The single word that Twilight had shouted rings throughout the relatively expansive general store in Appleoosa. A half-dozen ponies turn to look curiously. Though the alicorn’s wings have extended in rage, her focus is on the tall biped among the ponies. He turns curiously to look at Twilight, and Tim gets a good look at him. Another minotaur, taller than him, with a bull’s head on top of a vaguely humanoid body, though with the hooves of a bull as well. He smiles and strikes a pose that shows off his biceps. “Well, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle. Was Iron Will hard to track down, Princess?”

Twilight snorts softly, “I was after Flim and Flam. I’m quite surprised to see you here.”

The minotaur strikes a pose, flexing his enormous biceps. “It must be Iron Will’s animal magnetism. You came directly to him.” He turns and clasps his hands in front of his waist, flexing his arms again.

Twilight steps forward. “I’m here to retrieve the stolen potion, Iron Will.” She flicks her ears, “Where are Flim and Flam?”

“Iron Will cares not where his delivery ponies have gone. They did their job and have left.” He takes a step forward, “These ponies here are having a hard time growing enough food. Iron Will is simply here to help.”

“Right, another scam? Like you helped King Aspen?”

He stands up straighter. “A Scam? A Scam? You would tarnish the name that is Iron Will?” He strikes another pose. “I’m here to help.” He reaches over and picks up a foal, depositing the young earth pony in front of Twilight, “Can you say no to those eyes?” The foal looks up at Twilight with bright sad eyes. “As to King Aspen, Iron Will had a legal and binding contract with the King. All issues with that would need to be taken up in the courts.”

Twilight looks at the foal, she takes a moment to run a wing along the pony’s cheek, then she shakes her head. “You only help yourself.”

"Iron Will helps lots of ponies and other creatures. But Iron Will is confused. If you are following, why are you all huffy?"

"I'm not following you!" She shouts. Then she catches herself, she puts her hoof to her chest and pushes it slowly s straight out, exhaling. "Breathe, Twilight.” She takes several deep breaths. After a moment, she says in a much calmer voice, “I'm not following you, Iron Will."

“Iron Will has noticed your interest. He does not object to the Princess of Friendship’s attention.” He smiles at her, wiggling his eyebrows.

Twilight stomps a hoof in frustration. “I’m not interested in you!”

He looks coyly at the herd behind Twilight, then back at her. “Yes, Princess, you’ve followed Iron Will into the Everfree before, now you follow him to Appleoosa. And he’s supposed to believe a lack of interest?”

She spreads her forelegs, her wings rising in rage. “I’m not interested in you, I’m interested in Tim!” She shouts loudly, getting everyone to flinch away from the power emanating from her. Though after a moment, she flinches as what she said registers. She looks back at Tim with a panicked look on her face, her wings clamping to her sides. Rapidly her face and ears turn bright red.

The minotaur looks at the human, then at the mares, then he smiles. "Oh, Iron Will sees. You've found a substitute to satisfy your cravings for Iron Will." He points at Tim. "Though he's rather furless and somewhat scrawny for a minotaur.”

She flinches. "What? He's not a replacement for you! I have never had any feelings for you!"

"Good, then Iron Will can go back to helping the fine folk here, especially the foals." Turning, he flexes his butt once in front of Twilight before walking back to his display full of bottles of the growth potion. Though his walk is stopped by the doe, who has scampered by Citrus and North and has full on tackled the enormous minotaur.

“That’s my family’s potion! It wasn’t for sale to those two ponies!” She shouts as she strikes the minotaur. He reaches up and grabs her by the scruff of the neck. He holds her at arm’s length, though that doesn’t seem to deter her. She flails her hooves at him, still trying to get a hit on him.

He looks at Twilight. “So, getting puny deer to fight your battles?”

His eyes widen as her magic envelopes him and picks him up. Wisteria is pulled away and gently deposited on the floor as Iron Will is floated slowly towards Twilight. She takes to the air as she brings him close. “You are in possession of stolen goods. Should I call the Royal Guards?” She says quietly with an unmistakable air of menace in her voice. This actually gets a gulp from the Minotaur. Though Tim is uncertain if this fear is from her tone, or from the threat of the Guard.

“Iron Will was not the one to take the potion, Princess. He merely bought it from the two unicorn ponies. They didn’t provide much information. But Iron Will has been in the Everfree before. He knows the ratio for diluting the Miracle Gro plant food. Look around this town, all those plants are growing in the dead of winter because of Iron Will and his business acumen.”

The doe paws the ground. “Because of my family’s potion, you thief!” She makes to leap at the minotaur once again, only to be restrained by Twilight’s magic once again.

Twilight sighs heavily, “As a Princess of Equestria, I must order the remaining barrels confiscated to be returned to Wisteria’s home.” She lights her horn to send orange sparks skyward., shushes Iron Will with a look. “Whether you like it or not, this is stolen property, and you do not have the right to profit from it. I must also further confiscate any profits from the sale of the potion, to be returned to Wisteria as reparations.”

The minotaur stands there for a long time, breathing heavily. “Fine, Princess. Iron Will must confess. He likes the idea of a pony mate. And the Princess is rather attractive, especially when she’s mad.” He stops, wiggling his eyebrows at her, but immediately quits when he sees the new arrivals – three pegasus guards, all holding sheathed rapiers Tim notices are more utilitarian iterations of the one Silver used in his duel – shorter and stouter blades, comparatively speaking, no ricasso, and the elaborate sweepings are instead a metal bowl that loops around to form the back of the hilt.

Citrus grabs Tim’s hand and backs up, also drawing North Point back with her. Tim gapes as smoke starts to wisp from the mane and tail of the alicorn princess. She snorts softly and steps towards him, taking slow, deliberate steps. “I am not attracted to you, Iron Will. Not even one little bit.”

The minotaur glances at Tim. “Iron Will has reason to doubt that, considering you are interested in a pale imitation.” He strikes another pose. “You can try with the real thing.” He leans down to her. “Iron Will can outperform any hairless ape. Especially this scrawny one.”

“I SWEAR TO FUCK!” Her scream gets everyone, even Iron Will, to flinch back. Her mane and tail turn to bright flames. Her wings extend and she gets eye level with him. “I love the human, not you. You have violated the law and benefitted from the larceny perpetrated by others! And most of all, you have seriously pissed me off.” The flames extinguish and she drops to the floor, her ears back and anger crackling in her eyes. “Pay the reparations, and we will be on our way. Or do I have to have the guard arrest you?” The swords come out.

He sticks a thumb underneath the short necktie he’s wearing as though it’s starting to strangle him. He takes a long time looking at the ponies all around, finally he deflates, “Iron Will will go and get the bits for the Princess. Unless the princess prefers wearing her bits.” Iron will says as he flexes his muscles and wiggles his eyebrows, glancing up at Tim before focusing again on Twilight. "I bet he doesn't even know how to handle a bridle, though he’s a poor substitute for the real thing.”

“GO!” Twilight screams, her horn lighting and the minotaur jumping as if goosed. Which is very likely, given the mood of the Princess. She snorts softly at his retreating back before turning towards Wisteria. “I cannot do anything for what has already been used.” She looks back at the other ponies. “And given that quite a few crops seem to have been planted in anticipation of a supply of this. I will have to speak to Princess Celestia and the weather managers in Cloudsdale to help support this crop outside of the normal growing season.” She turns to her guards. “You have my permission to take inventory and confiscate as needed. I will write a letter to Captain Shining Armor advising the assignment of a detective to this case.”

Wisteria looks down, her ears flicking back and forth. She glances at the other ponies, most of them have ears down and tails tucked, quite dejected in the face of what happened. “I don’t like that my family’s serum has been stolen.” She growls. She looks around, “But I can’t see a crop failing because of short sighted greedy minotaurs.” She looks down. “Twelve barrels were stolen, I’m not an expert, mind you, but I’ll leave what’s already been bottled for sale for the ponies to use. If they need more, I’ll tell my parents, and maybe they can sell some more to the ponies from here if they decide to come and buy in the Everfree.”

“The Everfree? That’s a dangerous place.” One of the other pony’s moans.

Twilight looks at Wisteria. “That’s equitable. I can go with you to talk to your family and maybe talk to Prince Bramble.” She looks back at the other ponies. “If anypony wants to, come to my castle in Ponyville, and we will find somepony to escort you into the Everfree to get more if necessary.”

Iron Will comes back, a big sack on his back, he drops the sack in front of Twilight. She flinches at the loud clank of bits inside the canvas. Her magic envelopes the bag, getting a grunt from her as she lifts it. “How much did you sell?”

The minotaur shrugs. “Two barrels have been portioned out into bottles for sale, I’ve sold about two thirds of the bottles.”

The doe walks forward and taps the sack. “That’s a lot of bits.” She looks up at the grin on the minotaur’s face.

Twilight whirls around. “Let’s go.”

Tim, North, and Citrus join Wisteria in turning away from the minotar. As they are walking, he speaks up again, “And there she goes, showing off her tail to Iron Will. Some ponies just don't know what they need.”

Twilight ignores him. Wisteria moves up next to Twilight as the alicorn walks from the store. “What about the thieves? He just sold the serum.”

Twilight looks at the deer. “Don’t you worry. I have an idea where they might be going. I have a friend who will be happy to let them know how bad it is to steal from anyone.”

Wisteria glances back at Tim, Citrus and North. “Who?”

“My friend that’s dealt with them a few times before. I’ll let her know what they’ve done. She’ll set them right.”

Wisteria’s ears flick back and forth. “When we do sell the serum, twelve barrels would actually get less gold than you are carrying right now. And he only sold two.”

Twilight glances at the bag. “You are entitled to the spoils of his effort, since your family produced the serum in the first place.” She giggles, “Maybe you should up the price a bit, considering it’s so effective.” She glances around. “Since we were tracking them, we had to go the long way. Now let’s take the train back to Ponyville. We’ll be home by morning.”

Wisteria looks down, “You do know why we don’t typically sell the serum to the ponies, right? You all control your weather and growing conditions every year. You don’t even really need it around here, this is more for added food to get added profits for the farmers here. We usually sell to the Griffon Empire, and to the Zebras, and a few others. They know what to do to use it safely.”

Twilight glances over. “Safely?”

Wisteria nods. “Yeah, it doesn’t discriminate what plants it nourishes and enhances the growth of. Any weeds or malicious plants will absorb it just as readily, and grow just as fast or faster. Too many of them could choke a good field or wheat or corn, or whatever, to death. The serum is actually pretty dangerous in the wrong hooves.”

Twilight looks at the deer for a long moment as they all walk. “Well, I’m glad we retrieved it.”

Citrus watches the larger mare as they walk towards the train station. Tim watches as she mutters to herself as they walk. North walks placidly, keeping pace with Citrus and Tim. He clears his throat, getting Citrus to stop muttering and look up at him expectantly. He looks up,“So, what an adventure, right?”

Citrus nods. “It doesn’t even seem to be all that uncommon for her. What craziness does that mare go through on a regular basis?”

That gets a bark of a laugh from Tim. Twilight’s ears flick a bit, but remain pointing forward. Tim suspects she’s trying to give them respectful privacy there. He glances at her before leaning a bit to be closer to Citrus. “She’s told me some of what’s happened since she came to Ponyville. Her time in Canterlot was mainly just learning in class. But her adventure to gain her wings.” He glances at Twilight then back at Citrus, “She royally messed up. She tried a spell that was incomplete, and somehow it switched her friend’s cutie marks.”

That gets a shudder from both North and Citrus. “That must have been horrible.”

“Apparently, it went on for a few months, with her trying many different things to change them back. She finally figured out that her friends had to discover once again what made their marks special. And she had to have them help each other discover that magic inside of them once again. The spell really messed up their minds for a while. And let’s not forget Nightmare Moon, and Discord, and Sombra. Her and her friends have saved the world.”

Citrus focuses on Twilight. “She truly could have her choice of stallions, of herds.” She glances up at Tim. “Yet she chose you, and us.”

***

Tim looks out the window, it’s now the heart of winter in Canterlot. Add in today the weather pegasi have decided the snowpack in the mountains is a little thin, so a heavy snowstorm has been ordered. Tim had watched the previous day as the clouds were brought in, making a heavy layer above the city on the mountain. The snow started the previous night, and is still continuing. He leans back to look in the kitchen. “Are you sure, Cayenne?”

The faintly pink mare trots into the living room. “Have you seen the status of our fridge? I might be able to squeeze one meal from that. And it would be on the order of warm mush. No, we will deal with the weather, we need food.” She raises her voice. “Silver, are you ready?”

“Yes, my lovely,” the pegasus answers as he enters the living room, just a scarf wrapped around his neck. Cayenne’s horn is lit as she floats a heavy parka around her barrel and she zips it up. Tim grabs his own coat, along with a warm hat and his own scarf.

Tim zips his own coat to the neck and pulls on the gloves. That white mare at Canterlot Boutique had been puzzled when he had asked for something to keep his hands warm, butshe had been able to produce some of the softest and warmest gloves he’s ever had a chance to put on his hands. They would fetch a pretty penny back home, he had better dexterity with them than even thin driving gloves he’s worn at times while working. She had charged a pretty penny for them too, given he would be the only one to buy them, though she had mentioned a pair for “Spikey wikey” as she had called him. Tim looks at Silver. “Don’t want a jacket?”

The stallion extends a wing. “I’m a pegasus, I love the cold; don’t forget the sky is colder than an enchantress’s teats. Winter is fun!” He flaps into the air as Cayenne lights her horn to open the door. The corridor is deserted and they make it to the street with only seeing the doormare. Most ponies are not wanting to go out in the weather. Opening the front door has a wall of cold slamming into all of them. Silver drops to the ground rather than get blown about by the cold wind, though he keeps his wings tight to his sides as they walk.

Cayenne looks up. “I was considering going to the Ponyville market this time, but Citrus has informed me that they are getting as much snow as we are. And Citrus would have to ask Twilight to teleport us all, rather than taking the train. I’m not a big fan of teleportation, to be honest.”

In deference to the weather, most stores are keeping their wares inside, so they have to walk into each store. Cayenne fusses over the root vegetables as she buys food. This time of year, she’s explained, a lot of storable foods are staples for the ponies. Dried beans and potatoes, tubers, and other fare are quickly added to the bags that Tim had grabbed before leaving. The ubiquitous plastic bag he’s always been used to back home is completely unknown here in Equestria. Though paper bags are common, they have a nice store of heavy duty canvas bags to use. After visiting a few stores, Cayenne sighs, “Greenhouses would be still producing good food I would think, but I haven’t seen a hint of green in the last three stores.”

“Well, let’s keep going,” Silver says, his own saddle bags are laden down with food. “We’ve found a lot of good grains, too.” He looks up at Tim. “We could use some hay, but you aren’t too keen on that, right?”

Tim shakes his head. “Not unless you want to ask Twilight to turn me back into a pony.”

Silver snorts, “Turn you…what?”

Cayenne giggles, “I can’t believe we haven’t told you about that before, Silver.”

“Okay, you’ve gotta tell me.”

Tim rolls his eyes as they trudge through the snow towards the next store on Cayenne’s list. “It was some weird magical portal that Twilight had me go through. It didn’t do anything when I went through, but coming back, it turned me into a pony.”

“Awww, man. That’s awesome!” The pegasus exclaims loudly. “I bet you were turned into a super cool pegasus, right?”

Cayenne leans over and nuzzles the stallion. “No, he was a unicorn.” She stops for a moment, then starts to walk slowly, deep in thought. “Given how Twilight was acting then, both Citrus and I thought she felt bad about messing up.” She looks up at Tim. “But now, I think she was upset on your behalf. You were worried we’d reject you, and that was what she was most afraid of.” She looks down, her ears flicking back and forth as she thinks furiously. “She was most upset about what it meant to you. On thinking about it again, she was upset that she made a major change in your life. One you didn’t ask for, and it was a source of stress for you.” She smiles up at Tim. “That’s why she worked so hard to fix you so quickly.”

Silver looks at Cayenne, then up at Tim. “So, you are saying it wasn’t about her? It was about Tim?”

Cayenne nods, then she shakes her head, “I can’t believe I didn’t see that before. On finding that she’s actually in love with you, not just horny for you. That changes a lot of how she interacted with you, and with us.”

Tim shrugs. “How so?”

Cayenne turns the corner and enters another store. This time a bakery, she browses among the merchandise displays. “Tim told us how she was acting towards him, that she was leaking, and winking. But she was never really trying to display herself to him.” She looks up at Tim. “In fact, most of her actions were of a mare that’s not really good at hiding her body’s reactions. If they had been pointed out, she probably would have been supremely embarrassed. I’m beginning to think that she’s telling the truth about not really realizing how much Tim affected her.” She smiles brightly, “Though in the last few months she has learned. I think Citrus has only had to tell her to lower her tail a couple of times on her most recent visits.”

Tim frowns. “She’s still feeling the same thing? We had sex, wouldn’t that have calmed her down? I mean, you and Citrus don’t go around showing yourselves to me, except when we are about to head to the bedroom.”

Cayenne looks up at him. “It was a haze for her. While she did get what she wanted, she really didn’t enjoy it the way she really wants to.”

Silver looks at Tim, then at Cayenne. “How so?”

Cayenne huffs as she picks up several loaves of bread and a package of muffins. “Sex during heat isn’t about pleasure. It’s about easing the pressure that your body is driving you crazy with. Sex like that is a relief, as both of you will find out more of when Citrus, North, and I go through it. Pretty much nonstop sex. I’m just going to tell you this now, but if you at any point want to duck out during heat so you don’t die, just do it – just leave a note saying so and leave. If you try to talk to us in person about it, odds are we’ll just street the conversation, and you, into even more sex. I’m not joking.” She stops and blinks. “That’s coming quickly, too. About a month away.” She snorts. “I’m going to have close down for a couple of weeks when it fully hits Canterlot.”

“Close down?”

Silver nods. “Heat season isn’t exactly a holiday in Equestria, but most businesses do close down, especially in cities like Canterlot. Too many mares in season, not nearly enough stallions. Pegasi don’t have it as organized as the unicorns and earth ponies, but when I was in Los Pegasus, most of our tourist trade dropped during the early spring when most mares hit heat, except for some weird foreign sex tourists taking advantage of the season to pretty much fuck round the clock. And around that time, a lot of the pegasus mares were either closeting themselves at home, or on the prowl for stallions. You have no idea how many unicorns were offering no-foals spells at grossly gauged prices.”

“I’ve heard of that.” Tim says.

Cayenne nods. “I’m still debating...” She looks at Silver. “Would you want to be a dad, Silver?”

The stallion snorts softly, “What? Me? A dad?”

Cayenne nods again. “I mean, we can have you have your own sterility spell placed on you. But for stallions, it kinda makes you boys a lot more excited.”

Tim looks at the stallion, who is looking inward, a pensive look on his face, then at Cayenne, she’s putting her purchases in her saddle bags as she floats a few gold coins to the proprietor of the bakery. She gestures and the other two follow. As they make it into the snowy street, she nudges Silver. “Well?”

“I’ve been temp sterilized before – I’d rather have blowjob season.” Silver walks slowly with them. “Are you planning on having a foal?”

Cayenne nods. “Citrus feels she isn’t ready, North is still on the fence, but I want a foal.”

Tim asks, “Don’t we get a say in this?”

Citrus explains, “You do. It’s just pony tradition that mares, because they are the ones who through heat and pregnancy, decide amongst themselves first who wants to breed, and then present their wishes to their stallions who then are free to either consent or refuse fatherhood.”

Tim looks at the stallion, though Cayenne moves over and rubs up against his thigh. “Tim, you do know, normally, the lead stallion would be first asked if he wants to be a dad, and in some herds he has exclusive breeding rights, but I don’t want to presume that you would want to be changed. Twilight did say it was possible.”

Tim smiles. “Don’t worry, I was a pony, and it was nice, but I prefer being human. I also don’t want any weird status problems for our children. Besides, if we’re talking most deserving guy, it’s you, Silver, considering you got half your face chopped off for us.”

“And you know it only made me prettier.”

Cayenne says, “That’s what I thought – to both those things, I mean.”

Silver nudges Tim with a wing as they walk into another store. “You sure? I’m not going to take your thunder. You are lead stallion, so breeding rights are yours.”

Tim nods. "I want you to be happy, and having a foal is something you truly want, so I won't stand in the way of that. But changing forms just to have a foal... It would feel like I'm lying to the foal all the time. I will do everything I can do to help raise it, but for this, Silver is the better choice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying no to this forever, but it’s a hard pass from me this time."

That gets big grins from both of them as they look around. Silver’s wings pop out. “The butcher shop!”

Tim nods in agreement. “My favorite place to buy food.”

Cayenne brings out her bit bag. “Go crazy, loves.”

***

Silver snuggles up closer to Cayenne and North. “I want to go, I’m going to go, but I’d rather stay here.”

Tim’s head is on Cayenne’s barrel, Citrus is in his arms. “Then stay.”

Silver snorts softly, “I’ll only be gone a few days, this mine has been very productive, and I have the opportunity to buy silver at some really good prices.”

Citrus shifts sleepily in Tim’s grip. “Then you’ll have to pay to make the ingots into strips you use. Are you sure the savings are worth it?”

Silver nods. “Oh, most certainly. And I get to crawl around in a mine for a few days too. That makes it worth it for me.”

“But you get to crawl in tight spaces all the time at home,” North pouts.

Tim shifts a bit to look up at the stallion. “Almost every pegasus I know is severely claustrophobic, and here you want to crawl in a hole in the ground?”

That gets a laugh from Silver, “I’m not a speedster, or an endurance flier. They are the ones with the worst problems there. You should see Rainbow Dash in tight places, no. That would just be bad.”

Silver glances at the clock and yelps. “And I’ll miss my train if I don’t hurry.” Those wings come in handy as he launches off the bed and heads to the door, “I love all of you. See you in a few days.”

Tim squeezes Citrus tighter for a moment. “I’d better get ready for work, too.”

Citrus grabs him tightly, “Stay. Your boss is right here, I doubt you’d get in trouble if you told her you were servicing your mares.”

He glances at Cayenne, who had cracked one eye open. She chuckles, “Don’t look at me, I took today off.”

Tim levers himself up. “I know, but keeping busy is good. I like working, I like feeling productive.”

Citrus clings to him tightly. “Well, you’ll just have to do the dishes then.”

“And maintaining the place. He’s good with tools.” Cayenne says softly. “Love, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Tim smiles back at them as he pulls his shirt over his head. “After this morning, I would think you girls want some rest.”

Citrus stretches like a cat, her tail waving from side to side. “Oh you know, we always want more of you.”

Tim buckles his belt. “Love, I like working, I like feeling productive. I love what I do, I know it doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but keeping the restaurant going, and keeping things clean. It’s fun.”

Cayenne giggles, “Leave him alone, he’ll be home much later tonight. You can pounce on him then.”

Citrus pouts for a long moment, then looks over at Tim as he sits down to put on his shoes. “Hurry back to us, love.”

He smiles. “No worries, Citrus. I’m closing tonight, though I know you’ll be waiting for me when I get home.” His shoes tied he walks down the stairs, and the girls hear the distant closing of the door.

Citrus turns to Cayenne. “Why do you keep indulging him? He doesn’t need the job. We don’t need him working. We make enough money already.”

North rolls over to cuddle with her herdmates. “He does need the job, not for the money, hell the stipend he gets by being an ambassador from Earth just goes into the accounts. We aren’t hurting for bits, but he enjoys it. He needs to work with his hands, with his mind, to feel valued.”

Citrus frowns, “But he is valued, here at home, we are happy to have him here.”

Cayenne nods. “Yes, he is valued by us, but by feeling productive, he’s able to carry himself better, he’s happier. Did you not see how he felt after getting the job at the restaurant? Even over my objections.”

Citrus lowers her head, her eyes narrowed. “I miss him, I want him home.” Her voice has almost become a whine.

That gets a nuzzle from North and Cayenne on each cheek. “Don’t worry, by him working, by him keeping busy, he’s happier when he’s home. We just have to make sure we are ready for when he returns.” Cayenne says. She rolls off the bed, landing on her hooves, she walks to the bedroom door. “I’m hungry, let’s have some food.”

The three mares move down into the kitchen, and quickly Cayenne has the other two helping with the prep work with the food she had purchased with the boys the previous day. She stands before the stove, humming softly as she works a turner over the eggs, keeping them from sticking to the cast iron pan. She looks around at a knock at the door. Citrus looks at the other two, who would be knocking?

“I’ll get it,” Citrus says.

***

Princess Twilight Sparkle walks down the street. Well, trudging would be the right word, over a foot of snow and the pegasi have been flitting about among the storm clouds, replenishing them and keeping the snow falling. She had been told that the snow would end sometime the following morning, with nearly two feet of snow forecast for total. The train to Ponyville had been cancelled due to the snow. So she had teleported into the Royal Palace earlier before talking to Princess Celestia. Then she’s been on the street today. Part of today was just getting her nerve up. Part was also waiting for Tim to leave. She knew his work schedule at Cayenne’s place, simply by showing up with a disguise spell a few times and talking to the staff there.

The ponies working at the restaurant all seem to like the tall biped. And his skill with fixing things rivals the best unicorn handypony. She walks down the street by the apartment building. Then her eyes are transfixed by the human exiting the building. He turns in the direction of his work. She holds her breath as he walks by her. At this moment she looks like a dark blue unicorn, with a black mane and a couple of stars for a cutie mark. No gumball pink or purple in the mane, no wings. She turns her head and watches as he continues down the street. Even bundled up in a heavy coat with those glove things on his hands and a hat over his head, he’s still beautiful to her eyes. She puts a hoof to her chest, trying to slow her racing heart. It’s time. She needs to go now.

She nods at the doormare, who is more bundled up than Tim was. She smiles as she shakes the snow off her jacket, she folds the jacket into her small bag and presses the button for the elevator. She glances back and forth as she waits. And her patience is rewarded with a soft ding as the doors open. Blessedly, the elevator is empty, and as she sits and watches the doors close, no other pony calls out to hold the elevator for them. The car starts to move and she lights her horn. With a bright flash, she’s back to her normal self. Such disguise spells are really advanced, taking that off reduces the strain on her magic immensely. Shortly the door opens and she gathers her bag and hangs it on one side, her wing over it protectively as she walks down the hall. The apartments up at the top of the building are much larger than lower down. So, the space between the doors is actually quite a bit more than on other floors. She stops at the door. Will they say no? Will they say yes? She shakes her head, she’s talked enough with Cadance, there’s only one way to find out for certain. She reaches out and knocks on the door.

After a wait that feels like next to forever, the door opens, and Citrus is standing there, a confused look on her face.

“Princess, Tim just went off to work. He won’t be back until late... I thought your teaching day was Saturday?”

“I’m not here for Tim. I wouldn’t have shown up for this if he were here. I’m here to talk to you, Citrus.”

Citrus’ eyes widen as she backs off, beckoning the alicorn into the entry foyer. “Okay, then why are you here?”

Twilight closes her eyes for a long moment, screwing up her confidence, finally she opens her eyes and looks at Citrus, “While we were on our adventure, we all slept together, and it was pretty close to the best thing ever as far as I was concerned. But in the last month, I’ve decided, I want more.”

“More? As in more sleeping together? I guess we can arrange to visit Ponyville once in a while and have sleepovers.”

“No, that won’t do. That won’t do at all. I loved the closeness, I loved the warmth of us all sleeping together, but I want…” She stops, her ears flicking. “I need more than just that. What I need is a lover, not just Tim, but all of you, Silver included. If Tim will accept him for this.”

Citrus’ eyes widen as North and Cayenne walk into the foyer, looking at their lead mare curiously. Twilight bows down, lying prone on the floor, “Citrus, I want to do more to join your herd, and I will do anything in my power to be accepted by you. Anything at all.”

Citrus looks at the alicorn lying there, she shakes her head, “I’m not certain I’m understanding you here, Princess. Are you saying…”

She trails off as Twilight is muttering softly to herself. She perks her ears forward, the alicorn is mumbling into the floor, “I’ve read every book in the library on courtship, on adding to herds, on romance, this is the best I can do.”

Twilight’s horn lights, and her small bag glows momentarily. With a small flash, a beautiful roll of parchment is there, she brings it to Citrus. Citrus lights her own horn and pulls the parchment closer, her eyes scanning over the precise penmanship. Citrus mouths, “Oh you have got to be…”

Next Chapter: Chapter 29. Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 41 Minutes