I'm walking through the streets of Canterlot. Nervous, anxious, fearful... I, I don't want to be understood the wrong way. That is what I fear — to be misunderstood.

I hang my head low, shameful. What I'm going to tell Luna isn't very... appropriate. And I... I don't know how to act. This is so simple, and yet it's so complicated. What will Luna tell me? Will she understand me right? I'm already regretting my decision. I could just stay at the apartment and ignore the problem. After all, will it become worse if I simply stop caring?

Ugh, I can't stop caring! This whole situation is messedmup, my mind is messed up, and I...

...

*sigh*

...

I think I am devastated completely. Crushed under the mountain.

I feel sick...

Will I ever be able to adapt to this world completely? Will I change myself? What will I do with Moonshine once I discover how to solve the problem? Will I... give in? No, I simply can't! This is wrong! Argh, why does it all have to happen to me?!

Calm down, Flame... Calm the fuck down!

...

I think I got too emotional about this thing. It's not too big of a deal, right? I mean, I can live onwards without worrying too much about it.

Who am I kidding? I feel so... *sigh*

Here are the gates to the castle. I didn't even notice them until I was almost pressing my muzzle against them. Alright...

Maybe I should turn around and go back?

No, I'm not going back. I need to set things right, I need to fix everything inside my head.

Throwing my hesitation away, I walked into the castle to search for Luna. She must be somewhere around, I guess. I hope so... I'm not sure I show up again if I don't succeed in finding her now. I'll be too... embarrassed and afraid to make a second attempt. I wish it was easier.

***

Luna, where are you? I've walked for what seemed like hours but I can't find her. I'm too afraid of asking the guards, and... I just...

...

Oh no, oh fuck no!

Absolutely suddenly, out of nowhere, princess Celestia appeared! I raised my head to see her as she royally strode towards me with... some kind of a motherly expression.

"Good day, Flame Metal." she greeted me. "Are you searching for my sister?"

"Mh-hmm." I nodded.

"Unfortunately, she's in the neighboring country conduction royal business." Celestia informed me. "May I help you with whatever you wanted to ask my sister about?"

"Um..." I don't think I should do that. "No, it's not that, uh, urgent..."

"Please, let me help you." she said. "Follow me. I guess whatever you have is too private to discuss in the halls." she turned around and went down the hall. She turned her head to me and raised a brow.

I guess I should follow her. I could just... come up with something that won't be suspicious or half-assed.

Who am I kidding, she can see right through me, I feel it. And I think her invitation isn't something I can refuse.

Solemnly, accepting my fate, I nodded and followed the princess of the day.

I don't like where this is going, honestly speaking.

"So, how is your training with Luna?" she asked me with interest.

"Um, she's a good teacher." I replied rather awkwardly. "I've learned a lot already."

"Good to know that she wants to help foals grow stronger in magic." Celestia said, nodding slightly. "Though, why did you enroll at my school? Is the knowledge my sister provides not enough?"

"Everything was, um, very easy at my school." I answered. "I want more, uh, challenge."

"It's good you strive towards gaining more knowledge. I am proud of you, I can say." Celestia smiled at me. "Everypony should strive for the better, and I'm glad more and more foals understand this."

We came to decorated double doors. I think they lead into Celestia's bedchambers or something like that. She opened the doors, and we entered the room.

I guess I was right. This room has a large, queen-sized sofa-looking thing, a fireplace, a table with an armchair (armchair? How does she sit there?) and a big bookcase. Overall, it looks cozy and comfortable, especially if taking into consideration that everything in the room looks... warm.

"You may take a seat there." she gestured at the armchair. Well, why not? I walked over to it and took a seat. It's comfortable. "Would you like some tea? A sweet treat?"

"Um, no, thanks." I replied. I'm not in the mood for those, I suppose.

"Alright, then." she conjured another armchair and placed it in front of me. At least at a reasonable distance. She walked to it and sat on it. "We must have a talk, Flame. I know you are an alicorn."

...

"Don't be alarmed, I will do no harm." she said to me while my brain malfunctioned. I could feel sweat going down my spine. "I will not force you into anything nor will I reveal your identity to the public. Your secret is as safe with me as it is with my sister.

"Both she and you are terrible liars, to be honest." she laughed softly, then cleared her throat. "Forgive me... It is sad to know that my sister doesn't trust me enough to hide the truth about you."

"Um, I told her not to tell anyone." I replied. I think I'm calm. I won't freak out. "I asked her to keep that a secret."

"Oh, I should've thought about that." Celestia said. "But why do you fear me so much? Even now, you want to run away from me."

"I... I..." I stuttered, trying to come up with something logical, with something that makes sense. "It's an illogical fear." I admitted. "Princess, I'm sorry... I'm very afraid about people finding out about my true nature." and that is true.

"You've kept your secret rather well, but not from me." Celestia replied. "Your friendship with Luna, your training... Luna could never perform magic as good as I can." she explained. "The mats in the hall were placed in a pattern that only suits pegasi training. It didn't take me long to put two and two together. I'm not counting the awkwardness and fear that I can see in your eyes when I am close.

"And yet there is much more to you than just being an alicorn. You act unlike any other foal. You came from nowhere, there is not a single record of you anywhere in Equestria. As if you weren't there until the recent Summer Sun.

"You also took a mature approach towards my sister. Not only that, but you seem to have a hard time being a foal. You have much more years to you than there should be. You are unlike every other pony.

"Thus, I came to a conclusion that you are not a pony at all." she looked directly into my eyes. "You are an adult alien that became an alicorn colt."

She is smart, I give her that. And now... I can't tell if I'm scared or outright terrified or calm. This... mix... uhhhhh...

"You..." I started. "You are right." I sighed. No use fighting it. "What will happen now?"

"You've not hurt any of my subjects, you seem to be a nice person. I won't ask you about your origins, you may keep it to yourself as long as you don't hurt anyone." Celestia said. "You are safe. Though, I can see you are very troubled inside, and that is why you came searching for my sister. You believe she's the only one to help you with your problems. Allow me to help. No matter where you came from or why, you are now a citizen of Equestria, and it is my duty to help any of the citizens in any way possible."

"It's... very awkward and personal and..." I sighed. "Just... give me some time to prepare myself, please."

"Take your time, then."

...

Well, Celestia was indeed aware of my different nature, and it seems she did watch over me for a long time. I guess she never did anything only because I pose no threat to her country. I'd never think of doing anything like that! This country os great, why would I harm it? I'm not even competent to do something like this.

So... Somehow, I feel rather calm. Her approach was nice and slow, soft even. She also doesn't seem to mind my, um, existence.

I expected less acceptance from her.

She may become my friend as Luna did. My fear was indeed illogical, and I now feel great shame about having thoughts of Celestia doing something bad to me.

I'm such an idiot...

And now, I either talk about my issue or go away. If I take the second option, I doubt I'll ever return to Celestia or Luna to talk about my weird problems.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to go for it.

"Um..." I started slowly. "The thing is... There is one filly that loves me. And she's, um, recently found the book that Luna gave me. That book is, um, about sex." hell, that sounded so awkward! I hate talking about sex with adults. This is just so... Ugh! "While she was reading that book, I noticed that... Uh... She, um..." just say it already!

"Started showing signs of being ready for the intercourse?" Celestia said, adding to my shame.

"Something like that, yes." I replied, my cheeks burning with shame and embarrassment. "I... I caught a smell, and... I guess it was hers. That made me, um... kinda... horny." just kill me now... "The thing is... She is ten, I am twenty-three. I'm physically nine, but that doesn't mean anything.

"I just... I just don't know what to do! This weird society treats sex so casually, so... unusually simple! Where I came from, it is not that simple, and... I feel so filthy! I can't begin to describe just how much it all scares me!" I started shaking. "She's too young for this, I, I can't, I mustn't do that to her! I don't even love her! We aren't even mature enough for that, not to mention just how large our age difference is!" tears started rolling down my cheeks. "What do I do? This is so fucking horrible, this is so dirty, filthy, disgusting, and... Why do I have to go through this?!" I hung my head, letting the tears fall down onto the floor. "Why wasn't I born a pony or why wasn't I turned into an adult?! Why the fuck is this world so damn similar and yet so much more different than mine?

"This is terrifying! I had to take a different name, to adapt to a new culture, to new norms, to hide who I am, and..." I started sobbing. "Now, look at me! I am so p-pathetic! I can't even get my relationships r-right! This, ever-ry thing is s-so fuc-cking wrong! How do I act? I don't w-want to be, I am n-not a pedop-phile, I don't want any of t-this!" I shakily exhaled. "And now? I am so ashamed of talking about this! I... I..." I stopped speaking, unable to continue, and just cried.

How pathetic I must look right now... Sitting in front of a princess, crying like I never have cried in my life. I am a man, I must be strong, I shouldn't cry about this! Why did I get so fucking emotional?

"Why are you so ashamed of yourself?" I heard Celestia asking me with worry.

"I... I shouldn't be so emotional!" I replied. "I should just suck it up and move on! It's not someth-thing too important an-nyway..."

"But it is." she argued. "Relationship problems are very important, Flame. You got yourself stuck in them. Your case is so much different from anything else, yes. But trying to cope with it on your own is wrong. Asking for help is alright." she stood up and moved closer to me. I didn't look up. "I understand your problem — you are actually much older than the one that loves you, and you don't want to hurt her in any way. You don't want to feel like you're using her to sate your own desires. You see having a relationship with her as wrong.

"But it is you who is ultimate wrong." she said, making my eyes widen as I looked at her. What does she mean? "Please, listen to me. A healthy relationship is the one where each participant understand the other. If it comes to physical affection, all participants must be aware of what it may bring upon them. Judging by what I've heard, both of you know what a relationship is and what sex is to some extent.

"It seems like something is missing here. Can you tell me the age of consent from your world?"

"Um, it's eighteen, mostly." I replied.

"And the age when people get sexually attracted towards each-other?"

"Uh... Maybe about thirteen? Sometimes, earlier..." I replied. I'm a bit uncertain about that. I had sexual urges at about... twelve?

"Your society seems to have an unnecessarily high age restriction for sex, I am afraid." Celestia sighed. "If you are telling me the truth, then the society that you lived in is ignorant towards such an important aspect of life as sex. Your laws and traditions go against your own nature. This is why you're having a hard time adapting to our view on relationships and sex."

"How does it matter if she's ten and I'm twenty-three?" I asked.

"Age does not matter as much as you believe it does." the princess said. "If all participants of a relationship are fine with each-other and are aware of how they want their relationship to be, then everything is alright.

"Sex life of a pony usually starts at the early teens. However, it is not uncommon to start it as early as the age of ten, however strange it may sound to you." she explained. "Ponies grow up rather fast, and it gets faster and faster with each generation. That is why a lot of ancient books' age restrictions were lowered to eight.

"Thus, it matters little when it comes to age. If you are physically mature enough to have sex, you may go at it. It's better when you're on the same level because too much of a difference can hurt either of you. You are physically nine, and alicorns tend to grow a bit faster than other ponies. Thus, it is completely alright if,you have a relationship with a filly that is a year older than you.

"The only thing you need is consent, explicit consent of a person who is aware of what sex is. But if that makes you uncomfortable, don't do it. It's as simple as that."

...

It's fucking sick. In a way... In a way, it's not entirely bad. If it's like that in this world, then it's okay. I mean, they have some solid reasons. After all, pedophiles are able to do what they do because their victims are often unaware about sex, not to mention that pedophiles are mostly rapists and don't ask for consent. They also tend to pick children that haven't reached adolescence yet. Besides, I remember a lot of news about school teachers having sex with teen students. And... that's not that bad. I mean, it was always said 'there was consent'.

I just have to stop bitching about this age crap. Really, if everyone understands what sex is and where it may lead, what is the problem? Though, I won't do anything with Moonshine yet. I should wait longer because I have no idea if what she's showed recently means she's already reached more or less mature state of body. Besides, I still don't love her, and she didn't turn to me for... sex. I'll let her make the first move.

Ugh... It's still weird and kind of disgusting.

"Flame," I heard Celestia. "It doesn't matter what others might think of you back in your own world. You are now here, and no one will judge you for what you do. Have no fear."

"I... I suppose it'll take time before I come to an agreement with all of this." I replied with uncertainty. "Um... This weirds me out a lot."

"I understand that it must be hard for you to adapt." she nodded. "But you should take everything not from your point of view but from ours. This way, you'll understand how your actions will be received in this country."

Oh my fucking hell...

And they call african cultures weird. This one is the most weird thing. I like the way it goes, and at the same time I feel like... mey dick will reetrackt inseid of mey badey!!!

...

Well, that was even weirder than their culture. All of this will take a lot of time before I'm used to it completely.

I just hope Moonshine won't do anything that will completely devastate my already poor mental state.

Author's Notes:

This is the weirdest chapter I've ever written so far. It's on the edge of disgusting and fine.

Before anyone calls me a kid-lover who wants to justify his tastes by writing fiction, I assure you that I do not love kids in that way whatsoever. I feel no attraction towards them. Prepubescent girls or boys has never attracted me.

Now, I need you to remember that ponies in my stories grow up faster than humans. Thus, while they are ten years old, they can be anywhere from twelve to fourteen years old in 'human scale'. That means they can have sex earlier than humans can.

However, the most important part is sex education and explicit-consent philosophy that ponies have. Children are informed of what sex is, they are informed about where it may lead and how omportant it might be in a romantic or friendly relationship. With this knowledge, they may indulge in pleasures that are forbidden in our society.

Besides, Flame doesn't want to hurt Moonshine, and that's why his relationship with her will mever be child abuse. If there is no physical nor mental harm done, it's fine. That is the main principe of ponies' sex philosophy.

I hope you're not disgusted by it. I'm just showing you how our possible encounter with aliens might be. We can't assume their culture to be like ours.

Honestly speaking, I'm surprised at what I've just made. How did that idea even come to my head?