“Uhg…” I groaned as consciousness slowly returned to me. My head was slightly pounding once again, albeit a lot better than it had yesterday. “I have to stop waking up like this.”

“Hmm…” a soft voice mumbled in reply, drawing my attention to a warmth against my side.

“F-Fluttershy?!” I blurted out in a loud whisper as I found the mare hugging my side in her sleep, ignoring the fact that I was still had my glasses on.

“I-I’m in bed… w-with, Fluttershy,” I quietly stuttered out as I began to panic.

Quickly pulling up a part of the blanket, I sighed in relief as I found myself fully clothed.

Looking around, I found that I was back in Fluttershy’s room and a small amount of light was coming from a nearby window behind the bed.

“What time is it?” I asked myself as I tried to get out of the bed.

“No…” Fluttershy quietly mumbled as her grip around me tightened in her sleep.

Giving in with a sigh, I laid fully back down. Bringing a free hand across my body, I carefully began to scratch the mare’s closest ear. Continuing this for several minutes with nothing but a few twitches of said ear as a response.

“Hmmmm…” Fluttershy happily sighed as her eyes slowly began to open a half an hour later. For a few moments, she simply stared at me, sighing happily as I scratched her ear. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I softly chuckled back.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Fluttershy said as she shifted up slightly and nuzzled the side of my face with a slightly red face.

“Y-yeah,” I replied, catching the slight smell of flowers coming from the mare as her soft fur brushed up against my face. “Sorry about that, by the way. I-I wasn’t expecting you to…”

“I just thought…” Fluttershy timidly began to reply as her face began to glow brighter.

“No, no, its fine!” I quickly replied, using my free hand to stroke her cheek. We continued to lay like this for several moments before Fluttershy asked something that completely shocked me.

“C-can we try again?” she timidly asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

“Uh…” I was able to get out as my mind suddenly began to debate with itself. One half told me not to, sense she was both a cartoon and a pony. The other half though, was all for it.

“S-sure,” I hesitantly replied with a little smile.

Giving a smile of her own, Fluttershy released my side and carful placed herself on my chest. I couldn’t help but place my hands on her sides slowly brushing them back and forth as they slowly towards her flanks.

“Eep!” Fluttershy chirped as my hands almost reached her rear end.

“Sorry!” I quickly apologized, moving my hands back up to her mid back, just below her wings.

“I-I’m not really ready for…” Fluttershy replied as he face hovered over mine, her mane brushing the side of my face.

“I-its fine, that was my bad,” I replied as she her face came closer to mine.

“Okay,” the mare whispered before closing the distance between our lips.

I couldn’t help but marvel at all the sensations I felt. Her soft lips against mine, the sweet scent of flowers filling my nose, a slight taste of butterscotch reaching my senses, her soft fur against my face and our beatings hearts each seeming to beat in tandem with one another.

We went no further than meeting our lips, but it was still an amazing experience.

“W-wow…” I said as she pulled away a few moments later. “That was…”

“Y-yeah,” Fluttershy panted slightly, her face beet red, which I’m sure was a reflection of mine.

For several minutes, we stared into each other’s eyes. After that, we shared another quick kiss before Fluttershy laid back down at my side, her chin sitting on my shoulder as she nuzzled my neck.

“Chris?” the mare softly asked, drawing my eyes back into hers.

“Yeah?” I replied, stroking her cheek with my thumb again.

“Will you be my special somepony?” She asked quietly with a hopeful smile, causing my heart to skip a beat.

“Yeah,” I breathed, kissing her forehead in the process.

“Yay!”

“Here’s the eggs, Fluttershy,” I said while placing the basket full of fresh eggs on the mare’s kitchen table.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said as she floated up and kissed me cheek. Taking the basket, she took them to her personal fridge and began to put them away. “After this, we should go to Twilight’s.”

“Rah,” I replied as I rinsed my mouth with some mouth wash Fluttershy had offered me.

“What?” Fluttershy asked when she heard me, stopping from washing the dishes from our breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal.

“Oh, sorry,” I replied while looking at the eggs, as I debated on wither I should go back to the coop to pet the chicken.(1) “Its just a response and could mean a lot of different things depending on the situation.”

“Oh…” the mare replied simply before returning to the dishes.

A few minutes later and we were both standing outside Fluttershy’s home waiting as the mare gave Angel some instructions on watching the house while she was gone.

Which just made me wonder how smart that bunny actually was.

“Bark!” something sounded off behind me. Turning to look, I found Geralt standing behind me with a slightly curious look. Showing that at some point, someone had tied a plane black bandana around his neck with the point at the front.

“Hey, Geralt,” I greeted, reaching out and scratching behind his ear. “What’cha need?”

“I think he wants to come with us,” Fluttershy told me with a tone of worry. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Nonsense!” I chuckled out while beginning to walk off with a flourish of my arms. “I’m sure he won’t cause any problems.”

“Woof!” Geralt replied as he began to follow me with his tail wagging and a smirk on his muzzle.

“But, what if ponies are afraid of him?” Fluttershy asked as she walked next to me, sparing Geralt a backwards glance every few moments.. “I just don’t want anypony to be hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” I chuckled, looking back at Geralt with a smirk. “If anything happens, I’ll take care of it, okay?”

“Okay…” Fluttershy quietly replied as the town edge came into view.

“Fluttershy, before we get to the library, I have to ask…” I began as we entered the town. It was still a little early, but there were a few ponies already outside and almost all of them immediately zeroed in on our group. Luckily, none of them seemed to run away in fear… yet.

Although, a few did decide to hide behind their friends when they noticed Geralt.

“What?” the mare asked curiously.

“Are you okay with me being your boy… Uh, coltfriend?” I asked while scratching the back of my head.

“Yes, why?” Fluttershy asked in worry.

“Well there are a lot of reasons,” I began with a sigh. “We aren’t the same species for one, we’ve only really known each other for a few days, I know more about you and your friends then anyone here does about me and you’re Fluttershy!”

“Uh…what was that last one?” the mare asked as she stopped in the middle of the street.

“I know a lot about you and your friends,” I replied with a smile and a chuckle.

“No, not that,” Fluttershy giggled cutely, obviously realizing I was joking around.

“Basically, what I meant was that you are WAY out of my league, even factoring in the whole ‘different species’ thing,” I replied, sighing heavily. “Where I’m from, I’m not exactly what most people would consider attractive.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy said as she looked down, a slight tint to her cheeks. She stood there for several moments, lost in thought before she finally continued.

“Well… none of that really matters to me,” she said, looking up at me with a small smile. “I know a few ponies that have relationships with griffons and minotaurs. We also have plenty of time to get to know each other and with you already knowing so much about me, all I need to do is learn about you!”

“And what about being out of my league?” I asked as we began to move once again. The library was now in view, so we only had another minute or two.

“Why should that matter?” Fluttershy asked before looking down bashfully. “Besides… I’m not that attractive.”

Several flocks of birds launched into the air and flew away in fear as I almost collapsed in a fit of instantanious laughter.

“What the hay is so funny?” a recognizable southern accent asked from behind us.

Doing my best, I was able to turn and see Applejack walking up behind us and tried to tell her the joke Fluttershy just told me, but I doubt she understood what I said through all my laughing.

“Is it okay?” Applejack asked, looking at Fluttershy with a raised brow.

“He’s not an ‘it’,” Fluttershy quickly replied, scowling slightly. It was so cute, it calmed my laughs.

“Its… its okay, Fluttershy,” I said as I caught my breath. “I kind of deserve that, for lying and all.”

“No, no…” Applejack sighed, removing her hat and giving a sigh. “I might be a bit cross with ya fer lyin’, but that don’t mean I should be rude; Sorry.”

“Its alright Applejack,” I replied, holding my hand out. “I’m sorry too. I promise to explain myself when I get the chance, but I kinda owe Twilight a Q and A first.”

“That’s actually why ah’m here,” Applejack replied as she replaced her hat and used her weird hoof magic field to shake my hand. “Twilight invited us all to your little Q and A this mornin’. Be a might easier then have’n ta repeat yerself more.”

“I guess that works,” I said as the library door suddenly burst open, almost hitting me.

“Will you three hurry up already!” the prismatic mare who stood in the door shouted. But it wasn’t the mare that caught my attention, it was the fact that she had my cover on her head. “I had to wake up early for this!”

“Hey, that’s my hat!” I snapped, trying to grab it back. Unfortunately though, I was too slow as Rainbow Dash ducked back inside.

“No way, this is mine now,” Rainbow replied as she stuck her tongue out at me. “It’s what happens when you lie to your friends.”

“That’s still my hat,” I grumbled as I led the way for the others to enter the library. All the other main six were inside, with Spike placing several cups of water on the table in the middle of the room.

“Hurray, you’re okay!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she hopped towards us. “Now I can throw you a ‘Glad you’re okay party’ and a…”

“Let’s put a rain check on that one, kay?” I interrupted as the bouncing mare jumped into my chest for a hug. I reciprocated the action with a chuckle of my own. “You smell like cotton candy.”

“And you smell like…kinda like Fluttershy,” Pinkie pointed out with a slightly curious look.

“Well, I have been staying at her place since I’ve been here,” I replied as I set Pinkie back down on the ground.

“Speaking of which,” Rarity chimed in with a devious smirk. “How did your date go?”

“DATE?!” half the room shouted in shock, causing Fluttershy to hid behind me with a glowing face.

“It was very nice, Rarity,” I replied as I reached around and stroked Fluttershy’s mane reassuringly. “A little bump here and there, but a wonderful evening all the same.”

“I am so happy to hear that,” Rarity said with a smile as her horn began to glow. A moment later, my cammies were pulled out of a set of bags to the side of the room, as well as another shirt and pair of pants. “It’s going to be a little while until I can get those shoes for you.”

“I’m perfectly okay with my boots for now, so there’s no rush,” I replied as I took hold of my cloths, watching the slight drain effect happen once again.

“Whoa, wait a minute!” Rainbow suddenly snapped, drawing my attention to the shocked faces of several others. “You… and Fluttershy… went on a date… with each other?!”

“Yeah, got a problem with that?” I asked with a shrug. Putting my cloths under my arm, I returned to stoking Fluttershy’s mane. “She asked me out and only a fool would say no to a mare like her.”

“Awww,” the others sighed with smiles.

“You just better not hurt her, or else my hoof and your face are gonna become real close friends,” Rainbow said with a cute scowl as she waved one of her front hoofs at me.

“Grrrrr,” Geralt growled, reminding me that he was there as well.

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack jumped away as she was the closest to the wolf.

“Why’d you bring him here?!” Twilight groaned as her friends looked at the wolf with a mixture of shock and trepidation.

“Because he wanted to come,” I replied while watching Spike slowly walk up to the large wolf and timidly reaching a claw out to pet it. After several moments of the claw just hanging there, I sighed and walked over and picked the dragon up and placed him on Geralt’s back.

“Grrrr,” Geralt growled at me. Normally, having a giant wolf would scare the shit out of almost anyone, but this cartoon wolf was about as intimidation as a puppy.

“Hey,” I snapped, flicking his nose. “I’m in charge here.”

“Whoa…” Spike said from his place on Geralt’s back.

“Can we please get back to what we are all here for?” Twilight groaned.

“Shesh, Twilight,” I replied with an exaggerated sigh. “Give a guy a chance to sit down why don’t ya?”

Without waiting for a reply, I walked over to a small bench at the side of the room and took a seat. Fluttershy quickly joined me and laid her forehooves and head on my lap, while Geralt simply sat next to the library’s entrance, causing Spike to fall off.

“Finally!” Twilight sighed as a giant list suddenly appeared next to her, reaching from the middle of the room to the kitchen. “Now first, what do…”

*Knock Knock*

“I got it!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she rushed to the door.

“Grrrr…” Twilight growled in annoyance. But her mood quickly changed when Pinkie opened the door.

“Hey princesses!” Pinkie greeted the two alicorns outside the door.

I couldn’t help but shudder as Celestia entered first, her warm, motherly smile, turning into a scowl when she noticed me. Luna followed shortly after, still in the form she was when she was first released from the nightmare’s hold.

“Ah, thout art awake,” Luna said as she noticed me and gave a small smile. “We bring the’ good tidings.”

“And good dawning to thee as well, Princesses,” nodding my head slightly remember hearing the response in a game once.

“Chris, you’re supposed to bow,” Fluttershy whispered as she got off my lap and bowed to the two sovereigns.

“Sorry, but my people don’t bow to foreign powers,” I replied while standing up, saying it loud enough for the princesses to hear it as well. “Not only is it a massive insult to bow to rulers you don’t live under in some regions, but where I specifically come from, a lot of people see it as the same as surrendering your own freedom. We’ll salute under certain conditions though.”

“I suppose that is understandable,” Celestia huffed, drawing slightly confused looks from the others in the room. “I’d rather have it that way anyways.”

Except for Twilight.

She was staring at everything in shock, her hair sticking out in several places and her right eye twitching slightly.

“Hey look,” I chuckled while pointing at the stunned mare. “We already broke, Twilight.”

“Not again…” Celestia sighed to herself while moving to the mare. With a quick flash of her horn, Twilights face snapped to the side as if she were slapped.

“Uh… what, where?!” The mare blurted as she looked around the room. Her gaze quickly fell back on the solar princess as she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Princess Celestia.”

“There is no need to apologize my student,” Celestia replied, her motherly smile returning.

“Excuse me, Princess,” Rarity called, drawing Celestia’s attention while Luna had a strange staring contest with Geralt. “But why are you here? N-not that I’m saying you can’t be.”

“Ah, yes,” Celestia began as her horn flashed once again. Suddenly, golden tickets appeared in front of everyone, including me. “When, Twilight sent the tickets I gave her back, saying how she wouldn’t want to go if all her friends couldn’t; I realized how rude I had been having only sent two.”

“Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!” Rarity gushed as she took her ticket in hoof and began to admire it with gleaming eyes.

“Yes, you all deserve them for helping to bring my sister home,” Celestia replied as she looked at the ponies with a smile. Her scowl appeared once again when she looked at me. “Even you, unfortunately.”

“Princess, do you not like, Chris?” Pinkie bluntly asked.

“No,” Celestia replied, causing the room to gasp.

“Why the hay not, Princess?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I mean, I know he lied, looks like he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, looks like a hairless monkey and…”

“Thanks for the moral boost,” I interrupted, frowning at the mare.

“Because he does not belong in our world,” Celestia replied. “Things never go well when his kind appear in Equestria.”

“So I’m not the first human to arrive here?” I asked, shocked to hear that.

“Thou are not,” Luna replied as she finally looked away from Geralt, the wolf now rubbing its obviously irritated eyes. “We have encountered thy species several times within our lives.”

“There’s actually several books about them,” Twilight pointed out as she floated one of a shelf and showed me the cover.

It was titled, Beings from another world, and had a crudely made picture of a human body.

“That is the other reason for us being here,” Celestia said as she took a seat by Twilight. “I knew my student would have a list of questions, as would you.”

“Well, after hearing that I’m not the first human here, that list just got bigger,” I dryly chuckled, sitting back down on the bench. A moment later, Fluttershy retook her position as Geralt came over and rested at the side.

“Why is the quiet one sitting on thou as such?” Luna asked as she looked at Fluttershy with a curious yet stern gaze.

“Cause they’re special someponies, silly,” Pinkie giggled, causing Fluttershy to squeak and hid under her front hooves.

“Is this true dame Fluttershy?” Luna asked with a shocked expression, her eyes darting between us before sparing a quick glance towards Celestia with a slightly unsure look. “Have thou consummated they relationship yet?”

“Luna!” Celestia snapped, causing everypony to jump in fright. “For one, relationships do not work like that anymore. Two, they obviously aren’t in a relationship as they have only known each other for a few days at best.”

“A-a-actually… w-w-w-we,” Fluttershy began to stutter horribly. I commended her for her bravery, but I thought it would help if I did it instead.

“W-we decided to try it out this morning,” I squeaked out, just a little louder than the mare on my lap.

Celestia stared at the two of us with a shocked expression. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she adapted a slightly confused expression.

“Have you consummated your relationship yet?”

“Okay!” I loudly replied, clapping my hands as everyone looked at Celestia in complete shock. “Twilight, I believe you have some questions?”

“Y-yeah… I mean yes, I do,” Twilight replied, snapping out of her shock and levitating her list back up.

“First question…

“Because it’s on an axis!” I yelled at Luna for the fourth time. One of Twilights questions asked me how our sun and moon moved, and after telling them about how the earth rotated around the sun and how the moon rotated around the earth, I decided to go ahead and also tell them about the world’s axis.

But when I mentioned how long night lasted in the polar ice caps, Luna decided to call it a bluff since that apparently wasn’t a thing on this world.

“But, how could anything live there then?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Adaptation and technology,” I replied before looking back at Twilight. “Next question.”

“Well, I believe we have gone over most of the basics,” Twilight said as she looked over her list. While she hadn’t asked anything personal yet, she did drill me about a lot of other things. I still chuckled every time I remembered the look on their faces when I told them that the human population was in the billions. “How about…”

“What was your job back where you’re from?” Rainbow Dash interrupted, being the first to aks me something about myself. “Because you told us that you were a guard, but we all know that was a lie.”

“I actually am in the military,” I replied, grabbing my cup of lemon tea and finishing it off. “I’m in a group called the Marine Corps. It’s a division of our navy, known for being the best of the best.”

“And you were a part of this group?” Celestia chuckled disbelievingly. Any chance she had, she would criticize me or make fun of me. A part of me honestly found it pretty hot… wait, I had a girlfriend now, so I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be thinking that.

“Hey, just because I wasn’t the best physically… wait that sounds wrong,” I began, mumbling the last part. “… Doesn’t mean that I didn’t work hard at what I did.”

“What did you do?” Fluttershy asked from her position on my lap. Throughout the morning, she had stayed in this spot, receiving ear scratches and mane pets the whole time.

I could see the jelly in the other’s eyes.

“I was a metal worker for the air wing,” I began. “Remember the planes I told you about; well, I basically helped repair parts of those that were sent to me and the other workers.”

“So, if you had the stuff, could you make a plane?” Rainbow Dash asked, a hopeful grin on her face. It kind of made me regret telling her about supersonic jets.

“Oh, dear sweet god no,” I chuckled. “While I understand the concept of flight, there is no way I’d be able to replicate anything I’ve seen. Even if I could, the parts I’ve seen and handled are a mere fraction of several different aircrafts.”

“Drat!” Rainbow Dash huffed as she plopped down to the ground.

“Next question!” I called out dramatically, causing some of the attending ponies to giggle. Except for Celestia, who just huffed and looked back towards Twilight.

“Okay then,” Twilight said as she looked at a nearby clock. “One more question and we can take a break for lunch.”

“Good, cause I’m starving!” Rainbow Dash groaned as she laid down, her legs spread out eagle. I learned pretty fast that the prismatic mare had no sense of decency.

I mean none at all.

So as not to cause any problems for the mare on my lap, I continued to ignore her.

“Fire away,” I replied, a little hungry myself.

“What does your cutie mark mean?” Twilight asked, drawing my confused look.

“What cutie mark?” I asked, scratching my head. “I thought I told you, humans don’t get cutie marks.”

“Then what was that thing on yur chest?” Applejack asked, her cheeks beginning to glow faintly. “That thing next to yur… uh… your teat.”

“You mean my nipple?” I asked, lifting my shirt up and showing my tattoo and nipples. It was kind of funny how half the room broke into blush’s while the other half simply shrugged.

“Its not a cutie mark,” I continued. “It’s a tattoo. Someone took ink and a special needle and basically drew an image I wanted onto my skin. This has no meaning except for sentimental value cause my uncle got it for me after I joined the Marine Corps.”

“Did it hurt?” Fluttershy asked, concern clear in her voice.

“At the time, yeah,” I replied, putting my shirt back down. “But now, it’s the same as the rest of my skin.”

“We have heard of such a thing occurring in the minatore lands,” Luna said. “But there were problems with infection.”

“Don’t worry,” I quickly said, looking down at Fluttershy. “To help prevent that, tattoo artist use a specialized ink, sterilized needles and there are special creams and lotions you can use to help as well.”

“Can we have lunch now?” Rainbow asked as her stomach growled. “I need food!”

“Yes, let us break for lunch,” Rarity said as she got up from her spot.

“I actually need to get back to my animals,” Fluttershy said as she got off my lap.

“Let me come with you,” I said with a smile.

“Actually,” Celestia interrupted, stopping me from following Fluttershy towards the door. “Me and Luna have a few things to discuss with, Christopher in private.”

“Oh… okay,” Fluttershy replied, obviously disappointed. She looked from me to the floor several times before suddenly zipping forward and placing a small kiss on my lips.

“Igottagofeedtheanimales!” the mare blurted before flying out the door.

“Awww,” Pinkie Pie said as she watched the mare zip away.

“Yes, well,” Celestia said as she looked at me with a frown. “If you would follow me and Luna upstairs for a moment.”

“Uh…right,” I replied, still a little off guard from the quick kiss in front of so many. Shaking my head, I followed the two monarchs up to Twilight’s room.

“So, what did you need to talk about?” I asked as we entered the room. It was just like in the show, so the ceiling was high up and I could see Twilight’s and Spike’s bed up on the second deck.

“We simply wish to know…” Luna began.

“How did you get here?” Celestia interrupted with as stern gaze.

“What?” I asked, a little off put by the hostility I heard in her voice.

“How did you get here?” Celestia asked again. “On all the prior occurrences that humans have appeared here, I was able to find them due to a ripple in the world's magic fields caused by their appearance. But that didn’t happen with you.

“Also, there is the fact that you are an element of harmony,” Celestia continued. “When you obviously don’t deserve it.”

“Hey!” I snapped. “I can be courageous… as long as it doesn’t involve roaches or spiders. Those things send me into a fear so bad, I tend to get angry.”

“I’m pretty sure that is just your stupidity,” Celestia bluntly replied. “Now please answer the question.”

“I honestly don’t know,” I replied, trying to remember what happened before I woke up in the field. “Last thing I remember was getting back to my barracks room from work and taking a nap. Then… nothing.”

“That is unfortunate,” Celestia sighed.

“Why?” I asked, looking to Luna for an answer.

“For it would better help us in devising a means to return you home,” Luna replied. “There is but a small window for you to return before the effects become irreversible.”

“What?” I questioned as what she said set in. “Uh… what do you mean by ‘irreversible’?!”

“It’s what happened to all the humans that have entered this land,” Celestia replied, a slight smirk on her lips. “The entire time you have been here, your body has been absorbing the natural magic of our world.”

“What’s gonna happen?” I asked, a part of me concerned with my wellbeing and another hopping I get bad ass magic powers.

“You will become a pony,” Luna replied bluntly, causing me to choke on my own spit.

“What?! But I like being human!” I shouted back, looking at the both of them with a growing sense of fear. “Humans have fingers and I need those for…stuff!”

“It is an odd effect, yes,” Celestia sighed. “It’s also the reason I told you not to remove the element. Every human that has arrived began to physically change within mere hours of their arrival with almost no exceptions.”

“We believe that the element is acting as a substitute storage area for the magic thy body is absorbing,” Luna continued. “While we are uncertain as to when, we believe that at one point, it will begin to leak into your body forcing it into a change.”

“We’re also sure that you have changed in some ways,” Celestia added. “You were here for quite some time before the element attached to you.”

For several minutes, I stood there. Completely shocked by what I had just heard.

“Oh well,” I finally said, adapting a board expression.

“Yes, so you can see why…” Celestia began, smirking at first, but letting it fall once she realized what I said. “What do you mean, “oh well”!?”

“I said, oh well,” I replied with a shrug. Let’s be honest with myself. There was no way in hell I was going back, especially with Fluttershy as my girl… marefriend now. “I’ve been gone long enough to get in major trouble with my superiors, and if I show up after thirty days, I’ll just end up in the brig for who knows how long. Especially when I tell them where I’ve been.”

“But what of thine family?” Luna asked with concern. “Doust thou not wish to see them again?”

“And maybe one day I will,” I sighed, pulling out my wallet case. Inside, I had a family photo that had my grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, mom, dad, cousins, brothers and my sister hidden in it. “But thinking realistically… I doubt I’m gonna be able to go home and suffer no repercussions.”

“And what makes you think we’ll let you just stay here when you do not belong?” Celestia asked, but rather than scowl, she honestly looked concerned. “Would you really just abandon your family and friends like that?”

“I realized that I did that years ago when I signed the dotted line,” I replied with a slight shrug and a forced smile. “That and you’re going to need me for when, Di—“

THUNK

“Ow!” I grunted as a book suddenly fell on my head. Turning around, I saw that it fell off the highest shelf from the bookcase behind me. “What the hell?”

“Chris?” Celestia said, drawing my attention. She had a slightly confused expression as she looked from me to the bookcase several times. “Could you repeat what you were about to say again?”

“Sister, wasn’t that…” Luna began, falling silent as Celestia held up a hoof.

“Okay…” I said, a little confused and worried. “I was just going to say that Dis—“

THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK

I groaned from the ground I now laid on, several books laying on top of me now.

“Okay, are you doing this?” I asked Celestia as I stood up, rubbing a small bump that was developing on my head. “Cause that going a bit far, don’t you think?”

“Sister, that was mother’s magic!” Luna pointed her hoof at the bookcase with a wide smile. “We would know it anywhere.”

“Especially that spell,” Celestia replied as she looked at me, her gaze was stern, yet cautious. “Chris, do you know our world’s future?”

“Uh… about that,” I chuckled sheepishly. From there, I told them both the same thing I had told Fluttershy. I didn’t involve any specifics like before, but I did my best to explain at least how I knew what I did.

“This is beginning to make more sense now,” Celestia said as she looked towards Luna. “There is more to this then we thought, Luna.”

“Uh… am I missing something?” I asked, slightly concerned. “You’re not angry about the whole show thing, are you? Because I’m pretty sure this isn’t that world exactly.”

“I believe that we know how you came here,” Celestia sighed. “When you tried to tell us the future, a spell created by our mother was activated. It’s a powerful spell that must be performed in pony due to its complexity.”

“And our mother is never that far away from Father,” Luna added. “Who could quite easily open a portal to a different world.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that it was your mom and dad that brought me here?” I asked, completely caught off guard. “Who are your parents anyways?”

“Our mother is the alicorn of time, Queen Ananke,” Celestia began. “And our father is the alicorn of space, King Astraeus.”

“Ananke, the Greek god of inevitability and, Astraeus the Greek Titan god of the stars and planets?” I asked, my eyes opening wide. “Those are your parents?!”

“Is that what their names symbolize in your world?” Celestia asked, with a slightly curious look.

“If I’m remembering right,” I replied slightly unsure. “I got into a Greek god binge after I played… uh, you wouldn’t understand.” (2)

“Well, here they are the alicorns of time and space,” Luna replied. “Mother gave birth to, Celestia and us two and a half millennia ago with only a mere decade difference.”

“What happened to them?” I asked, getting hooked by the story.

“When my sister turned two hundred, they left,” Celestia replied with a slight frown. “They said that it was time for them to travel, telling us that we would see them again.”

“And while it hurt to see them go,” Luna began, frowning herself. “We were raised with the knowledge that it would happen one day.”

“When you tried to tell us the future,” Celestia continued to explain. “We noticed the similar magic of our mother appear suddenly. We have encountered it before and are familiar with it. Its main purpose is to ensure what is supposed to happen, does.”

“And with their combined power, they could easily rip asunder the dimensional barrier,” Luna finished with a wide smile.

“So, why would they bring me here?” I asked.

“That, we will have to look more into,” Celestia replied quickly, her annoyed expression returning. “But knowing them, there’s a reason behind it.”

“Then it is good we prepared for something like this,” Luna added as a key suddenly appeared in her magic. It was one of those old style ones, but had a new sheen to it. “We have prepared proper lodging for thou.”

“You got me a house?” I questioned as Luna floated the key over to me. While a part of me was excited to get my own place for the first time in my life, another was remembering every single complaint my dad, uncle and grandfather ever made about home care.

“But it’s not free,” Celestia pointed out, with a devious smirk. A part of me really wished she treated me with that iconic motherly nature of hers. “I fully expect you to get a job and pay me back every bit.”

“Wait… what do you mean pay you back?” I asked, catching what she said there.

“Well, I did pay from my own personal reserves to not only acquire you a nice house,” Celestia began, looking me dead in the eye while smiling. “I also payed to get it renovated for your stature.”

“I’m going to owe you a lot of money, aren’t I?” I asked in a defeated tone.

“Yes, yes you are,” Celestia replied as a small stack of papers appeared in front of me. Taking them in hand, I reluctantly began to skim them, looking for anything that jumped out at me.

“Uh… what are the interest rates going to be?” I asked once the initial scan was done. This time, I began to read it more in depth, making sure to pay attention for any hidden addendums inside of it.

“Well…” Celestia began, a triumphant smile on her face.

“Sister, remember what we talked about,” Luna quickly interrupted with a stern glare.

“Fine,” Celestia sighed, her features falling into a board state. “As long as you make the proper payments, I have decided to forgo charging you any interest.”

“Uh… it says here that I have to keep a stock of fresh cake and moon pies at all times,” I said as I found the strange addition.

“And milk, do not forget the milk,” Luna added with a scary gleam in her eye.

“Yeah…” I said, continuing on. “And I am not hanging a painting of you over my fireplace, Even though a fireplace sounds awesome!”

“Do it and I’ll bump down what you owe by 500 bits,” Celestia replied with a stern gaze.

“Make it a thousand and include Luna in the photo and you got a deal,” I replied, finding that those were the only two odd things about the contract, having ready many in my time.

“Done!” Celestia quickly replied as her horn flashed quickly. While nothing around us changed, I hazard a guess that she just put up said painting.

“Sister, please tell us that thou did not use that painting?!” Luna harshly whispered at her sister, her cheeks glowing slightly.

“Hush, Luna, he’s about to sign it.” Celestia replied, with a giggle.

“You say something?” I asked, thinking I heard something.

“Nothing that involves you!” Celestia snapped quickly. “Now, are you going to sign?”

“Uh… I guess so, not that I have much of a choice” I sighed as a quill popped into existence next to me. With the grace of a drunken Irish man, I took the very fragile item and signed my name in several spots.

“Have you ever written with a quill?” Celestia chuckled as she looked at my horrible writing and ink covered hand.

“There’s a first time for everything,” I said as I left the room to wash the ink from my hand.

On my way out, I ended up passing Spike, who offered me some ink remover when he saw my hand.

“How did you get ink on your hand in the first place?” Spike asked as he led the way down to the library’s kitchen. The little guy had offered to actually make me a ham sandwich from his own stash of meat.

Turns out, dragons, or at least the species Spike is, are omnivores as well. It defiantly helped when Twilight had asked what humans ate.

“A contract for a house,” I sighed as we entered the kitchen. Twilight was off somewhere, so we were the only two in the room at the time. “I owe Princess Celestia a lot of bits… and cake.”

“Good luck filling that order,” Spike chuckled as he disappeared into a small pantry. He came back out a few moments later with a small wrapped package that I knew was the ham. “She has a huge addiction to cake, so you’ll probably end up paying double what you owe in cake alone.”

“She honestly cant each that much cake?” I asked in disbelief. If I was doing my basic conversions right, the amount of cake Spike was talking about could sustain most third world countries.

“You poor poor fool,” Spike sighed as he handed me two ham sandwiches. “I’m sure if you ask, Pinkie Pie will give you a good deal.”

“I’ll think of something,” I sighed, taking a seat at the table and eating.

“Why did you even agree to it in the first place?” Spike asked as he sat across from me. “Why not just stay with, Fluttershy? I mean, aren’t you two a couple now?”

“Well, yeah,” I smiled. “But that wouldn’t be right.”

“Why not?” Spike innocently asked.

“Because we only just agreed to be a couple and we still know very little about each other,” I replied, hoping to throw some good knowledge at the kid. “Most people from my world take years before they feel like making the move to stay in the same home... or they used too.”

“Wow,” Spike said as he looked up at me. Seeing this, I remembered how he never really had any guy friends and spent a lot of his time in the library.

“Spike, what do ya say about checking out the new house with me?” I offered.

“What about everypony else?” Spike asked.

“Well, aside from one of the princesses to show me where it is,” I began, ruffling the top spike on his head. They were actually a lot softer and smother than I thought. “And possibly, Fluttershy… I’ll need someone to help me set up a man cave.”

“What’s a man cave?” Spike asked, his eyes riveted on me.

“Basically, it’s like a room just for men,” I replied with a fake gruff voice. “No frilly stuff, no giggling girls and no one saying that that’s unsanitary. Just guy stuff like beer, beer, more beer and that one poster you’re too ashamed of to show your mom.”

“What’s beer?” Spike asked.

“I’ll tell you when your old enough to drink it,” I replied as Twilight suddenly entered the room, her eyes quickly locking on me.

“There you are!” Twilight chirped as her horn suddenly lit up and I felt myself lift into the air, my entire body feeling strange at the touch. “Now we can finish the questions!”

“Woah!” I called, unused to the floating sensation, wondering if I was absorbing the magic like I had Rarity’s. But after a moment, I decided to joke around instead. “You’ll never take me alive!”

Once I knew she was looking, I wrapped my right hand around the back of my head and then grabbed the right side of my chin with the same hand, showing off the fact that I was double jointed.

“What are you-“ Twilight began, falling silent as I gave a slight jerk and click of the tongue. From there I immediately went limp and stared forward without blinking and held my breath.

“Chris!” Twilight shouted as she carefully placed me on the ground. A few seconds later, I could see Fluttershy’s buttercup yellow hooves quickly rush into the room.

“I-I don’t know what happened,” Twilight began to blurt out. A part of me was beginning to feel like an ass because I could hear the tremble in her voice while the other, more sadistic part, was calling her an idiot for thinking I would actually hurt myself. “He reached his arm around his head a-and grabbed his chin… then there was a ‘click’ and he just… he just…”

“C-Chris?” Fluttershy’s worried voice quietly asked as she came into my sight properly.

“Yeah?” I asked while looking up at her, causing Twilight to jump in fright.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Fluttershy sighed. “I thought you were hurt.”

“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” I chuckled while standing back up. “Just cause, Twilight over reacted, doesn’t mean something is actually wrong.”

“But… you suddenly… and…” Twilight began to blurt out in confusion.

“Calm down, Twi,” I said while reaching over and scratching one of her ears. She immediately calmed down as a dopey grin appeared on her face. “I was just messing with you. Sorry if I went too far.”

“Huh…” The mare mumbled, pressing her head further into my hand. After a minute or two, I pulled my hand back, earning me a cute little pout.

“Dear sweet god,” I chuckled looking back at Fluttershy. “With these things, I could rule the world by nap time.”

Fluttershy simply giggled as she flew up and gave me a peck on the cheek.

“That still wasn’t very nice,” Twilight commented as she left the room.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Spike chuckled, reminding me that he was there as well. From there we went back into the main library, were everyone but Rainbow Dash and Applejack were waiting.

“What was all that commotion a moment ago?” Rarity inquired.

“Just a bit of a joke,” I chuckled, looking around. “Where’s AJ and Rainbow Dash?”

“Rainbow Dash was called into work and Big Mac needed help on the farm, so Applejack had to head home,” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile.

“Unfortunately,” Celestia said, drawing the rooms attention. “Me and Luna don’t have that much time left before we must return to the castle. So while we still can, I would like to show Chris his new home.”

“But, I thought you were going to stay with me?” Fluttershy asked as she looked at me with clear disappointment.

“And I would, but you don’t have the room,” I replied.

This was actually true in fact. Her room was the only bedroom in the house and I felt that we were still new a couple to share the same bed continually and I didn’t want to sleep on a couch for who knows how long.

Especially one made for ponies.

“Oh,” Fluttershy sighed despondently.

“Hey, don’t be sad Fluttershy,” I said lifting the mare’s chin so she could look me in the eye. “You’ll obviously be allowed to come over whenever you want. I’ll even get you a copy of the key, okay?”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said as she looked up at me. “I’ll get a key for you too.”

“Okay,” I chuckled with a smile before turning to everyone else. “Well, who wants to go check out my new place?”

“But what about my questions?” Twilight quickly asked before anyone could reply. She held up the list in her magic, clearly showing that we weren’t even halfway done with it.

“Just make a questionnaire out of it and I’ll fill out what I can when I get the chance, okay?” I offered with a shrug. While I knew that Twilight would end up asking me a lot of questions, I wasn’t as prepared as I thought, so I believed that it would be easier that way for me.

“Okay,” Twilight said a little uneasily with a pout. “But I want detailed answers!”

“Sheesh, Twi,” I chuckled. “You sound like my English teacher.”

“What’s ‘English’?” the mare questioned back.

“Put it on the questionnaire,” I replied with a wave of my hand. Turning around, I made my way out of the library. “We ride!”

“Wow, its actually better than I thought it would be,” I commented as me, the princesses, Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity and Geralt approached the large building in front of us. “I was expecting a shack surrounding a fireplace.”

“Didn’t this use to be Ms. Lemon Way’s house?” Rarity commented, earning shrugs and confused looks from most of us.

“Yes, but she put it up for sale when she moved in with her grandfoal in Manehatten,” Celestia replied while giving me an annoyed glare for my earlier comment. “It was actually one of the buildings I had planned for Twilight to live in, but she decided on the Library.”

In front of us stood a two story building that was painted a light maroon color with an actual shingle roof. Off to one side of the building I could see a white picket fence that hid a small garden and on the other, I could see some construction equipment.

“It seems that they have finished the modifications,” Celestia commented as she led the way to the front door.

Completely disregarding the fact that I had the key, Celestia used her magic to open the door, which I noticed was large enough for me to walk through comfortably. We immediately entered a long hallway that had several doorways and a staircase leading to the second floor on the right.

“Come with me,” Celestia said as she looked back at me with a devious smirk, leading us towards the first door way to the left. “Through here is the living room.”

“Lets see this…uh…” I enthusiastically began, only to fall into a state of shock and confusion as my eyes locked onto the large painting atop the room’s fireplace.

“You said you wanted one of me and Luna,” Celestia began pointing a hoof at the elaborate painting in front of us. “I think it really got our good side, don’t you?”

Now, while I might not be an art buff, I do know good art when I see it. From where I stood, I could tell that the brush strokes were even, the coloring had not faded from the very old painting, and it generally looked well done.

“Why do you have a painting of the princesses’ flanks on your mantel?” Rarity asked bluntly, snapping me out of my confused daze.

“Uh… class?” I offered with a forced chuckle.

“Sister!” Luna snapped as she entered the room. “Thou told us, that that abomination was destroyed!”

“The original was,” Celestia replied with her devious smirk. “After I painted another one off of it.”

“I-I… uh… think its nice?” Fluttershy replied as she looked at the painting with wide eyes and a glowing face.

“Yes, well enjoy it,” Celestia proclaimed proudly as she took a confident stance. “I painted it over five hundred years ago, basing it off of the original I painted for Luna’s 431^st birthday.”

“Sister!” Luna bellowed, her own face now glowing as she looked at Celestia in shock. “Thou promised to hold thy tongue about it!”

“Do I really have to keep that there?” I questioned, wishing I had asked for more off the total. This was defiantly the work of Trollestia, and while it was a very appealing view of the princesses flanks, Fluttershy was literally right next to me.

“You already signed the contract,” Celestia replied with a chuckle. “Why, aren’t my sister and I’s flank’s good enough to place on your mantel?”

“Uh… did you stop to think before you said that?” I asked almost immediately, my face probably lighting up like a Christmas tree.

“What are you…oh…” Celestia began, confused at first. The moment she realized what she said, the look of shock and embarrassment on her face was enough to get me forget about my own embarrassment and laugh hysterically.

“W-well then,” Celestia said after a moment. Her horn lit and the painting of her flank was quickly replaced of one of her and a full grown Luna standing side by side, small smiles on their faces. “That obviously did not work out as I had hoped.”

“What were you expecting?” I was able to wheeze out in between my laughing fits.

“Nothing, lets continue, shall we?” Celestia asked as she gave a heavy sigh.

The rest of the tour went by smoothly. Aside from the living room, the first floor also had a kitchen with all the appliances, a small bathroom, a nicely spaced dining room that could easily fit everyone and a single bedroom.

“Spike, I think I just found our man cave,” I told the young dragon as I walked into the room. It was a 20 ft. by 18 ft. room with a window on the wall opposite the door, revealing a small back yard.

“You still haven’t told me what a man cave really is,” Spike said with a slightly annoyed look.

“What’s a man cave?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” I joked as I led the way out of the room. “Onward to the upstairs!”

On the second floor, were three more bedrooms, a larger bathroom and a large walk in closet. Luckily, the first room we walked into had a bed with linen already in it and it was just my size.

“At least I won’t have to sleep on the floor,” I said while looking over the queen sized bed that occupied the back wall of the master bedroom. It was soft, yet had a good firm feel to it as well.

“I told the’ that he would appreciate it,” Luna said as she faced her sister, a smug grin on her face.

“And I do,” I chuckled, giving Luna an appreciative nod.

“Yes, well that concludes the tour of the house,” Celestia replied, looking at me with her now trade mark ‘I really don’t like you’ expression. “Unfortunately, my sister and I must take our leave.”

“Wait,” I quickly said, stopping the two before they could move. “What about payments? How am I supposed to pay back what I owe for the house?”

“*sigh* just give me 250 bits next we meet, does that work?” Celestia asked. “We can figure more out at a later time. We are currently running late.”

“When will that be, because I don’t even have a job yet,” I replied, a little worried now.

“Good bye,” Celestia huffed before she and Luna disappeared in a flash of magic.

“Crap…” I groaned under my breath. With how things were going with the princesses, next time we meet could easily be in just a few days, and I didn’t even have a job yet.

“Don’t worry, Chris,” Fluttershy said, obviously seeing my worried expression. “I can help you-“

“No!” I quickly interrupted, causing the mare to jump slightly. “I know things work a little differently here, but that is one thing I will not let you do. A lot of my family would mooch off of others and all that does is cause problems.”

“Dear, there’s no shame in accepting a little help,” Rarity added. “All, Fluttershy is saying is that, should you need any help, she’s more than willing to help, as would I if you need it. That’s what friends are for.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a sigh. “But if anything, I could use some help finding a job. I only had one job before the Marines and that was being a cashier slash janitor; and I kinda don’t wanna do that again.”

“Why not just join the guard?” Fluttershy asked. “You said you were one where you’re from. So maybe that could work.”

“He cant,” Spike replied calmly. “Equestrian law dictates that you need to be a fully legalized citizen to be allowed any type of position within the military and law enforcement, which Chris is not. Even if he wanted to be, he has to live in Equestria for over a year to be allowed to apply for full citizenship.”

“I’m surprised you know that, Spike,” Rarity commented with a surprised look.

“I’ve lived in a library basically my whole life,” Spike sighed. “You kinda pick up… a lot.”

“Yeah, well, even if I could join, I wouldn’t.” I replied. “I’m a Marine, and that is what I will always be.”

“I guess we could try looking around town,” Fluttershy said, looking towards Rarity.

“Yes, that would probably be best,” Rarity said as she turned to leave. “If we leave now, we could even have you working by tomorrow!”

“Great…” I sighed before following the mare.

Just because I needed a job doesn’t mean I’m enthusiastic about it.

“… and have you had any experience with being a masseuse before?” The pink coated mare in front of me asked.

“I’ll be honest,” I firmly replied, staring Aloe strait in the eyes with a warm smile. “The closest I’ve ever really done was giving my aunt and uncle shoulder massages.”

“Have you ever given a pony one?” Lotus asked, with a raised brow. She currently stood off to the side of her sister, looking me up and down, trying to read me.

It was now four in the afternoon and with the help of Fluttershy and Rarity, I was now having a quick interview with the spa ponies. Unfortunately, not a lot of others wanted or needed me, so I was hoping that this one would work out better.

Even if it was a spa.

“Does scratching behind the ear count?” I asked back with a chuckle, having done plenty of that already.

“Not necessarily,” Aloe replied with a giggle before giving her sister a look I could not understand, to which the other mare nodded.

“Mr. Chris, if you would please follow us, we would like to see how well you can do,” Lotus said as she indicated for me to follow the two of them out of the office.

Back in the lobby, Fluttershy and Rarity waited with slightly bated breaths, each giving me hopeful looks as I walked out.

“So, did you get the job?” Rarity asked, looking from me to Lotus and back again several times. Fluttershy simply watched me, waiting for an answer.

“Before we decide, my sister and I wanted to see if he could even give a proper massage first,” Aloe replied as she walked out behind me. “Would either of you like to be the test subject?”

“Oh… Uh…,” Fluttershy began to stutter, playing with her hooves as her face glowed slightly.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Rarity said with a smile. “I’m sure he will do marvelously.”

“Thanks, Rarity,” I said with a smile. A moment later, I noticed that Spike was gone and voiced my observation. “Where’d Spike go?”

“He had to go back to the library,” Fluttershy replied as we all began to move to a different area of the building. The little guy had been with us the whole time, asking me questions every now and then.

“Oh, okay,” I replied with a shrug. A few minutes later, we entered a large room that had several tables obviously meant to hold ponies for massages.

“If you would please?” Aloe asked, pointing Rarity to the closest table.

“Of course,” Rarity replied, giving me a wink before climbing onto the table and laying on her stomach.

With a slight bit of nervousness, I walked up to the table finding it slightly lower than what I found comfortable.

“I-is there a way to rise this a bit?” I asked looking back at the sisters.

“Yes, there is a crank right here,” Lotus said as she pointed out a small handle under the table. “We usually use it to lower the tables, but there should be enough to raise it high enough for you.”

Giving a nod, I crouched under the table, quickly finding the handle and raised it a about a foot.

“That’s better,” I commented as I stood back up. While still being a little low, I knew I could work with this. “So Rarity, where do you want me to start?”

“Oh, if you could start at my withers and work your way down, that would be divine,” Rarity said as she placed her muzzle into the hole in the table meant for your head.

“Okay,” I said, taking a moment to remember what the withers of a horse were. Once I found it, I put on some oil Aloe held out with a hoof and reached towards a spot around her upper back.

“Wait!” Fluttershy suddenly called out, stopping me before I could touch the mare. She quickly flew up and pushed my hands slightly higher up Rarity's back than where I was going to start out at. “We may be quadrupeds, but our withers are slightly higher than others. It’s what allows ponies to move their forelegs more openly.”

“That explains a bit,” I said as I softly pressed down on the area, earning a soft moan of relaxation.

“I can already feel a difference,” Rarity sighed blissfully. “Your hands are so much softer than hooves.”

“No, your fur is what’s soft,” I couldn’t help but voice. Taking a moment, I couldn’t help but brush one of my hands through her fur. “If I didn't know any better, I’d say you were made of silk.”

“Thank you darling, I use a very good conditioner,” Rarity commented. “Now, please continue.”

“Right,” I said, thinking of what to do. When I gave my aunt and uncle massages, I basically just squeezed the areas I thought needed it until they were loose. But I doubted that it would work right now.

“Uh… let me try something,” I said, shifting slightly. Finding the region just between Rarity’s shoulder blades, I pressed down with my thumbs.

“Dear, what are you- Oohhh…” Rarity moaned, tailing off as I began to roll little circles where my thumbs were.

“What is that technique?” Aloe asked watching my hands intently.

“Its, uh… Shiatsu?” I mumbled out, not sure myself. “I’m just trying to replicate something I had back where I’m from, that did the same for my back. Basically, I’m just kneading the spots.”

“I actually have a book for such a massage from the minotaur lands, but hooves do not allow for it,” Lotus said with a nod.

For the next ten minutes, I continued to massage Rarity’s back, slowly moving down. Ever few moments, one of the spa sisters would direct me to do something specifically or use more force in certain areas.

“This feels heavenly,” Rarity blissfully sighed as I reached the spot just over her tail base. For a split moment, I couldn’t help but look at the mare’s flanks, her indigo tail hiding everything that rested in between them.

With a quick shake of my head, I pulled back, believing that I had done what I needed. If I wanted to stare at someone’s flanks, the better and safest choice were Fluttershy’s.

After I asked for permission.

“Aww, what about my legs?” Rarity asked, a slight whine in her voice.

“Uh… what?” I asked.

“Most ponies develop some stress in their legs,” Lotus informed me. “For now, that was enough though. After some training, you might just be one of our best.”

“Wait, so does that mean I get the job?” I asked, looking at both sisters.

“Yes,” Aloe replied with a smile, lowering the table so Rarity could get down. “For safety reasons, you won’t be allowed to give ponies massages without our supervision until you complete our training course.”

“So, be here bright and early on Monday,” Lotus said with a smile. “No later than 8 am if you please.”

“You got it,” I replied, shaking both mares’ hooves enthusiastically. While being a masseuse wasn’t my first choice, it was at least something I could do. “Just one question.”

“And what would that be?” both of them asked in sync.

“What day is it today?” I asked bluntly, still smiling.

“Friday,” Fluttershy said as she nuzzled my side.

“Yes, well we should be going as well,” Rarity sighed as she said goodbye to the two spa ponies.

A few minutes later, we were out on the streets once again, my job worries having been put to rest faster than I had thought.

“So, that went better than I thought,” I commented as we traveled through the market district. Since it was getting later in the day, most of the shops were beginning to close, but it was still nice seeing some of the local wears.

“Yes, it did,” Rarity voiced happily. “And to think you were so good at giving massages. Be sure to tell me when you finished training so I can be your first customer.”

“Only if its okay with, Fluttershy,” I said, looking at the Pegasus. Fluttershy though, was off in her own world, her eyes locked on a nearby flower stand.

“Fluttershy, you okay?” I asked, snapping her from her daze.

“Oh…sorry, I got distracted for a moment,” she timidly replied, her face beginning to glow slightly. “C-could you wait here for a moment?”

“Uh, yeah sure,” I replied, watching as Fluttershy suddenly rushed off towards the flower stand.

“Oh dear sweet Celestia,” Rarity breathed in a voice of shock and disbelief as she watched Fluttershy walk up to the flower stand. Suddenly, she fixed me with a hard glare. “Chris, if you do not accept this, I will personally end you!”

“Accept what?! I don’t even know what she’s doing,” I blurted out, slightly worried now.

“She is getting you a flower,” Rarity quickly began to explain. “When a mare has her eyes on a stallion they will give them a flower matching their coat color. Pegasi have even given feathers as marriage proposals as well. This is done publicly to make sure ponies know who it was that gave the flower as well as dictate that she is the alpha mare of the relationship.”

“What do you mean by alpha mare?” I asked. Rarity was about to answer, but fell silent when Fluttershy began to make her way back. In her mouth, she carried a small butterscotch colored rose.

“C-Chris,” Fluttershy said as she stood in front of me, her face redder than an apple as she held out the flower with a shaking hoof. “I-I g-g-got this f-for you…if you want it that is.”

All around us, ponies stopped and stared. Most of the surrounding ponies had looks of complete shock and some with slight giddiness. But there were also few looks of disgust and even envy.

“T-thanks, Fluttershy,” I said, taking the rose from her. The moment the flower was safely in my hand, Fluttershy jumped up and pressed her lips firmly against mine. We stayed like that for a few moments, Fluttershy using her wings to stay aloft; before she set herself back down with a sheepish smile and a glowing face.

A loud cheer suddenly erupted from a majority of the crowed, causing Fluttershy to squeal and hide under my shirt.

“Oh, Fluttershy, congratulations,” Rarity gushed as ponies began moving about once again. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous.”

“Uh, let’s get back to my house,” I said as I noticed my shirt beginning to rip. “My shirts beginning to rip and I don’t think Fluttershy could handle so much attention right now.”

“Yes, let’s go!” Rarity proclaimed as she led the way back to my new house. Along the way, I received a few congratulations from several ponies, while also getting a shove or two from a few others.

“Some ponies can be so rude!” Rarity said as we finally made it to my house.

“You can come out now,“ I told my chest.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes appearing just under my shirt collar.

“Yeah, my house is right in front of us,” I told her. A few moments later, she was standing next to me while I pulled the key out to open my door.

“Surprise!” several voices shouted as the door swung open on its own.

I was almost blasted backwards by the sudden shout as my home’s entrance was filled with an assortment of ponies.

“Wereyousurprised? Wereyawereyawereya?” Pinkie Pie shouted as she suddenly appeared in front of me, hopping up and down.

“Uh… yeah, you got me, Pinkie,” I chuckled, a little ashamed that I didn’t see this coming.

“OH MY GOSH! Is that a flower!” the mare bellowed out for all to hear when she noticed the rose in my hand. “This. Is. So. AMAZING!”

“No way!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew over the group of ponies in the hall and stared at the flower with a mix of shock and confusion, my cover still on her head. “She actually gave it to you… in public?!”

“Y-yes…” Fluttershy quietly replied from my side.

“Who are you and what have you done with Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash questioned, staring her friend in the eye. “Are you a spy?”

“Okay, enough with that over used joke,” I groaned, snagging my hat back and pushing her away. “This is a house warming, right? Well, lets get to the party!”

“YES!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she grabbed the hand not holding a flower and dragged me inside.

Once properly inside, I was immediately assaulted with a mixture of greetings and congratulations. Most of the ponies were ones I had seen at the Summer Sun Celebration party at the library, but there were a few new faces. One of them being the mint green unicorn in the corner who looked like she was having a seizure.

“Uh… you okay?” I asked while moving over to her, the flower now attached to my chest thanks to a spell from Rarity. “Cause I kinda don’t need you to have a heart attack in my new house. It would look really bad with my land… owner… something that could literally crush me with a single thought.”

“Human…” the mare simply replied, her grin reaching from ear to ear.

“Yeah, that’s what I am,” I replied with a smile, happy to see that this mare’s human fascination was real. “But the better question is, who are you?”

“And you have hands,” the mare continued with half laden eyes as she began to get closer.

“Stranger danger!” I quickly shouted, lifting my hands over my head and looking around the room. Off to one side I could see Fluttershy and her other friends talking, her face glowing brightly as her friends talked at her. On the other, I could see a small table set up with snacks and drinks, a few ponies walking around it.

The rest of the living room was just a random assortment of ponies from town with almost no recognizable faces. Except for Berry Punch, she seemed to be putting the drunken moves on the record player that I guessed was Pinkie Pie’s.

“Lyra!” a new voice shouted drawing my attention to the cream colored mare making her way towards us with a scowl. “I didn’t tell you about him to have you hit on him!”

“But Bonnie, human!” Lyra groaned, looking at her friend. “He’s right in front of me… and he has hands with real fingers.”

“He’s also taken,” Bon Bon bluntly replied, pointing a hoof at the flower on my chest.

“I’m just gonna go… that way,” I told the two taking a step back before booking it like a mad man.

A few moments later, I entered what would be the ‘Man Cave’, finding Geralt sleeping on an old blanket and Spike reading from a few giant piles of comics.

“Oh, hey Chris,” Spike said as he noticed me. “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I would bring some of my comic collection here. Twilight always complains when I leave them lying around and hides them from me.”

“No prob, Spike,” I replied as I walked over and sat next to the small dragon. Looking at the piles, I couldn’t help but chuckle at all the pony versions of comics I read as a kid.

“So, what would you recommend?” I asked while taking two different comics and holding them up. “Spider-mane of Bat Mare?”

“Bat Mare,” Spike replied without any hesitation. “Spider-Mane jokes are way too dumb for my liking.”

“Bah! Another DC fan,” I groaned, placing the Bat Mare comic down and opening the Spider-Mane. “Oh shit, the venom suit saga!”

I don’t know how long we sat there reading, but a sudden weight on my lap drew my attention.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” I greeted, giving the mare an ear scratch. “Finally got away from the others.”

“I don’t really like parties that much,” the mare replied, nuzzling my stomach with a small sigh. “I can be a bit shy sometimes.”

“I understand,” I said, placing the comic I was reading down and looking at Spike. “I’m gonna spend some time with Fluttershy, so don’t burn the room down before I get the chance.”

“What?” Spike asked, watching as I stood up and walked out with Fluttershy following close behind.

“You’re not actually going to start a fire in that room are you?” Fluttershy asked innocently as we walked back into the houses living room.

“Of course not,” I replied while looking around. It seemed like most of the attendants had left while I was gone. “At least, not on purpose.”

“There you are!” Pinkie Pie groaned with a frown as she walked over to us. “Where were you? The party’s almost over and you didn’t even open any presents.”

“Pinkie, you didn’t need to get me anything,” I voiced out when I saw a small pile of wrapped ifts now occupied the same table that once held snacks and drinks. “Seriously, the welcoming party was more than enough.”

“Its just a few things to help start ya out,” Applejack said as she led me over to the table. “My family had a few pots and pans we thought ya could use that we don’t need no more.”

“Heh, thanks, Applejack,” I replied as I took the items wrapped in regular brown paper and opened them to reveal several different pots and pans tightly placed together.

Going through the rest of the items, I ended up with cutlery, extra silverware, extra linens, curtains, towels and a few other necessities.

Rainbow Dash gave me a calendar with the summers weather schedule already written in and Twilight gave me several books on home care.

But it was Pinkie Pie’s gift that really took my breath away.

“That is a lot of baked goods,” I said as I looked at my full fridge. Inside were four different cakes and two trays of moon pies.

“Spike told me about part of your deal for your house, so I made these,” Pinkie chirped happily before fixing me with a serious look. “But if anypony asks, you tell them you got them from Sugar Cube Corner, got it?”

“Done,” I replied with a nod, stealing a moon pie for myself.

“This is for you!” Lyra suddenly chirped, popping up beside me holding a small card towards me in her magic. She was one of the few who had decided to stay back, along with her friend Bon Bon.

“Uh… thanks,” I carefully said, taking the card. For a moment, I felt her magic try to take my hand, but my magic absorption quickly caused it to dissipate.

Looking at the card, I quickly felt a lump develop in my throat as I moved past the grinning mint mare and walked up to her friend.

“I don’t know how to take this…” I told Bon Bon, holding the card out for her to see it. It showed a crudely drawn pony holding what looked like a foal and under it said ‘This card entitles you to be the father of my foal’.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon snapped, glaring at her friend angrily. “Do you want another restraining order?!”

“Oh, let me see!” Pinkie chirped, snatching the card out of my hand before I could stop her. She stared at it for a moment before shrugging and handing it to Fluttershy.

The room immediately went dead silent as Fluttershy looked at the card. Even my own heart beat went silent as my marefriend looked at the object she now held in her hoof.

“Lyra,” Fluttershy began slowly glaring at the mare; and for a split second, I swear her eyes glowed red. “Why did you give my coltfriend this?”

“Uh…” Lyra dumbly replied, unable to look away from Fluttershy as her smile left her face and her legs began to shake. “I just… I mean…”

“Leave,” Fluttershy simply replied, causing the mare to sigh dejectedly before trudging out of the room with a slight sniffle.

A part of me actually felt bad seeing Lyra leave like that. If what the fandom ever said was at all true, she was just really excited to finally see a human. But the other was still reeling from the card.

“Sorry about Lyra,” Bon Bon replied, shuffling her legs slightly. “She gets really excited… and weird… whenever humans are involved.”

“Uh… yeah,” I dumbly replied as Fluttershy continued to stare in the direction Lyra had left. “Fluttershy, are you okay?”

“Huh?” Fluttershy asked, shaking her head slightly. “W-what happened?”

“You kinda just made Lyra leave,” I said, a little shocked by Fluttershy’s actions. Granted what Lyra did was creepy as fuck, but I couldn’t help but feel like Fluttershy did something completely out of character.

“O-oh dear, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy suddenly said, a remorseful look on her face as she looked at Bon Bon. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“No, no,” Bon Bon quickly reassured. “You were in the right and Lyra was in the wrong.”

“You bet she was,” Rainbow Dash added with a scowl, somehow having reacquired my hat, the card now in her hoof. “She didn’t even ask Fluttershy for permission first.”

“What?” I asked, a little confused by what Rainbow just said.

“And I’ll talk to her,” Bon Bon replied before looking at me with an almost pleading look. “But please don’t be mad at her. She was just so excited to meet a real human.”

“I kinda forgot that you were the creature, Lyra was always talking about,” Twilight commented. It was at this point that I remembered that Lyra was one of Twilight’s friends from Canterlot.

“Then you know how she can get,” Bon Bon said looking at Twilight for some help.

“I’m not mad,” I replied with a sigh, still a little confused by Rainbow’s comment from a moment ago. “Just a little creeped out; Just tell her not to do that again please?”

“Yes, of course,” Bon Bon replied before wishing us farewell and rushing out of the room and probably out the front door.

“What I miss?” a new voice suddenly said, the slight recognition of it causing my heart to stop beating for a second.

“Just Bon Bon’s friend being really weird and creepy… again,” Rainbow replied as I decided to see who spoke.

The muffin mare…

The muffin mare, aka Derpy Hooves stood at the kitchen entrance wearing a pair of saddle bags.

“Oh,” Derpy replied as her face scrunched up in confusion, one eye staring down while the other started to wonder to the left. “Which one was that again?”

Even I couldn’t help but laugh as Derpy’s comment brought out chuckles from most of the room.

“Good one,” I chuckled as I walked over to the mare and held my hand out. “I’m Chris, it’s a pleasure Ms…”

“H-Hooves, Derpy Hooves,” the mare hesitantly replied, timidly shaking my hand. The action did nothing but confuse me, as Derpy seemed to pull away as fast as she could before distancing herself slightly. “Welcome to Ponyville, these are for you.”

“Thanks,” I replied as Derpy reached into one of her bags and pulled out a small plate of wrapped muffins.

“You made muffins, awesome!” Rainbow Dash voiced as she zipped forward to grab the plate. But for once, she was too slow as I took the plate first, quickly putting a hand out to stop the mare from taking any.

“Mine!” I hissed like a cat, looking at everyone before settling on Fluttershy. “Quick, use you cuteness to protect the muffins.”

“U-uh…” Fluttershy mumbled as her face began to glow from my comment.

“Okay, let’s just get back to what we were doing,” Twilight chuckled as Applejack pulled a slightly pouting Rainbow Dash away from my muffins by her tail.

“These are also for you,” Derpy giggled as she offered me a small stack of papers she held in her mouth. Taking them with my free hand, I quickly gave them a look over.

“Those are to get you on the mail listings and a few other services,” Derpy said.

“Wow, thanks,” I voiced appreciatively.

“Well, as Ponyville’s premier mail pony, It’s my job to make sure you get all your mail,” Derpy replied with a cute smile. I swore, if there was a cute contest, Derpy would get second place after Fluttershy and her record setting looks. “The other things are usually stored at the post office anyway, so I try to get them to new ponies as a whole.”

“Thanks, Ms. Hooves,” Twilight said as she took the papers from my hand in her magic and began to look over them. Pulling a few out she asked if Derpy had any extras for her.

“Chris,” Fluttershy’s soft voice called, drawing my attention towards her. I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink as she looked at me with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, b-but I didn’t get you anything…”

“What are talking about, Fluttershy?” I asked with a caring smile as I got down on a knee and cupped her cheek with my free hand. “Cause I’m pretty sure I’m wearing your gift right now.”

“Awww,” resounded through the room, causing me and Fluttershy to blush… and Rainbow Dash to gag.

“Okay, enough with the sappy,” Rainbow Dash groaned as she tried to swipe the muffins again.

“Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy said in a slightly threatening tone, her eyes fixed on the prismatic mare.

“Well, I have to get going,” Derpy said, reminding us that she was still there. “I have a filly to put to bed and have work in the morning.”

“Of course, Derpy,” I said, standing back up and facing the mare properly. “Thanks for coming and for the muffins and forms. I’ll get those filled out when I get a free moment.”

“If you leave them in your mailbox, I’ll deliver them to town hall for you,” Derpy added.

“I will, thank you,” I replied as the mare finally took her leave.

“So, who else is still here?” I asked as everyone walked back out into the living room.

“Looks like everypony else is gone already,” Pinkie Pie said sadly. But she pepped back up a moment later. “Ow well, time to clean up!”

“Actually Pinkie, I wanted to say something before that,” Rarity said, drawing everyone’s attention.

“What you wanna talk about Rare’s?” Applejack asked.

“Well,” Rarity began, looking at everyone carefully. “Since we are all going to the Grand Galloping Gala, I thought it would be nice to create dresses for you all… and suits for the stallions.”

“As long as you don’t put anything really shiny on it,” I told Rarity as the others began to look excited. At this point I was trying to fight back the laughs as the images of what the others really wanted flashed through my head.

“No promises,” Rarity giggled, as the others looked back at her expectantly. “So if you all could stop by my shop at some point this weekend, I need to take proper measurements.”

After a round of agreements, we all began to clean up my house. Luckily it wasn’t that bad, so we were done after a little while.

“I’ll have the questionnaire for you by tomorrow,” Twilight said as she placed Spike on her back. The dragon fighting back a yawn as it was already nine thirty at night. “I’ll have Spike drop it off when he gets the chance.”

“Thanks Twi, have a good night,” I said, closing the door as the two left.

“So Fluttershy, what are your plans?” I asked, turning to look at the only pony who was still in my house.

“I-I have to go home tonight,” she replied hesitantly, but I could also hear a bit of disappointment in her voice.

“Would you like me to walk you home then?” I asked, actually hoping to spend some time with her alone.

“N-no…” Fluttershy said, surprising me. “B-but before I go… I was hoping… if you don’t mind…”

“There’s no need to be shy with me, Fluttershy,” I told the mare sitting down on the floor next to her. When I got the chance, a proper couch was going to be my first major purchase. “Be as open with me as you-“

“Canwemakeout?” Fluttershy quickly interrupted as her face glowed red.

“Uh…” I dumbly replied, taking a second to figure out what she said. Once I had, I couldn’t help but blush at what she asked. Throughout the day we had been sharing little kisses here and there, but it looked like Fluttershy wanted to go a little further. “I guess… if it’s what you want.”

Without replying, Fluttershy walked in front of me, sitting down in between my legs as she placed her front hooves on my chest. I couldn’t help but stare into her eyes as she slowly brought her face closer to mine.

I couldn’t help but shiver as our lips met and our eyes closed. I quickly noticed something pressing against my lips and without hesitation, opened my mouth slightly.

It was an odd feeling, having someone else’s tongue in your mouth. Hers being larger and flatter than mine quickly filled up a good portion as mine tried to mirror her actions. When her tongue passed over one of my canines, I felt her whole body shudder as she began to run over them continuously.

What felt like hours later, but was actually just a few minutes, Fluttershy pulled away. A small trail of drool still linking our mouths as she didn’t even bother to put her tongue back in her mouth.

“W-wow…” the mare heavily panted, her face red and her eyes a little glossy. “T-that w-was amazing.”

“Y-yeah,” I replied, watching as Fluttershy slowly stood up and made her way for the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she left, her flank swaying seductively and her tail giving me a teasing peek at what lay beneath.

“Holy fuck,” I breathed out as the door closed behind her. I was kind of glad she was gone now, because I had a painful hard on happening and I don’t think she was ready to go that far.

Standing up, I fully intended to go to my room and remedy my problem, but before I could go up the stairs, I stopped.

The problem in my pants quickly faded from my mind as I absent mindedly walked into my living room and sat in a single fold up chair Pinkie said I could borrow. From there, I just stared into the empty fireplace.

I don’t know how long I sat there for, but a tap on my shoulder brought me to my senses.

“Chris?” Celestia’s voice whispered from behind me. But instead of the annoyed condescending tone it usually had, all I heard was worry and concern.

“I-I m-might never s-see them a-again,” I chocked out, unable to see because of the large amount of tears coming from my eyes. “My mom… my day… brothers, sister, aunts, uncles… my grandparents… I’ll never see them again.”

“Don’t say that,” Celestia’s voice replied motherly as she pulled me into her chest, wrapping her wings around me. “I’m positive you’ll see them again.”

We stayed like that for who knows how long, as I finally released all the pent up emotions I didn’t even realize I was holding. When I had finally cried myself dry, Celestia released me from her embrace and looked down at me with caring eyes.

“Feeling better?” She asked, a bit of concern still visible on her face.

“Yeah,” I dryly replied. A second later, a glass of water appeared in front of me; which I greedily drank. “Thanks.”

“I’m happy to see you’re okay,” Celestia smiled. I couldn’t help but actually feel better seeing the motherly Celestia rather than the one I had been subjected to most of the day.

“I…uh, don’t have any bits right now. So…” I mumbled back, remembering what she told me earlier.

“I don’t care about that right now,” Celestia firmly replied. “Its not like I was going to force you to pay me back immediately or anything. Don’t worry about that until you actually have a house and not a bunch of empty rooms.”

“Oh, thanks…” I said as I finally stood up from the chair. I couldn’t help but look back at Celestia in confusion. While I liked the whole ‘I care for you and your well being’ Celestia, it was still a bit of a 180 from the way she’d had been acting around me normally. “Are you okay, though? You’re acting differently.”

“I may not like you right now,” Celestia sighed as she adapted a slightly annoyed expression. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about your wellbeing.”

“Oh…,” I replied, once again caught off guard by the mare’s actions. “Thanks then… I guess.”

“You don’t need to hold it in, Chris,” Celestia advised as she stood up as well. “I have to get back to the castle before somepony realizes I’m gone, but don’t be afraid to contact me if you need somepony to talk to. You have friends that will listen.”

“I will, thank you,” I replied with a nod. I watched as Celestia made her way out of the room, laughing when I noticed the cake held in her magic grasp.

“Better get to bed I guess,” I sighed making my way out of the room. As I walked into my room I couldn’t help but smile as I noticed Geralt laying at the end of the bed, a look of mild concern as he looked at me from his position.

“Don’t worry, Geralt,” I told him as I removed my boots and pants. “I’m okay.”

He continued to watch me as I got into the bed, to exhausted to even think about what I wanted to do earlier. With a final sigh, I placed my glasses on the floor next to the bed and closed my eyes.

Author's Notes:

If you can't quote the title for this chapter by heart, you should haze yourself.

(1) Pet the chicken
(2) Greek God binge