 'fuck it' and accept magic as factual since there was no possible explanation for this.

Thing was that usually there was a good reason for these things when it came to those stories, or so Olivia said. Alexander was a big Star Wars nut, and he wished that it had ended a long time ago, much like The Simpsons, but it still went on with official backing, which had made the quality plummet. Ponies now were driven by fan creations that were, usually, quite good if his sister was to be believed.

'What was truth and what was fiction?' That question drilled itself deep within Alexander's mind and he had to ask himself that time and time again as the pair waited. How many things from the show were accurate? What had been hidden to make children like the cute cartoons? What things had the fans done right? Nothing could be answered unless Cup Cake woke up and was willing to talk without freaking out.

That part was very, very important, and Alexander didn't mean just the answering, but the sanity maintaining part. Were humans known in their world? Was Earth known, at all, back there? Did ponies or humans go back and forth? These questions floated around his mind as Alexander wondered just what kind of thing had managed to drag a pony to human lands when most stories were labeled as... HiE? Yea, Human in Equestria, if he remembered what Olivia told him without botching things up. When it came to ponies on Earth though, it usually was because Twilight had fucked up or something similar. If that was the case, which didn't need to be true, would Miss Cake break down or would she be calm and collected about it all?

Alexander was about to ask Olivia about her opinion on that matter when Miss Cake stirred at last. It had been maybe an hour of waiting, tension eating away at them, with their imagination occupying their minds to the point where time went by like a snap of the fingers, but neither brother had taken notice of it at all.

Olivia was far less nervous than Alexander though, and she was quick to get up and put her chair away while trying her best to contain her excitement. Alexander just relaxed against the wall with his own chair, trying to appear as tranquil as non threatening as possible, which probably was not much considering that he was almost twice the size of Miss Cake and built more like a trooper than a baker, unless you count those bakers that do all the shit by themselves and end up buffed to hell.

"Ugh... my head." Her voice was as soft as both Alexander and Olivia remembered, though there was something off about it "C-Carrot? Carrot where are you?"

"Sorry, miss, your husband is not here."

Alexander felt as if something was torn apart within himself as he said those words. To see Cup Cake open her eyes in an instant, fear rising within them as she noticed where she was, made him feel worse than ever. He had done a few stupid things in his life, he had fucked a few people over, though most of them were by accident, and yet he had never felt so bad as he was feeling right now with a mare about to cry right in front of him.

"W-w-where am I?" Cup Cake almost chocked as she tried not to cry "What are... what are you going to do with me?"

"You are on Earth, the United States of America, Connecticut to be more precise." Alexander droned for a moment while his sister's gushing died down and concern replaced her smile "You appeared on my bed a few hours ago, asked for your husband and passed out."

For a moment, Cup Cake was shocked. Where was Earth? What were the creatures talking to her? How they knew Carrot was her husband? She opened her mouth a few times to ask questions, yell, scream or simply sob, but nothing came out.

"Miss Cake." Olivia had by now abandoned her previous happy and carefree mood, turning almost maternal and highly concerned as she saw how the mare reacted "We know a few things about ponies, well, I know more about your kind than my brother, Alexander." She placed a hand on Alexander's shoulder as she said that, still going slowly and carefully with her words "My name is Olivia, and as you can guess, we already know yours. I can start by telling you that we are humans, but anything else you want to know, you will have to ask."

"How... how do you know my name?" Miss Cake bit her lip as she looked at both brothers with a worried face. She wanted to go back to Carrot, to her children, but at the moment it was best to try and remain calm, something she was failing already "And what else do you know about me?"

Olivia looked at his brother. Alexander looked back. If Cup Cake wanted to know it was better to be truthful about it. This probably would literally make her brain overload, but lying would do more harm than good.

"Well, you see..." And simply put, from Olivia's perspective, either way was going to hurt like hell. This route just made the pain come and go quicker "In here there is a cartoon show with the adventures of the mane six?"

Cup Cake blinked a few times.

"What?"

"It is called My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic." Olivia began her little explanation "It begins with Twilight in Canterlot, before she goes to Ponyville for the first time and meets with the ones that would become her best friends" She muttered something about leaving some of her old friends behind, but that was Twilight being Twilight back in the day "Then everything from defeating Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, reforming Discord, defeating Tirek, etc."

Cup Cake seemed unable to talk as she stared at Olivia as if she had suddenly changed into a massive hydra, such was the surprise, so Olivia went on with her little tale.

"There were also many other minor things shown; from the parasprite invasion to Gilda's visit, many of Twilight's little mishaps, the resurrection of King Sombra, many of Equestria's festivities and other minor problems and 'adventures' that the girls, or some other ponies, went through" Olivia grimaced as she thought about what she was about to say next "One of the episodes was about you and your newborn foals"

Something suddenly cracked inside Cup Cake's mind as she heard that.

"M-my children... my Carrot... we... we are a cartoon show? For foals? A cartoon show that follows Twilight?" This was more than enough to make Miss Cake's eyes water once more "And now I am in an alien world? Away from them? Away from those I love and care for? Why? What did I do to deserve this!?"

Alexander had predicted the breakdown, and even Olivia, whom had thought this would have ended much better, was not wholly surprised on how messed up the situation had turned out to be.

Here she was, Miss Cake, alone in a new world, far away from home. Alexander knew she had gone for her husband, she had said as much, and so he had told Olivia. Why had she gone out for him? They didn't know that, but a mother away from her loved ones was a ticking bomb and that was reason enough to go gentle with her. She had asked though, and as such it was better to be brutally honest, otherwise it would have done far worse damage than this. But what to do about here now?

Cup Cake was hugging herself in place, trying to pull away until she hit the bed's headboard. She sent the bed sheets, the pillow and anything she could kick, flying with such strength that it hurt when the damn pillow hit Alexander square on the face. Her crying was partially muffled as she tried to say something, which in turn came out as sobs, thank god. While it was horrible of Alexander to think in such a way, it was much better than full blown screaming or crying that could attract the few people that lived close to the bakery. That one would be a problem without remedy.

Olivia made an attempt towards the poor broken mare, but Alexander made sure to stop her and shake his head, whispering to her sister to let Cup Cake vent. At this point in time she had taken such a shock that trying to help would be stupidity worthy of legends, because their fellow baker could very well break bones with ease, and the distress she was suffering would make it easy for her to lash out.

Alexander felt as if he was one of the biggest assholes on the planet too. While Olivia probably felt bad because she was seeing one of the characters she loved break down in real life, Alexander thought back on that little comment when he said that these guys never had any real problems. True that he thought this probably was almost normal occurrence, what with how much fanfiction is out there, but to be shown that Cup Cake was literally breaking in front of him as if someone had told her she was about to lose everything she loved? In part it had been what had happened, yea, but it was not a sure thing, and Alexander honestly hope she could get back, now even more than he did before

It took her a good fifteen minutes until she calmed down at all, and by then she looked about to keel over with how disheveled her general appearance had become. Her mane was wrecked, her coat was fluff poking out everywhere and her cheeks were wet to the point of comparing her to a dog that just got out of the tub. In truth a dog would have ended up looking better, at least much happier, that is for sure.

Once it was done Olivia didn't dare get close to Cup Cake. She was looking forlorn, gazing down at the bed, lost in her little world, with no more tears in her eyes and with a mix of sadness and just plain anger that she had never thought possible when Olivia thought of the character of Miss Cake. In real life things weren't always cute and friendly. This was not a nice story with an outright happy end from beginning to finish. This was a very human like reaction to being screwed over to the point of no return, probably made worse if Alexander was right and ponies basically required other ponies to just be well.

Weirdly enough, at least for Alexander, he was the one to get up and approach the unresponsive mare. It just felt wrong to leave her there, though he had to admit that there was possibly not a chance in hell for him to comfort her in any way shape or form, but this felt like it was his fault somewhat. He knew he hadn't done whatever brought her here, but he had wanted someone that felt real to connect with the show, didn't he? Well, he had his fucking wish, and all it took was a mental break that had nothing to do with Twilight losing her marbles! Good job, hero, you fucked it up, we don't need a villain to mess the world anymore, so we have them the day off.

So it wasn't his fault, big deal. He felt like crap and he wasn't delusional enough to think the world revolved around him in any way, shape or form, but he still felt like crap and that was it. A big factor to take into account was his sister and her distress, and while they verbally lashed at each other, or physically fought for fun, having her sad was something that hurt him in a way that could hardly be explained, as any decent brother or sister could tell you. Adding that to the guilt felt for his stupid wishes for a 'relatable' pony, he didn't find it as scary to be the one to approach Cup Cake.

When he sat besides the mare, the fear came quite quick.

The looks he gave him was full of hurt, and the shine he had seen in all ponies was gone. It was as if you looked at an anime character and found the partially dulled or grayed out eyes, as if you saw a person that just couldn't focus on anything, with an empty gaze looking at whatever, their focus lost somewhere no one could ever follow. That was how it felt when Cup Cake turned her head just enough to glance at him. It was as if she didn't care about anything at the moment, which was quite possible.

"I know this was probably not the best way to tell you, well, anything." That made the mare snort, though she didn't do much other than that "But there was no good way of bringing it up. We could have waited and made things worse, or said it outright and deal with the shock. The third option was lying." And that one was more than a mistake.

"What am I going to do?" Cup Cake ended up resting her whole body on the bed, sniffling as she let her head fall between her hooves "Where will I go? I am far away from home, from my family... And you are telling me that I am no more than a cartoon."

"Look, it is true that you and the other ponies appeared in that cartoon." Alexander went ahead and dared place a hand on the poor baker's neck. The effect was... surprising.

Instead of jolt and slam her hoof on his face, which he expected, Cup Cake seemed to relax as he gently touched the back of her neck. He made sure to be gentle, slow and, more than anything, evade any kind of pressure, sudden movements or anything that made her simply squirm. Just in case he didn't go either higher or lower, he just massaged her nape just a bit. It managed to get a sigh out of her if nothing else.

"But if you are here, then that means your world is real, doesn't it?" Cup Cake's ears had been splayed back, something that, if Alexander remembered right, meant sadness to some extent. They quickly perked as he said those words "If it is real, then I suppose Celestia and the other princesses are real then. Sooner or later they should be ready and they would pick you up. The only thing we need to do is keep calm, make sure no one sees you, and ensure you are safe"

Cup Cake's mood improved as she raised her head "That... that is right! Princess Celestia will send help sooner or later, I am sure of it!" She smiled once more, though her eyes were still sad "B-but... I don't feel right here... Something is wrong."

Alexander frowned, looking at his sister for a clue about what Miss Cake meant. Olivia did pick on it quickly enough "There is no magic here, I think." The effect on Cup Cake's mood was instantaneous, as she deflated quickly "Or maybe there is a little? I know unicorns are the ones boasting about magic and all, but can't earth ponies feel it too?"

Miss Cake nodded slowly "Yes, yes we can, it is something that is everywhere around us, so we can indeed notice it, or the lack of it in this case." She bit her lower lip for a moment "But there is... there is some magic around. It is... it is like an extra sense? I don't feel it too well, as you say that is what unicorns are best at, but I know there is magic. It just feels weak, so, so weak."

"At least there is magic, though I doubt any creature from your world would be able to use it here like they could in Equestria." Alexander did wonder about the limits though. What could they do if they tried? "That may mean that it will take some time for the princesses to bring you back, but they will, I am sure of that." He did keep rubbing her neck though. Mind wandering to magic or not, it seemed to relax her a lot, so he wasn't about to stop "But we must make sure no one knows you are here, just in case."

"Why?" Cup Cake turned to face Alexander again "Are there bad humans out there?"

Alexander nodded slowly "A few, fewer than there were before. Someone tried to do something quite bad a few years ago and it scared the whole world. Now most laws have been revised and hardened a bit, but as far as you are an honest person there is nothing you have to worry about." He gave the pony a gentle and sincere smile "But humans are afraid of things they can't understand, and having a pony suddenly appear... They could try and discover how it happened, and in their haste they could do something we all would regret later, so I prefer we keep you away from any windows or the outside for the time being."

Cup Cake grimaced but nodded "I suppose the same could happen if a human appeared in Equestria. I think there were myths about something similar to you, maybe books? I am not sure, though a popular shape for cookies has your general shape." She scratched her head for a second, trying to remember. What she got was a massive headache that made her scrape that idea quickly enough "My head is killing me, I hate crying." She sighed, feeling defeated once more "But today has been just plain awful..."

"Would you..." The mare looked up to Olivia as she began talking. She was pretty sure of what the younger sister would be asking, and wasn't keen on answering, but cutting her would be beyond rude after her past reaction "Would you mind telling us why you were out searching for your husband? Alexander said you had been asking for him when you woke up, and you called for him again while you stirred awake. I am sorry if it bothers you, but maybe it has something to do with why you got here?"

Polite or not, Cup Cake was not up for such discussions "I am sorry. I know I may have... overreacted a bit." Neither brother thought she had, but they said nothing "But I would prefer to not discuss that topic today. I have been asleep for long, I feel it, but I would still like some more rest, if that is alright." Alexander made sure she saw his nodding "Maybe... maybe tomorrow, but not now."

"Understandable." Alexander got up, noticing how Miss Cake groaned at having the hand removed from her neck. It seemed that contact was practically a necessity for ponies, at least for distressed ones, and taking it away wasn't a smart idea "This is my room, but the kitchen is spacious enough and I can rest there. Only hall has windows up here, the rest of the rooms lack them, so I can start making myself another room in the storeroom we have up here."

"It is only a store room because you didn't want to use it for anything else." Olivia half whispered, but one look at Alexander basically said 'not now' "At least it will see some use now, and for a good cause."

"Oh no, no, no! I can't ask to take your room." Cup Cake was quick to look up at Alexander. She wasn't about to abuse whatever hospitably she was given after her little breakdown "I can use whatever you can spare, I don't want to impose more than I am already."

"There is no problem, I assure you" Alexander smiled at the worried mare "I have slept in worse conditions." She didn't remove her frown at the idea though "But if you are so worried about it, then you can come with me to the room tomorrow, after breakfast, and we can see how you'd like to have that room fitted. Since we don't know how long you will stay it would be better to prepare from something that could range from a few days to maybe a few months." He was quick to add more as Cup Cake seemed ready to cry again "Not saying it will take that long, but I would prefer to make your stay as comfortable as I could."

Miss Cake bit her lip, but in the end she nodded. If she was going to stay here for a long period of time, and if he offered, why not get comfortable? She was sure that she could find a way to repay him somehow "Thank you. I appreciate your efforts to make me feel welcome... even if this probably isn't what you expected from a pony." She chuckled bitterly at that "I... would like to know about that cartoon tomorrow, if we had time."

"We'll have time." Alexander nodded "My sister and I will be busy during the morning, but I am sure I can take a break during the afternoon since someone is going to be attending customers and talking with her friends." He turned to face his sister "Isn't that right, Olivia?"

"You are seriously going to make me call them?" Olivia huffed, grunting as Alexander nodded sharply "Fffffffff-ine." She growled, obviously going for more than a PG-13 kind of answer, but not in front of the pony, not now at least "But if those girls get on my nerves, I'll have your ass on a silver platter."

"You have mules?" Cup Cake tilted her head in confusion. Did they...?

"Look at what you did." Alexander could feel his brain groaning at the beginning of a long, long, long list of shit that should be explained "Not an hour and we already messed up twice." He let out a sigh and explained as shortly and gently as he could "Ass is what we call our 'flanks'... Did I use the term right?" His sister nodded "Yea, that. Also buttocks, rear, etc. Ass is the more, eh, 'direct' way of reference, since it is what most people call it anyway."

"Oh, okay... But why did you say you had messed up twice?" Cup Cake was still confused, and her expression showed it.

"Because we are going to need to explain a lot of things, but it should be done tomorrow." Alexander groaned internally as he thought of just how much fun that was going to be "For now I think we should let you calm down and relax as much as you want."

"My brother and I both have a small bathroom connected to our rooms." Olivia directed Cup Cake's attention to the only door other than the exit "I doubt we have what you are used to, and I am not sure how well you can clean yourself while alone, but you may want to have a shower just to relax."

Miss Cake looked a bit grim as she was reminded that she was alone, but this time she just swallowed whatever she was going to say and nodded "Yes, yes I would like a quick shower if nothing else." She sighed, quickly removing her apron, leaving it down on the bed "I have... I have much to think about."

Alexander gave her a nod as he opened the door to go outside, signaling for his sister to make herself scarce too "If you need anything at all, do call us. The place was made for a larger family, but it never got its full capacity used, so we are pretty close by."

"Will do." The mare nodded, approaching the bathroom door and opening it with ease despite Alexander's fears at how impossible it should be to open it with hooves "Thanks once more."

Alexander nodded as the mare gave him the briefest of looks. He couldn't help but feel a little better, and he didn't know why. She seemed to like his touch, or at least it had helped her get in a better, or more relaxed if nothing else, mood. The show almost always showed ponies close together, even those that seemed to thrive with isolation. Hell, even Twilight had friends before she moved to Ponyville, though she didn't have much contact with them. It was obvious that ponies required each other a lot, and that was the only thing that saved his face from breaking under pressure, but he was unable to bear the sight of Miss Cake broken.

"Well, the day has really turned out as something special, eh?" Olivia grimaced. What she had just seen was not what she expected "I... suppose I could call my friends. I think I need a little challenge to get my mind off this."

"You do that." Alexander's face was serious, not a smidge of a smile on his lips "We need to make sure everyone sees things as normal. I don't want to think about what could happen if someone found out about Miss Cake, and I don't know what else happened alongside her appearance."

Olivia's worries grew as her brother said that "What do you mean?"

"Magic was supposed to be myth, ponies were supposed to be cartoons. What else has been messed up now that she is here? Why did it happen?" The older brother rubbed his face in exasperation. This was too much shit for one single and simple day "For all I know that fucking clock has something to do with it, which wouldn't surprise me."

"That is why you want to sleep in the kitchen? You want to check on the clock?" In any other situation this would've been stupid and funny. Right now the worry seemed so real that it worried Olivia "Don't scare me, brother. This is not funny, nor is it as cute as I would have expected."

"Of course it fucking isn't'!" Alexander hissed, anger finally flaring. Olivia took a step back as her brother's temper reared its ugly head "I didn't think I would get what I wanted when I saw I wished for a pony that could appear to be real in my eyes! Look at what it did! Miss Cake broke down in front of us and all we could do was fuck with her mind some more!" He forced himself to shut up and take a long drawn breath "Look... I don't know about you, but my stomach is not up for eating, and I doubt I will be hungry, at all, today. Let's be on our own, let's calm down, and tomorrow we can talk things."

"Y-yea... let's do that" Olivia's nod came too quick and too sharp "See you tomorrow, brother."

Cup Cake wasn't sure as to how long she had stared at nothingness under the hot water. It took her some time to find the will to simply clean herself, though it would be a lie to say that the wound of water raining around her and on top of her didn't help. She wasn't a pony that liked the rain in excess, but she knew how therapeutic a shower could be, or hot water in general, thanks to Aloe, Vera and Lotus.

Thinking back to the spa ponies brought the little discussion she had with them last time. When were they going to get a mate of their own? There was no secret when it came to the sister, and their cousin, being together, nor did the spa ponies try to hide it much, or at all, but they had commented how lucky Miss Cake was to have her husband always at her side, so Cup Cake was more than worried about the reasons behind the three mares' reluctance to have a male mate when they wanted it so much.

That, of course, brought Carrot once more, as well as the kids.

Carrot... What was he going through right now? What was he thinking? Did anypony notice she wasn't around? Did somepony see her disappear? There was no one around the area, it was a slow day after all, and many had gone out of town to visit relatives, even Applejack had decided to take her family out for a change. For all she knew, her family was unaware of her disappearance.

Her mind would have been assaulted by nightmares just by such thoughts, but to be told what she now knew? It felt nauseating, as if this was nothing more than a bad dream she wanted to wake up from, but she was pretty sure that such luck would be far away from her grasp. A cartoon... a simple cartoon...

But then again, there were theories about multiverses, right? It was one topic that Twilight entertained a lot, and she had enjoyed talking to Pound and Pumpkin about it. True, the foals would not understand, but they were enraptured with Twilight simply by her talking, and Cup Cake was not one to avoid a moment of respite during parties and other duties with how many ponies wanted her business nowadays. She hadn't heard much, and she didn't understand as much as other ponies would, but it was something.

If nothing else, that at least meant that, yes, the princesses would find her, somehow, sooner or later. She knew it would probably be later, and she had many questions about how it would work out, but there was no time, nor space in her head, for her to worry about that now. She had to first calm down, find how to help around here second, and get used to the new environment third.

She had slipped and she had broken down, but who wouldn't? Who could maintain a strong front when presented with her actual problems? That was a good question and she didn't know anypony that could be perfectly fine with this. The princesses? They could surely show a neutral, strong or maybe solid facade if they were together, but if they were to be sent separately? If it was Twilight the one to traverse between universes? If Cadance was ripped away from Shining Armor?

Cup Cake had few doubts about how grim things would look for those mares, or any other pony. This was not something pretty.

At least she could say that she was lucky in a sense. The two humans had been brutally upfront, maybe a bit more than she would've wanted, but they hadn't lied to her, which she could appreciate if nothing else. The brother had allowed her to sleep on his bed, he had given his whole room in fact, and hadn't done much more than relax her with that touch of his.

The thought of that hand over her neck made her shiver as she rested on Alexander's bed. Carrot knew she liked it very much when he nuzzled her there, or when he massaged it with her hooves. For many earth ponies the most sensitive area was their hooves, the frog specifically, since that was the area that channeled their inherent magic. Most ponies also had sensitive ears and tails, but everypony was different and Cup Cake's own little spot was her neck. She felt dirty thinking about it, but at least it had made her relax somewhat when Alexander got the courage to approach and try to give her a friendly talk.

Shaking the thoughts away from her mind, Cup Cake focused on something else. Namely, she focused on magic.

Back home she was not too good at that, in fact she was pretty much non magically adept as far as earth ponies go. She was dexterous, quick thinking and very capable in the kitchen, as well as a charismatic mare and a very easy to talk pony, but magical? Cup Cake would've snorted in any other situation, but right now even her unused senses for magic were flaring with even the tiniest of signals.

This world lacked magic, but at the same time, magic was the basic essence of life. In school they had shown that the more technology, the less magic, and that was why 'magitech' was used instead of normal technology. Even the industrious minotaurs preferred a more barbaric and ancient way of life, minus some youngsters vent on amassing riches. Mana crystals mixed with contraptions created magitech, and it could make from automated carts to the trains everypony knew. Even with that it was impossible for Cup Cake to notice strong magic fields because magic permeated everything back home. Here? Here Cup Cake could feel magic, but it was so dim it was painful.

She could feel there was something surrounding the building... more or less? It was as if she could see the building, sense it in a way, surrounded by something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Instinctively it made her fear whatever it was, as if it could hurt her, as if she was meant to stay inside, but it made her want to run so much more than she would be willing to admit at the same time. It was something safe, but also dangerous, and she didn't like it.

Alexander? Alexander felt... right, somehow. It was as if he had more magic than he should, but at the same time it was as if he had something akin to a pony as far as the feeling went. Cup Cake had dealt with many different species, and while it was hard to tell with magic always around, it was an instinctive thing to 'feel' when someone was different, unless they could mask themselves, as changelings did. Humans probably couldn't do that, unless the pair had lied to her, and Cup Cake was sure they hadn't, she was just sure of it. It was for that reason that, while it felt right, she questioned why Alexander was like he was when it came to that magic feeling if they said magic didn't exist here.

If humans thought magic wasn't real, then that meant they would not know it was part of everything that was alive. That just meant they couldn't feel, or use, magic, so it would hardly cling to them other than to keep them alive, if she remembered her lessons correctly of course. If she had to bring her inner Twilight, then that analysis would end up in a simple answer: Alexander should not feel like a pony when it came to the magic surrounding him, but Cup Cake hadn't felt been around another normal human being.

What of Olivia? Well, Olivia also felt... weird, and in this case Cup Cake meant weird.

Alexander felt like a pony, which simply meant he had magic within him in some way, more than any passive creature, like a dog, a bird or even a bear. Olivia felt like she was utterly charged with the stuff! It was similar to how Cup Cake felt the first time she was close to one of the little unicorn fillies back when she was a filly herself: Powerful, dizzy, enthralling and a bit nauseating, all in one. It was as if there was a magical vortex around Olivia, but she didn't seem much different when compared to her brother.

Did humans have different magic fields around them? Cup Cake basically forgot about them, as they were part of her daily life, and just went with appearance more than magic fields when it came to identifying the species of her customers. Most creatures did the same, though a few specialized ones went more with the flow of magic than anything else when it came to 'sense' things.

Speaking of sensing, there was something very strange within the building. She could feel it, in this same floor, not too far away in fact, but Cup Cake wasn't sure what it was. It felt wrong, literally wrong. This was not 'weird', this was not 'different', this was wrong; as if somepony had let Twilight loose after she learned that there she had a test in five minutes and she hadn't studied for it. That would have ended Ponyville faster than Celestia could drink her tea.

Cup Cake chuckled, albeit tiredly. Thinking back to anything silly or funny would hardly help her now, but if she had to chose between keeping this serious and depressing, knowing that the princesses would do all they could to bring her back, would only deliver a very sad and angry Cup Cake back to her husband once things all was said and done. That was the one thing she didn't want happening.

Between the weird feeling that was sensing magic once more as if she was a filly, as if the world was once more new, a sensation she relished, only to have it soured once she knew WHY it happened, and being in a place where she could be the only pony alive right now, Cup Cake was torn. There were reasons to be excited, after all this was a new world, but many more were screaming at her to flee or have a real mental break that would make everything fine once more. By fine her mind basically mean lose it and pray to recover whenever Celestia brought her back. It would be a short run, but it would make her gamble her sanity.

There was a silver lining to this, and it was the one thing that had made her keep calm. It wasn't all these distractions with her silent thoughts as she looked at the ceiling of the room, no, the silver lining was much more simple than occupying her brain with whatever thoughts came to her.

Her heat would be harmless.

Here she was, in a land without ponies, far away from her family and those she cared about. It hurt, it hurt so much... but it also meant no ponies. She could have her heat, she could let it pass, and maybe next year something could be done with Carrot, maybe some magic, a favor from Twilight, ANYTHING. She would not need to cheat on Carrot, she could suffer alone without hurting her husband and she would endure another year without her dream coming any closer to fruition.

It bothered her that, despite her breakdown and her situation, her mind was fixated on having children. She knew she was young, she wasn't even over fifty, that was still a few years away, and even then no pony got biologically fixed until they reached one hundred fifty or more. These instincts, these desires, would haunt her for a long time, and her dream of a big family didn't help.

But yes, there was not a chance for her heat to mess things in here. Even if everypony else believed she had gone to another city to get a stallion they would be wrong, and she would prove them wrong. Carrot could not provide her with what she wanted, but she was going to remain loyal to him, it is what he'd want and what she wanted above all else.

Wasn't it? He wanted her happy, but how could he be happy if she dragged another stallion to the family? Carrot wasn't the most possessive male, but he had only one mare he loved, he didn't like almost any other mare beyond friends, or friends with benefits at best, and in most cases he was much happier when Cup Cake suggested bringing another male because he had more physical attraction to them. But to bring a male just interested in Cup Cake? That would hurt Carrot, and she wasn't going to do it.

In the end, despite the pain, this could be a small gift, and that was what made her smile, even if it was a very small one. She would remain as she was, even if there was some unhappiness mixed with their marriage, it was just because one simple thing that didn't need to be fixed. Cup Cake loved her children and, while she wanted more, she would not hurt Carrot just to satisfy her desire for a larger family.

She would NEVER hurt Carrot. If there was not an equal trade, then it was not done.

It would never be done, and she clung to that as the saving grace from all this. Whatever else could come from this would be found when the two humans told her how she could help. Going in circles in her mind would help her along just so much, and sleeping for a whole day could be done, once, but tomorrow she would be restless, she knew it as she closed her eyes for the night.

Alexander couldn't believe how easy it had been for Olivia to calm down. It had been hours away, but she had told him she was going to pick her headphones and play some games, or hear some music, but she wasn't going to be around for long before going to bed. Hell, she hadn't even insulted him or told him that she was going to use one of her toys tonight. Back in the day that would've been TMI, but nowadays it was necessary if he wanted to get his earplugs and sleep. They probably were used to worse from each other, after all this one house had freedom, unlike back with their parents, so at least they could enjoy themselves however they wanted.

You wouldn't see Olivia complaining with how many girls Alexander brought until the he fucked up with the last one. She would complain after they were gone, though.

In any case, whether Olivia had really relaxed and managed to take it better than Alexander had, he was still worried. Partly it was because he feared his sister was faring worse than she showed, partly because he feared for Ms Cake and her sanity, and partly because he didn't know why the clock had changed once more to the blue marked number.

It had been cycling a few times, and Alexander had noticed that the blue marked number stayed at four, for now, but the other two sets also had different colors once he paid enough attention. Well, it wasn't that he paid more attention to them, it was that they all but called to him as they flashed with purpose whenever the clock decided to change its tune and show another set of numbers.

There was the original set, which showed a very prominent double zero in bright orange lights. He hadn't noticed at first, but it was blinking now, and it had a sense of foreboding to it that he didn't exactly like.

The other one was yellow, and it had basically popped up only once more, a few minutes ago in fact. It stayed for a moment and showed a single one while the rest of the numbers tickled down bit by bit, second by second. That one was worrying, almost as bad as the original number. It felt as if something really bad could happen when it turned from one to zero, but Alexander didn't know what, or why, it would be.

After he had seen them both the numbers came back to the blue marked counter. It was at that time that he noticed that the countdown had changed: It was ticking down to mark an hour.

The hour in question was 24:00 on point.

He had checked a few times, but with his trusty computer by his side, and the online clock marking the hour with pinpoint accuracy, there was no margin for a mistake here. What would happen when it reached the marked hour? Alexander wasn't sure, but there was a sense of insecurity and curiosity as the last minute clicked, second by second, until the last ten were shown.

10... 9... 8... 7... It was in those last seconds that Alexander had a bit of an epiphany. What if this meant that Celestia was about to get Cup Cake back? It would be great!... Wouldn't it? The thought brought a very sour taste to his mouth and some modicum of anger to his mind. Why would it feel bad to have such thoughts? Miss Cake had to go back to her family.

He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts. Maybe it just felt bad because he still felt stupidly responsible for this mess? It was a feeling that just didn't want to go away, and it told him to help Cup Cake feel better. He didn't know how, and despite going back on his word about not going to accommodate the pony's every wish, as he felt more compelled to do it now, he wasn't sure about how he could help Cup Cake other than giving her a room and, well, being nice.

The clock hit zero and his thoughts drifted back to reality. The numbers banished for a moment and blue letters substituted them. It was a strange message composed of a single word that Alexander understood, but could not comprehend without context

Branded.

The numbers appeared as quickly as they went away, and this time the four was missing, with a three on its place. As quickly as they appeared they changed, and the orange number at the end marked the new counter once more. It was missing a zero however, and as Alexander noticed that fact another word popped up as his eyelids became heavy and his awareness slipped.

Marked.

He wasn't sure of what he read, he only knew that he felt very, very tired all of sudden. The words that appeared within the clock would be blurred as morning came, and he would remember of the night little more than the distant memory of looking at the clock, worried, tired and hungry.

Author's Notes:

Okies, chapter 2 (Or three if you count the intro) done. Took a bit longer than expected, still fixing shit for Astro Lord, plus a few other things. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Yea, not much else to say, take care.

Chapter 3: A 'normal' day.

Waking up never felt so bad as today. What the hell had happened yesterday? That would be a nice question to ask, if Alexander's brain wasn't muddled to the point of being beyond groggy and more into simply dead territory.

He managed to get himself up from the kitchen's chair, back aching like all hell, as he ignored the droll whale on the table as well as the focus of his nightly attentions. The clock could go fuck itself as far as Alexander was concerned, if he even remembered the damn thing, because all he knew right now was that it was around seven in the morning, that he had woke up way too late and that he needed a shower right now.

A zombie would have looked graceful when you compared Alexander's wobbling to the traditional shambler. Not only was he hard pressed to not hit the kitchen's door open with his head, but he managed to knock one of the larger pictures in the hallway off with his shoulder halfway from his room. Other than acknowledged the crashing sound and the fact that he would have a bruise forming in a few moments, Alexander shrugged it off as he entered his room and headed for the bathroom, not a care in the world as he got himself undressed and into the shower.

For some reason the water didn't comfort him much that morning. Yea, he liked the warm water, like anyone accustomed to heat, as most bakers were, and he loved the feeling it left behind when he was clean, as any normal person would, but his mind was just half there today.

Everything was cloudy, as if he was in a haze that had nothing to do with drowsiness. Well, part of it he could attribute to lack of sleep, as both Alexander and Olivia went to sleep early to be up and bake enough bread in time for the earliest risers around. This wasn't just being sleepy though, it felt like the one time he went out and got so hammered he couldn't properly wake up.

This, however, was more akin to his mind purposely trying to avoid something. It happened before, when he first saw his sister, crying and angry, at his doorstep, but he couldn't place what he was trying to avoid this time around.

Instead of that, he focused on himself for some reason. Mostly, as weird as this would sound, he focused on the fact that he was alone.

Not alone as in the 'completely alone' kind of sense, he did have his sister and his buddies, but in the 'I don't have a significant other' way. He would be the first to admit that yes, his clumsiness was part of it, as the poor picture out in the hallway could attest to, as well as his shoulder, but it wasn't all. Do you know about those things that supposedly help you grow down there? Well, his first girlfriend was a size queen, and she liked the idea of a truly big man more than the person behind it.

You probably can see where this is going.

True that there were people with more than ten inches in length, a bigger girth or the like, but they would be in the same situation as Alexander: Big is not always better, in fact it is usually worse. From six to eight inches? Perfectly fine for most people. More than that and you can usually find more people that complain about pain than anything else. Less and a lot will be picky because they want some substance. It always depends on the person you are with, but in most cases Alexander got his sister's luck when it came to relationships once his tool came into view, and if it wasn't his equipment, it was his clumsiness.

Yea, thanks brain, you managed to get him depressed in record time. Then again it was easy to think about this with Mrs. Cake in the room connected to the bathroom, and maybe that one thing was responsible for his line of thought, as well as the talk with his sister yesterday.

Cup Cake was more than happily married, and now she was far away from her loved ones. How would it feel to make your own family and have someone that wouldn't dump you at the drop of a hat just because you have this or that problem?

Yes, tremble world, Alexander had seen a cute pony cry as her mind broke and he was still enough of an asshole to think she was lucky! For fuck's sake... He didn't know where that line of thought came from, but he was envious of Miss Cake and how easy she had it other than for this little happenstance. She would go back to her own world, he was sure of it, and she would have her perfect life back. She had problems now, but she was going to have it easy once more.

What brought this all up? Alexander couldn't really tell. It was as if waking up had not only messed up his brain, but also brought back the many discussions he had with his parents after he took Olivia in.

Alexander turned the water off and stayed put for a while as he thought about that. Was it the pony's fault? He found himself thinking that 'Yes, maybe' it could perfectly be the case. Despite all his blundering about, Alexander had been quite happy thinking that everything was all well and good, and now here he was, wondering why he felt so alone and why the hell was he looking back to memories he preferred to bury a few feet under.

Despite thinking that Miss Cake was partially at fault, he had to admit he had done everything to screw himself up in that regard. If he had been 'luckier' then, if Cup Cake had appeared here, then what would have happened to here? The thought of his cousin finding her, or any other member of his family, made him grimace at the possibilities that his mind formed.

It was funny though, as something like Cup Cake having a happy marriage got him down like that when it should have made him smile. He had seen the mare breaking down and, despite it being heart breaking when he thought of these characters as perfect, it had showed they were normal people, only they were ponies.

He did enough self bashing about that yesterday, but it just didn't go away in one day. Doing the same just because his mind decided to focus on what Cup Cake had and he didn't, that was a bit too low.

Right now he had time to himself and since he was already late he didn't give a damn. He had a married woman in here, with two kids, happy and eager to go back to her everyday life. Despite feeling like dirt for it, Alexander couldn't help but compare her happy existence, minus the recent events, with how both his sister and he got a life that was just... there. They weren't sad, they weren't happy, they just kept going everyday as everyone else did. There had to be something else out there, but not for them.

How sad was it that he was envying a cartoon character that had a mental breakdown the previous day? Very, very sad.

Hey, no one said he was a perfect guy, right? Perfection was a myth, you just got better and better in as many ways as you wished, or could, and that was it. He was no paragon of virtue or anything like that, he had shown it when he had said he wasn't going to help the pony with everything she wanted, until she broke down that is. If they kept her safe and happy she would go back to having no troubles and regaining her happy life.

Envy was perfectly natural, if you asked Alexander.

...

But it was also not a feeling he liked to partake in, and it would make him feel incredibly bad about himself. He wasn't the best brother, friend or son, fuck, he wasn't even a good freaking lover, he just had size on his side, and that wasn't as much as most people would make you think.

He wasn't sure why thinking about that darned clock was bringing Cup Cake into the equation alongside as many negative things as his mind could cough up. It felt wrong in so many levels, but it was still there, and he couldn't find a reasoning behind it. Was it because the clock had something to do with the ponies? It was as obvious as the sun in the sky, and it could be a reason, but at the moment Alexander just felt like he had already done enough thinking.

All he got out of being idle were negative thoughts about himself and his situation, maybe even about Mrs. Cake. He had already thought lowly of her before and his opinion got thrashed by her sobs. This time he would approach her to try and know her before he judged, that way he was sure about clearing all those nasty thoughts from his head.

With a bit of a smile on his face, and almost dry with how many spins he had forced on his brain with all these thoughts, Alexander got out of the shower and reached for a towel. He wasn't sure as to how long he had been there, but sooner or later someone was bound to come for the daily dose of bread or baked goods, so he had to either get ready and work, or forfeit today's gains. That would be a nasty surprise if he wanted some spare change to buy Olivia her gift after all.

"Oh m-my! Sweet Celestia, I am sorry!"

Speaking of surprises he didn't want, he had taken too long with his shower.

Cup Cake was there, hoof on the doorknob, eyes wide, mane wild and coat needing a heavy brushing. She had probably all but a good night of sleep, and she was most probably an early riser, like Olivia and Alexander, so it wasn't a surprise that she was up at this hour.

The surprise came when she opened the door to the bathroom and caught the muscular sight of Alexander getting out of the shower, partially wet and nude as the day he was born. Ponies didn't care about nudity much, but it was because, unless they were in heat or enticed by a mare in such state, they practically didn't show a thing. Tails helped too.

For Alexander? He may've been calm, but he wasn't exactly a grower, so his whole size was free for all to see, the same as his blush that turned his whole face red as a tomato, mimicking Cup Cake's own.

Mrs. Cake slammed the door shut and Alexander heard the bed squeaking shortly after. The mare probably was hiding under the bed sheets and Alexander could find nothing wrong with that, in fact he wanted to disappear right now. So much thinking of the baker pony had basically summoned her for some good ol' retribution on his ass.

Whelp, this was slightly off, but it was still the usual Monday.

Clothed with the usual baker getup (Why change when it is not broken?), Alexander had managed to get Cup Cake from under the bed, though the mare was still red as a tomato. The morning could indeed get much weirder and both of them could also get even more ashamed to look at each other, so he wasn't going to push his luck beyond telling her that she could get in the shower. She did wait a second, almost asking for something, but she shook her head and moved away.

Alexander thought back on the idea of how ponies couldn't exactly clean themselves alone. Whether it was simply a fan made idea, or something intended by the creators to reinforce the companionship and herding mentality, he wasn't sure, but something told him that Cup Cake wanted some help.

On a side note: Fuck that noise. Enough embarrassment had been made to last him a lifetime unless they cleared that one very crowded dust bin, and he was all for leaving that thing alone for the rest of eternity unless something important came up.

*Knock, knock*

"At least someone knows how to check for friendlies." Alexander growled under his breath. "Come in, sis."

Olivia basically barged in. She hated to wear baker's clothes simply because they made her look flat as a board no matter what she tried. It usually made her pout for the whole day. Luckily she wasn't the one to attend the customers. Today she was more like neutral than pouty, though.

"The guys are going to come by after lunch, so around three to five." She commented with a neutral tone. "I am surprised both of us got conked out like that."

"It happens." Alexander shrugged. "And yesterday was a bit hectic in a way, despite being such a slow day. If nothing else we are quite lucky since no one seems to be around, yet."

"You know we don't need to open as early every fucking day, right?" Olivia rested her back against the wall. In a hurry to get to work she wasn't. "It is summer; most people are either working and not caring about the morning bread, have picked something at the local cafe, are sleeping or were so fucking drunk that they aren't thinking about food at the moment."

"Ethics first, then we'll take it easy." Her brother resisted the urge to give her a punch somewhere. Olivia could be such a lazy ass sometimes. "Now, why did you come here?" Being curt was fair game though. "You don't visit my room unless you want to test something dangerous on my computer or you have run out of shampoo."

"It is not my fault that you are a macho man in all but your hair conditioner." Olivia poked her tongue at her brother before she procured something she had left outside the room. "And I didn't come to take, I came here to give."

"I can't believe you still have that piece of shit."

Most would've considered it a bit weird that Olivia thought the aberration (or cute piece of junk, depends on your point of view) that was the clock in the kitchen as nothing more than a failed experiment by Hasbro. They hadn't seen what the company had done before they disgruntled their fans enough to cut their losses before fucking it up even more.

The simplest things were pony clothes (Which, let me tell you, were almost spot on as far as size goes since Olivia knew the measurements) or accessories designed for smaller equines and other such things that one could consider 'normal', if you look at horses the same way you do dogs. Those were the first, and most thought that the toy company had aimed for rich kids first and foremost, since there had been quite prominent during the end of MLP:FiM. This was probably because FiM had turned to be 'the next thing' and a lot of them jumped onboard like idiots.

Sounds normal enough? Well, look at the first thing that came after those 'normal' looking things: A tablet... for ponies.

Olivia bought one of the many, many, MANY surplus tablets just for lols. They were massive, even the newer models they made before someone regained their sanity. There was a lot of controversy as to why Hasbro made such massive fuckup, but then again it could be excused, after all FiM had gone beyond expectations, even during the end of the series, even after leaving it 'open ended' (Though most thought that the show makers simply didn't know how to properly end it). Creating the next big thing was a titanic task, but Hasbro probably thought that he could push things along by making new toys and other such things that would appeal to those infatuated by ponies to the core.

You know the result, so hey, big surprise: It blew up.

The H.R.T., Hoof Recognizing Tablet, or simply 'pony tablet' (someone wanted to call it Horta or something the like, but it didn't stick), was simply unusable for humans. It was made for a whole hand, at best, and was clunky unless it was a child sized one since they were almost big enough to compare to, for example, Mrs. Cake's hooves.

That was the first strike, the second was its size. Modern tablets were quite big, mostly so everyone could have a small screen they could use as a quite advanced laptop, though it was more for books, flash games, music and work, and all of them done 'gently'. If you wanted to play the latest and most advanced games, create the greatest games or some shit like that, you still needed a very good computer. For talking it was better to have the stupidly small modern phones or use Skype or something similar.

But you know what? All of those things were small compared to this piece of junk. The pony tablet was easily as big as a computer screen, which meant that it was almost as long as Alexander's arm, and big enough to need both hands to carry it safely, not for the weight, but for the damn width so you knew where every side was at all times or you risk fucking it up.

Third strikes and you are out, but we only count two. So where is the third one? Its prize. Even now they were costlier than a normal tablet, with less functions and designed for a, not so made up, creature that would never buy it.

This thing was supposed to be a collector's item, at least it was made up that way by someone very, very, very stupid. Or maybe someone knew that the ponies did exist? Delusion or foreknowledge, either way the product was the first to bomb like a nuke, only it left no fallout, the devastation did remain though.

Points for usefulness after the fact, but it just came a tad bit early as you may guess. At least this would help keep Cup Cake entertained, so long as Olivia hadn't done something stu...

"Cookie Clicker 3!?" Sound the alarms! We are screwed. "How the fuck did you get C.C.3? It was supposed to be off the market for a few more months!"

"Oh you know... I know a guy who knows a guy..." That could literally resume Olivia in a nutshell: She knew a lot of guys. "I managed to get the finished product a bit early, and it is glorious!" Alexander would call that sinkhole of a game something different. "Not only can you make the idle stuff, but also have an active RPG and RTS element in here! You can use your baker hero to kick backed monsters in the ass, and you can also use your army of cookies to encroach on other baked goods' bases! I don't know where they got the ideas but the chocolate bunnies are scary motherbuckers..."

Alexander's left eye began twitching uncontrollably. "You played all night long, didn't you?"

"Maaaaybe?" Olivia offered a meek smile. "You got angry and stressed, it scared the buck out of me, so I tried to relax."

"Of course, of course." He groaned, eyeing his sister as she played with the massive thing. "How is it that you are playing with that piece of crap though? Your computer's down in the dumps again?"

"Dunno, just felt compelled to do it." Olivia shrugged as she scratched her ass with little to no decency. Not like decency was a big thing in this house. "I just felt quite uneasy after yesterday, so I almost smashed my laptop. Around midnight I got restless in bed, got up and found I still had this. Out of desperation, and boredom, I tried to get it to work. Ironically enough, it works better than my computer right now."

"That is because you use your computer to download so much porn that not even the song makes it funny." Though it was true: Internet is for porn. "And despite being up until who knows how late, you seem quite chipper. You are even saying 'buck' again."

"Thought it would be better to keep it PG-13 or something." His sister pointed with her eyes towards the still closed bathroom door. "We are going to need to keep her calm in as many ways as we can, so cursing up a storm like Donald Duck does when he isn't on camera, as any good sailor would, is probably only going to stress someone that has seen only cartoon violence. And I mean LITERAL cartoon violence, she lives with Pinkie after all."

"Yea, well, she is screwed in that aspect. I may have softened a bit and decided to help her anyway I can." Olivia raised a very inquisitive eyebrow at that. "But I am not going to cut the swearing down, the same way you won't stop screwing me over so you can have your fun."

"I can be a perfect lady if I want to."Olivia pointed out, just in time for her character to die in the game. "OH FUCK OFF! It was a crippled undead cookie, unfinished too! How can I get killed by a level one enemy!?"

"I will use the infinite wisdom of Shao Khan on this one." He cleared his throat and made his voice as grave as possible. "You suck."

Olivia was about to punch her brother in the face before Cup Cake opened the bathroom's door. She wasn't exactly as well kept as one would expect, as her mane and tail were still messed up, with her coat not exactly in mint condition either. Alexander didn't have anything to take proper care of equines, obviously, and Olivia hadn't bought any of those things either.

Human equipment wouldn't exactly work as intended on Mrs. Cake, and giving her anything from Olivia's room would do little better, if anything at all, than what Alexander had. It didn't look all that bad mind you, but since the other day, after she woke up and Alexander managed to have a good look, it was obvious that ponies were supposed to be almost 'perfect' as far as looks go. Maybe it was their magic, maybe it was their care and attention to detail, but having some fluff out of place looked kind of wrong in a sense, almost like one of those fluffy ponies.

"I forgot how much I dislike showering alone." Mrs. Cake grumbled under her breath. "Impossible to do myself like I want. It doesn't help that obviously your shampoo and other things aren't made for ponies." She exhaled in resignation as she walked towards Alexander's bed. "Sorry, I don't want to complain, but yesterday I didn't try to get clean, just to relax."

"This is still new, you are still getting used to things, so don't worry about some complaining." Alexander waved it off. "We have had worse people here complaining for less and being worse in general, and I do mean worse." But he wasn't going to into detail with that one, not that it mattered for anything relevant in any case. "So how do you feel today?"

"A bit ashamed?" The blush returned to the mare's face. "I am... I am sorry I barged in. I didn't hear anything when I woke up, I didn't know you were in the shower and..."

"Whut? You caught him in the shower?" Olivia had stopped gaming and was eyeing the two with a teasing smirk. "You saw his monster?" When both of them blushed something fierce Olivia exploded. "Oh my bucking god! You know that he was much smaller before?" And it was time to embarrass her brother. "He was around FOUR inches shorter, but this one girl wanted someone huge, so she convinced him to take some 'supplements' that made him grow and grow and grow... Only for it to end badly when she decided to leave the dumb meat sack behind." It got the complete opposite effect though, as Miss Cake turned from flustered to worried, if not angry, at such mention. "Hey, we were having fun, why the face?"

"Why would anypony abandon him if he sacrificed so much for them?" Cup Cake sounded literally hurt as she asked that. "In Equis you can change your body easily, but it is not until you accept yourself that you are allowed to be however you wish, otherwise you may be fickle and selfish enough to hurt others." She looked at Alexander with worry in her eyes "If you gave her so much that you changed yourself in any way you could to please her, why did she leave?"

Alexander shrugged and looked away. Times like these made him wish that there were some more windows around this damn floor. "Don't know really, but I suppose she got bored or hoped that those things would have an even greater effect." He gave another shrug at the memory. "Humans don't have the best track record with pairings. In most cases there are divorces, various forms of breakups or even domestic violence, it is why marriage isn't exactly painted in the best of lights in modern society." He grimaced at the thought. "Most of the young generation think of marriage as a gilded cage: A pretty trap that will get you, will never let you go, and for as pretty as it looks, it is still a trap that you won't be able to escape unscathed."

"B-b-but..." Cup Cake basically sputtered at the thought. A cage? A TRAP?! How could something as nice as being married to the love of your life considered bad? It was preposterous, it was stupid, it was...! A different culture with no magic to show you who was right for you, who clicked with you, and who would make you happy.

True, not everypony went along with bonds right away, and bonds didn't need to be there naturally, they could be made if you meet someone and spent enough time with them, if you managed to connect, but it also meant that those natural bonds you had would need to form bonds with the one pony (or other creature) that YOU personally had bonded with. Here? Here you needed physical cues and hope, because if there was no obvious bonds that your own magic recognized, then how could you be sure that you really could connect with another?

Her ears splayed backwards and fell flat on her head. "I see..." Alexander hadn't explained, but no pony would ever dare say that Mrs. Cake was slow. She was good with baking, yes, she wasn't as book smart as Twilight, that was also a yes, but she had a good head over her shoulders. "I suppose I shouldn't judge, this is not Equis after all." She mulled as she sat on her hunches. "I suppose you do not 'feel' it when you click with someone."

"More or less?" It was Olivia the one to answer that question. "I mean, sometimes it feels like it? I have never felt that myself; I just find someone I like and I try to pounce." She snickered at the thought, and the memory, of doing it, literally. "Some find those they connect with, but it is the rare exception. Others just find those that complete them, or those they click with, but in most cases the assumption is this: You just marry to not die alone."

Cup Cake grimaced at that. "I am very happy with Carrot, I haven't been as happy until I found him to be sincere. True that we are very much alike in so many things, and usually it is better to have opposites." She chuckled at the thought of Carrot trying to court her by appearing what he wasn't back in the day. "But he is so sweet, so devoted and so utterly nice... It is funny that he prefers other colts, but like most back home, we all go both ways, with few ponies being 'straight' or simply 'gay', as the youngsters say these days." Wow, Cup Cake never thought she would sound THAT old this early in her life. "But when we meet it was, well, magic. At the time we didn't know, and as weird as it sounds, it was Carrot the one to come and try to engage me in conversation, not the other way around."

"I suppose the fan theory about there being more mares than stallions is correct?" Olivia's curiosity got the best of her, and thankfully Miss Cake nodded at her question, confirming it. "How many? If you don't mind me asking about ratios."

"From two to one in certain areas and climates, to eight to one in others. Stallions tend to be stronger and less agile than mares, so in harsher countries they are more common, but in areas like Ponyville? You'd find a lot more mares." She had to snicker a bit as she thought how hard it was to find a single male around the village. "It does serve pretty well for most of the girls to bond together, in some cases they bond in more ways than one too."

"So..." Olivia bit her lip, attracting both Alexander and Mrs. Cake's attention. "Would... would other ponies care if someone was, dunno... Different?"

Alexander's brow furrowed as he saw where this was going. "Olivia..."

"In what way, dear?" Cup Cake wasn't as worried as Alexander looked. She didn't understand why he would be at least. "Ponies are very open with other creatures and, well, almost anything. True that we have our bad ponies, and true that change is hardly accepted until quite a long time has gone by. Tartarus, even some of today's magitech is still waiting for acceptance with how some ponies are!" She chuckled at the thought. Some ponies still disliked fridges, ovens and the like. Silly if you asked her. "But if you mean accepting of a human... I am pretty sure they would be fine with it if they got to know you."

"No, no, I mean... I am a shemale." Olivia's heart skip a beat as Miss Cake blinked once, then tilted her head and motioned for her to go on with a hoof. "You... don't find it weird?"

"Why would I?" Her question was perfectly genuine too. "We have hermaphrodites back home, naturally born shemales and another intersexed individuals. There are quite a few stallions with a mare's body and parts, but they are still huge in size and strength, and have the strong voice associated with stallions. We accept those that like the same sex and we consort with other species. Why would I mind? Why would anypony mind?"

"So you wouldn't mind if I said that I began as a male?" Cup Cake shook her head. "And if I said that I only like other males, you'd be fine too?" She nodded with a smile as Olivia relaxed. "Thank bucking Christ! Even in this day and age there are too many idiots out there that think you have to be this way or that way to be 'normal' and 'accepted'."

"It doesn't work like that." Mrs. Cake frowned at the thought. "Once you are happy with yourself and know what you want to be, then you are allowed to be exactly that. Stallions can get pregnant, mares can be the father of their foals, with magic everything is possible and happiness and understanding come first. It is true that some ponies or other creatures are a bit too judgmental, but they are the minority and it would be stupid for everypony to be like that since many of us have changed something."

"Stop"

Both Cup Cake and Olivia eyed Alexander and his extremely strained face. It looked angry, sad and plain worried. There was something in his expression that told everything they needed to know without asking a single question, yet neither pony nor human wanted to read what that open book had to say.

"I am not going to allow you to ask Cup Cake to put a word forward to the princesses." Alexander eyed his sister critically. "I know you aren't happy here, but we are not going to allow humans to go and mess up the place." Olivia opened her mouth but her brother beat her to the punch. "And yes, I am selfish, okay? I don't want to be alone and you are the closest friend I have, as well as my sister, so I will be selfish for once in my life since bottling it up doesn't work for shit."

Before the mare could say anything, Alexander fixated his gaze on her. "As for you, Mrs. Cake, I would like to know more about your society too, but I do not want my sister getting her hopes up when the focus here is to make you feel welcome and happy until you can get back." For some reason the disapproving look he had hurt both of them, though both pony and human knew the most probable cause of that pain. "I do not wish to offend you or harm you in any way, but I don't want my sister getting depressed because she can't get something she wishes for, and I am not selfless enough to be okay with the idea of her moving away from me."

No one said anything about that. What was there to say? Cup Cake's frown matched how much she liked it, but she had to admit her focus was on going back home. Would she ever dare ask the princesses for another favor, such as bringing a human that wanted a better life when it could probably drain anypony to just bring one creature back to their home? It could be worse if we take into account that humans have little magic, even if these two felt different than they should if Alexander's words rang true. She still had to check on other humans before she solidified an opinion.

Olivia was less confused and more angry. What right did her brother have to say such things? The right of being the only person that had truly accepted her without so much as a raised eyebrow, ever. That, to her, basically meant a life debt, and she loved him more than she loved almost anything and anyone, but she also wanted to go to a world where more people could be like her brother, more accepting. She would have to admit that it would hurt, immensely so, to leave him, but maybe she wouldn't need to.

"Now, I don't want to be the bad guy here, and if you two want, we can talk about this at a later date." As for Alexander, this was a topic he didn't want to revisit, or dwell on, for much longer. "Right now we are late for the baking this morning and we need to get going. I will be back to start moving things around in the storage room, with help of Miss Cake of course. It is going to be your room, after all."

The mare nodded, still not completely happy, and Alexander knew he was being basically an asshole and a selfish prick, but he usually wasn't the most self focused guy. Would anyone fault him for wanting one fucking thing? It was in line with his previous thoughts when he was in the shower, so he couldn't help himself in that regard.

"What is that?" Either divine providence, or more like Miss Cake trying to change the topic, delivered the mare's attention right towards Olivia's hands. The tablet was there, and the screen with 'You are Dead' written in chocolate was awfully corny and non threatening "Why does it say you are dead?"

"Oh? It is a game." Olivia had almost forgotten about the thing. "I came to bring you this, actually."

"A game?" Cup Cake blinked a few times. She had never been too big on magitech... what were they called? Consoles? Button Mash brought them from time to time to Sugarcube Corner. "I don't know..."

"Just in case it will be only for today, unless you like it." Olivia cut the mare off before she could go on. "This thing can connect to the internet, allow you to hear music, read things, etc. You can basically search anything you want that we know of with this thing, but I would prefer to have some time to show you how to use it, since it just decided to start cooperating with me yesterday after owning it for almost two years." She frowned at the thought, something in his mind, only to let it go quite quickly. "Anyway, this game is called Cookie Clicker Three."

A nice explanation flew over Alexander's head a moment later. He was not one for idle games to say the truth, he lacked his sister's patience to do nothing at all if you were wondering why. Olivia told Cup Cake about the clicking the huge cookie with her hoof, to buy the auto clickers and other buildings, that X number of buildings gave benefits, etc. Then she got into the RPG and strategy stuff and before they knew it, it was nine in the morning.

By the time Alexander managed to drag his sister away, Olivia had at least gotten Cup Cake interested in the silliness that was Cookie Clicker. With the first version being a simple clicking game with those crazy grandmas on the background and the 'proper' Cookie Clicker being a bit more... crazy, so to speak, he wasn't sure what Cup Cake would find in the newer one.

"Die, die, DIE!"

Those were words that Miss Cake thought she would never utter, but here she was; killing 'undead' cookies that drove at her base of operations in waves. She had been surprisingly quick and adept at the idle, RPG and also the strategy part of the game. Was it because this was the only time burner she had at the moment? She wasn't sure, but she was decked out for a beginner.

Who knew a chainsaw could be made out of pure dark chocolate with crust for chains and white chocolate for teeth? Also, who knew that it could both increase cooking level and fighting level at once? Mrs. Cake did now, and she had to admit that she found the cartoon violence hilarious as she ripped cookies apart, though she had been genuinely scared when the first chocolate bunny enemy had popped up during her first oven dungeon exploration. Those things were worse than vampire jackalopes!

After the first dungeon came the first batch of cookie soldiers, thus the first strategic battle with her avatar still fully equipped in basic cookie gear other than the chainsaw that she didn't know she had gotten. Once she was done with the tutorial all hell broke loose and she had to admit she was loving the adrenaline she felt by playing this game.

Was this addicting? She asked because she was so against moving away from the bed and this game, to the point of forgetting that she was incredibly hungry. Maybe that was the feeling Button Mash felt when he was playing games. If that was the case then Cup Cake would need to get off his back when he came visiting for something.

Finally one of her recruit cookies finished the last undead cookie monster, punching straight into its 'gut' with that makeshift spoon and 'gutting' it, spraying chocolate chips and the like all over the area it was killed. The soldiers started to revive, Cup Cake's avatar regenerated, a cheer, a congratulating screen and it was time to go back to the idle game as another screen popped up signaling how long until more wild baked goods would try to raid her base.

This was stupid, but fun. At least it ate away her worries as she had something to do, even if it was silly and worth basically nothing since she hadn't done anything more than play games for hours. At least she wasn't worried or feeling ashamed anymore.

"Miss Cake, are you alright?" Cup Cake almost jumped out of bed when Alexander's head appeared on the open doorway. "Sorry to startle you, but it is almost three in the afternoon. Olivia already had lunch and is waiting for her friends, so I was hoping you'd join me for some food before we start with your soon to be room?"

"Oh yes! I am quite famished."

Mrs. Cake found herself jumping out of the bed in quite an unladylike manner. She may have never been such a thing, but she liked to at least be decent instead of acting like a school filly. Manners be damned though, she was hungry!

For some reason that made Alexander crack a smile, which was good because he had sounded a bit strained when he poked his head into view. She wasn't exactly sure about the reasons, but she was sure that he hadn't been like that just because she had screamed 'die' a bit too eagerly thanks to the game. She would need to watch out though, it seemed she was going to enjoy games, at least that one, a bit more than she thought she would.

When she hit the kitchen she noticed why, in fact she smelled it right before she arrived. Cooked meat.

Cup Cake froze at the smell and it was only because Alexander bumped on her rump that she moved away, eep included. She had to say that the kitchen looked spacious, well furnished and, well, a bit bigger in the equipment area of things, but it was to be expected when it came to creatures as tall as minotaurs. What unsettled her was the smell that she couldn't get out of her system, much less out of her mind.

"I guess you probably noticed by now." And Alexander was not so slow that he would miss it. "Humans are omnivores, we need meat. You can rest assured that we do not eat sapient creatures, and most people simply do not eat anything that is decently intelligent, like monkeys or dolphins, but others aren't as picky." He got close to the table and offered Cup Cake a seat. "So to be direct: We aren't going to eat you." The wink didn't do the trick in the way he expected, though.

She grimaced, trying to offer a sincere smile, but just didn't quite manage it. At least she did get up on the chair, thankfully one very solid and with a back for her to feel safe, but she couldn't help to feel curious about what she would see when she looked around the table.

Cup Cake found herself quite pleased to have a salad in front of her, a fork on her right and some condiments in front of the large bowl so she could have it however she wished to. Most, if not all, that was in the mix she knew about, even broiled eggs that she took part from time to time. While pegasi and unicorns required more protein than other species, which meant they usually had fish, maybe even chicken or other meat, earth ponies tried to avoid it like the plague since they couldn't digest it well. Eggs? Eggs were good and almost needed in most diets.

On his side? Cheese covered pasta, no tomato though. There were bits of minced meat and something else there though, and she wasn't about to ask what it was or where it came from. The smell wasn't disgusting, since most ponies got used to it as there was almost no village or city without pegasi or unicorns, but it was a bit unsettling to eat next to them.

"Olivia goes more for fruit than anything else, but we both need meat. In my case? I just like it more, and pasta too." Alexander pointed at his food as he sat down. "I do not want to offend you, but I think we will be better using the shock therapy kind of approach instead of dancing around the topic."

"Thanks for the sincerity if nothing else." Cup Cake gave a weak nod. "Don't get me wrong: I know ponies that eat meat, there are one pegasi who goes for it more than anything since he is built like a house." She shuddered a bit. Bulk Biceps was a very nice stallion, a bit dimwitted, but nice. He just... had this fixation with growing stronger that was just a bit eerie, more so when you saw him eating whenever he thought he needed more protein in his system. "But I have never been in front of somepony eating meat like you are about to do."

Alexander frowned for a moment. "Once we get your room done I can deliver your food there if you want, because I am the furthest thing from a vegetarian." The idea was instantly thrown in the trash bin by Cup Cake as she felt something just plain ugly at such a mention. She couldn't tell why or what, but Alexander noticed. "If you would prefer to eat with me and my sister... I am sorry, but you will need to get used to it."

Mrs. Cake sighed, but she did nod. "I'll have to. My little ones aren't big enough to need meat, yet, but after their second year? I will need to get used to seeing meat AND cooking it." She shuddered a bit at the thought. "At least there are a few pegasi and gryphons that have a small part of the market for themselves there. I won't need to do anything special to get what they need."

"Not looking forward to that, eh?" Alexander did his best not to chuckle.

"Heh, not really, no. My love is baking, if we are talking about cooking, not... well, that." She pointed at Alexander's food, just as her stomach growled in anger. "But I think I can ignore it for a little while if nothing else."

"Sooner or later you'll need to tackle it, though. I can give you a hand if you wish." Cup Cake gave a shy smile and a nod, better than what Alexander expected. "But for now, how about we enjoy our food? I doubt your stomach will stop complaining if we keep yammering on and on."

With that said, they dug in.

Cup Cake took her time preparing the salad to her liking. She marveled at how close to home everything rang, as if this world and hers were almost identical, minus he magic part. She did ask Alexander about it, making some idle conversation while they ate, and he confessed that he hadn't been a fan of the show like his sister, but since it was 'made' by humans, then it was bound to have similar things with Earth in some ways.

She wondered about that for a while as they ate. Cup Cake, as said, was no Twilight, but she was curious, more so since she was going to stay here for a while unless the princesses acted fast enough, and that was quite unlikely since it would take a lot of magical power, alicorn or not.

How closely did Equis and Earth resemble each other? Alexander said that, without magic or any of that 'fantasy stuff', Earth had to do with technology alone, and since her own magic did seem to fizzle a little bit, it was possible that just technomagic, instead of magitech, was possible on this side of things. Just plain old technology was banned from Equestria though, and no other species liked to use it all that much either. It contaminated, killed the land and consumed resources without giving back or generating more than it consumed, so nopony liked it. Here? Here they had no choice on the matter.

Soon they went for something much nicer, and quickly lunch went from a quick thing to an hour long engagement as Cup Cake told Alexander about what she liked to bake, the recipes she loved the most, and some of her favorite dishes that she wondered if he could make. As she had expected though, hay based cuisine (or fast food) was nonexistent here, and with only humans as sapient creatures there was no need to make other species feel welcome... yet.

In return he told her about his dreams of leaving the baking business behind, mostly because his family had it more than covered and he had always dreamed of something more exciting than staying home and baking things all day long, which explained his love for science fiction and conflict. He didn't mince words when it came to explaining he sucked at doing anything but baking though, as if he had been burdened with great skills on that front, and cursed with inability to do anything else. Miss Cake snorted and joked about him having a bit of pony in his person, or maybe more magic than he thought possible.

The conversation soon hit a big and very obvious rock in the road. "So, despite the conversation being this nice, I have to ask: Why were you trying to get to your husband?"

Alexander had been quite adamant about cleaning everything himself, and he had promised her that he would get her a toothbrush as soon as he could so everything, and he meant everything, could be cleaned. But that topic quickly derailed when it was made obvious that Cup Cake had asked because she was avoiding talking about her recent ventures like if it was Discord's home, which she had the bad luck to visit once thanks to Fluttershy.

"Sooner or later you are going to have to tell us." Alexander's tone was not stern, but it was quite clear that there was no negotiating this one. "There is no need to bring everything up other than the obvious." He let the cleaning on standby as he faced Cup Cake. "Mrs. Cake, Olivia and I have been in enough bad relationships, it is quite obvious there is no one 'perfect' for us, mostly because of how we are." Alexander made sure to stop Miss Cake before she said anything. He still had something to add. "I know I was a jerk when Olivia was talking before, and I hardly am like that, in fact I am told I can be quite sweet... But I mess up a lot and I have a very bad temper while my sister can be a bi... a very headstrong woman."

There was a pause as Alexander thought on about what he was about to say. "Point is that humans are generally neutral. I mean that in the sense that we look first for ourselves in most cases, then we look out for the rest, and most of us are close minded in a few areas, it just varies when it comes to which areas from person to person." Looking to the hallway, as if expecting Olivia to come over all of sudden, Alexander went on with some apprehension behind his words. "Olivia will always be a man, in a sense. She was born male and, despite identifying as a female in a few senses, she will always be male in many others. In the past this was beyond taboo, but nowadays it is almost widely accepted, or at least tolerated. The thing is that you still have to fall under X or Y category, otherwise people tend to make your life miserable, which is why I fear she would prefer to leave with you when we know that would be pretty difficult, if not impossible."

"My point here is simple." And Cup Cake was wondering where he was trying to get with this. "What is wrong with your relationship?" Then, all of sudden, she found herself wishing he hadn't told her. "I have fucked up enough time, Mrs. Cake, I know when things are going wrong. While in your case I highly doubt it will derail until it crashes and burns, if the cartoon is anything to go by, it could still hurt the relationship a lot. Both me and Olivia could try to help, after all I am only clumsy with my hands, not with my brain." Alexander paused and chuckled a bit at the thought. "Most the time."

Cup Cake frowned as she thought of how to say it. First she had to wonder why she should even share her problems, but in most cases it was best to talk things out, as Cookie had told her in quite a few occasions. Much like her, Cookie wanted a large family, but her husband was happy with two daughters and didn't want anymore. That rant had been epic, but Cookie felt much better afterwards.

The problem is that there was no rant to be had here. Cup Cake felt happy enough, and her only peeve was that they could NOT have more kids, not that Carrot didn't want them. She felt dirty just thinking about what her husband had suggested, mostly because she once thought she would do anything to her husband to make him give her babies, and the heat would make her mind think of any other male pony that way if Carrot couldn't provide. It was sickening, and it was biology. That is why she felt a modicum of happiness thanks to her present situation.

"There is no problem with Carrot, if that is what you are wondering." In the end it could be better to at least talk. "The problem lies with me, with our biology."

"First wait a second." Alexander stopped Cup Cake before she could go into detail. "First let me share a few things. First: Humans don't go into heat, this is mostly because the fan theories speak of estrus and such. That was never shown in the cartoon, but just in case. Second: It is unclear how deeply magic interacts with you ponies, so remember to explain it to me like I was very, very dumb if it is necessary. Third: Humans are one to one when it comes to male and female ratios, more or less, so only marriage is common for us. Polygamy is somewhat of a taboo, so once more, speak as if I don't know anything since you said the ratio is skewered for ponies."

Well, at least he made sure to get to the point. Cup Cake nodded and went on. "Well, yes, ponies do have estrus cycles. It depends on the pony, with some of them having them every week if they are unlucky, others having them monthly, every six months or every year. It is more common to have a yearly cycle, though a few have them weekly, it depends on their overall health for reasons that don't matter right now. Besides..." She chuckled as she almost went into lecture mode. "If you wanted to know everything you should ask Twilight, if you ever get the chance, I just know enough to get by."

"In any case." She cleared her throat to go on. "I have yearly cycles, though it is not exact, and in my case it has been well over two years since my last cycle thanks to my pregnancy. Between having my little ones and taking care of them it is possible that the heat was delayed, but as it approaches a mare can feel it: We get both moody and in the mood, more aggressive or at least assertive, and we go for affections more easily, not just physical intimacy."

Mrs. Cake gritted her teeth at the next part. "The problem with heat is that it is not only a biological function, but also a magical one. I am not entirely sure on the magical aspect, but it encourages for friends and family bonding, to help those close to get closer, and, of course, to create new life. It also helps to ensure that, in the case of familiar relations, there is no problem whatsoever if you are to get pregnant that way, or that the young fillies and colts can have foals of their own without any problem." Then she decided to drop the bomb. "What is so bad about that? That the heat doesn't go away if your partner doesn't fill you up, and even if they do, it won't go away for good unless they knock you up."

Alexander tilted his head a bit as she said that in such a way. For a mare that was portrayed so nicely, Cup Cake could really sound angry. "What does it have to do with Carrot then? Doesn't he want more foals?" And the annoyed look she threw looked equally out of place, but it did the trick. "Wait..."

"Carrot is sterile." She frowned, her eyes glassy as she mentioned that. "He had real problems giving me our kids, and it didn't have anything to do with his mixed heritage, as some said. He has never been too potent, probably a joke from magic to balance things, as he prefers other feminine looking stallions more than mares." Cup Cake shrugged a bit. She had to admit she shared her husband's interests on that one. "Harmony tends to make everything balance out, though it means pain for some ponies. With all the good that Twilight and her friends have been doing I would like to say that it is harmony's way to 'mess' things up to make them right, but it sounds like nothing more than a cruel joke."

Cup Cake rested her chin on the table, looking both angry and defeated. "I am a single child, and even in a married couple, something that is usually frowned upon even if my family tends to go for marriage only, a single child is rare. From my side it has been simply a biological problem." She threw Alexander a glance. "Most magically derived illness make mares more prone to heats, or at least it is one of the reasons that happens, but simple biological... problems, yes, let's go with problems, don't do that. My family, in most cases, is simply close to infertile for some reason, and not even potions, spells or modern medicine helps much." Her gaze slipped away from the human as her mind went back to her children. "My desire, more than being a baker, was to have a really big family someday. Carrot shared my wishes, and I was the only mare to really sway him, more than Pinkie or any other mare that ever caught his eye. We love each other, we sacrifice ourselves for each other... That is why I am so angry at this!"

Both of them were surprised at Cup Cake's reaction. She basically sat on her rump, lifted her forehooves and then slammed them down, pure rage marring her face. Neither of them had expected such a thing, but the results were obvious.

The table had, HAD, been made of metal. It was lightweight but durable, more practical than anything else, and made to resist Alexander's butterfingers if he needed to move it somewhere. It was not made to resist any impact from an earth pony. Miss Cake could be nice and gentle, but the impact had bent the metal in such way that the table was almost folding in two.

"I... I am sorry." Once more Cup Cake felt useless, angry and desperate. "We were so happy after so many years of trying. I don't know about humans, but ponies are quite liberal. Even when married both Carrot and I loved to have some of our friends join us to have fun, but I never allowed any of the stallions to finish inside." She sighed at the memory, slightly flustered. "I don't ever peek at another male's bits without my husband's permission, that is why I was so... well..."

Alexander made sure to disable the situation before it felt any weirder. That was one minefield to avoid. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks." Truly, Miss Cake was glad to put that behind her, though that probably was the wrong phrasing to use. "Anyway, we loved having fun, and we loved it with our friends or simply between us two. It was always so enjoyable to do it with someone you loved or at least cared for." She had a dreamy look in her eyes at the memory, but it quickly snuffed out. "Even after we were told we both enjoyed each other's company. But as time drew near, as the heat approached, I grew frustrated."

It was at that point that she just hid within herself as she explained further. "Carrot gave me permission to find another stallion to make foals with." Alexander almost chocked at that. From what she had said, it would seem normal for most ponies, but for someone as devoted as Cup Cake it would be like any other human cheating on their significant other. "It... It hurt... But it didn't hurt as bad as when I called him a gelding during a spat we had the day before I came here."

Okay, that hurt. It was probably not that bad if it was a fact, but it simply spoke of emasculation or impotency for a male. It wouldn't matter how close two ponies were, it would hurt to some extent.

"I... I don't know how he can be so understanding... I have been giving him the cold shoulder for a while and he still loves me more than his own life." Cup Cake was doing her best to evade any tears, but at least a few droplets were developing. This topic was going to haunt her until she came back and could talk to her husband once more. "He HATES the idea of truly sharing me, of forming a herd, even with his family doing that almost exclusively, but we both know that if I was to have someone else's foals, then they would need to be part of our family. It is not open for discussion." She threw Alexander a heated glare as he was about to speak. "I will NOT lie to my foals, I will NOT accept one night stands if I am to have their children, and I will NOT allow a stallion to hide from the family WE would be making." And her voice almost rose beyond what both of them were comfortable with.

"It is obvious where the conflict lies then." The not so obvious part for Alexander, and for Cup Cake, was how to solve it. "On one side you have your desires, and on the other you have your love life, and in this case they can't exactly meet in the middle."

"There is no simple way out of this." Cup Cake frowned. "I have wished for a large family my whole life. It won't go away for a long, long time, and the frustration makes it worse." She was this close to finishing the poor table, at least that would make part of her anger go away. "And I can't bring myself to do what Carrot asked. How would that be a fair trade? I would gain somepony that would care for me, with some luck, but there is a problem. Where would that leave Carrot?" The distress in her voice answered all possible questions. "Would that stallion care for him too? Would he share us in the way a herd is supposed to go? Neither of us felt any connection towards others since before our marriage, none that went further than friendship."

Sincerely speaking, as much as he disliked to say it, Cup Cake was boned, and not in a good way. True that this was not the kind of all consuming problem he thought he would find, but it certainly was anything but nice. How could someone help the mare in this situation? She didn't want a fling and she didn't want to hurt her husband either, but it was obvious that Carrot had given her a nice free pass for the season.

In Earth that would mean so much debauchery. In Equestria? For Cup Cake? It meant a moral dilemma that was eating at her as much as being stuck here.

Once she returned, heat gone and all, she would still be miserable if she didn't get what she wished for. If she returned earlier, then she would fall prey of her own desires and needs, and she would probably feel worse than dirt and cheaper than... well, you know. Not to say it was assured to backfire, but if they shared everything, then going for somepony interested only in her could end quite badly.

Simply put: The outcome was a Russian Roulette. She could find a stallion interested in one night stand and her heat could probably push her to do it, only to make not only Cup Cake, but also Carrot, miserable. She could find a pony interested in her, but not in Carrot, and this would also hurt things too. Cup Cake could also luck out and find a stallion interested in both, but that was like asking for natural 20s in one of the many board games that used the bloody dice. There was a chance, that you would get nothing more than that, but it was as high as wining the lottery every time you tried.

Then again, Alexander quickly found another possible choice, but he decided to not tell. How well would Cup Cake react to it when she already had problems processing the possibility of a single extra male that could, or could not, care for her and her husband? Adding more fuel to the fire was not exactly smart.

At least he knew part of her grief, so now there was one easy thing to do for her: Distract Cup Cake with something. Yea, it would not help her much with her primary problem, but that was a topic that was still very much raw, and rubbing salt on the wound didn't do good to any living creature, much less if Mrs. Cake got mad enough to use that strength of hers on, oh I don't know, Alexander's face for example.

"I thank you for sharing your worries, and we both know that you will get back home." Or at least they hoped she would. "While the talk may not be the best cure, I hope that, if nothing else, it made you release some frustration out of your system. It is bad to let it fester, and it would be even worse to go back home bottling it all up."

Mrs. Cake gave Alexander a sincere, but strained, smile. "Yea, I feel a bit better, but it is hard to think about what will happen when I get back. One way or another there will be a problem waiting for me there. It will be confronted early, or it will be left for later, either way I will end up with my hooves full at some point." She let out a tired sigh. "I just would like a simple day in Ponyville, it is that so much to ask for?"

"In Ponyville? You are kidding, right?" Alexander was unable to hold a chuckle at the simple wish. Ponyville was the most, or one of the most, accident and catastrophe prone village in Equestrian history, he was sure of it. "Tell you what: Leave your worries for now."

"Oh? How?" For a moment Cup Cake thought of going back to her game, but quickly scratched that plan. She wasn't about to turn into a lazy flank. "I... don't think I can do anything here. You said I should not be seen, just in case."

"Yea, it would be better." Alexander gave a slight nod. "But it is obvious that this summer is going to be a bit lazy, at least for a while. We don't need to get out of here for a few days and I have a friend that owes me a favor, so I can ask him to pick a few things for me. For now we can start with simply getting everything out of your future room and we can use the tablet my sister gave you to see what you'd like to have in there, then I can make sure that most of the windows downstairs are closed."

Cup Cake scratched her chin with a hoof, wondering why he would do that. If this had been Pinkie then she was sure that a light bulb would've appeared atop of her head right then. "You mean you want me to help you baking?"

The man nodded. "I doubt you want to sit on your rump until this is done, and staying put is probably going to make you restless. If you want something to do, then why not bake? It is something you love and something we can appreciate too, so you ease our work load and in turn you get your mind off your problems for a while. We both win something and everyone is happy."

"It would be better than doing nothing, and maybe focusing on something else, alongside some entertainments, would be enough to calm me down." Yea, she couldn't get her mind away from that game for some reason. What had Olivia unleashed in her mind? "But... Are you sure you want this old mare's help? You have seen how... how frustrated I am. I thought I had better control than this, but it is obviously not enough."

"Okay, how about this?" Alexander finally approached Cup Cake and took a knee in front of her. "Let's go for, say, three days, okay? Three days should be enough to get something for my sister, to have your room up and running, and to see if you are doing at least somewhat okay...ish." He chuckled as he offered her a hand. "What do you say? Sounds good enough?"

Mrs. Cake smiled with more candor this time. Alexander was no knight in shining armor by any stretch of the imagination, but he was at least nice, even if he had some bad spots here and there. Who was all good anyway? She was lucky that she had at least been found by someone direct enough to address her problem.

Now, three days sounded quite delightful if nothing else. She would have time to calm down, talk with them about any kind of problem she may have and, maybe, get to know them better, enough to force herself to ask for their opinion when it came to what she should do. At first she wondered if she should go back to her parents when she went back home, ask them about what she should do, but that was as bad as asking Pinkie Pie. Miss Cake loved the pink dear, but she was not about to try and make sense of some of her ramblings that, more often than not, were prophetic, and cryptic, in nature.

Alexander was simply happy now that Cup Cake was at least smiling. It was a feeling he had never experienced watching the series, simply because it was him that made someone else smile. That it was a colorful pony didn't matter much, it was the same thing when he made his sister smile, and it was a glorious feeling that always warmed him. When Cup Cake let her hoof fall on his hand the feeling just grew stronger as she showed at least a modicum of trust on his judgment.

During the exchange neither human nor pony saw a certain clock blinking in and out of focus, as if it wasn't truly there.

A three was highlighted in blue, with the rest of the numbers slowly counting down seventy two hours from now. It marked a very precise time three days from now: Midnight.

Cup Cake shuddered after she got on her hooves, about to follow Alexander to her soon to be room. It was the same feeling she had noticed the other time, that of pure wrongness and strong magic. She looked towards the area that seemed to radiate it, but there was nothing there. Even if something was basically screaming at her to look harder, she just couldn't see anything more than the kitchen itself and all the utensils around.

Who could fault the little pony for missing something so obvious that you would simply not notice it until it was in front of your face? After all, even the ones that saw a clock would not recognize the object when it was nothing more than a small and wide frying pan.

For some reason, once she glanced around the area the frying pan rested, the uneasiness grew and she felt her hair stand on end. What was that? And why did it feel so wrong? She just didn't know, and she was sure she didn't want to know. Cup Cake found herself fleeing the room faster than she thought possible, and only the promise to at least be civil to Alexander and eat with the two brothers made her think of coming back again.

Once she left the clock came back, a simple word flashing in blue.

Change.

Author's Notes:

Well, next chapter the fan is going to start spraying it, as if an emotionally unstable Cup Cake was not enough to stir some trouble. Have fun everyone.

Chapter 4: Change is the spice of life. Beware of it.

Author's Notes:

Hello once more. I don't know how I am churning this story this fast, but I hope I am not messing things up too much going with a chapter a week or so. Anyway, two things.

Chapters '4' and '5' happen the same day, and they show a few things. Here you'll see how the 'beautiful magic of bonding and pony beliefs' can fuck you over in a moment. Not everything is made of rainbows anyway.

On that note, these chapters aren't made of rainbows either. A lot of dialog as, like I said, the fan starts spraying it. I promise things will get happier (and raunchier) in either chapter '6' or '7', but for now you wait.

Also, you'll know very soon how I see a very important thing within my 'verse'. Some of you will probably dislike the 'character', but hey, points of view. If these two have too much content for you, sorry, but it is how I planned them, and I know it may not be perfect, but changing the plan would undo a few things so, please, bear with me.

Three days, three beautiful days, seventy two damn hours full of something akin to happiness, and now they were burning in front of him. Okay, so they weren't burning, and it had been more like four days if we count the second day, but all in all? This shit wasn't one week old and it already made a mess of the place in more ways than one. Today had been a good day too, at least it had been a good morning, a good few hours, and now things were crumbling around him.

Alexander was quite happy as he looked at the little plushy that he now held on his hands. It was Oven Bun, Olivia's little OC pony. She had found the name fitting, since she could suck at cooking, but using the oven to bake things? She was very good at it. The pun came from the fact that the cute thestral was, in fact, a trap, much like Olivia, and she loved to have his boyfriends try to fill her up and breed her nicely.

What, did you think Olivia was going to create something non pornographic for her ponysona? Something is wrong with your mind.

A large deal of thestrals had dark coloration, or so Olivia had said when she showed some art she had commissioned for her ponysona, so she made Creamy Oven a bit brighter. Her hair was a nice blonde color, with a single strand of her natural black in the middle of it all, flowing down the side. It went alongside quite well with the white, almost silvery, coat she had and those amber colored eyes that looked almost like the rocks from Jurassic Park (What? They were pretty). The bat wings had a much duller 'silver' color, with the joints and the membrane being dark as the black part of her hair. Finally, the tail was well braided, the black stream giving it a touch of color, with the hair long enough to touch the ground. And yes, her cutie mark was an oven, though Olivia had wanted to make it a little more... Let's just say that it wouldn't have been PG.

Getting the picture sent to the shop had been easy, having a couple of OC lovers making it, with a discount, had been stupidly easier. In such a short time they had made a plushy that was so cute that even Alexander wanted to cuddle it, but instead refrained from getting too attached to the gift he was going to give his sister.

Seriously, he felt this close to kidnapping Oven and having it on his room for some fucking reason. It was eerie.

It was nice of them to deliver it personally this early in the morning, as Alexander was sure that his buddy would've had his soul in exchange of waking up t his early during his day off. Why he had wanted to exchange this Sunday with one of his coworkers he didn't know, but to each their own, after all he had problems of his own. On the bright side, besides not owing a soul to someone, he got this it delivered early, so this meant that he could get Olivia to enjoy the gift first thing in the morning.

But there was something to do before that. Alexander had to get Cup Cake's little thumbs up on this gift. At least that was his idea, but something more had nagged at his mind as he went towards her room.

Mrs. Cake... Three days ago Alexander had been an ass to her after that one embarrassing moment, and the day before that she had been an utter wreck. But these past three days had been fucking magic, and yes, he meant FUCKING. MAGIC. The mare had been happy to work around the house, and not only by baking, away from prying eyes with all curtains drawn and lights on, but also cleaning and even cooking. The only thing that bothered her was the meat part, so it had been postponed.

Alexander had to admit that having an extra pair of ha-hooves had freed so much of his time, and Cup Cake's motherly demeanor and friendly banter once she relaxed was so good it was infectious. He still felt like shit for disliking ponies just because of the cartoon, as talking with Cup Cake had not only made him befriend her quickly, but she had also shown a depth that the cartoon never managed to create for her character. Then again, and you have to have this present at all times, it was just a cartoon for little girls that adults liked, as surprising as it had been at first, so as a secondary, or even support or background character, she wasn't supposed to grow immensely.

And yet, in person, Cup Cake was loveable. She was careful, she hummed gently as she baked, she cared for every single thing with so much love that it could give a changeling diabetes, and she managed to make her creations almost look like the ones in the series! Was it magic? Was it just how ponies did things by default? The thing is that, at the end of the day, what Cup Cake made, even if it was the same as Alexander or Olivia, looked... more, simply 'more'. It was hard to explain, so he just used that word.

Not only that, but Cup Cake had warmed up to them extremely fast, welcoming Olivia to help her in the shower. Her sister had been delighted when Mrs. Cake offered, as she had always wanted to know how the ponies interacted in real life, and since Miss Cake knew perfectly well that Olivia had minus one interest in females, she had basically begged Olivia for help when cleaning herself after she explained how nearly impossible it was for a single pony to do reach everywhere.

That also created a problem or two, but Olivia solved them with eBay. So many years after its creation and the damn thing still worked... Oh well, buying things for ponies wasn't as weird anymore, so getting supplies for Cup Cake had been meet with maybe an odd look from the delivery guy that knew Alexander quite well, at least until Olivia showed up with a big grin.

Now, that Mrs. Cake was this lovable... well... you see... it... It was a fucking problem.

This line of thought had been consuming him since three days ago, when he finally made Cup Cake smile. That had made him realize something extremely weird. The simple gesture of making the mare smile, of comforting her, had shown him that he didn't feel any envy of Cup Cake as he originally thought. He didn't feel envy for the mare's happy life, he didn't feel envy when he thought of her children, he didn't feel envy or anger about her perfect situation and love life outside of Carrot's actual problem.

He felt envious of Carrot Cake. He felt envious of the mare's husband.

Alexander squeezed Oven against his chest as he frowned. He was waiting in front of Cup Cake's room, feeling guilty as he thought about it. Why did he feel envious of the stallion? He hadn't really thought of it right away, though he had noticed very quickly that talking with Cup Cake, that making her happy, made HIM happy, and it wasn't just because he felt good when he did something nice for someone he could consider a friend.

At first he wondered why that would be, but in truth he was denying himself an answer by delving too deep in something that didn't have any secrets to be found. What was the answer then? Why, it is obvious! What Alexander had always wanted was a person that could understand and care for him, that would love him for, well, him, and that would understand all that was good about him alongside what wasn't so good. Despite his actions, despite his selfishness and his anger that Cup Cake had seen, she had asked about his motives, and she had accepted them quickly, saying that it was his own way of attaining balance, of having harmony.

Cup Cake had simply accepted him with a smile and a thank you after helping her without asking anything in return other than for her to be as happy as she could during her stay. Alexander had been given a final farewell for so much as looking at someone in a funny way, not with Cup Cake. Despite all his bad luck with humans, this mare was happy to be around him despite her situation.

Less than a week and, as it usually happened with him, he was falling for someone.

Both brothers were stupid, fucking idiots in fact, because they let their feelings act too quickly. With Olivia it was... her flings and the 'bad boy' motif that seemed to attract her like the moths are attracted to those bright flames, yes that was it. Alexander just wanted those that just accepted him, which wasn't as easy as you'd think. Cup Cake? Since day one she had been quite nice and understanding, if we look at her situation with a bit of perspective, so of course she was a candidate for his stupidity.

It was a drug, to make someone smile and enjoy his company the way Cup Cake seemed to do. It was as if she didn't care about the idea of going back, though both knew it was a lie. She loved being here because it made sure she wouldn't cheat on her husband, but it helped that she had two gracious hosts, each one as different as they could get, that entertained her every need while she repaid the favor doing the one thing she loved most.

Sad as it was to say, Alexander knew this was one of the biggest friendzoned events of his life. This is why he envied Carrot, not Cup Cake, because he had a mare willing to sacrifice her own happiness, the same way Carrot had sacrificed his own with his permission for Cup Cake to add somepony new to the family. They loved each other, dearly, and they would do anything for the others dreams to come true.

Even wallowing in misery for the rest of their lives.

He would be the first to admit that he hadn't been surprised to find that he was starting to like Cup Cake. Once he had seen her as a real person instead of an animated pony that was way too perfect for his taste, well, he had been screwed, and he knew it. Cup Cake was one of the few ponies he could see as connecting with him, mostly because trying to do anything but baking would probably mean he would fuck up, so even Pinkie Pie (and all her parties) would be out of the equation pretty fast, that and he was sure that he could never stand Pinkie Pie 24/7.

Alexander made sure to watch the series alongside Cup Cake mind you, and he had to admit that, while he didn't like the cuteshy shit now, much like he didn't exactly like it before, he was absorbed whenever Cup Cake or her family came into view, waiting to see them acting. True that they didn't have too many episodes where they had much significance, but Cup Cake assured him that most events happened exactly as shown, though there were discrepancies here and there, albeit almost none was related to how the Cakes acted in general and some things that were told from her perspective.

Watching the show hadn't been the most pleasant thing he had ever done, but sitting with his sister at his side and Cup Cake on his sister's lap, that had been great. In fact, despite the self doubt growing in his mind as he thought of Cup Cake, he would be the first to admit that their talks with Olivia were bringing the happiness back to his sister. If nothing else, Alexander was happy to have Cup Cake here just because Olivia was now a happy camper.

It was stupid, he knew, but these thoughts brought anger to him. Why? Because, once more, he was aiming for what he couldn't have. Usually, as he told his sister, he befriended those he wanted to be with, if only to have better chances, but in this case it was a doom castle as big as Skeletor's ego. He could befriend Cup Cake all he wanted, hell, he could make her build a shrine on his image, but this was one girl he would not even have a chance to bed, which was usually the one point where problems started when he tried to get into a relationship. Cup Cake would not allow it to happen, and Alexander himself would not allow it to get that close to fucking up Cup Cake's happiness here.

Despite the negative aspect of things though, Alexander was happy of how things were developing. He hated the idea of being attached to Cup Cake in this way, for it just spelled disaster, but it didn't work the way you wanted to when it came to feelings. It didn't help that Alexander hardly made girl friends at all, both now and before Olivia came here with him. There was just an aura of nope around him or something, an aura that made sure that the friendzone was strong on this one.

Admittedly, despite what his angry selfish side could say, he was willing to live with the frustration of feeling any kind of attraction to the baker pony. He was willing to fuck aliens if he got the chance, why not be willing to do a pony? Even if the relationship was to be a platonic, friend based one, he was happy just because it brought happiness to all involved. Frustrating? Yes, but a happy kind of frustration. He had wanted someone like Cup Cake, so it wasn't fair that he expected sacrifice without sacrificing back, even if it meant sacrificing the chance of something developing. But now, think: What would you do in his shoes? Bring it up and fuck things? It could be that he was just wrong and this was nothing more than something else ponies did, they were herd minded after all, and magical, so maybe his feelings weren't what he thought.

But fuck it all if he didn't feel like kissing her when she had rested on her lap yesterday, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her coat as she thanked him for her new room finally done to her liking. It had been such a nice hug that, once she started it, had told him that yes: He liked the pony. So yea, he was boned, hard, and he didn't like the feeling of it despite loving every moment that he had to gaze on that smile from Mrs. Cake.

Fuck, he was sappy as all heck.

Now, I am sure that many would think of Alexander as a coward for not confronting Cup Cake, after all it was his feelings that had made him wait outside of the mare's room, right? Well, the truth was... not as nice. He had been screwed over in many occasions, and it had been in many ways, as in enough to make him insensitive when his feelings weren't returned, which was, in truth, part of the reason behind his anger and selfish behavior that spilled down to the inevitable outcome of being possessive of his sister. And it was his sister the one to cause the problem and the doubt in this case, for reasons they tried not to bring up anymore.

This had been like a balance: Their moods had improved, but it came with a cost. In Alexander's case it was his stupidity and romanticism that had decided to mess with his feelings faster than ever. For Olivia it had turned her into a taciturn and very grumpy girl whenever she wasn't around Cup Cake, going so far as to snap at Alexander for no apparent reason.

Three days, three damn days and this had played havoc with their lives in one way or another. The only one to show any positivity, to benefit from the situation was Cup Cake, and Alexander was about to break part of that improvement away when he barged in and did more than ask for the mare's opinion when it came to the toy that Alexander held against his chest. And yes, the idea of holding this back was crumbling quickly. One of their conversations, well, a few, had gleamed information on those 'bonds' that Mrs. Cake spoke about, which made Alexander fear what could be the possible outcome if they formed... and then broke down.

The door opened suddenly, surprising Alexander, as Miss Cake's muzzle and eye appeared in front of him. "Are you going to come in or not, my dear? I have been waiting for a while." She snickered at the thought of him waiting forever in the hallway. "This is your house after all. I don't know why you stood there for half an hour."

"Sorry Mrs. Cake, I have a lot on my mind right now." The mare nodded at this, smiling gently as she opened the door for him to come in. "I am sorry to disturb you before we head down to bake, or even before my sister offers you her help to shower, but we need to talk."

Alexander did not miss the vacant stare on Cup Cake's face as he entered, her smile gone. It was as if she had automatically resigned to something, almost similar to the time she had arrived, or when she had talked about her problem. Three days had gone by without a hitch, with happiness blooming, and it all looked like Alexander had snuffed it out with one of the oldest lines most people didn't want to hear. 'We need to talk' usually meant many things, but they were hardly good for those involved.

One of the reasons for Cup Cake to be happy with her new room was that it had been made to look like Sugarcube Corner in quite a few ways, with bright colors and all. Her bed had been put together quickly, she had been given books, the tablet and a lesson on how to use it and search the internet, she had a lot to distract herself. Heck, she had learned more about humanity that she ever wanted to know about, and had seen more Rule 34 that she ever thought possible to exist.

Every small thing, even the negative ones, had brought her some happiness as she saw how different this world was, how strange, how alien. It all meant that the princesses would have an easier time finding her amongst such a beacon, she was sure of it, but it also had brought doubts very quickly, doubts she didn't allow her hosts to see.

Despite her best efforts trying to convince herself that this place was perfect for her to wait her heat out, and that she would get back, Cup Cake felt lonely, and she knew very well what happened when ponies felt lonely. It begun the first day, she hadn't even noticed it, but Olivia had been pulled towards her first, while Alexander came to her shortly after, during their little discussion the second day of her stay. She wasn't sure that it would happen with humans, but it obviously did.

It didn't take much time to show either, but Cup Cake had done her best to distract her mind away from the new problem. Who would like to admit that, once you were pulled away from your world and loved ones, you made new bonds as quickly as you could clap your hooves together? She wasn't even sure about the type of bonds they were, but she had quickly found out that Alexander and Olivia made her very happy, happier than she thought she would be normally by being alone, devoid of other ponies that could give her comfort. Ponies were herd animals, not only in the romantic sense, but also with their need of others for comfort and quick mental recovery. It was hard to add other species to their group of bonds, but it was not impossible.

Usually they weren't a problem, though even simple friendship bonds were tight as a castle's construction, which meant that they were extremely painful to sever, and they could also act up if they weren't fulfilled. A perfect example of this was Gilda and Dash's connections that, as was shown when the griffin came to Ponyville, deteriorated because Gilda's bond felt threatened by Dash's new friends. When it broke Dash ended up staying at Sugarcube Corner for longer periods of time than usual, and Pinkie was disheartened to see her friend moping for so long. It got better, but it took weeks, and it showed when they befriended again.

She had felt other humans when they came to buy stuff, or when they visited Olivia or Alexander. Miss Cake found out that those specks of magic that were coming in and out were, in fact, normal humans, different to the brothers that took care of her, mostly because their magic was almost nonexistent. She didn't know why there was such a difference, but in this world with so little magic it was possible to tell them apart as easily as it was for her to see the difference between a diamond dog and a pony.

When she noticed that it was true, so utterly true, that most humans lacked magic, she thought back to the feelings she was directing towards her protectors. It took no time to understand that, sooner or later, they would be brought up.

She had been taking things in stride for now, she had made the best of it, and she had even felt happy with some bonds warming her heart, but it was bound to create pain for the only humans she had befriended. The magic would tear itself apart when she left, and in her mind there was no doubt she would leave sooner or later, which meant she would hurt somepony, no matter if it was her husband or her new friends.

That is why she knew that, if they noticed after her little 'lessons', they would come for her. Alexander was not book smart, he was just smart, and he would notice things changing, more so if it happened to his sister. There was no doubt in her mind that Alexander came here for that reason alone.

As Alexander sat down on her bed Cup Cake saw the toy in his arms. A thestral like plushy, a little cute thing, not so different from some of those that Olivia had in her room. She had to stifle a chuckle when she thought about the OTHER kind of toys she had seen, but she wasn't about to tell Olivia what she had found, nor was this the moment for some smiles, even if she wanted it to be.

"Mrs. Cake, I am worried." And here it came, full of fury and anger, she was sure of it. Alexander, though, had not so much anger as he had worry, mostly because he knew he should not talk. "My sister has been acting strangely when you aren't close to her."

THAT wasn't supposed to happen. They were very close, the bond would not even break or hurt after years, at worst it would weaken. Alexander wanted to avoid talking about what Cup Cake knew that he felt, or at least she thought he had discovered about that little tidbit.

"I have to say that... that I really think it is your fault." There, Alexander said what Cup Cake thought he would, but with no accusation. What Alexander professed, was certainty that she could not fault him for. "I don't fault her, nor do I fault you, I myself am feeling... conflicted in a few ways." Alexander patted the side of the bed closest to the mare, prompting her to jump up and sit there. "I mean, I have a problem that won't be resolved anytime soon."

Alexander didn't want to show any kind of weakness to the mare, not because he wanted to act tough, but because it would make her feelings conflict themselves if what she had shown was genuine. It didn't help. What he wanted was not what he was doing despite whatever his brain was crying for his body to do.

He offered an apologetic and sad smile as his mouth decide to force his thoughts out of the race that his body won. "Miss Cake, I know this is stupid, but I have to admit I like you." Cup Cake gasped a little as her eyes opened as much as they could. This wasn't supposed to be happening, plain and simple. "At first I didn't like ponies, I told you why, why their apparent perfection just didn't click with me, then you came here and showed me that there were real problems outside of that cartoon series. You know this already." He squeezed the plushy harder against his chest, as if wanting some comfort Cup Cake didn't feel capable, or all that willing, to give at this moment. "It didn't help when I learned more and more about you."

Finally, and with some resentment, Alexander left the toy on the bed. "Miss Cake, if there is one thing I have given all those that I have tried to court, is my devotion, and anything I could spare, even my body, as you already saw." That did give her some uncomfortable thoughts, but Cup Cake nodded. "Self sacrifice, much like what your husband did by giving you permission to pursue your desires and dreams, even against his own feelings, is enticing to me. That you are willing to deny such a gift, sacrificing YOUR own happiness to try and keep your husband happy, is equally enticing. The problem is that both of you will hurt, even if it also keeps you happy with each other. It, sadly, has no way of fixing itself, but I respect how much you devote to each other." He took a moment before his tone turned cold. "But I cannot respect how it hurts my sister."

It would've been normal for anyone to feel bad, to flinch away, but Cup Cake didn't. She wanted to wait and see what Alexander would do, to hear what he would say, and she feared only one thing she was sure he would share. As he spoke again, that fear melted into something else.

"I... I suppose I am jealous of Carrot." Because she hadn't expected those words. "I like a person thanks to their personality, but as you can guess, it is hard for a human to see if they are like they seem to be or if they are genuinely like that. We usually go by appearances most the time, since we aren't actively as nice as you guys, and it hasn't worked well for me." He snorted at some bad memories, more embarrassed than angry. "At some point I practically surrendered and hoped that just plain old sex with friends would work, but I always aimed for more than that, and failed. Sometimes I was made 'just a friend' before that happened, and after a while I got used to it." Alexander gave the mare a gentle look. "It feels right to like you, but it also feels wrong to do more than that. I am not sure if it is your magic, those bonds you spoke about or whatever else is there to explain how fast I fell for you, but I won't nurture it." Those words did cut, and Alexander did his best to ignore Cup Cake as he said it. He didn't want to see what feelings crossed her expression. "Friends? Yes, but I won't try anything. It would hurt both of us if whatever this is blooms, I don't want the risk to your feelings or happiness, or the loss that will come out of it."

"Alexander... bonds don't work like that." Mrs. Cake couldn't stand it anymore: She had to stop him. Whether he meant it or not, this hurt. "You can't just ignore them, if you do, they will break you." She had something stuck on her throat, but the mare powered through the conflicting feelings. "I... I don't know if I could feel the same things you are developing, it is too soon, and it is probably because you and your sister are developing magic faster and more powerful than the other humans that have visited."

That made Alexander turn and look at her in confusion. "What?"

"Look, bonds usually take a long time to develop, simple ones form in a day. Creatures like dragons, whose magic is large enough to make damaging or healing magic hard to use on them, as it partially absorbs itself, have a hard time forming bonds." This one thing she knew, Twilight had indulged her when Cup Cake asked her about her 'little brother'. "It is the same with nearly no magic at all, though it should be impossible to find anything non magical back home, but Twilight decided to use it as an example."

"Alexander..." Mrs. Cake gave the human a sad look. "I felt the bond forming, it was impossible not to when I saw how much magic you had compared to what you said, and by that I mean no magic when in truth you were almost pony like, like your sister." She bit her lip as she saw the man's confused expression. "It was just... natural. Ponies are not lonely creatures, you have to develop that way, and it is very rare for any of us to prefer solitude. Even if that is the case it is very easy to revert, like Twilight did." She felt incredibly bad about what was happening now, and she knew she would feel worse soon. "I bonded with you and your sister because of the magic we share, because of how good you have been to me, which I have tried to return. It should be a bond of friendship, but it obviously developed much more than that for you." She eyed Alexander carefully. "I don't want to hurt you, but ignoring a bond would mean extreme mental pain, because you would be ignoring part of your own self in the process."

"Ignore me for now, we can be friends, even if whatever this is asks for more." His worry, Cup Cake noticed, wasn't directed to himself. Despite what she thought of him when he shared that he may be doing more than just care for her, Alexander was focused on his sister. "Why would Olivia behave erratically when you aren't around? If this just needs care, and you two are spending quite a lot of time together, why would she act like something was utterly wrong?"

This time Cup Cake wished to be Twilight, if only for her knowledge. What would drive a creature to act differently if somepony they were bonded to was just out of sight? No bond was supposed to work like that, no normal bond anyway, even the most horrible magic required code words or magic impulses to force strange and obvious changes.

Well, that was what her old stories said anyway. Fantasy books, adventures, horror novels and other such things that talked about 'horrible and ancient magic', but in truth Cup Cake knew nothing. Was it her fault that Olivia was changing her behavior somehow? Despite what Alexander had shared, and his obvious discomfort with the situation, he hadn't changed in any obvious way... that she knew of, at least.

The thought of harming somepony else, somepony with any kind of bond to her, was killing Cup Cake, it was driving her mind to tears, but what did she know about this? She had almost shared all the common knowledge that she had about her world, and she had seen that Earth didn't work anywhere near how Equis did. This was something that Twilight could deal with, she was the element of magic after all, she had knowledge, while Cup Cake was a baker whose family life had received a very nasty blow, partially of her own doing. She had no place meddling in the love of another family.

But wait, that was it! "Alexander, have you thought about this not being about me?" Because, despite their talk three days ago, Cup Cake had noticed one topic Alexander avoided. "For all I have told you about understanding, harmony, love and friendship, when compared to Equis, you have shown little interest after our discussion. In fact you showed disinterest about a specific topic."

Which he had, because he had heard things he didn't like.

And he knew where Cup Cake was going.

"I have been sharing the same knowledge with your sister, and she has been more receptive, though we both know why." As it was widely known that most bronies' wildest dream was to visit Equestria, Cup Cake had a dose of that when he found the fanbase. "The understanding, love, acceptance and liberal sexual life that humans do NOT share here, they were very tempting points, alongside simple friendship that most humans tend to guard fiercely and only give to very few. Olivia wanted all that, but she paused whenever I brought how liberal we are in a few ways thanks to magic preventing trouble."

"Mrs. Cake, stop."

"No." She shook her head with conviction. "I am sorry my dear, but I think it is obvious that in the same way you came to me with this problem, your sister has one bottled up too." Alexander seemed to swell with anger as Cup Cake finished what she had to say. "It is not me, it is us." And by 'us' she meant Alexander and Olivia. "Your sister sees you as a white knight, despite your faults. She does all you want, despite your selfish moments. She cares for you, even when afraid of your anger." Yet, despite his anger, he couldn't help but nod. "Your sister loves you and..."

"Please! Stop." This brought some very ugly memories to his mind, memories of the first days with Olivia, of her crying, of her snuggling with him just for comfort and out of fear. "That CAN'T happen."

"Why not? Why in Celestia's name would it not?" Cup Cake was offended this time, almost angry. She wished to evade any kind of damage, she wished to make her new friends happy, but as she had said, whitening one's bonds was bad, more if you let them die. "Tell me ONE good reason for it to be a bad idea, Alexander. Tell me why it would be good to allow your sister to suffer such pain when you love her as much as she loves you." Her angry glare bore right through him, making the tall and otherwise strong man cower in fear at how close the mare was to feel revulsion from him. "Be honest with me and tell me that this is partly my fault by telling her how it would be accepted back home, because I am more than willing to take the blame if you swear to me that you don't think this is possible. Tell me you don't love your sister and I will stop."

"Because it is fucking possible, Cup Cake!" At this point Alexander was hissing at the mare, utterly angry and unable to hide it. "Do you know how she reacted when I took her in and allowed her to be herself when my parents finally caught wind of how she wanted to live her life!? She was ENAMORED with me! She wanted to make me as happy as I made her, even if it meant giving me everything, and I mean everything." He stopped for a second, looking lost. "And I wanted it all."

"T-then what...?"

Instead of stopping as Cup Cake recoiled back, Alexander got as close as to touch her nose with his own to whisper through gritted teeth. "Because humans do not tolerate incest." With a hiss that made Cup Cake gulp. "It is bad enough for Olivia to be how she is when so many people bash on her. If we were to do this where everyone knows about us, then the both of us would be destroyed, and I am this close to mean it literally."

"But this is not fair!" Cup Cake surprised Alexander by pushing him back, showing the same strength demonstrated three days back. Luckily for him, she didn't do it hard enough to hurt, but he pushed him against the wall all the same. "How can people in your situation live?! Your sister talks about you with love in her eyes, I have seen it, I have heard it! How can you ignore such a thing?!" She had read much of human customs, but three days was not enough to know everything. She hadn't compared ALL she knew about Equestria with Earth as a whole. This she hadn't expected. This she could not accept. It was monstrous. "I thought that this was one of those things I read, that you two were too shy to share it with others since you aren't as open with relationships as we ponies are, but this? Simply ignoring your feelings? Your bonds? Even without magic it should hurt you!"

"It hurts, every time I have brought a girl I thought was right for me." Alexander's words shut Cup Cake faster than she could ever think possible. "It hurts to see my sister rejected after being used, and it hurts to comfort her every time." He got up from the bed, picking the poor plushy that had been kicked away from him when he was pushed. "But it warms me to make her smile every time I can, it brings life to keep her happy, to give her a roof and to help her search for someone that will make her happy."

Cup Cake was quick to point the truth to him. "You know as well as I do that the one to make her happy is in this room."

"As well as that bonds need to be nurtured, don't you?" The snide tone in his voice made Cup Cake flinch. "Would you give me a chance then? If it feels so right to love my sister like you want me to, since you seem to know how it works, would you give me a chance if this bond, hastily formed or not, was true? Or would you deny me that chance because you don't think it would be fair to Carrot? Because you think you would be doing the right thing by being faithful to him?"

A frog had decided to jump down Mrs. Cake's throat, and it had lodged itself firmly there. What would he expect her to say? That she would jump at the chance? That she would welcome the beautiful feeling of having someone loving here after being deprived of her husband for almost a week? That she was against the wonderful feeling of having somepony just hold her against their chest and tell them how much they loved her? Cup Cake wished to be back with Carrot, she wished to show him how much she loved her, how much she would endure for his happiness, how much she wanted to forget about what she could not have and just go on with their lives as the happiest couple in Equestria.

She did not wish to tarnish such a beautiful picture, nor was she willing to risk it. Alexander wasn't the only one selfish, at least not in certain ways.

"Your silence works wonders to calm my fears." He stated coldly. "I understand this is too fast, I myself found it weird despite how easy I can get attached to someone. But if you find this is the right course of action despite 'knowing' it is wrong for ME to go against part of what you now feel too, then I think hypocrisy is part of you, the same as everything else you have shown me and my sister."

Despite his anger, anger he wasn't sure Cup Cake had earned in any way by being truthful, he did understand. "Mrs. Cake, I know how you feel, because I can't let my mind away from my sister at all." For that reason his voice turned sad as his anger melted away thanks to what was hidden underneath. "But if I go for what my sister wants, for what I want, what will happen? How many people will literally clamor against us in every way? It would be like trying to form a herd in this world: It would not work, despite what feelings we may have. The choice of doing nothing is the only one that would ensure neither her life, nor mine, are in any kind of danger."

He turned to face her once more. Mrs. Cake was downcast, looking away from him. "You can't ask me to ignore one feeling but act on the other here, you can't tell me it is wrong to see if how I do more than simply care for you but that I should go back to the day when me and my sister almost got together because it is 'right'. You think it is wrong to add more people to your family, that it is cheating, while if me and my sister turn into more than brothers, it will be wrong for the rest of the world if they ever know, and these things are impossible to keep down." Alexander sighed as he brought the little thestral up to eye level. "Things don't get to be easy, ever."

"It isn't... and I am not helping." Cup Cake finally looked at him. "I am sorry, I... I am seriously sorry. This has never happened, me and Carrot hardly have had anything that went beyond friendly love for those dear to us, or family love. I have never had any other stallion, or mare, love me, there has been no other bond occupying that space, nor have I ever tried to have anypony but Carrot."

Alexander was the one to look away this time. He felt stupid and hurt, hurt because he felt envious, because whatever fucking happened, had changed him, and it had prompted these fucking feelings. Or were they natural? It was hard to say, you never knew what would happen when you got to know a new person, or pony in this case.

"I don't know if this is just my fault or not but... I know that I am part of this mess, and that I brought many problems with me." She tried to give him a smile, but Cup Cake failed miserably as it broke apart. "I told Olivia all she wanted to hear about my home, and she found hers lacking. In Equis she would be able to love you without any taboo, in Equestria her sexuality, her sex, everything, would be accepted, all would be fine. Now look at this place, look at you." Alexander was unable to do so. "You love your sister, in more ways than a brother should, if we are to go with how humans work because you have been taught that way."

"It is not just teaching." And it was why the taboo was there. "Brother and sister, father and daughter, mother and son. They can create such pain if they get together, they can make their own children sick in so many ways, just because genetically they would be weak while physically they could be deformed, or worse." Cup Cake's fur turned green at the thought. "It is not a taboo because of something stupid, Cup Cake, it is for safety."

At that Cup Cake grinned with a sly hint to her expression, some of her happiness returning. "But she is no woman, is she?" Alexander held his breath at that. "If we were back in my home, if there was a chance for this to be fair for Carrot and I, not just you attracted to me... I... I would consider it." Lucky that he did as he did, because he felt like he could say something very stupid if he wasn't still. "But whatever may happen, may happen, and it may require time. I won't... I won't assure anything, not yet." Though her expression said she wanted to, but something else, something more important, allowed the 'maybe' to exist. "However, that is secondary. There is something more important now."

"More important?" Alexander croaked. "Mrs. Cake, wait a moment..."

The mare shook her head. "Alexander, hear me out, for all you hold dear, hear me out." She bit her lip for a moment, waiting for him to say something, and exhaled in appreciation as he allowed her to talk. "You love your sister, and whatever others think is not important if you hurt nopony else. What matters is that love; to nurture and care for it, to show her you love her, to make her FEEL loved, and to throw whatever shame and preconceptions you have." It was something that, in some parts of Equis, had yet to be taught, but something Cup Cake felt necessary to share here. "Even if she was a normal woman, even if she could get pregnant, you two have as much magic as a pony within you. I can FEEL it Alexander, if I focus I can feel you across the building." That made Alexander's eyes widen as she explained further. "That IS indeed my fault, it has to be. But this also means that, even if she was 'normal', there would be no danger involved because the magic in your bodies wouldn't allow it, not if it is pony magic at least."

Alexander snorted and finally managed to look at Cup Cake in the eye. So magic made it alright? So magic was the cure all? If he went to his sister she would be perfectly fine alongside him? No one would look at them weird? No one would basically bash down their door with the law in hand? There were so many things wrong with that line of thought.

"Magic and rainbows don't work like that here, Mrs. Cake, the same way that the weather on Earth works by itself." He groused, walking towards the door. "I am not going to destroy our lives because you think I should 'be happy'. I may not be ecstatic, but I am happy as I am now."

"Then why not give it a chance?" Alexander was about to rebuke again, but when he turned to Cup Cake she didn't look like she was talking about the relationship only. "If you would sacrifice things, if you seek that in a partner, why not sacrifice what you think makes you happy and go for what will make you happy? " Mrs. Cake jumped out of bed for the simple purpose of walking to him with a hopeful smile on her face. "Do what you FEEL is right, not what others think is right. Show me that what you think can't happen, what you thought was impossible, could be done. If that happens, then maybe there is a place better than this for the both of you."

Alexander was about to turn again and open the door when Cup Cake lifted herself, standing on her hind legs, to reach almost past meter sixty in height as she pinned the human against the door he had tried to use as his escape point.

"'I' am at fault, I know I am. I may not know EVERYTHING about bonds, but I needed support when I came here, I still do, and you and your sister helped me. I befriended you two, I bonded with you two, and the love you feel for one another poured on me, probably because of the magic that is growing within you, I don't know." Mrs. Cake sounded exasperated, maybe even fearful, about that. "If you avoid this, then it will get worse. It only gets worse if you let bonds decay, and it is obvious things weren't all perfect before I came around."

"No, no they weren't." If Alexander had any desire to fight before that, it was gone now. "I doubt either one of us was happy, and we kept jabbing at each other for the silliest of things, bringing a few things up when they should've stayed buried."

"Don't bury them, cherish them, look back at them and wonder how you can make things right. Never forget your mistakes, learn from them." Cup Cake's smile was a motherly one now. Whereas she was not happy with how things had escalated this quickly, she was happy to give some counsel, to maybe make things right, and to stop being selfish herself. "Olivia is not an obstacle to avoid, she is your sister and somepony you love. Do not deny yourself, do not deny HER, that love. Prove that her wish can be your wish, and maybe..."

The last words died in her throat as another voice joined in. "But I AM an obstacle!"

Alexander and Cup Cake were both pushed forward as the door was forcefully opened. In a fantasy Alexander wouldn't have minded falling over Cup Cake, but in real life, after this discussion, it was mortifying, and the look of terror on the mare's face didn't help him any.

He was quick to get away from the mare, but it didn't have the effect he thought it would as there was a feeling of rejection that washed over him like a sickness. Luckily for him, it didn't last. When he rested his eyes on his sister's figure, fuming with anger and sadness in the doorway, crying as he watched him, Alexander was quick to notice things that were utterly wrong, and he didn't simply mean his sister's obvious state of mind.

A quick look to the plushy, still in his hands, was enough for him to see the similarities between his sister's hair and eyes with what had once been a fantasy. The cat like pupils, the two tone hair, and he was almost sure that her skin had cleared slightly, changing from what had once been her healthy coloration.

"I came to him for help and he took me in. I tried to repay his kindness with love and he rejected me... and I still clung to him." Olivia wasn't shy when it came to her rage, or her sadness. "I did ALL he wanted, EVERYTHING, I event went out trying to get friends, to get 'lovers', so he could FORGET about it, so I would be happy. And now, when I was hoping for a better place, when I want to ask the one pony about how likely am I to be admitted in the damn world of magic and friendship, my brother falls for her!? HOW THE FUCK IS THIS FAIR!?"

Alexander's throat was dry, and he found it hard to talk, but he had to try and calm his sister down. "Olivia, wait..."

"SHUT UP! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Olivia, however, was done paying attention to her brother. "Look at me! LOOK AT THIS!" But she had enough self control to at least turn and show her brother something he hadn't expected: Oven's cutie mark. "It happened after Miss Cake here," She turned to sneer at the mare, making Mrs. Cake shrink away from her. "appeared. It happened during the night, it was why I was so weird the day after, it was why I tried the tablet and it probably is WHY the tablet worked. It didn't before THIS PONY HERE." Olivia pointed an accusatory finger towards the mare. "Infected both of us with her shit! It is why I was eager to hear of her world! It was why I wanted to talk with her! And it is why I wanted to be free from you!"

Cup Cake was the first to get her guts back as she got up. She managed to take a step forward before Olivia glared at her with pure hate. "Olivia, I am sorry I came here and messed this up, we all know this was not my intention." It wouldn't have been this bad if things had developed with time, if they had been in Equestria, or... No, better not delve on it. "I promise you that..."

"No promises, no more cool heads, no more deals, no more anything." Olivia faced her brother as she cleaned the tears from her face. "I have done everything you wanted, every single thing. I stayed here when you rejected me, I tried to get someone else like you WANTED me to, I have done every single damn thing, all in the slim hope of you coming to my bed one night and simply hugging or kissing me, because you made it clear that I was not to bring it up. Teasing? Oh yes it was fine, but being serious about it?" She sneered at him. "And yet lo and behold! Here comes a pony and says that 'hey, magic totally makes this okay, and if you do it you may get to a pretty pony world'. Fuck. You."

With that she turned away.

"What are you doing?" She didn't even dignify Alexander with a simple look.

"I am going to pick my things and then I am leaving."

Cup Cake's eyes widened. Whether it was because of what she now shared, fear of the young girl, or fear of what could happen with what was obviously going through her body, she felt unable to keep her mouth shut.

"But you are changing! Olivia, think about this." The mare tried to approach Olivia, only to back away as the woman snarled at her with those hateful eyes. "Hate me all you want, Olivia, I can understand it. I didn't want to hurt anypony when I came here, I didn't want to hurt anypony, period! But please, please Olivia, don't do something you'll regret."

Olivia was this close to saying something that would've hurt them all, but she decided to grit her teeth, take a deep breath and give a neutral face. "Cup Cake, I am sorry. You did not break anything, you did not hurt anyone, you just got involved because of my mistakes and because of my brother's apparent fucking feelings. This was a mess that would've been avoided if I did the right thing and left my brother right after I messed up. I was like a lost puppy: I wanted someone to love me for me, and I turned to the one person that always supported me, thinking it was what had to happen, what SHOULD happen." The neutrality was lost when she looked at her brother. "Obviously it was a piss poor choice."

"Sister..."

"No, no more sister, no more Olivia, no more anything, not from you, from our family, from this country or from our past." Olivia shook her head and turned once more. "I am done, done with all this, done with you, done with this life we have lived together and done in general with all this bullshit. I am going, going anywhere but here. Goodbye."

She didn't even wait another second. While Cup Cake looked frantically between brother and sister, trying to sputter some words, wishing for her throat, her mouth, anything, to work and knock some sense on either of them. Ultimately she just sat there, feeling as useless as Alexander.

Mrs. Cake was feeling awful, she was pretty sure that it had been both her desperation and that breakdown what had forged these bonds. It didn't help, at all, that she seemed to be at least more or less the type of woman Alexander was seeking. She had butted in, without wanting to, in a circle that had formed a triangle, and worse yet, if she was sharing this there was a chance she could share the love of Carrot. What cruel irony, right? While she was unable to tell the finer points of how a bond was created, of how most ponies fell in love, how sure could she be that this was her fault? If it wasn't for the magic, she would be unable to.

It had been telegraphed though, she wouldn't be the one to deny the obvious. The moment she felt that she was getting closer to the two humans she knew that it would boil down to something problematic, but she hadn't expected THIS. The worst thing? Olivia hadn't severed the bond, she wasn't angry in a way that would just break it, kill it, but she was hurt and feeling worse than she could express. Through the bond it was felt, and now that they all were aware of it, the mare was feeling everything clearly.

It was simply painful to the mind and soul.

Alexander, meanwhile, just looked at the plushy, wondering how such a good day, with such a happy morning, had turned into this disaster. At least he heard thunder outside, so if nothing else he could say that the world was crying alongside him.

Chapter 5: Lessons within the bubble.

Alexander didn't take too long to mope. He had all his life to wallow in misery, and after her sister's declaration he only had one thing he wanted to do: Go back down and make sure everyone saw the red sign that said 'CLOSED'. He was tempted to paint the words 'FOREVER' underneath, but right now he didn't give a shit even for that one.

The only thing he cared about was the plushy on his hands as he sat on the counter, looking at nothing.

It had been an hour now, maybe two, he wasn't sure. He was focused on revisiting all the time he had spent with his sister since she came here, all the times he had made her smile, every time he had fucked up, the days that had them at each other's throats... Good and bad, those days were going to end for good. Despite some of the memories being best forgotten, with some of them now showing an obvious sign of the right time for the right word, only to be missed as was the norm for him, he found himself searching for every last one of them, hunting for what would be the last remains of his sister once she left.

Cup Cake had been more articulate than the silent man, enough to at least tell him to do something anyway. She hadn't been able to hold her tears as she felt the pain of those close to her, and while she had tried her best to explain all she could about what was happening in the heat of the moment, the burn and crash that had been enough to send his mind into a tumble that had messed up everything nicely enough for him to be a mess.

Was it really Cup Cake's fault? Was it the magic? Was she responsible for all this as she feared, or was it something else? Do you know how much that mattered now? Absolutely nothing. Zero. Nada. You know why? Because the only thing that mattered about what Cup Cake had done, if she had done anything at all, was that she was obviously distressed and feeling what the brothers were feeling. That made Alexander feel like an even bigger shit, but what destroyed him was that, despite whatever Mrs. Cake said, this was his fault.

How much did it matter if Cup Cake brought this to the surface once more or not? This was one rotten apple that was stinking the place already. Sooner or later, with help from someone or just by their own volition, this would have made the tides turn, for no one can forget events like your own sister making advances on you late at night.

Not when it felt so damn bad to say 'no' that one time.

Oh yea, you read shit in the internet and think it is hot, right? You read about the kinky and sexy incest stories, impregnation, breeding and what have you... But what would happen to YOU if it happened in real life? What would happen to you if you suddenly had a group of women or men wanting to have only you with no problems as far as sharing goes? What if your own parent/s or other familiars wanted to be with you? Would you do what the people expect you to, or would you go with what you think would make you happy?

Alexander was not as homophobic as his parents, in fact he didn't give a shit about anyone's gender, preferences or anything else. All he cared was about the person, and a person isn't made by outward appearances, it is made by how they act, how they are, their personality. That is what attracted him to Cup Cake, what made him envy Carrot, and what probably would make him happy as all get together if Cup Cake gave him a chance.

But it also made him love his sister. She was witty, she had spunk and she was devoted to those she loved. Self sacrifice, that was one of the things Alexander wanted most, and that was one thing he had scrapped in lieu of snaring his sister in this home. She had felt like a debt had to be paid, she wanted to please him, and he had used that to keep her around.

Anyone seeing what happened some hours ago could consider so many things wrong with the picture. Alexander would be glad to agree that less than a week was not enough to simply love someone, but it would be enough to feel attraction, more so if you were spending so much time with that person, or pony, as both brothers had. At the same time it should have been a shocker for Cup Cake to find out about Alexander and Olivia, but much like his sister's reaction, the mare seemed more afraid of the anger, and affected by the emotions she seemed to share, than anything else.

What he would have for this to be something of a spur of the moment, ALL OF IT. As it stood, and it stood firmly indeed, the grave he had dug for himself lied as empty and as cold as the first day, only this time it was much deeper and he had decided to open the casket himself. The only thing left for him, was to jump in and get cozy.

"Sometimes it seems like all has to go to hell to get back on track, doesn't it?"

The sound of rain coming from outside stopped as Alexander blinked, quickly turning to his side to see that the whole place had turned dark except for a small circle of light around him. Was he surprised? After all the shit that had been going on... not really. What did surprise him was the clock, inert and normal looking, right beside him. It was as if whatever powered it had left.

"You know, pony bonds weren't meant to work without magic." The voice was gentle, but deep. It echoed slightly in his head and came from nowhere in particular. "They are such social creatures that it is almost impossible for them not to form bonds with every creature they meet, but back in their world it is very hard to keep track of all of them, and with how much magic there is... well, you can say that the effects are much less profound than the one you are sharing now."

As he looked forward once more Alexander was greeted by a pair of tuxedo covered arms that ended in perfectly white hands. They looked human enough, but they ended in pure darkness no matter if they came closer or moved away, making him wonder if the darkness was moving alongside the body on the other side, or if there was a body at all.

Sincerely, Alexander didn't give a fuck at the moment. He was more interested in what the hell was going on instead of what was talking to him, or whom.

"Now, if Celestia hadn't been the spoiled child she has turned out to be, then you would have kept living your life, and probably ended it miserably." The figure seemed to shrug for a moment. "No skin of my nose, really, there is not enough magic here on Earth to even summon me anymore, and as an aspect of magic I can tell you that it is pathetic. Sadly, Earth seems to gear towards technology almost ninety nine percent of the time, and you guys tend to fuck things up around the same number of times." That made the voice chuckle darkly. "So if nothing else, Celestia's little childish impatience has served to give you a second chance."

"But let's cut the chit chat, you want to know what is going on, right?" Alexander didn't know how he managed to be as calm and collected as to simply nod, but that is all he did. "Let me begin with who I am: I am an aspect of magic, I am Harmony, or one of its forms, like the elements or the tree itself." The human thought that what the arms were doing was showing that 'harmony' was bowing, but he wasn't sure. "I am also your one and only 'extra guy', 'one up' and 'continue'. I am here, in front of you, because you fucked up, but in your case you fucked up BEFORE this began."

Alexander hid his face behind his hands in exasperation. "I know I fucked up alright! And I don't care if I am having a breakdown right now, I just want to know how to fix this situation."

"Normally? I'd say you messed up and that it would be balanced sooner or later. In Earth? That doesn't happen." Harmony sighed, exhaling long and hard. "First I need to make a few questions, so hear me out and nod or shake your head as your answer, no talking. Words don't work as you think they do with this." Alexander wondered what it meant, but harmony didn't allow him time to ask. "Is a tyrant an evildoer?" He just had time to blink before he nodded. "Is democracy good?" Again, Alexander nodded. "Is helping a helpless person the right thing to do?" Once more, Alexander nodded. "Is killing in cold blood right?" And then he shook his head. The one to held its 'face' behind his hands was Harmony this time. "Christ, you humans can be worse than ponies."

"Wha...?"

"There is no white, there is no black, those are colors. There is no right, there is no wrong, they are CHOICES." Harmony sounded like those people that were trying to explain things to a child. "Good or bad, they don't exist in the way you think they do. Right or wrong was created by sapient beings because they usually fuck things up so bad, that they need a way to explain how they managed to wreck a whole world. Nature is equilibrium all on itself, with the anomaly being inelegant enough creatures to be evil for the sole purpose of being evil, or those that are good simply because they want to be good. When you 'understand' good and evil, it is then when harmony is screwed."

"Let me put it this way." Harmony clapped its hands together and a figure in regal armor, but horrid in appearance as it looked similar to damn Sauron in a few ways, sat atop a throne with thousands of other figures bowing in front of it. "A tyrant can be a cruel and evil person in the eyes of many, but its subjects may love their lord because that one 'evil bastard' gives them education, food, good working conditions and safety. In the meantime we have corrupt democracies that squeeze the livelihood out of every single man, woman and child that is under their care. Then we have the helpless person ready to kill you in a moment's notice and the evildoer that is about to kill thousands upon thousands because the stupid hero thinks it is bad to kill that one asshole before they do anything that will mark them for life."

Harmony clapped its hands together once more and the image evaporated. "Good, in layman terms, means to do something that benefits the many, not the one. It means to push things forward, to create prosperity, to make things 'right'. Evil means the opposite. But what is good and what is evil, hmm? Your comprehension, human as it is, won't be able to understand it all because you have been conditioned by your parents, in fact it is surprising you can tolerate your sister with how your parents are."

"HEY!"

"Alexander." The tone in Harmony's voice darkened quickly as it was interrupted. "If humans had grown RIGHT, then things such as anarchy would be possible, in fact it would be a paradise with everyone doing what they want, with everyone living the life they desire. If humanity had grown right, then communism would work instead of being utterly destroyed because those that need to represent the people distance themselves by being like almost any other politician. If humanity had evolved as they should, then there would be no right or wrong, there would be life and you all would strive to maintain it." Harmony growled, the sound echoing in such a heavy and almost violent way that scared Alexander into stillness. "But every intelligent species grows differently. That is what brings us to your problem."

"Worlds without magic, even worlds with magic, aren't meant to be perfect. Magic usually means more happiness, greater equilibrium, but it doesn't always stay that way, it isn't meant to be that way in all of them. Harmony has to balance ALL the realms, and that means some nightmare fuel." The way Harmony said it almost sounded like it was talking about the weather. To say that it unnerved Alexander would be an understatement. "Equis? Nine times out of ten it is almost perfect. Celestia is a bleeding heart that usually wants everything to be just right for her subjects, and when harmony tries to make things balance out, she throws a tantrum." Harmony stopped and pointed at Alexander. "This version of Earth is my answer to her latest fuckup. You are the first 'lucky' guy to be part of the therapy to heal Equestria."

The human waited for a moment, but Harmony didn't say anything more. Was Alexander supposed to say something? If that was the case, then what was he supposed to say? How was this shit help to anybody?

"Why me? Why start this crap?" Alexander only found resignation and anger in his voice.

"Harmony, once more." Which was nowhere as funny or ironic as Harmony itself thought, Alexander was sure of it. "Let me begin from the start: Celestia fucked up." And that wasn't as big a surprise as Alexander thought it would be. "Everything evil out there? Elements of Harmony its ass. Every problem that happens? Send the mane six. There are nightmares? Sister will weed them out. Discord is too much of a chaos god? Friendship cannon him. Tirek about to wreck my shit? Mare ball Z. Changelings are famished and we didn't reach out for them since the day they appeared because ponies are fantasy racists? Well, that one is almost a bit of balance, but fuck it! Love conquers all and all that shit."

For a moment Alexander thought about laughing, but self preservation told him not to. "Celestia has geared every single problem the nation has encountered, every single one, towards making her nation better, more prosper and friendlier. This would be all well and good if other creatures, other nations, would balance things, but not even the dragons are truly evil, and the diamond dogs are mostly stupid and a bit greedy at worst. The truth is that Celestia, or Luna, always aim to make things 'good', and sometimes it just breaks the magic apart because there is not enough 'evil' to balance it."

"Do you know about the Overlord games?" The question surprised Alexander, but he did nod. It was a fun comedic game with evil as the protagonist. "Remember the heroes, remember how easily corrupted they were, as evil seemingly disappeared from the world. Tipping the balance of the scales towards either direction literally breaks it, and in this case, this one case, it broke down to affect those that were responsible for the unbalance." Clasping its hands together, Harmony delivered the punch line in a monotone. "The result of this? An undefined number of years with ponykind unable to procreate."

Carrot was infertile. Carrot could not provide. Carrot SHOULD have been ALL but infertile. The reason Cup Cake was here was because this asshole had decided to teach the ponies a lesson by cutting down the baby making and forcing every mare to go around suffering heat pains for who knows how long! To say that Alexander's self control was breaking would be like saying a damn about to crack just had a little paint chipped off its surface.

"Angry, are you?" Harmony had a big grin in its voice, Alexander could feel it. "That is why I chose humans when Celestia decided that she couldn't trust harmony, that it was another enemy to best. She decided to use old magic, ancient magic, to solve this problem, knowing full well that harmony does NOT allow for magic to be the 'solve it all' in this world of hers. She still tried, so I decided to give her the middle finger because this petulant child keeps trying to tell me how things work."

"Sincerely, Alex, can I call you Alex? This problem would have been around for maybe fifty years or so, practically nothing for Equis as a whole. Ponies live long lives, and now so will you and your sister, as well as any other human that magic finds attractive enough to claim... unless you guys do enough of a good job and I decide that harmony can do with your help." Despite his angry look, Alexander had to turn to curiosity as Harmony went on. "When Celestia decided to cheat by pulling mares from Equestria to another world, as she hoped that taking them away from what she thought was the cause would, in turn, spell the 'cure' for this, I decided that I would guide her to Earth. Why? Because if we mix both world then they will counter each other."

"Look at Cup Cake, now look at yourself." Harmony's smile just grew as its voice turned more and more chipper. "What took Mrs. Cake to break down? What took a very cute, friendly and motherly mare to show something darker; her anger, her hate and her desperation? I needed to brighter to another world after getting her close to heat, a heat that would bear no fruit. I required negativity to keep the harmony in the land, but when the alternative meant allowing the magic in Equis to rot and die, thus killing everything. A bit of 'evil' sounded perfectly fine." He pointed at Alexander for a second. "But humans don't require much. Your kind is neutral by default, neither good nor bad. You do what suits you best, though during your growth as a species you abandoned neutrality and grew more towards evil because it is basically taught by modern society that everyone is out there to fend for him or herself. Despite all the good, which is a lot, that your species can do, humans tend to go down the wrong path in most iterations of this world, which is a shame."

"Now, extrapolate Cup Cake to nearly ninety five percent of the pony population and think: Could the species as a whole do enough evil to keep harmony going? Could they have enough negative thoughts to do it? Could they allow the other species that practically follow them to have enough bad in them to keep Equis going?" Silence fell for a few seconds, but after watching the series with his sister and Mrs. Cake, Alexander had to say that, if certain 'evil' levels were needed, then the world was fucked up. "Your silence is enough of an answer, and it is the correct one."

"But why me? You haven't answered that question." Alexander crossed his arms. Today had too much shit pilling on his plate. "Why bring Cup Cake here? Why bring Cup Cake at ALL?! She has selfishness if nothing else, she is not as perfect as other ponies at least, she said so herself. Doesn't she want Carrot and Carrot alone? If you wanted to bring some harmony I don't think Mrs. Cake was a good first test subject."

"Not exactly, but it has more to do with the fact that she was the one to tip off Celestia more than anything." Harmony relaxed and returned to its neutral stance in its voice. "If it hadn't been for the Cakes, then Celestia would have taken longer to discover this problem I made. If it wasn't for her, then the change would have stayed put as the magic solidified after enough time. As it stands, Mrs. Cake did Celestia a great service, and disturbed the equilibrium that was supposed to bring harmony back. True, it was not planned or anything, but it happened, and that tipped her own balance." Harmony chuckled. "Besides, who says she wasn't bent towards one side before?"

Alexander didn't even get to say 'huh?' before Harmony explained. "Devotion, self sacrifice, incessant and interminable love for her mate, her little ones and nearly any other pony? I think I have seen Mrs. Cake truly angry, what, two times? A little bad doesn't make up for all the good" Harmony relaxed its arms' stance. "But it is not just the ponies I have to think about now. Celestia's little spell has made sure to intertwine Equis and Earth. The only thing I was able to do is place a safeguard for this kind of thing, to help those that fumble, like you, ONCE, at best, if it works, as well as to guide mares desiring foals to a partner that is compatible. Whether it works between the human and the mare, or mares, is not so much up to me as it is up to you."

"So... what happens if I fuck up again?" Alexander dreaded the answer.

"If you really fuck up again? The deal is off. If it is obvious that Cup Cake and you can't mingle, then she will go back when the last number in the clock disappears." Harmony patted said machine with one hand. "You will remember everything, including what you lost, and little by little your, and her, life will undo itself. Whatever happens afterwards may or may not be repairable, but it is either that or poison Equestria, and now Earth."

"The question you may be wondering about is: Why should it hurt me?" Though Alexander wasn't going to ask, since he knew perfectly well why this was getting to the point of bursting at the seams: Too much bullshit from him. "So I will answer you with a question: What does it mean for Celestia to burden your world with 'curing' this 'affliction' I made to balance all the good they made?"

What did it mean? That was a good question. What was burdening Mrs. Cake right now? She was going to go into heat, she didn't want to cheat on her husband, but she wanted to have more kids, as her desire, her dream, was a big family to love. What had happened to the other mares? They got equally out of luck because any other stallion would be the same way, if what Harmony said was effectively true for everypony. Heck, he could go and guess that harmony would make it impossible for them to be pregnant back home, so what did it mean to have Mrs. Cake here?

Did it mean that Alexander got to have a fling? Did it mean gratuitous sex between human and pony? Hybrid families? Just plain porn and a snap of the fingers, then it is done? That sounded pretty easy, and superficial as all hell. From what Harmony had told him this seemed more convoluted than just getting a pony fuck buddy.

"I'll tell you what this means." And it seemed that Harmony was in the mood to lecture him some more. "This means that 'I' am charged with this world too." Which Alexander hadn't thought would make him this wide eyed. "Magic is pouring out, and it begins here. Harmony will envelop Earth, and little by little, things will change, all because Celestia didn't think that harmony can take care of itself. Of course, obeying the laws of ancient magic, I need to play the part, but I can bend the rules since it is 'I' who made them. Unlike Discord, unlike Celestia, 'I' don't have limits as far as harmony is balanced in the end."

"Now, let's look at Earth. Is it harmonic?" Alexander didn't need to think twice before he shook his head. "Of course not. Magic here is not very powerful, and it will never be very powerful, but it means that I will be here nevertheless, so I am going to slowly whip you all into shape, literally if needed be, otherwise you all will be unable to reach the third millennium of your written history without wrecking your species." It was weird to hear Harmony snort, but Alexander felt almost the same way as it did. "Now that this place is connected with Equis it is my business to make sure you don't destabilize it more than it is, so that is why I used these to my advantage."

A snap of the fingers made the clock turn into a small stone, no bigger than a fist, much smaller than the damn clunky thing that was the clock that Olivia had found. The stone had runes, runes of various colors, similar to those of the clock, with one difference: A few of the runes were inherit. In fact the snuffed runes were three, no more, no less, just three.

"Seeker stones have their uses, but they are some of the oldest magic in Equis, back when magic itself was scarce and there weren't as many magic users as today. Using them as a catalyst for Celestia's spell wasn't exactly intuitive, but I may have given her a nudge in the right direction since Celestia was so decided to do 'the right thing'." Something that Harmony seemed to find hilarity in that statement while Alexander was unsure as to what to think of it. "Their runes can be used for many things, many more than those that ponies know off in this age. It is easy for them to pick a pony, or other creature, and seek those they could easily bond with. Infusing them with other enchantments while Celestia cast her spell was easy, making her think it was her idea, making her assume that secondary effects, or possible disturbances thanks to the ancient magic, were possible was an equally easy task." Once more the smile could be heard in Harmony's voice, but this time it wasn't the nice and friendly one Alex had expected. "And thanks to that it was easy to channel the changes expected in this first phase of the experiment."

Alexander's lip twitched. He wasn't sure if it was a snarl, a smile developed through the near maddening day or just plain old need to laugh at all this bullshit.

"You..." Staying calm would be impossible, and the quivering voice he held was enough to show. "You are the cause that we bonded this fast, that my sister's changing, that I brought all this shit up. It is not Cup Cake, it is your idea of harmony."

"Bingo! But no, not entirely." Alexander had been this close to getting up and trying to punch Harmony in the... whatever it had. "The bond? That happened on its own. Non magical creatures should not form it, so the idea of forming said bond was just a wild goose chase I gave to Celestia, but the stones would seek possible bonds anyway. Once you were full of magic as a normal magical creature? Then it would have happened, but it wasn't supposed to work this fast. Then again ponies are sociable creatures, so it is reasonable to expect that ancient magic, my magic, and the one they have today is different. Now, about your sister? That was planed to perfection." And now the human was rethinking if he should indeed punch Harmony.

"You must understand that all living things generate magic, but the more technology progresses, the more limited the growth of magic is. That is why technology in Equis is limited to things mainly archaic and that can only work with magic help. To start what I need, I require a lot of magic here, and part of the magic is already being used, which means I need more than what a single pony can generate. For that reason, and other little reasons on the side, you were one of the best candidates for this first incursion." A little blue image of Olivia formed on top of the counter. "Your sister is completely unhappy here, and you have been driving her away constantly. She needed just a little push to break, and I knew you would mess up sooner or later. With the next humans I may give much subtler hints, but with you I needed to be brutally clear and let you see how things would work. At the same time, I required extra help to keep the countermeasures around your house and to pump enough magic to justify future travels."

"Now, I am sure you are thinking: But wait! You are using me for your own schemes! How is this harmonic in any way?" Olivia's blue form exploded, soon replaced by what looked like a live version of Oven the thestral. "Who is to say I am doing harm here? What I am doing is correcting the pain and suffering you two have inflicted each other, the disdain your family feels for you and, as a bonus, I am giving you a world that would be happy to have you... If you two manage to work it out between each other and Cup Cake. A payment for services rendered, with a few extras."

A few extras? A better world? So it was indeed a possibility to go to Equestria... Alexander didn't like the idea still, despite finding a fondness, or more, for Cup Cake, he didn't dislike Earth all that much. He liked his friends, he liked the technology and he was happy here.

Olivia wasn't. That was more than enough for him. It should have been this clear a long time ago.

"So what are you saying with all of this is that if we make it happen, we help both my world and Equis. Not only that, but we achieve happiness together and all that shit." Harmony gave him a thumbs up. "And then harmony will return if Earth and Equis stay joined like this because we were a big enough fuckup to counter Celestia's own? How many will like this plan?"

"I don't care if they like it or not, it is happening." The finality in Harmony's voice was slightly terrifying. "The alternative for magic itself was simple: Let Celestia search in vain until she breaks. Part of her cutie mark, of her duties, revolve around keeping her kingdom safe. If she found no way of doing it she could have turned completely ruthless trying to get things done, and it would have tipped the balance from good to evil in such a quick motion that it would have hurt, or even destroyed, Equis, for it could have also attracted her sister's negative side once more. This was the next best thing. I made it the next best thing." Alexander didn't feel any better at how Harmony said it. "If it doesn't work, then both worlds suffer and harmony is recovered quickly, just a few years for Equis while Earth is disengaged from this link and the brutal backlash makes the balance stay strong. Some ponies suffer, some humans suffer, harmony is sated. If it works? Then everyone grows happier and the best behaved humans go to Equis while the worlds form a bond that will allow for humanity to return to neutrality while the goodwill of the ponies is focused on helping humans achieve such a thing, leaving their world free from excessive goodness for a while. I win, I score, I am fucking amazing."

Still, Alexander could do nothing but scoff. "This sounds like the end justifies the means."

He could almost feel Harmony shaking its nonexistent head. "The means justify the end, it is not the same thing." Alexander blinked at that. "Would balance be possible if I allow Celestia to turn mad and possibly destroy the world? Or would it be easier to make some ponies and humans go through these little experiments to ensure ponies forget their stupid racism and humans grow in understanding and relearn how to bond with others as is properly done?" Harmony clasped his hands together and snuffed the blue flame that had been Olivia once and for all. "Getting people dead hardly makes things equal; it makes things worse. To allow this problem to boil until it explodes would solve things quick and easy, at least if Celestia is stopped quickly, but it would be a gamble and I doubt Equestria would survive intact. Doing things this way? There may be some drama, but things will probably end better, and with so much negativity in this world harmony will recover fast if achieved, or faster if you humans fuck up. Either way I win, Equis is intact and Celestia learns to not fuck with harmony anymore, or else."

"Then again, that is not how things work, so I do have an offer for you." Harmony picked the seeker stone and crushed it with its hand. The clock returned to its original position as if by magic. "You ask me to go back in time and I allow for the other plan to go on. You forget this all, you keep living your life that could perfectly well work or break at any point in time, and the ponies risk it all once Celestia's patience breaks as she sees mares everywhere breaking down from heat pains. This doesn't mean you are selfish, or that you are a hero, it means you make a choice." Harmony opened its right hand and showed Olivia as a thestral. "Do you dare love your sister, even as she changes, even if almost no human will understand or like you for it? Do you try to explore what you are feeling for Cup Cake? Do you dare to accept the possibility of a polyamorous relationship with family and friends?" Then it opened the left, showing plain old Olivia. "Or do you risk living your plain old life to have it easier? Do you forget about this new chance? Do you forget about Miss Cake? Do you forget that Olivia is close to breaking down?" Harmony chuckled. "Tick tock, tick tock."

Easy or hard path? There were no easy choices here, both would be hard, for different reasons. This was not a game, there was no right choice, only what he felt was right. And you know what? He hadn't done the right thing since he left home, so what he did was take Harmony's right hand, snuffing the left one's flame.

"You monkeys can be trained..." Harmony's voice chuckled. "With some luck the rest will have the same balls. But I have to warn you." Then the tone grew dark. "There is a shield that won't allow any of you to go far away from this building until next week. Not even to the market. After that period of time you will be able to go outside and have a semi normal life, but if your don't manage to convince your sister, then she will be teleported away alongside Cup Cake, but you won't. You lose, you fuck up, you MISS, crash, and burn. End of the fucking line." The sudden pressure that Alexander felt on his hand could easily make his hand break into tiny pieces. "Do you get it? I have given you all you need to work this out. Don't fail me, or your life is worse than forfeit. You don't get another call, you don't get another one up, continue or anything like that. Fuck up, and you will be utterly alone for the rest of your life after serving your purpose. Remember:" Harmony let go of his hand, which Alexander withdrew faster than he ever thought possible. "Harmony first and foremost. Everything else, good or bad, is meaningless."

A snap of thunder fell squarely in front of the shop, cracking the scene apart as light engulfed Alexander's vision once more.

He hadn't moved during the visit, or he thought he hadn't, and everything was kept in place. He had plushy Oven there, the clock was nowhere in sight and the only thing that had changed was that there was a small hole outside, as well as some very small asphalt chunks clicking against the windows. Luckily nothing broke, but the startling effect had been enough for him to shake off the fear that Harmony had forced down his throat.

Because that was one thing that happened, right? It wasn't his mind trying to make up shit? He hoped it wasn't, otherwise this was going to work poorly.

Alexander knew very well that his sister would not allow him to speak, not now, not after fucking up so badly. They had to talk a long time ago, instead he made sure to tell her to repress all those thoughts and at best they were used for jabs. This time he had to force her to talk when she had been the one to try and open the conversation before. How to do it? Plant himself in front of the only exit, wait and endure the kick in the nuts that was about to come.

It all depended on him not breaking as he saw his sister going downstairs, bags in hand, backpack full, jacket on and eyes bloodshot as she looked at him and at the plushy he was holding on his hand. Her face was neutral despite everything, and it was obvious she didn't have anything else to say as she walked towards him. The only thing she muttered was enough to chill him to the core.

"Move."

His answer was as cold and concise. "No."

Her kick was excruciatingly precise though.

Alexander could be much taller than his sister, but Olivia had a lot more spunk and a lot less flunk than his brother. She could very well balance all the weight she was carrying and still kick so hard and so high that it made Alexander's brain freeze as pain stung to his very soul. Despite the scream he managed to swallow and the endurance he showed, he was about to puke his guts out as Olivia snarled at him.

"MOVE!" She screeched. "I am letting you free, you asshole! Move! Get out of my sight and fuck the pony if you so want! LEAVE. ME. BE!" She half cried, trying to save what tears remained. "Leave me be for once. Let me live at fucking last."

"If you go out..." Alexander was unable to do more than croak, half coughing half gasping as he tried not to throw whatever was left from yesterday's dinner. "If you leave... you'll be miserable... the same as me."

"Not this again." Olivia left all pretext of control and just threw her bags to the ground. "Who would be worse off? Me? Or you!?"

"..." Alexander looked down, ashamed. "Me." But before Olivia could say anything, he looked back at her. "But you would fare no better, would you?" The 'AHA!' that Olivia was about to utter died within her throat. "Or would you really be happy leaving? Would you want to move away and be able to forget?"

Feeling humiliated and angry, Olivia was this close to kicking him once more. "Would it be better to stay here with YOU until you deem it FIT for me to leave!? Would it be better to keep pleasing your every fucking wish in hopes for a simple kiss from you!? I am tired! I am tired of this shit! I want to leave and I will do so now!"

"What would you do then?" Olivia had been about to push Alexander away. It didn't matter that their size was so different, as well as their weight and strength, she wanted to push him off the exit. Instead, she looked at his concerned gaze. "You are changing, you have showed it to both me and Mrs. Cake. What will you do when you change and you are a monster, or an interesting anomaly at best, for everyone?"

Olivia laughed drily at that. "What difference would that be from a transexual sister that would love to be taken by her own brother? Oh, sorry, those are FANTASIES that never happened, so NO ONE is affected by them! Such LUCK that there was no PAIN involved in all this, RIGHT?!" Her voice became shrill as she talked. It was quite clear she could lose it at any moment.

"Sister, if you leave, you will be taken away, forever, and I do not mean to say I don't deserve it." Olivia harrumphed at this, looking at him with spite quite clear in her eyes. "I deserve whatever you do to me, whatever you wish, but if you leave... I... I know I won't see you ever again, I know that you will hate me forever, and I know that my life will be miserable." His look of concern was the only thing keeping Olivia at bay at the moment. "But if you do that, if you change and have nothing left, if you stay this angry, how would you live? What would you do?"

This was not one of those moments that had been seen so many times. Olivia didn't open her mouth, only to close it and think, neither was she stopped from saying anything by her brother. She just looked neutrally at him, fight gone, as she admitted the obvious.

"I don't know how I could, but I don't care." It was the look of someone just tired, tired enough to lie down and let it be, forever. "I am tired of this. I shouldn't have been here when mom and dad kicked me out, I shouldn't have done anything I did, including falling for you." She let out a little snort at that. "It was like what happened with Mrs. Cake, just faster, but then again we knew each other for quite some time."

Alexander thought of saying 'I should hope so!' but humor had no place here.

"You were the only man to treat me like a woman, even if I am a man, despite all my changes. I know I am a man, I don't want to change that, but I want to be how I feel, not just 'male', not just 'female', I want to be Olivia." She looked at her brother, the few tears she had tried very hard to escape her eyes. "You saw Olivia, you held Olivia, you comforted Olivia... But you didn't love Olivia as Olivia loved you. I did all I could, from flirting to plain begging, and you just said no."

Her gaze turned pained but firm. "You decided that it was not to be, and I understand. If we were caught we would be utterly screwed, and I am not mincing words when I say our parents would kill us... well, they would kill me first and probably send you to a mental institute anyway." She whipped the one tear that was surfacing, a dry chuckle escaping her lips at the thought. "But I did not care, I don't care, and you still hurt me. To have you talking with Cup Cake about this behind my back, whether it came out as a mistake or not, was the last push. The fact that she was proposing something I desired as a way to try to get you to love me was worse. And saying that you do love me in that way when you pushed me away originally? If it is true it is just plain cruel."

Shame once more graced Alexander's face. "What would you have me do? Everything I try I fuck up. The only thing I am good is baking, and maybe cooking a bit. I am not charismatic, I am not strong despite my size and what me working here may make it look like, and I am also not the brightest or the richest. Where would we go if I had said yes? If we stayed here there was a very big chance that we were found out."

"And you had a few girls to court."

"Of which I only wanted one of them after I gave away so much of my old self, and that one I did fuck up big time." Alexander growled as he looked down. "I was already broken when you came in, desperate to find someone that would want me. I was scared, lonely and hurt, and you tried to help... Only to see me as the coward I am." He didn't even raise his head as he went on. "It is no excuse, there is never any excuse for something you did wrong, willingly, out of cowardice or fear. I hurt you, and I would take any punishment you want to dish out... Just... just don't go, please."

"What would you have me do? Cite the Crescendolls and do this 'One more time'?" Olivia scowled at her brother, only to be surprised at his firm expression as he looked up, nodding once. "What do I get out of this? An empty promise? To see you making out with a married woman while I change into a pony? A permanent home here I will be unable to escape from?" She scoffed. "It would be better to end on the dissecting table."

"No, it would NOT." Alexander took a step forward, still wincing as he felt what had hurt him not so long ago, then placed his hands on his sister's shoulders. "I PROMISE you that I'll do anything you want, whenever you want, of your choosing." Suspiciousness adorned Olivia's eyes as Alexander went on. "And that if you change I... I'll go with you to Equestria, for I doubt Celestia would ever abandon a pony, changed or not." But those words made her scorn falter. "I will not leave you hanging again, I will not turn my back on you this time. I promise you that much, and it is a promise I won't break."

Olivia took a moment to mouth just two words. "Hands off." To which Alexander complied, taking a step away once more. He was willing to even go so far as to allow for Olivia to leave. He had said his piece, he had assumed his faults and had outright begged for her to stay, offering whatever she'd want. There was nothing more he could do but either force her or respect her decision. The problem is that he had already used one option before, so the latter was the only one left to try, the only one he was willing to allow this time.

In the end she took a long drawn out breath and looked at Alexander, but didn't say anything. She quickly eyed the exit and what lied outside of that glass door, not at all perturbed at how lighting had decided to dodge everything and crash in front of their house. Right now there were so many things floating around her head that a single one in a billion chance just made her shrug internally. In the end she took her bags, eyed Alexander harshly, making him look away as he moved out of her way, and...

She turned and walked towards the stairs.

It was not that Alexander was expecting her to really go out and 'die'. He didn't want to lie to her, but telling her that this was the doing of a massively powerful being and some shit? He would've been kicked again. His best bet was to scrap that information as just make believe created by his mind, as if he had a mental breakdown. What he had to do, was be sincere. Thankfully it worked, to an extent.

"One chance, one alone, and if you lie to me again, if you break my heart once more, I will kill you." The coldness in her voice made Alexander very well aware that she was on the verge, which meant she was being extremely serious. "I will call for you whenever I want food, or when I decide if I want to take you up on your offer. Until either happens I don't want to look at you. Mrs. Cake is invited to my room since I am going to need to learn to walk on all fours at some point."

"Of course." Alexander just nodded as Olivia turned to face him one last time, then she walked upstairs at a steady pace, doing her best not to show she was trembling. "Do you... want to eat today?"

She didn't even take a moment to think as she answered. "Dinner only, I don't feel like I am going to be hungry for a while. You'll bring me my food and I'll remain in my room" Then she did turn ever so slightly. "Tell everybody that we had a very bad discussion and I left. It is practically true."

Both nodded in understanding, though Olivia did so more to herself as she walked upstairs. Alexander was unsure of what was more powerful right now: His relief or the pain he felt, and it didn't mean to include only the kick. He had been about to lose his sister forever, and despite his own cowardice, that was one thing he would've fought for... And yet he wouldn't have if it wasn't for the clock sitting where Harmony had been before Olivia came down. Once more the letters were there.

Adaptation.

With the hour signaling midnight once more. That told him enough to know that his sister would change once more, twice once the number showed itself. But no matter how she changed, Olivia was Olivia, and Alexander had promised to love her.

Author's Notes:

And here you guys meet the first iteration of 'Harmony', or my version of Harmony anyway. This aspect of magic varies in form, as it depends on who it talks to, but in general the one recurring theme is simple: It is focused on its own thing, and good and bad are all always subject to one's views. A lot of people will want to argue, but you all know it is true that those that do evil don't think they do evil, so it depends on which side of the mirror you are. Now, if you are tasked with the survival of a world... good and evil blurry a lot.

Now, about the transformation? There is shit for magic in Earth, so a gradual permanent transformation is pretty much impossible. Burst of change? That can happen, in fact that will happen, and but the first one takes time. Once the objective/s is/are branded with the cutie mark, then they start producing magic faster and faster until there is enough ambient magic to fuel a few burst of magic during sleep time. And yes, they are forced to sleep so the brain doesn't get a shock big enough to off them.

Simply put? If you measure humanity by being human as a species, Olivia doesn't have more than two or so days left before that is gone. It won't be slow and gradual, more like fast and in a flash.

Anyway, this is chapter five, hope you liked it. With some luck there will be more happening and less talking for those that want some 'action' in the next episodes.

Chapter 5: No longer denied. [Warnings: Incest / 'Gay' / 'Male' Impregnation]

Author's Notes:

Okay, new chapter, this time with naughty details! It is not as big as some of the porn scenes I come up with, but there are reasons for it. Now, next chapter will give a little revelation about Olivia, but do bear in mind that she considers herself a 'special girl' despite 'technically' being male. The 'gay' tag is there for a reason, because she knows what she is and people love to put tags on everything. You may or may not consider it gay, but either way it will be labeled as such because of convenience, and because I am a pervert and like it .

Now, there has been someone that has expressed interest in a sequel already, or better say on a certain pony getting her turn at least XD I do appreciate the enthusiasm a lot, but do remember that you guys will be able to vote once this story is done (and seeing that it is consuming most my free time for some reason, it may not take more than a few months). Also remember that the one deciding what will happen will be me o3o/ I appreciate suggestions, but this universe will not have as many options for the viewers to exert power on. I am the one writing it and I want it semi nice and semi tame, plus I have fun doing this mostly on my own, but I appreciate the input on whose pony, or ponies, you want to see next ^^. I will probably make a blog today to clear the guidelines for those interested on suggesting the next pony/ies.

Now, do enjoy, and if you don't, well I did my best :3.

Oh, as a side note: Yes, next chapter is done. No, it doesn't have clop. And yes, if you are reading this, but not there is no next chapter, then I am making you suffer as I finish the editing procedures. Give me a few hours (or a night's worth of sleep, it is past midnight and I haven't slept in two days).

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This is a bit of a spoiler on what you will find on this story, but I do give my own little version on 'vampire' Vinil Scratch. No, she is not a vampony, read and you'll see why I say she drinks blood, blah o3o!

Also: Keep faving guys, but also mebe thumbs up and comment maybe? Or not, I will keep writing whatever you do, but I like reader interactions a bit :3 *gives noseboops for everyone*

"Well Celestia, don't you look haggard today?"

The day was dying little by little, as it always did. Truth be told, Celestia hardly wanted to move the sun today, and the only laugh she had shared with anypony had happened a few hours ago when she slammed her face against the wall trying to solve the mess she had made. Almost a fourth of the time needed for the minimum time lapse had gone by, but she didn't feel happy about it. It was not enough for Celestia as she stared at the lowering ball of magic fire as the day ceased to be.

So long to go, so long... Every minute was another needle in her mind.

"Why are you doing this?" Celestia didn't even need to turn. All she would see was what most wouldn't dream of: An image of herself.

Harmony, for Celestia, had been attained thanks to her own doings and those of her sister, with help of the elements of course. Despite the obvious signs, despite her knowing that magic was a living thing, harmony, or at least what Harmony (the creature) thought as harmony, was never in balance until the powers had been granted to her. As it stood, for Harmony made it clear, she had been seen only as a most troublesome child, and her sister had been its calling card so Celestia understood that.

"Do I really need to spell it for you?" Harmony, of course, didn't give a damn about Celestia's little point of view. It was happy as it rested within one of her largest mirrors, looking at the mare with a big grin on its face. "You have been abusing my power once more, child. Do you think Discord scampered just because it was funny or what?"

"I guess you had a part on his departure." Celestia finally turned away from her sun as it went away so she could take a look at the reflection. Luckily this wasn't going to go for more than a few days, for the pristine appearance of her quarters would quickly deteriorate otherwise. It was already in a state of 'controlled chaos'. It would get worse soon. "What did you do to him?"

"Me? Not much. His chaos is necessary, so I sent him to have fun. Not an order of course; the only plans he follows are his own. A friendly suggestion never hurt Discord when it goes alongside his wises, though." Harmony 'Celestia' chuckled, waving a hoof in front of her face. "So funny when you get all worked up over what the chaos god is doing. Sometimes I wonder if you truly think of yourself as part of harmony, my dear."

"Maybe because I try to keep evil under control while you just granted me the elements when evil was going overboard?" Celestia narrowed her eyes at her own reflection. "I highly doubt you understand all you do after being so detached from this world."

"Detached?" The mirror image's left eye twitched as a grimace crossed its face. "Celestia, do you forget what is needed for life? And by that I mean life in any world, even technological ones. For life, you need magic, even the tiniest spark. True that, unlike ponies or other species in this land, it is very hard to have magic as part of one's biology, as magic obeys no rules despite what most living things tend to assume." With that Harmony threw Celestia a dirty glance. "But magic is always there, and the aspects of magic, like me and Discord, do our job as we should. You?" Harmony waved a hoof dismissively. "You are a demigod out of merit. But merit and long life, alongside wisdom and experience, amounts to nothing when you are talking with creatures that manage so many different universes and realms that you would just need to stop counting and give up."

Celestia's scorn could be seen in her usually calm face. "Do you hear yourself speak? You may be an aspect of magic, but you are a living thing, one that cares for many worlds as you say. How can harmony be achieved with evil running rampant?"

This, sadly, was the wrong thing to say as Celestia saw her mirror image turn bright orange as fire engulfed the whole mirror to the point of cracking it, such was the magic held on the other side.

"You petulant child! Do you understand how many worlds burn just because others have forced eternal peace and love onto themselves?! Do you know how easily all of creation could wipe itself and start anew thanks to such selfishness?! Every time that happens everything changes, EVERYTHING! This generation of Equestria is so far detached from the original that you wouldn't understand it unless Discord gave you his powers for a few seconds, and madness would assault you if you saw what he sees for the briefest of moments." By the end of the tirade Harmony had calmed down once more, though anger was obvious in Celestia's mirror image. "Your doings could easily mean Earth would be utterly destroyed if I allow your world to be rainbows and sunshine every darn day of the week." Despite its anger, despite its powers, Celestia stood strong as Harmony calmed down completely.

"Look, Celestia, don't make a fool of yourself, you are way too cute for that." Celestia snorted as Harmony basically babied her. "I have seen so many iterations of this world screwing up that I can sympathize with you: Ponies aren't mean to suffer greatly, it hurts the soul. But there is a tool to pay for everything, and despite how much I invest in this or that realm, I can't allow perfection, perfection as far as YOU are concerned, to take place in all of them." Harmony leveled her with a neutral stare. "If I did that then I would need to kill so many worlds in the most horrid way possible, that I wager harmony on itself would break. You don't get to dip your hoof in the cookie jar without mom spanking your sorry flank, got it?"

"Yes, mother." Celestia growled through her teeth. "Any other lessons you wish to impart with a parent's wisdom?"

Harmony didn't mind the jab. "Just one quick thing: Humans and ponies will be a thing, I made it so. You can either accept it or get bothered by it. That I manipulated you to go through with this should be enough for you to understand that the path where you get frustrated at not finding a 'remedy' for what I did is, and I mean it, not the one that should happen." Which, in laypony terms, means she probably erased existence in that one instance. "Now, how well this will work? Depends on you, partially."

Celestia risked a question. "How... how bad is it when I don't try this solution?"

"Worst case scenario I saw?" Celestia nodded to Harmony, to which it grimaced. "You overloaded the sun with all the magic in this realm, thus blowing up a few layers of that universe. No one suffered though, but damn was that a big one." The mare grimaced as she folded her ears back. "On the plus side? It made a couple iterations of this world quite happy, so hey, hindsight is fifty-fifty."

The regal mare looked away once more, trying to avoid Harmony's gaze. "Celestia, don't be stupid." Its words didn't help any. "You can be upset about this later, but you and I both know that you will try to do what you think is best time and time and time again. If Earth manages to work things out then balance will be achieved permanently and much good will be done while the smallest assholes will ensure there is enough evil, hopefully without much, or any, deaths before their time."

"It seems so wrong to have my reflection saying such things." Said the mare that, to calm her nerves, said 'fuck' before this all got started. "Should I just take this in stride? I sent one of the most devoted mares to another world so she could be impregnated by an alien! It sounds like a bad horror movie from what I saw of Earth."

"Or a bad porno, either way it is a funny idea." Harmony shrugged its shoulders. "As for cursing? Infinity is my age, I can talk however the fuck I want, kid, and you will smile and wave, got it?" Celestia turned and snorted. This was one of those times Harmony knew she was giving him the finger. Shame she didn't have hands, Celestia showing guts was funny. "Besides, you don't have all the time in the world, not anymore, so I recommend you put everything in order and await your turn. Why? Because things will heat up once you and your sister go to Earth." That did make Celestia lose her fire and stare in surprise. "It may be the next time one of the stones activates, it may be the one after, but your ticket is already drawn and you won't take more than a few days. Make sure your egghead project is ready to handle things for a day, maybe two."

Celestia narrowed her eyes at her reflection. "This is going to cause panic, not balance everything."

"It is possible, yes." Harmony nodded its head. "There are great chances of something bad happening, but it is all part of how things should go. There are still many evil humans around, and some will appear sooner or later, something I can't exactly control, nor can you do anything about it right now." Celestia's mood was not one of anger, but despair as she heard that. What had she done when all she wanted was to help? "On the other hoof I have no interest of killing ponies. That would upset the balance too much, but a scare or two? Maybe a bit worse than that? It depends on how those that are to bond with your subjects react."

"Now, while I consider you a petulant child with too big of an ego." Celestia really didn't appreciate Harmony's forwardness when it came to how it treated others sometimes. "I think your people deserve happiness if they manage to balance humanity, thus balancing your own. For that reason I will do my best to give this a happy ending, despite what you may think of me." It gave Celestia a toothy grin. "Why, I am sure that we will start swaying humans in a moment, and your population will grow by two by the time Cup Cake comes back. And no, I do not mean because SHE'll be pregnant."

The only thing that worried Celestia about that was her doubt. Did the human want to change into a pony? Anger from an unwanted transformation was similar to that of a mare scorned: Both would burn bright, hard and fast, and they would leave a trail of destruction if they weren't put out in time.

There was no pony alive that could say Cup Cake had changed much from when she was a teenager, not if they knew her. She had never been the most shy of ponies, we all know whom that title goes to. No, shy she had been not, but her take off hadn't been the most glorious one, though it had been better and more smooth than what Cadance and Shining Armor had gone through. Maybe Hondo and Cookie could be pointed at when one thought of a smooth beginning, or Applejack's parents, but even then Cup Cake and Carrot hadn't gone through all the shy mushy stuff, or all those wacky adventures, some pairs went through.

Mrs. Cake couldn't help but chuckle as some of the memories as she drank her soup calmly. The rain pelting the walls of the bakery was relaxing her as the night encroached all over the city. She wished that the one pair she was trying to get together would be less headstrong and more sincere, like she had been... mostly.

Sadly this was one of those times Cup Cake disliked being a pony. It had been easy to tell when Pinkie was upset for something, but once again it was much more mellowed out when it came to the magic tugging at her mind during her stay back home. Earth had its own way of making sure she felt things, and this bond she now shared was incredibly troublesome as it messed with her more than the stalking heat that promised a very horrible time as it... better not think about it right now. That was a big worry, and it was tearing at her mind, but she was worried for two dear friends and it took precedence before that other thing.

These last two days hadn't been fun.

After her little breakdown had been over, and once Alexander had been able to go to the bathroom when the adrenaline died down, Cup Cake had been asked to explain a few things to Olivia. Truth be told, the blue mare had never thought she would explain what thestrals required, and at first she wasn't yet sure that Olivia would need that knowledge. This was mostly because she sure as all heck didn't know much about thestrals other than some of them required a bit of blood to drink from time to time, like... like... By Celestia did it give her shivers to think about them when the first thoughts conjured the worst example possible!

Look, all kinds of magic were accepted within Equis, to an extent. Even demons could be agreeable, there was no such thing as absolutely evil or good, you just needed to take care with what you did. Necromancy, blood magic, demonology and other such things had their place, but magic itself tends to change those that delve into something too deeply for its taste. If you go too far, then magic makes sure everypony knew.

Vinyl Scratch was an unfortunate byproduct of such things. The sweet dear was a very nice girl, though she had a worse party focused mind than Pinkie, but for a good reason. A few ponies knew her mother had been a blood magician, sanctioned of course, but she had gone a bit too far and, well... Vinyl sometimes required a little 'pick me up', and she hated it, but a few ponies, like Cup Cake herself, didn't mind giving her something extra with what she bought. It was weird, and it was a bit painful, but Cup Cake loved practically everypony in Ponyville. Adding some blood for Vinyl whenever she required some of it so the magic wouldn't give her a very, very bad month? No need to ask, Cup Cake would do it gladly.

Now, thestrals? Their ancestors had delved a lot in blood magic, and that was why some thought their appearance was as it was. Heck, vamponies were rumored to be only thestrals, though no one believed it anymore thanks to ponies like Twilight Sparkle and her research. Sadly, there was a grain of truth and a few thestrals practically required weekly doses of blood thanks to their inner magic consuming it. It wouldn't kill them if they didn't ingest the substance, but it would cause incredible pain comparable to the pain of an unfulfilled heat: Incredible muscle and headaches, general pain and many other things that required a quick potion.

THAT was all Cup Cake knew, other than thestrals usually loved fruit more than fish. Why? She didn't have a clue. Some ponies had once said that thestrals came from a warmer and more humid climate, maybe a rainforest based continent or area, but she didn't knew more than that. She had been able to tell that to Olivia, but that had been it.

Explaining what she knew had been the best hour and half of that day, and in fact it had been the end of their conversation. The rest of the day had been quiet and no one had said much even when Alexander had prepared food with her on the kitchen. They hadn't even shared a look, much less a single touch. Cup Cake had felt unwanted and very hurt when Alexander had done little more than ask for her things once she was done so he could clean them,. All he did was asking her to take her time cleaning her teeth since he wanted some alone time.

After that day, things went still. They didn't go downhill or uphill, they simply didn't go.

Next morning found Cup Cake being called by Olivia. Her changes had gotten 'worse' overnight.

Her ears were now like those of a thestral, meaning that they were much furrier than her own, something that was supposed to enhance their hearing? She wasn't sure, in fact that was suggested by Olivia. The reason behind her much longer, but almost blunt, fangs was, most probably, for fruit eating, while the nubs on her back hinted towards wings. Those were the smaller changes, because her skin was taking a silvery white shine to it while her feet had gone somewhere, leaving a pair of perfectly smooth hooves in their wake. She still had hands, she lacked a tail and she had her breasts, but her chest had diminished visibly.

Olivia had been laughing instead of crying during their whole conversation. She liked ponies, she practically loved them, but she didn't want to be one!

This was not uncommon in Equis. Many would enjoy other species greatly, and mixed pairs, or herds, were maybe uncommon but not rare enough to consider weird or bad. Then again you had the xenophobic few that made a racket, but they were largely ignored unless they grouped to go hurt somepony. The important thing here is that many loved other species, but while there were spells for sex changes and other superficial changes for those desiring tattoos or certain modifications, whole species changing was one of those things you could indeed consider weird, for it was beyond rare.

What Olivia showed her yesterday was a breakdown not unlike her own when she arrived here. She cried, she wept, she bargained to whatever power happened to cross her mind. During that mess all Cup Cake could do was there and offer her a shoulder to cry on while Alexander stayed outside the room. Olivia had given him no permission to cross that boundary, thus he remained away, but it was easy enough to feel the heartache coming from him.

By the time she calmed down it was already past beyond opening time, and while Cup Cake wanted to finally talk to her once Olivia had cried her last, she was told to go. The whole day was a damn drama that had too much in common with the rest of the previous week, something that got worse when Olivia's friends came to talk with her and instead almost got into a fight when they learned of Olivia's 'departure' and the fight the brothers had shared. It had almost gone beyond words indeed, but somehow it all ended well, though Alexander didn't want to tell her how despite Mrs. Cake being a nervous wreck.

Why was she a nervous wreck? Because they had been pushing Alexander and she had heard them outside the door. If they had gone beyond that, if they had hit him, then all Tartarus would've broken lose as they found out about her. Worse yet: Alexander was this close to exploding. The bond was telling Cup Cake that the man was about to do something simply brutal and she wanted nothing like that happening, otherwise everything would go so wrong that not even Celestia could solve it.

That moment, the one when Alexander just grew cold and distant, was both the best and the worst moment since all of this started. Not only did he manage to calm everyone down and evade a very dangerous situation, but he also grew so distant that Cup Cake felt her heart stop for a second when she felt nothing coming from him.

She only felt elation and fear in equal parts. It felt truly horrifying for a few seconds as she was unable to feel the man's love.

Alexander closed shop after that and both Cup Cake and him knew rumors would spread quite quickly. It was not as fast as Alexander though, and the human went to Cup Cake for comfort, both his own and the mare's. She had never needed a hug so much now that Alexander was this distressed, and despite her doubts and fears she was not going to deny the human what he needed, for she wanted his touch and reassurance as much as he wanted hers. The only thing that bothered her was that Alexander said nothing while they hugged. It just felt a tad empty.

At least that day went without a hitch after that. Yea, it was weird to have an eerily calm Olivia ask her how it would be to walk on all fours, if girls like her had estrus (Yes, they did.) and if her breasts would turn to teats (Mrs. Cake had no answer for that one). Olivia didn't seem to do or want much after they were done talking and Cup Cake knew she was on the verge of breaking down once more, but it would be worse to try and force a conversation when all she seemed to want was company.

This morning had been another thing completely, and Miss Cake knew how lucky she had been to have Olivia share her shower without any kind of mental breakdown.

She had a muzzle, or snout, ponies were still divided on how to call it sometimes (Mostly because the nobles at Canterlot kept fighting for every stupid thing). It would've been fine, seeing the rest of her changes, if it hadn't been accompanied by a tail and the bat wings of a thestral. Simply put? Olivia had said she was an anthro form of a pony, or a furry, something that Cup Cake had found while surfing the internet. No, thinking about naughty things didn't help, at all.

There were few things to difference her from a pony at this point, even her breasts had gone somewhere else, and her privates were similar to that of a pony by now, which included the fact that her male parts had teats very close by. At least she still had hands, which seemed to be a huge relief for her, but Cup Cake knew both of them could feel how close the last step was.

As for Alexander? He had only gone out to make food and to deliver it to his sister. He had been as silent as the day before and Cup Cake had felt the pain when Olivia had just opened the door, then basically closed it on his face after the food had been delivered. He hadn't cared about the change, he just wanted to hear his sister's voice talking to him, but she had been beyond cold after the mess they got themselves into.

Cup Cake could understand that, she was not going to fault Olivia for being angry when it was obvious this had been done in a way that would hurt all involved. What was making her go from sad to angry was that neither one was trying hard enough to make peace with one another.

Both of them knew what needed to be done, and Alexander was avoiding her gaze whenever she tried to bring him to his senses.

"You can't avoid it much longer, dear, you know it." And despite her best attempts, Alexander tried to keep the silence going. "She is going to change again tonight. I think we both know when it happens and we both know she will lose whatever she has left from her human body."

"As far as she doesn't lose her humanity I don't care." Alexander sighed as he finally spoke. "I never cared what she changed about herself, what I cared about was, and is, my sister."

"A weird way of showing it you had." The human lifted an eyebrow at that. "Do you really think you were doing the right thing when you treated your sister as you did?" He didn't answer her question. "Now you have a chance to make things right, so the question is..." Alexander did flinch as Cup Cake let her empty bowl down. "Why aren't you making your sister really yours?"

"Mrs. Cake..." His tone held warning, his eyes full of fear at those words.

"Alexander, I think we are beyond that." In fact, as far as Cup Cake was concerned, this was the perfect time to bring it up. "Your sister is going to change soon, and she is ready to break. I know she may not forgive you, not fully, for a while, but you should give her all the love you can, you should give her what she wants, what both of you want." Embarrassment washed all over Alexander's face as he diverted his gaze away. "I know you aren't keen on the idea, despite what you said you told your sister, but you need to give her proof of your commitment to her."

Alexander did his best to disappear from sight by shrinking back. "It is still against what I have been taught. I never had any problem with my brother becoming my sister, but..." He didn't need to say anything. Cup Cake had looked it over and the internet had been brutally clear with its sincerity. "I love my sister to death, but this sounds like such a definitive thing that it scares me."

Mrs. Cake nodded in understanding. "But if you aren't close enough to her, then it could very well mean you won't go with us when we depart."

That made Alexander froze and Cup Cake knew she had hit a nerve. The problem was that she felt something else when she mentioned that little tidbit, something he hadn't tell either Olivia or her. It bothered her greatly that Alexander was holding back whatever he knew, but she would not voice her concerns. Pushing him would just hurt things even more.

Still, even if she wanted to know why Alexander was hiding something from her, Miss Cake was not going to press the issue, not right now anyway. She was a mother, she knew when to be stern and when to be gentle. Right now Alexander needed a bit of guidance and he needed to know how to show love, both physical or otherwise. Olivia was truly starved for both, and she didn't believe her brother had any love to give her. Right now she was in a worse shape than Ponyville's resident little changeling that had decided to stay after the invasion on Canterlot. The poor dear had been starving for a few days before she came to the bakery where he got some much needed nourishment.

"Alexander, your sister doubts you love her, and she does it greatly." Being direct and truthful, however, hurt. Mother or not, it was never pleasant. "I do hate to hurt you by saying that, my dear, but we both know that your sister is threading a very thin line. She stayed because she loves you, but unlike me, she can't feel it. What she had, what you have, needs to be rekindled."

It sickened her to say that while hiding something, much like Alexander, but she had to. Alexander had grown way too quiet for her taste once more, but this time he was doing something she deemed necessary instead of brooding once more.

"I am in no position to pressure you, but we both know your sister doesn't want to change despite how much she likes the show, how much she likes us." At least the man nodded as he pursed his lips. It was hard to ignore the fact that Olivia was all but happy about this. "She may be angry for now, and she may take some time to fully forgive you after all of this, that and we know she will not take kindly to being disturbed when she asked for you to be away, but I think she needs you right now."

Alexander took on a pensive look for a moment. He wanted to show his sister that all this bullshit was done and gone, but he still had fears and doubts. "And if she asks me to...?"

Fears that Cup Cake found stupid. This was the time to help Olivia, and helping her would help Alexander in return. "Then you comply and love her in any way she asks you to." Seeing Alexander turn red from embarrassment would've been funny, but the embarrassment wasn't there in a way that Pinkie, or any other pony, would have liked. "She is going to turn into a pony soon, an ADULT pony. Fillies have their first heat between age five to age seven, none go beyond twelve before they are in heat at least once. From what I saw humans have a lot of taboos, taboos ponies don't have, taboos you will have to ignore from now on if you want to come when I leave."

The man blinked a few times. "Did I hear you right? The kids do it too?" Mrs. Cake nodded. "Why? I mean, the CMC or the other kids don't seem to..." When she arched an eyebrow Alexander groaned. "Fucking kids' show."

"If adult humans are so varied in their SECRET fetishes, likes and dislikes, it would be obvious to think that, if someone knew about us ponies, they would not show that ponies you would consider kids are active, sexually speaking." Mrs. Cake chuckled at the thought. "It is true we supervise such actions, and sometimes it is done only within the family if no pony is willing or close enough. Doing it unwillingly or without any kind of love or care HURTS, it is then when it is considered rape and wrong. Such a crime is punished in a very brutal way some of your old leaders would find lovely." She grimaced at the thought. Being turned into stone and slowly transformed into a real statue was, if the history lessons were accurate, compared to forcing glass shards through your whole body. Something that scared every single living being back home. "So yes, 'kids do it', but only with those they trust and care for. We ponies are very flexible thanks to magic, so size is not even an issue... most the time."

"Of course you guys don't mind incest and all this with magic giving a hand." Alexander snorted. Cup Cake wasn't sure if he found this funny and infuriating, or simply infuriating, but at least he gave a laugh. "Next thing I'll hear is that Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and the CMC got trusted into some human's care and the guy formed a herd with five pregnant fillies."

Cup Cake took a hoof to her chin at that. "If this were to happen again and they were targeted for it? Is possible, yes." However she did not like the idea of so many kids taken from their family. Still, she wasn't the one to decide how things would go. "They are old enough and all of them went through their first heat, but with some luck they will be spared the trauma of living together as well as being plucked away from their homes."

Mrs. Cake tried to chuckle her worries away, though the biggest one was directed to how easily the kids would try to strangle each other. Diamond and Silver were both earth ponies, so the CMC would be matched even if they had one more member. Those kids would hurt somepony one of these days.

"You are acting way too calm with the idea of five fillies suddenly appearing in the home of a very horny teenager." Alexander's monotone brought Cup Cake from her little musings.

"I think it could be worse. As far as they found someone as nice as you and your sister..." Those words were meant to soothe and encourage him, but instead Cup Cake found Alexander crestfallen as he heard her. "Oh dear."

Mrs. Cake left her spot on the table and trotted besides Alexander. She would've preferred to drag the chair with her, but right now what mattered was speed and the feelings behind her actions, not being proper in the eyes of the human. Just placing a hoof on his leg was more than enough for a slim and slightly forced smile, but to Cup Cake it was more than enough.

"You know I am not making light of the situation." Cup Cake tried to mend what her words seemed to have broken. "I know it may look like I am doing much better than you, but I assure you I am quite a wreck." She gave a very tired smile as she said that. Once she came back she would go directly to Twilight to get more information on quite a few topics. "I just want to ease your mind and allow you to do what is right." What she didn't say is that her own was a train wreck at the moment.

"I know, I know and I appreciate it. None of us are having it easy and, well, we would if I hadn't messed up." Alexander saw the frown on Cup Cake's mouth as he said that. "We both know I botched things up, alright? Whatever society considers right may be 'right', but it hurt my sister too much. I should've never condoned it."

"After seeing some of the results of what would happen without magic? It is safe to say many of the rules are there for a reason." And she wished magic would bleach her brain to keep some of the images away. A decent pony should never see some of the things she found on the world wide web. "But now it is here, it is within the two of you, and whatever else others may think does matter little. You two deserve happiness and I will make sure it happens."

Alexander let one of his hands fall down to squeeze at Cup Cake's neck gently. It not calmed the mare, but also helped Alexander with his heavy mind. "It is not that simple still. If someone finds about all of this I will only dig myself deeper if I go all the way."

"I think the proper authorities would have more to worry about than brother and sister having an affair if they ever find us." Cup Cake was unsure as to how in the world had she managed to say that with a straight face. The rubbing probably had something to do with it. "Besides, you don't know if that is what she'll ask of you. I can assure you that Olivia needs company, and I think it is time for you to give your sister some love, even if it is just cuddling her to bed tonight."

"That one I could do, if she wants to see me."

Cup Cake just gave the man a smile. She was beyond sure with this one. Olivia needed her brother. Whatever else she did after he got him was another thing entirely, and the mare was sure that Alexander would comply with whatever his sister asked of him. She just hopped they would be as lenient with her once they found out her own problem and the fact that she hid it.

"Go away."

Welp, no surprise there. Alexander didn't know what Cup Cake thought but knocking had done little but give him what he had expected. Still, Olivia sounded wrong, wrong in the sense that her voice sounded hoarse and there was a slight croaking to it. Not to say it was completely fine when the tone had been getting more feminine during these two days, but it was beyond what Alexander had expected it to be.

"You don't sound so good Olivia. Don't you want me to come in?" There was a sharp intake that Alexander didn't allow to finish. "I know what you told me to, but Cup Cake said you... may want to at least talk before you change again."

"..." There was a moment of silence. No music, no clicking, nothing at all. "Come in."

Alexander was maybe a bit too quick to do it, but he opened the door and looked around the crowded room to find it the same as usual. Plushies, which now had a newly added sister, as one of the few things Olivia had asked for was Creamy Oven's plushy, were everywhere alongside books and a few other random things. The computer had a bit of dust over it, and it had been untouched for a while now while Olivia was sitting on her bed with what seemed to be a second laptop like the one Cup Cake had been given.

"I bought a few." Was all Olivia said as she saw her brother's questioning look.

He just nodded and approached slowly. Olivia had the short muzzle similar to almost all mares, with slim hips and a more girly figure than before, which was saying something. Her wings weren't too big, but they probably had the size they would remain as once she changed fully, though her eyes had grown quite a bit, much like her ears, and her proportions were just slightly skewered. Then again she wasn't exactly human anymore, and by now she had the same 'cartoony' look that Mrs. Cake sported, something that probably had to do with a lot of magic going through her body.

People had commented on it too. Alexander looked 'softer', slightly 'better', as if he took perfect care of himself. It was much easier to keep everything clean and in place since this started, and it was something he had noticed a few days ago. Even with how little he was caring for himself these days Alexander just looked better than ever, other than the lack of sleep or the bloodshot eyes when he just felt like pure shit. Today had been 'good' though, and both of them noticed.

Despite the hoarse undertone, Olivia was quite well. Her clothes didn't exactly fit, yea, but she was in good shape. Her eyes looked slightly red, and she lacked any semblance of a smile, but she was doing more or less alright as she read something on her tablet. Still, there was no need to guess when she looked at him: She felt lonely.

"Can I sit with you?"

She threw him a dirty look, then motioned for him to close the door and come over. Despite her original outburst Olivia didn't want to upset Cup Cake again.

When Alexander did as asked he noticed that Olivia was using some of the clothes designed for ponies, albeit modified. It was surprising what you could do with some patience and ingenuity, because he was sure it had been a bitch to cut holes perfectly made for those bat wings of her. Trying to touch would be wrong when she was giving him such a death glare, so curiosity or not, and willing to get punched or not, he retracted his hand.

"No touching unless I say so." Olivia growled his way. "It is like I am fucking raw all over; I can feel the damn air." She turned her gaze down once more to face the tablet. "What do you want to talk about that is so important?"

"You."

"No shit."

"No, seriously, I want to talk about you." Olivia gave Alexander a withering glare. "Olivia, remember that these walls are fucking paper thin. This may not be one of those quickly made pieces of crap that some people call homes, but our cousin did change a lot of things. I could hear you cry."

"What else is new?" She snorted with a feeling between disdain and indifference. "This would be the first time you risked your balls instead of your face when you come to check on me."

"But I always check on you, don't I?" Olivia just huffed. "Look, I am not a complete idiot, I know you may want me very far away right now."

"Understatement of the millennium."

"And at the same time you do want to say a few things to me, don't you?" Alexander saw the frown and those white teeth of hers grinding as he said that. "You didn't stay just to brood in your room."

"What I wanted to tell you is that I hate you, I hate you with all my damn being, but I made that very clear when you went ahead and poured your heart out to our visiting mare, didn't I?" Despite what she was probably feeling, or what she wanted to convey, Olivia sounded neutral enough to put robots to shame. Not like she could force her voice much in any case, but she didn't even put any effort to be snide or appear angry. "But what would I do without you? It has been such a long time and I still wait for the night you'll come to my bed and at least embrace me, just hug me like more than a sister."

Alexander pursed his lips for a moment before he reminded her of a simple promise. "I promised I would do anything you asked for."

"Anything? The last time you promised such a thing I was quite disappointed." Olivia let out a dry chuckle. "Why should it be different this time?" She turned to face him, and much to her surprise, and Alexander's, he had a straight face that looked back. "You mean it."

"Olivia, I have fucked up since you came here." His sister wanted to be much more explicit, but she allowed him to talk. "I have messed up and pushed you away for something that wasn't your fault. I won't say that shit about 'always loving you since we first meet' or some shit, this is not a romance movie. We were brother and sister and I felt happy like that." Olivia turned her gaze away once more. "It caught me by surprise, I was already hurt after being used just for pleasure, maybe even for a laugh, and to this day I still think I am a freak for doing what she asked me to." Both of them had a few choice words for that woman, but neither decided to bring them up. "You didn't mind that at all when most girls get scared shitless. Some people may think that having it huge is fun, but they don't know how much it can hurt others if you mess it up, how much it can scare those you want to love. You? You didn't care because I was still your brother, like I knew you'd always be my sister."

"I know being this mussy is not my thing, I tend to fuck up everything I touch and this is no different." Olivia could almost laugh at that, almost. "I cared deeply for you, but you know it scared the bejeebus out of me when you did what you did. Our parents were already angry and they were about to explode when they finally caught on."

"Better say when they couldn't look away anymore and they had to face me." Olivia grumbled with hate dripping from her voice.

"Yea, that too." Despite all the good his parents did, which had been a lot, they were so narrow minded sometimes. "But it brought you here, starved of love, friendship or simple care. I gave you all that and... I don't know if this was a thing before you came here, but that night scared me." He did know that was not enough of an excuse as far as Olivia was concerned. "I pushed you away, I hurt you, and for that I am sorry. The problem, though, came later."

Olivia chuckled at the memory.

"When I started doing all you wanted? When I broke my back working or when I put up with meeting new assholes every day so you could be calm thinking I was getting my rocks off with someone I could finally date?" This time she didn't hide a hateful glance towards her brother. "Everything you asked, suggested or even thought, brother, I did it all for you."

"I know, and that was the problem because it showed, clear as day, that I had fucked up with the one that would be with me no matter what." The light blush on Olivia's cheeks was a welcome change from her brooding attitude. "I knew I had messed up very fast, but I was afraid, too afraid to do anything, so I tried to push you away or get other girls to calm my mind. We both know that didn't work out, except for one, and I basically fucked it up thanks to my butterfingers."

They stayed silent for a few seconds, at least until Olivia faced her brother to ask a very simple thing. "What scared you the most?"

The question was both easy and hard. "We are very physical people, you and I, we both know we would not survive in a relationship without touch or sex." The blush on Olivia's face intensified, and both knew why she suddenly moved her gaze elsewhere. "Some could keep a relationship tame and loving with kisses and cuddles. We are not them. It would be impossible for us to hid things for any period of time before someone noticed it." He paused for a second. "It terrified me that someone would see us kiss, or do something else. This land is not exactly nice to people that delve on this taboo."

"Okay, I will give you that." Again, Olivia faced her brother. "But... but we could have tried, right? We could have hidden it, I just wanted you to love me, to love Olivia as a woman. Was it so hard to give that to me? There would be none of the problems that other pairs like us would face, the more 'normal' kind of pairing, if you go with sexuality." The look she got from Alexander said more than any word ever could. "Don't give me that look if you want your nuts intact."

"Still giving it." And he did, much to Olivia's anger. "Olivia, we aren't kids anymore, you know how fucked up the world is and you know how easy people would have it to make our lives a miserable hell. Despite what I wanted I was scared of making this even worse for us."

"A bit too late when I am like this, don't you think?" Her sneer could literally be considered a lethal weapon at this point. "On the plus side, if you want to consider it positive, no one is going to see me anymore."

"Good or bad, it doesn't matter. What is important now is to have you happy, that, and to make sure you understand I wasn't lying when I said I would go with you wherever you go." And by the looks of it Olivia still had quite the massive doubts. "I mean it Olivia. If you have to go, even if I need to strangle any of the princesses, I will go with you." Olivia snorted as she looked away with a smile, trying not to laugh. "Hey! No fluffy alicorn is going to keep me from going with you to the end of the world!"

"Excuse me if I don't throw myself on your arms as quickly as you'd expect." Despite wanting to. You didn't hurt someone expecting them to place the other cheek right away, not everyone did that. "Alex, you hurt me more than our parents by pushing me aside. Would you expect me to believe you so readily after that?"

"In a perfect world? Yea. Here? Not really." He shook his head sadly. "That is why I came, partially at least. This is probably the last day you have as anything close to a human, and I know you don't enjoy the idea of changing anymore, but it is what it is."

She sneered, not at him, but at her rotten luck. "So why are you here? Trying to ease the pain?"

"I am here to give you whatever you want." Though the idea scared him quite a bit despite how much he assured himself that it was indeed what he wanted. "I don't want to leave you alone tonight, not when you could wake up as a pony instead of a human, or humanoid. I don't think you want to face that alone, even if the one volunteering is someone you'd like to have far, far away from this room right now."

Olivia sat silently after that. Her bed was not big enough for them to be as they wished if he was offering what he was offering, which meant they would need to be very close. Any other time Olivia would've teased him while showing a dreamy smile on her lips, but right now she was dubious of what to say.

There WAS a way to see if he would do as he promised, a very simple test, one thing she had been wishing for so long that it was driving her insane. But right now it didn't offer her mind any pleasure to fantasize about it. If he said no it would be as it had been, and Olivia would just leave in the morning, pony or not. If he said yes... if he said yes Olivia would just do it for the sake of doing it. She wanted that ache away from her body and her mind with such ferocity that she wasn't sure if there was any love left or not.

No, there was love, but there was also fear. Was he about to crush her heart once more or had he told her the truth? Alexander was not a cruel person. Selfish from time to time and stupid he could be, but not cruel. The truth is that Olivia was scared shitless and she wasn't sure if she had the balls to ask him to give her what she had wanted for so long.

A hand touching the base of her newly formed wing made her gasp and almost jump as Alexander scooted closer to her, taking her into an embrace before kissing her on the neck. A deep humm escaped her as she felt his gentle touch.

"I promised I would love you. I am just sorry I was scared for so long... I know this night won't clean the slate for me, but you can ask anything of me and I'll do it." He was sincere too. After seeing his sister look away with doubt and sadness on her eyes he had been unable to resist. His one desire was to never see her cry because he had hurt her, not anymore. "You just have to ask."

"Anything?" The word didn't seem real when it escaped her lips, but Alexander just nodded. "T-then... stay."

As Olivia got up from the bed Alexander had to try his best not to laugh. She could be a strong and independent girl, vengeful as all hell and very strong for her size and frame, but nearly everyone that knew her was very aware that she could be commanding anywhere but in the bedroom. This, of course, put a damper on Alexander's mood.

Was he really up for more than just a few hugs? Let's say he felt his balls up in his throat once more, and this time it wasn't because Olivia had given him the mother of all nut breakers. Despite his feelings and wanting to make his sister happy, Alexander was still afraid, and he was very well aware that this was the point of no return. Anyone else could leave him, or even use him, but Olivia would not, even if this would partially count simply because her anger would still be there. Then again Alexander gave her permission, so he wasn't going to hold it over her.

It still scared him when the lights went out. With no windows or anything in here you'd expect that Olivia wouldn't see shit, but when she turned her amber eyes were boring straight at him. Thestrals seemed to be similar to many predators and, obviously, bats when it came to seeing during the night. That didn't help him any in the worry department, much less when Olivia slowly approached, fidgeting a bit as she walked, or at least it looked that way to him.

Alexander did his best to not lose it when Olivia came back to bed and placed her hands on his chest. There was no strength behind it, though Alexander was pretty sure his sister wanted to push him down and do whatever to him. He had given her the chance, he had promised he would do whatever she wanted, so he expected her, submissive or not, to act on her desires and fulfill them once and for all.

He didn't expect her to press her head against his chest and cry.

"So long... so fucking long." She whimpered, to which Alexander didn't know how to answer but to embrace her. "Awaiting every night, waning you... and just mere hours away of midnight, of my last fucking day as anything resembling what I slaved myself over to be, you come here and offer me everything I wanted." Olivia pressed herself harder against his chest. "I should fucking hate you."

"You don't?" He found himself way too calm when he asked something that scared him more than death itself. If she hated him... he would probably lose whatever fight remained in him.

Olivia shook her head against his chest very slowly. "I can't, even if I want I just can't hate you." She pressed against him, closer and closer until Alexander felt her whole body as close as she could be. Even her wings had wrapped against him, forcing a much stronger and intimate feeling hug. "I knew it was 'wrong', but who else liked me? Wherever I went I ended up liking the wrong idiot who hurt me in the end."

Alexander frowned at the thought. "I was no better than them."

"No, you weren't." That sincerity did burn more than you could imagine. "Good reason or not, you hurt me, you hurt me so bad... And to tell me you ended up loving me like I loved you, only to put it aside for your stupid fears, is not making it any better, only worse." He would admit that Olivia was right, but what did she want of him? Their life wasn't exactly a damn porno that had no bad ending in sight. "I am angry, I will remain angry, and I am sad... But I want to take you on your offer."

It surprised him how well he could hide his doubt when Olivia told him what he already knew. "I'll do whatever you want, sis. I promised, and this time I will not back away from you."

Her amber eyes rose slowly from his chest. He could smell her breath, and for some reason it just gave out a peach like scent, similar, he noticed, to what she seemed to smell off right now. It wasn't her favorite fruit, but if you gave her a basket it would disappear within the day. Alexander found the smell fitting. He liked it.

"You PROMISE you will not scoot away? You will never say no? You will do all I want tonight?" He nodded. Doubt was there, it would linger, but he wanted to show his sister that there was no more denying whatever they felt even if people would say it was wrong. "Then kiss me. No cute, gentle, chaste kiss. Kiss me like a woman. Kiss me as if you love me, do it if that is what you feel. Don't tease me, don't lie to me, just do it."

There was a second of doubt, enough for Olivia's eyes to turn sad. She had expected as much, but she did not expect that Alexander would basically lunge at her once he made up his mind.

That the person you wanted above all else had basically gone for the kill instead of moving away as you thought? Of course it wouldn't surprise anyone, much less Olivia. It made her jump in place though. What surprised her more than Alexander growing some balls and doing what he had promised, which almost scared the shit out of her when she thought he was getting up to run away, was that he had indeed kissed her on the lips instead of her eye with how dark it was.

Turns out that being part bat sucks fucking balls when you can see in the dark but your partner can't.

With her ears folding backwards, and her heart about to explode, Olivia finally reacted. Alexander had all but embraced her after their lips connected and she had basically fell over the bed with her brother on top of her. This was not her dream like scene, but she couldn't help but blush and clumsily kiss and hug back. If nothing else, she got what she wanted.

The kiss itself was also not what Olivia had expected, in fact Alexander hadn't been sure how he would do it, so this wasn't... well, it was not easy to explain as Olivia went with new instincts and he just went along whatever the hell his body wanted after so long denying everything.

He had kissed her and pushed his tongue into her mouth, to which she replied in kind.

Neither had liked that idea much, ever, but there was something to be said about feeling someone else in all ways you could, and this time it felt natural to just do it this way. For Alexander it had felt as if Olivia had started it, but he wasn't really sure as to whom had gone first, all he knew was that his sister tasted fruity, no pun intended, so it wasn't just the smell, which meant that this was not the disgusting thing he had sometimes pictured. For Olivia, barring who had gone first, her brother felt amazing, and to drag her tongue along his teeth, to taste him as if he was a sweet, was getting her going as her wings stiffened to the point of being almost painful between a mix of instant horniness and the feeling of both their weights combined. That Alexander tasted like molten candy for some damn reason didn't harm his chances either.

It felt like hours when it had been just a few seconds. Sometimes that saying that goes 'time flies when you are having fun' is a big fucking lie, and this was one of those times. This moment went on for quite a while in their heads, until Olivia did what Olivia always did.

She grabbed his ass.

Maybe it was the heat of the moment, maybe it was the old need, maybe she just wanted to see if he would finally scare away, but Alexander opened his eyes and broke the kiss, only to see those amber eyes that had been on his sister's face for such a short time. He saw them and they asked for more than just a kiss as Olivia lifted herself up enough to nuzzle and bite against his neck. Was she already in 'heat'? Or whatever passed as heat for someone that was partially a male anyways? He wasn't sure, but she made it clear.

"I want you."

In a moment of clarity Alexander found out something important: Even if someone was to change and just remain in this anthro form, which was as close as a human could get to a pony without changing fully, the person would be as strong as the aforementioned pony. What did it mean? Olivia could be strong, but she had never been able to overpower him. This time she pushed and he gave away like paper.

At least she didn't rip his clothes away, but as she gave him another kiss her hands worked swiftly, taking her clothes and his away as fast as she could manage, quickly taking everything out of the picture whether Alexander complained or not. She was horny and she wasn't going to accept a no for an answer at this point.

Alexander wasn't about to complain though, even if feeling his shirt pulled away so forcefully had scared the shit out of him. Hell, he gave a jump when Olivia took his pants and all but ripped them apart alongside his shorts and everything else. She didn't have claws, but her fingers were avid enough to make no prisoners as she pulled everything of them. While he couldn't see it was obvious that she had no time to waste, that, or she simply didn't want to waste any at all.

With that done, Olivia lunged at him for another kiss. Her body pressed against him and Alexander could feel that she had a very thin layer of fur all over her. It was very hard to notice or feel all on itself, but it was warm enough to give off a very comfortable temperature, so it was quite simple to imagine ponies didn't have that big of a coat, at least anthropomorphic ones. It was soft, it was comfortable, and the kiss made the touch even more enjoyable.

What scared him slightly was feeling his sister's member against him. Luckily for him she didn't feel any discomfort about it.

Now, some would say the stereotype girly boy wasn't exactly big, and Olivia fit the bill as she was quite small with barely five inches that hadn't exactly grown when she changed, but you'd be surprised to see what monsters some of them had. Allegedly, Olivia didn't dislike being male in that part of her body, but she didn't want attention brought to it. For her it was an extra that she liked during orgasm, the rest of the time she enjoyed her ass being toyed with, or doing quite a lot of things with her mouth. Her member was there for decor as far as she was concerned, but feeling it against his own made Alexander realize that this was happening and there was no going back.

When she broke the kiss Alexander knew she was smiling in the sultriest way possible. Anger or not, forgiven or not, she wanted something and she was going to get it. For that reason it wasn't surprising to feel her hands trail downwards slowly, tracing all over his body until she grabbed his member, making him gasp.

It had been damn too long since he had gotten lucky.

"You are rock hard already." And, once again, despite whatever else Olivia was or felt, she was a fucking tease. Both in bed and out of it. "Can I have my treat now?"

"Do you really need to ask?" He wanted to groan so much, but it could be interpreted as something else right now.

Olivia let out a giggle that at least somewhat calmed Alexander. It sounded like her old self, her old, not angry, self. "Not really." She purred as she moved down, giving a kiss near his crotch area and making him shiver in the process. "You already gave me a pass for whatever I wanted to do anyway." Her sing song voice did bring worry back though. Olivia could want many things if you let her have her way.

First of which was a taste, and by that Alexander meant she closed her eyes and moved down to kiss his cock. The sensation was electrifying, for a lack of a better word, and her fangs as she pushed beyond the kiss and took him in her mouth added to the feeling as she massaged the tip of his shaft without any doubt or second thoughts.

All Alexander could do was hope to not rip the bed to shreds as he grabbed at it with hands and feet like it was his lifeline.

Maybe he had never been as... entusiastic as Olivia when it came to the fantasies partaking them together, but he had wondered, oh he had wondered. At least that one part was not as uncommon when it came to family members, after all imagination was a common resource most people had, and they used it to live their fantasies in a way. In this case Olivia was a step forward from her brother, and one of her more tame fantasies had been also one of the few Alexander had indulged in: A simple blowjob.

To put it mildly: The feeling was incredible. Maybe it was the simple fact of Olivia being different, vastly different, when compared to a human. It was either that, the need or the time without playing with himself, but Olivia almost got him to cum when she did as little as take his tip inside her mouth and suck.

She was gently biting at him, which finally showed she lacked anything resembling the human mouth structure, AKA teeth. That did help though, as the new ones were practically blunt except for a scant few, and the love bites were so tender they worked almost as well as her damn long tongue that she seemed to control well enough to envelop his cockhead. Either Olivia had practiced with something or she instinctively knew what to do with her new body. The alternative was a hell of a practice run and a long tongue before she changed, something Alexander could not deny right away.

Trying to fixate his mind on the little things didn't do shit for Alexander. Olivia just pushed forward slowly, basically moaning as she took more of her brother inside her mouth like if she was hungry and needed to nurse to live. Not only that, Olivia was getting much warmer. Her hands were on his legs and they were not burning like if she had a fever, but it was damn close. When she looked at him her eyes were also slightly far away in their look that mixed want, lust and raw need.

Mrs. Cake hadn't been kidding. Olivia was in heat.

As soon as she saw him looking at her she stopped being gentle and went for it. Muzzle and all, it was still too big to take ten inches worth of cock inside of your mouth, and the gagging sound she made would've worried her partner, if her partner didn't gasp and achieved nirvana at the same damn time. She was squeezing him for dear life and he was trying not to drown his sister in spunk as she hilted him down her throat like she had been doing it her whole life.

She waited for a few seconds, breathing through her nose, apparently unhindered even when Alexander was sure that she had a massive bulge on her throat that should have made it frigging impossible. She didn't seem to care about physics though, and all she did was hold him there, squeezing him, letting out some kind of murr or purr while her muscles worked his shaft from top to bottom, all the while her tongue was lapping at him hungrily. How the fuck Olivia managed to do all that with no space left in her mouth, as well as no gag reflex to be seen, was a mystery to Alexander. It didn't mean he wanted it to stop.

Sadly, or maybe because this was part of her vengeance, Olivia slowly dragged herself away from that hardened rod, licking every single damn centimeter on her way, teasing the throbbing pole until Alexander was sure he would explode, only for her to squeeze the base of his cock with one hand and evade the incoming orgasm with a sly grin he was sure she was sporting.

"Not cumming yet, my dear brother." Her sultry tone was only matched by a slight hint of disdain. If she really forced him to avoid orgasm it could very well mess the night she wished to have. "I really thought you would have more stamina..."

"Sorry... for... disappointing... you." Alexander was sure his face was a fucking poem right now. "I haven't had sex... in a while... You have more practice... than me."

"No argument there." Olivia offered a grin even though her brother wouldn't see her. "You are about to cum though, and it is a darn shame... I feel so... so hot... Never felt like this." She mumbled the last bit as she bit her lip, tongue dangling from her mouth a moment afterwards to lick her brother's mushroom tip with a slight murr of contentment. "I want you all for myself tonight."

Alexander shivered in delight at the feeling. Why had he avoided this for so long again? Oh yea, taboos and all that. He was going to call shenanigans on that one. The only fear now was the nagging thought of his sister raping him if he underperformed.

"Seeing as you can probably overpower me if I say no? How about I do good on that promise?" He heard his sister chuckling before she slowly dragged her body atop of his. Alexander could feel two bumps down there, and they had nothing to do with her balls at all too, so it was a telltale sign that she was indeed going to change once more, something just told him. "And I swear to you, Olivia, that once you change I'll keep my promise." He took her close, giving her neck a gentle kiss. "As many times as you wish."

She let out a content sigh as she embraced him, giving Alexander a kiss on his neck. "I'll hold you to that, and you better don't fuck me over this time." There was a moment of silence before both chuckled. "Well, other than breeding me that is."

Something clicked within Alexander's mind. "Excuse me?"

"Breed. Me." Olivia purred huskily on his ear. "Make me your woman. Give me a big tummy. Creampie the heck out of me." She hissed slowly as she rubbed her bottom while guiding Alexander's rod against her ass. "I want you, and you better fuck me all night long. Shower me with you baby maker cream." Her tone turned lascivious and commanding at once. "Or else."

There was another something else knocking against his mind this time: The assurance that Olivia would do way worse than he ever thought possible if he didn't fuck her senseless.

"Your wish is my command." Olivia would not be the dominant one, but if she said jump you asked how high, then you did it. "But... I don't think I'll hold at all this first time."

"Oh, you don't worry about that." She lifted herself up, surprising Alexander and making him moan alongside Olivia as her rear took his shaft in one fluid motion. "You... you... aaah... c-cum... and I'll... get you up..."

And cum he did, right away in fact. By the time Olivia had pushed down until he hilted her the orgasm just decided to roll over and fling all that stored seed right inside his sister's insides. What surprised him was that Olivia's own orgasm hit almost at the same time, with almost no encouragement whatsoever, but his chest did feel the warm seed coming from her and the moan she let out was anything but subtle, much like her shivering. He was damn sure that Olivia lasted way longer than that, her sessions with those fucking toys had kept him awake for hours more than once.

It was not surprising, but it was also depressing and a bit demeaning for Alexander. It just felt so good, and his fear and doubts had been thrown out, only to end this quickly? Why the hell had he been so fast and pathetic? Even as Olivia fell on him, embracing him once again, and kissing his neck, he could feel his member's erection dying down. This was not what he had hoped for...

NOM!

SHIT AND FUCK! That hurt!

Olivia had bitten him, she was literally sinking her fucking fangs on his neck! It hurt, it was painful, he could feel his blood being sucked and...! It was arousing.

Hell, his dick got even harder than ever inside of his sister and Olivia could do little but moan alongside him as she sucked on his n neck like he was a damn popscicle. Alexander knew that the neck was a very sensitive zone, one used for more than relaxation when a massage was directed there, but for pleasure. He didn't know THIS would happen if she bit him.

"I don't know how I know, but I do." Olivia purred in a sing song voice that was way too calm while Alexander shivered, his shaft throbbing inside of her. "Now... fuck me. Hard. If you stop I'll rape you dry."

Not like she had to ask or threaten him. Alexander was going to do it more than gladly. There was time lost that he had to make up for, and there was pride to defend when it came to pleasing his partner.

"You asked for it, my dear sister."

She chuckled against his neck. "Bring it on!"

Olivia found her breath taken away from her when her brother moved himself backwards, only to shove his whole length inside in one hard, brutal shove.

She loved it.

Maybe they weren't porn actors, but they had their mileage, and Olivia LOVED it rough, maybe a bit too much. To feel how things had changed, how she could practically control every inch of her body in a way she could never before, was just the icing on the cake now. She had her brother with her, in her, and she could feel everything so vividly that she had to fight another orgasm. This change was not something she wanted, but it had its perks now.

That, and she managed to wrap every muscle around Alexander's member, milking his still dripping dick for everything it was worth. It was empowering to know, to feel, that she could make him cum with just a single movement.

Hands clutched at her sides in the blink of an eye and a gasp was the only thing she could utter as Alexander lifted her away from his shaft as much as she could, only to ram her down with as much strength as he could, making pleasure ripple through both their bodies. She didn't stop biting gently though, and despite the sliver of pain, Alexander was enjoying these first moments as if they were the best one he had in his life. In truth it either was exactly that, or very close to it.

Savoring it was paramount however, and those hard shoves were slow and methodical as he teased his sister with every movement. As he did it he hated it, but the pleasure he felt on his neck was nothing compared to kissing his sister's lips, much to her surprise as he forced himself once more inside of her squeezing rear. The moan coming from her lips and into his mouth was more than reward enough, and the need didn't even diminish in the slightest now that she wasn't biting him. Maybe it had been a drug for a moment, but as their tongues danced together there was little need of anything but the touch of the lips.

Not to say he was about to stop. That nice bubble ass had to get wrecked.

A sentiment she quickly shared as she broke the kiss. "N-no... more delays... fuck me... faster!"

That said, and once she had managed another deep moan, she kissed Alexander once more, this time taking a more active role as she began to ride her brother. Ten inches was still a sizeable amount though, and Alexander had to stop her before she did something quite hurtful. Their first time wasn't going to be tarnished for a damn wound or pain, though he could appreciate that her sister had lubricated herself, or at least she felt lubricated... Whatever the case, it was easy to go except for her over eagerness. She knew her way around a body in these situations, but she was way too horny to be careful and Alexander had to make sure she knew where the limits stood.

Olivia bit at his lips though, not exactly happy about being stopped, but Alexander just chuckled as he gave her a peek on the cheek before he turned her around with a few gentle movements. The feeling of that tail, of those wings, was weird, but it became much easier for both of them when it came to entering her, and this time it was Alexander the one to bite that very enticing neck.

Shivering as he nibbled her, Olivia raised herself, this time taking some time to do it right instead of allowing her lust to control her, but the end result was the same as she impaled her insides with her brother's rod, moaning as loudly as she could in the process. She had gone way too long with this fantasy for anything like decency to stop or worry her now, and feeling her brother's hands caressing her wings, even tugging at her tail after a moment, only got her hornier and hornier as she rode him, going faster after every time.

Every time she rose her brother pulled her down by the tail, enticing harder and louder moans every time she did so, clouding her mind with the burning pleasure of that flesh rubbing inside of her and marveling at the sensation of being made feel like a woman by the one she loved the most. It was all the sweeter as her brother started whispering sweet nothings to her between his own moans, both of them enraptured by what they had been holding back for so damn long.

"B-brother... I...!" Olivia trembled, almost unable to support her weight as another orgasm approached. How could this feel so damn good?

"Sssh..." Alexander did his best to not let it loose too soon either, embracing her sister once more. "Let me fill you..."

A small stop and a quick change. It was frustrating as the orgasm, the sweet release, was postponed, but as Olivia got herself on all fours, her brother against her back, it felt so natural and so... so good, simply good and right, that she couldn't complain. To have his weight against her back, to have him biting on her neck again, either as revenge, playfulness or because he noticed she liked it, all felt perfect.

And his throbbing maleness claiming her insides, just waiting to burst again, made up for anything else. She had her brother, and this time he wouldn't push her away. Well, he was going to push, but this wasn't the time for a chuckle or any of her comments, not when her mind wasn't exactly aiming for that.

No warning, no desire for one either, all she got from her brother was a powerful shove as he finally stopped his teasing and took her from behind again. Olivia nearly ripped the sheets apart, biting the pillow hard enough to literally tear a chunk of it, because this time Alexander had gone right where she wanted and he had rubbed over all the right spots. The result was not only that powerful bite, but a massive release.

A mix of a screech that no human could hear and a moan loud enough to wake the dead was all that could be heard as Alexander unloaded once more inside of his sister. The warm goey cream coated every single nook and cranny within her insides, with the muscles milking the shaft, no pause in sight, as both bodies shivered against each other. Neither had orgasm this fulfilling or this desired since they had started having this kind of fun, and if Alexander had been even slightly more centered and only a bit less horny he would've wondered if this damn magic and bonding crap had anything to do with it.

As it stood, who gave a fuck? He felt more fulfilled than ever and Olivia was purring like a kitten, content and beyond happy.

Until she turned as quickly as a shadow, only to grin at him, the glint of her eyes being a literal one that allowed him to see that chesire cat smile.

"I want more." She whispered before going for his neck again.

Well, tomorrow was Monday, but he could make a 'sacrifice' for his lovely sister.

Why did it turn out like this?

Cup Cake was asking that question time and time again in her head as she tried to ignore the sounds coming from the other room. The problem was quite simple: It was darn impossible. She had heard every word, every moan, every yell and every orgasm, and while the first two had gone over 'smoothly', the pair hadn't stopped since they went in around ten or so. Well, that isn't true, they had stopped a few minutes ago, just shy of 23:30, but all the same Cup Cake was distraught.

Her hoof was drenched, the bed was a mess, her marehood asked for attention and she was in a state that would've made Rarity faint for, let's say... forever, maybe?

She had been unable to hold herself, not when visiting Olivia had meant taking a wiff at her pheromones. She was in heat, she was woman enough to get in heat, and it had drenched the whole damn building with the smell, even the ground floor for some reason. That had basically forced her own estrus to flare, and oh boy, you don't know how hard had Cup Cake tried to exorcise it out of her mind until she had convinced Alexander to go to his sister.

Oh she tried, she HAD tried so hard, but she knew the heat would come. It was so 'fun' at first to think that she would endure and would come back with a smile, proud and mighty, as she had remained Carrot and Carrot alone, only to come to the realization that, if she so much as asked, Alexander would be on his knees to please her. She didn't need to even ask, she could feel it, she darn knew it! What was worse was that Olivia probably would be okay with it if they were to talk about this now that brother and sister were together and she didn't have to second guess things or each other's feelings.

She wanted it so badly it hurt. It was something most mares understood after their first heat, mostly because it was such a pain you would wish to never experience again. Human period? My dear, that was a bitch, but now think about needing to rut until your body, and your partner's body, were but lumps of meat with promises of pain and suffering that would extend for a few days. That, my friend, was the most gentle example of what pain you would expect if it went unsatisfied. The worst would literally turn a mare crazy for a while unless they had a remedy, a remedy that was such only in name, after all they do have some side effects that almost no pony wished for. The only thing that worked, and it still took some time to calm a mare down, was impregnation.

What was worse than smelling the increasing strength of somepony's arousal and heat then? The sudden stop. Their first orgasm made the smell recede. It was NOT supposed to be that fast, in fact the pheromones were to die slowly but steadily to mark the end of estrus and the end of need, which would also calm any stallion, or mare, close enough to its effects. To have such a strong effect? The potency had to be incredible, the need of both parties had to be so strong, the genes so powerful and the rut so hard that it would achieve its intended target with ruthless efficiency. That made sure that Cup Cake knew the obvious result to this night.

The siblings were to be parents around eleven months in the future, if the change didn't affect what just transpired tonight.

But that brought a problem, a very hefty, big and wet problem. Cup Cake couldn't take her mind off the gutter thanks to a soon to be very pregnant mare and an incredibly fertile stallion.

She wanted to rut so badly.

She wanted a foal! She wanted her dream family! She wanted to have no less than four and her mind was so set on that desire that she was willingly considering testing if Alexander really had genuine feelings for her. She wanted to see if it could happen, if they could all share on this, if a herd was really as bad as she thought it could be or if she was being stupid and her marriage would still remain the same after this loving pair was added to their family! Why did her body literally tell her brain to go get lost!?

"Oh Carrot." She brought both hooves to her face. One covered in shame, the other yet cleat. She was unsure how long would part of her remain untouched. "I am so, so, so sorry..."

It didn't matter if there was permission or not. If this didn't work out as she wished it would end her. If they didn't feel that way about Carrot, about her family, about her friends, then she would've failed her promises to her husband. She would have taken without giving something in return, and breaking it off with Alexander or his sister would hurt, but not as much as it would hurt if she failed Carrot in any way, shape or form.

But... but would she really fail? Or were her fears something else entirely?

She had been fearful of losing Carrot since the day they meet, fearful of doing something hat would drive him away, and the fear had intensified thanks to her stupid anger before she came here. How happy would he be to see that she found somepony that would fit right in?

Because he would be happy for everything... right?

There had been so many things that she was sure of, so many that had made her smile, but this one didn't seem like one of them. Permission or not, this could end in disaster in so many ways. She had so many doubts, so many that were pilling and creating even more questions, doubts, insecurities and what ifs that she thanked the maker for not giving her hands. She would be clawing her eyes out at this point if she had them.

Cup Cake just sobbed herself to sleep, unable to answer any of her mind's questions and fearful of what would happen tomorrow.

Back in Alexander's room things had gone quiet. Olivia was practically asleep after their rutting and he knew he was going to have a very painful morning, but his mind decided to give his concerns the boot and instead enjoy the massive afterglow that was lasting well beyond half an hour for some reason. If he didn't have everything prepared for tomorrow morning he would be scre...

*RIIIIIIIING!*

Fucking phone! Where was it!? Why hadn't he changed the damn ringtone!? Oh, there it was.

"Yes?" He half croaked. Even his voice was strained.

"Hey bro, just called to tell you I am off for a week or two, so I won't be around to make any more deliveries." Wait, what? This was the one buddy Alexander trusted with keeping him stocked and he was bolting? He was about to say something, but he noticed that his friend had done as he always did when he didn't want shit: He pre recorded the message. "So yea, take care and I'll see you once I come back. Oh, and sorry about Olivia, I would have said something sooner but I know you would've yelled at my face if I fucked up, as usual."

Well, great, no supplies tomorrow morning. At least there were the leftovers that were in the fridge. Not as tasty as fresh baked goods, but hey, waking up every day at four to six in the morning was something not done during vacations... all the time anyway.

A sudden flash made him curse under his breath. It only took one moment, but his vision was utterly screwed after going from the dim light of the phone to the blinding inferno that had assaulted his senses. He wasn't able to see shit, but he did feel a sudden change in weight and pressure all over his chest, something he managed to confirm with his hands.

His sister didn't have human form anymore.

She had managed to end up asleep before the phone rang, but this had messed it up. Now she was awake, a sniffle confirmed it before she spoke. "I... Am I still pretty?" The question came muffled and fearful, but Alexander's own worries lied with Olivia herself. "Brother... am... am I beautiful to you?" Though it seemed she was fine, fearful and dubious, but fine.

Truth be told, Alexander didn't know if she was really awake or not, but luckily she hadn't gotten hurt with the sudden change and she hadn't hurt him either (shudder to think what would happen if he had been still inside of her during the change). He just dragged her close, kissed her in the lips and reassured her. There was nothing more beautiful in his eyes, even if his sister had stopped being human. That little reassurance calmed her mind and she let out a sigh of relief.

"You'll be beautiful no matter what, Olivia. You will always be beautiful to me."

She let out a light chuckle that sounded quite different when compared to her usual laugh, probably because the overall changes to her body. At least his reassurance had the effects he hoped and it was all she wished to have. "Then you don't mind if I get fat?" Though the question on itself wasn't so weird either, but it made Alexander eye at her warily. "Because I have been raiding the fridge with all the pastries and shit since our spat. It was fun to go behind your back... and I was depressed. You know that when I am depressed I want sweets. Pair it with being angry and how much I wanted to piss you off..." He could feel her waving her hoof a bit "Sooooo... I think I emptied most what we had stored? This new body could mow down sugar like crazy."

Wait... the fridge was empty? There was nothing ready for tomorrow?

Sleep is utterly fucked in a bad way? You know what!?

"Motherfu...!" 

Chapter 6: Surprise visit: The H.i.E department.

Sex felt good, sex was marvelous, sex had made his night and his morning beautiful.

Sex had also busted his legs, his back, he could hardly breathe right and his neck had to be banged up to Sunday.

Nine out of ten would do it again every day, mostly because Olivia would probably kill him if he went at it every chance they got.

Oh, it also hurt a teensy little bit that he had to wake up at four in the morning to do everything.

Yea, okay, it hurt a lot. He really wanted to sleep for a long while, but luck decided to be a butt stabber.

He had been taking it easy for the last week, but this was the eight day since Cup Cake came here and it was the first day since he didn't have supplies or some reserves to ease his workload. Today he needed to bust his ass, and it was already busted from yesterday. Luckily Olivia really didn't care much for her own maleness or he would REALLY be fucked, though maybe he would've minded little to nothing... Better not tell her that or she may want to try it, and right now Alexander was really a gaunt visage at eight in the morning after he made sure to turn the sign outside to signal they were open.

This bakery wasn't the only one that woke up this early, and the suppliers that worked in town were more than ready to dish out orders with a smile if one had the cash. He was unsure if Harmony had been yanking him around with that shield or whatever had protected the house, if it ever existed. He had been able to go buy groceries and supplies quite early without a hitch in any case, so whether it was true or not it didn't block him right now, so no complains on that front. That did bring one of today's mood busters: One of the advantages of doing almost everything by hand instead of the usual prefabricated shit was that it was cheap, easy to get and abundant, plus it was fun to make.

The problem was that it took for fucking ever to make if you didn't have anything in the backburner and ready to warm up. Meh, could be worse.

Now, I am sure you are wondering: No, Olivia and Alexander didn't magic a reconciliation out of their asses. It wasn't exactly 'angry sex' what they did, but that they had talked, and sexed, it out had made a difference that wasn't enough to just let bygones be bygones. At least Olivia now talked with him, and she had been up alongside Alexander to prepare everything as she crafted a few things while her brother went for whatever supplies they had missing. Part of his good morning had to do with how playful Olivia was by trying to be cute when he asked how the hell could she do all those things with her mouth. It would've been faster with Mrs. Cake around but this morning Alexander had heard her snoring instead of awake as she usually was.

Maybe they had been heard? It could be possible, and knowing that the poor mare was close to her heat... Alexander had bitten the bullet and talked with Olivia about that, to which she was surprisingly warm when she said she'd invite Cup Cake to THEIR room. Olivia made it plainly obvious that they weren't going to sleep away from each other anymore.

At least it meant she wasn't going to bite Cup Cake's throat out, not in a bad way anyway, if she approached Alexander.

That conversation also allowed them time to look over Olivia and her changes: She was a thestral. Yea, yea, 'No shit, Sherlock', but she was a perfect duplicate of her ponysona, as in she was Creamy Oven, but then again she wasn't. Creamy Oven didn't have teats; she was a trap. Olivia had teats because as a human she had breasts, so she wasn't exactly a trap as much as a shemale as she had been as a human. She had an oven with a cream pie inside instead of the tame version of her plushy, and her fangs were slightly larger, and sharper, than those of the drawings she had asked for. It seemed that one thing was what the creator desired and what the magic thought said creator needed.

Alexander was happy to see Olivia at least... neutral, yea, let's go with neutral, about it. She wasn't happy about not being human anymore, despite not being a fan of her own species, like quite a few other humans these days (hey, there are always detractors, Alexander didn't hate). She was at least happy that Alexander didn't bat an eye when she asked for a kiss, because he was beyond happy to kiss his fruity tasting sister in the lips without a second thought. So if Alexander didn't mind, Olivia wouldn't either. She did miss her hands, though.

If you had told Alexander that he would've doing this a week ago, you'd be on the riverbed with a weight on your feet.

No, I am not joking.

Talking about Cup Cake had sparked a conversation too. With no fear behind the idea of her brother ditching her once more, Olivia had been quite open to share her agreement with her brother's desire to pursue Mrs. Cake, if she wanted to be pursued. That caught him by surprise, but Olivia had commented that she liked the mare, despite her outburst a few days ago, and she did want to meet Carrot Cake, much like Alexander, as he was also a very nice baker.

The idea of learning how to bake using one's feelings as part of the magic behind confection brought a spark to Olivia's eyes, because she wanted to know how Cup Cake had managed to make something as normal as a, heh, cupcake, look like pure culinary art while also tasting like heaven without doing anything too special.

Olivia also found Carrot scrumptious. She laughed her ass off when Alexander gave her a deadpan stare. This mare would hound the dreams, and nightmares, of any guy she happened to cross, Alexander was sure of it.

It was satisfying to feel no envy though. Alexander knew Olivia would still give him the cold shoulder from time to time, something he had earned because of how he had been, and if she wanted to visit others once they went to Equestria (because Alexander hoped that he would go with his sister, at this point the idea of her leaving him behind was just too much), then he wouldn't deny her the chance. It would be incredibly selfish to do otherwise and he had already suffered the consequences once.

Jokes aside, if there was one thing to tip the balance in favor of a good morning, and good mood as far as Olivia was concerned, it was the fact that she was sure they would both go to Equestria. It was one of her fantasies, and this one was going to be fulfilled! She also muttered a few other things, but she was so hyper that Alexander just tried not to laugh as they worked.

Today was a good day, despite having to wake up at an ungodly hour now that he had gotten used to take it more or less easy, it was good.

"Alexander, we need to talk."

Getting surprised by a very down looking mare, flanked by two tall and burly men, killed that happiness quite fast though.

"Sit down, Mr. Jacobs."

There had been three men, two of which hadn't uttered a word. The third one had waited at the entrance as he explained the earliest customers of the bakery that Alexander was needed for a private meeting and that the place would be closed for today. The men had made sure no one saw Mrs. Cake if nothing else, but it surprised Alexander that anyone would go away without being at least suspicious of the M.I.B.

Whatever had been said to keep the early birds away, Olivia had been another thing entirely.

She had started screaming in a way that literally broke the windows around her, as well as a couple other things. It was very hard to hear, probably because her vocal cords had changed and she wasn't exactly 'screaming' per se, but it hurt Alexander's ears like a damn bitch all the same. Credit when credit is due, because Cup Cake just grimaced and the men didn't even flinch while Alexander did his best to stop the sound for boring through his skull.

After she was done the men came into the kitchen to try and stop Olivia once she started literally screaming in a more human like level. That had been a bad move. Alexander wasn't sure how exactly they did it because he was left half conscious as he tried not to fall down, but Olivia had understood it as a danger. She had ended up kicking one of the men in the chest while the other apprehended her with ease, as if they knew perfectly well how to do it and what to sacrifice. It was surprising to see the one that had been hit just dust it off as if it was nothing though, because Alexander was sure Olivia could crack bones right now.

It had been quite an stressful start, and yet they had managed to ensure no one had decided to investigate.

That they had managed to make things this smooth on the outside only made Alexander's fears worse.

Why wouldn't Alexander be scared shitless? His questions ranged from the 'How did they know about this?' to 'Why had the third man act so calm?', also including the very important 'How could a guy, smaller and less bulkier than him at that, handle Olivia's kicks when she had manhandled him like he was nothing the night before?'. The last one was very important because, even with her size, she was still stronger now that she had changed. Alexander was sure that his thought about her hooves being capable of breaking bones was not wrong, hell, she could easily fling him to the bed this morning when she didn't want him leaving so early, and she hadn't put effort into it. A guy with less body mass should've been flung into the air then, right? This day wasn't making a lick of sense, and being upstairs, with the third man giving him his best poker face, didn't help for shit when it came to his mind fucking with him.

Formal black suit, a very nice tie, pants without a blemish in sight, shoes so shiny they reflect the faintest of lights and glasses that allow nothing to be seen. With his appearance you'd think he was one of those men in black with everything perfectly done and so much attention to detail that it would make the old movie green with envy.

The graying hair, small goatee, neutral expression and firm body said something else: The man was probably old, but Alexander got the feeling that doing something stupid would cost him his nuts if nothing else. He looked old and slightly crooked yes, but in a way that almost said he wasn't exactly 'right' in every way. It was hard to put his finger on what it was, but how weird could that be? There were two ponies in his house, one of which was his sister! To find someone else that didn't feel 'normal' should be practically expected. The frail appearance of the man in front of him was probably just that, an appearance.

Indeed, Alex was sure that the too slim body of the man probably could bench press his ass into the ground. There was an air about him that screamed to not fuck with him despite that eccentric hairdo that looked more fitting of Mega Man's villain than a normal person. Considering that he had been perfectly calm in front of both mares, and that he had communicated with the other two men without a single word, denoting at least military training of some kind, it was best to assume that he had enough power to do whatever he wanted, which included going around in whatever damn getup he wanted.

Bottom line: Don't fuck with the guy.

"I suppose you are scared, right?" Alexander gulped as the man got himself comfortable, arms in the table as he bent forwards slightly. It looked like he was ready to throw the table aside with a flick of his wrist and crush his windpipe... That, or his mind was going to dark places. "I assure you that I am not here to hurt you, unless you make it necessary."

Alexander ran his fingers down the chair's sides. He didn't want to sit down in front of this man. "It is not exactly easy to relax under these circumstances."

The man nodded. "Understandable I assure you, so don't worry about offending me." The man almost let out a chuckle, almost. "I have endured more than being called 'scary', son. I could tell you so many things... but that is for another time." He cleared his throat to call Alexander to attention, making the young man jump in place. "Right now I recommend you sit. We need to talk."

He sat. There was little else to do, and the man's voice sounded old, haggard, tired and wise, as well as commanding and hiding a hint of a smirk with every word he said. He probably found his fear to be funny.

Anyone that had someone else grabbed by the balls would find it funny. Alexander knew he would at least.

"Better?" The man asked, not really interested in his answer. "It would be much less tempting to go for your sibling right now, am I correct?"

Intimidated or not, Alexander didn't welcome the man's tone. "What do you know about Olivia?"

"Quite a lot, but let me get to the part you probably don't know. So as a sign of friendship, do let me share this with you." Alexander looked at the man with a mix of worry and wonder. "Do you know that your sister was born as a true hermaphrodite?"

Okay, that floored him. The man just smirked for a moment and went ahead.

"True hermaphroditism is one of the available sexes that some humans have at birth, you know? Not as rare as many would like to consider, but not common enough for the public at large to care, or to know, about it. A large group of people consider hermaphroditism to be a medical condition, an illness, and many times it is removed via surgery in a way that makes the baby, once they are ready for the operation, 'fit in a single sex'." The man was calmly explaining while Alexander sweated a storm. This guy wasn't telling him what he thought he was, right?

He didn't stop though, instead he went along with his explanation. "Humanity has a problem with those that do not fit in the space allotted to them, we both know it. Male or female, that is supposedly the only thing most people want to see, but there are more. Be it physical or mental, attributes do not need to conform to a norm. Some don't like it, that rule, they feel, is forcing them into a body they hate." The man eyed Alexander intently "Our best example right now are those considered intersexed, such as your sister."

"Do you mean to tell me..." Alexander took both hands and clasped them under his chin while getting into a pensive position. He was doing his best to calm down the anger wheeling inside of him. Did his parents really do that to Olivia? Did they really decide for her just because they didn't want a 'weird' son or daughter? "Are you telling that my parents literally mutilated my sister just because she was different?"

"Yes." Alexander's knuckled turned white as he almost hurt himself as the anger just grew in intensity. He could feel his elbows attempting to dig into the table, and he had to be thankful that he wasn't as strong as Olivia or Mrs. Cake right now. "Most people do not understand what is outside of their comfort zone, or they don't care to, in most cases they just fear or hate it. Your parents found out that your sister had more male than female in her though, or their medic said Olivia had those attributes anyway, so they decided that she would be Oliver and that was all there was to it." The man directed Alexander a perfectly neutral face and look. "But there was more than that to it than just cut, cut and fix, fix, right?"

Neither man said anything for a moment, not until Alex asked something that was eating at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

As an answer the man produced a simple piece of paper that he handed without ceremony.

Seriously? The title had the 'Human in Equestria' acronym? Oh, wait, Alexander found out what it meant as he read the first words: Human Integration and Immigration to Equis Department. So they had simplified it to H.i.E?

"Do you know about the old My Little Pony shows, Mr. Jacobs?" Alexander grimaced at the question. If he disliked the newest cartoon he practically hated the old ones. The man just chuckled. "I suppose that means 'yes'. Well, you see, this is not the first time that Equis and Earth connect, nor will it ever be the last." When he lifted his head from the paper the man motioned him to stay silent. "I cannot tell you more than that, but there were many chances of this happening. How I know and why? Unimportant questions, unimportant to you, at least for now. What is important is that you understand what is in the paper."

Alexander grimaced but nodded. He wasn't happy about being feed scraps and then told to eat them without complain, but what else was there to do? The man wasn't giving anything away and he really didn't want to piss him off, he wasn't that stupid or that much of a klutz. He would find a way to fuck up later, right now he just wanted his sister and Cup Cake back.

'The H.i.E department was created to ensure safe negotiations between the world of Equis and Earth. It is composed of an older department with a similar intent...'

"Older department?"

"Keep reading. If you need to know anything else I will tell you in due time."

'... designed to safeguard temporal visitors and to keep both ends safe. This latest incarnation takes into account the newest iteration of both ends and the many new possibilities opened through their interaction. Thanks to the apparent focus of this iteration's magic towards adult individuals instead of children,' Alexander shot the man a questioning glance, but he just motioned him to continue. 'it is imperative to encounter those affected and to ensure the safety of all involved.'

'Since this time those affected by concentrated magic emanations are, most likely, adults in origin, at least at first, it is very important to remember the regulations associated with these encounters:

The department is tasked with maintaining order between the human public and the visitors from the other side. This means any species included in the manual such as diamond dogs, minotaurs, dragons (juvenile), centaurs, gargoyles (of any type), intelligent constructs and any pony subspecies such as seaponies (merponies and all variants), changelings or any hybrid of pony as well as any other species that has not yet been cataloged officially.

If bonds are in effect then the safeguard falls on the individual and visitor/s. This is the main concern of the H.i.E department as young individuals visiting previous iterations bonded quickly with the ponies in there, thus creating health hazards if they weren't permitted to sustain them. Adults are more susceptible to magic changes, thus may require time in Equis to stabilize the bond despite any objection from Earth's side, otherwise negative effects will take place within a week to a month's time after separation.

Once first contact is made the stipulated tests are to be done. If already paired and with bond, the test and individuals are to be made public to present the public with solid proof of life outside of Earth as well as to begin conditioning the populace to a more than possible new age of...'

"Okay, that is it, this is bullshit." Surprisingly enough, he said it with a totally neutral and serious face. "Do you mean to tell me that now that you are here and now that you know about Cup Cake and my sister, everyone is to know about them?"

"Yes." Was all the man said. That he didn't flinch when Alexander showed quite the reaction gave him credit.

Calm, he needed calm, he needed to BE calm if nothing else, because Alexander was about to yell. "Please, tell me my parents aren't going to be told about this."

"They have to." Shit. Just... just shit. That was all that Alexander wanted to say, but the man had more to share despite chaos reigning within Alexander's mind. "I cannot tell you everything, but changes such as hers were recorded during previous... times."

Alexander scoffed at the man. "That is bullshit."

"Whether you believe me or not, it is of no consequence to me. Here, take this." Much like the page, the man threw a card at him. It had a telephone number and the name 'Joshua'. "Call me J, you kids still have fun with that, shame I am not black to complete the joke." Once more his deadpan deliverance seemed to have something well hidden behind the level voice. Alexander said nothing as he took the card to his pocket. "Now, tell me. What scares you?"

What he was scared of? What he was SCARED of? He wasn't scared.

He was fucking terrified!

Granted that he was screaming internally, but it would soon be a more external thing once he had the time to do it alone. What the fuck had happened for this to be a thing!? Why did his parents have to get involved? They would murder Olivia, or they would try if nothing else, and then they would murder him! This was not the shitty movie of Trolls, this was a very serious damn problem.

Okay, so being stupid wasn't helping any. Usually it worked but right now any kind of thought that didn't have to do with the impeding visit of his parents was brutally erased with nothing more than a thought. This was exactly what he didn't want to deal with, so of course the world had to find a fucking way to get him to confront his parents about every single thing that would make them have an excuse to do the worst they could. There had to be a way out, a simple way out that didn't end with his parents too close to either his neck or Olivia's, because he was sure that meeting them would be the last thing he did.

"Kid, eyes on me." J had it easy, he could literally say anything and catch Alexander's attention. But as far as Alexander was concerned, and it was quite far mind you, this all could go to hell. "I said eyes on me." In the end he had to look at the man though. "There is no real danger for you. What are you afraid of?"

His gaze was probably devoid of anything but an incredulous look at the moment. Was this man for real? "You come here, knowing all you know, and you ask me what I am afraid of?"

"Of course." J said without even flinching. "I may know things, but I don't know what you think."

"..." Alexander had been this close to barking a retort that would have landed him in a worse situation that the one he was right now. Surprising, yea, but sometimes he didn't mess things up. "Can you tell me what you know now?"

"Many things, some of which no one else know, some of which have been told to you." J offered a toothy smile with a hidden meaning within those pearly whites of his. "Let's say that every time we are to meet with the other side, there is always someone that knows." He smirked a superior smile that didn't mean to gloat. It was simply the truth: J knew more than Alexander, and that had to be stated. "Now, if you mean to ask how much I know about you and your sister? Probably the same as you, if not more. And yes, it also includes your recently explored... relationship."

Alexander covered his face with both hands in a moment. The marks of his nails were obvious, and now that the pressure was relieved and fear gnawed at him more than anger he could feel the pain and a sliver of blood running against his nose. This had gone so bad so quickly that he wished that little drop of blood could turn into a fountain. It would be much faster and less hurtful.

"I can assure you that nothing wrong will happen to you, either through traditional law or otherwise." J's assurance was lost on Alexander as he shook his head from side to side. "Part of our duties include protecting you and ensuring people get to know our visitors, or those that have changed, such as your sister. She could have ended up as an anthropomorphic version, which is one of the possibilities in case of... communion between ponies and humans." The venom behind Alexander's glare as he took his hands away was so acidic it could melt metal. "That is, of course, a theory until proven true, but she still changed and that is all that matters. Well, that, and you are bonded to them, unless I am mistaken."

Alexander just snorted. "And if we are bonded?" Which was a stupid question to make, but hey.

"Don't get cute with me, child. While that paper could be tiring and beyond a bore, it is a necessity you should read fully. Unless something wrong happens you do know that more ponies will come here, don't you?" Alexander nodded with some reluctance at the man's question. J could have a certain something in his voice and mannerism, but Alexander was still angry and afraid with good reason. "We need to make the test, we need to ask questions, we need to record interviews and we need to show the result. Hiding this will only bring panic, or certain individuals, and too much pain."

"'Certain' individuals?" This time Alexander almost laughed. "You can't mean that there are people that would go for the ponies in this day and age, right? There is practically no crime left!" What smile he had formed died as J's face turned into a grimace. "You aren't joking."

"I tend to joke with certain tastes in mind for certain situations. Simply put: I am no stick in the mud unless I need to be." But his frown was saying something else. "Now, the dangers of knowing about the other side? The same as everything else in life. Would you be willing to bet that some people will hate ponies? Or that some ponies will hate humans? On this side we can take care of humanity's dislike, but the other world will have to fend on its own. The real problem is the magnitude of the danger and the power behind whoever decides that ponies should have certain uses."

"Are my sister or Cup Cake in danger?"

J considered that a good sign that Alexander was way beyond saving as far as bonding was concerned. First the ponies, then himself? There was no question about it.

"No, they will be the lucky ones." At Alexander's horrified expression J explained. "I do not mean anything negative with it, in fact there is a great chance that, if the worst was to happen, they would be taken away before it took place. A failure, a bond broken, but everyone would be all right... more or less." Alexander didn't think so. What would he feel if his sister or Mrs. Cake were to be yanked away from him? The thought made him sick to the point of turning green. "Don't think about it, young man, your mind will do all it to mess things up, instead hear me out."

Alexander threw him a disdainful glance before looking away. "Hearing you is what is screwing me right now. Yesterday things were shitty, but they ended nicely, now..."

"Okay, let me make this scenario better for you." Their eyes meet once more, or at least Alexander thought J was looking right back. It was hard to tell with those glasses. "Not only the 'good guys' know about you, got it? This is the first appearance and we already arrived too late because we use less... strenuous methods than the other guys. Magic is here, but it is still underdeveloped, so it is easy to locate the general area of an emanation like the one that is centered in this house. Even then we had to visit a massive number of areas I cannot name thanks to greater probabilities and focal points." Alexander's questioning look was not lost on J. "No, I cannot tell you about those. What you must learn lies on the other side, your stay here is only temporary if you keep playing your cards right."

"Come on! You are throwing all this shit at me, the least you could do is tell me what is happening." Truth be told, what he said had merit, but Alex regretted his words when the man just relaxed against the chair, crossing his arms with a huff. He was not amused.

"I suppose I could, for example, tell you that if your sister decided to travel with you to one of the focal points within the city, located in the river if you want to know, she would be compelled to submerge and explore, only to mutate. Why, magic is so unstable in this world now that it is flowing again, that your sister could easily change from a thestral to something else. If she was lucky she'd end as a seapony of some kind, if not..." J didn't finish, he had done his job. Alex was horrified and it showed. "If I told you about those places and you let it slip to your sister, the magic could very well call to her. Until she goes to Equis and learns to control her instincts, until her magic becomes part of her, it is better for you to remain in the dark about a few things. Natural born ponies aren't in danger, but I am sure you don't want to risk Olivia."

Alexander shook his head, submissive. "I think I will be happy with whatever you tell me."

J got up, startling Alexander despite how methodic and slow his approach was. It was hard to not be jumpy when you went from a bad situation to another with just a mere night of sleep, and hardly any sleep at all. Whatever he tried, his mind was full of fears and doubts, fears that made him literally jump as he felt J's hand on his shoulder.

"Miss Cake and your sister are being told the same things, as well as other pieces of information that are very important for those that will come after you."

"Why after me?" Alexander gave J a quizzical look.

"I will tell you a few things, but you won't need to worry about most of them." J let go of Alexander's arm as he enumerated. "The first one is, of course, about focal points on Earth. This is important because once enough magic has been pumped into the atmosphere the world will start producing its own instead of needing more ponies." Alexander seemed uncomfortable with that part for obvious reasons. "I understand that you had a very special 'guest' explaining why your sister had to change. While it may not be necessary for others to change like your sister did, it may still happen, probably quite a few times. Know that you won't be thrown on the spotlight just on a whim and that this is necessary to ensure safety."

Alexander nodded, basically begging him to go on. That one part wouldn't be as much of a headache as explaining his relationship with his sister to his parents. If nothing else, at least the biggest problem was already known and smaller ones would just be explained away with ease.

Yea, it didn't appease his fears much that 'Hey, my sister is a pony now!' was considered a 'minor' problem.

"Now, once those focal points became active they will attract those transformed much easier, and for that reason we need to show a test with your sister so the public understands that it is basically hypnotic in nature." Alex was this close to getting up, but J showed incredible strength by pushing him down with a single hand for the size the man had. "It will NOT be dangerous, believe me, but it has to be done. She will feel weird for a while, but it is just one of the many tests we will make and show. We are here to protect, and it may mean crossing a few boundaries you and your sister may not like."

Alexander's fear didn't want to go away though. "No danger, right?"

"No danger." J assured. "We found you first, we have a lot of operatives around the city and the others will not have a chance with you, your sister or Mrs. Cake. This is the only time I can guarantee safety, except whatever danger was already within the city." He paused for a second. "Or the possible drama with your parents."

This time J allowed Alexander to get up. While the size comparison was similar to that of Olivia and her brother before her change, it was obvious that, unlike in the previous size muscle difference, J could very well stop asking and start ordering. The man, however, seemed to find it funny to be nice. That or he was genuinely nice, but cryptic, and a bit of an ass.

"The only problem right now is how this will work." Alexander looked at J's hidden eyes as the man talked. "I have no doubt that you will make this work. You love your sister, I know that much, I know it like those that are alongside of me in the department. None of us judge. Human laws and customs are not inflexible, for they are not the only ones. Your only obstacle will not be doing what was asked for you. Your challenge will be turning yourself from this." J pointed at him. "To this." Then at the letters that meant what he was going to be, if one was to look back at the old meaning. "You will be a human in Equestria, and everyone will know it. No hero, no champion, just the first man to cross, the first to test boundaries."

"You know." Finally, after who knew how long with a frown, anger and fear, Alexander found himself laughing. "I would prefer to turn into a champion overnight and risk my ass if it meant I wouldn't need to be in front of anyone, talking about how I am in love with my sister."

"What we want, what we need and what we get usually appears so far apart from each other that it surprises you when you finally notice how close they truly are." J gave him a pat in the back. "Now come. There is a safe house for us under the town hall."

Okay, bad vibes once more. "What do we need a safe house for?"

"First: We need at least two men situated around your house. That will take at least a day. Second: We need the base tests done. We can kill two birds with one stone and ensure that few people, other than those we deem safe, see your sister or Mrs. Cake until we have enough effectives around." The seriousness in J's voice and his terse posturing spoke of a heavy strain to the mind. It was like the man got a migraine all of sudden. "This is the part that I dislike most, and it has to do with prodding a sleeping beast with a stick."

Oh boy, that didn't sound good. "Sleeping beast?"

J sneered. "Mostly politicians, but in this case it is the press."

"This is so surreal."

Taken from their home, told way too much for them to be able to digest, then 'politely asked' to be a public image. This was not exactly the weirdest thing ever, but Olivia sure as heck thought it was weirder than being turned into a pony. At least the men of the H.i.E had allowed them to pack a few things. Since she began changing Olivia had her second tablet close at all times.

Funny thing is that the tablet had been the deciding factor. When the man with her had told Olivia that the tablet could be a hazard, she bucked him in the nuts. Yea, testament to the man's resilience that one; he stood tall and excused himself without a sound. He didn't even complain after returning, though Olivia wasn't able to do jack without his eyes following her behind those glasses.

Olivia had the art of making friends perfected.

"I suppose that being herded into a civilian version of an A.P.C after being drowned in some data is something different, yes." Alexander did his best to show at least a hint of a smile.

"What? Nah, I don't care. That seems pretty much normal now. I mean about going into some kind of secret base and shit." Of course, Olivia had her priorities right.

Once more Alexander laughed. Part embarrassment still smarting his ass as he had slipped from the seat when he tried to sit down, his clumsiness and butterfingers had taken a whole week off after all, part... something else. Olivia just made his worries go away now. It was unlike any other time in the past as he didn't have his old fears eating away at his mind. At the same time however, there was a problem at his sister's side.

When they had reunited Mrs. Cake had been... distant. She was looking away, she had hardly said a word at all and she seemed, for a lack of a better word, permanently miffed, if her expression was anything to go by.

For how she talked and thanks to what she had shared Alex could swear that sex behind closed doors was something that would not disturb a pony in the slightest. It could probably make them blush or make them slightly uncomfortable, yes, but she said that it was a perfectly normal part of everyday life. Their customs were extremely liberal when compared to human ones after all, so to see her like that after tonight just didn't sit well with Alexander.

It was true that their way of life was different because children seem to develop much faster in Equis, thus they learn faster in every sense. Estrus, or heats, help towards that end too. Alexander didn't exactly enjoy that part of their culture, but it seemed like it would make Mrs. Cake quite resilient to midnight activities even if they had been... loud, very loud in fact.

Yesterday she had been supportive, she had basically managed to charm her way around Alexander's defenses and convince him to get close to his sister in the way Alexander and Olivia both wanted, but he feared. She had genuinely smiled, enjoying the fact that, if nothing else, Alexander would stay with her and share the night together in an embrace before she lost all she had left as far as her human body went. Alexander owed Cup Cake much right now, but she was distant, and it was hurting him more than he thought possible. Was this the bond or was it the fact that someone he cared for was giving him the cold shoulder? He wasn't sure.

Alexander tried to get up and extend his hand to her, the car was not too big, maybe double the size of a normal one, a reinforced limousine if you will, just not too fancy. Despite being utilitarian, compact and hardy, it had space, and when the hand inched closer Cup Cake moved away, casting her gaze down and away as if she didn't want to even steal a glance his way.

It was like a slap to the face. What just happened stung, and it had been something as simple as shying away from him. It could be natural you know? A fearful reaction towards a human now that she had been basically imprisoned. Yes, it would be for a day, two at worst. Yes, she had been promised this was done to help her. But how much did that matter when you weren't presented with any option at all? This was all shown to be done for a greater purpose, but they hadn't been given any other choice.

But that doubt lingered: Was it something else?

Bonds of any kind could be as true as Cup Cake wanted, but she was the one on the receiving end of all this. Olivia had turned and she hadn't said anything, but if what J said was true then she may very well need to go to Equis to have the same magic, thus the same capability of feeling magical things that Cup Cake did. She hadn't been born a pony, and it didn't matter at all if she had some instincts because she could not tell what was wrong with Mrs. Cake anymore than Alexander could.

Then Olivia scrunched her nose and looked to the side.

Cup Cake had flickered her tail and Olivia had made a face. In the series it was considered cute and all, but in many cases it didn't mean anything good. Mrs. Cake had looked his way when she had flickered her tail, it was then that Olivia had made that damn face, as if she had caught something she shouldn't. Alexander's good mood evaporated as suspicion was born.

"Cup Cake, what is...?"

The stop was harsher and more sudden than any of the occupants had thought. The town hall was not as far as one would expect, but with traffic and all that? Hell, tinted windows, reinforced car, someone would've stopped just to look at what the hell was happening in this sleeping city. Arriving in a few minutes like that? Well, apparently it was so because the doors opened and the morning light hit Alexander right in the eyes.

"Okay lovebirds, time is up. Out of the car." J's tone was chipper, his face was not. "Mrs. Cake, what you asked is ready and waiting."

Cup Cake nodded, but Olivia beat her brother to the punch with her question. "What did she ask for?"

"I-I am in heat." Ooooo-kay. Alexander almost broke his neck at that, Olivia just scrunched her nose again. "I have decided to... to take a remedy for it."

Neither brother said anything. The feeling of being slapped was back again, only this time it hurt both and it was much stronger. Stupid, isn't it? If Cup Cake didn't want to go through heat then she was perfectly free to do so, perfectly normal if you asked either Alexander or Olivia, but there was something to it. To Alexander it was the simple and proverbial slap to the face, by a girl you liked: It told you all you needed to know and then some. For Olivia it was like being rejected when you had offered your friendship to someone, something you held as sacred, as much as her love for her brother.

In both cases hurt despite being something similar to simply taking the pill for the morning after.

"I see." It was something so stupid, but it still made Alexander's smile as fake as it was obvious. "I am surprised that there are enough similarities between to make a remedy for you guys and your heat."

J gave him a pointed look. "There are not. We have our ways to get some supplies from the other side. They are limited for the time being but our..." He sent him a look that said all that needed to be said about the next word. "... benefactor was gracious enough to give us what we needed in case some of our dear equines required specific care. Their comfort comes first while they stay here, as well as their safety, of course."

There was something the man wasn't telling Alex, and if he hadn't caught on that fact he should be thankful for his sister, as Olivia was more than perceptive enough for the two of them. Neither thestral nor human opened their mouths though. It was quite clear that these guys knew way more than they let on, and taking care of them didn't mean sharing their whole cache of knowledge in one go.

When J allowed them a moment to get up and about Alexander looked to his side again. Something else was amiss here, and it wasn't hard to see when Cup Cake was the first to get out, disregarding whatever kind of caution she could've had before this. There were a few gasps and this time it was clear that J and his guys hadn't been able to clear everyone out of the street. Early or not, the area around this place was pretty packed at all times.

Now this was a conundrum. A few days ago he had a very awkward and hurtful conversation, if you consider all that happened. It had been bad, yes, but at the same time it had been that what had prompted yesterday's end, the whole conversation and all that. Cup Cake had been so convinced about nurturing those bonds, those feelings, and now she was avoiding Alexander like the plague, not to mention that she was doing the same to Olivia too.

Alexander could be dense, a coward, he could need anger management and many other things, from time to time if nothing else. He was simply imperfect, like everyone else. But there was one thing he wasn't: Stupid.

She went on and on about those bonds, about how it could hurt like nothing else if they broke, or worse. They needed nurturing, they needed to be strong, and if nothing else, if you just let them go, it didn't have to be in a way similar to what Alexander almost did because he was afraid of everything. Now Cup Cake had turned from a nice and helpful mare to a jittery bag of nerves and an ice queen that couldn't look his way, she wasn't even directing much of her attention to Olivia. She was in heat, and she didn't want to approach him. Alexander was willing to bet this was because of Carrot.

New week, new problem. Surprising that he hadn't caught on earlier.

"Hey." At least that Olivia bit his pants to catch his attention even before saying anything was cute. Those amber eyes could calm him any time. "Relax. Breath in, breath out. We will talk with her in a moment, okay?"

"Give it some time and we will turn telepaths." His smirk wasn't as sincere as he'd wanted. "I don't like how this feels."

Olivia gave him a nod as she finally exited the armored car. "Weird isn't it?" She still didn't use her wings, Olivia wasn't confident on how she could even move the things without hurting herself or someone else, but stretching them when they became uncomfortable was something she could, and needed to, do. A few gasps coming from the side made her giggle when she unfolded them fully. "Seems like we know each other like brother and sister. So shocking!"

Alexander didn't need Olivia to turn, they both knew he was flipping her off as he touched the ground. "Don't be a smart ass."

She turned to look at him with mirth in her eyes. "I am a smart pony, smart, pony, like smart phone but without all those nice functions and satellite connection. In return I am sexy, warm and a good lay." Alexander gave her a deadpan look. "What? I read thestrals are supposed to like puns."

"Don't know about puns but I am this close to punting you." Olivia blew a raspberry his way. "Can we be serious for a minute?"

Olivia was about to say something else, a smirk on her face, until one of her ears swiveled to the side and she heard something. "You are about to get that serious moment you wanted."

Alexander didn't like the sound of this, neither did he like what he saw when he turned to look at what had soured his sister's mood.

The public face of the city: Anthon Kennedy. At simple glance your usual politician: Well kept hair, blonde if you are interested, beautiful baby face, not a single speck of hair to mar his features. Bouncy, short nose, shining blue eyes, white teeth, ever present smile and a very gentle demeanor. He didn't have a strong or exceedingly thin body, in fact he was quite normal for a man that was a bit on the hedonistic side, with certain... manners you could say. Very liberal, but very nice if you managed to get past his ego. He wasn't really a bad guy if you were seeking one.

If you were to find a problem with him it was as simple as his voice. Why? He liked to hear himself talk a bit too much when he was in any official event. Once again, he wasn't a crooked individual, but try to get him to shut up and he'll make you uncomfortable until you allow him to speak again, he is that kind of guy. At least he had fine taste in clothes, from suits to shoes, as far as it didn't hide his face or his eyes, that or his manicured hands. He took pride on the porcelain white color of his complexion, and his hands were the crown jewels right there.

Good orator, hardly ever made a promise he couldn't accomplish for the city, and if J was so willing to talk with him then the guy was sincerely clean. Surprising for a politician, right? Hey, not all of them are snakes, but if Olivia disliked something about him, then Alexander did too.

"Not that one." Olivia caught Alexander's attention quickly. She nodded to the figure to Anthon's side. "His little brother."

Oh yea, Anthon Kennedy had two brothers: Clayton and Kenneth. Clayton was the oldest, and he didn't live in the city. he was a scientist somewhere else, hated fancy shit and only came here to talk with his younger brother Anthon from time to time. It usually meant finding the mayor plastered somewhere during the morning after a night partying with the good doctor.

Not all that surprising; a lot of people liked having fun with the man, no one cared if he had a drink once a month.

Now, Kenneth was a name that wasn't uttered much, not because the youngest of the three was the blackest of sheep, but because he was a womanizer, a misogynistic asshole and because he did his best to screw everyone up. He wasn't the typical bad dude that would shank you, he was just an asshole and he knew it. A very big, strong, fancy and easy to anger asshole.

Anthon was more or less normal sized, but Kenneth was close to one ninety, he had a broad back and pumped iron like there was no tomorrow. He wasn't the smartest guy you could find but he wasn't stupid, which meant he also didn't get into fights unless they were verbal ones because he knew well enough what would happen if he did it. He worked as his brother's bodyguard for a reason, so he was not a man you wanted to go beyond words anyway, but he also knew that, connections or not, he was not allowed to do as he pleased. To have connections with a politician with integrity meant that 'privileged blood' didn't go around the city as if they owned it. He still got in enough problems anyway.

How could he not? Anthon was a lady killer, yes, but he was more a guy killer, if you know what I mean, though he swung as many ways as he could and he was proud of it, which made Alexander make a mental note about Anthon not getting close to Cup Cake or his sister. Now, Kenneth was a lady killer proper, meaning that there was almost no night he didn't get a nice girl home. Be it money, sweet talk or looks, he usually what the girl wanted.

It didn't help any that in this day and age the 'bad boy' look still had its charm. While Anthon had refined clothes Kenneth wore leather pants and jacket with usually brutal shirts, and reinforced boots that made Alexander's own pale in comparison. That was one privilege of having your brother as your boss, one that Kenneth did abuse, because proper clothes didn't mean shit to him and he didn't mind showing it. He was equipped for the job and the clothes didn't mean much other than being that, clothes, an outfit, one he didn't like and thus one he didn't wear in favor for a more casual approach.

This has probably shown you more than enough about him, but that permanent sneer plastered on his face, one that looked more fitting on a biker than on a man related to the gentle looking guy on his right, would be enough to scare children. It was easy to file him under 'don't approach' if you had enough common sense.

"Mister mayor, thank you for allowing us visit with so little time to prepare."

J didn't seem to care much about the man, or a good chunk of the police department around the perimeter in civilian clothing. Alexander had seen enough of them stop at his bakery to know that not every passersby was there to ogle at the ponies. Just three men from the H.i.E and a buttload of city people with guns.

Normal Monday? Meh, it works. Alexander had too much in his head to worry about the policemen.

What worried him was what he saw when he looked around. There were too many people. Even for a Monday morning around this hour, even if it was a work day instead of summer, there were too many people around here considering the damn humid heat after all this rain. Most of them were looking at Cup Cake or Olivia, but some were looking his way and it unnerved him. It was like they were looking at the biggest freak ever.

"It is the least I could do to help my fellow citizens, and guests." Anthon gave a nod to both Olivia and Cup Cake. Mrs. Cake looked away, Olivia just wiggled her eyebrows at the man. "Interesting pair at that."

"Yes, well, there was a situation, which is why I notified you and asked for no press today." J threw a look to the three tailing him and his two men before lowering his voice. "There is only one guest, the other one is a citizen." Anthon's smile had turned into a question he was about to mouth, only for his lips to form an 'o' almost perfect in shape. "No danger is present for any of your citizens' integrity I assure you, but this will be talked about at a later date with the public."

"I thought those that needed to know had been informed that we were to help this transition go along smoothly?" Anthon eyed the two ponies and human with wary eyes. "Did I miss something?"

"If we tell everyone EVERY single thing, we are going to have a small riot, if we are lucky. The instructions were to make the tests, have their house under watch to ensure no one would try anything and to keep them safe while we let the public know." J's face hardened. "Didn't the message tell you all this?"

Anthon shook his head quickly. "It just told me I had to be ready to receive whoever came, that this city was the first one."

J pursed his lips. "We may have a problem within the organization then." He looked around with as much calmness as he could muster. Alexander had heard everything and was sure that the man was searching for something, or someone. "Better get inside. The elevator is still hidden I suppose?"

The mayor was quick to nod. "Of course. I may have been about to call the press until you warned me, thank god for that, it would've been a very big faux pas I am sure." He offered a smile at the other two H.i.E members that seemed to be taller than ever before all of sudden. "But the installations are still secret except for the few members within the city. That part, at least, was very clear in the previous message before the instructions for today were sent."

"Good." J patted Anthon's shoulder with a very slim smile gracing his lips. "Then let's get going before someone jumps us." However, before they did anything, J whispered something to Anthon. The mayor looked at his brother and gave him a silent command, dismissing him. "Perfect. Authorized personnel only after all."

It was either that, or J liked Kenneth as much as Olivia. Alexander made a mental note, just in case.

The descent had been uncomfortable despite the large elevator. To think that there was a big chance of one facility under every damn city or big enough town in the world just for this? Suddenly the fact that there had been so many things made for ponies despite the obvious decline made a bit more sense. The question was who knew, why they knew it and for how long. Seriously, Olivia was asking it every five seconds and Alexander had to wonder if the H.i.E members were going to explode or not.

"My dear, if you keep asking 'Are we there yet?' the joke will stop being funny." Surprisingly enough, Anthon was pretty understanding.

"But I am bored." And Olivia was being a child. "I thought going to a secret base would be much more exciting."

"I would like you on such high spirits during this whole ordeal, to say the truth." J turned to the thestral, prompting her to look up to him. "For what I heard you are as eager as your brother to see your parents." She huffed, saying more than enough. "So allow her all the fun she can have, within limits of course. This installation is not exactly new and I am sure Olivia would be able to wreck it all with ease." He glanced towards Alexander. "Though her brother may be a perfectly valid candidate for that one."

"Hey! I am not that clumsy." No one said anything about that, but Olivia was doing her best to try and contain a snicker. "By the way, how old is this place?"

"Good question." Anthon could have all the patience in the world, but this new topic was better than waiting in this slow elevator hearing Olivia complain. "I have been wondering about that as well since I got told about this surprising development. Some of the names in the list in the 'know' have been working here for many years after all, I did check."

"I suppose you wouldn't know that much after being told the bare bones version of things. Few people are part of the organization, and after being told that your message didn't have all the information I suspect we may have a few more than necessary." J pursed his lips in distaste at the thought. "But I can tell you all that this installation was made before the show started. Originally we had theorized that ponies would appear much earlier, but as you can see it wasn't the case." He gave Cup Cake a little nod, the only thing that had seemed to reassure the mare at all since Alexander laid eyes on her. "It has been maintained and upgraded, the elevator too, in case you are wondering. This is going slow because we are being cleaned and also scanned with one of the few magical devices that work within Earth at the moment."

Cup Cake was the one to ask the obvious question. "Scanned? What are they looking for?" Her voice made Alexander grimace though. She sounded nervous, on edge, and he was sure that if he tried to ask her what was wrong she would get worse.

"As a pony you should know about harmony better than most, my dear Mrs. Cake." The mare nodded, blinking a few times. What did that mean? Alexander was wondering the same thing. "On your world it would be near impossible to notice whether or not an individual is downright evil or dangerous, except in those cases where their nature warp their appearance a bit. In here we can easily notice through their magic, magic that right now is mostly present around you three and your house."

"What, the scanner is like Jedi vision that shows red when you are evil and blue when you are good?" Alexander just had to geek out at that. Surprisingly J nodded.

"In a sense." A section of the elevator moved to reveal some kind of screen. "This would show you what you lean towards. The lighter the color, the more positive the alignment, so to speak. It basically reads your personality, something that wouldn't be possible with too much magic creating interference."

Curiosity perked, Alexander turned to look at the screen. It showed him, his sister, Cup Cake and Anthon in bright colors, while the members of the H.i.E were completely grey. Olivia was bright a mix of purple and pink, Cup Cake was light purple, Anthon was orange and he was red, almost crimson colored.

"Cup Cake is a very generous mare that tries to make everyone happy with her food. Anthon is a very sincere person that got his position to help the city grow. Alexander is loyal despite his faults, and that loyalty is what ultimately got you here. Now, Olivia is simply lusty." Said thestral turned to snort at J's comment. "Not everyone has a definite characteristic that can be traced to an harmonic element." J shrugged her way, making Olivia huff as she sat on her rump with a pout in her face. "You are a nice kid, you just aren't poster material like the element bearers."

Neither did she have the integrity. She managed to flip him off with hooves in less time than it took to blink.

Just then the elevator stopped. "Okay, we are here and everyone is scanned, so first test is already done." The doors opened, leading to a large white room that looked perfectly new and very well maintained. "We need to get some things prepared. You four will wait here, and I recommend you get to know each other since the mayor will need to contact you." J took a moment as his men went ahead. "And you lot will probably have to deal with him as much as you will need the press, so hope you get a nice taste of the politician before it sours."

"I assure you that I taste sweet, or so I have been told." The amused expression on J's face was shared by Olivia, but not by the other two. "I assure you I will be in my best behavior."

"It not only your behavior I am worried about, it is theirs." J pointed at both Olivia and Alexander. "I have enough dirt on the three of you to know how things could go down, and I worry for poor Mrs. Cake's sanity above all else." J shook his head with a light smile before he turned to walk away. "Play nice, children, I'll be back soon."

The silence that fell after J left was staggering. Alexander and Olivia quickly zoned Anthon out before the poor man could even say something, instead zeroing on Cup Cake.

Mrs. Cake practically shrank under their gaze. It felt like pain what she was receiving from their end, the bond was basically burning. It had been all positive, too positive, since yesterday night, it had made her sleep soundly despite the situation behind the sudden departure she had from the land of the living. Going to sleep with her state of mind back home would've meant the need of a visit from Luna, but the bond made her feel secure within her mind despite her doubts.

Was it her body the one trying to betray her, or was it part of her own self? That had been the question haunting her when she found out two burly men outside of her bedroom. She had expected the knock to come from Alexander or Olivia, maybe a conversation would happen afterwards. Instead she found the men of the H.i.E, they had arrived without alerting the brothers.

After that situation had been defused she got a private talk, like Alex and Olivia did.

They were here to protect them. They were here to make this public. They would show everyone if they had a bond, what happened if a human got transformed, anything they could so everyone would understand. Whatever she would've wanted to do was now moot because everyone and everypony would know she had bonded with someone that wasn't Carrot.

It terrified her to no end. She had lost the chance to have a choice, she was still so confused and she had really, really, REALLY wanted to talk things out before she did something she would regret. Instead of that, instead of having a few moments with Alexander and Olivia, she was told she would have these things done. There were ways to know if a bond was formed between ponies, which usually meant spells designed for detection or a very sincere pair (or group) of ponies, so she would be unable to even lie her way out of this to gain some time. She hadn't decided she wanted this to happen, not yet, so she had asked the man about something.

If they knew so much about Equis, did they have their remedies?

One of the problems that took place with a remedy for the heat was the basic one: It messed up a pony's system. Alcohol didn't create the same problem with ponies since it was usually just fermented fruit juice that all of them could stomach better than humans, but even then they still had hangovers similar to a person, more or less. The morning after kind of pill would also destabilize their system in the same way, only they usually drank them as draughts, teas or the like. Few ponies could afford the pill form, which was much less 'harmful'.

The real problem behind that remedy was when somepony used it to literally get away from somepony else.

When that was the case it usually ended hurting a bond very badly, it could go to the point of severing it clean off. It was not like refusing a date or some other petty thing just to spite, hurt, or because one of the parties was doubtful, even fearful. It was something more primal that meant literally refusing somepony else's feeling when one of the parties just outright didn't want what they had. It would hurt, it would be very painful and uncomfortable, but some ponies did not want bonds of that kind. It was something so big that even those not attuned to it, like Alexander and Olivia, were feeling it. Cup Cake had it even worse.

She could talk it out, she could ask them if they would mind for her to take the remedy, but it would mean a slow severance with less complications instead of the fast fix that would snap it in two. It would take months to distance herself from the brothers, maybe even years, and by then it would already be too late.

This was more selfish than anything else she had done in a very long time, it felt wrong, and she didn't like it, but she was afraid. Betraying Carrot and hurting her children or abandoning her friends, that was it. Right now she could only be mean and endure it, because those were things she had never wanted to do, but the first two, hurting Carrot or his children, would be the turning point. If she had to chose between hurting Celestia and doing those things, she would send Celestia to Tartarus with her own hooves.

It scared her that she was thinking such dark thoughts, but there were no assurances of this working between all of them. She wasn't going to hurt Carrot, not now, not ever, and she wouldn't allow it to hurt her foals either. If it meant damaging herself and hurting Alexander and Olivia... she... she could stomach it, she could endure. She would.

She had to, even if she felt that she was being a horrid hypocrite about it all.

"Do you really feel that bad, Mrs. Cake?" When Cup Cake felt Olivia's hoof touch her shoulder, she almost jumped. "I don't know what you are thinking or why... But it hurts that you avoid us."

Alexander was at her side, kneeling in front of her. "I am sorry I brought you into this. I probably should have said nothing, it would've made things much easier for us all." However he did offer a smile as she scooted closer to his sister. "I... I am afraid and angry for a myriad of reasons right now, but I thank you, if nothing else, for the help you provided to help me close to my sister."

"I know I said it already, but I am sorry about that night, and I am also sorry about all the little outbursts I had when you came to talk to me, to comfort me." Olivia looked like she was about to hug Cup Cake, but she decided not to. "You brought my brother to me, though it probably helped that I kicked him in the nuts too." Alexander shuddered at that, even Anthon, a few steps away, flinched at the thought. "I... understand his hesitance, his fear, and I am not happy about this being public, any of it, but we will help people by being here, and that is the only reason I am going along with it." She offered her fellow mare a smile. "Much like us, you are worried, I know it, I can practically feel it. If I had to guess I'd say that being fair to your husband is probably what takes most of your mind, most your worries, right?"

Cup Cake nodded, sobbing a bit as she took air. "I don't want to hurt anypony, I never wanted to, that has been the only thing I wished to never do. I was scared when your brother told me; I thought it would go away, but I was mixed in your bond, in the love the both of you shared." She gave a little hiccup. "I was snared from the start, which meant it could also work for Carrot, I was willing to test it if you two managed to salvage your own bond but... but I am afraid." She tried to hid her face between her forehooves. "If it doesn't work I will feel like I betrayed him, no matter what. I don't want our relationship souring because I am a bad wife, because I am selfish. Some ponies may find it easy to cope but I am not one of them."

"Do you feel you would betray him for us?" Alexander inched closer to the mare. "Do you really think we would want to hurt you, or him, after you helped us?"

Cup Cake shook her head fervently. "I know you two wouldn't. I know you two are nice, but how can we rush such a thing? How can anypony expect this much of me?" She didn't even dare to look at Alexander or his sister. "I know I preached and preached about nurturing bonds, but what about the one I already have? What if it doesn't spark the same way with you two?"

"Cup Cake." Alexander took her chin with one hand and lifted her gaze up to meet his e yes. "If you really want to quit it we... I can ask J for a way out. You go somewhere else, Olivia and I stay home."

"B-but after all you did to make me feel comfortable, after you made that room for me..." She was so confused. Cup Cake knew she was going to hurt someone, but she wasn't sure who she hated to hurt more now. "I just want everypony to be happy."

Olivia stopped the mare with a serious face, her hoof firmly against her lips for a moment. "Mrs. Cake, what do you feel if I do this?" Olivia's question caught Cup Cake by surprise. The kiss she gave Alexander surprised both mare and human alike.

What she felt? Did Olivia want to know? Because she felt envy, pure and simple envy. She had helped them get together, just by virtue of being there, of forcing confrontation and being a hard head in something as simple as bonds. She had said what needed to be said and what Alexander needed to know. Because she was here this had happened, otherwise she didn't see them going anywhere knowing what she knew now. It made her feel cheated when she saw what she feared doing.

This was why she thought it was a mistake to keep these feelings. She just wanted what she thought was due. Cup Cake was not like that. It would be a mistake to just go for it because she wanted it instead of this being there to share the love.

She knew it would not work the way she wanted if her reasons were selfish. Either way it would hurt, so better it didn't hurt Carrot alongside her and the two brothers. If nothing else, despite her base desires, she at least had a shred of integrity she would like to retain. One thing was to want what she could not have, another was to bring pain to everypony around here because she acted on those desires and ended up getting said thing by betraying everything else. Having hurt Carrot with her ire had already made her feel awful, but hurting the brothers by using them and then breaking everything to pieces would be the last straw.

And they had noticed that instead of looking, or even saying something, Cup Cake had turned away, lips forming a thin line.

The kiss was shattered shortly after. "Do you really dislike this so much?" Olivia sounded genuinely hurt at that. Even if she didn't feel as much as Cup Cake did through their bond, even if she wasn't as much a pony as Cup Cake, she knew there was something wrong. "I am sorry for how I reacted just now. I thought I could goad you to do something, or to talk, but..."

Cup Cake shook her head. "This is wrong because it is selfish. I have never done anything like this, it could hurt my husband, it WOULD hurt him if I did it. You cannot impose these feelings, these bonds, and mixing with yours was probably a fluke, something that would not happen with my husband." She eyed Olivia, giving her a sad smile, then looked at Alexander with regret. "I do not want to say you are bad people, or that you would not fit if it was different... but I can't do it." Mrs. Cake was shaking by now. "I cannot bring myself to hurt my husband just because of what I want."

Alexander had a level tone and look when he opened his mouth. "That is not fair of you, you know?" Cup Cake didn't fault him, she just nodded. She was this close to crying and Alexander knew it. "I know you didn't ask for this, but you told me to do what would make me happy despite what everyone else would think. I took your advice, and I know it is not exactly the same, but you are hiding from what you want."

"It is not the same." Cup Cake's gaze steeled. It looked wrong on her to seem as angry as she turned in the blink of an eye. "I cannot hurt my husband. I promised I would never do that and I will do what I promised above anything else." She was just shy from raising her voice above what either Alexander or she would consider tolerable.

"Of course it is not the same, every situation, every person, has it differently. But you told me to go for what I wanted and to basically say 'screw it' to everything else." Alexander pushed down until he was at Cup Cake's eye level. "Give me one kiss, just one, and tell me you don't like it." She opened her mouth a few times, about to refute that, but she didn't, so Alexander pushed that advantage. "You say you are selfish, but this would be the first time you have done something for you because of you and because you wanted to. You told me that basically all that was seen in the series was close to the truth or spot on, then that means you are gentle and nice beyond what is literally healthy. Your husband gave you permission, you WANT it. But if it is too much too bear, then something as simple as a kiss would feel utterly wrong, wouldn't it?"

"And if I like it? Then what do I do?" She was gritting her teeth and her eyes had small tears forming. "Go with it? Simply do it?" Cup Cake was to say more, but she stopped when Alexander gave her a look that said more than any word could. This was eerily similar to his own words, wasn't it? Angry and confused or not, Mrs. Cake knew she wasn't being fair to him.

Alexander remained quiet for a seconds until she calmed down a bit. "Whether you like it or not, what you do is your choice, now and after the fact." He took a hand to her neck and gave her one of those rubs she seemed to like so much. If there was one thing his hands were good outside of the kitchen, it was this. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to, I never intended to. I have placed you in a very compromised position, but I also know I like you, I don't do this because I want you just in my bed." He looked at Olivia. She just gave him a nod and nuzzled on his side. If she said it was okay, then it was okay. "Just one kiss. Be sincere with me, with Olivia and with yourself. Then you decide on what you do."

Cup Cake lost most of her ire by now, but there was one thing they all shared, and it was fear. Little by little the bond was making all their feelings mingle, and not only was Alexander's fears and doubts the one to cloud his mind, but the ones from Cup Cake and those coming from Olivia. Day by day, hour by hour, time went by and they became closer. Cup Cake knew, and she also knew what she would feel if she did what he asked of her.

But she nodded. How could she not? If she wanted to deny this and be done with it, then this was as good a way as any.

"A kiss, a simple, chaste kiss on the lips, all right?" She knew she could say no. Just a kiss, then a little heartbreak. It would hurt, but it would be the right thing.

"Of course. Nothing naughty unless you want." Olivia chuckled, shoving her brother forward. "Now kiss the lady, and be nice about it too, or else."

Alexander gave his sister the stink eye, but he smiled in the end. In high spirits they were not, none of the trio had a reason to be at the moment, but a smile sometimes did wonders. In this case it just lifted Alexander's mood enough to offer that same smile, sincere and hopeful, to Cup Cake. It practically disarmed her.

He wanted nothing but her sincerity. He could accept rejection, any kind of it, even angry as he was. Fear and doubt was mixed with already existing anger, but it was not overwhelming. All three of them were feeling it, yet even if she turned her back on them at least Alexander would understand, and Olivia would be quick to follow on her brother's steps. Even if she hurt them, they would still want her, at least as a friend despite how much it would pain them both to let her go.

Suddenly she didn't want to kiss him. Cup Cake wanted to back against the closest corner and stay there, away from him. It dawned on her that doing this would seal the deal. They cared for her, deeply, and she knew that what she needed was distance, not this contact.

He didn't allow her the chance though. Alexander pressed forward, gently easing himself against her, and gave Cup Cake a kiss.

It was a simple, shy kiss on the lips. No tongue, no force, not even too much passion or pressure to literally suck face. Just a peck in the lips. Despite how simple it was, it worked as intended. She felt an electric current ripple through her body and she saw her husband within her mind when she closed her eyes. It was the same feeling, or close enough to be similar, not perfect, but close. It felt of home, tasted of home and Alexander literally smelt of home right now. Yet like it came it went, and the kiss was broken in a mere second. A simple, chaste kiss, as she had been promised.

It broke her resolve and whatever was stopping the flood gates from cracking open.

Cup Cake cried, she fell forward against a surprised Alexander that tried his best to catch her, only for Olivia to save the day when Alexander fumbled and fell backwards. The mare wouldn't fault him, this was her fault, hers only. She had wanted to just say 'buck it' and get it over with, to have some pain and be done... It wasn't going to work like that. It would not kill her but it would hurt too much, enough for it to be felt by those she didn't want to hurt, more than just the pain of rejection.

"I-I-I am so sorry." Mrs. Cake buried herself against Olivia's neck and mane, her fellow mare patting her in the back while gently hugging the older woman. "Since I came here everything has gone to Tartarus." She just let the water flood afterwards, crying against Olivia's neck with seer abandon.

"It is not your fault, and this is not a mess, just a complicated situation." Olivia made sure to hug Cup Cake as tightly as she could, her wings covering the mare as she gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be okay, no matter what you chose to do." She gave her brother a nod so he would come closer. Mrs. Cake needed all the support and gentle words they could muster. "I am sure we can remain friends if nothing else, so please calm down."

Alexander came closer once more, joining the hug with care. "If you want to take the remedy and just go away I... would appreciate if at least we could talk from time to time." He pressed his chest against the two mares, holding them close. "Whatever you chose will be fine, Olivia didn't lie. I just wish you to be happy." Alexander bent lower to place his cheek against Cup Cake, both brothers holding her the best they could to give her their warmth and love. "I don't want to see you cry because of us, because I was stupid and got you mixed on our problems."

Cup Cake wasn't able to do much more than nod and stay in place. She didn't know what to say either. Any other mare would have it much easier than her, this was like a big prank forced on her for some reason. Was she going to be happy or was this something that would haunt her until it broke her? She wasn't even sure of what she should do or think anymore.

Meanwhile Anthon and J were watching from the sidelines. The poor mayor had been forgotten by the group and J didn't have disturbing them as part of his priorities.

"Good thing you told me to dismiss my brother, he dislikes the touchy feely stuff." For the time being Anthon was trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "Speaking of which, do you mind explaining to me all this?"

J nodded. "Do you remember the little 'event' spawned by the newest incarnation of My Little Pony?"

"Well, it wasn't as much an event as it was surprising to see a lot of grown men and women fall for a cartoon technically designed for little girls." Anthon chuckled. His big brother had been a fan for a bit, but much like most his interests that didn't have to do with science he did grew out of it. "It was in the media for a while, heck, some people bashed on them like they did once with furries, metal heads or other sub culture fans. People seem to go that route when something doesn't click right away."

"Simply put: That decided a lot of things." When Anthon gave him a look that basically asked for more J clarified. "This world has magic, it always had magic, but it grew towards technology and only technology with time. Both forces are in constant clash and in the end every world has to lean towards one of them. The world of Equis, the one the ponies are from, leaned towards magic."

Interesting bit of information, but it didn't tell Anthon all that much. "And that has to do with us because?"

"Bonds are a common thing in Equis: They form between friends, family, lovers, rivals, enemies... It is a common thing, so common that it is literally natural since magic is part of the innate biology of almost all creatures in that world. The world itself is also a living thing, much like ours." J didn't need to look at the mayor to know he had a sudden realization. "Earth and Equis are bonded in a sense, and every iteration of the cartoon had an iteration of Earth to compliment it. Humans did visit the old versions of Equis, though in most cases they were indeed visited by kids and only kids, until they grew up of course."

"What happened when they grew up? I never saw the old cartoons." Though if they were anything like the new series, or like what was happening in front of him, Anthon thought of a very likely possibility for humans and ponies.

"In most cases they bonded with a pony, or a few of them, instead of going with a fellow human, much like our friends here. However, unlike us now, there was more magic in those iterations. Our world has grown bleak and full of dread, though we have begun to change that little by little." It was sad to see so many people suffering because of a select few wanting more without regard of their actions and the consequences they would unleash. "Because of that, because all the negativity, the lack of magic and the many fears humanity has, this first bond has been... tested."

Anthon hummed in understanding. "I suppose you mean this emotional mess is a result of that."

"Mostly." J nodded. "Little by little Alexander is growing to pump out more magic instead of having just the base all humans have now, all of it because of the bond and prolonged contact. Olivia has turned into a pony, so she now produces more magic than humans, even if hers is unfocused and she doesn't know how to control it. Mrs. Cake is a natural pony, so she is a fountain in a desert right now." He motioned for Anthon to come with him as the group grew quiet and just snuggled. Better not to bother them.

"Bonds are complex." He continued after walking far enough. "Those in a bond share their feelings to a depth depending on the bond they have. Friends will know when others are down, they will share on the sadness and try to make said friend feel better if they are touched enough, though it is not always the case and it depends in how good a friend you are. Family will have it much easier, usually going so far as to know when others are in danger, alive... or not. But the greatest connection is love, as it is one of the more powerful magic effects, and feelings, in Equis."

"Magic? I mean, like one of the chapters my brother gushed about with a pink pony princess?" Anthon was about to laugh, only for J to nod. That made him stare at the man in confusion. "You have to be joking. I know ponies have magic and such, but..."

"Most humans feel love as a mix of hormones and the desire to mate, not all, but most. Ponies feel love as a deep connection, like a few, very few, humans can. Despite how romanticized love is, which is a lot, not many humans can really feel true love with how bleak the world is and how disconnected we are to nature. Such a sad thing..." J shook his head, a frown marring his face. "The opposite happens on Equis as most ponies will never join others just for the desire of sex alone or because one of them is beautiful to their eyes. It still happens, yes, and there are many bigoted or idiotic ponies and other creatures. Sadly that is a thing that always happens, more so to those that think themselves superior." The man smirked, probably thinking of a pony in special. "But in most cases it is because a bond forms between two, or more, ponies, even with other species too, and they form a couple or a herd."

"Now mix them up." The room had a few chairs, as if it was a waiting room, which probably was the case. J sat on one and pulled another in front of him so Anthon would do the same. "Humans aren't prepared for bonds, and it will take at least a few more weeks for enough magic to pool around the world to ensure the bonding experience isn't scarring to a certain degree, and even then most of us will have so little magic that it will have an adverse reaction one way or another." He nodded towards the group as they cuddled in silence.

Both men watched the scene for a moment before J resumed his talk. "Fear, doubt, anger... Despite being people that connect with each other their feelings grew so strong that it hurt each other. Ponies, at worst, are unable to connect the same way with one another, or they break their bonds willingly, which hurts the mind and soul a great deal, if they feel unable to bear the pressure or if they do not wish to be bonded. Not everyone desires what could be considered a soul mate and the emotions associated with a possible unwanted bond could be compared to being a nervous wreck at best. Others are just dicks, despite how hard it is to find a truly bad or evil pony, but there are some out there."

Anthon waited to see if J was going to share anything else, but the man remained quiet after he said his piece. He wanted to see if Anthon had deduced something or if he needed more breadcrumbs to follow. Anthon really didn't fancy that, but being given every answer was never fun.

"So they are hurting because they have many conflicting feelings with one another despite basically sharing true love?" J nodded, offering a smile to the man. "This is partially because magic is basically on the fritz right now, and it shouldn't be this bad once it stabilized?" Again J nodded, though he also waved his hand in a 'so so' way. "What other factors are there?"

"Herds are common, marriage less so, but even then it is a sacred bow because you are literally sharing a part of yourself with others. Hurting them hurts you, and allowing someone new to join without the others' permission, without them feeling the same as you do, is a gamble." J pointed at Mrs. Cake with a quick nod so Anthon would follow his eyes. "Mrs. Cake fears she will hurt her husband because it would literally destroy her to harm him. She loves him as much as she loves their children. If magic was stable here they would be able to talk it better, to feel it resonate, to see if they really click. There is even a chance for those bonded to even test said bond with the ones already formed, but it is just a theory. It is better they don't know this option since it won't help them, and even future groups may have a hard time checking." A sad outcome, but nothing he could do about it.

"But how much would it hurt to break, or even modify, a bond? I know you are wondering, and I have to say it is a good question. To answer said question do let me put the more powerful bond, that of love, in layman terms for you." J scooted closer to Anthon, just inching really, but it scared the man to death. His face was beyond serious. "Dragons CAN live a few thousands of years. If one dragon was to love a pony enough to bond, then that dragon would probably die after its lover passed away. Ponies can live up to three hundred, though most of them don't last that long since adventure, curiosity or an accident do them earlier." He returned to his seat afterwards, though he remained serious and firm as he talked. "So imagine how much it is hurting Cup Cake to just think about the pain she may inflict her husband if she goes ahead with what her mind, her heart and her body are waging a war over."

The thought made Anthon shudder. Dying for love was a very romantic ideal and all, but literally dying when the flame of the one you love is snuffed out? You have to really love someone for that to be even in the mind of someone these days. Call him a monster, but Anthon wanted to live well past his hundredth birthday.

Something struck him though.

"How do you know about all of this?" J raised an eyebrow at that. "I mean, how did all of this come to happen? I am sure you probably told them but many things, but this level of knowledge screams of something you would keep hidden."

"Alexander has an idea of how things work, but you I need on my side to help them out." Anthon shut up immediately. "Magic has aspects, it is a living creature after all, and they have certain jobs. Harmony, as shown in the cartoon, strives to make all things equal and 'good', at least in our eyes. Too much good hurts things however, it is as if too much light snuffed the shadows, and life can't go on without them. Harmony, the creature, the living embodiment of this magic, is what tends to bring Earth and Equis together so they can balance each other, unless Equis or Earth are beyond saving or they don't need each other in certain iterations. And yes, if you are wondering I do mean different 'universes' or 'realities', the word matters little to me."

"So this is just another version of Earth? Are you really saying that?" That he was dumbfounded would be putting it mildly. Anthon would be hard pressed to believe it if it wasn't because of the ponies in the room.

"Infinite versions for infinite space, magic is what generates more and more as time goes on, so don't worry about it." J offered a knowing smile to the man. It was better to just nod and accept it. "In this instance we were lucky: Harmony came to us and told the original group that formed the H.i.E about other incarnations. After being convinced of the truth behind its words the group was formed in here and we prepared. We were given information, we were given tools, we were given ways to contact the other world in a safe way so we could talk with Harmony whenever we needed, if it deemed it fit to talk to us again." J smirked at that. Anthon didn't find it at all funny thought. It was an alien mind playing with the common person in his eyes. "We were to pave the road, but not to make it completely safe."

And that was enough to tell him that he was right on the money. Make it ready but don't make it safe? The first thought that came to his head seemed the more sound when he thought about it. "Don't tell me; this harmony stuff means balance, which means hardship too?" J nodded. For some reason Anthon didn't feel happy when he found out he was right. "So that is why you let them cry it out?"

"And why we riled them up, why we gave them choices, why we told them a few things and why we allowed them a week before we went for them." Anthon blinked a few times. Did he really hear those words? Because it looked like this was turning more into a controlled bomb testing area the more he heard. "We are here to protect them and we have the perfect capabilities to find everyone right from the start. We are NOT meant to do so."

As a politician Anthon had to be pragmatic, partially neutral so to speak, going for the best for everyone. It didn't mean he liked it though. This was one of those times when he now had some resources, some information, that he wanted to share, to use, to help, and he was sure it would be impossible to do so.

"If we were to help them make the right choices, if we stopped any danger before it was faced, then they would not grow and the bond would be tainted. Harmony's objective is our own, which means certain dangers or problems will be faced by them. If they cannot surpass their limitations... then they fail and we make sure everyone goes the way they have earned without any damage to the group." J pursed his lips. "I do not want them hurt, but one doesn't win without risk and harm."

Anthon could see that the man didn't exactly like this either, but what was he to do? He had his job, and as impossible as it seemed to Anthon, there was something powerful enough to say 'Pony goes to Earth' and make it so because it found it the perfect solution for something. Doing something against its wishes didn't seem exactly smart.

"So yes, I could have barged in and helped them or demanded their attention earlier, but unlike those that will come after them, this group is safe from everything except themselves and some drama."

J gave a soft smile as he turned to look at the group that was now talking and trying to console a tired looking Cup Cake. Despite everything, her sadness, confusion and anger, she seemed to finally smile again. It didn't reach as far as her usual smiles, but it was something. "But if we intervened before today it would have hindered all possible progress. Not only that, but the magic that is prompting this, the magic that will allow for more ponies to visit Earth until all is well and good, makes a protective barrier around the original location for a week before expanding. We would've been barred from doing anything anyway, so the eight day is the earliest point in time for contact in these cases."

Anthon remained silent for a while after that. He too turned to look at the group. Despite a few tears here and there, they seemed well enough. He wondered how long that would last.

He also knew the answer to his next question. "Will you tell them about this?"

J shook his head. "No need to upset them. If they need to know Harmony will tell them, but I doubt that will happen. It offers one single hint to those it visits, no more, no less, and this group already used it. If they were part of the H.i.E Harmony may decide to give them a holler, but even it decides when it is time to share more." That still didn't sit well with Anthon. What could he do about it though? "Alexander knows quite a bit, from the reason to why this is happening now to what will happen if he messes up. He knows what he wants to do and he knows what he will lose if he fails. For Harmony that is more than enough, thus it is one and the same for us." He paused for a moment, only to show a frown. "Personally I would prefer this went well, this world needs more good, but I am not one to say what should happen."

Anthon gave a simple nod. He knew very well about what one wanted and one could do. He did make many people happy in the city, but he was unable to do all he WANTED to do to make everything better. Despite being regarded as a nice person, for a politician, he had his own closet full of skeletons. It was simply more roomy than most. Harmony however... that thing seemed to have a whole graveyard, but voicing his concerns would probably have negative results.

"Once Cup Cake, Alexander and Olivia go through this, once they manage to do the right thing or fail trying, another mare, or group, will come, more people will change too, maybe." The little concern he showed about someone turning into something they may not want to be startled Anthon a little bit. J probably found it normal though. "This means more trials, more bonds, more drama or more happiness. After some time doing this there will be more real danger, and after a while this world and Equis will be connected if said danger is done for. Once that happens everyone will be happier, everything will be more balanced." J let out a very tired sigh. The man looked old as dirt for a moment. "When that is done I will retire. I have been working towards that end for decades." J let his glasses fall a bit, a spark of some kind shining behind his eyes. Anthon was sure that asking about it would not be smart.

"I could ask about your age but I feel I better not." Anthon chuckled as J mouthed 'Smart boy'. He did have a question though. "Do these test mean to attract danger as well as possible positive feedback?"

"Smart boy indeed." J smirked to himself. "There are those that know of magic and that will do anything for it. They are a necessary evil, for now, and they are required to test some of those that will come after Alexander and his group. There are things they need to do before we take them out, and luckily none of them has to do with our friends here."

He didn't seem to like that part. Anthon could say many things about this man now that he had been told this much, but he wouldn't say he was cruel out of simple choice or without reason.

J looked at the three huddled together in the middle of the room. "He has his own little problems to overcome, one of which he just solved." The man's smile grew as he saw Cup Cake accept another kiss from Alexander, even if it was only on the cheek. "I am sure Cup Cake will ask for a mild blend instead of what she was going to take originally. Calm mind, still in heat, but perfectly capable of doing things normally. She will talk things with him and Olivia soon enough, but hurting them just because she is fearful is as bad as being selfish and wanting this bond because she desires a bigger family that her husband cannot give her." He turned to look at Anthon. "So yes: We are to invite problems for the future. Without them people won't grow, the bonds will hold no strength and the balance Harmony seeks won't happen."

Anthon wasn't convinced about how necessary any evil was. Once again though: Not his place to say, not that it would do any good if he did. "Is this why you and your men were grey in that magic scanner of yours?" J nodded. Good or evil? That was a good question, but Anthon was basically told they were neither, unlike whoever was at odds with them. The screen had just showed it in a way that could be seen. "Why do you want them to succeed then? You are 'neutral', right?"

J chuckled. "Good and evil are abstracts despite what humans think. Me and my men, those of the H.i.E, we just understand it better than others. Some of us lean towards one thing more than others of course, it is hard to be perfectly objective." He finally got up and stretched. "I am an old fart that likes romance a bit too much." He patted Anthon's shoulder. "Now come with me, they all need to do a few tests." A mischievous smile crossed his face. "And I want to scare the crap out of Alexander once he knows he knocked up his sister." He chuckled under his breath. "Isn't it wonderful how some information can prepare you for a lot of fun sometimes? I am sure Pinkie Pie feels like this from time to time."

J almost fell as he was told THAT. This man was indeed one of a kind. Hopefully he would be allowed to go back and do mayor things instead of stick around this group more than necessary. His little brother called him weird more than enough as it was. The temptation to just go and get as much information to do something about this possible danger, or share it with the group of three, was also way too strong for him. If he poked his nose too much it would end badly one way or another.

His reticence also was there because something had been made obvious.

Anthon's little brother could be an asshole, but he was quite direct, and he had called Anthon very smart, smarter than it is healthy. This could mean many things, but right now it just meant one: He had been perceptive enough to outright tell that J was lying through his teeth in many ways.

Not only J, but also Harmony. Whatever that thing was, even if it was what it said it represented, it was lying. Not surprising though, and Anthon was sure that, sooner or later, anyone and anything that got to know it, even from a single talk, would find it out. Why? Because if Harmony meant that, balance, then it meant that truth or lies were of little consequence. How much good could a few true words do? How much good would a lie generate? And then... how much evil? Whatever was needed would be done.

Anthon's worry for the group grew as the obvious question prodded his mind. How likely was it? How likely was it for them to be in real danger? When J turned to give him a very serious, almost depreciating and menacing look, it told him more than enough.

He didn't know and he wasn't meant to. He was here to do his job, that was all.

Author's Notes:

So yea, this happened. There are two points I want to bring to attention.

One: This is 'real life', shit happens.

How often do you find someone that avoids the obvious problem until it smashes the person's nose in? We introduce Cup Cake. I do have her as a very faithful, loving and overall nice person, but as said in this chapter: It goes well above eleven. She goes out of her way to help others in ways she is sure they need help, but usually forgets about herself since she has her husband, her kids, even pinkie, before her person. She is basically a very dedicated mother.

Then a problem that has no solution happens and she may very well break down.

I do like the idea of the bonds being something just magical, but it is also something that can screw you over. This is an example that I wanted to hammer in: Cup Cake likes both Olivia and Alexander, and they like her, but she already has someone she loves and she is sure that he is the only one for her despite what she feels. The fear of the brothers rejecting Carrot, or her children, literally eats at her.

With more time and a different situation this would've been much easier and much more cute, but I wanted to show that things can very well get fucked up, because when one's feelings are on the line you can end beyond burned. It doesn't help that they can indeed develop rater fast, and in most cases such a thing instills fear in those unsure of it being a pasing fancy or something deeper.

Feelings: Hormonal or magical, they always toy with you.

Second: What is the H.i.E?

Simply put? I wanted a group capable of easing things along. How does that work? Well, we are humans. Humans have grown to fear what they don't know to the point of stupidity, so how do you combat that little problem? You force feed information until the others understand all you know. This, of course, doesn't always work as intended.

My desire was to make a group that could ease the process of integration of humans with all of those on the other side (A.K.A: Equis), as well as to control immigration (Because it is going to happen sooner or later). The acronym 'H.I.I.E', or Human Immigration and Integration to Equestria was way too close to H.i.E, so I decided to give the guys that made that group a big ass nod and made it simply 'H.i.E', also nodding at the fact that in this universe there were people that knew about how real ponies were for quite some time.

Now, how good or how bad they are? Heh, remember: Good and bad are up for interpretation. They are part of the plot and are there to safeguard Harmony's interest on Earth and Equestria's balance, which may very well mean anything you can think of.

So are they good, or are they bad? You decide.

On a side note, go here. While this story is far from complete (I'd say it is either half the way there, more or less), you may want to check this right now. Decide on what to do after you are done.