In his entire life, Tim has never exercised as much as he has since coming to Equestria. His muscles are pleasantly tired after spending much of the day with his herd. Twilight and Cadance had joined them in today’s excursion, which has become the norm since they first showed up the day after the gala. Though Tim can’t complain too much, all three of the girls have been quite a bit more relaxed and happier in the last couple of weeks. The time spent with the duchess and the princess has been a net positive for his herd, his family, that he doesn’t have any reason to object. Twilight’s been intensely working on language with him, she’s even had some of the herd help learn a bit of his natural language. Listening to Silver, or Citrus, try to say English words has been a great source of amusement. Cadance has spent the bulk of her time with Citrus, but she’s also drawn Cayenne and North aside for extended periods as well.

Sex hasn’t been a nightly endeavor, but it’s been frequent, and far more enjoyable than before the gala. He grimaces, a long day of shopping and the herd spending time together has been wonderful, but he’s ready to drop into bed. As they disperse through their apartment, Tim is the first to head towards the stairs. A hot shower sounds really good at the moment. As he gets to the bottom landing, he glances at Citrus, who has curled up in her favorite chair with a book suspended in her magic. Her eyes flick towards him, and a genuine smile appears on her face. After the stress of the last couple of months, seeing such a happy smile on her face gets him to stop. He walks over to her, his approach gets her to look up at him curiously, he swoops down and embraces her, finding her mouth and kissing her deeply. She moans softly and her forehooves wrap around his shoulders.

After time immemorial, they pull away for air, she looks up at him. “What was that for?”

He reaches out a finger and boops her nose, getting it to scrunch cutely. “I missed this.”

She responds with a bright smile, her horn lighting and yanking him closer, the ensuing kiss is full of every bit of passion and love that she can muster, and he responds enthusiastically. When they part again, both are breathing heavily. He cups her cheek with a hand as he slowly moves away. No words are needed, each can tell what the other is thinking.

Tim glances in the library, Silver is sitting in his chair in a pool of light, an intense look on the stallion’s face as he works. Though the half missing ear, and the healed but still tender scar is a reminder that always turns his stomach. The stallion bears the injuries with pride, always brushing off the human's concerns with a happy grin, and practically preening when mares give him a second look. Tim shrugs and resumes his course up the stairs and into the expansive master bedroom. He shucks his clothes and tosses them into the hamper and grabs a thick towel. Opening the glass door, he turns the shower on. Almost instantly, the water is almost too hot. Tim doesn’t like the face peeling heat that some do, but he likes his showers to be a healthy temperature. He spends a few minutes just letting the almost too hot water spray all over him. Knowing the girls’ finances, he guesses that this is a super-premium apartment, and not all pony apartments are this well-appointed. But he appreciates the big shower with multiple shower heads and plenty of pressure. He grabs the soap and starts to apply it, just enjoying the feeling.

“You missed a spot.” A voice impinges upon his consciousness.

“North?” He turns around. “Where did I miss?”

He looks down as she leans forward. “Here,” she murmurs softly as she takes him into her mouth. He isn’t really hard, but that changes quickly as the light blue mare sucks strongly, getting his eyes to roll back and his knees fight to buckle. When it comes to blowjobs, North Point is by far the best at them. And coupled with the fact that she would happily give him blowjobs several times a day if he’d let her, she gets quite a bit of practice anyway. She’s not going for getting him to cum right just yet, just humming happily as she gives him pleasure. He watches her head bobbing back and forth, feeling her tongue working along his entire length. She has figured out the way he moves, and she loves to keep him on the edge of orgasm. After a bit, she releases him with a pop. Then she rears up. “Pick me up,” she says softly.

He gets his arms under her rib cage and she hooks her forelegs over his shoulders. She smiles as she pulls herself a little higher. He shifts so her back is up against the glass, and she leans forward to kiss him. Her tongue invades his mouth as the chime of her magic fills the shower stall. She hunches her hips forward and brings her rear legs over his hips. Her magic has a gentle grip on his manhood, she lowers herself slowly onto him. Keeping her mouth locked to his, though he can feel her breathing get stuttered as her warmth closes down on his cock.

She breaks the kiss, pulling her head back against the glass, “Oh dear Celestia, yes.” She moans. Tim smiles and cups her rear with both hands, playing with her tail as he starts slowly lifting her up and letting her come down on him. She helps as best as she can, but he’s got all the leverage. Her gasps get louder and louder as he just enjoys the feeling of her body on his. He slowly picks up the pace, causing her to moan even louder.

After only a couple of minutes, she clenches her entire body against him, he’s fully hilted inside her as she shudders and moans in pleasure. Tim holds her tight as she rides her wave of pleasure. After what seems like forever, she relaxes against him. She blinks a few times and kisses his cheek. “I want you to cum, love.” She says softly, “I want to feel you cum.”

Slowly at first, he starts pumping into her, bracing her against the shower wall. The hot water flowing over both their bodies as he speeds up, he’s close already. The feel of her writhing against him as she was lost to her own passion has brought him close to the edge. She peppers his cheek and shoulder with kisses as he continues, though he can feel she’s building up to a second peak herself rather quickly. He accelerates a bit, getting her to shudder in his grasp. The mares of his herd have mentioned that they enjoy it when he loses control. Well, he loves it when they lose control just as much. He gets his arms around her barrel tightly as he slams into her, lowering her a bit to get the best angle on her hot plot.

She sucks in air greedily as she starts to peak again, this time she reaches up and latches her teeth onto his ear lobe. He yells a bit as she brings a bit more pressure than he's used to, her breathing thundering in his hearing as her entire body writhes against his in orgasm. Though that sends him over the edge as well. He hilts in her, holding her tightly against him as his cock jerks with every spurt. He holds her tightly as he rides out the orgasm, though the pain in the ear is a bit of a distraction. Finally, she releases his ear and pulls him close, him still hilted inside her.

She kisses his cheek. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

He smiles at her. “Don’t worry about it.” He leans down and kisses her, her mouth opening readily to accept him. Their tongues dance together for a long moment before she pulls away. He gets the hint and pulls her up off of him, then he sets her down on the tile. She lights her horn and brings the soap to her, he’s pretty much done with his own shower. So, he kisses her on the cheek and slips out.

“Holy fuck, that was hot,” Silver says, his wings wide. Tim is beyond being nervous around Silver while naked. It doesn’t even really bother him anymore that the stallion is at full mast himself

“How much did you see?”

Silver smiles. “When I came in here, you were pounding the hell out of her up against the glass.”

That gets a grin. “Yeah, we both had fun.” He looks back at the glass, North is busily washing herself. “I got an idea. Hey, North, want a second round?”

“Really?”

“Oh, not with me.”

“Silver?”

“Who else!” Silver interrupts.

“Honey, you don’t even have to ask. Get in the shower and me!”

Silver does a little nicker, whispering, “Well played, Cock Blockington.” Tim has to laugh at the earnest tone of Silver's voice. He nods and the stallion’s nearly prances over to the shower door. Tim tosses off a salute to the stallion as he pulls the towel around his waist.

***

Silver is the last to hop into the bed. Tim's been cuddling with Citrus on one side and Cayenne on the other side, North is snoozing with her head on his thigh, her glasses askew incredible cutely. Citrus glances at Silver as he moves up and lies down next to North, glancing at Tim for permission. At Tim's nod, the stallion rests his own head on Tim's calf, putting a wing over North he snuggles up closer to her. Being wrapped up in pony has been always the best way to sleep for him. Though Citrus remains a bit tense. He squeezes her tighter. “You thinking about something?”

She looks up at him. “You are perceptive.”

He nods, she smiles tremulously. “I’ve been thinking about my conversation with Princess Cadance last week.”

“Oh?”

She nods, her ears flattening. “She’s suggested that we discuss Twilight and any potential future of her with the herd.”

It’s Tim's turn to stiffen up. That gets a hug from Citrus, but after a long moment, she leans her head back to look at him. “Did you like sex with her?”

“We’ve already discussed this, Citrus, and you know my answers haven’t changed.”

“Tim, we aren’t judging you, any decision made regarding her has to have your input. You like sex with her when she turned human, do you think you’d like sex with her as a pony?”

Tim shifts uncomfortably. “I don’t know, probably, but I do know I wouldn’t want to get into that situation without my herd.”

“Okay, in the situation of you having your herd’s consent, would you be willing to service her in heat?”

“What is heat sex even like?”

Silver pipes up. “Everything the girls are like now, but the extra pheromones they are dropping amps you up as much as they are amped up. It’s far more intense compared to our usual sex lives. There is a reason that unattached stallions become scarce when heat is coming. They want sex all the time and being around them makes you want sex just as much. And if they aren’t ready to sire, they find places to hide. Spending almost every waking moment in bed wouldn’t be strange.”

Citrus nods. “It is a part of our biology, and a very basic and strong part of our lives. There are teas and other herbal remedies to help, but the drive to perpetuate our species is exceedingly strong. You will find that out in the spring. You’ll have us three all clamoring for your attention. And if Twilight joins in, that will be four mares to the two of you. And I’ve agreed to helping her with heat. What I need input on is how you all can handle her emotionally when not in heat.”

“She’s a national hero, why?” North asks.

Citrus sighs, “That’s a big part of the problem; she’s a Princess. She has money, power, fame. She can’t ever hope for a normal relationship. Every gold digger, every scam artist, every pony and herd wanting to elevate their station in life wants her. My father probably has at least once tried to hit on her. She has to be careful about accepting advances, and as a consequence, she’s lonely. I see what Cadance is talking about. She needs to be loved for her, not for what she is. And she, for some reason, has focused on you, Tim. And while I can see the benefits of having her as a herd sister, what that would mean for us. I want the decision to be made for the right reason -- not for sex, not for being pulled into the orbit of royalty, but because of the mare herself.”

“Well, her actions with Tim have really hurt that. How can we judge her if she’s willing to poach a stallion?” Silver shifts a bit, his ear and a half flicking back and forth.

“That’s what we have to decide here. The duchess made some really good points, and ultimately, this decision rests on my withers,” Citrus says softly, “I want to say no, because of what she’s done already, but a shortsighted reaction like that doesn’t help her, or us.”

Cayenne’s ears flick. “I know what you are saying, if it helps at all, her apology was sincere. I don’t see her doing that again.”

“Even when her royal tightness demands pounding?”

Cayenne looks over at Silver. “No, not even then. That was a culmination of several factors. Yes, she was in heat, and we can excuse some of her actions because of it. She had also been denying her feelings for Tim. She had refused to let herself acknowledge her feelings. She was trying to spare our feelings, trying to respect our herd.”

“And she failed, miserably,” Citrus says somberly.

The mares all nod, then North looks up at Citrus. “There is magic in forgiveness, there is magic in friendship.” She nuzzles Silver. “Honor has been satisfied, thanks to our brave junior stallion.” She looks at Cayenne. “Do you think she was honest in that? She honestly wanted to spare our feelings? She had no desire to poach Tim?”

Cayenne frowns, her ears flattening to the sides. “Yes, I do believe her. She even took measures to prevent pregnancy as a human. And while the primary reasons were biological, she was genetically nearly a twin of Tim’s, she also knows what an unattached mare with foal means. We would have had to cut Tim loose, no matter our feelings on the matter, to satisfy honor. And such a duel over not just a tryst but a full poaching might have been to the death.”

Citrus looks over Tim’s chest at Cayenne. “Are you sure? Do you think she would try to take over? Would you accept her taking over lead mare?”

Everypony shakes their head, Tim speaks up. “No, I don’t think she wants that. She wants a happy and harmonious herd, she doesn’t have a big head in that respect. She knows she’s a princess, she knows what that represents. But she’s not shoving it in anyone’s face. I think she wants to be accepted for who she is. If she were here right now, she wouldn’t be shoving you over, she’d be cuddling with all of us.”

Silver’s ears flick forward. “But she’s a princess, princesses don’t cuddle with ponies.”

Citrus looks at the stallion. “Why not? They are ponies just like us.”

His head lifts, “Are you sure? Princess Celestia can move the sun, all by herself. Luna moves the moon. Cadance has the power to kindle love. Those are not things just ponies do.”

Tim reaches a hand and ruffles Silver’s cheek. “Silver, despite her having fantastic abilities, she wants to be loved, just like you, just like all of us.”

Silver withdraws a bit. “Yeah, well you’ve plowed her plot already,” he grumbles.

“Yes, I did. And I’ve also spent many hours with her. She like belly rubs, snoot boops, she likes to snuggle, she likes everything every mare here does. I’ve seen her with Spike. He’s a dragon, yet she showers him with love, genuine love, he’d go to the ends of the world for her. And she would go just as far for him. But she also gets wrapped up in what she’s doing. I know she has her brother, but she’s also a massive bookworm. Very much the introvert. She craves the attention, the love, like we have here. But she doesn’t really understand what an intimate relationship is. She’s read romance books, she’s read about how herds live in Equestria. She’s read all of that. But she doesn’t understand how to apply it. You know what I’m talking about, Citrus. She was in Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. And she had trouble in there, her studies were top notch, one of the best learners at the school. But she had no friends. She had ponies that she was acquainted with, like Moon Dancer, and a couple of others. But her studies always took priority. Not too long ago, she had discovered that she had left them behind. She went out of her way to help heal that rift.”

“You sure know a lot about her,” Citrus says softly, nuzzling his cheek.

Tim smiles. “Well, she was asking me about my life growing up, and she’d let me know what happened with her as well. I would be against her trying to join our herd, even on a limited basis, if it weren’t for her deciding to fix what she had messed up when she was younger. She has the desire to do the right thing, she only comes here to help. And Citrus, I know you noticed when she was indicating to interact with me. She’s still gun shy about what happened. You can see that she’s doing her best to get in your good graces. And that is with her thinking that her chances are zero.”

Citrus looks at Tim. “You think she deserves a chance? You think she can put aside that crown? Put aside the fact she’s an alicorn, for us? Not just for you, but for us?”

Tim’s eyes narrow as he thinks furiously. “I think she wants to. We know what she needs, and she knows it too, but she’s not as good at expressing that as you are.”

Citrus nuzzles Tim again. “I’ve heard what everypony has to say. I’m not going to just say come on in and make yourself a second home here. But we can see if she’s willing to be one of us, in private. I know she has to be a princess when she’s in public. But when in private, we will have to see if she can be just a pony with us.

Cayenne flicks an ear. “You think she can let her mane down, so to speak?”

Citrus looks at Tim for a long moment, at his slight nod, she nods herself. “I think so.”

“But she has to come to us,” North says, “We don’t want to come across as social climbers, you know that will get her defenses up immediately.”

Citrus nods. “I’ll let the duchess know that we’ll try.”

Citrus snuggles close to Tim, rolling on her back. “Speaking of belly wubs…”

Tim smiles as he runs his hand along her taught belly, feeling the short hairs there and how soft she is. She sighs and melts into his side with a happy smile.

Cayenne rolls on her back. “You’ve got two hands there, bucko.” She gets a laugh from Tim as he shows his love for her as well.

Silver watches for a long moment, a small smile on his face. He nuzzles North and brings her closer to him, running his wings along the mare’s barrel, “It is your decision, and I support whatever you decide.” He chuckles, “Though I still think fish will fly well before I’ll ever mount her.”

***

Tim has very rarely been in a taxi. The ponies prefer to walk almost everywhere, though a trip from one end of Canterlot to the other would be a rather long walk. The herd had decided to take a taxi, but with the added company of Duchess Cadance and Princess Twilight make the tight space rather cramped. Citrus sits next to him, leaning happily up against him, so he’s quite happy in the cab. The two stallions pulling the cab are keeping it at a quick pace. Due to Canterlot being built on a mountainside, the city is divided into several areas, with the Royal Palace being the highest structure. Large bridges connect the different sections of the city together. And all the white marble and sculpture is actually quite beautiful to Tim’s eyes. He holds on as the stallions take a turn and head down yet another bridge.

Tim puts an arm around Citrus, enjoying her being close. In the last few weeks since the duel, Cadance and Twilight have visited quite often. Sometimes while he’s at work, sometimes with him home. And to his delight, their lives have been not only returning to normal, the mares have been more understanding of his quirks. He’s been brought in to their financial lives as well. Not just being able to spend the bits that he’s earned in his job but having a say in some of the business decisions that Citrus and Cayenne have had to deal with. Being asked his opinion on things has made his life in Equestria much better. He leans back and holds Citrus as the taxi continues on its way to their destination.

Finally, he looks around as the stallions slow. They are pulling into a place he’s never been before in Equestria. Though some of the smells are similar to when he visited as a child back home. As the taxi stops, Twilight leads them off. “Welcome to the Canterlot zoo,” she says softly. Citrus lights her horn and opens her saddle bag, only to stop at a sharp look from Twilight. “I said I was treating all of you today, Citrus.” Citrus lets her horn go quiet, but she does stick out her tongue at the purple alicorn. Twilight giggles in response, “You know, Citrus. You can have your friends treat you to nice things from time to time.”

Citrus nods. “Thank you, Twilight.” She glances over at Cadance, and Tim is surprised when the larger alicorn nods with a big smile on her face. “So, what’s special about the Canterlot zoo?”

Twilight floats a few golden coins to the stallion, who takes the money with a big smile, then she also floats some more to the mare in a ticket booth at the entrance. She looks back at Citrus as they pass through the gate, “The zoo here has the most extensive collection of rare and exotic creatures from Equestria, and all over the world. It is the biggest zoo of its kind and its right here! Their cataloguing of species and subspecies could fill a library on its own.Their conservation programs have been working to build populations that have been lost due to natural disaster, or famine, or a number of other reasons in places we ponies don’t control the elements. Princess Celestia has decreed the zoo here is to uphold the biodiversity of our world, and to expand life wherever possible.The amount of research you could do here on animals alone. Isn't it wonderful?”

“But it’s a zoo, a place for ponies to look at all these creatures.”

Twilight blinks slowly looking at him as if he had grown a second head. “Umm, yes, that is a part of it. Remember, if you hear about a fire and a population being decimated. It’s merely words to you. But seeing them, seeing the ponies dedicated to helping them, it gives you a better idea of what those words actually mean. Conservation is the biggest part of the mission here.”

Tim follows the herd as they join the ponies already there. Apparently, a couple of schools have brought students here. Hundreds of colts and fillies are running around, with tired adults in tow. Twilight is wearing a cloak to hide her wings, escaping the attention of the throngs, although Tim isn’t quite so lucky; he actually gets quite a bit of attention himself. He has soon attracted dozens of young ponies, curious about the creature with two of the alicorns of Equestria joining him. He tries to answer the questions the ponies pepper him with. Though he’s learning just as much. Twilight had told him about the disparity between the birth rate between male and female. And for every six or seven fillies and young mares, there’s maybe one colt or young stallion. After the initial furor abates, he leans over to Twilight and remarks that.

Twilight blinks, “You have to consider our genetics, Tim. Remember, our genome consists of the genes which comprise earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. We are wildly different, yet we are interfertile. A pegasus can get a unicorn with foal, and such. And let’s not get into the interfertility with griffons, donkeys, and other denizens of our world. With all that complexity, the male-female ratio is not at parity like with your species. But is skewed heavily in favor of fillies. It’s also one of the reasons why our herds end up the way they do. One mare to one stallion would mean a lot of lonely mares. There are even magical ways for two mares to achieve impregnation. Though it is rather taboo, it does happen from time to time. Though the product there is always female, hence why it is taboo – if everypony did it, we would, in the end, run out of stallions, and only via unicorm magic could reproduction be achieved. You can see how a malicious pony could use that for evil. That basic fact of our biology is why colts are highly prized. We love our offspring, and you can see that here.”

Tim looks around, the little ones running around seem to all be well fed, well taken care of, and most of all, happy. He looks back at Twilight. “I see.”

She smiles brightly. “Well, you’ve seen all different kinds of creatures. Do you have most of them on your world?”

Tim shrugs, “Yeah, mostly. I’ve seen lions, bears, ostriches, deer, all of those on our world.” He stops and blinks, “Wait a second, does that bunny have antlers?"

Twilight turns and looks, "Its a jackalope, they are native around here. Now you have to be careful, because there are blood drinking vampiric Jackalopes, but they are usually kept in check by the Chupacabras."

Tim stands there for a long moment, his mouth working, but nothing coming out.

She smiles, then she looks up at the sky, a concerned frown forming. “Well, that’s not good.” She says softly.

Tim follows where she’s looking, a sky chariot is coming in to land, a few ponies are aboard. Curious, Twilight takes off at an easy canter, and after a few moments, he jogs along, the rest of the herd in tow. As they approach the chariot, two unicorns are bringing out a form on a long board. One of them comes up to Twilight, ducking her head, “Your pardon princess, we found her at the edge of the Everfree. She was severely injured, we aren’t certain what did it to her.”

“Who is she?”

“A deer. We have some of the best vets here at the Canterlot zoo, and a great rehabilitation center for injured animals as well. We’ll have her grazing with the rest here in no time.”

Twilight turns back to Tim. “Oh, this is exciting, a rescue case has come in. Want to see more?”

Tim looks back at the herd, and then over to Twilight. “We won’t be in the way?”

“Not an inch.”

“That would be pretty cool.”

The stretcher is floated into the small building that apparently houses the veterinarian clinic. Twilight and the rest follow at a respectful distance. Though she winces at the blood slowly dripping off the edge of the stretcher, she leans towards Tim, “Whatever got her, got her good.” They are soon inside, and two unicorns come up, both light their horns, calling out orders to the other ponies. The other ponies leap to obey as the two unicorns light their horns and start working.

“So, this is how you do magical healing?” Tim murmurs. Damaged flesh is enclosed in a unicorn’s aura, and the wound closes up. A needle finds a vein, and blood is drawn from the deer, who is unconscious throughout. After the blood is drawn, what looks like saline is hung, trying to replenish fluids. Tim leans back, watching the unicorns work.

Both of them have grim looks on their faces, the magic involved in the healing seems to be rather strong. Twilight moves in, and the others start to defer to her. Though she dispels that quickly. “I’m here to help, not taking over.” She says softly, as her own magical aura adds to the magic in the room, “I’m not the best at healing, but I can provide supportive magic here.”

That gets a big sigh as the other two continue to work. A pegasus brings an oxygen mask and places it gently over the deer’s muzzle. Before long, the deer starts to move, getting happy smiles from all involved. Citrus leans towards Tim. “Magical healing takes as much as it gives. A skilled healer can mend broken bones where the bone is sticking out of the flesh without so much as a scar, but some of that energy is taken from the one getting healed. One reason a lot of pegasi don’t like magical healing done on their wings. Though their repair factor dwarfs other ponies.”

Not wanting to interrupt the others working, Tim pitches his voice low. “So, she was near death?”

Citrus agrees, “Yeah, really close judging by how limited their initial healing was. Notice they started on the wounds actively bleeding. And focused on stabilization. Flew her right by triage, too. If you get to triage and you get held there, be grateful – if you were really about to die for real, they wouldn’t be okay with keeping you waiting. They can’t fully heal her to how she was before this attack, but they can keep her from bleeding out, and heal the worst of the wounds. Natural healing will have to complete the work, so she’ll likely be laid up here for a while.”

Tim looks at the deer. “She looks different than the deer they had on display.”

“Oh? I didn’t notice.”

Tim nods, “Yeah, smaller body, her ears are a lot smaller too. Like the difference between mule deer and white tails back home.”

Twilight finally backs away from the others working. The horns of all the ponies quiet as a warm blanket covers the deer, Twilight comes close. “I’m glad I could lend my strength to them. She was in bad shape.”

Citrus perks up. “Tim said she looks different than the other deer that are on display here.”

Twilight’s eyebrows rise. “Around Ponyville, there are pretty much just the same type, though…” She turns as the deer starts to stir. An earth pony adjusts the blanket as the deer’s eyes open.

Twilight moves forward, watching as the deer blinks a few times. Then the deer opens her mouth. “Take your stinking hooves off of me you damned dirty horse!”

Next Chapter: Chapter 27. Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 28 Minutes