"So tell me again why you dragged us away from catching up on some sleep again." Nathan said before yawning as he, Sunset, Applejack, and Twilight walked through town on their way out to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Because Mr. Spike wanted to personally speak with you about something." Twilight replied. "Also, Applejack wanted to give you and Sunset something to have for breakfast since you can't cook anything in your locomotive." Nathan opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by the loud grumbling of his own stomach. Looking down toward it, he then turned his attention to the earth pony walking right beside him.

"Thank you, Applejack." He said, making her smile. "I appreciate that gesture very much. And I'm sure that Sunset does as well." After saying that, he looked to the gold colored unicorn on his left. "Right, Sunset?"

"Huh?" She asked in a tone that sounded like she was still half asleep. "Oh yeah. Sure."

"And once we get done with breakfast and your talk, we can finally get you your own house here in Ponyville!" Twilight exclaimed, making other ponies around the area look at her with weird expressions on their faces. Twilight noticed this as soon, her cheeks started to turn a shade of red. Meanwhile, Nathan noticed a pony, a light brown colored earth pony stallion, pulling a large cart filled with all kinds of supplies ranging from blankets and pillows, to firewood, pots, and pans.

"Going camping or something?" He asked, making the stallion stop in his tracks before looking at him.

"No. Or I should say not yet at least." He replied. "Just getting an early start on preparing for the heat."

"The heat?" The human asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." He replied before beginning to move again. "I'd talk some more, but I have more supplies to get a hold of." With that said, he went off in the opposite direction of where the human and his friends were going. Nathan looked on in confusion as he watched the pony turn a corner before disappearing behind a shop.

"You alright, Nathan?" Applejack asked after looking up to see his facial expression. "You look confused."

"Yeah." He replied. "I've just never seen anyone prepare for heat the way that pony's doing."

"Really?" She asked before looking at Twilight. She then looked back up at him with a curious look on her face. "How do ya prepare for it then?"

"Well back home, I'd just wear a light t-shirt and some shorts if it was going to be hot outside. Not get a bunch of camping supplies." As soon as he got done talking, he could hear the ponies around him, even Sunset, chuckling softly. "Uh.... what's so funny?"

"I think we're going to need to have a talk later on, Nathan." Twilight replied. "Something I think you're gonna want to know."

"About what?"

"You'll find out soon enough. It's something that we can't really speak of out here. We'll talk at the library."

"Uh..... okay then...." He replied as his mind wondered just what exactly could "heat" mean in this world other than being hot. He did this throughout the journey to Sweet Apple Acres, but couldn't come up with any different meaning. "What the hell are these ponies talking about then?" He thought as the group walked up to the house.

"Hope ya'll are hungry." Applejack said before opening the door, revealing a table filled with plates of pancakes along with mugs of apple cider. Sitting at the table were four ponies. One of them Nathan recognized as Mr. Spike. The others consisted of a large red stallion with an orange mane, an light green elderly looking mare with a white mane, and the little yellow mare with a red mane that was with Applejack on the day that he arrived in Equestria. "Nathan and Sunset." Applejack said before pointing her hoof at them. "I'd like to introduce you to Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Applebloom."

"Nice to meet ya'll." He replied as the group sat down at the table.

"Everypony." She continued before pointing at him. "This is the human that I've been telling ya'll about. Nathan Bridgeport."

"So that's his name?" Applebloom asked, only for him to nod his head to confirm. "I've been wonderin' what it was since we found him."

"And who's that little unicorn here?" Granny Smith asked before pointing at Sunset.

"That's Sunset Shimmer." Applejack replied. "She's Nathan's roommate."

"New mate?" She asked just as Sunset decided to start drinking her cider, only for her to spit it out all over the human's face just as he was about to drink his cider. "Now Applejack. You know we shouldn't be talkin' bout that kind of stuff at the table, especially in front of Applebloom."

"Roommate Granny." She replied. "Room mate!"

"Oh." The elderly pony said. "Well they do look nice together anyways."

"Not helping, Granny." Applejack said through gritted teeth as she looked at the human. The spray from Sunset's mouth covered his face and it looked like some of it even got into his mouth. Each pony at the table looked on with widened eyes, especially Sunset with her now crimson shaded cheeks, as Nathan simply reached up with his hand and wiped his face off.

"I'm sorry." Sunset quickly said as he shook his hand dry of any excess mixture of unicorn saliva and apple cider. "I didn't mean to do that."

"You're fine, Sunset." He replied, making her sigh in relief.

"So uh..... Mr. Bridgeport." Gold Spike said, making the human look at him. "I believe we have a situation here that you and your machine might be able to solve."

"Oh really?" He asked before taking a bite out of his pancakes. He then chewed for a few seconds before swallowing. "And what exactly would that be?"

"Well...." He began. "It would seem that Applejack and her family here have just finished harvesting the last of their apples and stored them in these preservation boxes."

"Go on."

"According to their counts, they've managed to fill roughly a thousand of these boxes." He continued to say. "And our boxcars can only hold at the most.... twenty. So we're going to need fifty of them for their delivery to Manehattan."

"And let me guess." Nathan said as Gold took a sip from his mug. "None of your engines can pull a train that long?" The earth pony just shook his head in response. "I see."

"So that is why I have asked to speak with you." He said. "If you are willing, I would like for you and your machine to pull the train.... as your first task as a certified engineer of the Equestrian National Railroad." After hearing that, Nathan's jaw dropped as the ponies around him just looked on.

"A job?" He asked. "You're offering me a job?"

"Indeed I am." Gold replied. "Like I said last night, we are short staffed on engineers. So it would make sense that I try to hire the creature who knows how to run this powerful machine. So what do you say?"

Nathan looked around at his friends, each of them were smiling and nodding their heads in approval of the idea. He then looked over at Sunset. "What do you think, Sunset?" He asked.

"I say go for it." She replied. "It's a job at least. Plus you've clearly got the skills needed for it." Hearing this made Nathan smile before looking back at Gold.

"Then I guess it's a yes." Nathan replied, making Gold smile brightly. "But under one condition."

"Name it." Gold replied.

"1506 stays painted the way she is." He said. "I don't want to see her painted pink like your steam engines are." This response made Gold chuckle a bit.

"I suppose I can agree to your terms." He replied. "Especially since it is your locomotive." He then took another sip out of his mug. "Well now with that out of the way, I will need for you to stop by my office in Manehattan to sign your contract."

"Sure thing." Nathan replied. "I'll head out there as soon as I get everything that needs to be taken care of here done first."

"Splendid." Gold said before getting out of his chair and walking over beside him. "Then with a gentlecolt's agreement, I will see you in Manehattan." He said while extending his hoof out toward him. Nathan smiled before shaking it with his hand.

"See you there." He replied. Gold smiled again before turning his head to look at Applejack.

"Thank you for the lovely breakfast." He said. "It sure beats what I had planned."

"Anytime." Applejack replied. With that said, Gold simply smiled before turning and walking out the door. As soon as it closed, Nathan cleared his throat.

"So uh....." He said. "Where is this place called Manehattan?" This question made each of his friends chuckle before Twilight made a map appear in a flash of magic.

"This is Ponyville." She said while pointing her hoof toward a small dot on the map. Nathan proceeded to look on as her hoof slowly made its way toward the right side of the map before stopping just before it went into the blue part. "And this is Manehattan."

"That's quite the journey." Nathan replied as he looked at the map. "It's gonna take a lot of fuel just to get there and back."

"Well what does your machine run on?"

"Diesel fuel." He replied before taking another bite out of his pancakes. "But maybe you can help me with something."

"What's that?"

"Well, this was actually an idea that Sunset thought of." He said, making Sunset smile in the process. "Do you know where any black oil sunflowers grow?" Twilight paused as she thought it over for a few minutes as Nathan finished off the rest of his apple cider.

"Not off the top of my head, no." She replied. "I'd have to go back and look in the library for something that would tell me."

"I see."

"In fact...." She said. "That would also be the perfect opportunity to explain what we were discussing earlier."

"You mean heat?" He asked, only for Twilight to nod before getting up and walking toward the door.

"Let's get going, you two." She said while motioning for Nathan and Sunset to follow.

"Do I have to?" Sunset groaned. "Can't I just go back to his train and sleep some more?"

"I don't see why not." Nathan replied, making a smile appear on her face again. "I'm sure that this talk shouldn't last long."

"Thank you." Sunset replied before she got out of her chair and disappeared in a flash of turquoise colored magic. Twilight sighed a bit after she disappeared before looking up at Nathan as he walked up to her.

"How are you getting along with her so well?" She asked. "It's like she doesn't really want to spend any time with the rest of us."

"Give her time, Twi." He replied. "She's actually pretty nice once you get to know her."

"If you say so." The little alicorn replied as the two walked outside before she turned her head to look back. "Thanks for breakfast, Applejack!"

"You're welcome, Twi!" Applejack called back. "I'll meet ya'll back in town once I get the chores for today taken care of."

"Alright!" She replied before turning to look at Nathan. "Well. Seeing as how it's just the two of us now, how about we take a shortcut back to my house."

"Shortcut?" Nathan asked before watching Twilight's horn light up in her purple colored magic. Before he could even blink, both of them were suddenly inside what looked like a library, only with shelves carved into the wooden walls and a stairway leading up to what looked like a bedroom.

"Welcome to the Golden Oak Library." Twilight proudly said. "Also known as my home here in Ponyville."

"Looks nice." He replied while watching the purple pony look around the various bookshelves, occasionally taking flight to check the ones on the top shelves.

"Let's see...." She said as she looked through each shelf. "Where did I put that book?" As she continued searching, Nathan remembered her little dragon friend lives here too. Looking around though, the little one was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's that little dragon of yours?" He asked, making Twilight suspend her search momentarily.

"Spike?" She replied before going back to searching. "He's over at Rarity's place."

"I see." The human replied.

"Ah ha!" Twilight exclaimed before pulling a book off of the shelf with her magic. "This will explain the concept of heat for you, Nathan."

"This must be a pretty important topic." He replied as Twilight landed in front of him with the book still being held in her magical grasp.

"Yes." She said. "Yes it is." She then laid the book down on a table. "Have you heard about a thing called the estrus cycle?"

"I can't say that I have." He replied. "Why?"

"Well, you might want to take a seat then." Twilight replied before making a stool appear with her magic.

"A stool?" He thought before slowly taking a seat. "Could've at least put a cushion on it or something."

"Now...." Twilight said. "For us mares here in Equestria, the first week of spring is an opportune time for us to uh..... conceive." Her cheeks turned a shade of red after saying that. Nathan's reaction on the other hand was different. His eyes were wide open. "During that week, our bodies become overwhelmed with hormones as well as receive an increased libido combined with ultra sensitivity.... down there." She was about to continue before she saw Nathan raise his hand. "Yes?"

"Does this have anything to do with that one test that the science ponies in Canterlot wanted me to take?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Twilight replied. "You see, the Personal Endurance Test, or P.E.T. as they like to call it, is a test that is designed to see how long a stallion can withstand the feeling of intercourse before succumbing to orgasm. The usual overall time is roughly two minutes."

"And what exactly is the purpose of that test?"

"It's basically a way of checking to see if the stallion is still healthy in terms of reproduction. I'm sure that they just wanted to see if your seed was compatible for conception with us."

"So..... you're saying I would've had to screw and possibly impregnate a pony?"

"Well...... yes and no." Twilight replied. "Most likely you would've had to have taken that test with Dr. Heart Beat. Also, you wouldn't have gotten her pregnant. She would've cast a spell that would've prevented her from doing so and just collected your seed inside her for later removal and inspection."

"I see." He replied. "Well I am glad that you decided to tell me exactly what it was before I took it rather than surprise me. I most likely would've jumped out of a window if you didn't cancel it. Don't get me wrong, you do look rather.... nice. But right now, I just can't see myself doing that with a pony."

"And that's completely understandable." Twilight replied. "I wouldn't expect you to accept something like this right away." This made Nathan breath a sigh of relief before remembering what he saw earlier.

"So that pony with the cart full of camping gear...."

"Was a pony who had already decided that he wasn't going to be sticking around Ponyville during that time." Twilight replied. "No stallion is forced to stay if he doesn't want to. And.... honestly, I don't blame those who choose to skip town until the heat passes. The mares here can get a bit..... persuasive if you know what I mean." By now, her cheeks were bright red.

"So..... let me get this straight." Nathan said. "What you're saying is that for one week out of the entire year, every mare here wants some stallion to give them a good time?"

"Again, yes and no." Twilight replied. "Granted that some mares do, in fact, want to be.... rutted during that time. But for most, we just tend to only be that way toward ponies that have a special place in our heart. We usually just feel rather..... hot and bothered so to speak. We do however have medication that can dilute the effects temporarily."

"Interesting."

"Yes." She continued. "But there is a time in the fall, that is actually coming up here pretty soon, that certain ponies go into a smaller wave of heat as well. But that is usually reserved for ponies who are outside for long periods of time. Like Applejack for instance."

"I see." He replied as Twilight continued to inform him about everything heat related.

Sunset reappeared outside of 1506 in a flash of turquoise colored magic. The sight of the locomotive in front of her made her smile as she slowly climbed the back steps and made her way up to the cab. "Time to get some much needed sleep." She said to herself as she used her magic to open the cab door before closing it behind her. Once inside, she noticed that her body was incredibly warm, but she blamed it on being outside in the sunlight for so long. She then yawned loudly as she walked over to the part of the cab where she was sleeping earlier before turning around and sitting down.

But as she moved to lay down, her nether region briefly rubbed up against the diamond tread metal floor. The feeling of this made Sunset moan slightly as a wave of pleasure surged up through her body. Her body grew warmer as beads of sweat started dripping from her face. She also soon noticed a musky scent around her.

"Wait a minute....." She thought before inhaling deeply. The air around her was filled with an aroma that she hadn't smelled in quite a long time. Upon smelling it, both of Sunset's eyes were wide open as she knew exactly what it was. "No...... that's impossible!" She thought. "I can't be!" But the signs and symptoms were there. "I'm in..... heat!"

Author's Notes:

What's up everypony?

So this is my second attempt at introducing this topic into the story. The first attempt didn't quite exactly work out the way I was hoping for and forced a drastic change. I'm hoping that this new attempt will be better. If it is, then that is good. But if not, then I'll just take the chapter down and rewrite it to where it will be good.

My apologies on the extended time between this and the last chapter. I certainly wasn't expecting it to last this long. I will do the best I can to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

Full steam ahead, my fellow bronies and pegasisters.
- Harms Way