Tim’s eyes pop open as a shiver runs down his body. He had noticed over time that ponies tend to prefer things cooler than humans typically did, probably because of their fur, and even in winter they often didn't need to wear much. With four mares sharing a bed with him, however, overheating sometimes becomes a real problem. Glancing around, he notes Twilight herself is snuggled up against one shoulder, with Citrus on the other. Cayenne and North are snuggled up along his hips, using his stomach as their pillows while sleeping. Though quite often they end up with their horns crossed while they sleep.

There are a few problems with them sleeping this way, the biggest being when he has to go to the bathroom quickly. Even just getting up to move around, however, has its challenges as he levers himself slowly down the bed, checking quickly to make sure the girls are not disturbed too much. Twilight and Citrus are now holding each other, with North and Cayenne sleeping peacefully in each other’s grasp. That much concentrated cuteness is always a good thing for him. He reaches over and gives each one a gentle kiss on the cheek. Watching them sleep like that is always fun. Though he’s paid them back for waking him with a blowjob multiple times. Though with all the sex that’s been going on in the last few nights, he’s needing some relief at his polar outpost. He can’t wait to see the look on the stallion’s face when he finds out what’s been going on while he’s been busy following his passion.

Tim quickly heads to the bathroom, a morning shower is always a good way to start the day. The sweat of last night washes down the drain, he supports himself on the wall, food will be a good thing as well. Tim briefly wonders how many calories he’s burned in the last several frenzied nights alone. Finally, turning off the water activates the blower. A few minutes of nearly too hot air, and he steps out into the bathroom proper. He probably would have paid a pretty penny for a bathroom as luxurious as this back at home. Adding in the massive closet, he’s lived in apartments smaller than this bathroom.

Cayenne and Citrus have finally shown him how much all of this costs. And then they showed him the full income from Citrus’ store, and Cayenne’s restaurant. He wouldn’t even begin to understand how much money flows through their family, considered only middle class in Canterlot. Twilight has told him that Canterlot is not the most expensive city to live in in Equestria -- that would be Manehattan.

He pulls on a pair of pajama pants. The white mare at the Canterlot Boutique has been churning out different clothing styles for him on a regular basis. And also pinching his bottom with her magic, and always saying nice things about Twilight. She would likely be quite pleased at the turn of events with Twilight joining the herd like this. He doesn’t bother with a shirt at the moment; the house is pleasantly cool.

He pads down the stairs, stomach grumbling in anticipation. He does like making breakfast for the girls, he won't today; he can see the light for the kitchen is already on. The sounds of hot grease on a griddle greets his ears, along with cheerful humming. He frowns. Silver would have come up to the bedroom and crawled into bed if he got home early. He debates heading back up the stairs and grabbing Silver's rapier; he doesn’t have a gun like he had back on eath.

Then he shakes his head. If ponies wanted to steal something, they wouldn’t be cooking food. The smell from the cooking food gets another grumble from his stomach. So, whoever this is, they are probably friendly. He takes the last few steps slowly, peering around the corner to look into the kitchen.

The sight that greets him immediately gets a grin on his face. Cooking on a stool is a small green and purple dragon, he’s humming a happy tune as he turns over an omelet. Two other omelets are steaming on the serving platter next to him. As Tim watches, a timer dings, and with a practiced motion, the little dragon hops off the stool and drags it over to the oven, which he opens, and simply grabs the pan inside. Tim lurches forward then stops, the heat of the oven doesn’t seem to affect the dragon. Then he breathes a small burst of fire as he turns and reaches to put the pan on the counter. As he does so, he spots the human standing there.

“Hi, Tim!” He says cheerfully.

“Spike!“Where did you come from?”

Spike drags the stool back to the cooktop and grabs a turner. He slides it under the complete omelet and picks it up. “Oh, I was getting bored with Twilight gone here. So, when her and Citrus visited last night getting a few books and some stuff from her lab. I asked her if I could come back with her. They both said it was okay, and here I am." He slides an omelet onto a plate and holds it out for the human.

“Oh?” Tim says as he reaches and grabs the plate.

As he sets it on the table, he watches the dragon take a bowl and pour a measured amount of beaten egg onto the skillet. It starts to solidify as Spike sprinkles vegetables and cheese onto the egg. He quickly folds the nearly fully solidified egg over the toppings. He looks back at Tim. "I take care of her, including handling the cooking; her results can be... explosive." He smiles brightly at he turns the omelet over and reaches for the shredded cheese again. “I can clean, I’m excellent at keeping her organized.” He stops and his eyes narrow. “I do a lot as Twilight’s number one assistant.” He looks up at Tim.

"This isn't a job application."

“I know, I just want to feel useful to you, too, like I'm for her."

"You're a nice trip, kid." Tim heads over to the drawers and pulls out some utensils. “Twilight has said that dragons are really long lived, and your childhood lasts decades?”

He nods as he finishes up another omelet. “That’s what I’ve been told.” He slides it onto the platter and starts yet another. “You know, it’s frustrating. My earliest memories was with Twilight, she was maybe six years older than me. So, I was there with her through most of her school. When she moved to Ponyville, and when she was learning new spells all the time.” He stops with his work, “We went to the Crystal Empire, we have been all over Equestria. I was there when she became an alicorn. When she was accepted as a Princess of Equestria. And then you fall from the sky.” He looks at the stainless steel splashguard. “I knew she acted different whenever you were involved. She talked about you all the time.” He turns and looks back at Tim. “I’m sorry, Tim. I wish I could have helped Twilight realize she loved you and handle it better. She's like my mom... I wanna do right with her, y'know?"

Tim looks down at his admittedly excellent breakfast. “It’s not your fault, Spike.”

“Really?”

Tim nods. “The blame could be spread around quite widely, mostly on me. But also some on Twilight and Cadance. But remember, Spike. This is all water under the bridge. Twilight and the duchess have worked hard to help our herd heal from all of that. Some of it from my lack of knowledge of pony norms.” He looks down. “A lot of it from me not understanding how things work here. Twilight has tried to teach me, Citrus has tried to teach me. I’ve never been the best of students. But I have learned some of how things work around here.” He spears a bit of his food. “The lead stallion and lead mare of a herd are part of a special bond. With the lead mare’s okay, I actually have a lot of leeway in things, but only if I ask first and get approval. And the other way around. The others follow our lead. It’s most certainly different than how I grew up. But it works.”

“I still wish I could have helped.”

Hoofsteps. “You did, Spike.” There's Twilight Sparkle coming down the stairs. “You did help, a lot. When I was sad, you were there for me. I realized later that when you asked me to hold you because you had had a nightmare, it wasn’t for me to comfort you, if was for you to be close to me. So you could comfort me.” She huffs. “I was such a bad mom to you, you shouldn’t have had to bear my burdens.”

Spike leaps from his stool and rushes over to Twilight, glomping onto her tightly. Tim smiles as the alicorn holds the dragon tightly, bringing her wings around and holding him.

Tim moves over and quickly turns the last omelet over before it starts burning. More hoofteps. Citrus has descended the stairs and is hugging the other two. He remembers something and grabs a small bowl the dragon had laid out, several gem shards are sprinkled over the meal, along with another generous helping of cheese. He turns around as Twilight floats the carafe from the coffee maker over to her seat. He sets her plate in front of her, along with a serving for Citrus.

The clatter of hooves on the stairs announces the other two mares of the herd have been woken up by the wonderful smells wafting up from the kitchen. Twilight finds the coffee carafe floating away from her and pouring a cup in front of a yawning Cayenne. It only takes a few moments for the herd to get arranged for breakfast. Spike smiles tremulously at the rest of the herd as he crunches through his first bite of the food.

Citrus floats a muffin from the pan the dragon had pulled out earlier and sets it on her plate. “So, what are the plans for today?”

Cayenne sips her coffee. “I’ve got work. And I think you were planning on a shift at the hospital today?” she looks over at Citrus, who nods.

North swallows a bite of her food, “Well, I’m going to be working on a new map I’ve been compiling together. Some of the cities outside of Equestria proper do need to be surveyed for inclusion. The whole world is not just Equestria, you know.”

Twilight looks over at her. “You going to survey them yourself?”

“Eventually. But for now, I’m pulling information from some of my new books on exploration outside our borders. Gonna need to hire a ship for some of the places I want to include on this map. Maybe some mercs for protection if Silver won't come.”

That gets hooves clopping together from Twilight. “Oh wonderful! I can hire a gondola for you to use. Maybe we can turn it into a family trip?”

North smiles shyly. “If it’s okay with Citrus, maybe during the summer?”

Citrus nods. “That sounds like fun!” She takes another bite, chewing quickly before she swallows. “What about you, Twilight. You are planning on being here when Silver gets home. right?”

Twilight nods. “His train will be coming in around sundown, but I’d like to take Tim into Ponyville for a little while. I’ve got some interesting things to show him.”

That gets his eyebrows to rise. “Oh, really?”

She swallows a bite. “You remember a while back when you said I could keep the phone. Well, I’ve been learning a lot from it. And I’ve spent quite a few days working through the engine from the plane. And when we get to my lab, I’ve got a surprise for you!”

Tim glances at the others of the herd, noting the happy smiles abounding. That gets a warm feeling in his chest, the mares are happy. Silver will be home soon. Their herd is doing well. The rest of breakfast passes quickly with quite a bit of chatter about things going on. Citrus teases Twilight about a few things the night before, getting a blush from the alicorn, and a confused look from the dragon. Finally, Spike is gathering the plates and carrying them towards the sink. Twilight wipes her mouth with a napkin. “Spike, you ready to go?”

The dragon turns back to look. “Nah. I’ll get the kitchen cleaned up."

She stops for a moment, a hoof on her chest and a happy smile on her face. “You are wonderful, you know that, Spike?”

“Yeah, yeah, you tell me that all the time.”

Citrus looks at Twilight, then at Spike. “She really means it, Spike. You are more than just an assistant to her. To us, actually. You can come to any of us if you need anything at all.”

Just trying to be of help.”

Cayenne walks over and gathers the dragon into a hug. “It helps that you are just so cute.”

Spike wiggles a bit in her grasp, his face beet red. “He-hey, cut it out!"

"Nope, not yet! Gonna hug you!"

"Ca-cayeene! Twilight, help!"

"Cayenne, please let him go," the princess says.

Cayenne says, "Tim, do I have to honor junior's request?"

Tim is too busy laughing to answer at first. He finally says, "Enough, Cayenne, let'em go."

"As you wish," she pouts as finally lets him go, her horn lighting to fly all the plates and silverware into the sink. He smiles at her gratefully before he drags the stool over to the sink.

Twilight leads Tim up the stairs into the guest bedroom. She rears up, her larger size allows her to brush a kiss onto his cheek before walking towards the wall. “This right here is where I set up the waypoint. You can’t see it, but to any mage who knows what to look for, it’s easy to spot. Please, put your hand on my withers.”

The instant his hand touches her fur, they are in her castle. She looks back at him. “I set up the other waypoint in my lab, easiest place to find.” Tim glances at the portal to that odd version of Equestria and shudders. “Don’t worry, no visits there for the time being. I keep it open because Sunset visits from time to time. And since we're in my private quarters... the surprise.” She kisses him deep on the lips and with tongue. Tim pets her down her back and pushes back into it. "That wasn't it." She trots over to her work bench and picks something up. “Remember this?”

The fabric is tattered like it’s spent more than a year out in the elements. “My laptop case!”

She gestures to the items arrayed on the workbench. “You used this like we use saddle bags. All sorts of great information. The book was completely ruined. I’ve got my dad working on restoration, but he says a good portion of it will be unreadable due to water. Why don’t you make these watertight?”

Tim shrugs. “Never thought to get one like that. I don’t even know if they make them waterproof.” He picks up a small device. “I had a few thumb drives in there.”

Twilight’s brow furrows. “Thumb…drives? What is that?”

He holds the tiny piece of technology up. “It’s a data storage device. It plugs into the computer and the computer can read the data on it.” He looks closer. "Wetter than you last night for sure."

She nods. “I’ve found out how electronics and water don’t mix. Don’t worry, a little magic can fix that. The case was found about a mile from where you landed, half buried in the mud. When I sent the guard to scour the area between where the engine was found and where you landed, they thought I was crazy. But they found some clothing and a few bags, and this. I had to clean it up, and the screen inside is similar technology to your phone, so I could mend the cracks.”

“You’ve gotten it working?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’ve taken it apart, I don’t know if I can repair everything. but the learning experience is amazing. Your species has done things with electricity that I can barely dream about. I’ll get it up and running, eventually.”

He smiles. “Well, much of everything was internet based.”

She clops her hooves. “Oh, goodie! I know the system stores a bit of everything that you’ve done on it’s drives. So, I’ll be able to pull even more information. I mean everything from figuring out the TCP/IP standard, and how these machines communicate within themselves, and with your internet. I might be able to start building our own data system like that.”

Tim’s eyebrows rise. “You can make your own internet?”

She nods. “Most of the puzzle pieces are right here. And it’s a fantastic way to store and transmit information. Add in all the other advances we’ve been able to puzzle out from the control systems, and everything else to do with the turbine engine. Your technology is going to bump ours by quite a bit.”

Tim feels a bit of flutters in his belly. “What?”

She squees, “Oh, yes. Remember, I’ve been through that mirror and they have data networks similar to how you’ve explained things work in your world. But I never had my magic to examine the tech there on account of my powers being so limited. Well, I never really thought about doing such research until that jet engine was found and Applejack and I just thought it was the craziest thing... But you should see the computer.”

"Why?"

Her horn lights and the laptop flies over onto the workbench. A gesture has the bottom panel flying off and landing precisely on another part of the bench, alongside a plethora of tiny screws.

“Oh, it’s fantastic, I mean you make tiny tiny screws. I mean, I’ve never thought of component miniaturization like this. Lookie here.” A little work has the motherboard out of the chassis of the laptop. She points with a wing. “There are two devices here similar to what you called the system on a chip from your phone.”

Tim looks at the board in her magic. He says, “I’m no expert, but probably you are talking the CPU, and the graphics processor.”

“Graphics processor?”

He nods, “So the programs can display on the screen. I spent some money on this one, it’s really nice. The CPU is a bunch of transistors built a very specific way to do logical computations. The GPU crunches the numbers and pushes them to the screen. It’s really good with games. I had some in my laptop case.”

She brightens and her magic brings out some disks. “These?”

He grabs one. “Yeah, the data for the game is stored on these.”

Her eyes widen. “I had to get a microscope to see more than just a reflective surface. You are saying those little marks on the metallic portion are information?”

He nods. She grins and points to a component. “That’s a capacitor, right?” that gets a nod from him. For several minutes, they work together to identify many of the components inside the computer. Then he gets to watch in utter fascination as she magically assembles the computer. “Well, with what you told me about the batteries, I’ve repaired a couple of internal shorts for your battery. And I can fabricate power crystals to get the right voltage and amperage for it to work without going to that crazy AC power your kind uses.”

"I'll have you know AC power travels better -- we use it for crossing distances, and DC is what we build our appliances for. Anyway, is it fixable?"

She shrugs. “From my examination, I’m pretty sure the CPU and the graphics processor are fine. But I’ve found a few burned out resistors and capacitors, so right now, I don’t think it will send the right amount of energy to those. And burning those out would be a big mistake. So I hesitate to try at this point.” Twilight smiles brightly. “But, with your helping with identifying components will allow me to learn more and maybe in a few months I can see about firing it up.”

She reaches up and hugs him tightly, “Did you store pictures of Karen on your computer?”

“No. They were all on the phone.”

She breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, I didn’t want to hurt you like before.”

Tim thinks for a minute. “I think that last time was cathartic. It wasn’t just her.” He stops, eyes flat as he focuses inward. “I mean, I do miss her terribly. But I think my reaction was also mourning the loss of an entire life. I do still think about that life occasionally. But my life here is so much more important. I can’t let my old life interfere with everything else.” He cups her cheek. “You, Citrus, North, Cayenne, Silver. You all are my life now.”

The alicorn blushes heavily. “Even me? Really?”

Tim nods. “Twilight, I have learned one very important thing from how you ponies live. Loving more ponies is not dividing your love, but multiplying your capacity to love. There are humans in my world that could do very well to learn that lesson. And I’m thankful that I have learned it from you all.”

She smiles broadly. “I’m glad we are going to make it work, Tim.”

He smiles back. “Me too.”

***

Silver Wing trots through the streets of Canterlot, he didn’t expect his lovelies to meet him at the train station. But he is most certainly ready to see them at home. His saddle bags are fairly full, lots of silver and gold for him to work with, along with a few nice cut gems that he plans on making horn rings, and perhaps a few other things to sell in Citrus's shop.

His passion, what led to his cutie mark, is working with precious metals. Making beauty from simple, if expensive, materials. He whistles a happy tune as he nods to the door mare of the building. Though he stops in his tracks for a moment, that mare is different than usual, a but more toned and buff than he’s used to seeing. Her mane and tail are very short, and she has that grim, aquiline look he's seen on some tough ponies.

She almost looks like a mare from the Royal Operations Group, the division of the Royal Guards tasked with guarding the Princesses. He knows the story as to why the guards around Princess Celestia are stallions, but the vast majority are mares, the ones you don’t see during public appearances. He shakes his head and snorts softly. ROG mares wouldn’t have a reason to be staked out here. He joins the small crowd of ponies as they wait for the elevator. Though the wait is short to get in, the car stops at almost every floor. He’s tapping a hoof on the metal floor by the time it makes it to his level.

As the elevator dings and the door opens, he’s almost prancing down the hallway, only moments before he can see his lovelies. A hoof on the door and it opens. He sheds his load and calls out as he kicks the door shut.

Cayenne gallops over to him, he grabs her and their mouths meet. Their tongues fight. But finally she pulls away. “We have dinner ready. it’s called Captains Chicken.”

Silver frowns. “I’ve never heard of that before. Tim?”

She nods. “He remembers new recipes all the time, it smells really good, but he’s waiting for you before he will let us eat.” She huffs a bit, “Come on, I've got a boil going...”

Silver puts a wing around her haunched with a slight smack. “I'll eat, then that, then I'll eat."

She whaps him with her tail. Do you always think about sex, Silver?”

He shrugs. “You invited me to, and you love it!"

She shakes her head as she leads him into the dining room.

“Hi Silver!” Tim chirps. Citrus is at the table and Silver climbs on to his own chair.

He looks around. “We usually eat in the kitchen.”

Tin disappears into the kitchen as Citrus supplies the answer. “We just wanted to celebrate you coming back to us.”

Her warm smile warms his heart. He smiles shyly back at her. He sniffs the air, finding himself drooling a bit at the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen. “It does smell good. Hey, where's North?"

Cayenne giggles. “She’s getting ready, looking forward to after dinner.”

He shudders a bit as the smoky look the pink mare is giving penetrates. He’s glad he’s sitting at the table, and they can’t see how he’s starting to be ready. He wants to eat first, but he’s been dreaming of ravishing his lovelies for a few days now. And apparently they are ready for him too. The smells intensify as Tim backs through the door from the kitchen, then turns with a big pot in his hands. He places it on the table and quickly ladles into several bowls. He adds in a thick piece of garlic bread on the side and places a bowl in front of each pony and then sits down himself.

Silver fits his spoon onto his hoof and digs into the soup before him. He finally swallows his first bite. “That’s really good.” He murmurs softly as he goes for another spoonful. Then he freezes. His wings snap out, and he looks around at the two mares calmly eating their food.

He shifts a bit, causing his chair to creak. “Something wrong, Silver?” Tim asks.

Silver suppresses the urge to glare at Tim. “Nothing.” He's turning pink.

He glances at Cayenne, and catches her suppressing a smile. "You troll! Did you put North up to this?"

The human asked, “What are you talking about, Silver?”

“I’m not complaining, but North hiding under the table and starting in on me.” Silver gasps and caresses his unseen tormentor's head. 'Oh, that's good. I love you, oh yes, don't stop."

Citrus giggles as Silver's eyes cross and he gasps as he’s close to his peak. Cayenne hops from her seat and comes over to Silver, rearing up and running her tongue gently along his good ear. “Liking your welcome home, love?”

He’s only able to nod as he gasps loudly. “Yeah, a l-" He’s not able to finish as he starts bucking into the mouth servicing him. He gasps and moans and everyone can hear the loud sucking sounds as the mare under the table accepts the load he’s giving her. After time eternal, he slumps to the table. “North, that was amazing.”

“What was amazing?” North asks casually as she pushes through the door into the dining room.

Silver frowns as he tries to control his breathing. He squeezes his rear legs together, yes she’s still there, though she suckles more on his spent member as it slowly retracts.

“Huh, what?” Silver pushes his chair back. A purple face smiles at him from her grip on his maleness. “YOU!?"

She lets him go with an audible pop. “Welcome home, Silver.” Smacking her lips with a big smile, she scoots backwards and hops onto one of the other chairs as North settles into her own seat. “Well, I’ve had a very yummy appetizer, let’s see how dinner tastes.”

Silver sits there, looking at Twilight as her magic ladles a bowl full of the soup and settles before her. She takes a spoonful. “Yummy, Tim. I love your home recipes.”

Silver looks at Tim, then at Citrus, who is calmly eating her dinner. Then at North and Cayenne. “What’s going on here?” he’s able to moan.

He glowers and everyone at the table dissolves into laughter. Twilight is the first to recover. “Oh, Silver. I asked the mare’s of your herd to allow me to join.” She glances at Citrus, who is wiping her eyes. Her smile becomes find. “She found me to be adequate to join. Then Tim accepted me into the herd.” She blushes. “And I wanted to greet you as the herd's newest member, and hopefully gain your approval.”

Silver's eyes widen. "My approval? The decision has been made."

“Silver, you are valued as much as Tim in our herd. Yes, Tim makes the decision, but your input is just as necessary.” Citrus says gently.

“Silver, I said yes, providing you agree.”

"Thank you, Cock Blockington!" He snorts.

Twilight nods. “I want you all to accept me into the herd. And yes, right now it all hinges on you right now.” She hops from her seat, her wings and tail rising. “I’m willing to persuade you as much as I can.” She fights her wings for a moment before she runs it along the scar on his cheek. “My brother gave you that. And I understand if you are resistant to my inclusion because of that. I can’t blame you. I was wrong and the source of strife in your herd…”

Silver’s eyes widen, he looks between Twilight and Tim. “So, if I said no, Twilight would go?”

Twilight's tail droops, "Yes, Silver. I will go if you request it." She sighs before turning back to the rest of the herd. "It was nice, for a little while."

Silver cocks his head to the side, his voice softening. "Twilight, I merely asked if my opinion was valued as much as everypony else's. I know how herds go. The mares decide the addition of new mares, with the approval of lead stallion. Stallion's decide addition of new stallions, with approval of lead mare. That's how it works here. That's how our herd mares have done things since time immemorial. I'm not lead stallion of our herd. But I'm glad to know that Tim values my input as well." He leans forward and nuzzles her gently. "I would prefer to have been involved in the initial decision."

Tim snorts. "Yeah, me too. I came home to Twilight all trussed up and ready, after they'd been having sex all day."

That get's Silver's ears to flick forward. "Trussed up?"

"I'll show you some of the toys, maybe we can use some tonight." Twilight purrs.

Silver looks from herd member to herd member, finally settling on Twilight. "I understand why things happened the way they did. I would have liked things to end up differently." He runs a feather along his cheek. Finally, he brightens. "But I don't think I would want a different result. My answer is yes. Twilight."

Twilight gathers them all up in a huge magical group hug. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you! Thank you, Silver!" She kisses him deep on the lips. "Now, dinner can wait -- let's celebrate!"

Next Chapter: Chapter 32. Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 34 Minutes