And lo, it came to pass that the appointed hour arrived, and I was forced to quickly wash, stuff my defiantly ignored boner into the trousers of my tux, and head out the castle gate to await whatever surprise Trixie had waiting for me.

There were a couple of hiccups that made me a little late. One, I was stopped by the guards and forced to check in so they could know where I was in an emergency, and they were frustrated by the vagueness of my evening plans...

The second hiccup: I was carrying a near catatonic and barely dressed Spitfire piggyback style. It hadn't been my choice. I offered to let her stay in the room until she recovered, but she wanted to tag along and see what Trixie was up to. But then she exerted just enough energy to throw on her clothes and button her dress blues together to give her some semblance of modesty... then climbed up onto my shoulders and latched her arms around my chest. She then fell into a horny nap right there, even as I started walking around.

Not that I was complaining much about carrying her. I was holding her up by her incredibly taut ass and she didn't seem to mind. Her shapely tits were pressing against the lower part of my neck. Her body would automatically squirm and twitch against me in aftershocks of arousal, as she muttered and groaned under her breath. It was a one-of-a-kind experience. It just wasn't helping the boner situation, and the fact that my suit pants had been tailored for a definitively 12-inch bulge and no more.

Despite the personal inconvenience, I didn't blame Spitfire for still being out of it. I had been relentless. My fingers were sore and sopping wet after going to town on Spitfire's body. When I was getting tired and in the mood for a shake-up, I'd brought out the big black horsecock dildo that Trixie and Derpy had bought (and made extensive use of) yesterday. (There was something extra-dominant about fucking a desperate mare with a proxy instead of your own cock, and I still wasn't sure how to feel about that.) At some point after the sixth orgasm, Spitfire's mind or body or both just gave up and she checked out into an orgasmic coma, half-grinning and drooling while I continued to fondle and penetrate her.

Which probably explained the piggyback situation, even after my hypnotic commands to relax should have ended.

So I was full of excuses and worried about the delay as I left the royal palace. When I finally managed to make my way out the front gate, there was already an ornate carriage waiting off to the side of the road leading down the hill.

A tan earth pony stallion was waiting within the rickshaw-style handlebars at the front, his obscenely muscular physique squeezed into his uniform. He blinked at me a few times, then yelled out, "Pascal? The uh... human?"

"That's me!"

"Yes, I'm here on behalf of Trixie," he called back, lowering his voice gradually as I got closer.

I nodded. "Figured as much."

The stallion nodded in relief. "Okay. Ms. Lulamoon has rented this carriage for pretty much the rest of the night. And my first task was to pick you up and–" His eyes darted up and to the side in a quick burst of thought. "–uh, take you to a surprise destination!" He gestured towards the Wonderbolt on my back. "She mentioned you might have guests, and they're welcome to ride if it's on their way."

I impishly (but gently) bounced Spitfire a couple of times, making her groan. "I don't think she's airworthy yet, so we'll take you up on that."

The driver stallion nodded, and then his face got a little crooked with some kind of bemused expression. "Is that, um...?"

I didn't answer for a few moments. I adjusted the way I was carrying Spitfire so I could get one arm free. Then I waved my hand in front of the stallion's face, Jedi-mind-trick style. "She's earned a night where she can relax as a regular citizen," I said plainly.

To my surprise, my hand briefly glowed blue, a color I saw mirrored in the stallion's big eyes. He quickly nodded a few times and made his way to open the carriage's side doors. "Of course. Step right in!"

Okay, seriously, I was starting to cast spells left and right. What was it going to take to unlock telekinesis?!

As I approached, I tilted my head up and said in a babyish voice, "Hey Spitfirrrre... You gotta get off nowww..."

Spitfire groaned and her legs squeezed my sides tighter.

"There's a niiiiice, comfy seat in there. I'll get you within crawling distance." And so I did, leaning down with one foot on the step into the vehicle.

With the lethargy of a toddler, Spitfire reached off my back and basically fell onto the plush double-wide seat, eventually stretching herself across it like a cat. I climbed into the seat opposite from her. I had to take a moment to adjust my pants again, because my dick wasn't committing to the whole 'softening' agenda just yet.

Once the stallion confirmed we were all set, he went back to the handles and started pulling us down the road with his earth pony speed and might. I could hear his work-booted hooves land on the ground, and for a second I could pretend we were riding an actual horse-drawn carriage, not a pony-man-hybrid-of-unreasonable-strength-and-stamina-drawn carriage.

After watching the sunset-stained hill roll by for a moment or two, I looked across at Spitfire. The vibrations of travel were forcing her to actually wake back up a bit. I said, just a bit smugly, "You enjoyed yourself, then?" A note of trepidation crept in at the end.

Spitfire limply dragged a hand down her face. She really looked exhausted. "Ughhh... Yeah, you might say that..." she said with a slur.

I crossed my legs and looked out the window shyly. "Good, good."

Spitfire groaned yet again. "Pascal... I don't... have the energy... to babysit you through your dom drop or whatever it's called. I liked it, dammit; just accept it."

I put a knuckle to my lips and wondered just how much of my heart I was wearing on my sleeve. "Well, thanks. That–" I wanted to ask 'That obvious?' but it would have been just another way to search for approval, so I stopped and switched tracks. "Sounds like you've done some reading on the subject."

"Yep," Spitfire grumbled, her arm over her eyes and her chest jiggling as the carriage moved onto a cobblestone street. "I'm in the hypnosub club. Print out that card and... hand me that t-shirt..." she grumbled semi-coherently.

"I'll get on it. They have books on being a hypnosub?" I had to ask.

She lifted her arm and glared at me with a growing streak of red across her cheeks. "No, you just– it's not hard to get exposed to the whole BDSM thing when– when all you've got for regular companionship is romance novels, okay?!" She quickly turned her head away, as if she couldn't believe she'd just admitted that to me. My 'easy-to-confide-in' aspect of the aura was still very much a thing.

What she had just said, though, was mildly interesting. This was a running theme I had ignored before. "Those sure are prevalent. The books, I mean. Seems like half the mares I talked to was sort of raised on adult fiction. I'm surprised, since out-and-out porn seems so frowned upon by the crown."

Spitfire groaned and laid her arm across her eyes again. "I dunno, Celestia's admin has a blind spot for borderline erotica," Spitfire mumbled. "If you ask me, I'd bet she has a private collection of smutty novels."

Something to note for later? Maybe not. It was a good rumor – a great one, really – but it didn't gel with my mental image of the Princess, if only because she seemed so romantically unsatisfied that even fantasies were useless. Maybe that had been the case in the past, but more recently they'd become useless as her frustrations grew...

"You're seriously thinking about it."

I chuckled. "I have a conflict of interest. I'm not taking your bet."

"How is that going?" Spitfire asked, her curiosity giving her more energy. "With the Princess, I mean."

"Two steps forward, one step back," I said with a shrug of my hands.

"Well, that's net one step."

I nodded. "Yep."

We rode in silence for a few seconds. The carriage had finally reached the city of Canterlot proper. With the setting of the sun, ponies were out and about on the street on their way home from work. I hadn't been outside the castle complex in several days, not since that fateful Saturday night. It was almost like waking up from a dream, only to realize that yes, I was still living in a world where obscenely large tits, butts, and cocks bulged under conservative layers of clothing as far as the eye could see. A walk through a wet dream. My pelvis stirred unhelpfully again.

"You look hungry," Spitfire commented, smirking at me from where she rested her head.

I sighed. "In more than one sense." I was hoping that dinner was a part of Trixie's big plans. Seemed likely enough.

The Wonderbolt dragged herself up to a proper sitting position, rubbing the side of her face that had been pressed against the fabric. "The perv's never goin' away," she observed. "But the good news is, I guess... you don't gotta be pure all the time. You just need some kinda outlet for that mean, dominant streak."

I frowned. I thought back to how I made Lyrica Lilac call herself a cunt and Lieutenant Rook put on a masturbation show all day Saturday. One of those had been before I'd known I was on a life-or-death timer measured in minutes.

"That's what I think I am, y'know?" she went on. "Not just relaxing for me, but maybe a chance for you to... I dunno, release that pressure valve."

I gave her a wry look. "And all in the interest of global security, since I'm a frickin' demigod."

Spitfire rolled her eyes and waved a hand dismissively at me. "'Captain Spitfire' doesn't give a shit anymore. That's above my pay grade, and I'm already compromised. Nopony's gonna ask me to run a risk analysis on ya. No, I'm just talking about you and me."

There was something about this line of thinking that really bothered me. "I just– I don't want anyone to feel forced, like– I don't want to torture anyone just so I can be the Nice Avatar the other 90% of the time."

The Wonderbolt raised an eyebrow and smirked at me. "You call that torture? Dude... you are the worst torturer, then. Just the worst."

I rubbed the inner corners of my eyes. "I get what you're saying. I do. Just... I have a lot of power. It's extra-hard to make sure everyone's having a genuinely good time, and not just..." The words jumbled up in my throat.

"Your whole power is about making people feel fine, even in unusual situations. If nothing else..." Spitfire then shook her head and threw up her hands. "Nope. Sorry, done being philosophical. I'm dry."

"Fair enough." I looked out the window and watched a few more Canterlot buildings roll by. We weren't yet at Trixie's destination. "One other semi-serious question."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Fine, shoot."

"I've been trying to figure out where everypony stands relationship-wise. Just, y'know, trying to make clear what we expect from each other. Derpy and Trixie seem committed–" I thought back to our half-day-long fuckfest on Monday. "–well, pretty damn committed to the 'poly' thing. But Moondancer's decided she wants to date other ponies and keep a more 'friends with benefits' thing with us."

"Good on her!" Spitfire replied. Some real enthusiasm for the bookworm getting out of her shell broke through her lethargy.

"Which kinda just leaves you," I said, leaning forward and clasping my hands under my chin. My eyes strayed to the line of yellow cleavage framed by the haphazardly buttoned navy blue dress shirt, but they bounced up pretty quick. "Where do you and I stand? We've got this semi-professional, semi-casual thing going on, far as I can tell..."

Spitfire spread out her arms along the backrest of her seat and looked out the window. "Yeah, seems that way... I dunno. I'm too busy for a relationship, y'know? Yeah, my day job's Captain of the Wonderbolts, believe it or not." That got a short laugh out of me. "But I dunno. You sorta rode in like a white knight and really made a dent in one of my biggest problems with the team, so..." Her face contorted as she forced out a confession. "So yeah, I kinda care about you. Personally. A lot."

You are so tsundere right now, a part of my brain declared – the weeb part – before being swiftly sacked.

Spitfire leaned her head back and half-sighed, half-groaned. "...I like what we have right now? The semi-professional fuckbuddies thing? I don't want to do the whole 'harem' crap. Can't I just be, like, one of your girls on the side? Separate from the harem, just a you-and-me thing?"

I shrugged. "Don't see why not. Any particular reason?"

"I just don't wanna have to deal with Trixie full-time," Spitfire replied with a grimace, and I chuckled. "And Derpy seems nice, but I don't really know her."

I clapped my hands and nodded. "If that works for you, that works for me."

"Sweet." She dropped her arms and leaned forward. "Speaking of semi-professional, when do you think you can start working on the rest of my team as a hypnotherapist?"

I never doubted that she was serious about this, but it still managed to surprise me. "Uh, well..." There had been some thoughts cooking on the back burner, and now seemed like a good enough time to try them out. "I was thinking... I'll set up an office, either in Ponyville or Canterlot. Once things are a bit more stable."

"And then I can just send them to you," Spitfire added matter-of-factly, nodding to herself. "Not like they can't fly over."

"Is there like an urgent need, or...?"

"No no– well– no." Spitfire shook her head. "I'm just serious about looking after my team. We've needed some kinda mental health solution for a while. Fan-meets and company parties don't really seem to cut it. I'm just looking forward to being able to tell my fliers, 'Hey, I'm gonna send you to this guy, and he'll make you feel a lot better.'"

That idea didn't sit right with me, the way she said it. "Seems like some of that could happen at home, if you know what I mean."

Spitfire hissed through her teeth and avoided my gaze. "Yeah... We could use a bit of a culture shake-up in general. We could be more supportive." She put a hand to her temple. "You probably saw – I've been kinda in total-bitch-mode this whole season. Which is why I really like these sessions. You help me, that helps my team too."

The negative-Nancy side of my brain tried to find a downside there – some other way to bitch about how powerful I was and how bullshit that was. It couldn't, at least for the moment. "...Glad to hear that," I eventually said.

Outside, the pace of our driver's steps slowed from a run to a bit more of a jog, and the carriage made its final turn to park alongside the sidewalk. Wherever this was, it was our stop.

Before either Spitfire or I could open the carriage door and get out, a presence of magenta-colored magic gripped the handles and swung them open dramatically. Trixie was standing there, looking up at us from under her magician's hat, her vast blue cleavage threatening to burst out of her leotard. Her eyebrows jumped up at the sight of the disheveled Wonderbolt across from me. "Ah, Captain Spitfire! You look like you've had fun today!" Her catlike smirk aimed towards me. Her violet eyes looked up and down my outfit appreciatively. "And you... Are you ready for your magical night with The Sweet and Lactating Derpy?"

A bark of laughter forced its way out of my throat. "Wow, really?"

Trixie beckoned us out. "Come now, let's not keep her waiting too long!"

Spitfire and I exchanged a look as we braced ourselves to get back on Trixie's Wild Ride. Then we carefully exited the carriage one after the other, stepping down onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, hey Pascal," a voice to the side greeted me.

I looked to my right and saw... Moondancer? And behind her were her friends Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine! Confused, all I could do was reply, "Uh, hey?"

Minuette waved back at us excitedly. "Heyyyy!" Then she realized the celebrity next to me. "Woah, is that...?!" Her eyes glazed over for a second, and she quieted down real quick. "N-Nevermind." It looked the 'Spitfire-gets-to-have-a-regular-night' enchantment was still working beyond the carriage driver. It didn't give me any clues as to why she and the other Canterlot friends were there, though.

Trixie stepped beside me, still smug. "It'd be a waste of a carriage rental if we just used it for one trip from the palace to here. And I can't let you and Derpy have all the fun. So I'm having a girls' night on the side! We're going to hit up Canterlot's nightlife, and... well, what happens next is between us." That statement got Lemon Hearts sheepishly hiding behind one of the other girls. "Don't worry, the carriage will be back to return you and Derpy to the palace once you're all done."

"Done with what?" I finally had the wherewithal to ask.

Trixie swept her arm towards the end of the block. "Dinner at one of Canterlot's finest establishments, recommended by Fancy Pants!"

I looked down the street. The building at the end of the block was pretty tame and nondescript by Canterlot standards, but then I noticed a railing and a set of stairs leading down to a basement-level door. A humble sign on the wall pointing down read The Horizon Joint.

At last, the mystery was revealed. "A romantic dinner at a four-star hole in the wall."

"Followed by a night of one-on-one lovemaking with a fully rested human lover," Trixie added, walking her fingers along my upper arm and shoulder. Leaning into my ear, she whispered, "Though it looks like you had some fun anyway..."

"I saved myself, don't worry," I murmured in reply. I ran my hand up Trixie's back and rubbed affectionately.

"Good..."

I could hear the sound of Spitfire rubbing her face. "And meanwhile, you're going out clubbing... on a Wednesday night?"

Trixie looked back and turned her nose up at the captain. "Some of the best plans sound flawed when you say them out loud." Which was... just a quintessentially Trixie thing to say.

Since all three of the Saturday mares were here, I realized this was a perfect opportunity to pass some news along. "Speaking of the best laid plans..." I reached into the inside pocket of my tux and pulled out the envelope from Hoity Toity. I pulled out three of the four invitations and offered them to Trixie, Spitfire, and Moondancer.

Trixie's eyes nearly bugged out, and her grin got even more unstoppable. "An invitation to Beauty in Bloom?! Ahahaha!"

"Oh, fuck," Spitfire cursed. "We made it happen. Fashion Week."

Moondancer flipped over the ticket in her hands, looking at the other mares curiously. "So we're really going, then?"

Spitfire blew a huff of air out from her lips. "Might as well. See what the damage is."

Trixie launched herself at me with a big hug, crushing her enormous titties against my chest. "This is going to be so AMAZING! I can't wait!" She peppered my cheek with kisses, stunning me for a second. Then she leaned towards my ear to whisper again. "I love seeing you make big changes in this city..."

I gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek back, then pulled away and asked, "Before we all go our separate ways, mind if we talk for a second?"

Trixie agreed, and the two of us took a few steps further down the street towards The Horizon Joint. The other girls chatted amongst themselves (and some of them discreetly interrogated Spitfire). Trixie kept her body pressed against mine, which I couldn't deny enjoying a lot. My hands instinctively caressed her sides, straying up towards bountiful, squishy blue sideboob. The unicorn mare leaned in so that the brim of her hat was poking my hair, shadowing our faces. "Something the matter? Am I putting you too much on the spot?"

"I think I've just about got a handle on what's going on," I said. "Just wanting to check in. Last time I saw you, you looked kind of upset."

Trixie blinked. "When was that?"

"After the cure. You snuck a taste..."

The magician girl's unflappable confidence fell almost in an instant. "Yeah... I made the wrong bet. I really wanted to believe, right up until the end... But the spell worked; it really tasted different. Less, well..." She trailed off and frowned at the ground off to the side. "I was an idiot. My usual idiot self."

I lifted her hat just enough to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Being skeptical was valid. You helped us keep a level head instead of falling into a panic. That was important, that day."

She didn't move her eyes, but her electric-blue tail flicked indecisively. "I was... willing to ignore everything else, just to be contrary. I denied it right up until the end. I let myself... get addicted. And I chose it, practically willingly." She covered her eyes, more in exasperation than shame. "I really do have 'sucker for dark pacts' written on my face..."

"Trixie?" I reached up with one hand, tempted to tilt her chin back towards me... but I thought that might be a little cliché. So I instead stroked the back of my fingers along her neck before placing my hand on her shoulder. "It all turned out alright. I wouldn't be here without your help. You've been so good to me, Trixie, I don't know how I deserve you."

Trixie rubbed her eyes and chuckled a little bit. "Is that what it feels like?" she asked. "Getting encouragement from people who care about you and not really believing them?"

Yep, for once our roles were reversed. "Pretty much. Even though you really want to."

Trixie sniffled and finally turned back towards me. "If you're going to be a therapist... who's gonna listen to your troubles, hmm? Might as well help each other out."

"Sounds like a plan." I nuzzled my nose against her muzzle, making her face scrunch up cutely. She gave me a playfully indignant look for a second. I pulled back a bit to give us both a bit of symbolic room to breathe, and said, "So I heard you and Derpy had a day out, just the two of you. How was it?"

"It was..." Trixie let out an almost dreamy sigh, and some of her good mood returned. "I can see why you fell for her."

That was excellent news to me. I knew we were having quite a bit of fun as a threesome, but I was concerned about the dynamic between the two of them. "Really now?"

Trixie nodded. "Mmhmm. She's... cute and sexy and awkward and adorable... Goddess, it's not fair for one mare to be all those things so perfectly. And forget her eyes – the mare can gaze into ponies' souls, I swear! It's like, every so often she can read my mind and figure out exactly what I'm most worried about."

Another burst of laughter broke out of me at 'read my mind.' "Right?! Okay, so I'm not the only one..."

Trixie giggled too. "Anyway, we had a good day. Went shopping, saw the sights, got into a little bit of sexy trouble at Canterlot Carousel... really flustered the manager there..." An evil smirk graced Trixie's features, and it seemed that she was back to full-power smug once more. "You know, I thought between me and her, we'd have this shoulder-angel, shoulder-devil thing going on... But she's got both roles covered all by herself, doesn't she?"

"Oh yeah," I agreed with a nod. "Whether it's for comfort or fun, she's the master of the soul-read and the gentle nudge."

"Which, I guess, makes me the master of pushing you two beyond your easy, comfortable limits. I can live with that."

We finally let each other go. Looking over to the girls'-night group, I said, "You gonna be okay? Sounds like you've been very spendy today."

"Oh believe me, a night to binge like tonight is exactly what my show profits are for." She brushed her tail against my leg. "Though if you want to make things a little bit easier..."

I raised my hand, fingers ready to snap. "Wherever you go clubbing tonight, you can get free admission and drinks... within reason. If things escalate to casual sex, it won't bother anyone outside the group." Snap! A spark of blue magic burst, and I could almost feel an invisible wave ripple through the air.

Trixie's eyes went adorably wide. "Oooooooooh, you've got to show me more of those tricks later."

"Well, you've probably got me for the rest of the week."

"Which is exactly why I'm giving you entirely to Derpy tonight. Seems only fair." She winked and made her way back to the other mares. "Alright, everypony, into the carriage! Let's have some FUN!"

Spitfire, currently leaning against said carriage with her arms folded, said, "Screw it, mind if I come along? I might just end up taking tomorrow off anyway."

The magician didn't seem bothered by the idea at all. "Why not? Today's for celebrating our triumph and getting to know each other better."

"Sure, whatever." Spitfire sluggishly began to climb back into the carriage. To me, she called out, "Have a good night, Pascal."

Trixie turned around to give me a cheeky farewell too. "Enjoy yourself! ...You stud, you."

I bashfully looked aside as the mares climbed into the rental carriage. I had just enough presence of mind to wave them goodbye as the driver pulled them along down the street. My awareness briefly expanded to the rest of the avenue, watching other well-endowed anthro ponies go about their business. The thought that I could have such a special night amongst this race... Hell, even if I were among humans...

I turned around and stared down the stone stairs leading to The Horizon Joint. Derpy had to already be inside, waiting for me. I straightened my tux, adjusted my pants for what seemed like the dozenth time, and carefully made my way down to my dinner date.