With Princess Celestia unreachable by mirror, Tarnish had talked to Twilight via her own mirror instead, giving her a brief explanation of what was going on. Twilight, a princess who had now experienced a crisis or two, took the news rather well, and she had assured Tarnish that everything would be dealt with. Help was coming and everything would be fine.

Tarnish wasn’t so sure about everything being fine. He thought back to the day of the fog that had come out of the cave. He and Maud had gone into it for study. Cranberry had experienced similar fogs, but this fog, this fog was special. This fog was a part of Grogar’s magical influence, made stronger by removing the poison joke around The Scariest Cave in Equestria. In his mind’s eye, he remembered the dead fish, the dead birds, the way that the fog had retreated into the cave, and how he had thought it was some optical illusion.

Without knowing how he knew, Tarnish knew that the poison joke had come about because of the black star. It was nature's way of fighting the corruption of everything, including magic. Tarnish’s face looked troubled as he hiked back to camp, he moved with swift speed and purpose. Ultimately, this corruption was Twilight’s enemy. While Tarnish could help clean it up and deal with some of the aftereffects, this poison affected Twilight’s very being, her element. Tarnish didn’t understand what that meant, but he knew that there was trouble.

When Vinyl started to whimper, Tarnish never slowed. Using his magic, he scooped her up and sat her down upon his back. Octavia moved closer to his side and struggled to keep up, but she wanted to check on Vinyl to see if the unicorn was okay. Vinyl’s hoof had puffed up and swollen a bit, but not too bad.

Darkness would be falling soon.

Pacing, Tarnish peered down the ridge and at the cave, which was just below their camp. He didn’t like this, not all, he felt as though he was now too close to an enemy, and both he and his enemy were now aware of one another. Tarnish was unaware that his demeanour had changed. Where as before he had been the mostly quiet mild mannered type, he was now acting like a territorial stallion. The hair along his spine stood up, his ears remained at an aggressive posture, and he was stricken with the urge to piss along the perimeter of the campsite.

“How is Vinyl’s frog” he asked.

From where she sat by the campfire, Octavia looked up. “Oh, better, now that she is off of it. Swelling has gone back down. I think she’ll be fine after a good night’s rest.” The earth pony nudged her mate, who nodded, and then she continued, “Vinyl feels much better and she thanks you for the pony ride earlier.”

“Don’t mention it,” Tarnish replied.

“Tarnish, do you want to move the camp?” Maud asked, giving voice to what Tarnish was thinking. “Before you answer, I don’t think it will help. If the best he can muster is some fog, we’re too high up for it to reach. We’ve been fine so far. I think we’ll be fine now.”

Unable to relax, Tarnish turned to face Maud. “You’re probably right. But it bothers me.”

“Come here,” Maud said as she patted the ground beside her. “It’s time for happy husband hugs.”

Doing as he was told, Tarnish went over, and as he sat down, Maud grabbed him. It was time for happy husband hugs. She pushed him over onto the ground and then spooned up against his back, resting her head upon the broad shelf of Tarnish’s neck. In a rare display of mood, Maud let heave a sigh of contentment.

With a poof and a bit of glitter, Vinyl Scratch conjured up her slate and a piece of chalk. In a hurry, she scribbled, Happy husband hugs? and then held it up towards Octavia while looking as pathetic as possible. Her eyes shimmered and her lower lip quivered in a most adorasad sort of way. After wiping the words away, Vinyl added, I have a very pretty wife.

Holding nothing back, Octavia tackled Vinyl and knocked the slate right out of her magical grip. The pair of them, now embraced, held one another, stroked each other, and Octavia smiled a grin of pure joy while Vinyl’s pained expression eased. Eyebrows waggling, Vinyl groped Octavia’s cutie marks in an unabashed display of affection.

Maud, who watched this, lifted her head enough to talk. “Sometimes, when I put my hooves on Tarnish’s cutie marks, my earth pony senses allow me to feel the magic. I treasure those moments. Everything he is, everything he does, it all begins and ends with his cutie marks. When I touch him, and feel the magic, the tingle, I am feeling him.”

“Sometimes, I can feel Vinyl’s magic on the inside of my thighs when I squeeze her,” Octavia whispered, and her words caused the albino unicorn to turn a shade of vivid pink all over. “I’ve always likened it to be something like a needle on a record, and feeling the groove of the other pony.”

“I check out Maud’s groove all the time. Every chance I get.”

“That’s lewd, Tarnish.” Octavia clucked her tongue. “And so delightfully saucy.”

“When the needle goes into the groove, I make music.” Maud laid her head back down to rest upon Tarnish’s neck, and then turning her head sideways, she began to rub her cheek along his crest. She snuffled her nose into Tarnish’s mane and then pushed off his pith helmet.

“Maud, do you… do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Octavia, still holding Vinyl, trembled a bit and looked shaken.

“Sure, why not?” Maud replied.

Octavia took a deep breath, waited for a few seconds, let it out in a huff, and then took another deep breath. For a moment, it seemed as though she might lose her nerve, but then she asked, “What’s it like having a stallion that you trust enough to allow inside of you?”

“Oh.” Maud blinked. “Give me a chance to think about that.” As she spoke, Tarnish turned a very dark shade of brown, as if he had been in the oven for too long.

“I’ve never been, well, you know, raped, but Vinyl and I both have had some very close calls. The music business is full of predators who take anything they can get… your earnings, your music, and your body.” Octavia let out a squeaky sigh. “Very entitled musicians and managers who will not take ‘no’ for an answer.” The mare closed her eyes, pulled Vinyl closer, and shook her head. “I know a lot of mares who have been raped. Hurt. Violated and abused. Three or four times a year, I do concerts where I raise bits to help them and to raise awareness of the problem. I fear it’s left me shaken.”

“If you need to talk, we’re listening,” Tarnish said in a strained voice. “It’s hard to listen to, but I’ve been violated, and not just by unknown assailant.” Tarnish felt Maud go still against him, and her muscles tensed.

“There’s been some close calls… some very close calls, but Vinyl and I have kept each other safe. We’re a pair… a team. We’re safer together than we are apart.” Octavia pulled Vinyl closer and crushed her in a hug. “There’s been some very tense situations, but we’ve made it through them together.”

“It’s nice,” Maud said in a voice that wavered somewhat. “I’ve opened myself up to him. I trust him. I trust him enough that I allow him to do as he pleases with me, knowing that he won’t hurt me. I like having him against me… inside of me. Trust is a two way street though. When he’s inside of me, he’s vulnerable. I guess we both are. There is a mutual agreement of do no harm, unless spanking is involved—”

“Spanking, Maud?” Tarnish’s eyebrow arched.

“I was making a joke to lighten the mood, Tarnish. Unless of course, you’re interested.” Maud’s eyebrow arched, moving with the exquisite slowness of the rising sun. “The truth is, Tarnish is a good, docile sort. He can be sexually aggressive, but never in a way that is scary. Truth be told, I think I would spook easy in a situation involving actual aggression.”

“I suppose that you have to be real careful with Vinyl, seeing as how she feels more pain than normal ponies do.” Tarnish watched Vinyl’s head bob up and down as he spoke and for a moment, he felt a twinge of pity for the mare. He felt Maud’s body shift against him, and she placed more of herself atop him, sprawling her barrel out over his own.

In that moment, four threads wove together, forming an ever tighter connection.

“What happened to you, Tarnish?” Octavia asked. After a moment of concern, she followed up with, “Maud, do you know?”

“I know a little.” Maud wrapped one foreleg around Tarnish’s barrel and rubbed her cheek against his neck. “I know I don’t hold it against him, because it wasn’t his fault, and he’s sensitive about it.”

“You don’t have to tell me, Tarnish…” Octavia’s eyes were soft, reflective, and shimmering with understanding. She gripped Vinyl and smoothed out the scruffy, spikey tufts of mane along Vinyl’s neck. “But if you do tell me, I’ll be very respectful about it.”

“There was a she-manticore,” Tarnish began, and then he fell quiet.

“Oh dear.” Octavia covered her mouth with one hoof and her eyes went wide.

“My magic wasn’t controlled back then. It affected her in some awful way. She decided not to eat me, but she used me for other purposes. She went ‘grawr’ a lot and she purred at me and at least she didn’t eat me. I lost my virginity to a manticore.” Tarnish closed his eyes and just laid there, unmoving.

Nopony laughed.

This made Tarnish feel better. Among his friends, he wasn’t ridiculed or shamed. And for this, he was grateful beyond words. “Is it wrong that I think about her sometimes? She saved my life, in a way. I smelled so bad that afterwards, wolves and other animals left me alone. Looking back on it, she was gentle with me, for a manticore. I mean, she was rough, but I don’t think she meant to hurt me. She was just a manticore and she could have mauled me or bit me or chewed on me, but she didn’t. I suppose she just wanted some companionship and my magic allowed it to happen. I survived, but at the cost of my own humiliation.”

“You know, this isn’t all that different from sex.” Maud looked over at Octavia and Vinyl, and then patted Tarnish’s side.

“I don’t follow.” Octavia’s muzzle crinkled as she looked at Maud.

“We’re inviting each other inside. We’ve laid ourselves bare and invited others to come inside of us. To feel us. To touch us in our innermost and intimate places. We’ve spread our metaphysical legs, laid back, and offered ourselves up to one another. To be honest, I think we’re better for it. Slipping between the folds of grey matter isn’t so different than slipping between pink folds—”

“Okay, point taken!” Octavia shivered and her mane spilled down over her face.

“Now, because we know each other’s secrets, we have to trust one another not to hurt each other.” Maud began drumming her front hooves against Tarnish’s ribs and a low, satisfied moan could be heard slipping out of Tarnish’s mouth as he melted. She continue the bongo act and made her unicorn sing a weird, wavering song, striking his ribs as if they were glockenspiel keys. “I’ve shared my unicorn with you. He’s a little strange, but he is mine, and I am rather fond of him.”

Octavia let out a chortle as Maud continued her bongo massage upon Tarnish.

In that peaceful, idyllic moment, nopony was prepared for what happened next. With a crackle, there was an almost blinding flash of light, a fizzle of magic, and then with an explosion of sparks, Helianthus appeared. She was loaded down with saddlebags and gear. She stood there, blinking, recovering from teleporting.

“Hi!” Helianthus said in a cheerful voice. “I hear that you need some help. Find of a lifetime and all that. Such good little ponies, getting busy out here in the wilderness.”

There was more chortling from Octavia.

“Oh dear… I phrased that wrong.” Helianthus began to turn pink from the neck up. “Might I join you for the night?”

“How are we going to fit her into the bed?” Maud asked.

“Ooh! Quaint Trottingham traditions!” Helianthus looked very pleased and she smiled a wide grin, revealing large, square, sunflower seed crushing teeth. The big earth pony mare began to shrug off her gear and dump it on the ground. “We’ll need to get an early start tomorrow, no dawdling. I need to have a peek in the Hall of Memories and then all of us are going to have a good look around. There is much work to do.”

“Will you be able to read the images in the Hall of Memories?” Tarnish asked.

“Yes.” Helianthus did nothing to elaborate upon her answer.

“Princess Celestia couldn’t come?” Maud asked.

“Right now, she is dealing with a crisis in her school. I do not know the details. I assure you, we can take care of what needs to be done.” Helianthus let heave a sigh and added, “I’m starving! We need to eat, and then it is off early to bed, so we can all snuggle. It’s going to get cold!”

Author's Notes:

Hang on...