A knock came at Cerb’s door followed by Fluttershy peeking her head inside.

"Are you all finished discussing your private matters?"

Sitting where she left him, Cerb happily waved her in.

"Yeah, you're good. You girls all done?"

Fluttershy walked in, a little extra pep in her step leaving the door open for Rarity.

"Yes. We learned a lot from each other and cleared up some misinformation the other girls had. We tried not to get too specific, as you requested, and some girls wanted to keep a few techniques private as well. So none of you should have anything to worry about."

On that note, Sniff started for the exit.

"Thanks for letting us know, Flutters. We'll leave you to help Cerb with whatever. The rest of us are going to go get ready."

Before the rest could start moving, Rarity stepped forward with an announcement, as well as a question.

"It was brought to our attention that Becky left early with Shining Armor. Was everything alright with her? I know she was uncomfortable with some of the topics being discussed."

The group looked a bit surprised by that announcement, but Kelly seemed to have the best idea about that.

"Don't worry about her. With all her health issues, she’s always been kind of uncomfortable around topics of intimacy, even with us, at least outside of joking about it.”

Even if that was true, Benny didn’t much care for her going off unannounced.

“Yeah, she didn’t stick around with us to talk. I think she’s coming around, but we’ll deal with her later heading out without us.”

Seeing how the others were concerned, Rarity thought it best to give a few more details.

“Well, Evening Aster had told us that she looked to be fine when she departed with Shining. But just to be sure there wouldn’t be any worries about her safety, Shining requested Helix and Midnight Flash join them since she’s the most comfortable around those two.”

At that, the others seemed to give up their concerns and started to leave as Cerb verbally signed off on the update.

“She’ll be fine with them, and she’s probably one of the best to help introduce us to whoever will be there.”

Standing outside the door, a small group had collected themselves to retrieve their humans. Closest was Octavia, who politely stepped aside to let Sniff by, who was quickly guided away by Lyra and Swifty.

“Benny, dear. Are you ready to go? Vinyl has your change of clothes if you’d still like to change back at your place.”

Their conversation carried down the hallway, with the others only catching something about grabbing some bottles of liquor.

Becky watched the scenery pass by out the window. Sitting across from her, Shining seemed content to share the view in silence. However, only twenty minutes in, Becky reached her limit of boredom and turned to conversate.

“Thanks again for letting me travel with you.”

Happy to have Becky chatty again, Shining turned with a friendly smile.

“I’m happy to have your company, Becky. I just feel bad that we couldn’t all travel together. Cadance was looking forward to us all having a little more time to sit and talk about you and Cerb coming to the Crystal Empire with us.”

Becky kept her eyes on Shining. He was similar to Big Mac in a lot of ways. Larger than most of the other stallions, strong, fit, but an utter gentleman while in her company. Now if only she could keep his balls out of her peripheral view.

She’d ask directly to be more modest, but he was doing her a favor by changing his plans for her to make the trip early. What right did she have to make him uncomfortable when he was the only stallion she felt this comfortable with. At least even from her elevated view, his receded penis wasn’t visible.

Still, probably should keep eye contact and talk about anything that wasn’t sexually related.

“So, why did Cadance leave ahead of us if she wanted to travel together.”

The question wasn’t anything that should have been viewed as unpleasant, but Shining didn’t look enthused to answer.

“Cadance is worried about your reception in Canterlot. Between your unexplainable appearance, the attack on Kelly, then everything that happened with Justin and Benny, she’s worried that rumors might end up having ponies not acting too welcoming.”

He turned back to her with a comforting expression, his eyes looking to hers with legitimate care.

“I tried to tell her that she’s being overly cautious, but she insisted on speaking to Celestia personally about it. But you shouldn’t have to worry. Once your friends arrive and they see how great you all are together, I'm sure they’ll see what we’ve seen.”

Sadly, Shining’s words didn’t appear to give Becky much confidence from what he could tell. Needless to say, it wasn’t making him feel like an especially good friend.

“Sorry, Becks. I shouldn’t have said anything. She’s even got me stressing out over this.”

He started to rub the back of his neck, only then realizing Cadance’s plans that she wasn’t there to share in, prompting him to pull his hoof back to his lap. All he wanted was to make sure she wasn’t going to start worrying over anything.

“You don’t have anything to worry about. Helix will be by you all night with Midnight keeping an eye on you from… I still don’t know how he does that. But I’ll be close by as well.”

Becky turned a glance over to the other side of the cart. Midnight was slumped over and wrapped up in his wings sleeping, still tired from being pulled out of bed early. Helix had busied himself by reading a book or taking notes.

She had nothing against either one of them, and had a great time playing cards and drinking with Midnight. Even still, without Rainbow or Spike with her, there was a better option available.

"Could I just hang out with you and Cadance?"

Shining nearly yelped at the request, almost giving himself a panic attack with his thoughts.

"What's going on? I'm trying to not look suspicious but every time I try to put some distance between us, she keeps trying to tag along and get closer. Or… wow… it really has been a long time since I had any real friends."

Now calm, Shining started to relax a little more and started to rub the back of his neck again.

"Of course, and sorry. I keep thinking about what you said and… I'm just not used to having a friend that wants to be around me just to be around me."

That was the second time he had rubbed his neck like that, and his unintentional pity party was weighing down on Becky.

"You really are stressing out over this. Scoot over. Let me put these hands of mine to use for a while to help you relax."

With mostly everyone dressed to the nines and ready to go, they were waiting on a few of their mares to finish up. No sooner did Luna walk out on her own, Benny was rolling up with his two.

Luna looked over Kelly, so as not to draw any suspicion. It was only Benny, Chris, and Cerb at the moment, but called it like she saw it.

“My-My. Aren’t we just the handsome stampede of stallions?”

Cerb brushed his hands down the front of his tux, pleased with how it turned out.

“My girl did a damn fine job on these.”

He looked up to see what Luna was wearing. She still wore her hair the same, as well as her crown, though her chest piece had been swapped for a much darker polished ebony one, with her crescent moon of a pearl white that almost seemed to glow for how bright it was. Over her back was a dark lavender shawl that started with a large collar under her neckpiece. It rolled down her back, steadily brightening into the colors of her evening sky. Another band of similar colors wrapped around her waist to hold it in place.

Needless to say, he was impressed.

“I hope my girls are dressed as nice as you are, LuLu. You might have a fight on your hooves if you start making our girls jealous.”

Stepping in front of Cerb, Sniff extended his arms, as if he could actually hold his friend back.

“Hey-Hey-Hey, now. Ease up on the compliments there, Puppy Boy. You got the action hero role on lock, aight? Leave the flattery to this one-trick pony.”

At that, Kelly laughingly scoffed.

“One trick? You already flipped tricks for probably five mares this morning alone. Don’t be thinking you're gonna poach this Princess.”

Benny, having just driven with his windows down, caught the exchange and stepped out to add a little more fuel to the fire of jokes.

“Jesus Christ, Sniff. Isn’t five enough? What kind of greedy jackass would need six?”

Of course, the joke was a dual slap for both Sniff and Chris, but Chris was confident in his position.

“Woah, there buddy. Six is the limit. Alicorns are worth at least two, so Sniff’s going for a baker’s dozen at least… Thug life. Fuck the Pon-ice.”

This was too easy, and even Lumberman got in on the fun.

“Go on, Sniffy. Tell’em how you like to pull the trigger until you empty the clip.”

The group laughed it up, minus Octavia and Vinyl who didn’t get the gang references being an analogy for sex. Thankfully, Luna put enough together to warrant coming to Sniff’s defense.

“Now-Now. Peter is a dear friend to all of us and who deserves some respect for all the love and attention he’s been providing to Twilight-” She stepped up behind him, laying a wing around his shoulder as to comfort him, making her turn to get a jab in all that much sweeter. “-and I’m forgetting how many other mares he’s emptied the clip with.”

Such a well-timed joke couldn’t have been delivered any better by a professional, and the group lost it.

Being the butt of the joke, Sniff couldn’t even be mad, given her delivery.

“Yer all a bunch of haters. I'm walking away. Someone has to grab the booze, anyway."

While finishing up the last bit of makeup, Rarity still had some thoughts to share with the others.

“Twilight, dear… Do you think that perhaps Fluttershy and I were too hasty with our advances with Justin? And Starlight, not to say that you made a mistake with Chris, but Fluttershy and I took our time with each other, and… Oh, I don’t know. We went straight from kissing to fucking in a single day. It was only last night we tried having him do other acts with us.”

Starlight jumped the question to answer first.

“Chris and I did the same thing. Almost exactly like Fluttershy with Cerb. It started with kissing, but the next thing I know I’m grinding on his cock through his boxers. We were both so into it that he thought I knew what we were doing, and that I got him naked and… we rubbed against each other until we both came, and then I had him fuck me. We didn’t do any of the oral or hand stuff until after that, but that’s because I didn’t want to.”

She brushed her mane to the side and turned in front of a mirror, ensuring she would look her best for Chris.

“All three of us were impatient and wanted to do what we thought our stallions would want.”

Fluttershy was following along up until that last remark and spoke up to correct her point of view.

“Well, I would agree that we were impatient, but having Justin rut us was really what Rarity and I wanted for ourselves. We didn't have the luxury of having Justin wanting to be physically intimate with us as easily as you did. And our urges came before he even thought about dating us."

Hearing that setup, Pinkie perked up.

"Hey! Maybe that means I still have a shot with Benny!"

Swifty, being the least educated on Pinkie's history, wanted to be optimistic for the unattached mare. Though not too optimistic.

"Uh… Maybe? I mean, me and Peter aren't even dating. And we still do a lot."

Her words of hope quickly earned her a not-supportive look from Twilight, making Lyra walk back on those words.

"But that would be something Octavia or Vinyl would have to welcome you into. We all know how important these kinds of relationships are."

Instantly, that deflated Pinkie’s hopes and aspirations along with her mane.

“Goddamnit… All I want is a little dick!”

“Little dicks aren’t exactly what humans are known for,” Rainbow announced from the windowsill. “And fuck me flying. How much rutting goes on in your room, Twilight? Even with the windows open it’s like a party cannon of pony pussy went off in here.”

Twilight turned to see the rainbow maned mare, somehow not surprised to see her friend didn’t bother using the door.

“Rainbow, that’s… pretty accurate. Was everything alright with Luna?”

Ember, not wanting to make a scene about having to stand by with her new dress, made her comment short.

"To be fair. It's a lot better than smelling sulfur from volcanoes."

Rainbow hopped down from the sill and trotted up to the group, looking surprisingly perky. Even for her.

“Yep. She just wanted to check up on me since I’ve been flying solo with Becky and dealing with all the drama that goes with being her guardian. Turns out she and I have a lot in common. Not the part about Becky ditching me, but I can’t blame her if the rest of her friends were talking about getting dicks sucked and everything else the rest of you won’t talk about. I’m sure she’ll come all the way around though.”

Picking up her box and pulling out her dress for the night, Rainbow had a question she needed to ask.

“Speaking of Becky coming around, I’m pretty sure I won this bet the two of us had, but I just had to verify. Starlight, Twilight, Ovens… Who got any action first? Chris or Sniffy?”

Despite the loaded question, it didn’t require any thinking, given how Twilight knew both mare’s stories by now.

“That would be Chris with Starlight by almost a full day.”

Cutter, already in her dress uniform, looked over at her daughter, almost a little disappointed.

“Really?”

Seemingly unaffected by the question, Ovens just focused on getting her eyeliner right. She knew there were reasons why it ended up with her being number two to bed herself a human.

“It’s not a contest, mom. And technically, I was the first one to have my stallion trying to show any of us what their hands can do. Peter was just being a gentlecolt by not trying to surprise me with something I wasn’t ready for.”

Reveling in the moment, Rainbow held up her dress in a victorious pose.

“Ha-Haa! Oh, yeah! Totally called it! Rainbow Dash wins by a technicality!”

Now the entire room had Rainbow’s attention, and she knew it.

“Sorry. Not to doubt you there Pretty Pretty Princess. And Oven Fresh, I didn’t know enough about you to really make that call. All I knew is that Peter was a smooth talker that liked dating, but he didn’t seem ready at the time. But Starlight?”

She chuckled in a deep voice as she put her neck through her skirt.

“Now there was a mare who had everything old Broney Boy wanted and she had the guts fight for him. And as close as Chris and her were all the time, I kinda figured it was gonna happen”

She pulled the rest of the skirt back and eased her wings through. It was a perfect fit, as expected

“I bet Becky twenty bits that Chris would get some from Starlight before Sniffy would come around to try something more than a flirt. Even after I told her that what we thought was perfume was all over Chris and Chris’s champagne scent was all over her, Becky wouldn’t buy it… So… we upped the ante a skosh.”

“Oou!” Pinkie cheered, her mane re-inflating. “I love skoshes! They’re so puffy and… No, wait. I’m totally thinking of something else?”

As light-hearted as Rainbow was taking this, Twilight wasn’t going to let her friend take things too far.

“Rainbow… How much of a skosh did you raise the bet?”

"Not me," Rainbow huffed, fiddling with the golden bindings for her forelegs. "It was Becky's idea. I just agreed to it because I was certain I'd win."

Cerb lowered his bottle after taking another sip of the honey-flavored liquor while keeping an eye on the others present.

"LuLu… What the hell is taking the girls so long?"

Sniff, leaning against his car, jokingly answered with what he figured was the truth.

"Probably all the breaks they're having to gossip."

"Hear ye! Hear ye!" Rainbow's voice boomed from the entranceway. "Announcing, Pretty Pretty Princes Twiggles!"

The long line of mares steadily paraded themselves out. Each one making a point to fashion themselves off for their stallions to see, each receiving a fair amount of praise.

Well, all of them except Swifty who was still in her armor.

Of course, since they had taken forever, Sniff set the pace for their need to leave.

"Okay, boys and girls of all types. Unfortunately, Twilight should have left fifteen minutes ago, so I'll be heading out with her, Lyra, and Swifty."

As they began to pile in Sniff’s car, Lumberman started his truck.

"Cerb. You, Rarity, and Fluttershy jump in the back seat. I'm taking us to the train station. Benny’s taking his car."

Knowing where Kelly would want to be, he turned to Luna. "And Luna? Do you mind taking Kelly with you? I'm sure she would like to share your company, and didn't you both need to stop back at the farm first?"

Luna nodded, practically tickled at the idea of traveling alone with Kelly.

"Of, course. Right this way, Kelly."

Bullet dodged, now for Lumberman to finish up.

"Pinkie, Dash. You're both in Benny’s car. Thunder Glide and the rest should be finished packing everything on the cart for us by now."

With all three of Sniff’s girls piled in, Sniff realized one individual he hadn't seen yet that day.

"Where's Spike?"

Spike, dressed up in only the top half of a tux, continued with the young delegates through the castle, pointing out random facts about whatever they came across.

“And down there is Celestia’s throne room where she holds Day Court.”

Smolder, doing her best not to step on the hem of her dress, begrudgingly followed along.

"Oh? Great! What law can I break so they put me in the dungeon and no pony can see me in this?"

From behind, Gallus didn’t seem to share the sentiment.

“I dunno these clothes ain't that bad.”

Smolder groaned and tugged at her waistline.

"None of yours are made to look cute. Dragons aren't supposed to look cute."

Equally dolled up, Yona pushed her way up, trying to sound optimistic.

"Dresses not so bad. Rarity make great dress for Yona and Smolder."

Being the only other dragon in the room, Spike turned to Smolder, feeling sorry for her discomfort.

"It's only for tonight. And it's not like you look bad in it. I'd even say you look pretty in it, if I didn't think you'd hit me because of it."

Sporting a blush, but quickly falling back on her anger, Smolder balled up her fist threateningly.

"You better not say it."

Gallus rolled his eyes at Smolder’s poor attempt at acknowledging what Spike was trying to say.

“Yeah, Spike. You totally better not say that thing that you just said when you said you wouldn’t say it.”

Smolder’s mind looked as though it’s short-circuited, forgetting her anger as she tried to piece together the contradiction she’d just been fed.

“Spike?” Shining’s voice called out from around a corner, from which the prince trotted out from. “Hey, buddy. Would you mind standing here with Becky for a moment? All the staff must be busy and Becky could really use a glass of water.”

Ever the helpful one, Spike immediately rushed to the corner, bringing the others along with him. As soon as they were within spitting distance of Shining, Spike could see Becky sitting on a small bench with her right hand resting high on her chest. She had taken her shoes off and was rubbing above her knee on one leg with obvious signs of pain.

“Is Becky okay?” Spike asked, inches away from springing into action.

Thankfully, Shining breathed a sigh of relief.

“Becky’s fine.” He turned to her with a look that was half a sneer and half a smirk. “Just a bit bullheaded and too proud to accept a helping hoof.”

Clearly not in distress, Becky reached out and childishly mushed Shinings face and his goofy look away.

“I made it here all by myself, didn’t I?” She joked through a raspy voice, her chest still heavily rising as she tried to regain her breath.

Judging by how pleasant Becky’s fingers felt against his muzzle, he had to assume she was indeed doing just fine, and finally relaxed.

“Yes, yes, Miss Rebecca Know It All Landon. You walked a whole two and a half miles all by yourself with only seven stops along the way. And you did it all without throwing up. Very impressive.”

The Captain of the Guard offered her a soft golf clap prompting her to again reach out for his face, but this time he dodged it and turned his attention to Spike.

“Helix is working with the on-duty Solar Guard to get the rooms ready for Becky and the rest that are still on their way. Midnight flew ahead to get some more sleep before going on watch for the rest of the night, and I haven’t seen Cadance, Celestia, or the other delegates yet.” He turned his eyes back to Becky. “And some humans are too stubborn to accept a ride on my back to her room so she can rest. She decided to take yet another break to rest because her throat is bothering her.”

Hoping it wouldn’t take too long, Shining started off down the hallway while taking a quick glance at Spike.

“Just keep her company and make sure nopony bothers her. I’m going to get her some cold water to drink and some hot water for her tea to help her throat.”

As the hoof steps of Shining faded down the hall, Smolder gave Becky a good once over before calling a spade a spade.

“Soooooooo not all humans are unstoppable war machines?”

This story was getting old, and so Becky turned to Spike, silently asking for help.

Spike huffed a breath of despair and moved to sit next to Becky. Once seated, he let the others know he was being serious.

"You all heard the story of our battles in the Everfree Forest. Our goal was to find a cure for Becky. What we didn't tell you is how sick she is. So… this is what I know from the letter I had to write for Twilight about Becky's condition."

Sniff far outpaced the train, given how he was driving over eighty most of the way there.

Most ponies scurried out of the car’s path, now mostly idling through the city. It would have been more of an impressive or intimidating feat, had it not been for the fact that Twilight had requested I'm Just a Girl by No Doubt to be played as they drove up to the gates of the castle.

"Seriously?" Sniff complained as the guards approached the car with their weapons drawn. "I'm pretty sure at least three of those guards know exactly what my car is."

Growing just as agitated, Swifty rolled down her window and poked her head out.

"Hey! Open the gates and let us in! This is the Human Emmissar's self-moving carriage! Princess Twilight is inside and demands to be let in!"

Flying in just seconds shy of Twilight stepping out to lay down the law, the current captain of the guard flew in to calm the situation.

"Guards! Stand down and open the gate. And you, Princess Twilight."

The guard touched down, slowing to a trot next to her door, he spoke through the open window.

"It's nice to see you're doing well."

Twilight took a good look at the stallion pegasus welcoming her and immediately recognized him.

"Flash Sentry?"

"Captain," he coyly replied as he moved his face lower to eye Sniff. "Flash Sentry. And we're happy to host yo-ooooooou… didn’t bring the rest of them?"

She figured he was referring to the rest of the humans, but the guard should know what the plans were.

"Didn’t Princess Luna and Kelly tell you that the others were coming by train? They should have-"

Twilight turned her eyes to the high tower where Luna's chariot should have been only to find it nowhere to be seen.

"What the fuck? She was just supposed to make one quick stop at… Oooooh, Goddamnit. She took Kelly with her."

In the back seat, Swifty snickered at Lyra, quickly figuring out what the delay was.

“Oh, poor Luna. She must be so bored having to wait for those two.”

Lyra rolled her eyes, now seeing a major oversight in their plans.

“Doubt it. Kelly knows more than any other mare about taking care of her stallion. We should have had her join us back in Twilight’s study. Just imagine what she could have told us.”

Kelly sat atop her sleeping stallion in a reverse cowgirl position, trying to figure out how things got so out of hand so fast.

“Okay… This was partially my doing, but… I’m good now… Do you think you can walk on your own yet, Luna?”

Luna licked her muzzle clean as she lay slumped over in the tall grass.

“Mmm, no walking or flying for now. Could you perhaps comfort me until then?”

Despite how great things felt while together, they were a terrible trio. If it wasn’t Kelly teasing and instigating, it was Luna starting something that Kelly couldn’t resist. And Big Mac was either a malicious enabler or embarrassingly complicit to lure them this far away from the farm.

Now Kelly had to deal with both of them in a compromising state, and both were just as much to blame as she was. Although Kelly had to blame Luna for one special problem they ran into.

“I told you that you can't just have him just jam up in there. You actually do have to take your time with anal and you need a lot more lube. We’ll… stop and get you an ice pack to sit on for the ride back. We’re already late anyway.”

Since Big Mac was still snoozing off this impromptu sex session, Luna could be honest without fear of reprisal.

“It was in my haste to take Twilight’s suggestion, I must have misinterpreted her statement of what little I could, as duration and not penetration… Or perhaps it is simply that our dear Machinosh simply lacks the human touch you all seem to be blessed with.”

Okay, that was both funny and adorable enough to make Kelly focus on trying to cheer up Luna for her first bad sexual experience.

“I’m sorry, LuLu. You’re probably right about that… How about I kiss it better?”

Twilight could only imagine what those three had gotten into, but had to keep the secret going of Luna’s affair.

“Oh, I’m sure Luna already knows fucking plenty.”

Since Sniff knew Kelly best, he was thinking the same thing.

"Come on now, girls. Let's be nice and make sure everyone has a ride back so they don't have to walk the whole way. And Flash, do you mind if I leave this parked out front? I'm sure the guest arriving would love to see it when they arrive."

Thankfully, Twilight knew where the carriages had to park, and that was a walk, in and of itself. That wasn't something she wanted to put Sniff through, nor did she trust anypony with his car when she didn't even understand how it worked.

"That's a splendid idea, Peter. Park it right next to the entrance. Captain Flash Sentry will make sure nothing happens to it while we're here." She shot Flash a smile that made it clear it was an order, not a request. "Won't you?"

An order was an order, and Flash promptly saluted.

"Of course, Princess."

With the car parked, Sniff stepped out and like a true gentleman, opened the door for Swifty who sat behind him, then Lyra, and lastly Twilight.

Now with all of them ready to make their way inside, Swifty was ready to perform her official duty.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! Now arriving! Pretty Pretty Princess Twiggles!"

Not even able to take a full step forward, Twilight gawked at the announcement, triggering Swifty to sink in on herself and apologize.

"Sorry… Rainbow Dash said that's how you have to be announced while you're wearing that dress."

Breathing a little heavier than normal, Shining continued up the stairs. Next to him, Cadance and Celestia were walking on either side of him making sure Becky wouldn't fall off.

"Don't feel bad," Cadance said in her most sympathizing voice. "You made it up most of the stairs."

Trying to play it off like it wasn’t as big of a deal, Becky didn't want any additional attention drawn to her weakness.

"It's my fault. I can go a lot longer with a few drinks in me."

As confident as those words sounded, not even Celestia was without pity.

"We could have brought you a carriage. You shouldn’t have to push yourself so much."

Bringing up the rear, Rutherford was sounding off in a different tune.

“Bah! Becky should be proud. She like yak. Strong human fight in their own way. Even if walking is fight, Becky still fight till last breath. Humans might not be yak, but very impressive just like yak.”

Becky wanted to laugh, but with her lungs still burning, she needed the strength just to hold on, so a warm smile would have to do for now.

“You’re very sweet, Prince Rutherford,” she weakly thanked him. “I’m just a survivor… not much of a fighter. Couldn't even make it from the train station.”

The doors opened to the first guest room they came to, with Celestia stepping in to pull the drapes open.

"The summit won't officially start until later this evening, so you have plenty of time to rest. My staff will be made available to you for anything you wish."

Becky carefully slid off of Shining’s back and collapsed in the bed.

"Just some hot water for my tea. And knowing my friends, they'll bring some drinks to share. A bottle of vodka will be all I need after I rest my legs for a bit. I can't ask for anything else since this is my fault for thinking I could walk this much."

Gruff just huffed but held his tongue, though his disapproval of Becky's condition didn't go unnoticed by Gilda. A quick punch to the shoulder reminded him not to be so rude, but she was willing to earn a few more brownie points.

“Hey, Becky. I know you and Dash have been hanging out all the time. I could keep you company until she gets here.”

Sadly, Gruff already had other plans for her.

“Not so fast there, missy. You still need to practice for tonight. And you’ve been sloppy all this morning. With all the dangers springing up, you should leave the company she keeps to a griffon who’s actually earned his metals.”

Suddenly, it was now a challenge for who could do the most favors for their new ally who could treat impossible wounds, and the yaks would not go unrepresented.

“Old bird almost right. I stay with Becky. Yak not let friend be alone in land she not familiar with. Keeping safe human friends great sign of respect for brave warrior like Devil Dog and Squid humans.”

While appreciated, Becky didn’t want such attention, and respectfully had to let them know such considerations were unnecessary. However, even she knew the risks of insulting the yaks.

“Thank you, but Shining and I will be fine. We still nee-” She brought her hand around her neck and cleared her throat uncomfortably. “ We need to discuss some things about traveling. But maybe you can leave one of your friends by the door for us?”

Rutherford nodded once, and with a heavy snort, turned to his personal guard on his right.

“Kühn brave yak. Very strong. Vogt stay with me until healer Becky join us for summit and then party.”

Her plan worked like a charm, and now she was feeling generous with all the kindness he had been showing them. There was only one thing she could think of to properly thank him. Maybe even his guards that she now knew actually had names.

“I’ll be there, Prince. And I’ll be sure to save you a dance. Probably something slow since my legs are sore.” She turned her attention to Celestia. “And my deepest apologies, Princess. This is a terrible way for me to show up after being invited.”

Surprisingly to Cadance, Celestia was still overly warm and kind to Becky. She even looked considerably concerned as Becky's leg rubbing continued.

"There is no reason for you to apologize. It should be me apologizing for not ensuring you would have transportation waiting for you when you arrived… Would you like for me to call for a masseuse? I have plenty on staff."

Immediately, a cold vibe seemed to echo through the room as Becky sat more uncomfortably.

"N… no, but thank you."

If ever there was a clue to leave her be, they all understood, and Celestia knew better than to push the issue.

"Well, we shall leave you to rest and finish your discussion with Shining and Cadance. I will send Helix Ray to stand by your door. If you need anything, he will send for it."

As the small group left the room, the cold vibes wavered off, leaving Cadance's motherly mode to join forces with her friendly companion and the mutual interest of her husband. Becky’s mood was strangely much easier to read than the other humans when it shifted as strongly as it had just moments ago, and Cadance moved next to Shining’s side to address it.

"Is there something bothering you besides your current health? If it was something Prince Rutherford or Celestia said, I'm sure they meant no offense."

Becky shyly smiled but looked to shrink in on herself slightly.

"No. I actually really like Rutherford. Kind of reminds me of Cerb in a lot of ways. And I know Celestia meant well, but I'm really picky about who I'll let touch me or… see me unclothed."

No matter how friendly Becky had been, Shining knew full well that she was the most distant of the seven. But that did bring up one confusing point that he now worried he overlooked.

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable the night of your welcome party. Even though we didn't give too long of a massage and you were covered the whole time-"

"Not you two or the others," Becky quickly tried to explain before clutching her chest again. "Sorry… That night was different. Dash was there with me, and… I was a little drunk so that certainly helped me to loosen up. Believe me, I trust both of you and…"

Thinking about her prior discomforts, she finally felt just as safe with these two as she did Rainbow. Enough that she knew she was letting her own insecurities hamper their friendship.

"I've been struggling to accept my friends all getting so attached and dating your friends that the thought of anyone thinking I would do the same made me act a little more stand-offish. And with how some of them had been flirting and forward with each other, I was scared someone would think that about me and Shining."

Cadance felt her heart drop closer to her stomach. It seemed like the closer she got to her goal, the more difficult it was for those she was trying to involve. Or at the very least, she was going about it all the wrong way.

"Becky, sweetie. You have nothing to feel bad about. Shining and I have been a little over-enthusiastic about helping you and Justin. I'm sure being over-friendly at every turn would make us look as if we were looking for something more romantic-"

"I know-I know," Becky apologized. "That was… I don’t even know anymore. I've only ever had one boyfriend before and now I'm stuck here, and all my friends have settled on finding some pony to be with, and I actually have hope of having a functional life…"

As much as she wanted to explain all over again her reasons for choosing to be single, she had a bigger problem on her hands now.

"I made a bet with Dashy, and it was my idea, so I can't really back out of it."

She cleared her throat and started to rub her legs with both hands.

"Oof… I really need a drink, too."

As the guests to the party departed the train, they were immediately met with a royal welcome party. Princess Celestia stood in front of Flash and a small caravan of carriages to escort the happy couples to the event.

"Greetings, and welcome to Canterlot. We have been told that transportation would be desired to bring you all directly to my castle where rooms have been prepared for you."

Benny stepped off the train where guards immediately took hold of their luggage. What was more important was being cordial and respectful to the pony who was so gracious as to meet them personally.

"Princess. It's a pleasure to see you again under much better conditions. How have you been?"

Celestia gave a subtle bow of her head, looking as regal as always.

"Things have been quiet as of late, thankfully. How was your trip?"

Looking back at the train, Octavia, and Vinyl now at either side of him giving their bows, as the rest stepped off the cart behind him, he had no complaints. For what it was, he was happy to report.

"Things have been great, actually. Even better now that I have these two with me."

Octavia rose first and brushed up close to Benny as she greeted royalty for the umpteenth time.

"Things have been most-splendid."

Not trying to be any less overt in her new choice for her love life, Vinyl rose up on her back legs and laid a hoof around Benny’s shoulder. Her smile couldn't have been more complete.

"Saying splendid is like me saying speakers make noise. Life has never been better since we bagged ourselves a stud, Princess."

Quickly everyone was standing in front of Celestia. A mix of bows and friendly greetings were exchanged. Too many to properly address independently for Celestia.

"It is good to see you all in such high spirits. I'm sure we will all have plenty of time to catch up later tonight. Unfortunately, I must be heading back to tend to other guests arriving."

She was about to leave but remembered something important.

"Oh, before I go, Becky requested a bottle of your vodka. I hope you have one to spare.”

All eyes went to Chris, who immediately turned to Starlight.

“Pft. Are you kidding me? I know what Chris likes. I got plenty. Here's an extra one she can have.”

In a brilliant flash of light, Celestia teleported in front of Becky's room. Kühn stood tall in her presence as Helix saluted and sounded off.

"Princess Celestia. Welcome back. All is quiet in the halls."

Celestia bowed and approached the door, giving it three soft knocks with her hoof.

"Very good, Helix. As you were."

Quietly, Celestia opened the door and lightly trotted towards the bed. On a closer look, Becky was sound asleep over the covers. More curiously, Shining and Cadance were playing cards with each other not too far away at the coffee table.

Just as silent as before, she crept over to the couple and set the bottle on the table aside them.

"I grabbed a bottle for Becky. How is she doing?"

In spite of all the pleasantries, Cadance still had a less than favorable opinion of Celestia, though she had to appreciate the extra effort given.

"She's doing fine. She simply overexerted herself walking through Canterlot. Apparently, she is supposed to have medication to help control the nerve pain she experiences but has a fear of the addiction they can cause. Alcohol is cheaper, easier to obtain…" She laid down a card, winning her a small pile of cards for points. "It also helps to thin her blood, making it easier to pump through her system. Thinner blood, means better circulation, means more oxygen to her muscles."

She discarded a face card, which Shining picked up, scoring him a bigger pile of cards. A move Cadance was afraid of but had a better hand for it.

"Of course, as she told us, too much alcohol will eventually damage her heart and liver, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make to better enjoy the years she had left."

Taking the passing conversation with surprising tempered strides, Shining discarded, letting his wife play her hand.

"Becky has new hope here with us. Before she thought her disease would have killed her before anything she put in her body would have done so. She was even too afraid of trying to find another human to love because of how short and miserable she thought her life would be. Now, instead, she's not drinking as much as she used to, has faith in having a normal life, and might even be interested in settling down with somepony if she can live here."

Those last two things both seemed to fly in the face of what Celestia wanted, but she'd already brought out so much contempt from her positions earlier. To speak against this optimism would easily start a fight.

"Are things looking that promising for her?"

Cadance finished her hand, discarded, and was left with the queen of hearts.

"We're doing all we can for her. She is unfortunately slow to trust anypony other than Rainbow Dash, although we seem to be tied for a close second. Or third, if you consider Flurry Heart in the race. But for now, she just needs to rest and know that there are those she can count on others than her six friends and Dash."

She looked down to watch Shining play his last card to pick up one last pile, granting him the opportunity to finish their assessment.

"Becky also really needed the vodka, much like she needed Rainbow Dash to rely on and us to get away from all the stress she's dealing with… She's a very complicated human, but a great friend to have."

Celestia sighed and seemingly gave up on any attempts to interfere.

"Well, the others are on their way and more guests have already begun to arrive. I must take my leave. Please help Becky downstairs when she is ready to join us."

Shining nodded, thinking things must be fine, and answered warmly.

"We will Tia. Shouldn't be too long."

Cadance only nodded, and Celestia took her leave.

With a glass of champagne in hand, Sniff greeted the new arrivals.

"Hey, there ya are ya slowpokes. Welcome to Canterlot! Let me introduce you to some of the city's biggest movers and shakers."

Two of the ponies given the okay by Chris walked over.

The first one couldn't have been harder to miss. A unicorn mare, nearly as tall as Luna, but with a pristine white coat like that of Rarity’s appearance. Her mane was one of the most human-styled they’d seen, albeit with a pale-pink color and white streak to match her tail. Three Fleur-de-lis emblems made up her cutie mark, but most striking were her light-violet-colored eyes.

With her, was a stallion unicorn. His body type more closely resembled Shining’s, though he had a very different, shorter blue mane and tail that matched his eyes. Add a tuxedo top with a bowtie, three royal crowns for a cutie mark, and a French gentleman's mustache, everyone could tell there was something special about this pony.

"Sir Fancy Pants,” He introduced himself. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. And this is Fluer De Lis."

The group all took turns exchanging names and shaking hands/hooves, all of which brought about the same reaction one would expect, ending with Fluer shaking Benny’s hand longer than needed to hold a conversation.

"Your friend Peter has spoken nothing but wonderful things about you. I'd love to set up a lunch for us to get to know you better."

Twilight, hastily pulling herself away from another conversation, quickly moved in between the two, put Benny’s hand into her hoofs, and pulled it back to put it in Octavia’s.

“Benny, everyhuman, I’m glad you all made it safe and sound. Peter would like to get a picture of you and your special someponies before wandering off.”

She turned with a nervous grin to the new ponies, not so overtly pushing the humans back.

“We’ll be right back.”

She turned back to the mares, a bit confused as to why the sudden push, but Twilight looked over her shoulder, speaking through a large toothy smile.

“These mares are like vultures.”

Having the group backed off away from the rest of the guests, Peter started to break it down.

“Okay, so far the ponies have been chill. A bit nervous at first, but…” He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers, thankfully not dropping his glass of champagne. “Magic fingers are in effect, and yes, these mares seem to have an entitlement complex. I mean, Fluer’s interest seems to be innocent enough, but that Upper Crust unicorn chick Chris warned us about?… That was one uppity self-important bitch. I swear her and her husband are fucking stalking me now."

There shouldn’t have been too much thought put into understanding why this was happening. However, that did inspire one particular question from Benny.

“Then why didn’t you warn us before introducing us to Fleur De Liz?”

“Fleur De Lis,” Sniff correctly repeated her name. “And that was so you guys would know what I was talking about. But don’t worry about her. She and Fancy Pants are pretty much an item or will be once he figures that out. Also, I already promised her a massage, so I’ll be taking most of the pressure from the elites tonight-and no, keep your minds out of the gutter. Tonight is all business and networking for me. Now bunch up and smile nice for the camera."

That was the cue, and Twilight stuck two feathers between her lips and whistled.

Swifty flew in and landed like her moves were rehearsed. Sniff handed her his phone, checked the screen, and waited for everyone to get into position. Although, she noticed two were still missing.

"Where's Becky and Kelly?"

Sniff held back a laugh but didn't want to give it away that there was any funny business going on.

"Becky is taking a nap and Kelly is slow. We'll take another picture when they get their asses in gear.”

“Lord Gestal, how good to see you again,” Celestia welcomed the Griffon Lord.

A large griffon, nearly as large as Celestia herself, ruffled his wings comfortably to his side.

Aside from being so much larger than the average griffon, his appearance was more like that of a great owl. Well pampered, lush, brown feathers ran down from the spectacles on his golden beak, eventually blending in with the equally well-groomed brown fur of his lower lion half. He wore one fine vest and tie, all made of the finest materials no doubt.

As he approached, his voice was dignified, if not spoken with an air of sophisticated arrogance.

"Likewise, I'm sure. I hope you don't mind me saying, for as elegant a palace as yours, you really should have more canopy dedicated for landings."

Celestia smiled as always, holding back some rather choice words for such a cheapskate that never cleared a runway for her in his country. Let alone bothered to greet her upon arrival.

At the same time, the area should have been cleared, and only then did she notice Luna’s carriage getting closed up and prepared for storage.

"My apologies. It seems my sister has chosen to be fashionably late. I'm sure you know the way to the grand hall. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Kelly finished stripping down and stepped into a bubble bath that might as well have been bigger than Luna’s bed.

"Sorry again about everything back there. Between the mess we made, the melted ice, and however much of Mac's apple sauce sloshed outta me, I figured the Bacardi would have covered it all up."

Luna extended a hoof and helped Kelly down the steps of the tub.

… Yes, that's how big her bathtub was.

"You need not worry. Tis my fault for requesting to join your Mile High Club. Easy goes it dear."

With her lovely lady now safely seated, she could take a little more time to relax before she would actually be needed for the evening.

"You are very quick to find such resourceful methods. That orange-flavored rum was all the guards could detect when they opened the door for us."

Such optimism was adorable on Luna, and Kelly adored it.

"No, Moon Butt. No rum in the world makes ponies act like that. It just made it easier to lie about."

Luna scooped up some extra suds on the tip of her wings and adorned them upon Kelly's head like a crown, making her giggle childishly at her own antics.

"My guards are not ones to ask unnecessary questions or gossip. They trust me to tell them what secrets they need to know and what goings-on are for me alone."

Their relaxing moments of bathing were suddenly interrupted by the arching doors flinging open by one angry princess of the sun. No cordial greetings were given as she marched herself in uninvited.

"Luna! Where have you been? Not only are you late, you've had me running all over Canterlot and my own castle ensuring every creature is welcomed and-are you taking a bath with Kelly?"

Apparently, the crown of suds had masked her presence enough that Celestia had missed her, at least for a moment.

However, Celestia certainly felt stupid now that she knew why there were human-sized clothes on the floor. Probably also explained the strong sweet scents that were emanating from them. Some with an odd chemical smell blended with oranges were there as well. Not nearly as strong as the sweet perfume, but that could wait until after she excused herself.

"Please excuse my outburst, Miss Kelly. This has been some very trying set of days, as I'm sure you can imagine… How are you healing?"

Somehow with all the relationship drama, security scares, and inexcusable sexual escapades she had been navigating, she hadn't really been paying much mind to it.

"Um… better than I could have hoped for, really. I'm walking normally again, got full use of my arm… I doubt I can do any jumping jacks, but-"

She spun herself and stood up in the tub. Thankfully, the bubbles covered her crotch and enough had stuck to her that only part of one of her breasts was semi-visible. However, when she turned again there were no suds to cover her ass while she cleared the extra bubbles away from her side.

"It's still sore. No bleeding or infection, thankfully. Even most of the bruising is gone."

Kelly had no idea how Celestia would react to seeing her in this state of undress but had hoped it would have been enough to make her uncomfortable enough to leave.

Instead, the big white horse stood there and took it all in. If that didn't work, Kelly lowered her arm and held her wound with her other hand. There was something else that would make the unwanted intruder feel like leaving.

"I still owe you my life for helping to save me. And I know things must have been hard for you as late. Thankfully, Luna has been helping me through this when Big Mac isn't around, what with the farm and all. I can't even sleep most nights. And I'm sorry if I've been keeping her from you. It's just… she told me trial would be happening soon-"

What started off as a ploy for privacy quickly had her revisit the fact that she was in Solar Guard central. The four guards she really did know were cool with her because of Cerb and Benny, or Chris as of late.

She was in their territory and was the reason three of them were in a dungeon and about to have their lives ruined. The real concern for her safety returned, along with a familiar chill that not even the warmth of the bathwater could mask.

Even if Celestia was watching, Luna couldn’t let Kelly suffer like this, and quickly pulled her frightened lover into her forelegs. She wrapped Kelly up in her wings and down into the warming waters.

"Calm thyself, Kelly. You have nothing to fear. Not while I am with you."

This was a mess, and Luna would deal with the fallout of her actions later if that came to pass.

"Sister, I apologize for my absence. It is as Kelly says. I have been tending to her and the wounds beyond that of the flesh. You and I can settle any other matters some other time."

Both of the human mares in a row? Whatever damaged image Celestia had created for herself earlier, she was only making it worse and hung her head, heavy with regret.

"A thousand pardons to you both. Luna, while you are here, consider all that was open to you before to be no different now. And Kelly, you are considered a special guest. I assure you no harm will come to you during your stay here, and any comfort you desire shall be afforded to you. If you wish to stay, I hope to see you join us when ready."

Feeling all her prior righteous indignation losing its hold on her, she slowly retreated to the door.

When the latch clicked, Kelly dropped the act and was left with only her now legitimate concerns.

"Sorry. I thought you two were going to fight so I just wanted her to leave and-"

"Shh," Luna hushed. "You are not at fault here. My sister and I have not seen eye to eye for some time now. Dare I say our pleasantries many a time has come at the cost of overlooking our unresolved grievances."

Kelly cradled herself against Luna, eagerly wrapped up in her protection.

"I got a little too worked up trying to use what I've been ignoring to make her leave. That was a shitty thing to do when I can't even deal with it myself."

Luna pulled Kelly up higher into her lap, turning her so they were chest to chest, holding her dearly.

"We do not need to stay if you wish to leave."

Something felt familiar about this to Kelly. Something magnetic that she felt drawn to, a feeling that left her wanting to be with this mare even more.

That's right… The damsel in distress all over again. Finding herself close to a pony that was watching over her, keeping her safe in her most vulnerable of moments. The fear only compelling her to latch onto Luna even more intimately.

However, unlike before, she had no reason to hold back on her desires to be with Luna like she did with Mac their first time.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've been making since I got here. And I’m sorry we have to be a secret from everyone else and that we all have to share and can’t be... “

Her words fell short of what she was feeling. All of it seemed so detrimental to both her partners as if she was still taking advantage of them.

“You really do have a way with winning me over, LuLu. I’m going to have to do a lot more to really take care of you until Mac can do more for both of us. Whatever you want, I’ll do all I can to help you get it.”

That was a tempting offer, considering how amazing everything Kelly had shown Luna so far. Now she was curious as to what else Kelly could offer.

“Kelly my dear. You are more than enough for me. Not to mention, well… it is not as if Macintosh and I have done much on my account due to his issues, but what else could I ever hope to ask for?”

Without sex toys, there wasn’t really a lot Kelly could think of, leaving her mind to default to something more practical.

“I can always wear you out more often. I’d grow a dick for you if I could.”

A moment of weakness compelled Luna to be honest, even if she felt horrible for admitting it.

“If anything, I long to be rutted like Macintosh can do for you, though I would not change a thing about you. And sadly, as tempting as it would be to experience what the others have enjoyed with your friends, those opportunities are beyond us. Nor would I risk making you feel as if you were not enough for me.”

To say Kelly knew of the damage it would do to even ask about requesting a night with any of the guys, she had to admit that having a dick lasting more than a minute or two to share would be amazing. Simply put, she couldn’t disregard the request when certain memories were unavoidable.

“Yeah… Kind of a shame they’re all taken. I could only imagine what a night with Cerb would be like for you.”

Luna and her big fat mouth. Why did she have to put that thought in Kelly’s head to be shared? And with all her usable limbs occupied by holding Kelly, she could do nothing to stop her ears from twitching.

The sound of Luna’s ears snapping was too distinct for Kelly to miss, forcing her curiosity to push away from Luna and witness for herself what was too intriguing to pass up examining.

“Oh, my God… Luna… Do you have a thing for Cerb?”

Instantly, Luna became a flustered, bashful mess. A deep blush and her ears fidgeting as they were pinned back were all too adorable.

“I… You can’t mean to imply that- Justin is, I mean Cerberus-”

For any other normal relationship, which this clearly wasn’t, such a reaction would have started a fight for sure. However, the quagmire that was Kelly’s confusing relationship with both her stallion and her mare didn’t exactly leave a lot of room to justify much of any jealousy.

“Luna, you dirty little princess,” She teased as she raised her hands to force the mare eye to eye. “Lemme guess. It started when he beat Onyx in the boxing match, didn’t it.”

What could Luna do? Stuck with Kelly’s naked body against hers, glaring that wicked smile, and teasing her with such shameful thoughts.

“Kelly, please. You must understand. I was in a complicated position. I may have fancied your friends for a time, but it was you that-”

“Friends?” Kelly recited the word with mischievous joy. “Who else did you have a crush on?”

Luna tried to turn away, but couldn’t resist the alluring eyes of her captor.

“Thou hast not found anger in thine moments of weakness?”

Kelly realized she was playing with an advantage Luna couldn’t counter to the point it was unfair to lord it over her. Instead of exploiting it, she offered a truce, via a long kiss. Thus, with some neutral ground established, Kelly pulled back to let them settle where Luna’s interest truly lay.

“Luna, we’ve barely begun to figure out how any of this works with the three of us. It was only a few days ago that I admitted to Mac that I was interested in you. Despite how wrong it felt to admit it. Even he had a hard time admitting what he wanted. There’s nothing wrong with having a fantasy or two. That and… well… while they didn’t tell me everything they get to do with Fluttershy or Starlight, or any of the other mares… I can understand why you might want some of that action. I mean, the way Justin talked about what sex with his girls was like had me wondering how I must have rated with him.”

Luna couldn’t believe how easily her immoral thoughts had been accepted, but no sooner did she gather her thoughts of how she could only imagine the comparison between Mac and Cerb would be, did she realize what Kelly had just said.

"What do you mean by how you would have rated with Fluttershy and Rarity?"

Kelly and her big, fat, stupid, scared shitless, filterless mouth.

"Wut?"

The cold shiver Luna felt from Kelly was a dead giveaway that she had understood her human correctly.

"You and Justin were together before coming to Equestria?"

Now Kelly was really in a panic. For so many years that was their secret, and she carelessly let it slip out like this? Why did she have to phrase it like that?

"Oh, my God. Luna, please. You can not tell anyone about this. It was just one night. No one was supposed to know about it. It actually caused us a lot of problems because he thought it meant something more than just sex."

Luna both understood the request but was perplexed by the significance of their short-lived union. Nonetheless, she would do as requested.

"You humans and your secrets. I will understand them someday, but your secret is safe with me."

Relieved, Kelly fell back atop Luna, knowing full well that their skeletons had to be a nuisance if nothing else than bothersome closet clutter.

"It was a confusing time for both of us. Not like this. Not like you and me or Mac. I know you two won't leave me. With Justin though, I thought I would never see him again… but just between the two of us, I'll tell you what happened."

Making it past the first set of stairs, Cerb gave into the reality of the full size and scope of this behemoth of a castle.

"Alright, you were one-hundred percent right. Fuck this place is huge. So, what we doing? Borrowing Applejack’s wheelchair or something?"

Rarity, hoping she had this all figured out, pulled out a large cloth from her purse. Larger than a towel, but not quite big enough to be a throw rug.

"Well, after some careful consideration, I believe I have a solution that will keep your sensitivities protected."

She looked down at the cloth, many doubts creeping in.

"However, if this doesn't work, I pray Applejack won't mind giving up her chair."

Fluttershy, only briefly given a rundown of what was to happen, had a lot more faith in Rarity’s plan.

"We don't want you to feel weak or helpless. And we certainly don't want anypony else to know how vulnerable you are right now, so just have a seat on the cloth and we'll take it from here."

Given how smooth the marble floor was, Cerb gathered that getting pulled around wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Incredibly ridiculous for someone over the age of twelve, but he could do worse.

"Right. Let's get this magic carpet ride over with."

Watching Cerb sit and try to make himself comfortable, Rarity grew a little smirk.

"Funny you should say that."

Channeling a little extra magic into her horn, Rarity’s aura surrounded the cloth, slowly raising it off the floor.

Fluttershy lit up more and more with every inch Cerb climbed.

"Rarity! You did it! Now you just hold still Justin."

While it was a bit of a balancing act, Cerb was in awe that he was on the closest thing to a flying magic carpet ride. Granted, it was technically only levitating while being pushed by Fluttershy, and not even a rug, let alone carpet. But hey, making lemonade out of lemons.

"Just try not to get angry," Rarity pleaded. "This takes a considerable amount of concentration with you on it. And we only have a few hours until we're needed again."

Celestia stood in front of a long line of ponies all waiting for the five seconds of flattery for her. Each pony, hoping for a chance to win her over, but only receiving the most generic of thanks from her royalness.

Down below the long line, Twilight was doing her best to convince Sniff to spend his time elsewhere. Ovens and Swifty discreetly kept an eye open for any prying eyes. Lyra, with her magic, kept her ears open for signs of eavesdroppers and executed her noise-canceling spell on the bottle Sniff requested to be carried.

“Just leave her be. There are so many other ponies that want to talk to you. I’m sure Celestia will make a point to visit with you before the night is over.”

With an ulterior motive, Sniff didn’t hide that he was looking up at Celestia.

“Twi, she’s miserable up there. And it’s not like we have all that great of a working relationship with her after what happened with Applejack.” He looked down, his charm too strong to ignore. “Come on. We haven’t been formally introduced as an item.”

Instantly, Twilight’s ears folded back and her eyes screamed of the horrors she feared from that statement. Both Ovens and Sniff stopped to take in her reaction, neither understanding why she wouldn’t be excited. Then Peter, unlike Ovens and Swifty, was able to put it all together.

“You don’t want her to know?”

In that instant, Sniff remembered the secret recording he played back of Celestia arguing with Luna. He never understood what Celestia’s problem was that made her so upset that Luna would berate her as she did, but it was most likely that he figured Twilight must have known.

“Shit, Twi. Don’t worry about it, but hey… now I know.”

This was starting to look bad, and Twilight could see Sniff getting the wrong impression over this.

“It’s not what you think. If you could let me-”

“Twi?” Sniff cut her off with a smile that showed all the confidence he still had in her. “I’m not mad or hurt. She obviously has a problem with the idea of us being together, so she doesn’t need to know. We can wait until whatever problem you two have to be settled before we open up about it.”

Just like that? Sniff had submitted to her needs without an explanation?

“You’re… not upset by this?”

Swifty, Ovens, and Lyra turned their attention to Sniff, not sure how he would react to something they hadn’t considered about Celestia. The calm and cheerful demeanor of Sniff momentarily dropped as he showed something more honest of what he felt at the moment.

“Well, I’m not thrilled to know Tia has some kind of grudge against us… Also means I can’t kiss you on the lips after your demonstration. Err… not in public at least… Meh.” He shrugged, casually waving off the conflict. “Just means I’ll have to kiss you more somewhere else when we’re not in public.”

“Oh?” Ovens cooed as she rubbed up against Sniff. “Well, then. I might have to escort you to your room early so I don’t interfere with any of Twilight’s special time.”

Lyra bumped flanks with Ovens, just playful enough to keep the attempt at changing the mood going.

“Hey, now. Be sure to take Swift Sails with you. Some mare needs to treat her right if I won’t be here tonight.”

Sniff rolled his eyes but was entertained with their enthusiasm.

“Damn, girls. Chris was right. You do need to start relying on each other more for as bad as you all want it.”

While there were plenty of good comebacks to Sniff’s comment, all of them were put on hold when Vinyl trotted up into the group.

“Yo, Lyra. Octavia said if you’re going to only do one or two songs tonight while not doing your other duties, she needs your help with a song she’s doing after the ceremony.”

The group turned and looked across the large ballroom towards the music. There weren’t many playing with Octavia. Some pony on the piano, another on a giant harp, and one with… maybe a tuba that didn't have any valves? Such a strange arrangement to be led by a cellist, but Octavia made it work. Somehow.

As the group listened to the soft music play, Twilight realized that with Octavia playing her music and Vinyl talking with them, Benny wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Vinyl, who did you leave with Benny?"

Vinyl raised her shades and looked around the room.

"I left him with Pinkie. That mare looked bored to tears, and let’s be honest, Pinkie and bored is not a good combination."

Not even skipping a beat, Sniff down his drink and handed his empty glass off to a waiter passing by as he made a b-line for Benny’s last known location.

"Don't worry, I'm on it."

The fresh earthy scent of Benny’s presence had not gone unnoticed, drawing the attention of more than a few curious few. Ponies of all sorts, more griffons, yaks, and a newcomer that appeared to be a giant, black, bipedal cat.

He was adorned with a royal purple cape, as well as a belt, wrist braces, a collar, and a crown of gold. If not for the notch missing from his right ear, one would think this was a kitty that never knew hardship.

“So, you’re not an Abyssian, minotaur-”

“Not a troll or a golem either,” Benny quickly answered with a smile that didn’t hide how annoyed he was with the line of questioning he’d already replied to ad nauseam. “Human. No relation to any other races known to Equestria or otherwise. There’s only seven us in the entire world, King Abby-Ass-In-Ya.”

“Abyssinia,” The feline king corrected Benny, without any hint of offense.

“My mistake,” Benny carelessly apologized as he looked around the room for anything to pull him away from this conversation.

Unfortunately, Kelly and Becky were both still AWOL, Cerb was sitting this portion out, and the other three guys were off doing who knows what. Of course, with Octavia performing and Vinyl running messages, he had to stick close to Pinkie.

Perhaps she could do whatever it is she does best to get him away from here.

“Hey, Pinkie. You never mentioned there’s anthro cats in this… Pinkie?”

She was just there next to him. How and why would she-

“Does the kitty want to play with this ball of yarn?” Pinkie asked from behind the king.

Benny snapped his eyes to the sound of Pinkie’s voice, currently tossing a ball of red yarn back and forth between her hooves. Where she got it from, one could only guess. Probably the same place as everything else, which was no longer important. What was important was how she had the king’s attention locked onto the bouncing ball.

“Listen here,” he demanded, his eyes still following the ball. “I am an Abyssinian and a king. While my appearance may resemble that of a common house-”

Looking bored, Pinkie tossed the ball behind her back, prompting the new king to give chase, much to Benny’s amusement.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Christ almighty. I said it like five times. Human, loud and clear, he even repeated it.”

Proud of her achievement, Pinkie trotted over and took a seat at an empty table next to Benny.

“Well, you can’t blame him too much. I had that whole golem thing with Cerb that went longer than it should have… Sorry about calling you a troll for so long.”

It was strange to see Pinkie so calm and collected like this, but Benny had to appreciate her personal growth and joined her at the table.

“I never held it against ya, Pinks. I should still be apologizing for the whole golem thing… Sorry about a lot of things, really. Seriously, I haven’t been a good friend to you, and the problems I was dealing with don’t excuse me from what I did.”

Every word spoken touched Pinkie for how much better things felt between them, but she had to come clean as well.

“BenBen… I tried to make you happy without trying to help you deal with what we were both too afraid to talk about. When I was supposed to keep you safe, I was playing games because I wanted to have fun with you. I thought that making you happy would be enough, but I didn’t think about anything else.”

This conversation was obviously going somewhere Benny didn’t want it to, nor was he going to let it happen.

“Pinkie, you don’t need to-”

“I wasn’t there for you when you needed me,” Pinkie painfully admitted, her mane quickly getting straighter. “I’m not saying I didn’t care, because I did. I still care, but I didn’t appreciate what I had with you.”

Benny reached across the table and laid his hand on Pinkie’s hoof.

“I didn’t appreciate what I had with you either. And it’s nothing you did. I didn’t want anyone to be where I needed them. As for what happened at the Castle, maybe it had to happen. I wasn’t going to let anyone help me until you made me accept it. And I know you care. You always have, and if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have let me or allow me choose to accept your help or keep running from my problems like I wanted to. Now, because of you, I have Tavi and Vinyl. I owe you a lot, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Those were strong words of encouragement from Benny, but Pinkie couldn’t help but feel like they were solidifying her friend position. Despite it feeling selfish, she wanted more than that. Even more selfishly, she just wanted the physical exchange between them to happen.

“Oh, BenBen. You can have any pony you want. I just really, really, really want to have you show me what sex is like. Just once, or as much as you want. But how can I ask that of you when I know how crazy you are about Tavi and Vinyl, and you probably already have the bestest sex with them, but I want it too.”

Her thoughts had her questioning everything she wanted. Wondering where his limits were. So, timidly, she started to prod.

“I’m super happy for you about being with them, and I know you were nervous about it, but how are things now?”

Benny held back from answering for a moment. Pinkie was acting a little too much not like Pinkie. Too on edge, nervous, perhaps a bit withdrawn at the same time. It made him a bit uneasy about how to answer.

“Things are really good. We have really good communication, I’ve been able to talk about my past, and… I’m guessing you got an earful earlier today about it from both of them.”

Pinkie gave a nervous laugh and pulled away slightly as she looked down at her hooves.

“Heh. Yeah… I got an earful about them getting a mouthful.”

Benny clenched his eyes shut and cracked a smile that was the epitome of what Pinkie loved to see on her friends. Even his snorts and snickers were contagious, but he held himself together despite it all.

“Yeah, that happened, but let’s not make that an open topic of discussion here. We’re still pacing ourselves.”

“Yo, stud muffin!” Came Vinyl’s voice. “It’s getting time for the big demonstration. Princess scored us some kick-ass seats."

Vinyl turned her eyes to Benny. An overflow of pride and mirth spilling out, as she trotted up and planted her lips on his. It wasn’t long, but she made a point of how much she enjoyed having him at her availability like this for as long as she had him there.

"Does that just mean good, or did she have to kick somepony's ass to get them?" She asked with an innocent smile.

Benny laughed before playfully pushing her face away so he could stand up.

"It means they’re really good. That's all." He did a quick turn back to Pinkie. "Come on. Let's see what this show is supposed to be about."

Pinkie had missed her chance, but given the atmosphere, she could wait until later in the night.

“Right behind ya, BenBen.”

Seemingly late to the party, the small group showed up with nearly everyone in attendance already in their seats. Chris, Lumberman, and all their ladies were seated in what appeared to be the exclusive zone.

“Hey, there you are,” Chris greeted the late arrivals. “Where’s Becky and Cerb?”

“Fashionably late, of course,” Rarity announced from not far behind.

The rest of the group turned to see Rarity walking to the left of the magic carpet ride Cerb was carried on, complete with Fluttershy pushing him along the way with Thunder escorting them on his right. Behind them, Becky was walking with her hand on Shining’s back for support.

The sight left Lumberman to question aloud his thoughts.

“What the fuck is your candy-ass riding on? And where do I get one?”

Cerb, still having to focus to keep his balance, answered like it was a joke.

“This is Rarity’s doing, and it seems like she’s the only one who can pull it off. Cadance and Shining tried helping and I almost fell off.”

To that, Shining laughed it off as some kind of fluke.

“Yeah. We offered to help but we couldn’t even get a grip on the cloth. Rarity’s telekinesis is something else.”

The group came to stop where Cerb was lowered to the floor and helped up to his feet.

“You know, Tin Foil. My girl is a master manipulator, not a spell caster, so only she can handle this much awesome.”

Taking her place next to Cerb, Fluttershy moved in close under his hand and got comfortable walking alongside him.

“She’s not the only one.”

Rarity huffed a laugh and swatted Fluttershy’s backside with her tail.

“Quiet you. That’s not at all what he meant.”

From behind, Becky rolled her eyes. Having a soft spot for Fluttershy, she couldn’t be too put off by the joke. However, seeing how the other royals couldn't recreate the same effect was still a bit of a letdown, even with the bottle she had been sipping on.

“Looks like it's back to jetpacks and elevators for me.”

Rainbow flew up out of her seat, happy to see her up and active again.

“Bout time you got outta bed, lazy-butt. I got a seat saved for ya. And I hope you're gonna share that. It's the least you could do for ditching me back at the castle."

Now close enough, Becky pulled her hand away from Shining.

"Thanks again, Shining. I should be moving around a lot better once this bottle kicks in."

Looking back at Rainbow, Becky sported a clever grin.

"I'll have you know I walked over two miles today. So you can't call me lazy."

Every human in attendance turned to Becky in disbelief, to which she responded accordingly.

"What? If I ain't dying here I might as well get used to walking again. So, yes, I'll share, and thank you for saving me a seat."

No sooner did the congratulations for Becky's progress settle down as she got seated, the last late arrival showed up. Though the arrival was not as exciting.

"Greetings all," Luna called out. "We apologize for our delay. Kelly seems to be suffering from some jitters being around so many of the Solar Guard. I would stay with her for the event, but I will be joining Twilight in just a moment."

One celebration made way for consoling of another. Leaving only one pony of the group away from the rest.

Twilight did what she could to collect herself. Panic and stress might as well have been a part of her daily diet, but this was big.

Turning back to the delegates, she readied herself to move forward.

"Okay. We all know our parts. You all look fabulous, and I can't thank you enough for all your help leading up to this. I can't help but think how right Peter was about this. There is beauty in our bravery, and true strength is best demonstrated through mercy. But together, that is where our true strength lies."

Being the most outspoken, Rutherford huffed to clear the air.

"Me not think beauty best describe yaks, but Yona might best show beauty with strength… Mmmmm, perhaps majestic best describe other yaks like myself."

Gilda adjusted the holsters tucked into her dress, feeling much of the same thoughts.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I think this is all pretty awesome, but I'm not sure about the dresses. Is it really necessary to look wimpy in these outfits for this?"

Smolder, thinking back to what Spike had told her, spoke up to save her own dignity.

"I didn't buy into this until Spike laid it out for me. How I look doesn't change the dragon I am underneath the dress. If ponies think I look like some girly dork, it just means that I’m all that stronger of a dragon for kicking their butt when they make fun of me for it. Besides, the only opinions I’m really going to care about are from those that are brave and strong like me. If they say I look cute dressed like this but don’t think any less of me because of it, I can live with that.”

Hearing that, Ember gave her dress another once over. Even she had to admit it looked nice, and if the humans like it, surely Cerb would. It was made by Rarity after all. That alone would give her the confidence needed to do this with her head held high.

“Dress or no dress, never forget who and what you represent, Smolder. Even a volcano wrapped in a pretty bow will burn whoever tries to unwrap it.”

Feeling the hype, Yona was getting excited to get out and perform.

“Yes! Yak always look best while smashing! Now yaks look bestest while not smashing.”

Not quite feeling the hype, Gruff didn’t even bother trying to hide his condescension.

“Hmph. Back in my day, no griffon would be caught dead wearing some getup like that. You two better not mess up, or you’ll really look foolish.”

Not even one word of inspiration. It had been one voice of disappointment after another, even up to the point Twilight was leading them out to perform. There was no need for the cynicism, leaving Gallus to grip his talons tight into a fist, making the leather straps bound around them creak before he turned with a harsh glare at his guardian.

“Well, if we look foolish, we’ll have no griffon to blame except the cynical old geezer that gave us all of five days to get ready. Won’t we?”

Gruff reared back, shocked to hear such glaring backtalk from what he had taken in. He wasn’t about to let such insolence go without a response.

“You listen here, sonny. You b-”

“No, you listen!” Gallus snapped. “You made it loud and clear that I’ve been nothing but a second-rate disappointment that doesn’t know any better. So whatever words of wisdom to make sure I don’t let you down out there, save’em. I’m going out there to do my best, which I already know isn’t good enough for you, and I don’t need to hear it."

Infuriated, Gallus turned and marched off to catch up with the yaks that had blocked off any sign of Twilight. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the yaks large bodies prevented her from hearing anything, but not Ember, nor Smolder, who joined his pace without hesitation with some verbal support.

"I saw you practicing, bro. You're gonna knock'em dead."

Ember didn’t seem to have much to say but gave Gruff a look of pity as she walked away, joining Gallus on his other side. That left only Gilda who swung a mean right hook into Gruff's jaw as he went to charge forward.

Having been stopped from pulling the young griffon back, and now left on the floor holding his jaw, he looked up to Gildas spinning in his vision.

Gilda knew she had only seconds to catch up, so she had to keep it brief instead of simply stomping him out.

"Listen here you old coot. We all know you have no respect for our generations, and for your information, the feeling's mutual. But know that when we get back, I’m taking over guardianship of Gallus. You suck at it, and can't take a hint to lay off when you go too far."

At that moment, Gruff knew he only had so much pull with the Lords and courts. He was useful but horrendously disliked. Gilda on the other hand had the pull of the Elements if she wanted them, and thus, the royals. She even had a business that had picked up selling scones from the help of Pinkie not too long ago. She was a prime candidate for guardianship of Gallus if she wanted it.

Simply put, he didn’t have a leg to stand on if Guilda brought the courts into this.

Outside, Twilight took to the center of the courtyard. In front of her were a series of three large wooden logs. The first was four foot tall and a foot around. Then there was another six inches taller and four inches wider, with the third increasing by the same measurements. Beyond that was a block of stone six feet tall and eight inches thick.

Beyond that, were three large ice pillars along the far sides of Twilight. There looked to be a collection of glowing lights moving inside their hallow center.

Up in the stands, Becky nudged Rainbow, curious about Twilight’s presentation.

"Aren't you supposed to go out there and announce her as Pretty Pretty Princess, whatever?"

Rainbow smiled and leaned back in her seat.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to embarrass her like that in front of all these ponies for something this important to her."

Back down below, with all the players spread out in their places, Twilight was ready to get started as she spoke into a microphone.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, delegates from all allied nations, new and old. While our gathering here has been a regular occurrence for a great many years, tonight is special."

Many faces looked left and right, taking in the sights of so many nations being represented. There certainly were more than the previous years.

"Our common bonds and friendship make us stronger, with better trade, commerce, exchange of culture and information. And tonight, I wanted to share in a simple demonstration that the beauty we all share with each other often hides the strength that we overlook in one another. The strength that we are willing to share in defense of friends, family, neighbors, and communities, both foreign and domestic."

A spotlight lit up on Yona as she charged towards the wooden pillars.

"High in the icy mountains to the north, Yakyakistan. Home of the large and powerful yaks. Proud and determined, they'll smash whatever gets in their way.

On cue, Yona headbutted one, two, three wooden pillars, just in time for Rutherford to leap in overhead.

Giving his mighty battle cry and lowering his crowned helmet, he crushed through the stone block as if it were Styrofoam.

"Far off in the fiery Dragon Lands, dragons control jewel-rich soil and dominate the skies with scales and flames."

Ember and Smolder flew along either side circling the ice pillars. Both unleashed a torrent of flames that made short work of the first and last pillars of ice, then spit out a ball of fire that shattered their last pillars, releasing a dozen glowing balloons into the air.

"Off to our east, a land rich with history and pride, Griffonstone. A kingdom that carved out an impressive landscape and has held it bravely with their skilled military, the griffons."

Gilda flew out first, reached into a holster, and pulled out a medieval crossbow. Its split limbs extended, drawing its cables and string into position. She pulled back on its charging handle once, it clicked, pulling the cables back with tension. She cocked it again, bringing the cable back to its full tension and feeding in a bolt. One last rapid cocking had the final click that activated the action.

Locked and loaded, Gilda took aim and squeezed her talon on the trigger. The bolt slung forth, striking the balloon.

A loud hiss grew from the point of entry, along with a light from inside breaking out. After a short delay, the balloon burst into sparks and fireworks.

Along the other line, Gallus was rising up to his target. Flying up, he extended his talons out, reeling them back from his wrist, ejecting a saber-like blade as long as his forearm for each set of claws.

In one swipe, the blade cut through the balloon’s lining as he arched away in time to avoid the shower of Sparks.

One by one, they flew higher and faster, shooting and slashing their targets. Their speed and accuracy matched only by their proficiency, rendering an array of sparks falling down around Twilight, where the delegates all took their places.

"We all have our own unique gifts and talents that make us invaluable allies for the hardships that face our kingdoms. Natural disasters, famine, economic downturn, and as Equestria has seen in the previous years, dark forces that would threaten all of our safety. Together, we stand a better chance at stopping such hardships from befalling our homes and minimizing the damages done while expediting the recovery efforts. So, tonight, while not a show of destructive power, Princess Luna will be granting me one of the many gifts we offer our neighbors, which is the power to continue the transition from the warmth and productivity of the day, to the calming restful beauty of the night."

Gracefully, Luna walked between the lineup of delegates and took her spot at Twilight’s side.

"Are you ready Twilight?"

Twilight bowed her head, signaling Luna to reveal an amulet with her cutie mark. Thus began the final stage of the ceremony, led by Luna.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. For your continuing duties of uniting our many races and spreading the power of friendship, I hereby entrust to you a portion of my power. In this token of my respect and trust in your capabilities, I hope to see you lead and inspire all of us to better days and safer nights."

She placed the amulet on Twilight’s crown, where it glowed and flashed with a mix of dark violet and rainbow-colored lights. When it faded, the casing of the amulet was gone, and Luna's crescent moon resided below Twilight’s emblem.

"Now rise Twilight, and raise the moon as Princess Celestia lowers the sun, prompting a new horizon for our view towards a better tomorrow."

Twilight could feel the new power attached to her. It was strong and as cool as the air of the night itself. All of the stars in the night sky felt alive, buzzing with energy as her magic reached out for them. Then, the moon made its connection to her. It was heavy, pulling on her as much as she could push its mass in any direction, like a telekinetic hold on a pool toy she could drag through the waters.

"I… feel it. Better than I did last time. I can move it-"

Feeling a new connection to the Astral body, Twilight gently pulled upon the moon, forcing it up into the night's sky. Once risen, she could sense the flow of gravity, fighting to pull it off course. She struggled for a moment, until she felt a current, slow-moving, but felt it intentful in its presence. As if a trail of magic instructions had been left.

"A gravitational course?” Twilight asked with her eyes still closed. “Why did I never see that before?"

Luna’s eyes widened before they quickly softened with admiration and pride.

"I'm surprised you can even see it now, but open your eyes and take in the sights of your beautiful creation, Twilight."

Twilight had forgotten that she had closed her eyes only moments ago. While using Luna’s magic, it was as if she could see everything the night touched in the heavens above.

When she opened her eyes, the sky was glowing with stars twinkling and shimmering brilliantly. Shooting stars and constellations glowed in vibrant colors.

Luna turned to the audience, excited to let the festivities commence.

"Now, let the celebration of our harmonious union with our delegation continue!"

The crowd cheered and applauded as fireworks fired off and illuminated the capital. It was a glorious occasion and Luna looked down to give a private word to Twilight for her accomplishment but noticed Twilight’s half-lidded eyes and an exhausted smile.

"Twilight? Are you alright?"

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