Tim opens his eyes with a groan, he looks down and sees a bright burgundy colored mane with a faint rose colored horn sticking out bobbing up and down. The horn in question is glowing softly and soft slurping noises greet his ears. He finds his eyes crossing, she’s got him very near to climax. He looks to his side, Cayenne is lying on her side, her rear legs are spread wide, and Citrus is between her legs, her muzzle buried in Cayenne’s marehood.

“Cayenne, wait, please! I’m gonna…” He’s able to gasp as he peaks. She sucks even harder as he starts to explode, his toes curl as he unloads into her mouth, his breathing becomes ragged as his orgasm overloads everything else. Feeling her tongue and the strong suction of her mouth on his member makes his eyes roll back as his hips buck harder into her mouth.

She keeps sucking hard as his orgasm finally starts to abate. She finally lets his oversensitive member slip from her lips, she looks up, licking her lips lasciviously, “Good morning, love.” She says softly.

He blinks as she giggles and reaches down to grab Citrus, who she brings up and kisses her deeply. Both unicorns run their hooves over each other’s bodies as they make out. After a few moments they break loose, then both of them crawl to lie on each side of him, cuddling closer and reaching forehooves over his chest. He lies there, a faint smile on his lips.

After a bit, Citrus giggles and raises her head to look at him, she glances at Cayenne, “He tastes good, doesn’t he?”

Cayenne nods, “He doesn’t like to release into the mouth very often,” She looks intently at him, “Why not?”

Tim finds himself blushing, he can feel the heat of his face, “Karen didn’t like the taste, she liked going down on me, but never had me finish in her mouth.” He shrugs, “I guess I got used to fighting to keep control.”

Both mares giggle, and Cayenne snuggles her head closer, “I like when you lose control, Tim.”

For a long time, Tim lies there, an arm around each mare, holding them close as they just chat, and enjoy the morning together. Finally Citrus gets to her hooves, she moves to the edge of the bed and sits down, curling her tail around her rear, “Tim, you’ve been living here with us for a month now.”

He nods.

She blushes and looks at Cayenne for a moment, then back at Tim, “As the only stallion in our herd, you certainly have a say with decisions like this.” She gulps, “A very good friend of both Cayenne and I has been talking to us about courting into our herd, and she’d like to go on a date.” She smiles.

Tim frowns, “You want me to go on a date with a mare I’ve never met?”

Citrus’ ears flick, “No, she’d like to go on a date with all three of us.”

His eyebrows rise, “I’m open to it, if it’s okay.”

She smiles, “Of course it’s okay, her name is North Point, she’s been a friend for a while, and she’s heard about our stallion, she’s curious.”

Tim looks at both girls, both of their faces are quite red, his brow furrows, “Okay, what gives?”

Cayenne ducks her head, “Well, she’s interested because of one thing.”

“Huh, what?” Both of their ears are flicking back and forth, and both are immensely interested in the sheets of the bed. He thinks for a moment, then it hits, “Sex?”

Both nod, Citrus looks down, “I’m sorry, we were having lunch with her. And then we started talking about the other day, and how wonderful you were. We had forgotten that she was sitting there for a few minutes.”

Cayenne giggles, “If she had been a pegasus, she would have had the wing boner from hell.”

“Wingboner?” Tim asks.

Both the girls smile, “Pegasi usually express their emotions via their wings.” She flicks an ear, “Earth ponies and unicorns primarily emote with our ears, tails, and faces. But it’s very different for the winged ponies. For many pegasi, they can usually communicate with each other with their wings, but what the other tribes can easily tell is aggression, fear, and if a pegasus is interested in a pony.”

Tim looks between both girls, “what does a wingboner look like?”

Cayenne cocks her head to the side, “Well, usually if the wings are up and fanned out from the body, that’s typically a wingboner, it’s from old mating dances they did before the tribes unified, though doing some of the motions are still in their instincts. It’s like a plumage display.”

“Like a peacock.”

“Sorry, a what now?”

Tim shakes his head, “It’s a kind bird from home, they have big feathers that the males show off.”

She nods, “Probably similar.” She sits up, “If their wings are up, but in line with their bodies, that’s more a fear response, ready to fly off at an instant’s notice. And if they are more to the side than up, that’s a threat display, trying to make themselves look bigger than they are.”

Citrus has been nodding, “But even then, watch the ears and face, ponies aren’t one dimensional.”

Cayenne snorts, “I remember reading about what happened during the unification, after hearth’s warming, pegasi always found it hard to communicate with the other tribes, we just don’t communicate the way they do. Those problems have continued to today. But not nearly as bad.”

They lapse into silence as the girls come up and lay down with him, he’s got to admit, cuddling with the girls is always a good thing. Though there are times he misses television, the ponies tend to not really enjoy much sitting still. He nuzzles Citrus, then turns his head and nuzzles Cayenne, “I’d like to get a job.”

Cayenne snorts as Citrus sits up, she puts a hoof on his chest, “Why? Aren’t we taking care of you well enough?”

He shakes his head, “That’s not it.” He sighs, “I enjoy cooking occasionally for you two, I always enjoy spending time with you. But remember, before I came here, I had a job, I did stuff.”

Cayenne leans over and nuzzles him, “You need more date nights?”

He stops for a moment, he wants to growl, but they aren’t understanding him, “I like spending time out with you, and the more I’m outside, the more the ponies around here have seemed to get used to me. That is good, but I don’t like being dependent on you.”

Citrus smiles, “You think you are a burden to us?”

He nods.

She giggles and looks at Cayenne, “Stallions, they are all the same.”

That gets his eyebrows to furrow, “Huh?”

They are interrupted by a knock on the front door. Tim looks at Citrus, “Any visitors planned for today?”

She snuggles into his shoulder, “No, I was planning on a quiet weekend at home.”

Cayenne grumbles as the knock is repeated, “I’ll get it, or they won’t ever leave.”

Tim leans back, holding Citrus close as they enjoy the comfort of the bed, then Cayenne’s voice wafts into the room, “Citrus, Tim, I think you should come down here.”

Citrus looks at Tim, her ears flicking, as he sits up and walks to the closet, he grabs a pair of boxers, along with the pony equivalent to jeans and a pullover shirt, it has Citrus and Cayenne’s cutie marks on the pocket, something they had bought for him recently, he finds he likes having that on. And having those cutie marks being worn by him has made going out in the city a lot better. He’s still trying to figure out why. He follows Citrus down the stairs and into the kitchen, Citrus bows when she gets into the kitchen, then Tim sees why. Princess Twilight Sparkle is sitting on a stool in the kitchen, Cayenne is standing before the stove, a pot is being stirred.

Twilight looks over at him, “Hi Tim.” She says with a big smile. She looks over at Citrus, “I’m sorry Citrus, but I’m going to borrow your stallion for a while. I have a theory on his origins, but I’m not hopeful about this theory. Though I need to test it out with him. So, we’ll be gone for a while.”

Citrus sits on her haunches, “A while?”

She nods, “Likely most of the day, but it could be longer. Is that okay?”

Citrus looks up at Tim, then she looks back at Twilight, “May we have the honor of breaking fast with the Princess of Friendship first this morning?”

Twilight smiles as a mug floats to her, encased in Cayenne’s magic, “I’d love to.” She takes a sip and flinches, “Spicy.” She murmurs, getting a smile from Cayenne.

As Citrus and Cayenne work on making the food, Tim moves up and sits across the table from Twilight, “What is going on?”

Twilight glances at the two unicorns busily preparing food, “I’m afraid I can’t divulge everything here. There are royal decrees from Princess Celestia that I must honor. She agrees with me that the chances of this being successful is rather low. But we are exploring every avenue we can to give you the option of returning to your home.”

Tim looks at Citrus, who is nosing around in the fridge, she’s humming as she works, her body swaying back and forth, and most of all, her tail sways a bit, giving him quick views of her, “If this does work out…” he trails off, not knowing what to say.

Twilight follows where he is looking, then a knowing smile appears on her face, “I would never send you away without giving you the opportunity to say goodbye.”

Tim looks down, does he want to ever say goodbye to Citrus and Cayenne? He leans back in his seat a bit as he thinks for a long time, and soon a plate of scrambled eggs with onions and peppers is placed before him. A big cast iron pan then floats over and scoops some shredded potatoes onto the plate, followed by shredded cheese. He looks up as the same happens with Twilight. The alicorn’s horn lights, and she brings a forkful of the food to her mouth. She chews slowly, “Do you like everything with spice in it?”

Tim takes a bite, the eggs bite back, but in a good way. He smiles as the heat works through his body, “Don’t like the heat, Princess?”

She flushes, “I guess I’m not used to it.” She takes another bite, “It’s very good.”

Cayenne and Citrus hop up onto their own seats with plates for themselves. And much of the meal is eaten in relative silence, only broken by the occasional gasp and murmur from the Princess as she eats. Though once or twice, it seems as though her mane starts to waft like a candle flame as she eats. He glances at Citrus and Cayenne, who seem unconcerned about the changes. Though hearing the princess pant as she reaches for a glass of water makes him suppress a smile.

As the plates are flying into the sink, Princess Twilight stands up and walks slowly towards the front door. Though Tim notices that she is keeping her tail quite firmly over her privates. She looks back at him, “Coming?”

Tim moves over and collects hugs and kisses from both of his mares. Citrus fusses over him, her horn lighting and a hair brush zipping from the bathroom for her to quickly run through his hair before she kisses his cheek. Then he follows Twilight out the door and down the elevator. She remains quiet as they finally exit the building and start walking towards the palace. Tim follows curiously, watching how the other ponies in Canterlot react to the Princess of Friendship walking among them. Several ponies greet her as a close friend, and at times their progress is slowed as Twilight talks easily with the other ponies. Though one thing interesting stands out to Tim, with Twilight there, the ponies seem to accept him quite a bit more than when Citrus or Cayenne are with him. Much of the time, he doesn’t even get a second glance. That actually makes him happy, walking with the Princess of Friendship is having a very positive effect. Maybe he can fit in with the ponies after all.

Before too long, they walk onto the grounds of the Royal Palace. Twilight stops just inside the gate and looks at him, “Tim, please put your hand on my withers.”

Tim looks around, then slowly places his hand on her warm fur, she looks forward and her horn lights. It brightens quickly and with a loud pop, she disappears. Tim looks around, where did she go? A few moments pass, and with another loud pop, Twilight reappears. She trots over and growls, “Well, that should have worked. Let me try again.” He dutifully places his hand on her withers and once again, she pops out of existence, leaving him standing in the courtyard. He hears a snicker from one of the guardsmares at the gate. In moments she pops back, muttering to herself. She looks up at him, “Well, it seems your magical resistance applies to teleportation.” She smiles, but the smile makes him want to take a step back, “I guess we’ll have to fly.”

“Fly?” He yelps, “How would we fly?”

She spreads her wings and turns sideways, “Climb on.” She chirps, her tail fanning back and forth. “It’s either fly, or we are going to have to spend hours on the train.”

He looks at the purple alicorn who is not much more than half his height, “Aren’t I a little big to ride you?”

She closes her eyes for a moment and her tail clamps to her rear for a moment. Her wings stiffen with the primaries on the very tips pointing straight up. After a few seconds, it seems she gets more control of her wings with a huff. She stops and looks at him, “Sorry, was distracted for a moment, but no. I’m an alicorn, and far stronger than anypony of my size. You aren’t that heavy.” With that, her horn lights again, and he’s gently picked up and placed on her back. He finds his knees fit right behind her wings, she folds her wings and walks around a bit, getting used to his weight. She looks back at him, her wings unfurling, “Ready?”

He gulps and nods. And with a great flap of her wings, they are airborne. She doesn’t seem to want to go for much height as she barely clears the palace wall. She banks gently, heading around the palace towards the great dropoff towards the valley. As they clear the city, she tilts forward and they start to accelerate. Tim yelps and flops forward, putting his arms around her neck as they continue to drop.

“Don’t worry Tim, I’ve been flying for a while now. I’m pretty good in the air.” She calls over the wind. Their destination is quite obvious, he’s been told the name of the small town before, with the big crystal palace in the midst of the modest houses. She angles towards the castle as they get closer, and soon she’s backpedaling her wings to slow down and land on a balcony of the crystal castle. She keeps her wings out while he shakily climbs off of her, though he notices a bit of a sigh from her as he puts his feet on the crystal flooring. She takes a moment to adjust her wings as she folds them at her sides. She gestures for him to follow, “What I’m to show you has been determined by all the princesses of Equestria to be kept most secret. You are not to speak of what you see to anypony, not even your herdmates. Can you do this?”

Tim swallows and nods as her horn lights for a moment, a cool feeling passing over his body. She smiles and walks through a big set of French doors, and they are in some kind of throne room. Six, no, seven thrones are arrayed around a big table, she can recognize Twilight’s cutie mark at one, with a smaller throne next to it. The others have different cutie marks. One of them is the three diamonds of the white pony that made his clothes, he also recognizes the tri-colored lightning bolt coming down from a cloud for the rainbow maned pony that brought him to the hospital.

She trots from the room into the corridors of the castle, walking with a purpose. He follows sedately, looking at the few palace workers as they clean and do daily work for such a large building. A quick descent down a set of stairs and soon they are before a large door, with her cutie mark in the center, and the other cutie marks arrayed around it. Her horn lights and she touches her cutie mark with it, causing the door to open. Tim follows as they make it into a cavernous room, well lit from fixtures floating throughout the room, she looks back, “This is my lab.” She gestures around, but off to the side is something that gathers all of his attention. A horseshoe shaped mirror is sitting there, though it seems to be connected to a wood and metal device. Wires snake all over and seem to connect a glowing book to large spheres next to the surface of the mirror. Twilight reaches out a hoof to the mirror and the surface reacts, glowing softly and looking like water in a calm pool.

“This is a portal.” She says, “to another world.”

His eyes widen, “And you are only now showing me this?”

She nods, and holds out a hoof, “Are you aware of the multiverse theory?”

Tim searches back, thinking furiously, “Where anything that can happen, has happened, and each possibility is its own universe?”

“That’s a decent rundown of it. But this mirror doesn’t go to many different possible universe’s, just one. And based on my research, along with the research of a friend, I really don’t think this is your home. Though why it hasn’t been abandoned as an avenue to send you him is there is technology, much like what you have described as being in your world. And they stand on two legs like you, have different schooling, it’s quite different from Equestria. Though there are also marked similarities with my world as well. So, we are going to go through, and you can see if this is your world, or even close enough to your world.” She looks up at him, “Are you ready? It’s rather shocking to pass through the portal, so be careful.”

He nods and she slowly walks through the portal. He takes a deep breath as he follows. As he fully breaches into the portal, the energy of it pulls him through. His scream is sucked from his lungs as he is drawn to an infinite length and pulled through the power between the worlds.

All of a sudden, it’s over. He’s on his knees, panting. He looks down, his hands are the same as they always have been. He takes a moment to feel his body, everything is normal. “I never get used to that feeling.” Comes Twilight’s voice. Tim turns and looks.

“Twilight,” He’s able to breathe as he levers himself to his feet, he reaches out a hand, “are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you, Tim.” She says softly, looking up at him, she’s still shorter than him. Though she’s now wearing clothing, a light blue blouse with a hot pink tie, along with a pleated skirt, knee high socks along with purple boots that reach almost up to her knees. She gets to her feet unsteadily.

“You look, more human, but not.” He says. Her skin is the same lavender as her coat was as a pony, her mane remains the same, dark purple with a lighter purple and gumball pink stripe. She takes a few deep breaths and stands more firmly. She offers a small smile.

He looks at her face, “How old are you, Twilight?”

She blushes, “How old do you think I look, Tim?”

“You look like a teenager.” Is all he can say.

She sniffs, “I’m twenty-four years old, Tim.”

He chuckles, “Could have fooled me, you look like you are sixteen.”

“Really?” She twirls a finger in her hair for a moment, a faint blush appearing on her face. She finally stops and focuses on him, clearing her throat multiple times, “Well, let’s get going,” with that, she marches off.

Tim looks around at the school, and off to his left is a big football field. Twilight walks on the sidewalk next to the field. The different colors of the humans the way Twilight is continues here. He sees boys in football jerseys, their skin every different color of the rainbow. As he gets close, one older man is talking to a younger boy. He’s extremely skinny, he has actually a fairly normal skin tone, then Tim sees his hair, which is green. The dad is dark green with unnaturally red hair. Tim tenses as he hears what the man is saying at full volume, “You’ll never get into college, your grades aren’t good enough. And I’ll be damned if you are going to be a layabout and stay in my basement.” Tim comes to a stop as the man continues, “You’ve got to get a football scholarship, son. Just like me!” A hand closes on his arm, Tim jerks to see Twilight, gesturing for him to follow. He starts to walk slowly, as the man continues, “You have to, or you’ll be a failure, a nothing.” Tim grits his teeth as he follows Twilight down the street.

Soon, they make it into the town, the buildings look fairly normal to his eye, though the colors seem to be a bit brighter than he’s used to. He watches a young lady with unnaturally pale skin, along with big pink sunglasses and electric blue hair walk down the other direction. On her head is a pair of headphones and she’s bopping to the electronic music he can hear from them. A turn of his head has him looking at a parking lot. Three girls are working to wash a car. Though one is a pale yellow with bright red hair, and a large pink bow in that hair, another is unnaturally white, with light pink and purple hair, and a third girl with orange skin and magenta hair. Another older teen is there, with bright white skin and an indigo blue mane. She seems to be watched the three younger girls as they bounce around, making more of a mess than necessary to wash a car. She looks up and notices Twilight, a bright smile appearing on her face as she waves, getting Twilight to wave back. Twilight giggles as they keep walking.

Tim moves up next to her, “You like walking?”

She nods, “Ponies walk most places.”

Tim huffs, “I wasn’t one to get in a car for a few hundred yards, but this is a fairly long walk.”

She giggles, “Oh hush, we are almost there.”

He follows as they turn down another street, this one fairly commercial. Twilight turns and opens the door for Tim, the smell greets him, making him smile, he looks at Twilight, “A Chinese food restaurant?”

She smiles and shakes her head as she makes her way among the tables, they get to where the restrooms are, and she opens a door, revealing a set of stairs. Tim follows her up the stairs. Two doors are along the hallway. Twilight walks past the first and stops in front of the second door, she knocks on the door, and it’s quickly answered. “Twilight!” Comes a voice, and a young woman emerges. She seems to be a few years older that Twilight, with almost human colored skin, though it’s more orange, and bright red and yellow hair. She reaches out and hugs Twilight tightly.

After a moment, Twilight extricates herself from the other woman and turns to Tim, “This is Sunset Shimmer. She’s actually from Equestria.” She smiles, “I’ve been writing to her about you. She agrees with me that it’s not very likely that this is your world.”

Sunset starts, “Oh, come on in. Twilight is here too.”

Tim follows the girls into the apartment. He looks around, the entry door opens to a small kitchen, though it’s hard to call it a kitchen with a mini fridge and a hot plate/toaster oven/coffee pot combo, along with a small beat up microwave. The table and chairs for the small eating area are the same as are down in the Chinese restaurant. She leads them into the living room, with a low table and pillows spread throughout. And then Tim stops dead, a near identical copy of Twilight Sparkle is sitting on a pillow, drinking from a coffee cup. Though the only difference Tim can see is she’s wearing thick glasses. He looks back at Twilight, then at the new Twilight, “Huh?” Is all he says.

Both Twilights giggle, the former pony princess comes up and draws the other Twilight to her feet, “This is my counterpart in this world, she’s also Twilight Sparkle.”

Tim shakes his head for a moment, and finally offers a hand, which she shakes gently, she looks at the Equestrian Twilight and giggles.

Tim takes a moment to look at both girls, now both have identical blushes, and both are playing with their hair, twirling it around a finger. Sunset looks at Tim, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Tim. I’ve told Princess Twilight here that this world is quite different than the world you’ve described to her.” She moves to the small window, which actually gives a decent view of the street, “You’ve described motor vehicles, and airplanes, and technology like big screen cell phones, and such.” She reaches to the table and tosses him a phone, “A lot of that is here.”

He presses the button on the side, and the screen lights. Though the make is not familiar to him, the screen responds to his touch, but it’s markedly different from the phone he had before he came to Equestria. He hands back the device as he looks out the window, the occasional car tools down the road. Brands are obvious, but none of the names or logos are at all familiar to him.

Princess Twilight comes over, “How does this world feel to you?”

Tim closes his eyes, he stands there for a long time. Finally, he turns back to Twilight, “sorry.”

She smiles softly, “That’s what I thought. While it would be very easy to just send you home here, and Sunset would be able to keep an eye on you.” Then she blushes deeply, “And I would be able to visit you fairly easily.” She trails off for a moment, her eyes unfocused, then she flinches and looks at him again, “I wish I had my horn here though.” She turns to Sunset Shimmer, “When you came through the first time, what language did they speak?”

Sunset frowns, “The same Canterlot accent to our language back at home, Twilight, why?”

She places a hand on his shoulder, “Tim was speaking a completely foreign language when he arrived, we had to implant a translation matrix into him for him to understand us.”

Sunset comes up, peering at him, “Really?” She looks intently, then sighs, “There are times I really miss my horn.” She reaches up and rubs the top of her forehead. She looks at Princess Twilight and sighs, “well, come with me, I’ve looked up the counterparts you’ve asked for.” She heads into the bedroom, Tim and both Twilight’s following. He looks in the small bedroom, a thin mattress on the floor, her belongings and clothes are either hung up in the tiny closet, or are in milk crates along one wall. A computer is on the floor, a pillow in front of it, the big CRT monitor is perched on a milk crate, and two more crates hold the keyboard and a mouse pad. She settles before the screen, the computer is booted up. She clicks a few times, pages showing on the screen. Tim kneels down, the screen is in the same incomprehensible script the books are back in Equestrai. And the keyboard seems to have even more letters than the keyboards back at home.

He looks around, “Living rather modestly?”

She looks at him, “What?”

He gestures around, she smiles, “Oh, well, before I went to Canterlot, to Princess Celestia’s school, I never had all that much, my herd broke up before I was born, and my mom passed away a few years before I went to the school. I don’t need much. And making deliveries for the restaurant pays the bills.” She looks up at Princess Twilight, “I’m doing fine here.”

She turns to the computer and starts working, “Let’s see, Cayenne Pepper, she was pretty easy to find, she’s graduated from Canterlot High a few years ago. She’s working at a customer service company. They contract with mobile carriers to provide services for them. She lives with her parents.”

Tim looks at Princess Twilight, she’s kneeling down next to him, eyes intent on the screen, she had Sunset look up his herd? He looks back at the screen, Sunset is continuing to work, “And we have Citrus Blush here.” She brings up a screen. “Wow, she graduated salutatorian in her class just this summer, and she’s in pre-law in college here in town.” She taps some more on the keyboard, “She’s got pretty good grades here. And she’s working for…” She flicks across a few pages, “One Rotten Apple, at Apple, Orange, and Cobbler Law Firm.” She looks over at Princess Twilight. “The office is less than ten minutes away.”

Twilight adjusts her glasses, “I’ll drive us there.” She stops for a moment, “Wait a moment,” She traces her finger along the screen, “That’s my dad’s lawyer. They are doing some big anti-trust case for him right now.” She looks back, “I think I’ve met her before. Once when daddy took me to visit Peach Cobbler about the case.”

Tim stands up to follow the girls, Princess Twilight stays close as they head down the stairs and through the restaurant. On the street, she leads them to a fairly expensive looking car. She pushes a button on the key and the doors open, she giggles, “Shining let me borrow his car.”

Twilight and Sunset get in the front seats, Princess Twilight hops in the back seat, dragging Tim in behind her. Another press of a button has the doors closing, and she pushes a button on the dash, and the engine rumbles to life. Tim settles into the seat as she pulls away from the curb. That feels pretty normal to him, her driving through town does feel right. But everything else about this world, it’s just different. It’s different from Equestria, and very different from his home. He watches out the window as the drive. The people here are all the colors of the rainbow. He sees bright orange skin, yellow, green, blue. Never any real normal human colors. He looks at the Princess, who is looking around as they drive, “How often have you come here?”

She stops and looks at him, “I’ve only visited a few times, this is actually the most of the city that I’ve seen.”

“And you talk to her?” He nods to Sunset.

She nods, “We’ve got books, if you write in one, it appears in the other.” She smiles, “I had to work hard to make a copy of the book so it can keep the portal open with the magic imbued in it, and I can still use the one I’ve got. That means I can keep the portal open all the time.”

He glances at Sunset, “Does she visit you?”

For a moment, Princess Twilight looks immeasurably sad, then she shakes her head, “No, she left Equestria not on the best terms with Princess Celestia.” She leans closer, “I’ve told her to simply go and talk to the Princess. But she refuses.”

“I was a different pony when I came through the first time.” Sunset says softly, “I’ve changed, but…” she trails off.

Princess Twilight and Tim look at her, her face betraying her struggle, “I burned too many bridges when I left.”

“But Sunset.”

Sunset Shimmer turns to her with a hard look, “We’ve talked about this before. If I go back and talk to the Princess, it will be on my terms. When I am ready to talk to her, I will.”

Princess Twilight reaches out a hand and puts it on Sunset’s shoulder, “You know she will accept you.”

Sunset flinches, “I was wrong, I was horrible.” She shakes her head violently, “I don’t know if I deserve to be forgiven by her.”

“You do, though. You’ve been accepted by the girls here. You can be accepted at home Sunset.”

Sunset turns and looks seriously at Princess Twilight, “I’ve told you, when I’m ready.”

Princess Twilight nods, “I’ve talked to Princess Celestia, she will be happy to see you, when you choose.”

Sunset is able to give a watery smile, “Thank you, Princess.”

“We’re here.” Twilight says as she pulls the car into the parking lot. It doesn’t take long before they are in the elevator, heading up. When the doors open, they look around. It’s a Saturday afternoon, and there aren’t all that many people here.

Though one face stops Tim in his tracks, a young lady is walking down the hallway, yellow in color, with orange hair and very pretty cerise eyes. She’s holding a stack of books to her chest as she walks. Princess Twilight steps in front of her, “Citrus Blush?”

She stops, looking at the two Twilight’s standing there, her eyes bulge, “You’re the girl that was singing against those sirens.” Tim suppresses a gasp, she sounds exactly like the Citrus he remembers.

Princess Twilight smiles, “Yes, I was there. So was Sunset Shimmer.”

Citrus smiles, “Well, this is a private business, but I remember you from school.” She glances around, “I don’t think Daddy would mind if I took a few minutes.” She walks over to a desk, setting down the books, “What can I do for you?”

Princess Twilight looks back at Tim, “This is Tim, he’s from a world much like yours. Sad to say, not exactly like this one. But it’s very similar.”

Tim steps forward reaching out a hand, “It’s a pleasure.”

She shakes his hand, “likewise.” She says softly, then looks back at Princess Twilight, “But what does that have to do with me?”

Princess Twilight looks back at Tim, then she turns to Citrus, “Well, since this isn’t the world he came to my world from, he’s made a few friends back in Equestria. One of them was the nurse’s assistant from the hospital when he was recovering. Her name was Citrus Blush.”

Citrus looks at both Twilights, “So, you are from that portal at the school.” She looks down, “So, there’s a version of me, living in Equestria? And I’m somehow friends with him?” She looks at Tim.

Twilight steps forward, adjusting her glasses, “That’s right, everyone here has a counterpart back in Equestria.”

“You said she’s a nurse’s assistant?”

Princess Twilight nods, “Well, she does that as part of her volunteer work. She actually makes and sells cosmetics, and she’s really good at making cosmetics for covering up scars, and helps with designing for reconstructive surgery.”

Citrus sighs longingly, “I’ve always been good at cosmetics.” She looks back into the office, “Daddy said I need to get a good career. So, I’m going to be a lawyer.” The tone of her voice makes Tim step forward. Only to be stopped by a look from Princess Twilight.

“Well, we’ve taken enough of your time, Miss Blush. We are just trying to get Tim to see the world here.”

Citrus smiles, “Oh, that’s fine. It was very nice to meet you all.” She moves over and picks up her books, “You can visit anytime.” She says as Sunset and Twilight herd Tim and Princess Twilight to the elevator.

When the door of the elevator closes, Twilight leans close, “With everything you’ve told me, Princess. The people here don’t always follow the cutie marks like the ponies do.”

Princess Twilight huffs, “But they would be so much happier if they did.”

Sunset reaches over and gives Princess Twilight a hug, “They probably would, but there is a lot of things different in this world. We all have counterparts, but we don’t have the magic here that is in your world. We are able to make do, but it’s not perfect.” She looks at the closed door of the elevator, “Sometimes, it’s just not feasible to follow your talent the way you do in Equestria.”

Tim looks at Sunset, “You said Cayenne works in customer service? So, I’m guessing she doesn’t follow her passion either?”

Sunset looks bleak, “No, I don’t think so.”

Tim growls, “We need to help them.”

Princess Twilight puts a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry Tim. But we can’t change their lives to how we think they should be. They must make the decision to follow their passion, or not. It’s not our right to change that.”

“But Citrus isn’t happy, and I’m certain Cayenne isn’t either.”

Princess Twilight grunts softly as the elevator doors open, “I know, Tim. But we can’t force them. If you force them, then you are responsible for the results. If they have trouble making a living because of your interference, it’s on you.” A couple of tears slide down her lavender cheek, “One thing I’ve learned about being a princess, is the responsibility of those placed in your care. You can’t play God. You cannot control their lives and force them to be how you think they should be.” Her voice gets really quiet, “You have to let them make their own mistakes.”

Tim follows them back to the car. And the drive back to the Chinese restaurant is undertaken in silence.

***

Tim follows Princess Twilight, Sunset and Twilight towards the statue base that is the portal in this world. Tim watches as the girls hug and offer parting words to each other. Tim looks at Sunset, “You said there is a counterpart for everypony in Equestria, yet we haven’t met your counterpart.”

Sunset smiles, “It’s because I haven’t met her. She could be in the city, or she could be in another part of this world.”

Princess Twilight turns to Tim, “You don’t have to stay in my world, they do look different than you. But you can stay here if you want. Try to make a life here, with more familiar technology, a more familiar life to what you had back at your home. I’ll still be working to find a way to send you to your world. But the option remains.”

Tim looks around, the sun is slowly setting in the distance and the moon is coming out. “No, I much prefer being with Citrus and Cayenne.”

Princess Twilight smiles, “Okay, let us go then.” She takes a deep breath and walks up to the portal. Putting a hand to it for a moment, watching the marble ripple. She quickly steps through and disappears.

“It was nice meeting you, Tim” Twilight says softly as Sunset offers a hand for him to shake.

“Thanks.” He says as he walks up to the portal. He closes his eyes and takes another step, feeling the power of the portal take him. Once again, his body and mind are stretched as the currents of the energy pull him through. And then it’s over, he’s tumbling across the floor of the crystal castle.

“Oh Tim, I’m so sorry!” Comes Twilight’s voice, a tinge of panic creeping in.

“Ugh, what happened?” He asks, and finally opens his eyes, his body feels odd. He shakes his head, wincing. He puts a hand to his head. Then he stops, it’s not a hand, but a pure white hoof. He freezes, looking at the offending appendage.

"I'm sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen. Your not from our world or the one through the portal, so the mirror shouldn't have done this. I can fix it, i can find a way to fix it.... I hope... I'll do everything i can i just need to do some research.... I'm sorry..."

Tim can feel a tail lashing underneath him, he looks back at it, it’s a blue violet, though it has a grayish mulberry stripe through it, he reaches up and touches his new mane, “I’m a pony now?”

Twilight comes over and nuzzles him softly, “I wasn't expecting this, but it's an easy fix," Her ears flick back and forth, "I think. I just need to do a little research and get a few things. It shouldn't be to much trouble.” She stops in her tracks and looks back at him, “Unless you want to stay this way?”

Tim looks at his brand new hooves, "I have no idea how to be a pony!" He moans as everything catches up with him. His eyes roll back and he collapses to the floor.

Next Chapter: Chapter 9. Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 22 Minutes