Gregory’s fears had proven somewhat prophetic as Maud ran him through his paces, motivating him with a mixture of light nagging, words of encouragement, and promises of relief for his success. In the days following their first love making, Maud had begun pressuring the CMC to work harder than ever before to help her stallion earn his cutie mark. Watching the way she’d scold the Crusaders after each failed attempt left him very skeptical when she denied ever serving in the army.

Under Maud’s tutelage, they had forgone any further endeavors in sports save for general weight lifting. Instead they focused on anything and everything tangentially related to the play, deciding it was their best lead. After several failed attempts at directing, acting, and so much more in just the last few days, they had all agreed that a break was needed to recharge their batteries.

“I still can’t believe you said that to Sweetie,” Gregory chuckled as he sat beside Maud on a bench in the royal gardens. He had summoned his magical hands to gently caress her back and neck, earning the occasional sound of delight from his mare.

“She was making you uncomfortable,” Maud said flatly, referring to how the little filly had been asking for details on what he was like in bed.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Gregory said, finding it hard not to smile as he reflected on the absurdity of it all. “And I guess she didn’t look all that hurt, but did you really have to say that?”

“If she’d stopped when I asked the first time, things wouldn’t have needed to escalate,” Maud justified as she rested against his side. “Besides, a filly her age really should learn to mare up at some point.”

Gregory grimaced. “I can’t say I’m too fond of that phrase. It’s kinda similar to something back on earth that’s got a few negative connotations.”

Maud peered over at him, silently waiting for him to elaborate.

“Basically, ‘man up’ is used to excuse the suffering of guys, like just because they’re guys means their pain doesn’t matter and they should be silenced if they think otherwise.”

Maud made a thoughtful sound. “I can’t speak for the context of your world, but in Equestria a mare who falls to pieces over a few harsh words is never going to get very far in life. I hope that doesn’t sound callous, but it’s just the way it is.”

While he didn’t want to argue, especially in such a nice setting, Gregory still felt obligated to speak his mind. “If I might borrow from your own history: if ‘just the way it is’ was a real excuse, the tribes would be frozen stiff by wendigoes, choosing to ignore getting along because fighting was just the way it was.”

Maud made another thoughtful sound. “You make a fair point. Counterpoint is that you’re still new here and have been exceptionally sheltered thus far. You don’t even know what mares are like when stallions aren’t around.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Maud deadpanned. “We can be pretty nasty when it’s just us girls. If not from her friends, I can guarantee you she’s heard a lot worse from just going to the market. You know they still practice haggling outside the cities, right?”

Gregory furrowed his brow. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say some of that’s exaggerations.”

“Oh?” Maud raised an eyebrow before waving over a unicorn mare dressed as a gardener. “Pardon me, miss, but my coltfriend,” she pointed at him, “thinks I’m exaggerating when I say mares can get really foul mouthed when stallions aren’t around.”

The gardener, whose name tag read Brass Penny, made a face of disbelief at Gregory. “You never had any sisters, did you?”

“Only child,” Gregory admitted proudly.

“Lucky,” Penny scoffed. “But she’s right, though. Put a bunch of mares together without any stallions to impress and ‘foul’ starts to look like an understatement.”

“What’s so funny?” Maud asked as Gregory snickered.

“Just… I grew up with some pretty twisted stuff,” he chortled, recalling his vast collection of 80’s movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ypgzzDvZS4 “And that was before I started watching the raunchy stuff.” He smiled at their confusion, feeling rather smug at his exclusive knowledge of the horror of human media aimed at children. “But I think I’ll just take your word for it.”

“Good call,” Penny commented as she bowed and took her leave.

Maud nuzzled under Gregory’s chin. “By the way, sweetie, there’s something I needed to tell you.”

Gregory raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Should I be worried?”

“Probably not,” Maud replied. “But I thought you’d like to know that I might have found another pony for our herd.”

Gregory stared down at Maud, unable to think of a proper response at first.

Sensing his tension, Maud cozied up to her stallion. “We met in the city a couple nights ago. She’s something of an old flame from a few years ago. We had dinner together last night, catching up on old times, and I think it went pretty well.”

“Might?” Gregory finally asked.

Maud nodded. “False alarms can happen sometimes. She looks a little like one of the unicorns from my vision, but I’m not completely certain yet.”

Gregory frowned. He could hear the slight tinge of uncertainty in Maud’s voice and didn’t care for it, especially the way it sounded like she was confessing something really hard. He wanted her to go back to her usual confident self. However, as he contemplated his feelings on the idea of Maud seeing someone else did bother him a little, he realized that his uncertainty would only feed into hers and resolved to keep calm. “This might not seem like much from an outsider, but it sounds like you’re in the same boat as everyone else.”

“How so?”

“Well… not everyone has a Choosing Stone to point the way. For the rest of us we just gotta throw ourselves out there and hope for the best. It’s a bit of a gamble when you think about it.” He chuckled. “I mean, that’s how it was for me. I met you, thought you were cute, and then I decided to just throw caution to the wind and start talking to the pretty lady at the party. After that,” he chuckled again, “I guess my gamble paid off.” Gregory was rewarded with a soft kiss under his jaw.

“Have I told you what a great stallion you are?” she asked with a purr.

“Yes, but you could stand to say it more often,” he beamed proudly as he felt the warmth of her compliment spread through him. “So…”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to introduce me to this mare?”

“Not yet,” Maud said flatly. “She’s a little aloof and in a bit of an awkward state at the moment, so I don’t want to rush things. I’m pretty sure you two would get along, but I need to check her out more to make sure. Once I’m certain she’s the right one, then we can begin proper courting.”

“Sounds fair, I guess,” Gregory said with a shrug.

Maud stroked a hoof along Gregory’s chest. “I love you, Gregory. No matter what happens, never doubt that.”

Gregory threw a hoof around her side and pulled her close. “Never even crossed my mind,” he said with a reassuring smile. “But there is one thing that did.”

“Oh?”

“When you say ‘check her out’, what all does that entail?”

“We should get you a book on pony courtship behavior,” Maud said resolutely to Gregory’s nod of agreement. “Until then, you should know that when a mare petitions to join a herd, she applies primarily to the lead mare, who is free to do as she likes to make sure the new mare is a good fit.” After a brief pause she added, “Which includes checking to see if she can satisfy the herd stallion.”

“So… sex?” It wasn’t really a question.

“Sex,” Maud confirmed, but frowned slightly as she felt her Gregory shift a little. “Would it help if I told you more about her?”

“Maybe.”

“For one thing, she’s…”

“Excuse me!”

The cuddling couple looked up to see a very posh looking mare approaching. She was a sand colored unicorn wearing a dress with far too many frills covering a rather dangly and frail looking body. Behind her trotted a black earth stallion who looked entirely unpleased to be here. At their approach, Gregory and Maud straightened to be more presentable with the former banishing his magical hands.

“Excuse me,” the mare said again, this time directly addressing Maud. “My name is Sand Paper. Do I have the pleasure of addressing Maud Pie, daughter of Cloudy Quartz and lead mare of Gregory Grimory?”

“I am,” Maud acknowledged.

Gregory waited for her look at him to signal his own introduction, but it never came.

“Excellent,” Sand Paper said with a subdued cheer. “I heard the rumor, but it seemed too much to hope for. The Prince,” she said with a hint of disapproval, “has been giving others and myself the runabout for weeks now. So you can imagine my elation to learn that such a valuable stud had finally been claimed by a proper mare capable of seeing reason.”

Maud wrapped a possessive leg around Gregory’s side, flexing her earth pony strength just enough to make sure he and Sand Paper knew that he wasn’t going anywhere without her say so. “And what reason would that be?”

“First of all,” Sand Paper tittered with an unpleasant scratchy sound, “allow me to congratulate you on your superb maneuvering to snatch the human pony for yourself. Others might begrudge you for stealing the prize they had sought, but I am much more practical. To the winner go the spoils, as they say.” She looked like she expected Maud to join her in another laugh, but quickly realized that wasn’t happening. “In any case, I was hoping to request the services of your stud.” She lifted a small bag with her magic and shook it a little to jingle the coins inside.

Maud cast an accusing gaze on the black stallion, only for him to lower his head submissively before she looked at his mare. “You seem to already have a stallion of your own. Why, exactly, do you need mine?”

“Alas, my dear Black Hoof has proven tragically inept in bed.” Sand Paper threw her head back with a melodramatic whimper. “My herd is currently looking for an additional stallion to shore up his breeding duties, but until then I have decided that it would be ideal for the next heir of Herd Paper to carry human genes.”

Black Hoof gave a disappointed sigh, which both Maud and Gregory took as a poor sign.

“I’m terribly sorry, but my Gregory is not up for studding just yet,” Maud said as cordially as she could, but Gregory could hear the slight strain in her voice.

“Well obviously I didn’t mean right this moment,” Sand Paper tittered. “My heat isn’t for another few weeks. This meeting is simply to set a date and price.” She grinned wickedly and jingled the bag of coins once more for emphasis.

“Excuse me.” Gregory raised a hoof and put on his best smile. “I think what Maud is trying to say is that I’m just not ready for-”

Sand Paper coughed harshly and turned a stink eye onto Gregory. “Not ready indeed,” she hissed. “You haven’t even been properly trained to show due respect to a mare of my station.”

Rather than scowling in anger, Gregory felt his lips curl into an amused smile as he laughed.

Sand Paper looked especially irritated now and turned to scowl at Maud. “And what, pray tell, does he find so funny?”

“Gregory,” Maud said evenly. “What do you find funny?”

He leaned close to Maud’s ear, but whispered loud enough for their audience. “I feel sorry for Black Hoof. I don’t think I’d be able to get it up with her either.”

Black snorted his amusement, but was quickly silenced by a look from his mare.

“I think that settles that,” Maud said flatly as she hopped from the bench and motioned for Gregory to follow. He did, but positioned himself between Maud and the other mare in case she tried anything.

“Wha-where are you going!?” growled Sand Paper.

Maud stopped and lazily turned her head to look at the other mare with a single eye. “My stallion does not find you appealing, and frankly neither do I. As such, I’m sorry to say that you will not know the pleasures of his seed in your body.”

Sand Paper made a number of incoherent noises as she failed to form words. Her anger was on the rise and it looked like the rejection was on the verge of causing her to do something drastic. Black positioned himself in front of his mare, whispering calmly. Gregory braced himself to protect his girlfriend, readying a spell to go for her horn as he’d been taught in self defense, but Maud stepped out in front of him looking as unconcerned as ever.

“Come on, Gregory. We wouldn’t want to be late for your afternoon gaming session with Queen Luna.”

“Q-queen?” Sand Paper whispered as her temper instantly fell. Apparently the mere mention of Gregory’s connection to the royal family was enough to make her think twice of whatever she had been planning.

Maud nudged Gregory and they continued on until they left the pathetic mare and her stallion behind.

“Why did you do that?” Maud asked after they’d entered one of the palace side doors.

“Do what?”

Maud turned an accusing glare onto Gregory. “Back there. Why did you step in front of me?”

Gregory puzzled over Maud’s peculiar tone. She sounded frustrated, or perhaps hurt. “That bitch looked like she was about to do something stupid.”

“I saw that,” Maud fumed. “But why didn’t you move? Why didn’t you stay behind me from the start?”

Gregory’s puzzlement only grew. “I wasn’t about to let anything happen to you.”

“Stupid stallion.” Maud jabbed a hoof at Gregory’s side. “What if something had happened to you instead? Did you ever stop to think of that?”

Gregory gave a guilty smile, finally realizing what was making Maud so upset. Still, he considered his actions justified and steeled himself. “Maud. I’m sorry for making you worry,” he said as calmly as he could. He was glad when he saw his mare’s posture begin to relax in response. “What I did… it was basically reflex.”

Maud blinked in understanding. “So this is a human thing?”

“Pretty much,” Gregory agreed with a shrug. “I’m not big on the idea of some bitch threatening my mare and me not doing anything about it.”

Maud relaxed a bit further, appreciating being called his mare. “That might be all well and good for the human world, but this is Equestria. Here it’s the job of the mares to protect their stallions.”

“I get the idea,” Gregory sighed. “But I’m still not keen on just standing back and letting something happen to you.”

“I’m a Pie,” Maud said defiantly. “If it did come down to a fight, I could take on any of those stuck-up shrews any day of the week.”

Gregory laughed. “I’m pretty sure a light gust could have taken on that one.”

Maud croaked a soft laugh and pressed her cheek against Gregory’s. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I know,” Gregory beamed as he nuzzled right back.

They continued on to Luna’s game room where Maud wasted no time explaining why they were late and who was responsible.

Luna scowled. “Such attitudes were falling out of favor even before my banishment. A pity that such things continue to linger.”

“I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them again,” Gregory insisted, hoping to diffuse the growing tension. “Maud shut her up when she mentioned who we were going to see.”

Luna looked quite pleased at this. “Verily. Well done, Lady Maud, for reminding this sandy prat of her true place in the hierarchy.”

Expressionlessly, Maud nodded, and the gamers were allowed to pick up where they’d left off.

“Oh yeah!” Gregory exclaimed sometime after the game had begun. “Maud. You were about to tell me more about this new mare you’re seeing.”

Maud looked up from her poetry book. “Oh. I guess I got a little distracted.”

“A new mare?” Luna asked, never daring to tear her eyes from the screen. “Do tell.”

“She’s a performer,” Maud began. “We had met a while ago, but I saw her again at one of her shows. We started catching up and more or less hit it off.”

“You said she was aloof,” Gregory recalled. “How so?”

“On the outside she’s rather boisterous, even referring to herself in the third person, but she’s not all that used to interacting with ponies outside her shows.”

Gregory frowned. “Sounds like she’s got a bit of an ego.”

“A ‘bit’ is an understatement,” Maud said flatly. “But once you get past that, she’s actually really sweet and funny.”

Smirking, Gregory glanced back over at Maud. “And we all know what a sucker you are for the funny ones.”

“Pay attention!” Luna barked. “Don’t you dare let your guard down, lest we be swarmed again.”

Gregory returned his eyes to the screen, but quirked his ear back at Maud, giving her the go ahead to keep talking.

“She uses her magic to awe her audiences with grand spectacles.” She went on to describe the numerous lights and images the mare had conjured. The more she spoke, the more her excitement shown through her otherwise neutral expression. “I’ve never seen magic put to such elaborate use before.”

“Really?” Gregory asked. “Seems like a no-brainer to use magic for special effects.”

“The ability to project such images is – Gah! Curse these vile cannon fodder.” Luna said through gritted teeth. She calmed when Gregory cleared the room and went over to revive her. “It is a difficult skill to master,” she grumbled, still sour from her latest death.

Gregory smiled apologetically at Luna. “If you’d like, we could-”

“If thou dare sayith to ‘lower the difficulty’,” Luna snarled, “we swear, by the 5,042 craters of the moon, that you will be punished.” Instead of seeing a whimpering mess of a stallion, as she was used to whenever she lost her temper, she was surprised to find her friend with his hoof to his muzzle, suppressing a laugh. It was so surprising that Luna’s mind went momentarily blank.

“Something funny, sweetie?” Maud asked.

“Just,” Gregory chortled, “that was way too close to an anime reference.”

Luna’s temper soon faded as she joined him in laughter, pausing the game. It was moments like these that defined their friendship, as it so often was with human ponies. Being not of Equestria, humans lacked the almost instinctual impulse of ponies and other races to bow before the alicorns. They had little qualm with meeting the Queens in the eyes as friends and equals. Friendship was something earned through mutual respect, not bought with petty gifts or titles.

The nobles, on the other hoof, had always been a bunch of simpering twats as far as Luna was concerned. Since her return, she found that little had changed. Too often their petitions were repulsively petty, their offers of courtship were offensively transparent, and the few times they’d expressed interest in games as a means of winning her comradery had just left her feeling sorry for them. At least their attempts at bribery had gotten better, though not by much. She felt no guilt in accepting the piles of games they threw her way while only offering the most minimal of thanks in exchange, rather than the favors they had hoped for.

“Do elaborate, Sir Gregory. To what has her royal highness inadvertently referenced?” Luna pressed a hoof to her chest, speaking with mock haughtiness.

“Sailor Moon,” Gregory replied. “A transforming magical girl who fights bad guys with her moon powers.” He grinned wickedly at the elation on the Queen’s face. “She’s also a whiney crybaby whose comrades do most of the work while she gets the glory of the finishing blow.”

Luna scowled back at Gregory who smirked daringly right back. “I might just have to punish you anyways.”

Feeling bold, Gregory dared to ask “How?”

Not expecting the challenge, Luna blinked and glanced frantically around the room. Gregory trusted her. His lack of fear at her earlier ire was evident that he knew she would never truly hurt him. However, her pride as a diarch had been challenged and it had to be met. Finally her eyes landed on Maud and a wicked smirk grew on her lips as she recalled what had happened in the gardens. “Continue this treasonous behavior,” she pointed at the earth mare, “and we will have no choice but to sit on your mare!”

Taken aback, Gregory’s eyes swiveled between the triumphant queen and his stoic marefriend, unable to determine exactly how he felt about this ‘punishment’.

“Objection,” Maud said flatly. “This is hardly fair recourse.”

“Oh?” Luna beamed confidently. “And why should family not bare the penalty together?”

“Because he’ll just take that as encouragement to keep acting up,” Maud said, catching Luna off guard once more.

“It’s true,” Gregory admitted with a somber nod. “I probably would.”

Luna’s eye had begun to twitch. Not only were these two now in open rebellion, but she had faltered in her effort to put them down. If Celestia finds out, she’ll never let me live it down. Steeling herself, Luna braced for what must come next.

With a flash of magic, Gregory gawked as he beheld Maud’s lower body sticking out from beneath Luna’s behind. Her gray legs were immobile, but thankfully the rising of her belly showed she was still breathing. His eyes roamed the expanse of Luna’s flank, not noticing her twitching wings, as he imagined what lay beyond, until he dared to lean forward and peer between her legs. There lay Maud, as unconcerned as ever, with her chin only a few inches from Luna’s groin. He and his mare stared at each other for a good long while before she finally spoke.

“It’s softer than I imagined,” Maud said plainly. “There’s a fair amount of muscle, but it’s hidden beneath layers of cushiony goodness.” She looked up to face Luna, who could only stare back with bated breath. “It is with utmost humility that I, Maud Pie, accept this punishment on behalf of my stallion.”

“Maud?” Gregory asked in utter befuddlement.

“Hush, sweetie,” she said evenly. “You can have your turn when I’m done.”

Luna realized she’d grossly underestimated these two, especially the mare. Unwilling to admit that she’d made a horrible mistake, she resolved to ride this decision out (poor choice of words), pick up her controller, and hope nothing would happen to make the situation any more awkward.

“You smell nice,” Maud complimented.

And there it was!

Author's Notes:

We have our first ‘unfortunate’ encounter with nobility and Gregory gets schooled in more Equestrian customs. But I bet what really caught your attention was Maud, mare sturdy as stone, and her open defiance and triumph over the crown.

Also, sorry for the late post. Just haven't really been feeling this story lately.