The door swings open on the dark bedroom. Click! The lights come on and the door slams shut. The two mares on the bed sit up, looking at the figure of North Point. North Point fixes them with a very businesslike expression. “We can’t keep doing this to Tim.”

Citrus tries to move up to comfort her, but Cayenne holds her back, even as North steps away. Cayenne says, “North, honey, this is the way of herds, how it has always been.”

“This is what would be done when it comes to any stallion,” say Citrus and Cayenne.

“But he isn’t just any stallion. He’s not a pony, he is a man. Ma-N MAN! And I may not know much about his culture, but whatever we’re doing, it isn’t working. Look, I am trying to tell you that after all is said and done, we are going to have to make some huge changes.”

Cayenne growls, “Tim’s in our world, not his world. If we were on Earth with him, we’d abide by his ways.”

North asks, “Cayenne, do you know anything about Griffon mating practices?”

“I know they don’t herd.”

“Yes. And what else.”

Cayenne scratches her head. “I… don’t know, North.”

“In Griffiyan culture, an adulterer is publicly shamed and the wronged griffon is entitled to slash their face with claws, leaving permanent maiming, leading to ostracism. Tell me, would YOU want to be on the receiving end of that? What if you’d gotten involved without knowing that was a risk.”

Cayenne falters, her ears laying flat against her head. “I would like that at all… I’m not a griffon… I’m a pony…”

Citrus ponders aloud, “Do you think, maybe we’ve gone too far, girls?”

North stamps a hoof on the mattress. “Yes! We have the nicest, most wonderful, accepting, open-minded lead stallion a herd could ask for, and he’s down below us at this very moment, feeling like the lowest piece of shit in the world right now. I know he messed up bad, but, Citrus, be honest with me, you’re taking a lot out on him because you can’t get satisfaction from Twilight and Cadance, aren’t you?”

Citrus opens her mouth to answer, then she stops, her mouth open. Her eyes flick back and forth, and finally she hangs her head. “It’s true.”

“And you, Cayenne, did you ever stop to think about how this justice of ours would seem to him?”

The other mare shakes her head. “But shouldn’t Silver?”

“Silver’s young and this is his first herd! He’s just as new to this as Tim is. We are the mares of the herd, and mares take care of their stallions, even when things get tough, even when they’re not happy. Tim and Silver are doing their best for us, even though we haven’t been deserving it of late. Let’s face it, if we are trying to keep our herd happy and together, we are failing.”

Citrus tries to speak. “What do you want me to do, North, I-” Citrus stops talking, the words dying in her throat.

“The princesses did that to you when you went to speak with them, didn’t they?” The chief mare’s expression is all North Point needs to look disappointed. “Not nice when it happens to you, is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

“But, we can’t just let his misdeeds go-“

Citrus lifts up a hoof and growls, “Cayenne, I swear to Celestia’s shiny white ass...” She sees North leaving. “North, where are you going?”

“To remember the very first thing all mares in a herd swear to their stallions.” She storms out, panting, “Love.”

***

Tim’s eyes pop open. For a moment, he’s not certain why, then he glances around. The sun is rising on a weekend day, so the girls will be upstairs for most of the day, only emerging to eat. He doesn’t have much time. He rotates off the couch and pulls his boxers from his pants. He is dressed in yesterday’s clothes pretty quickly. North is gone.

Silver slinks his head up. “Have fun last night?”

Tim ignores the barb; the stallion has been thoroughly irritated, and doing everything he can to pass that irritation off on Tim at every opportunity. He moves over and pulls on his boots, stomping his feet gently into them to make sure they fit right. He puts his hand on the doorknob, only to hear Silver. “Better stay away from Ponyville…” Tim rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t slow down opening the door. He’s spent the last few days deciding what to do about this. And he’s seen the store he wanted to visit a few days ago. Just had to wait until he had the bits. Within half an hour, he’s back in the elevator, riding it up to the top floor. He opens his apartment door with a big smile, only widening as his ears gather in the activities in the house. The girls are eating breakfast downstairs. He trots up the stairs quickly and grabs the rest from his part of the closet. He comes back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Here ya go, love,” he chirps, setting a small bag before Citrus. As Citrus looks at the bag, he puts other bags in front of Cayenne and North Point, even bearing something for Silver, knowing what the stallion has gone through.

“What is this?” Citrus asks curiously.

“Just a little present.”

Citrus glances at the small packages before each of his herdmates. “And why are we getting presents?”

Tim stops for a moment, the look on her face is turning his insides to jelly; not even a smile from her. Her horn lights, opening the package he had purchased this very morning, inside the bag is a small hinged box, she opens the box and pulls out the small pieces of gold. “earrings?”

“You had mentioned you wanted to get your ears pierced to wear some nice earrings, so I thought to give you some nice ones to start.”

Citrus looks at them for a long time, then glances at the other two mares. Then she puts them back into the box and rewraps it quickly. North Point is standing beside her, giving the mare a hard look. “Tim, sweetie,” she says, "I, we, I- we’re sorry!” Tim is overwhelmed as, suddenly, his personal space is filled with mare glomping him, hug tackling him to the floor.

He finds himself surprisingly slow in returning the embrace. He wants to hold her, but something is giving him a certain hesitancy. He returns the hug the best he can. “What are you sorry for, Citrus?”

She doesn’t say much. Instead, he hears Cayenne’s voice wheedle out, “Well, uh, last night, we had a little um chat with North, and we realized that we’ve been kinda too hard on you, and we’re really sorry about that. I swear we’ll make it up to you.”

“A-hem!” North point fake coughs.

“And Silver, too.”

“Better. Now how to start?”

Citrus gets off Tim, grinning devilishly. “I know.” She walks up to the pegasus stallion and kisses him full on the lips, causing his eyes to widen in surprise and his wings to pomf outward. Cayenne nickers, looking down below his barrel. Citrus finally breaks the kiss and turns. “Silver is a good boy, and from now on, we’re going to make sure he knows it. We can’t welcome you back into our bed yet, but we won’t be so distant anymore, just for a little while.” Tim stops, looking at the other two mares, they are both looking at the gifts he had bought them, then they both look up at him in unison. “It was a very nice thought,” Cayenne says softly, brushing her whole body against him.

“But perhaps we should wait on gifts for the time being,” North says, shifting a bit on her seat.

Citrus smiles. “Thank you anyway, Tim, but you have work this evening, and the Gala is approaching fast. Perhaps you should take a shower, or even get a nap before work? We were planning on a shopping day today, so you can sleep on the bed while we’re out.”

“Thank you. Hey, mind if I cook breakfast?”

“Not at all, best stallion in the world.” She reaches up kisses him on the lips.
***

Cayenne Pepper walks sedately with her errant stallion through the streets of Ponyville. This is actually her first time ever in the small hamlet in the shadow of Canterlot. She glances up at Tim, the tightness of his face betrays his otherwise calm demeanor. In the months she’s known him, she’s found his emotions primarily register on his face, even though his ears are immobile, and he has no tail; his face tells her a lot of what he’s thinking, almost all, in fact. Her ears flick back and forth as she walks. She hasn’t talked to Twilight Sparkle in months, and then finding out she tried to poach Tim... Cayenne is looking forward to confronting that herd-wrecker, and more so, her sister-in-law. The approach to the castle gives her an idea of how enormous the vaguely tree-shaped castle is. Of course, it does stand out even all the way from Canterlot.

Cayenne is paying close attention to Tim, trying to gauge his mood. She has been near shunning him for so long that just walking side by side with him feels weird, like something she had half remembered from a dream or a previous life. She tries to rub up against him, but he isn’t reciprocating with anything more than weak pets and small assurances that he loves her. She frowns, knowing that this isn’t how he’s meant to respond. North’s words about their treatment leaving marks come to the forefront of her thoughts again. Had things really gotten that bad? Had they gone too far? Was he actually hurt? She tries to shake them away to instead focus on a far more immediate trial lurking just beyond the ornate doors before him.

They don’t even have to knock; the guard at the main entrance opens the door without comment. Cayenne is content to let Tim lead the way. He guides her down a set of stairs into one of the sub-basements of the castle, and soon Tim is knocking on the door. Cayenne looks at the enormous blue mare standing silently next to the door. If Princes Twilight Sparke has need for a personal bodyguard, this minotaur of a muscular mare definitely fits the bill there. Cayenne smiles politely at the guard, who ignores her completely.

“Come in!” comes that damned mare’s voice. Cayenne forces the smile to stay on her face as the door opens. Princess Twilight Sparkle is wearing a white lab coat of all things as she sits at her bench.Cayenne feels her blood pressure rise. A sideways glance from Tim to Twilight and she can imagine him mounting her, heated in passion and calling her name… No! Cayenne stops herself from saying something acidic to her stallion. She bites her tongue, remembering her words with North and Cayenne last night. This trip isn’t about marching further down the war path. They are instead here to seek peace.

She glances back. “Oh, we have an extra visitor,” she says too loud. Then a small form bounces up, a young yellow mare with a red mane and an impossibly huge bow in her mane drips something from a test tube into a beaker. As the single drop hits the green liquid, it turns a cloudy yellow and starts to fizzle.

“Good job, Apple Bloom, and that’s enough for today. The reaction will take two days to complete.”

“You sure this is gonna work, Twilight?”

Twilight smiles fondly at the young mare, “Oh, your Granny is gonna love this potion on the zap apple trees. Don’t you worry.”

“Thanks, Twilight!” The young mare bounces from the room, Tim and Cayenne watching her all the way.

Cayenne turns back to look at Twilight. “Good afternoon, Princess,” she says stiffly.

Twilight is standing there, her eyes fixed on Tim, though her wings are folded at her sides, she flinches for a moment and looks at Cayenne. “Good afternoon, Cayenne.” She pushes back the goggles from her eyes, blinking a few times.

Cayenne stands there, watching as Twilight’s emotions war across her. Her wings flick back and forth, her ears flatten, then perk forward, then back. Her tail lashes. Finally, she turns and her horn lights, picking up the now smoking beaker and trotting to a fume hood. She places the beaker in the hood and closes the front. Her coat is enveloped in her magic and suddenly ends up hanging on a rack, along with the goggles. “Well, I won’t be needing those for today’s lesson, won’t I?”

Cayenne ticks her head to the side. “You might want to keep covered up in this circumstance.”

Twilight flushes but she stays firm. “Ponies don’t generally wear clothes.”

Cayenne fails to suppress the urge to growl, “Ponies don’t generally poach another herd’s stallion, even if they do have royal privilege.” Twilight stands there for a long moment, her mouth open to respond, but nothing emerges. Cayenne smirks. “It’s not so easy with others of the herd here, is it?”

Twilight sniffs, then she finally wilts. “I’m sorry.”

Cayenne stops. “What was that?”

“I was wrong, I should have come to you before I went into heat -- I should have made a case with you, Citrus, and North.” She sits down, her tail lashing across the floor. “I was wrong with what I did. I won’t apologize for desiring Tim, but I was wrong for how I went about it. I wish I had approached you first.”

Cayenne takes a few steps forward. “That’s a big admission, Twilight. What would you have done if we had refused?”

Twilight sits there for a long time, struggling with her emotions. “I would have shut down all contact with Tim.” She shudders, tears leaking from her eyes. “Anything I specifically needed to communicate with him about would have to be handled with others as intermediaries. And his continuing education would likely have fallen on Princess Luna.”

Cayenne looks back at Tim for a moment, “And if I asked you to do that now?”

Twilight’s eyes bulge. “After what we did, you would cut me off completely from him?”

Cayenne paws the floor. “Answer the question, Princess.”

Twilight looks at Cayenne for a long moment, though her eyes flick between Cayenne and Tim several times. “If that is what you will, I will do so… I guess that means I’ll have to talk to Princess Luna about continuing your education, Tim.”

Cayenne smiles slightly. “I’m not saying you need to right now. I want to talk to Citrus first.” She steps backwards and leans up against Tim. “The big guy here does need more education when it comes to pony norms.”

“I’ve already learned,” Tim says softly.

“Not enough!” Cayenne says sharply. Tim flinches. “Sorry, love; I’m trying to you’re not, well, us…” She glances up at Tim then over at Twilight, “Though I have a few questions.”

“I’ll answer anything within my power.”

Cayenne smiles. “Good.” She shuffles awkwardly. “Are you pregnant now?”

That gets a flinch from the lavender mare, she even takes a few steps back, “Why would you ask that?”

“Cayenne...” Tim starts, only to be stopped by a glare.

“Princess, you poached our stallion, you turned yourself human. And you had his DNA to be able to turn into one of his species. You were in heat, and you know the reason for being in heat is that you are fertile. So, I ask you, again, are you pregnant, with my stallion’s foal?”

Princess Twilight Sparkle stands there, her wings partially out in surprise, she swallows several times, glancing up at Tim, then down at Cayenne. She glances back and notices her wings, which she deliberately folds at her sides. “No,” she says faintly.

“Pardon, Princess?”

“No.” Twilight says a little louder. “I researched the DNA to see if there was a possibility, and even if such an embryo would survive changing back to my natural form. But you have to understand, Cayenne, I only had his DNA to actually work with. More than ninety percent of what I turned into when I cast that spell was identical to his. I mean, genetically, I was closer to being a fraternal twin to him than just some random human. I had to tweak the genes via trial and error to be able to make the form I did. It took a lot of work to make a viable female form to start with. And then to make the form pleasing to his eyes. I had to…” Her eyes flick to him, then back to Cayenne, “guess.”

“Well, your guesses seemed to have worked out pretty well, for you. Princess.”

Twilight flushes even darker, “Well, the chances of there being double recessive genes involved, I couldn’t risk that chance, so I had to make the new form infertile. All the hormones, everything required to make the body work correctly, but no eggs.”

Cayenne smiles, “Well, I must say, I am glad to hear that. It would be a lot worse had you gotten pregnant from Tim.”

Twilight seems to fold in on herself, “I don’t see how it’s possible.”

That gets a sniff from Cayenne, “Where there is magic, you never know, Princess.”

She looks up at Tim, “Okay, time for your lesson with the Princess.” She glances around, “I’ll get comfortable over here.” She glares at Twilight, “You are okay with me sitting in, right?”

Twilight flinches again, “Yes, I’m just fine with you being here.”

Cayenne moves over to a couch in the lab and lies down comfortably, Tim stands there for a few moments, it’s obvious to Cayenne that he’s rather torn on what to do. His eyes are darting between her and Twilight. When he looks at her, she smiles and flicks her ears at the pony princess. Tim gets the message and sits next to her. She keeps her ears perked forward, listening intently to what is being said.

“What did she mean about you not getting pregnant?”

Twilight’s ears flick back and forth, she glances back at Cayenne, then at Tim, “It’s rather complicated, Tim. But a foal born outside a herd structure would be…” She stops for a long time, then looks up at him, “I guess the term would be undesirable.”

He tilts his head to the side, “How so?”

“Well, it’s pretty much the hardest way to grow up for the foal and for it’s dam. A herd is seen as necessary, even if it’s just a single mare and stallion. That’s one reason why sometimes a stallion is cut loose from a herd if he strays.”

“So, to create a new herd for the foal’s benefit?”

She nods, he runs a finger along the lab bench, “So, were you hoping I would be cut loose from Citrus and Cayenne?”

“No! I told them I’d never try to poach you.” She stops, her face again flushed dark, “I wouldn’t even try to convince them to leave you to me.” She shudders for a moment, “I won’t deny that I want you.” She glances back at Cayenne, “Tim, I can’t deny to myself, or to you, that I have feelings for you.”

Tim sits there, staring at his hands on the table, “I don’t know what to say, Twilight.”

“I know, Tim. You love your herd, you wouldn’t do anything to leave them. I know that, Cayenne knows that, Citrus and North know that.” She stops, breathing heavily, “But is there any possibility that you could include me in that list?”

Tim glances back at Cayenne, searching her face. She keeps her face carefully neutral. Wanting his honest reaction. He looks down, “I’m sorry, Twilight, I would like to answer, but…”

Twilight huffs, glancing back at Cayenne, then at Tim, “I think we have a cultural issue here, Tim.” At his questioning look, “You are afraid of hurting me if you say no, and afraid of hurting Cayenne and the rest of the herd if you say yes?”

Tim’s eyes shine brightly with unshed tears as he nods, that gets a loving nuzzle from Twilight and she raises her voice, “This is a common problem we’ve had to deal with, Tim. I’m teaching you our cultural norms, but I don’t know yours well enough. Cayenne, would you come here and join us more directly?”

Cayenne frowns, but she gets up and walks slowly towards the two. She hops up on a seat next to Tim, “Okay?”

Twilight clears her throat, “I’ve encountered this dilemma a few times when it comes to teaching Tim about our culture and ideals, Cayenne. Though this is the most difficult so far.” She leans her head on Tim’s shoulder. Cayenne giggles at Tim’s flinch, “He thinks that if he admits that there is even a possibility that he would be interested in me that it will upset you. Making you think that he loves you less.” She sighs, “I believe it has to do with his cultural monogamy and the idea of one love diminishing another.”

Cayenne blinks. “Is this true, Tim?” Tim, for his part, has gotten very still. Twilight isn’t making any overt moves, other than the fact she’s got her head leaned on his shoulder. His eyes flick from looking towards Twilight, to looking at Cayenne. Cayenne watches him for long moments, finally she moves forward and nuzzles him at the crook of his neck. “Tim, just answer by either shaking your head no, or nodding in yes.” She stops to look into his eyes, “I told you before I came with you here that I was evaluating how you acted around Twilight, and how Twilight acts around you. Did you think that meant if I saw any affection for either of you, that means I would get angry at you?”

Tim’s eyes widen, but after a few seconds he nods.

She smile., “Okay, fair enough. So, would it surprise you that I am not at all jealous of you having affection for Twilight Sparkle here? And that said affection is actually a good thing to us?”

Tim’s eyes narrow as his brow furrows. “How is that possible? I cheated on you with her, and I know how angry you were at her. But you are saying if I have feelings for her, that’s a good thing? I’ve been trying to deny that I’m attracted to her since it happened.” That gets Twilight’s wings to pomf a bit out, and her breathing increases.

Cayenne leans forward and nuzzles Tim. “Could you explain monogmany? We don’t get it.”

“Monogamy is wanting one other for yourself. It’s wanting them alone, and them wanting you alone. Nobody else to love, kiss, hold, or have sex with. Hopefully forever.”

Cayenne says, “I don’t understand. I know what it is, but I don’t get it, just like I know what homosexuality is, but I don’t understand it. You don’t go after other pon- er, people, not even a bit? Not even for fun? What if you get sick of them? Doesn’t just one get lonely?”

“Not even for fun. You don’t need anyone else -- they complete you, and the concept of anyone else being there just brings pain.”

The mares are both intensely curious. “How does your society function with one mare one stallion? Don’t your few breeders have to produce many foals?” Cayenne asks.

“Humans have equal numbers male and females – it all works out, Cayenne,” Twilight explains. “We ponies tend to have a four to five fillies for every colt – monogamy would never work for us. But for them, herds would be unthinkable, perhaps even inhumane. Imagine all those stallions without mates…”

“I see. I’m sorry, Tim, but I genuinely cannot understand it. Can you, Twilight?”

“Not I, but I know somepony who does. When this drama is said and done, I will send her your way.”

“Is it Cadance?” Tim asks.

“Yes.”

He frowns. “Even better – I want to give her a piece of my mind about trying to force her love where it isn’t asked for.” Twilight grimaces.

Cayenne purrs, “You are a sweet stallion, love, but we must be diplomatic. Herds have ways of dealing with things one way or another. I was not looking for you to stiffly ignore her being herself.” She directs a glare at Twilight, “whether anything else happens is something the mares of your herd will discuss.” She looks into Tim’s eyes. “We are quite angry at Twilight for what she did. And you are in trouble because you didn’t react correctly. It’s not fair, but we can’t help it. We also can’t afford to set a weak example. Ponies talk. Doubly at scandal.” She glances at Twilight. “But we don’t hate her, we haven’t decided to freeze her out from any contact with our herd. But you remember a week ago when you spelled out why Twilight was able to get to you so badly?” She directs her smile at Twilight. “She has helped start the healing process.” She nuzzles Tim lovingly, and he leans into it, relishing the contact. Which has been rather sparse as of late. She looks at Twilight. “You know, there is one more pony we have to deal with on that.”

Twilight gulps, “Cadance has said she is sorry for what she did.”

“I understand, Citrus told me what she said, but she also said some other things that Citrus objected to.”

Twilight leans over and nuzzles Cayenne. “I promise, I will make it up to your herd.” She nuzzles Tim as well, “And you, I’m going to stop denying how I feel about you, and you and your herd can come to a decision.”

Cayenne winks at Twilight. “Citrus will make the decision, she is a reasonable mare. And we will see what goes on. The big guy here does need to continue his education though.”

Twilight leans back, shaking her head. “Alright, it’s time to continue your language lessons.” Her horn lights.

***

Tim settles down on the couch, his pants are on the floor. But he has his covers over him. He glances at the pegasus stallion curled up on the floor, he’s offered covers, he’s offered his own pillow to Silver, only to be roundly rejected. The stallion stubbornly has been sleeping on the floor, though a couple of times, Tim has woken up and covered the pegasus with his own blanket in his sleep. He glances at the stairs, North will be down before too long. Tim sighs as he watches the pegasus breathe evenly. He knows Silver is awake. He leans forward. “Hey, Silver.”

The pegasus grunts and turns his head, one baleful eye fixating on him, Tim offers a small smile. “When Citrus was saying that you were taking the punishment uncomplainingly. I almost laughed, because I hear plenty from you on it.”

Silver rolls his eyes, “Well, of course, Couchlord. I don’t complain to them, I complain to the one who fucked up the whole mess.”

Tim flinches, “No amount of apologies can help? I’m trying to fix things.”

That gets a growl, “Well, your horniness, you seem to be taking your time fixing things with our mares.” He smacks a hoof onto the floor, “While you at least get your balls drained, I’m stuck. I get to listen to you and North go at it, and I get…” He stops and sighs. “Bupkiss. It’s more than I’m getting, Fuck for Brains.”

Tim leans back. “You know, I’d rather you stop with that.”

Silver perks a single ear forward, “Oh, because while I’ve had to listen to you and North fuck nearly every night, I’ve had plenty of time to come up with plenty of names for you.” He grins evilly. “Wanna hear?”

Tim shakes his head, Silver huffs, “Oh, too bad. Our lead stallion doesn’t want to hear the natural consequences of his actions.”

“It’s not like that, Silver.” Tim growls.

That gets the pegasus’ head to snap up, “Oh? Really? Are you sure? It’s been nearly two months! I mean the Gala is only a couple of days away. Princess Twilight is out of heat, and apparently apologized to Cayenne enough that she’s prevailing on Citrus to give her a chance.” He stands up, “It looks like most of the problems are being repaired.” His eyes narrow, “Yet I’m still on the floor, not up there where our mares are.” He punctuates the last word with a hard hoof to the floor.

“Trust me, Silver, if I could find out how to fix this, and get the girls to let you back up before me, I would.”

That gets Silver’s wings to extend, “What are you saying, Chiller of Beds? You don’t want to be lead stallion anymore?”

Tim frowns, “I didn’t say that, I just don’t think you should have to endure the punishment like I am having to.”

To Tim’s surprise, Silver steps forward aggressively, “So, you don’t want to uphold your herds honor? You would break the rules, and have the newest stallion in your herd sleep with your mares, just because you feel sorry for him!” He turns his back, his tail lashing, “I don’t want your pity.” He hangs his head. “I just want you to fix this.”

“I don’t know how!” Tim shouts, getting the stallion to whirl back towards him.

“Citrus has explained how, you have damaged your mare’s trust in you! You’ve lost their confidence, and that little play the other day didn’t help! Trying to buy their affections!” He sits down, fighting to bring his extended wings back down, “Herds are built on trust and affection. You destroyed their trust by not communicating with your mares. You were attracted to Princess Twilight, yet you chose not to inform them. If you had, they might have been able to try to bring her into the herd.” He glances up at the stairs. “You are the lead stallion of your herd, they want you to be happy, too. And if pounding the purple plot would help, they would at least consider it. Even though such a fantastically powerful alicorn would produce a power problem among the mares.”

“A power problem?”

“Well, duh, don’t you think that Princess Twilight would be happy not being the lead mare, especially with her fixated on the lead stallion of the herd?”

“I don’t want Twilight as lead mare, I love Citrus where she is.”

“That might be enough, if Citrus wanted to stay lead mare, and you backed her, I doubt the Princess would say no to that.”

“Silver.” Tim stops, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I know I destroyed their trust in me. But I’ve done everything I know of to show them I’m worth their trust.” Tim flops onto the couch, turning away from Silver, “I thought after going to Twilight, and seeing how Cayenne and Twilight were able to get along, things would get better.”

He hears Silver laugh behind him, “Oh, you think because the mares made up, that heals what YOU did?”

Tim flips over, glaring at Silver, “Then how do I fix this?”

“A second part is going to be proving you are a capable lead stallion, and that has three parts. First is never doing it again. Second part is asserting your authority. Thirdly is getting me to back you.” Silver rolls his eyes. “You have to gain their trust back, and that is done in deeds, not in words.” Silver stalks forward slowly. “You know what, I think I should give you the list of wonderful things to call you.”

Tim shakes his head, but Silver ignores him. “Slutfire, Cock Blockington, Whorse, Sir Cheatsalot, Princess Plumber…”

Tim turns away as the stallion continues, but Silver’s voice is stuck in his ears as he continues, getting louder with each insult, “Sir Screwsalot, Chiller of Beds, Second Brainer, Loose Hips.”

“Stop it!”

“Make me, Mounting Man, Antiorgasmo, Duke of Dryspells.”

“Silver, I’m warning you.”

Silver Wing rolls his eyes. “Empty threats mean nothing, Floormaster. You’ll have to show some dominance if you want to get me in line, Pepper Plots. You’ve had lessons in at least some of our customs – what does a lead stallion do when words fail, Pounder Keg.”

“I mean it, Silver, stop!”

“Fuck for Brains, Heat Seeking Moron, Your Horniness…” Silver’s diatribe is cut short by Tim’s fist impacting the side of his head, snapping it to the side. He stops and shakes his head, “Oh, that’s it. You’re learning our ways – good!” He growls as he leaps towards Tim. Tim catches the stallion, planting a foot in his chest and heaving. The stallion flips over him and the couch and lands on his back on the floor. Before he’s able to regain his hooves, Tim leaps on him getting a big whoof of air as Tim punches him right in the middle of his chest. Tim shakes the hand as the stallion wheezes. He sits up, only to be knocked off by a forehoof. Tim lands on his back as the stallion leaps up and lands on him. He grabs Silver’s shoulders and they roll around on the floor, neither really gaining the upper hand, or hoof.

Tim wheezes as Silver’s able to get a good punch to his gut, though he smacks the stallion on the ear, getting a loud yelp as they continue to scuffle. The stallion cocks his back legs and gets under Tim, a hard push throws him back, he ends up half standing against the back of the couch. And with a battle yell, the stallion leaps at him. Tim steps to the side, grabbing an extended wing and flipping Silver to the floor on his side, then he has to scramble back as Silver lurches his head around and nearly bites Tim’s hand off. They end up squaring off, the stallion’s wings extended, and Tim crouching to keep as low a profile as possible.

“You wanna be the lead stallion of this herd.” Silver pants, his teeth bared, “Then act like one!” With that, he leaps at Tim again. Tim lowers his shoulder and the stallion’s hard chest impacts him, causing his bare feet to slide back. Tim reaches underneath and grabs Silver’s tail and a foreleg, flinging the pegasus into the couch back. Silver merely uses his legs to bounce off the couch and rebounds directly at Tim. This time he sidesteps again, grabbing an outstretched wing and slamming him to the ground, Tim extends the wing backwards, using a knee to force the stallion to the ground. Silver frantically flaps his other wing, trying to dislodge Tim, but he twists the wing in his hands, putting more pressure on the stallion’s barrel with his knee, getting a loud howl of pain from Silver.

“This it!?”

“Okay, okay. I give.” Silver shouts, slamming a forehoof into the floor several times, “You can let me up now!”

Tim releases Silver and falls back to the floor, panting. Silver lies there for a long time breathing just as heavily. Tim looks at Silver, the stallion has the first real smile on his face in what seems like forever. “You were holding back, you can fly, you can keep out of my grip,” Tim pants.

Silver rolls onto his side and gets his hooves underneath him, he lies there like that for a moment, continuing to grin at Tim. “I don’t want to be lead stallion, I don’t think Citrus would accept me as one.” He reaches over and punches Tim in the shoulder with a hoof. “You are fast, faster than I expected. But now, you’ve asserted your role in our herd.” He lays his head down, letting his breathing slowly work to normal. Finally, he shifts to look at Tim, “We will fix our herd, and I’m going to help. Just now you won my backing. I’ll avenge our honor.”

“Avenge our honor?”

Silver explains, “When mares fail, a stallion can still succeed. Citrus and Cayenne have failed to secure proper restitution from princesses Twilight and Cadance. Therefore, it is my duty to avenge us.”

“How? They’re princesses – you’ll be arrested or worse.”

“Mares against mares and stallions against stallions is our rule. They’ll have to have a male representative dispute with me, to cross swords.”

“A duel? Silver, are you crazy?”

“Not at all, Tim, in fact, I’m frightfully sane. I wasn’t finished yet. It sounds to me like your people no longer duel over things, but for us, here’s how it goes. If there is a herd conflict and mares can’t resolve it, it goes to us stallions. But here’s the thing: the stallion over whom the dispute hangs cannot fight. This stops a stallion from wrecking herd after herd, secure in his own strength. By making him depend on either a senior stallion for protection or a junior stallion for support, it mandates that he keep his herd happy, lest he find himself exposed without any kind of herd to shield him from the consequences of his actions. And, like as a princess can never be wrong herself, her representative can still be.”

Tim stutters, “I-I can’t let you do that, Silver. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Tim, if you insist on fighting him yourself, it’ll look very bad. It will say that you don’t care if you give offense by bulldozing through our customs and culture. We are herd animals; we cannot be without a herd so much that it is encoded into our psyches. This whole thing is going to cause a stir, but there will be a full scandal if you do something so damn reckless. It could push the princesses into having to expel you or strip you so ponies don’t worry about the state of our sacred traditions.”

“So you have to duel Cadance’s husband?”

“Yes. I have to give the challenge and match him in combat, even if only for a brief time. Not to the death, but to first blood. To satisfy honor, all it takes is that we both bravely play our parts to the end.”

“As you would say: We ponies are crazy,” a feminine voice says, “and our Silver is a very brave pony, don’t you think?”

Tim levers himself to his feet, glancing down, he’s relieved he at least still had his boxers on. He moves over to the couch and then stops dead in his tracks, North Point is sitting on the couch, a soft smile on her face.

To his surprise, she simply leans up against him, reflexively he puts an arm around her, and she snuggles close. She sits like that for a long time, humming softly as she just enjoys the loving touch. Soft hoofsteps announce Silver walking back to his usual spot, he glances at North and snorts in surprise as she pats the couch next to her. With a great leap, he’s on the couch, leaning up against North and Tim. They sit there for a long time, none speaking, just enjoying the feelings of being close.

Even the best of things have to come to an end, North squirms a little bit, Silver moves over and curls up on the floor, a much happier smile on his face. North turns to Tim, “I watched most of that. You weren’t trying to hurt him.”

Tim looks down. “I just wanted him to stop.”

North reaches up and kisses his cheek, letting her lips linger on his flesh, then she reaches over and runs her tongue on the edge of his ear. “You are learning how to lead your herd. You did good Tim.” She hops off the couch, sashaying her hips as she heads to the stairs. She stops at the threshold and looks back at him, “We will be made whole, love. Cayenne told Citrus and I some of what transpired between you are Twilight today. It was very enlightening, so promise me this.”

“What?”

“Cayenne told me that you have some very alien ideas and morals. Please, to help us understand you, once this is all settled, tell us how to be not just your mares, but your women.”

“I will.”

“You better, Tim,” Silver says, snuggling up against North’s mare.

Tim leans back, bringing his covers over his body as he settles onto the couch. Things aren’t back to normal, but they are on the highway to health.

Next Chapter: Chapter 21. Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 6 Minutes