Author's Notes:

I need to give a bit of a warning. That is, a WARNING.This chapter heavily focuses on sex and sexual education as subjects that need to be discussed. Here, Flame discovers a lot about sex and what role it plays in pony society. Since there is nothing graphical, I suppose the rating stays the same.

I recommend that you read it to understand this very important topic. You will also miss a change in the main character as he sees how this society sees sex. Not to mention that you might get confused later on.

I know not all people will accept what I've written here in this chapter. Feel free to tell me why, I will try to prove my points.

But please, don't bring religion or any morals into this. Through time, I grew to hate religion and despise some moral norms that make little or no sense. I don't want to argue about moral restrictions that we've built through ages. They are irrelevant as long as no one is physically or mentally hurt, and that is the whole point I want to get through to you, dear readers. Healthy, safe sex doesn't hurt anyone. Morals can't apply to it as long as all partners are willing to partake in the sexual activity.

But remember, use protection! That is what I encourage you to do. Humans have STDs, women can get pregnant for most of the time. If you want none of that to happen, use protection. Your life depends on it.

After this tiresome day, I lied in my bed. It was evening, about eleven in the evening. Moonshine is already asleep, holding her pillow close to her chest, smile on her face. Her tail slightly flicked from time to time, making a bit of noise in the otherwise silent room.

Sleep didn't come to me. No matter what I tried, I stayed awake. I do know the reason for that, however. It's simple, and it has the name of a certain filly written all over it.

I've been thinking a lot about what happened between me and Moonshine today. While so simple, it still confuses me. I honestly don't know what to do with what is happening between her and me. Surely, she loves me. She wants me to love her back, and she's doing a lot to make sure that'll someday happen. And I completely understand that, though... she seems desperate for love. Starving for it.

I think it connects to her family. I doubt she received much parental love from her two irresponsible parents. Instead of raising her, they argued. Instead of helping her to adapt to this world she was born in, her mother just threw her out into the streets. I'm glad that she was picked up by her grandfather and treated right, but what if she wasn't? What if she remained there on the streets, trying to survive? From what I know, she comes from a big city. Generally, people in the big cities care less about those who found themselves on the streets without a coin in the pocket and no home to go to. Would she become a thief or a beggar? It brings me horror thinking about that. She, a lovely filly who thrives to learn and become something in this world, just living in the streets. That is a sad picture to imagine.

I care deeply about her. I really do, maybe even more than I want to admit. She wants her happiness, and it seems it lies in me. While it might not be as true as I think, just dismissing her feelings as some kind of childish fantasies isn't what I will ever do. Love is a serious things, and failing in it hurts a lot, and it sometimes can leave a hole in the heart, and it will mend only after many years.

I was as desperate for love as Moonshine now is. I don't say I was never loved, but I admit I wanted (still want) more. Since my puberty, I wanted to be held by loving arms, to make love with someone not just for the sake of sexual relief. While I am more of a materialist, I still think souls exists. A soul dies once you die, but it is here, and it can be hurt. I don't like religion because it twist this soul into something else, something that can be controlled and subdued. I believe in the freedom of soul, and in its need to feel another one close.

Maybe that was the reason I failed at love when I was fourteen. I was desperate for it, and I made some stupid moves, and... It still hurts thinking about it. I guess the wound hasn't fully healed yet... I keep remembering my first (and yet only) crush. Seems stupid, right? Maybe I'm making an elephant out of a fly. That relationship might've led to something bad, something I would later regret. But what my crush did to me wasn't too right either. At first, she ignored me, and then she used me to do stuff for her, and yet considered me only a friend.

I might've been foolish, I admit. I accept that. Maybe I should've given love a chance earlier? I don't know...

Certainly, I'm not going to make Moonshine suffer like me. I will neither ignore nor use her. I will not lie to her, I will not deceive her. She is so fragile, and I don't want to break her. She has a lot of love to share, love she didn't have a chance to show to anyone.

...

*sigh*

And still, what do I do? I need to know how to do things right. Not to mention that I'm still confused about the age. I mean, how do ponies grow? Do they grow faster mentally? It seems like that, and... I guess it's hard for me to accept. While this world seems close to mine, it is different in many ways. One of them is aging. I guess I need to find someone to explain all of this to me. For the sake of my sanity, at least...

"Flame?" I heard a voice, a very familiar one. Tiredly, I turned my head right and saw Luna standing near my bed.

"Um, am I sleeping?" I asked.

"Yes and no." she replied. "You're in a state when your body sleeps but your mind does not. Thus, you are half-alseep. I am in the dream world, and you are partly in it."

"What does that mean?" getting used to that dream stuff is hard, too.

"It means that your mind is here, talking to me. But your body is on the bed, mostly asleep. You can see and hear me, but no one else can.

"I can tell that you have a big problem on your mind. I heard your desperate call for help, and I am here now. What is it that is wrong?" Luna asked me.

"Well," I sighed. "Uh... Can I just show you my memories instead of talking? I... I doubt I can form my words right." I rubbed my temples. "It's confusing as hell."

"If you say so." she nodded, and then her horn glowed. For a few moments, she stood silently, and I felt something inside my head. Something that annoyed me, and yet not enough to bring pain. And then, Luna spoke: "Ah, I see your problem. You still have a hard time adapting to our world, don't you?"

"Yeah..." I nodded weakly.

"I will lend you a helping hoof, then." Luna said, and her horn glowed once again. "My sister and I were taught about relationships when we were still young. There is one book that will explain everything to you about said subject. You will find that book under your bed once you wake up.

"For now, sleep." I felt my eyelids growing heavy. "Good night, Flame Metal. Have a nice dream."

I woke up in the morning, still remembering what Luna told me. I got up and looked under my bed, and found that book she was talking about. It's a bit dusty, but I don't really care about that.

I levitated the book, cleaned off the dust, and then I returned to bed. Moonshine isn't here right now, and I think I can read this book without being interrupted. So, let's see what it says.

It's titled "Sexual Education: Love and Passion". Huh, that's a nice title alright. At least it tells me what I'm going to see inside.

I opened the book. It doesn't tell me who the author is, but I don't think it matters much.

I flipped the page and saw the introduction.

Greetings, colts and fillies!

In this book, you shall discover what is love and passion. Here, you shall learn about your body and mind, how they change as you grow, and what those changes bring.

This book is intended for foals of age thirteen eight or more.

*stamp*Approved by the Royal Censor (469 A.F.E.)
*stamp* Censure removed, information added. (1232 A.F.E.)
*stamp* Approved by Their Majesties Princesses Celestia and Luna

This book is damn ancient! And it seems it went through a lot of correction through time. For example, this page is very old, and I can see that some pages were added recently. Well... If you can call a few hundred years ago recently.

I love this short introduction. It's not too long and it gets straight to the point. And... was this book intended for teenagers at first? Well, it seems they decided that age restriction can be lowered.

Alright, let's continue. I flipped the page, and came to the first chapter.

...

Ah, it's some information I already know. Some definitions, a bit of explaining what they mean. Yeah, I know that. Skip.

Age.

We all know that we change through time. We grow, our bodies grow, and our interest in them grows as well. From the youngest age, foals are interested in their anatomy. You might not remember it, dear reader, but when you were young you spent a lot of time playing with your own tail. That is how you showed interest in your own body for the first time. You also looked in the mirror quite often. You made funny faces, you spun around to look at yourself. You always want to know about your body as much as possible.

From age one to five, you show interest only in your own body. You would often hurt yourself and cry, and that is how you discover the world around you and the response of your body to different things that surround you during your everyday life.

From age five, you begin to get interested in bodies of others, mainly of the opposite gender. By now, you should already know the difference between colts and fillies. If not, let me show and describe it for you.

There are some pictures that explain the shape of the head, length of eyelashes (the fuck?), overall body shape, and, of course, privates. That's not what you expect to see in a children's book. At least ponies are open to that subject and don't hide it.

There's a graphical depiction of penis and vagina, some descriptions, and that's it. What can I say? It's different from what humans have. No surprise here. However, it all functions more or less the same. Insert male organ into female, thrust the former for some time, and you'll get the... result.

I feel like I shouldn't read this. I hate how I was raised to make me ashamed of my body and how it functions. Ugh...

Alright, against my upbringing, no matter how great my shame is, I'm going to change myself by reading this book.

...

Well, it's not the worst thing in the world to do. Besides, it will make me feel better about the whole thing.

So, let's continue. I want to hide this book and never remind myself of it and its contents, but I must fight that feeling.

Alright, it's written about how colts get erect and fillies get wet and why. It also states that procreation is possible from the age of twelve or thirteen in most cases.
These ponies are pretty straightforward about all of this. I kinda like it that they don't go by "when two ponies love each-other much, you appear in your mother's belly". They damn fuck and then you grow inside the womb. Or something like that... Damn, my own sex ed is kinda crap. I mean, I know some things about sex, more or less. I think I need to know more.

***

I get it. I now understand that those advances towards me by Moonshine were perfectly normal, even in her age. Ponies do grow up pretty quickly. It might also be connected to how pony society treats sex as a subject of talks. As for me? Well, I am much less confused about this.

So, I found out that the reproductive system of mares is different from what women have. To put it simply, mares have that period when they can get pregnant, and that is a week. Since it's a cycle, there are a few days between those weeks, and they only happen throughout late spring to early autumn. That means sex is safe during the winter, and that's good! I won't have to wear condoms during that time of year.

The book also states that mares don't become angry during their periods, only more horny. When my mom had her period (women periods are gross, by the way), she could sometimes shout at me for doing so little or doing nothing bad at all. That wasn't something I want to experience again.

Anyway, I forgot to mention the pregnancy itself. It last for a whole year, and newborn foals can walk in a few weeks or even days. They can fly and use magic, but for a limited amount of time before they start to grow up. That is when their magic and flight abilities become not so... violent, I guess. I wouldn't like a unicorn just jumping around and firing laser bolts out of their horn. That is why I'll think at least four times before impregnating a mare. Small human children are horror on their own, but magical foals? That's something scary.

Alright, let's move forward

Ponies accept sex from early teens. While adult on teen sex is frowned upon mostly due to the damage adults can wreck accidentally upon the teenagers mainly because of the size difference, it is mostly okay as long as no one is hurt. Huh, I think ponies don't value virginity as much as humans do nor does the age difference matters too much. At least that's what I understood. But something like marriage can be done only when both partners have reached sixteen. That's when they are more or less mature and can see what having a family can be. That's also the time when ponies get stabile jobs.

And about creating family. It is legal to marry more than one person. That means harems are legal. Well, as long as everyone is willing and gives clear consent about that sort of thing. As for me, I don't think I'll have more than one partner. That might change in the future, but for now, I just accept the possibility.

Huh, this society grosses me a little, and at the same time make me amazed. It's wrong and right at the same time. But I think it moves more towards the right.

So, there's also a subject of virginity. The book states that it played a big role in the lives of mares for a long time. However, now it doesn't. It's just a physical stuff that has nothing to do with change of behavior or spirit or whatever. And, what I discovered is that mares have hymen. That... virgin barrier. Ugh, that sounds cringy. Anyway, taking the virginity is still considered an important step towards maturity. However, it's not something sacred or feared, it's just... there.

And there's a subject of casual sex. Damn that is much for a book that is intended for young foals. Ugh... But I guess it's a right thing to do. At least no one tells that children come out of cabbage. That's just... nah. I mean, why'd you lie to your children about how they were made? You can just tell them that you will talk about that when they're older. What, do you expect them to fuck cabbage? That's something I don't want to see.

Anyway, I was going to talk about casual sex. It is purely for pleasure and relief, and may lead to something bigger if the partners are willing. That's what the book says, and I agree with it. So, casual sex is normal here. You can just go to a friend and ask her to have sex with you. It's as simple as that and doesn't impact friendship much. It makes it stronger, though.

Talk about friendship is magic. Sex is some magic alright.

Well, casual sex may be started at the start of teenage years. But the book explicitly states that protection must be used if the mare is in her season.

And the best thing of all... Ponies have no STDs whatsoever. That is hell of a relief to know that! They used to have, but modern medicine and magic destroyed those diseases completely without a chance for them to return. Oh fucking hell, yes! YES! Have all of my 'yes', ponies! You fucking did it!

...

Alright, I need to calm down. I know it's great and all, but still!

Whew, what a book this is. It was actually hard reading through it, and there's still a lot left for me to discover. Dive into the topics more, see some sex positions, advice about relationships, how to start them, how to keep them going and such.

So... there's something I left to tell the last. It is something that I didn't like.

A stallion can have sex for roughly two minutes maximum. And only once a day before he has to... recharge.

...

That is very short. Not like premature ejaculation, but it's still too short to give enough pleasure to a mare. Just...

I want to fuck for more than these mere minutes! And then no sex for the rest of the day!

I hope that alicorns have a lot more endurance. I hope that I inherited my sex drive from my human self. Otherwise, I won't be pleased with that short time. Just, please, whatever being controls this world or has the power to help me, give me more time for sex!

Ugh... That's the worst part about pony sex. While it has all the freedom I would ever want, it is very short.

I guess everything comes with a price.

...

TWO FUCKING MINUTES ONCE A DAY!

...

Kill me.