Somewhere in the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy was adding some twigs to the few embers that remained of the campfire. She must have thrown on some extremely dry twigs, or the coals were hotter than she expected because the fire reignited almost instantly, the flash of heat extending out its intense warmth that radiated over her chest.

"Fluttershy?" Cerb's voice called out from the tent. "I need you."

"Just a moment," she replied out in his direction and started trotting over to the tent. "What can I get—"

Cerb was unmoving, lying down where she left him, and he was still nude. However, now he was completely uncovered. Seeing him now this way, she was oddly fixated on his member. It wasn't soft and limp. It was bigger, longer.

"I need you," Cerb repeated, holding his arms out, reaching for her.

From his call alone, Fluttershy was now moving without thought, as if her body was on autopilot. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. Her destination was Cerb, but her mind was blank… fuzzy… docile?

"I need you," Cerb said again, placing his hand on her neck and pulling her in to sit on his lap.

There was that heat again, warming her chest. Had it never left, or was Cerb radiating that much warmth?

"Fluttershy?" Cerb spoke her name, trying to get her attention.

The poor pony’s head was spinning, and her body was burning up. Even worse, she was sopping wet between her legs. She could feel the hot, slick fluids coating Cerb's entire crotch as she was pulled further into his lap.

Fear was taking over her mind as she finally felt the tip of Cerb's cock slide between her vulva. She wanted to run and scream a million apologies, but she was paralyzed by some selfish desire to have Cerb keep her there. But why was this happening? Why did it remind her of something she couldn't remember? What was that inkling in her mind that had been whited out?

"What are we doing?" She finally managed to ask.

Cerb started to rub his hand up and down her neck.

"Fluttershy."

The paralysis had not relinquished its hold, yet her body tensed as Cerb cupped his hand under her chin.

Again, she asked, "What are we doing?"

"Fluttershy," Rarity's voice called out to her, but the ivory unicorn was nowhere in sight.

Where was she?

Then, yet again, Rarity's voice spoke up again.

"Fluttershy, we can't move."

"Hmm?" Fluttershy mumbled, finally waking up to a low glow of Rarity's aura and the warmth she remembered from her dream.

"Justin? What are we doing?" Fluttershy asked yet again, rising out of her dreamy haze.

Cerb raised the slowly waking pegasi’s head a little higher.

"We're trying to get up. I need you to let go so we can move."

Fluttershy opened her eyes. The illusion of her dream had vanished. She could see Cerb still lying on his back, holding her chin up, and Rarity on his right. It looked like her wingmare had cuddled up to him and managed to hook her left forelegs around the back of his head.

"Fluttershy," Rarity again tried to get her attention. "As much as we would like to stay like this, Justin needs to relieve himself, and you seem to have bound us together."

"I did?"

Fluttershy looked to her side, and sure enough, she had managed to migrate from Cerb's left side to up and over his midsection. Somehow, she also managed to hug her forelegs around both him and one of Rarity's legs.

"Oh," Fluttershy peeped, clearly embarrassed before looking up to Cerb with a glaze of confusion and a frantic twitch in her left ear.

"How do we keep doing this?" She asked as though that were her apology.

Cerb shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the situation despite the demands from his bladder.

"I dunno. Y'all are the ones crawling up and under me. You tell me."

"I honestly have no idea," Fluttershy answered as she pulled her foreleg free. "But go ahead, I'll be out in a moment or two."

Cerb pulled the sheet off from him and grunted as he started to bring himself upright.

"Aight. No rush."

Rarity took to stretching, finally being able to move around. Fluttershy, however, kept her eyes glued to Cerb.

His description of his penis being able to grow larger was no lie. It was considerably longer than it was the night just before when she was examining him. Even with the poor lighting, its length looked firm. Not rigid, but a far cry from the limp and soft appearance she remembered seeing it with before he hid it away under the towel. Although, it didn’t look much different than what she remembered seeing in her dream.

Perhaps her mind just imagined what it would look like in this state. But why?

Still lost in her observations, she finally noticed Cerb had caught her staring, and she said the first thing that came to mind that wasn't about his penis.

"It doesn't look like your leg is bothering you this morning."

Cerb looked down at his groin, where Fluttershy had worked on him just last night.

"Yeah, it feels alright. Do you want to check it again?"

"I—"

Fluttershy looked directly at Cerb's dick so blatantly there was no way she could deny it.

"It won't bother you. Will it?"

Cerb looked down again at his half-hard erection and could feel how awkward he was making this for her.

"I'm sorry. I'll cover—"

"No-No," Fluttershy blurted too quickly. "I'm sorry. It's just... I've never... It's like you said. You're built differently. I'm just trying to understand why it... is there a reason it does that?"

Cerb stared at Fluttershy in bewilderment and thought to himself, "How the fuck can she be so clueless."

"Justin, dear," Rarity mercifully intervened. "You'll have to excuse us if we seem inappropriately focused on your... dick. But it's so unlike any other part of your body. Even for a pony... Well, from what I've seen tailoring fashion for stallions from time to time, you're certainly... bigger."

"My dick is bigger than a pony's?" Cerb questioned with a cocky, if not confused, smirk. "Didn't see that coming. Damnit, phrasing."

Rarity blinked blankly at Cerb's response.

"Wut?"

"Nothin," Cerb forced his smirk down and played it straight-faced, hoping Rarity wouldn’t demand another awkward explanation.

Too focused on other matters, Fluttershy cleared her throat and adjusted her wings as both ears began to fidget again.

"You can cover up if you want to. You always have that choice. However, I would also still like to understand your anatomy better."

"I'll cover up for now," Cerb answered. "I still feel... I dunno. I kinda like the feeling of you both being okay, and so accepting of me like this, but it still feels weird to me at the same time. But let's make this quick if you can. Need me to lay down again?"

Just like the night before, Cerb laid down and let Fluttershy maneuver his leg.

"Any pain up in here?" Fluttershy asked, raising his leg in the same position that had left him cursing out in pain.

Cerb made a gesture that could have been either 'I don't know,' or a request to 'slow down.'

"Uhh... A little tight? But not really any pain."

"Fluttershy?" Rarity stepped over to interrupt. "Perhaps we can let Justin relieve himself before getting too involved in another examination?"

"Oh, right," Fluttershy apologized and lowered his leg. "You go on ahead and do what you need to do. Oh, and grab your boxers while you're out there. Rarity can take them back to have them washed, so you have a clean pair for tomorrow."

"Shit." Cerb lowered his head before he could finish unzipping the flap to their tent. "That's twice I forgot about them damn things. Thanks."

As soon as Cerb's footsteps were far enough away, Rarity gave Fluttershy a tamed scowl and started to disrobe from her pajamas.

"Seriously? Why were you keeping him here for so long? I didn't make these pajamas nearly absorbent enough. Thank goodness Justin finds our scent just as pleasant as we do his. I don't think all the scented candles in my bathroom could compete with what we filled this tent up with. Ugh, and when I woke up this morning, Justin was still asleep with his hand reaching down the back of my pajamas. I removed it, of course, but it was all I could do to—"

"I need to see his dick again," Fluttershy blurted without warning. "First that, maybe another examination tonight. And a Wonder Rush. "

"I wouldn't mind another look at it myself," Rarity said, pondering in spite of her friend’s rather brash language. "I'm trying to be as ladylike as I can, but it's so peculiar looking. It’s actually quite exciting to see the more I think about it."

Fluttershy started to remove her pajamas in a hurry, which upon a glance, one could see was oddly more difficult than it should’ve been.

"Rarity, I had a dream. A crazy dream that I can't explain. But I think I'm starting to remember."

"Remember wha-ahoooo."

Rarity was hit with a nose full of Fluttershy's musky scent from the saturated padding sewn into her pajamas.

"My goodness. Did you... "

She poked her head out to make sure Cerb wasn't too close by and ducked back in to whisper, "Did you give yourself a Wonder Rush last night? You beautiful, brave, and greedy little thing."

Fluttershy raised her wing to cover what she was about to whisper into Rarity's ear.

"I'm starting to remember how procreation is done. I'm so close, I can feel it. I think in my dream, I did feel it. But if I don't do something right away, I'm going to explode. And please tell me you know a spell to heat water."

"What?" Rarity shook her head in frustration. "You can't throw news at me like that and then change the subject. You have—"

"Can you or can't you?" Fluttershy reasserted herself. "I'm running out of time."

"I-well... yes, but not very hot," Rarity stumbled out her words. "That's something you would need Twilight or Starlight for if you need to boil—"

"No, not boil, just warm up," Fluttershy quickly explained as she backed up out of the tent, turned, and exposed the sopping wet state her backside was in.

The quivering muscles of her rear glistened in the dim light. It wouldn't be much longer before instinct took over, and she would fall over on the ground to relieve her body's needs.

"Fluttershy, where are you going? In that condition, you could collapse at any—"

Fluttershy looked back, her ears snapping back and forth, and her pleading eyes begging for help.

"I'm getting clouds for us. Buy me some time, and apologize to Cerb for me. Tell him it’s for his leg. I'll explain when I get back down."

"Fluttershy!"

Rarity jumped out to try and catch her friend before she could get out of range.

"You're not supposed—” Missed her by that much. “—to fly alone and give away our position."

As to be expected, Cerb heard the commotion and started running back.

"Hey! What's going on?! Where's-Ah! Ya, fucking pointy stick!"

Cerb emerged from behind a bush he was using, hopping on one foot.

"Where's Fluttershy? What happened?"

Rarity tried to find a good distraction to keep his focus off of Fluttershy, now missing in action, while also not letting him get too close to her half-cleaned posterior.

"Oh, well, you see. Pegasi have the ability to collect clouds, and she... she... "

She caught wind of something horrifically foul drifting in the air towards her.

"Oh, my goodness. What is that... "

She gagged until she dry heaved from the wretched stench.

"Ack! Something is-Ewe! Oh, Justin. Please tell me you finished cleaning yourself before you... oh, no. You didn't. Oh my gosh. Go. Go! I'll explain when you come back, not smelling like a sewer."

"What?"

Cerb realized a moment too late that, in his rush, he didn't wipe, and she was smelling his shit.

"Sorry. I didn't know it would be that bad for you, and you screamed for Fluttershy—"

Rarity was at her limit. The stench was unfamiliarly putrid, and she was certain she’d sew her own nose shut if something wasn’t done. Thus...

"Fluttershy is fine! Clean yourself before I toss your unwashed ass in the lake!"

More than a few minutes later, both for washing and waiting for the steamed seamstress to cool off, Cerb returned, dripping water from the waist down and shivering.

"Okay... I'm washed. I'm cold as fuck, but I'm washed. Please tell me I don't stink."

"No, you're fine now," Rarity was relieved to say. "And I'm so sorry for the way I reacted. It's just... It's like I was trying to tell you last night. We take particular care in cleaning ourselves after using the ladies' room. The same goes for gentlecolts, obviously. But if we are to use another ponies' furniture, it is considered incredibly rude to leave a mess of one's bodily waste. But not only that, we are unfortunately quite keen on the odor such waste carries. It's rather repugnant. I suppose that would also be another reason we do have a problem with ponies going around examining each other's asses, as you would call them. Let alone talk about them."

"That makes a lot of sense, actually," Cerb nodded. "And again, I'm sorry. I thought something bad happened, and so I just ran—"

"Your reasoning was well placed, Justin," Rarity quickly stated, silently thankful such a useful and admittedly unpleasant distraction had come up. "And thankfully, this hasn't been an issue with you or any of your friends before, as you all apparently practice good hygiene. I can't imagine it will be a problem in the future. Although, for your own benefit, I should warn you that your stink is about as unwelcoming as your natural scent is pleasant."

Cerb picked up his mostly dry towel and wrapped it around himself as he moved closer to the fire.

"Alright, this might seem like a stupid question now. But, is it just, uh... feces that causes that problem, or is urine just as bad? And I'm not asking because that's a problem for us. I just want to understand how this all works for you."

"No, you're perfectly fine for asking. But as for urine, it is, of course, rather disgusting in and of itself. Certainly unpleasant to come across or have to clean up, but it doesn't carry nearly the same stigma as the other. Although, I might be a tad more sensitive to this than others."

Cerb seemed a little surprised still at how much pony culture kept on the importance of keeping themselves so clean. Although, given the lack of clothing, now it all made sense. It also made him understand why ponies didn't draw much attention to his naked body.

"I see. And, thank you for explaining that all to me."

He gave a respectful bow of his head to Rarity. It was supposed to be a nod, but the chill from the water and cool air was affecting his motor skills. However, it was unlikely she really minded.

"There was a lot about the whole lack of clothing thing that you helped me understand a little better now."

Rarity smiled bashfully, again managing to recover quite quickly from discussing such a...off-putting subject matter.

"Think nothing of it. And we probably should have been more clear about that from the start. But, it's not like you didn't have your own hesitation to discuss such topics about your own body."

"True," Cerb replied, thinking of the insecurities he had been fighting.

Cerb noticed something dark and out of place floating in overhead. To his amazement, it was a charcoal-grey cloud descending towards them, with a familiar flapping sound emanating from within.

"Sorry about flying off like that," Fluttershy's voice called out from the dark fluff of the sky. "But I had an idea on how to help your leg relax more before—"

"I'm gonna stop ya right there, fly horse," Cerb's firm voice shut down Fluttershy's apology.

"Now it's my time to be the one who's mad and has to lecture you. You just flew off and didn't even tell me what was going on. I was over there taking a shit when I heard Rarity yell, so I thought something bad happened, and I ran over without wiping my ass, which, as it turns out, is a huge social taboo and something you’re super sensitive to. Do you have any idea how fucking embarrassing that was for me?"

"I'm sorry, Justin," Fluttershy squeaked, knowing her best excuse would do nothing to justify her actions. "You're right. I shouldn't have—"

"Damn right, you shouldn't have," Cerb barked, maintaining his composure despite currently lecturing his ward, still perched in a cloud. "You may be responsible for my overall health, but I'm in charge of your physical health and safety. I can't do either of those if I don't know where you are or if you're up flying around in—" Cerb took a closer look at the cloud. "—the fuck even is this?"

"It's a rain cloud," Fluttershy shamefully answered. "I thought a hot shower would help your muscles relax and ease any swelling we might not have been able to reduce last night."

Cerb's eyes darted between different areas of the cloud, then Fluttershy, and then to Rarity before ending back on Fluttershy.

"You can do that?"

Rarity placed a hoof on the back of Cerb's hand.

"Justin, dear. Please don't be too upset with Fluttershy. While, yes, she was reckless, but it was for a good reason. As for making a hot shower for you, she'll need my help to heat the rainwater. Also, showering with a rain cloud is a trivial skill for a pegasus."

"Alright," Cerb raised his hands. "Okay. I stand by everything I said, but you can't just fly off like that without giving me a heads-up, at least. Agreed?"

Fluttershy nodded vigorously, "Yes. It won't happen again."

"Good." Cerb backed up and looked over the cloud. "So, how do we do this?"

Fluttershy jumped out of the cloud, shaking free some of the rainwater that had soaked through and left Rarity to heat it. At least now that the drama was over, she could explain what her plan was.

"Gathering rainwater is easy, so long as there are enough clouds to condense together. Rarity will use a spell to heat it up, nice and warm, then I let the rain fall, and we can shower."

Intrigued, Cerb watched Rarity concentrate on her magic as the cloud started to steam. From watching the difficulty Rarity was having and remembering what Helix had told him about the different classes of unicorn soldiers, he could see which category Rarity likely fell into.

The image of Rarity wielding her assortment of sharp and pointy tools in her moment of rage against Thunder Glide the other day stood out in his mind. It was clear her specialty was manipulating objects over offensive spells.

"That's probably the coolest fucking thing I could ever have while deployed. Thank you, and how long of a shower do we get?"

Fluttershy tried to gauge how much she had collected after taking care of herself in a different cloud… oh, that poor cloud.

"With a heavy downpour, about seven minutes from all I could gather, but I can make it last longer if I don't make it rain too hard. Also, did it hurt when you ran this morning?"

Cerb was too busy examining the heated rain cloud to give a proper response.

He stuck his hand into the dark puff of water vapor and found it to have a consistency much like that of warm pudding. Yet, the grey vapors still swirled and flowed like a mist.

"I stepped on a stick, if that counts."

Fluttershy had to stop herself short of a snort, that could have easily led into a full laugh.

"No, and sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, but that wasn't what I meant. From what I saw this morning and you moving around, you should be fine for the climb today. But while you’re relaxing in your shower, I'll get your clothes ready for you and prepare the signal. Twilight will be joining us for breakfast when we're done."

After getting everything in order and Cerb under the cloud, it didn't take more than a few taps of Fluttershy's hooves to get the warm rain shower started.

Once that was good to go and Cerb was enjoying the perks of a pegasus companion, she joined Rarity by Cerb's supplies, getting everything laid out and the rest of their supplies packed.

There, with Cerb busied with a hot shower and deafened by the rainfall, Rarity led on with a dire question.

"So... This dream of yours..."

"It was with Cerb," Fluttershy said quietly, her face showing signs of redness as she spoke, "We were both in the tent, just like we were this morning. He was completely uncovered, but his dick was big and hard like he said can happen, and then he pulled me on his lap."

"My word," Rarity hushed. "So, you think—"

"Yes, and it felt like something I remembered," Fluttershy continued to explain. "Not something I've done, but something... maybe I saw once? I don't know yet. I felt familiar with what I saw in the dream, but consciously I didn’t... There was this feeling like I knew something, but it's all fuzzy."

"Now that you mention it."

Rarity looked back to see Cerb still enjoying the hot shower, "Given his anatomy compared to our own, if you were to sit on his lap, it wouldn't be much different than what we—"

"Believe me, I know," Fluttershy gushed. "That's the only thing I could think about up there. And remembering how it felt during our wrestling match, I know I'm onto something. What I felt then, my dream, all these thoughts we've been having, they have to be related."

"Yo!" Cerb hollered from over by the cloud. "Shower's starting to dry up, I think! Send the signal! The sun's almost up!"

A knocking on Chris's door woke him from his much-needed sleep.

"Wha? Who's it?"

On the other side of the door, Sniff spoke in an unusually perky voice.

"Chris, wake yer ass up, bud."

Chris rolled over and covered his head with the blanket.

"What? I got up early and stayed up late last night... What time is it?"

"Six-thirty. Sun's up and everything, man," Sniff tried to encourage him before dropping his optimism and coming clean.

"I need to talk to you, man. Could really use your help... Fucking A, dude. You think I'd be waking your ass up this early for something stupid?"

The sounds of fumbling through blankets and taping of bare skin on the stone floors made their way to the door, where Chris opened it just enough to peek through.

"This better be good. What's up?"

Sniff looked down both sides of the hallway and made his first request.

"Can I come in so we can talk in private? Just a few minutes, and then I'll let you go back to sleep for the rest of the day or whatever. You're the only one I can trust to answer this for me."

Chris bobbled his head in annoyance but opened the door regardless and huffed a regretful sigh.

"Fine, what's so important that it couldn't wait? Obviously, no one's hurt, so I'm guessing this is something stupid."

Sniff responded in an honest tone of distress, "Alright, please don't make me regret coming to you for help."

Tired or not, Chris realized he shouldn't be coming off this harsh and tried to calm himself down.

"Okay, okay. Sorry... I'm tired, alright? What's going on?"

Sniff did his best to collect his thoughts while looking out the window.

"Something is starting really to bug me. I mean really, really fucking bug me. Why the fuck is it that not a goddamn one of these ponies have a fucking clue what sex is? They can’t all be playing innocent."

He turned away from the window and gave an angry look towards Chris. Memories of the night before still haunting him.

"I mean, it’s like they don’t have a single fucking clue. It doesn't seem possible, and we keep avoiding the topic out of respect, or some fucked up moral superiority complex we all gave ourselves. But, they can't not know what the hole between their legs are for."

"Uhh..." Chris gave Sniff a weary look, "Did you ask one of them for sex, or is this you just fucking with me?"

Sniff drew a breath and looked like he was about to explode on Chris but held up a finger to tell Chris to wait while he swallowed his anger.

"Chris..." Sniff broke from what he was going to say and huffed strong enough to show just how frustrated he was. "Okay, I probably deserve that. I've given you a lot of shit since we got here, and I know I've been a bit of a prick, so I'm sorry. But I'm not even going to hold that question against you because I’m a man-whore, and all of you know how fucked up I am with it. So, I can't blame any of you for even thinking that I'd be so desperate that..."

Chris hadn't expected to touch a nerve like it seems he did and replied to the empty air with an apology.

"Hey, dude. I'm sorry. You weren't the only one giving me shit about all the brony jokes and shit."

Sniff struggled again to collect his thoughts and leaned against the nightstand, trying to concentrate.

"Dude, look... I came to you with this question, because I know you've given it a lot of thought."

"Given what a lot of thought?" Chris asked, trying to avoid the question altogether.

Sniff rocked his head back and pushed himself off from the nightstand.

"Oh, come the fuck on. You haven't changed your taste in women since we were kids."

Even if it was an open secret, Chris wasn’t going to take that.

"Fuck you."

Sniff couldn’t believe Chris was trying to fight this.

"You think I forgot when we played Kings, and the topic was cartoon characters you would fuck? And your second round answer was Renamon? Your obsession with Lucario or half a dozen or more other Pokemon? Your fascination with big titty monster girls and all the fantasy hentai sluts—"

Sniff was getting too close to the truth. Hell, Sniff probably knew this would happen before Chris did. So, of course, Chris was ready to have this inquiry end.

"Get the fuck out."

Sniff snapped but held the screams he wanted to let out to be quieted down to more of a growl.

"You think I give a shit? I never gave a flying fuck what you were into... You don't know half the twisted shit I've been into to get my rocks off. But if you think I don't know you well enough that I haven't noticed how you act around these pony females, then your fucking blind. Maybe as blind as they all are."

Chris was staggering on forming a response, his face burning with embarrassment and anger while his mouth simply refused to work.

"That's... When we-Yer not—"

Sniff raised his hands and curled in his fingers like he was going to claw his face off.

"For the love of fuck, Chris. I. Don't. Fucking. Care. There is so much shit going on that no one could dump enough cash in my lap or throw enough pussy in my face to make me give a fuck if you got your dick wet here. And I know you've thought about it for as successful as you've been getten with'em... but I don't know enough about this place to know what to think if that's even wrong or right."

Chris was at odds with how to take Sniff's lecture but still couldn't trust him enough to open up about it.

"Think about what?" He asked, avoiding the other accusation. "What the fuck do you want to know?"

"Jesus, fuck." Sniff facepalmed. "Fuck’en everyone's blind in this goddamn paradise but me and you."

Dealing with this was difficult for Sniff. He shook his head before looking up with troubled eyes. There were too many questions he needed to be answered, but he first had to get Chris to be honest with him.

"And cut the innocent bullshit. I saw you walking whats'er horse home last night. Big ass heart on her butt with the baby bottle. Cream Heart?"

Chris almost turned completely pale, any previous anger snuffed out as his fears of being discovered flooded in.

"You? When?"

Sniff pulled back his hands, running them down the entire length of Oven Fresh's back. He stopped at her skirt's waistband and took a quick look at her peekaboo posterior.

"How short do you wanna go?"

"How short?" Oven Fresh jokingly asked but ended in the cutest giggle as she pulled up her skirt even higher.

"That's for you to decide."

"Okay there, little miss excitable," Sniff tried to play off being just as cute as he pulled her skirt down to where it was before.

"Part of everything being fair in love and war is standing idly by."

Oven Fresh watched Sniff back away from the bed, waving his fingers. She could tolerate a little more playing hard to get.

"Oh, don't be cruel, Peter."

"Then play nice," Sniff replied with a smirk. "And how does two o'clock sound for tomorrow? Just after lunch? Should be slow for you, I would imagine. And I'm sure Rarity will drop whatever she's doing if it means taking care of one of Cerb's besties."

Oven Fresh gave a quick thought about her schedule for the next day.

"Yeah, I can do that. Oh? It is so late, isn't it?"

Sniff gave a half-hearted shrug, "Egh, maybe a little. Not that I mind, though. Time well spent, if you ask me."

Oven Fresh chuckled at his continued acts of flattery.

"I would agree. Here, let me let you out. I just remembered that you're locked in... I don't get many visitors after hours."

Sniff followed Oven Fresh down the stairs, staring at her ass the whole way down. Then, while waiting for the door to be unlocked, Sniff faced a conundrum of how to end the night.

A hug? A kiss? If it was to be a kiss, how gentle should he be with such a display of affection? He'd have to think fast as the door started to open.

"Thank you again for the wonderful night," Oven Fresh said, not being able to hide her hesitation of letting their time together end so soon.

Sniff could see she was hesitating on letting him go. Clearly, she wanted him to stay, but he knew he had to leave to save himself. He could still stall long enough to think of how to best leave her satisfied but not lead her on at the same time.

"And thank you, for everything. And I'm sorry again about my mind being all..."

Oven Fresh happily scoffed, "I'm pseudo-dating an extra-dimensional non-pony. I kind of expected something to come up."

Sniff felt he had to be honest with his outlook and not build up her hope on something he was already having second thoughts over. He just couldn't crush her dreams or break her heart in the process.

"Ovens, you appreciated my honesty earlier this morning, and I don't want to break that trust of not letting you know where I stand with everything."

The fear took hold after that wording that she was about to be dumped at the door.

"Oh, no."

"No. Stop." Sniff gave the air a moment to clear between them.

"When I came here, I never would have thought of going as far with everything we did tonight. You're literally the only reason I'm even considering any of this. Not because of anything you are or you're not."

The fear Sniff saw so quickly rise up in Oven Fresh washed away, and that lovely smile came back. Even her enormous eyes shined with more warmth and admiration than any human could express, pulled him back in.

"Seeing you happy and light up as you do when you smile makes me feel like I'm back home and—" He took a moment to reflect on what made all of his confession true. "—it's like everything's normal again... but that also makes me worried for you."

Oven Fresh happily huffed through a smile.

"Why would you be worried if, from what I can tell, everything sounds good?"

"Because I'm the guy women see in between the loser she left and the next guy, while on the rebound, or for when they just want to have a good time, but not for a long time. That, and I've just had the worst history with seeing love ignored in my life. I... I'm not trying to sound dismissive or..."

He gave a heavy sigh from the emotional strain he was putting himself through with this. This couldn't be approached like those he was used to dating, seducing, and letting go on good terms. She was too innocent, too pure, and it made everything she was offering him all that more desirable. Every thought of what to say was an unintentional blend of keeping his distance and keeping her close.

"Gawd... Look. I don't tell just anyone this, but I have issues. Deep... horrible, issues with—"

"It's fine, Peter," Oven Fresh spoke up with a sad smile. "I think we both have a lot to consider with how far we take this and how long we'll be in for it. Don't get so hung up on commitment, and let's just enjoy each other's company for now. Can you be okay with that?"

Sniff shot her a smirk. Was he still being played?

"Do ponies look good in short skirts?"

Oven Fresh stared at Sniff for a moment before the joke hit, and she fell into a giggle fit.

"Yes. Yes, we do... See you tomorrow then?"

"I'll meet you here," Sniff answered.

Oven Fresh folded her ears back with a deep blush, looking down and away, "I can't wait to see what you pick out."

"Me too," Sniff replied, feeling a small sense of comfort.

Sniff reached down to raise her head, his hand under her chin and his thumb over her lips.

Oven Fresh's eyes widened, not knowing why he was grabbing her. Then, not so fast that she couldn't avoid it but too quick for her to comprehend what was happening, Sniff gently kissed her muzzle just above her lips.

To say she was swooned would ignore all the other flights of fancy she had felt since meeting him. And yet, in that moment, she had to wonder what was this creature that had captivated her?

His hands, his lips, his everything. She wanted more of all of him, and then, in an instant, he pulled away.

Sniff softly spoke to her as he pulled away, "Have a good night, Ovens."

She had no idea how much time had passed.

"You, good too. Good morrow, to—" She was making a fool of herself and couldn't stop. "—I mean. Good night. See... I'll see you tomorrow."

"Get some sleep, Ovens."

"You too, Peter."

Sniff waved and started his walk back to the castle. His mind flooded with shame and the guilty pleasure of the impact he had on her. Or was it the impact she had on him?

These thoughts were enough to make him wonder if this world was influencing his judgment as it had with Cerb and the others. But if that were the case, he didn't have any of the other drunken feelings they described in their unexplained moments with a loss of control.

The more he thought about it, the more he could look back and see how much of his old self had been tempted out of remission. He knew he was weak to temptation but never imagined he could be this bad. There was no point in denying it. Everything he felt for that mare was not the fault of some external force. Somehow, without even trying, he found a way to make that bread-baking mare what he wanted.

However... would her innocence and desire for affection make him her savior... or the same tempting monster that haunted him?

"Ha, ha!" Chris's laugh rang out from somewhere nearby.

The laughter pulled Sniff from his internal dilemma. He could tell his friend was close. The echoing off the small houses distorted the sounds enough that it was hard to pin down, but when another voice quickly responded to the humor Chris had found, that was all that was needed for Sniff to zero in on the source.

"What? I'm serious," An excited female voice spoke up. "If you have pictures of me, I want to see them. And Button would never let me hear the end of it if he couldn't see his mother as a cute cartoon pony."

Sniff knew that voice.

"Button’s mom?"

Chris's goofy laugh came in a little more clearly. He was on the other side of the house when Sniff was walking by.

As the conversation continued, Sniff stepped into a low-lit area where he could see between two houses, hopefully without being spotted.

Down another street, Chris was walking up to the door of one of the houses. He was escorting the same mare Sniff had to apologize to at the arcade a few days ago, and from the looks of things, they were enjoying each other's company quiet well.

Sniff whispered to himself with a goofy grin, "Chris? The fuck you doing?"

Cream Heart turned back to Chris in the open doorway, and Sniff could clearly hear her say, "Tonight went so much better than I could have hoped for. Are you sure I can't convince you to join me inside for a while longer? I don't have the house to myself very often."

Sniff couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No fucking way," he whispered again, his eyes trained on the scene like a sleezy tabloid reporter.

"I shouldn't," Chris bashfully answered. "And as much as I would love to continue where we left off at the lake. It's getting late, and I don't want you thinking—"

Cream Heart reared up, throwing herself on Chris, and pulled him in for another very open mouth kiss, which almost caused Sniff to yell out in shock. Chris, even more shocking to Sniff, pushed himself deeper into her embrace and wrapped his arms around the motherly mare.

"Mmm," Cream Heart moaned before ending the kiss and stared at Chris with a loving look of desire anyone could recognize for where Sniff was standing. "I won't keep you up too late, stud."

Then, without receiving any protest and walking backward into the house with Chris’s lips locked to hers, she pulled him inside and slammed the door shut.

This left Sniff struck stupid, his mouth open and his eyes staring blankly at the scene.

Sniff hadn't backed down from Chris.

"Last night, I watched you swap spit with Cream Heart and tongue punch each other tonsils before she pulled you back into her house. So, did you just happen to meet her at the arcade and spit some mad game before you went to the lake, or was this something you set up beforehand?"

"I..." Chris couldn't even speak. He was terrified at the thought of what was going to happen now that he had been found out.

Still not getting through, Sniff grunted.

"Will you calm the fuck down? Jesus, man. I'm not here to rip you a new one or rat you out. I almost did—" Sniff contemplated for a moment admitting his secret. "I don't know how far you went with her last night, but I almost found myself doing the same with Oven Fresh last night."

Instantly, that changed everything for Chris.

"Hold up. You?"

"Yes. Me. I almost did what I always do," Sniff huffed, less than enthused by this revelation. "The difference is, that while yes, I have a problem, this isn't me, even if this is exactly who I am. But you? This is all you. And fine. So what? We've known this for years about you. That's what you want, and it sure as fuck appeared to be what she wanted."

After laying it all out, Sniff made a confused gesture of giving up; that maybe Chris didn’t know him as well as he thought.

"I could give a fuck less if you did get laid or not. Maybe you even fall in love out here because that's the waifu you want. But that isn't like what happened with Cerb, Benny, or Lumberman. Did you have that weird drunk feeling come over you, where you lost control of yourself, or was this all you living out some fantasy?"

"We didn't have sex," Chris admitted, almost shamefully. "I couldn't. We just made out a lot... and I don't know why they don't know anything about sex. Or at least I don't think they do. And no, I didn't have anything like that happen to me. Because, yeah... I... really like the ponies here. I'm a freak like that."

Sniff took a deep breath and sat on the bed.

"Okay... So we're both just a bunch of perverts, but elaborate for me. Because I had to stop myself last night when I realized that she had no idea what I was doing."

Chris moved to take a seat next to Sniff, still a little uncomfortable about the whole situation.

"What were you doing?"

"We had a conversation about why they don't wear clothes or cover up their goods."

"Did she say why?"

Sniff rolled his eyes, remembering her answer.

"Yeah, they only cover up when they wear a uniform, a bathing suit, or a diaper if they're still being potty trained. Otherwise, naked is their norm, and it's not a problem for them unless they don't wipe their ass. Not even joking."

"That—" Chris thought about what he was about to say and canceled his initial response. "No, that doesn't really answer anything."

Sniff ran his fingers through his hair, still trying to get to the bottom of this.

"So, what do they know? Because maybe it wasn't mind control with Cerb and them if we're going farther than any of them have on our own fruition."

"I don't really know," Chris admitted with a sigh. "They hug like we shake hands. By the way, they love hands."

That was an understatement if Sniff ever heard one.

"Way ahead of you on that."

"Yeah," Chris said with a lot of emphasis. "And kisses just dials up their drive for affection even more. And it's so weird because it's like they know what a kiss is, but they have no idea how much they like it until they do it with you. But that makes no sense with Cream Heart since she already has a kid of her own. The only thing I can think of is that she's been by herself with Button Mash for so long she, probably forgot what it's like to have someone hold or kiss her."

Far be it for Sniff not to recognize a single mother struggling on her own. Certainly not after the many he had tended to over his years.

"That's... fucking sad."

"Yeah, I know. That's actually pretty much what she told me... I think. I was really distracted at the time." Chris said as he started to bring together another thought while Sniff fought off the urge to react to the last part of his statement. "But... I mean... If they all are characters from the show, I could see how they're not supposed to be all horned up and trying to get laid. That fits, because I swear, the whole time she was grinding on my lap, it was like she was discovering for the first time that doing that was supposed to feel good."

Sniff's face started to glow with his own reflection from his interaction.

"I'm pretty sure Oven Fresh has never been touched between her legs, not even by herself, and I was sooooo close to—" Sniff stopped short of going too deep into detail. "—it was the same thing for me. She had no idea... Do they not even masturbate?"

"Well, for them, it would be clopping," Chris corrected his uninformed friend.

There weren't a lot of terms the ponies used that Sniff couldn't figure out, given even the briefest of context. Even if it sounded like a parody of an English word, that was usually a dead giveaway. But this?

"Clop?"

"Yeah... Clop." Chris reiterated though he could see Sniff wasn't getting it. "Here. Think... What's the noise a hand makes when someone jerks off?"

"Fap?" Sniff cluelessly answered.

"Yeah, our hands make that a fap noise." Chris let that resonate for a moment. "Ponies don't have hands. They have hooves. And what noise do hooves make?"

"Clip-Clo-Ooooh." Sniff finally got it and then snorted out a laugh. "Goddamnit. That's so fucked up but makes sense... I think."

"Yeah," Chris sighed. "But I'm afraid of letting them try and do more or go too hard."

Sniff cocked an eyebrow, "More like what?"

"Like—" Chris rolled his eyes up into his skull. "—grinding on my dick til I blow a load in my pants. Which I almost did. Had to walk home with the worst case of blue balls ever."

Sniff hung his head and gave a deep sigh.

"Well... at least I know I'm not the only one who got hard from a pony."

This was a helpful discussion but also painful. Painful enough that Sniff upgraded from a sigh to a deep groan before he could lead into his next thought.

"It's just so fucked up that everything about them is human except their bodies... although their pussys aren't too far off."

Chris turned and gave an agreeable look to Sniff.

"Yeah, and I can finally tell someone this, but I've seen a lot of porn of them. Some artists go for hyperrealism, but the mares here are far more human than actual horses; it's weird... Not sitting in a magical hot tube drinking with their world leaders weird, but still. It's almost too human."

Sniff turned to Chris with a rather blank expression that told him all he needed.

"Not your thing?"

"Fuck you, Brony Senpai," Chris responded sarcastically.

"Dude," Sniff groaned again. "I don't know all the nitty-gritty clop-centric shit you're into. I'm just fucking asking."

"Sorry." Chris huffed and turned away. "Still getting used to not being the ass-end of every joke."

"Chris..." Sniff put his arm around his agitated friend. "I know I gave you a lot of shit over your waifus and anime shit, even if you did turn me on to a lot of it. But I wanted so badly to get you to stop focusing on shit that wasn't real and find someone who was. But now that we might be stuck here... maybe you can have both."

So, Chris had a friend in his corner finally.

"What about the others?"

"Fuck'em," Sniff said, pulling his arm back. "Even if I don't go through with anything, I'll have your back for this."

"Wait? I thought you said you... Are you not—"

"I don't want to," Sniff grumbled. "I don't think what I'm good at will sit well here. But I'm also worried that I can't hold out and not be able to push them away safely like I normally do. Because if they don't understand sex, they're not going to understand casual sex and orgies... God, fuck me... It's like I'm reliving my sophomore year of college all over again. I might need some serious help, man... I really can't stop myself."

Chris was now starting to feel bad for Sniff and was grasping at straws for any way to cheer him up or say anything for comfort.

"Maybe they can help you like they're helping Cerb?"

Sniff laid his head in his hands and sulked.

"I need Twilight to come back. She's so not into me like that. Even just asking her if she ever dates other ponies pisses her off. But she's also the only one who I can relate to without making it something sexual... And that says so many bad things about me."

"Hey, come on." Chris put his hand on Sniff's shoulder. "Don't be so negative. We'll figure something out."

"Yeah... Oh?" Sniff remembered one little thing that still needed to be addressed.

"Did you talk to the CMCs, Rarity, or Oven Fresh yesterday and tell them I have a thing for short skirts?"

For all the random, out-of-left-field questions Sniff came to Chris with, this one threw him off yet again.

"No. Why?"

"Maybe I did say something on accident," Sniff groaned. "But Oven Fresh showed up wearing the cutest short skirt with nothing underneath, and fuck me sideways if it wasn't my fucking kryptonite."

"Oh, fuck, man."

Sniff started to stand up, though with his shoulders sagging with the burdens he had brought onto himself.

"Yeah, I'm fucking hopeless... and sorta pissed now, remembering that joke you made back at the house about them putting on a skirt for me."

"I didn't know, dude."

"I know," Sniff stopped short of the door and turned back to Chris. "Get your sleep, man, and like I said. I ain't saying shit to no one, and I hope you won't say anything, either. But at least we can cover for each other if anything does come up."

Chris lightly nodded.

"Yeah, I got you, man, but, where you going? There's a lot more we can still talk about."

Sniff shook his head, looking utterly drained at this point.

"I need a mental break from all this and got a bunch of shit that I started over town that I need to attend to. Apology gifts for Twilight, negotiate a part-time job at the spa, which might be a terrible idea, come to think of it, but I can't keep pulling funds from our reserve back at the house. I need something to keep me busy until two this afternoon... By the way, do you know if Rarity keeps her sales private?"

"Uhh, probably?" Chris shrugged. " Or you could just ask, and I'm sure she'll do it. Why?"

Sniff hung his head as he reached for the door handle.

"Because Oven Fresh talked me into picking out a new skirt for her."

"Jesus, fucking Christ, Sniff. Are you trying too hard or not trying at all?"

Enough sunlight finally rolled into Applejack's room and started to wake her.

She drew a full breath and revealed in the warm sunlight matching the heat from Applejack. Then Lumberman's hand shifted from the sudden rise of her chest, making his fingers slide down over one of her udders.

A quick jolt of a sensation had Applejack freeze. She hadn't expected him to start a rubdown this early. His hands caused her to catch her breath.

"Woody? You starting yer thirty minutes early?" She hushed in a bashful voice.

Lumberman responded with his slow rhythmic breathing, still asleep.

"Hmm?"

Applejack turned her head and looked behind her to see Lumberman sleeping soundly.

"Oh. Guess not."

Making the most of it, Applejack moved to get herself more comfortable, nudging herself back against Lumberman and holding his hand against her.

She noticed how nice his palm felt against her... did his hands get smaller overnight, or did her tummy get puffier?

She craned her neck and pulled up his hand to see her utters slightly swollen. Nothing dramatic, but it was clear her normally smooth and toned abdomen had two mounds starting to plump up.

"What in the hay?" Applejack nearly silently said to herself.

The only thing that could distract her from the confusion of her body swelling was the feeling of Lumberman's hand cupping it under the control of her hoof. Maybe that nice feeling meant it would make the swelling go down? Or maybe she was practicing a little self-indulgence.

Then again, she had no idea what was wrong with her body. Best to play it safe and she moved his hand up over her chest.

The sudden movement was enough to wake Lumberman.

"Hmm? You up?"

"Yeah," she answered, sounding unenthusiastic as she stared out the window. "You fix'n tuh get up already?"

Lumberman pulled his hand free and started to tickle Applejack relentlessly.

"Why so grouchy, Apple Hat?" He teased.

Applejack, despite trying to fight off the amusing assault, was quickly reduced to a giggling, laughing mess.

"No! Stop it! We can-can, haha! We can get up!"

Suddenly, all the tickling stopped, and Lumberman tightened his grip around Applejack to prevent her from retaliating or escaping.

"Is that all?" Lumberman humorously asked. "Huh... Guess we're staying in bed then."

"Huh?" Applejack didn't expect Lumberman not to be ready to jump out of bed. "You still tired or something?"

Lumberman relaxed his hold while still keeping her close.

"Nah, we ain't got shit to do for a while. We can chill here for a bit."

Applejack nuzzled up in his arms, seemingly forgetting her prior concerns.

"Hey, I was wondering. If you have to stay here longer than a while, what ya gonna do with yerself?"

While Lumberman yawned and thought about what his plans were.

"I dunno. Probably get a job doing construction. I mean, I landed this job off the bat. And when they see what I can do, that should get my name out there."

That seemed like an honest living. Certainly, one Applejack could support.

"I'd have to ask Granny, but we got a spare room not being used. Yer more than welcome to stay."

"I might," Lumberman said softly as he began to massage up and down her neck. "Though I'm not sure how Granny would feel about you sneaking out at night for another rub down?"

Applejack huffed out a laugh at the visual.

"I blame you for that. But if you can keep this here house warm in the winter, she might turn a blind eye."

Lumberman softly ran his fingers up the small of her throat and pulled them down to her chest again, "You're a real trip, Apple Hat."

Applejack let Lumberman’s fingers work their magic and followed their movement.

"What 'cha want fer your meal today? I'll make it extra special for ya. Make ole Sniffy extra jealous."

"Oh?" Lumberman continued with his ministrations. "You pick the dish, and I'll eat."

As much as Applejack wanted to stay in bed like this, she also didn't want to waste her rub down so early. They always seemed best when nighttime came around.

"This don't count towards my thirty minutes, does it?"

"Nah. This is because you were so grouchy."

Kelly started to wake and reached for Luna. Yet, her reach only found more bedsheets.

"Luna?"

Her bed was empty. Her whole room was empty.

"Fuck me… I hope Mac doesn't mind me feeling up his ex... God, I hope he... Jesus, fuck... Would I? Goddamnit."

She swung her legs out of bed and questioned where her day would take her. And, for that matter, where her life was headed.

"I either need a lot of dick or a lot of help... God, I'm fucked up."

Kelly spent the next hour or so lazily getting ready for the day of no plans. At least she had some clean clothes to change into.

Once dressed and ready to go, she went across the hall to knock on Becky's door, who opened it up with an unexpected smile.

"Morning, didn't expect to see you up so early."

Kelly looked cluelessly around the hallway, "Yeah, well, I'm up. So, what’re we gonna do for the day?"

Becky leaned against the door frame, "I’ve got no plans to speak of, so I figured I'd head over to the hospital and see if they needed anything from me. Should probably take a look at you, too. Maybe finally pull out those stitches."

Kelly frowned at the reference to her injury but chose not to go further.

"How long of a walk is that?"

Becky tried to remember the trip she took the last time.

"Uh... Just long enough for me to need a break when I get there. Let's ask if Sniff can give us a ride."

Kelly grinned, "Balling? What about breakfast? I'm dying for a McMuffin, of all things."

Becky grabbed her purse and closed the door behind her.

"I dunno. I'm sure we can find something out in town. Oh, probably should grab Sniff and Chris to come along with us. We can get Lumberman the next time around."

A short walk down the hall and a turn of the corner had them in position just in time to see Sniff about to head down the stairs.

"Sniff!" Kelly shouted to get his attention. "You're not leaving, are you?"

Sniff stopped on the first step and turned to the voice.

"Oh, hey. What? Yeah, I'm about to. What's up?"

Becky stepped up, ready to beg for his help.

"I'm going to head down to the hospital to get Kelly looked at for her follow-up and see if they needed me for anything."

"Uh, tell ya what." Sniff reached in his pocket. "I already got some shit to take care of this morning, but go ahead and take my car if you need to. Or ask Chris for Benny's car keys. I just spoke to him, and he might still be up."

He handed Becky the keys and started down the stairs. With Becky still on the downturn and Kelly with a limp, those two needed the wheels more than he did as far as he was concerned.

"If you don't need mine, just leave’em on my bed. And take Starlight or Spike with you, so you're not going out alone."

Becky pocketed the keys and leaned over the rail to catch Sniff before he left.

"Where are you going?"

"Kinda all over the place," Sniff shouted up. "We should meet up for dinner tonight. Let's shoot for seven."

Twilight blew over a bowl of still steaming grits before looking up to Cerb.

"So, I'm guessing this never really happens in a real-world mission?"

"Not even close," Cerb chuckled. "Even if the CO can do whatever they want and go wherever they want, they keep themselves at camp for the most part. The role of a commanding officer or officer in charge is to command over the troops, not go out and do their job for them. And as far as reports go, that's what your division and platoon commanders are for. They brief you on what you need to know and what you want to know. You shouldn't have to go hunting for information."

"I'm just not used to sitting back and letting others do all the work for me," Twilight said with a reserved smile as she continued to try and cool her food. "But how are things going for you? There's nothing wrong with your leg, I hope."

Fluttershy spoke up behind a cup of tea, "No, Cerb's leg is fine. One of his tendons was tighter than it needed to be. So we worked on it last night and relaxed it under some warm water this morning. He doesn't seem to have any trouble at all now."

Seeing how things were going so well, minus some personal concerns, Rarity gave a pleasant sigh.

"The only problem we seem to have is Cerb not knowing how to take proper rest. That and his hesitation in allowing us to pamper him."

"Physical therapy," Cerb protested with a good sense of humor. "Not the same thing."

Twilight giggled at their playful banter and looked back to the pot left on the fire.

"Well, I'm glad to hear there's nothing serious to be worried about. But, are you sure you're going to want to eat those?"

Cerb did a quick glance over at the dozen eggs boiling in the pot.

"They may not taste the best to you, but six of those will give me a lot of the protein and carbs I'm gonna need for today's hike. Having another six for lunch will keep me going strong in case anything pops up."

"I really hope nothing does," Rarity harrumphed with her usual ladylike grace. "Reports from a few Pegasi that would fly over the area started rumors of chupacabra tracks. Fluttershy and Twilight had a run-in with one in the forest of Leota. Nasty creatures, they are."

"Yes," Twilight agreed with a concerned tone. "Long story short, Fluttershy and I fell into an oubliette. When I teleported us out, I didn't know there was a chupacabra nearby, and it mistook us for a meal."

Cerb set down his bowl of grits and gave Twilight a confused look.

"Wait, did you both fall in by accident, or was someone dumb enough to think you two couldn't fly or teleport out?"

Fluttershy choked on her tea and coughed it out.

"You know what an oubliette is?"

Cerb shrugged, "Yeah, it's a big pit prisoners get thrown into. More of a way to torture them than anything else, really."

"That's correct," Twilight said with a smile. "And no, we didn't see it and fell in."

Fluttershy sighed, recalling the rather unpleasant memory.

"Yes, it was just an accident. But chupacabras can be very aggressive when they're hungry. Normally they feed on goats, but after what happened that time it came after us, I didn't think it would be safe traveling with too many of us all at once. But if it's just the two of us, I don't think they'll hear us. And even if they do, I don't think they'd want to try fighting off a bigger predator to get to me. So just having Cerb there will be enough to keep me safe."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow and brought all her attention on Fluttershy, missing the sudden signs of tension Cerb silently sat with.

"Why would they think Cerb is a predator? I know he's big, and all, but so are—"

Suddenly, the eggs Benny recommended for their breakfast made perfect sense to Twilight in the worst way she could have imagined.

"Humans are a predatory species!"

Cerb set his bowl down so fast he almost threw it as Twilight practically exploded from her seat.

"Hold on a sec."

Before any other action could happen, a blue aura wrapped around Twilight's muzzle, and Rarity pushed Twilight back down in her seat.

"Twilight," Rarity grunted loudly. "Calm down, would you, please. Our Justin is not some meat-craved predator hunting down ponies, and neither are any of the others."

Fluttershy started to move her tea down to her dish, realizing the slip of the tongue she just made.

"Technically, they're omnivores. They can eat just about anything if they really wanted to, but don't have to."

Cerb sighed and pulled the pot off the fire, "Fluttershy had me pegged from the get-go that we are meat-eaters. However, we're not doing that here. Morally, I don't think we could. Plus—" Cerb noticed that Twilight was listening, but her mouth was still bound shut in the blue aura. "—Hey, Rarity. Could you let her go?"

"Fine." Rarity raised her nose and huffed at the bound alicorn. "But, she better be more polite about your dietary needs."

Cerb waited for the aura to be released and then continued with Twilight, thankfully choosing not to interrupt.

"As I was saying. We can work around our diet needs while we're here. We can mix different plants and nuts for some of the proteins we need. But we can also get nearly all we need from eggs and anything dairy related. We don't need to kill to eat anyone while we're here. And I promise we won't."

"Well then, if it's not going to be a problem—" Twilight turned with an angry scowl to Fluttershy and Rarity. "—why did nopony bother to tell me."

Rarity turned her nose up again, looking horrifically pompous.

"Because, dear. Despite us all being of the most caring, kind, and accepting creatures of all the kingdoms—" She turned her eyes to Twilight with a sneer that was just as nasty. "—even some pony as understanding as the Princess of Friendship would assume the worst and react so poorly that she would need to be restrained before she could be reasoned with."

Twilight held her glare at Rarity, wanting to counter with something hard-hitting and spiteful, but she couldn't formulate an argument.

Rarity was right, as much as it hurt for her to admit.

"Son of a bitch, Cerb, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made such a snap judgment like that."

"It's fine," Cerb sighed. "Could have been worse, but if there's anything you need me to do to prove that—"

"No, that won't be necessary," Twilight quickly cut him off. "You've proven yourself to be more than trustworthy. And if Fluttershy and Rarity can vouch for you, that's all I need."

She gave a deep sigh. Rembering how much her emotions had been getting the best of her recently.

"I've been making too many mistakes by overreacting as of late. I think the stress is getting to me."

"It's fine," Cerb said, trying to console her. "It's not unreasonable to have a reaction like that to someone like me."

"Not just you," Twilight sighed. "I did the same thing to Sniff the morning before you left. All because I assumed the worst when he asked me about something as innocent as dating."

"Did he ask you out on a date?" Cerb asked, more worried than curious.

Twilight hung her head, looking completely defeated.

"No. He asked me if I go out on dates for fun. That was it. But I took it as him implying that I couldn't get a date if I tried, or that maybe he was suggesting that I date Chris since he thinks ponies are attractive, or... I don't even know."

"Ah," Cerb replied knowingly. "Sniff is like that. He's super social and dates a lot. He talks to everyone about relationships and dating. It's kind of his thing. Knowing him, he's probably trying to see how dating works in your culture or if he could help."

Rarity finished taking another sip of her tea.

"Talking about dating as a casual conversation? Seems more like the kind of thing a group of mares would do."

Cerb started to pour out the water for the boiled eggs into the fire pit.

"Yeah, well, that's him. He's big on helping others build up their relationships and making them do better for themselves, which is sad because he's not the type to settle down."

"Why is that?" Fluttershy asked.

Cerb started to peel the shell of one of the eggs, "It's not really my place to say, and I won't go into detail about it. However, the long and short of it is, he had terrible parents. They kind of ruined the image of what a healthy relationship should look like. I think he dates others to show them what a good relationship is supposed to be like so they can find someone better and not make the same mistakes his parents did."

Rarity finished her tea and set her cup down, looking slightly saddened by the revelation.

"Well, that seems like a nice thing to do, but what about him?"

Cerb shook his head, "He's happy with what he does. I don't think he has it in him to fall in love after all he's been through. Too afraid of living what his parents went through."

"You just eat them plain like that?" Pinkie asked with a touch of disgust in her voice.

"They're better with a little salt," Benny answered before popping the rest of the hard-boiled in his mouth. "Spike's eggs were a lot better."

"Well, yeah," Pinkie huffed. "They had all good gooey stuff, and you could barely taste the egg by itself."

Benny stood up and wiped the crumbs from his shirt.

"Well, we can't all be so lucky as to have a dozen donuts for breakfast without gaining another twenty pounds."

Pinkie gasped, immediately getting in the human’s face, "Are you calling me fat?!"

Benny chuckled, already having more fun with this interaction than he should.

"No, I'm saying I don't know how you're not fat. You're perfectly puffy as you are."

"Awe, Benny." Pinkie batted her eyelashes. "You think I'm... Does that mean fat?!"

Benny played ignorantly and started to peel the shell off of another egg while the pink pony was poking herself to see if she was indeed overweight.

"Pinkie, the only one here who has associated your name with being fat, is you. Why are you trying to convince me you're fat when you're not?"

Pinkie stood up, donut crumbs falling off her chin and belly in massive clumps as she pointed an accusatory hoof at Benny.

"No! You said! I mean, I only... But... Wait? Did I say I was fat, and I'm mad because you said I wasn't? No! The donuts! You said I ate a dozen. I only ate eleven."

Benny grinned and took another bite into his fourth egg, "You gonna eat that last one?"

"Well, duh!" Pinkie scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This was too easy for Benny.

"How many is that? Thirteen?"

"No." Pinkie sat down again and dropped her hoof on the donut box, making the last donut flip up, where she caught it in her mouth and continued talking as she chewed. "This only makes twelve."

"Oh good," Benny acted like he was relieved. "Only twelve. I would have been worried if you had a whole dozen instead."

Pinkie continued munching her last donut, somehow letting the joke fly right over her head.

"I know, right? If I ate a whole dozen, I could end up getting fffff—" She spat out the rest of her donut and felt all her frustrations double. "Benny!"

Benny couldn't help but laugh at her overreaction.

"Hey, look at that. You stopped just shy of a whole dozen. Now you're gonna keep that perfectly puffy figure you have."

He reached over and pinched her cheek, "Just the way I like it."

Pinkie growled and tried to bite at Benny's hand as he pulled it away, snapping her teeth within an inch of his digits.

"You better not be calling me fat."

"I'm not, I swear," Benny said as he slung his shotgun over his shoulder. "Now come on. Let's do our morning rove through our part of the castle. Work off some of that winter weight."

"Winter weight!" Pinkie yelped before racing up on all fours to Benny's side. "Now, I know you're calling me fat!"

"Puffy."

"Fat!"

"Puffy."

"Fat!"

"Puffy!"

"Faaaaat!"

"Fine," Benny surrendered. "If you say you're fat and are gonna get all angry about it over me not saying it, then I give. You're fat. Are you happy now?"

"That's right!" Pinkie barked, jabbing her hoof into Benny's leg. "This pony works too hard and is way too active not to be recognized as anything other than fat. And if any pony says I'm not, then I'm-Benny you jerk!"

Benny didn't even break stride when Pinkie realized he just Buggs Bunny'ed the hell out of her.

"Benny You Jerk?” He repeated her overreaction like it were a question. “I thought you were Pinkie Pie? Did you change your name when you decided you were fat?"

Pinkie stomped her hooves alongside Benny.

"I'm not fat, Benny!"

Again, Benny played up his ignorance.

"I never said you were Fat Benny. I said you were Pinkie Pie. You said you were Benny You Jerk. I'm so confused. Why do you keep changing your name?"

"Benny!"

"What?!"

"I'm not fat!"

This was embarrassingly too easy for Benny.

"Then why did you say you were?!"

Pinkie was so lost. How did Benny keep doing this to her?

"I don't know!"

Benny reached down and ruffled his hand through Pinkie's mane.

"You're my favorite pony, Pinkie. Don't ever change."

Pinkie huffed and steered her eyes away.

"You sure do have a funny way of showing it."

"So, you do think it was funny?" Benny asked with a grin.

"Calling me fat?" Pinkie sneered.

Benny was still having too much fun with this, but the joke had run its course, and anything more might seriously piss her off.

"Pinkie, I never once said you were fat. You're not fat. I said you were puffy because you're covered in fur. You just thought I was implying you were, and I ran with it."

Pinkie looked up to Benny, finally accepting that she might have jumped the gun on this one.

"So you don't think I'm fat?"

"Hell no." Benny gently poked her side. "A little soft, maybe. But that's what makes you so cute."

Was that all he was going to say to apologize? Would that really be enough sweet-talk to win Pinkie over again?

... Yes.

"You’re kinda cute, BenBen." She looked up at his face, with all of her perky carefree nature back in place.

"Even cuter now that your fur is finally growing out."

Benny continued on his roving patrol, trying to figure out what she meant.

"What do you mean growing my fur out? Humans don't grow fur."

Pinkie bounded ahead, looked over her shoulder, and cheerfully answered, "On your face, silly BenBen."

Benny took a moment to feel the scruff over his face.

"That's not fur. It's my beard. Facial hair isn't fur."

"Still looks cute on you," Pinkie said, possibly flirting. Kind of impossible to tell with her. "Kinda makes you look more like a pony. Or a minotaur. Not that you can't be cute as a human."

"Bah," Benny played down the compliment. "I'll be ugly once I shave again."

"You were never ugly, BenBen."

"And you were never fat, Pinkie."

"Yeah."

Pinkie took a look down both directions of the next hallway.

"All clear, BenBen. Oou, are you gonna train me more today?"

"Maybe," Benny answered misleadingly. "You're not gonna use what I teach you to mess with Cerb or Fluttershy, are you?"

"No. I, Pinkie Pie swear not to use what you teach me against Cerb or Fluttershy," Pinkie swore proudly. "Plus, Fluttershy is super scary."

Benny joined Pinkie at the corner and proceeded with his patrol.

"Good, I need somepony to help keep my spirits up, and I think bonding over this can help me not get so stuck down in the dumps all the time. Plus, having you more focused could do you a lot of good."

Dreams... what would we ever do without them? What would Fluttershy do without them?

Also, I'm hoping no one thinks Sniff is some one-note character. Lot's of story [development] is in store for him.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, 56. Predators

Also, I was going to have another piece of art for this, but it didn't get done and wouldn't have added much. Oh, well.