"I need you," Cerb's voice echoed in Fluttershy's mind.

Fluttershy searched her living room for him.

"Where are you? Justin? Where did you go?"

She mindlessly ventured upstairs searching for him. Opening the door, she saw him lying in her bed with Rarity.

He was resting on his side with his elbow on the pillow and his head held up by his left hand. Rarity was relaxing in much the same manner, with a foreleg draped over Cerb’s stomach, the only thing separating them being the bedsheet.

Rarity smiled, seemingly waiting for the last member of their trio to join them.

"Darling? What are you doing? Get your flanks in here. Justin needs you."

Fluttershy was confused. Why were they both in her bed? Was it night or day? She couldn't see the windows. All she could take in was the bed. The rest was there, but not there. Like a blurred memory, or something so unimportant that she couldn't be bothered to see them.

"Fluttershy," Cerb called out to her as he pulled back the bedsheet and uncovered his nude body. "I need you."

Again mindlessly, she pushed forward, drawing closer to him, her eyes fixated solely on his crotch. With each step, her excitement grew she wanted to touch it. Feel it. And...something else. Something else that burned inside and made her want to do all the terrible things she’d fantasized about for so long.

Thoughts in a stream of consciousness ran through her mind of what she wanted to do with him. She wanted to hold him down and kiss him. She wanted him to touch her, and the thought made her feel lightheaded, her legs growing taut. Her whole body felt hot and tingly at the idea of straddling him on the bed and sliding back and forth against his member.

She really needed to be on top of him.

Why was this walk taking so long?

She looked again, and found she wasn’t in her room, but the forest. Deep amongst the trees, where her animal friends would often meet her for help. In fact, there was a deer couple she was familiar with waiting for her.

She walked up to them, still with no control over her body, and politely greeted them from a distance.

“Why, hello there.“ She remembered this day, which gave her pause. “Do you need my help?”

Something was missing or...someone.

Where was Cerb? Did he leave with Rarity? Were they ever there with her to begin with? Why wasn’t she looking for them?

Never the matter, the doe, and her buck ignored her. Just like she remembered…

Was this a waking dream or a memory? Wasn’t she still at her home?

“Uh, hello?” She called out to them again, but they still couldn’t hear her.

No… she was remembering this wrong. She never greeted them that day, she wasn’t supposed to. The only reason she was out there that day was to check up on them after their argument about starting a family. They loved each other, they needed her help to remember that. But that was days before finding them here in the forest again.

Why didn’t she remember them this day? This moment particularly?

“Cerb?”

She stopped near a tall bush, again, just like in her lost memory.

“Rarity? Where did—“ She stopped again, stuck somewhere between a memory, a dream, and her desires, but she was fixated on the deer now—

“Mr. Buck. Mrs. Doe. Have you decided to start a family?”

The two still ignored her. Again, why was this memory playing out in front of her? Why was Mr. Buck moving around behind Mrs. Doe? Why was this memory so important if she couldn’t remember it correctly? What was it that the doe whispered to her buck?

“Rut me.”

Before she could put anymore thought to the situation, she watched the buck mount the doe, gripping her tight with his forelegs and thrusting his hip towards her. No… not just his hips. His penis was unsheathed and she watched him—

“Fluttershy,” Cerb’s voice called out from behind as he gripped his hands around her hips.

“I need you.”

“Justin?” She questioned aloud in shock.

Her mind was getting fuzzy as she looked behind her to see her tail lifting for him and her thoughts seemed detached from what she was experiencing.

“This isn’t right. I only just met Cerb, but this happened years ago. What am I… we doing?”

Without understanding why, she watched his long, stiff, exposed member closing into the troubling gap between her legs.

“Let’s make a family, Justin… rut me,” she lovingly requested in a tone that dripped with desperation.

She looked forward and spread her hind legs wider, watching the deer continue to rut.

As the buck thrust into the doe, so did Cerb into her.

The feeling was a Wonder Rush all by itself, but how long did it last? Was it seconds or minutes? She couldn’t tell while the Wonder Rush washed over her body as she watched the buck hold himself tightly against his doe. Then, before she could start to process what she was remembering, her vision started to fade; a strange array of white and prismatic colors began to fill her vision as voiceless words forced everything away.

“My friends are happy. They were happy to see me and will start a family because of what I did. I’m happy for them.”

Unlike before, after hearing those voiceless words, the memory was still there. Now, she remembered not only what she had forgotten; she now could recall what she had seen and the voiceless words. She now remembered the word her mind had long buried...rut?”

Cerb thrust again.

“Fluttershy?”

She was drunk with lust and moaned his name.

“Justin.”

Cerb continued to push deeper inside.

“Fluttershy, you're going to wake him." Who's voice was that?

Fluttershy's mind was gone, and her body acted upon some animal instinct, forcing herself against his assault of her inner depths.

"So close."

"Fluttershy?" This voice was Rarity's. "Stop before you wake him."

The peak hit, and a Wonder Rush washed over Fluttershy just in time for her eyes to open to see Rarity’s back hoof pressing against her mouth.

“Muredy?” she mumbled, her voice muffled behind her covered lips.

“Shh,” Rarity hushed her. “For crying out loud. What in Tartarus are you doing?”

As soon as Rarity removed her hoof, Fluttershy could see that she was straddling Cerb’s hips and had hit her Wonder Rush by grinding against his morning wood.

Rarity was still pinned under Cerb’s back, but had just enough room to reach her friend in time and whispered as she tried to keep Cerb comfortably asleep.

“Please tell me that this isn’t what you’ve been doing every night, because I will be very angry that I wasn’t involved.”

“No,” Fluttershy whispered, partially in shock and partially still basking in the afterglow of her climax. “I remembered.”

That was no explanation Rarity could understand.

“You remembered what?”

Fluttershy stood up and returned the covers over Cerb.

“What we thought we didn’t know but should have.”

Rarity was growing impatient and wouldn’t be able to keep her voice down for much longer.

“Stop dancing around the answer and tell me already.”

Fluttershy turned and started to unzip the front of the tent slowly so as not to wake Cerb.

“How to make a family,“ she quietly answered as she turned back to Rarity with the front flap open, motioning for her to follow.

“Procreation, I remembered something. I watched it happen.”

Rarity looked as if she saw a ghost.

“You—“ Her desire to understand took hold, and she was wide awake. “Wait just a—”

Channeling all the strength into her horn she could, Rarity wrapped Cerb in her aura and attempted to lift him. There was a lot of resistance, but not as much as she would have expected for a creature that was supposed to be magic-proof.

She only raised him an inch or two so she could slide out, and laid him back down as gently as she could. With a graceful readjustment, he stirred only once but fell back to sleep just as soundly as he had been while between them.

The duo moved silently over the dew-covered grass just as the sunset was peaking over the horizon. With little time and even less patience, they trotted over to a spot far enough away that was designated as an outdoor bathroom. It seemed like the safest place to exchange this new information.

After the coast was clear, Rarity was equal parts frightened over what she had witnessed in the tent and excited to hear the news.

“For the love of Celestia, please don’t keep me waiting. What— I mean, how? How is it done? How did you remember? What did you remember?”

Fluttershy was just as excited over the prospect of remembering but now equally as frightened over the question of how she had forgotten it to begin with.

“In my dream… I was dreaming about Justin. You were there to,o actually. We were at my house, and you were both in my bed. Justin said he needed me and pulled back the sheets, and… well, just like right now, he was naked.”

Rarity nodded excitedly, “Yes, he does that now.”

Fluttershy’s breathing deepened as she continued.

“I know, but he called me into bed, and I started to walk over, but then I was in the forest, walking towards some deer friends of mine. And, I don’t know why, but it was only because of the dream that I remember that day, or at least this part of it. From what I can recall that day, they told me they wanted to start a family, but had an argument about it, so I went to check up on them. Before today, I remember that…“

She shook her head, almost like she was still trying to sort it all out herself. Some of the haze of white and prismatic colors still drifting over the memory, or was that how she remembered it?

“What I remembered was that I helped them, though not what I did or said, or how I helped. It’s like I could only recall what the outcome was, nothing about what really happened. But in my dream, I was back there and didn’t know what was happening. It was like my dream, and my memory were overlapping each other. But then I saw what really happened, what I’d forgotten.”

Rarity was barely holding onto the details and waiting for the explanation. The anticipation for discovering this great mystery only a few words away.

“Well? What happened?”

Fluttershy flushed with embarrassment at what she had seen and felt in the dream. It was obscene and seemed utterly reprehensible, yet...she wanted it.

Despite every fiber of her being told her it was wrong, she felt some other kind of excitement, no, a desire or growing anticipation. So, though saying it out loud made her look squeamish, even with her smile, she answered.

“Mr. Buck… his penis grew out of his sheath, and he pu… pu-p-p-put it in Mrs. Doe’s vagina.”

Rarity’s excited expression dropped to one of confusion and disgust.

“That’s—”

“And then Justin did it to me,” Fluttershy blurted out, interrupting Rarity’s objection. “I guess it was just in my dream. But what I saw, what I felt, it was so much like my dream yesterday morning. Only this time, it was like I knew what I was doing, and… Rarity,“

She looked to her friend with desperate eyes that begged for understanding. What she was saying sounded insane, but it was all the truth.

“It felt so right, like seeing a piece of fruit you’ve never seen before, but knowing you could eat it. Like some kind of instinct.”

This wasn’t making any sense, and Fluttershy knew it. Even more so, she knew Rarity would need more convincing.

“I know what I saw, and I don’t understand what made me forget, but think about it: starting a family is… well, what could be more intimate and loving, or a sign of how two ponies feel about each other, than making a baby together? And if the penis has to be out to make it happen, humans aren’t built like ponies. What if they cover themselves because they only want to show that part of themselves with those they… Oh, my gosh. The medical examination. Justin was so hesitant at first, but must have been scared that if it was injured, he wouldn’t be able to rut.”

Rarity cringed at the word.

“Rut? What is that? Is that when he would… put it in?”

Fluttershy looked puzzled, not completely sure herself.

“I… guess? It must be. It’s what I told Justin to do to me when he was about to push his penis inside of me.”

Rarity wanted to squirm at the thought of it, but her mind envisioned it being done to her instead. Her legs went stiff, and a jolt of excitement traveled down her tail… and a little farther still.

“Oof… that sounds so… why do I want a Wonder Rush thinking about it instead of wanting to vomit? And why does that word sound like… It sounds like something I should have known.”

Fluttershy laid the tips of her wing on the side of her friend's face and moved it back to look her in the eyes.

“Rarity… what do we do to make a Wonder Rush happen?“ She left the question open, but it needed no answer. “What’s been the most powerful thought we’ve had about Justin when we do it?“

She let her second rhetorical question go unanswered. By this point, she all but needed to only spell it all out.

“It’s been there all along with us. We just… I don’t know what was that light I saw or who was putting those words in my head to make me forget, or if that was just part of the dream? But our bodies both wanted the same thing. And I remember what they did and could see how it made them feel. It’s the way that I feel when I do it and the same look you have when I help you.”

There was a moment Rarity turned away and started to wonder again if she truly had gone mad, but then looked back at Fluttershy asking, “What did it feel like?”

Fluttershy blushed and turned her gaze to the side.

“A Wonder Rush alone is nice, but they're better when we’re with each other… But if what I felt was actually me on top of Justin when I had my Wonder Rush in my dream.“

She quivered and felt her tail snap against her as her ears folded back.

“I wish I could show you how amazing it is. I couldn’t describe it to you any more than I could how it feels to have the wing blowing through my wings while flying through the clouds.”

Despite a part of her wanting to argue against the frankly absurd things being told, after everything else she’d seen recently, Rarity couldn’t find it in herself to argue. Fluttershy had proven herself correct too many times not to be trusted at this point.

“I still don’t fully understand why all this is happening or how it’s going to end, but I believe you. I have no reason to doubt you any longer.“

She reached out her hoof and brought Fluttershy in for a tight hug.

“We’re in this together, and we’ll see it through to the end.“

A quick thought of the carnal act ran through her mind and it reminded her of another curious observation she made.

“Oh, my gosh. Sniff.”

Fluttershy was pulled out of the moment by Sniff’s name being brought up.

“Sniff? What? Did he say something about this?”

Rarity was sure she cemented this theory down if Sniff’s behavior was anything to go off of.

“Sniff, he’s…. In a sense, dating Oven Fresh, I think. Well, you see, he asked me not to gossip about it, but he requested a custom-fit wardrobe for her. It started with a short skirt, which he gradually requested be shortened, only to spend the entire time staring under Oven’s tail. It was like he was fantasizing about…”

She had to stop herself from thinking too much about what those two might end up doing. Which was quickly becoming what she was hoping Cerb would do with her.

“If they really are a couple, then maybe he was looking at her like we look at Justin. And—“ She slapped her hoof on her head, punishing herself for her stupidity. “Think of all the questions Justin asked us about not being covered up. About perverts staring at a mare’s lady parts. If humans desire a Wonder Rush like we do, and I imagine Sniff does… Huh… Sniff must be a pervert.“

She shook that thought from her mind, wanting to stay on topic and away from fantasizing.

“A pervert that might make me rich, but whatever. They must get excited like we did the first time. Well, even just the first time thinking about it.”

This new realization left Fluttershy both excited and relieved.

“We’re one step closer to better understanding Justin. It will be no time at all before he’s with one of us and… I want him to rut me so bad.”

“Ah-uh-ah,” Rarity playfully touted before booping Fluttershy on the nose. “We have to win his heart first… And besides—“

She trotted past Fluttershy with her head and tail raised high before stopping with a play-flirt expression; she glanced over her shoulder.

“You keep waking up on top of him, and even had a Wonder Rush because of it. Give your wingmare a chance to sneak one, hmm?”

They both giggled and trotted their way back to the tent and peeked inside. Cerb was still asleep but looked to be searching for one of them every few seconds, with his hand grasping at nothing in the spots they’d occupied only minutes ago.

“Awe, the poor thing,” Fluttershy whispered adoringly. “Let’s let him sleep a while longer.”

They both stepped in, and Rarity gripped the covers with her magic to pull them back to join him. However, curiosity got the best of her, and she pulled back the covers just enough to take a glance at what Fluttershy discovered to be so useful in her sleep.

Fluttershy was paying Rarity’s action no mind at first. However, after she was settled in again and she found Cerb’s arms around her, she wondered why the covers were still up and why Rarity was still standing.

She looked up to see Rarity staring blankly down below Cerb’s waist.

It took a few slow double-takes before Fluttershy realized what should have been obvious.

“What are you doing?” She spoke so low it was barely audible, yet her exasperation was evident.

Rarity turned briefly before returning her eyes to take in the sight that was Cerb’s morning wood.

“You got to feel it. The least I can do is look at it.”

“I did not,” Fluttershy hushed in an angry whisper. “I was asleep and still wearing my pajamas.”

Rarity’s ears snapped back, and her knees buckled as her tail swiped across her nethers. Given her earlier excitement and then seeing what was to be her new desire, this moment of contact sent a jolt of electricity straight down her spine. It took all of her composure not to make a sound.

She bit her lip and let the covers fall as she awkwardly bounced in place.

There was no mistaking what Rarity was going through, and Fluttershy knew what she had planned wasn’t something Cerb was going to sleep through.

“Are you serious?” She whispered harshly, “You’re too loud when you Wonder Rush. You’ll wake him up.”

Rarity furrowed her brow and whispered back just as harshly, “You rode his lap like Kelly on Big Mac in a full gallop.”

Fluttershy glared back defensively, despite the obvious red in her face.

“I did not.”

The sudden rise in Fluttershy's voice made Cerb stir, and both mares froze.

After a few moments of rolling his head from one side to the other and flopping his arms about, he settled on his side, nearly smothering Fluttershy underneath him.

Fluttershy took a moment to assess his condition and eventually made eyes at Rarity, who looked ready to explode, and whispered, “Go.”

She raised what bit of her wing past the covers she could and motioned to the flap.

“I’ll… keep him asleep?”

Rarity would have to be envious of Fluttershy later. Right now, she had a fire between her legs that needed to be extinguished.

“Thank you,” she mouthed the words and hurried herself out of the tent.

She needed to find a safe spot to relieve herself that was far away enough so that she would not be heard, but not before angrily mumbling something Fluttershy faintly heard.

“I’m not that loud when I Wonder Rush.”

Through the distant plains of sleep, a voice spoke softly to Twilight.

“Princess?”

Twilight pulled the covers over her head and groaned.

“One in a billion. Mmmph… goddamnit, Peter. Clovers on the bed sheets. Nng. You think that bread marez better en me?”

The voice came through a little louder and clearer this time.

“Uh… Princess? Do you want Peter to bring you clovers in bed, or do you want bread? I’m really confused right now.”

“Hmm?” Twilight was finally awake enough to comprehend somepony was attempting to have a conversation with her and bolted upright.

"I didn't say that!"

BonBon took two steps back from Twilight's bed.

"Uhh, yeah. You sure didn't say anything… that made sense, at least."

There wasn't much light in the barracks, and Twilight hadn't had enough sleep to be fully cognizant this fast.

"Sorry." She gave a stretch and a yawn, "I didn't get much sleep last night after Princess Luna made her visit."

BonBon didn't seem to be all that interested and started to walk out, "Prince Shining Armor said you'd want to be up before the sun. Something about getting the first detachment ready. There’s coffee brewed and waiting for you in the COC.”

Coffee sounded like a necessary evil that Twilight was going to need if she planned on making it back in time to patch things up with Peter.

“You awake, Benny?... Benny?”

Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked toward the cot next to hers.

Benny wasn’t there, though. Did he not go to bed last night? At the very least, he didn’t use his cot. It was left just as neatly folded and tucked in as it was yesterday. Another glance up showed that Pinkie’s bed was just as unfolded and scrunched in a heap as she had left it as well.

If this mystery was to be solved, there was only one way Twilight was going to be able to do it.

“Coffee… I need coffee."

So began Twilight’s half-awake search for Benny, Pinkie, and coffee. Not necessarily in that order, but that’s the order which came when she almost tripped over Benny’s leg in the hallway.

She was able to catch her balance but didn’t know what to make of the sight.

Benny was lying face down on Pinkie’s belly. Said pink pony was currently asleep, leaning back to back with Big Mac. With such a trio, Twilight had to wonder how she didn’t see them at first. So, with zero coffee in her system, and the search completed, it was time to start asking questions.

“So... long night?”

Big Mac was the only one to wake, jolted up with a snort that was supposed to be a snore.

“Huh? What’s so funny?“

His eyes adjusted to Twilight staring down at him with a perplexed look on her face.

“Oh. Morning, Twilight.“ He glanced down to Benny, still fast asleep. “Twilight… humans are really weird sometimes.”

That was the understatement that one didn’t need caffeine to understand, but still didn’t give her much to go off.

“Did I miss something last night?”

Big Mac stretched and groaned with a few good cracks popping in his back.

“You and me both. I think Benny got drunk last night.”

That woke up Twilight.

“What? I didn’t know he brought alcohol with him. Did he and Pinkie get drunk together?”

Big Mac stood up, letting Pinkie flop to the floor with a grunt, only to sprawl out on her back and mumble some goofy sleepy noises.

After having to tap out against Big Mac, Pinkie was stewing in her frustration on the floor.

“I always thought Applejack was strong, and I could take her down no problem. But Big Mac is sooooo much stronger than Applejack.”

Benny glanced over at the hulk of muscle and red fur that was Big Mac.

“No shit, Sherlock. He’s way bigger than Applejack.”

Pinkie jumped up in a huff.

“It’s not all about size, BenBen. Applejack is wicked crazy strong,” she explained as her eyes twirled in opposite directions from each other. “Just like when Fluttershy gets mad, when Applejack puts her mind to it, there isn’t anything she can’t kick down or bust open.”

Try as he might, Benny couldn’t logic his way around how all the rules of the crazy world worked.

“Whatever, we just need to get you to—“ He grunted and then turned to Big Mac “Hey, Mac. Make it thirty. Gonna do a rove and work with Pinkie for a bit. Less biting for you.”

Big Mac huffed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Thank Celestia for that.“ He watched Benny walk off without his weapon. “Hey! You forgot yer metal club thing.”

Benny was already heading into a hallway and shouted back, “Don’t need it! Watch it for me!”

Twilight waited for Big Mac to get to the point.

“And? What happened next?”

Big Mac started to lose his nerve and rubbed the back of his head nervously, trying to find the words to explain.

“Well, ya see. Uh—”

“BenBen fought the Pony of Shadows,” Pinkie answered with great excitement, still sprawled on the ground with her usual grin.

”Isn’t that neat?“

She started to pet the back of Benny’s head, treating the topic as casually as one would the weather.

“Didn’t put up much of a fight, though. BenBen punched that shadow pony right in the schnoz, and then it was gone.”

Twilight furrowed her brow and grumbled.

“Pinkie. You didn’t go take him around the castle and scare him with stories about the Pony of Shadows, did you? Because if this was some crazy mixup where he punched some poor pony that was covered in a tapestry and he mistook them as the—”

Pinkie vehemently shook her head.

“No way. I didn’t even think to tell him about the Pony of Shadows.”

Pinkie took Benny down a different route for their roving security patrol and was bouncing down the halls, dashing over to every artifact or wall hanging she could get her hooves on.

“Did I ever tell you about the time Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Spike, and me had ‘The Everypony Comes To The Scary Old Castle And Hide From Each Other While I Play The Organ Party’ and everypony thought they were being chased by the Pony of Shadows, but it was really just them scaring each other?”

Benny groaned, “No, you didn’t. And don’t bother. That’s one of the few episodes I do remember seeing. You were dressed up like the… What would you call it? The Pony of the Opera or The Phantom Pony of the Opera? Which reminds me, stop messing with all the damn wall hangings and decorations before you activate a—”

Twilight facehoofed hard and tried to wipe the anger from her face before berating her airheaded friend.

“You were messing with the wall hangings and decorations and activated a trapdoor and got separated as he was telling you not to not to mess with the wall hangings and decorations when you both knew that could happen?”

Lacking all social cues on how to respond, Pinkie smiled wide like it was a trick question she knew the answer to.

“Yeah! You know what they say the secret to comedy is?”

Twilight facehoofed again even harder, her patience wearing thin.

“Pinkie. For the love of—”

“Timing!” Pinkie celebrated her answer with her forelegs stretched out in a victory pose, then went back to finishing her story.

Pinkie stood dazed and her head spinning.

“Woah! Another trap door!”

Benny’s shouts came muffled from behind the other side of the trap door.

“God fucking damnit, Pinkie! What did I just say?!”

Pinkie pulled her ear away from the trap door and shouted back.

“You said god fucking damnit, Pinkie.“ She grinned like an idiot waiting for Benny to reply, but he didn’t. “BenBen? Are you still there?... Benny Ben BenBen? Benny Boy?”

Benny’s voice came muffled through the trap door again, this time sounding like he was in a panic.

“Pinkie! The Shadow Pony is real! Get your fucking ass over here!”

“Classic Benny,” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “That’s just an old ponies tale Granny Smith used to tell Applejack, Silly!”

“Pinkaaaaaaaay!”

Big Mac was visibly frightened and gulped but swallowed his fear with it and bore a scowl instead.

“That’s not funny, Pinkie. The Pony of Shadows is just an old spooky story Granny used to tell us foals to keep us from wandering off the Everfree Forest.”

Twilight would have normally agreed, but if Pinkie was telling the truth....

“Pinkie, the story of part of Nightmare Moon’s dark magic getting left behind has no historical records outside of old ghost stories. Just like Big Mac said… but, what happened after you heard him scream?”

“She popped back out from the trap wall, and I scared the shit out of her,” Benny’s muffled voice answered from the pink fur of Pinkie’s tummy, causing the party pony to chuckle as she was tickled by his lips and stubbles.

Twilight reared back at the subject of their discussion being awake.

“Benny! What? What would you do that for?”

Benny pushed himself up and leaned against the wall, answering with a grin.

“Because she wouldn’t stop goofing off the whole time during the rove when I was trying to help her. Aaaand, because when I was trying to find the lever needed to reactive that trap door, one of the pony armor things tipped over and cut my hand open.”

To Twilight’s horror and disgust, Benny raised his left arm and unbound the balloon strings which had been holding down a bloody pair of boxer shorts decorated in Pinkie’s cutie mark.

Turning his hand over to the back revealed a clean cut running down from below his pinkie finger to nearly the center of his forearm. It wasn’t a deep cut, and had long since stopped bleeding, but was still a nasty sight to behold.

Actually, the sight of it brought back terrible memories of Kelly, and Twilight was nearing a full panic mode.

”We need to get you back to the hospital. This looks serious. You—”

“Ha!” Big Mac scoffed. “Seriously? When Benny finally came stumbling back up from his rove, he was laughing and giggling like a fool for two hours. He wouldn’t shut up until he passed out from laughing so much.“

Still frustrated, Big Mac pointed angrily with his hoof at Benny.

“Somepony’s gonna need to kick your ass when we get back. I already know Kelly’s gonna kick my ass for letting you wander off and get hurt like ya did.”

And just like that, Twilight had enough of this headache and was ready to be done with it.

“Goddamnit. At first I thought you and Pinkie had just gotten drunk together, and I was going to have to lecture you for a bit. But no! You’re both just a couple of professional idiots who make me want to get drunk!“

She turned away in a huff, storming off to relieve her brother from watch and hopefully clear her head.

“Confound these humans! They drive me to drink!”

Big Mac also turned away and marched off with an angry snort.

“You better believe I’mma let Kelly know that yer all dumb asses and got fucked up on yer own, so you can take that beaten.”

Unfazed, Benny waved his fingers daintily at Big Mac.

“Love you too, Big Red.”

After a few seconds, they were alone. Benny grinned and looked at Pinkie.

“Thanks for keeping your Pinkie Promise.”

Pinkie dropped the happy-go-lucky act and punched Benny in the shoulder hard enough to knock him over.

“I don’t care how much you were laughing last night. None of this is funny, and I never should have made that promise with you.”

Benny flashed a grin and tried to play coy.

“No!“ Pinkie shouted just loudly enough that only they could hear it and swatted at him repeatedly for trying to look so cute. “No! None of that cutesie face stuff with me after last night, Mister. I made a Pinkie Promise, and you made a Pinkie Promise. You’re going on my Do More Than Get The Fuck Over It And Learn To Be Happy Like Pinkie Pie regiment, and I’m gonna keep lips sealed about everything else until this mission is over.”

Benny held his hands up to ward off any further attacks and tried to make his peace.

“I know, I know.“

He finally dropped the happy face he’d been forcing since he'd woken up face down on Pinkie’s belly, overhearing the recap of last night's events.

“I’m just not ready, Balloon Butt.“

He tried to look at least strong enough to be competent, but she wasn’t buying it, and he knew it.

“We get through this, we don’t compromise the missions, get everyone back safe, then we can work on me… I just can’t do that right now.”

Pinkie, despite all her anger at the moment, understood and wasn’t going to push.

“I know… come here, Cookie Kisses.“

She forced Benny into a hug and sat with him against the wall.

“You’re safe with me until this is all over with, then I’ll take care of you back in Ponyville, too.”

And it was here Benny finally felt a true connection with Pinkie, like the one Cerb had with his own pony companions, that he had come to envy. And now that he had it, he wasn’t going to let it go.

“Thanks for putting up with my bullshit.”

Pinkie giggled, her usual smile finally returning to her face.

“Your curse words are funny, BenBen.“

Thinking about the new words she’d been hearing and learning, there were two that still greatly confused her. She had to find out.

“Before we get back though… What does Madad Kripaya mean?”

And suddenly, the conversation had become awkward again, though for vastly different reasons. While under normal circumstances, he would’ve simply brushed the question off, he wasn’t in any position to deny her anything.

And so, quietly, answered.

“Madad Kripaya… it’s not English or… Ponish…“

He took a deep breath and exhaled with all the pain those words reminded him of.

“It’s another human language, Hindi… Her last words were, Help… Please.”

Pinkie squeezed tighter around him, putting in as much extra love as she could without hurting him.

“I’m so sorry, BenBen, but no more nightmares for you, ’kay?”

Spike rolled under the covers of Twilight's bed. She wasn't home, and she wouldn't know any better, so what was the harm? However, his moment of dream-filled bliss was halted as the sun started to rise, and a certain scent brought him out of sleep.

"Smoke?" He popped up in alarm as the smell came out very distinctly.

"Pancakes?! They’re burning breakfast! That's my job! ...I mean, making breakfast is my job!”

He made a mad dash for the door and sprinted as fast as his little dragon legs could carry him down the hall to the stairs. With each flight he passed, the scent only became stronger. By the time he reached the kitchen, he was sure whatever was on the stove had to be charcoal.

“Drats!” An out-of-place royal voice cursed through the rolling smoke.

“Cursed stove! We were gone for but a moment to lower the moon! Does’t thou not know the meaning of low heat?! ‘Tis written clearly on... oh… ‘twas on high. Curse thee, tiny printed words!”

Spike pushed his way through the smoke to verify how much trouble his morning was going to bring him.

“Luna?”

Said pone’s silhouette stood stiff, surprised to have company.

“Spike? Do not think us uncultured in the culinary arts, but thy assistance would be most appreciated and handsomely rewarded if this feast can be salvaged before—“ She started to cough heavily. “Where’s the goddamn window in this sumbitch?!”

After a few minutes of ventilating the kitchen and seeing the disaster Luna created, Spike was back to work on breakfast duty, showing Luna how it was done without creating an inferno.

“You see how fast the butter melts? That means it should be just about ready to add the batter. But here’s what I do to make sure.”

Luna watched attentively as Spike dipped a claw in a glass of water. Curious as to what this could do, she followed his display and watched him let a drop fall from the tip of his claw into the melted butter. As soon as it struck the pan, it started to spit and sputter.

Luna looked between the pan and Spike’s proud expression.

“And how doth boiling water aid you in this affair?”

Spike was waiting for her to ask and grinned as he reached for the batter.

“Well, if the pan isn’t hot enough, the water will just sit in the butter. If it’s too hot, it will pop and snap hot butter everywhere. But if it boils and only spits some of the butter around it, that means it’s ready for the batter.“

He started to pour the batter for the first batch of pancakes, making sure to pour just the right amount so the pancakes never touched.

“If the pan isn’t hot enough, the batter doesn’t start to cook right away, and they come out wrong. If the pan is too hot, they burn too fast. It’s worse when the pan is too hot, because you’ll either have really dry, burnt pancakes, or burnt pancakes that are uncooked on the inside.”

Luna observed the batter on the pan with further curiosity and slight amazement.

“If not too hot or cold, and the pan is heated correctly, how does thou knoweth when to flip?”

Spike grabbed his spatula and twirled it for some added flare.

“Well, first, you don’t leave the kitchen to lower the moon.“

He smirked but noticed the sneer he’d earned from Luna and went back to teaching instead of jabbing at the only princess that wasn’t a morning pony.

“What I mean is, you have to stay close so you can see if they start to bubble up, like this.“ He pointed to the first pancake he poured. ”See? The bubbles mean the batter has heated up enough that it started cooking in the middle. Then you can take your flipper—“

With a quick motion, he slid the spatula under the pancake and lifted it just enough to see the golden underside. He had to motion with his paw to show Luna where to look.

“—and see how far along the underside is. If it’s golden brown like this, you can flip it.”

For as many times as Celestia had offered to teach Luna how to use the kitchen, she was often too tired or busy from her royal duties, and their conflicting schedules hadn’t helped. Actually getting to learn this was a pleasant turn of events. It also helped that Spike, despite how proud he was of himself, didn’t have an air of arrogance as he walked her through every detail.

For some reason, Celestia always came off as boasting of her skills, seemingly never missing a moment to praise herself for her culinary expertise. Spike did take a swipe at her, even if warranted, but she was too flustered to deal with thinking of her sister’s failed lessons for it to really bother her.

After the first batch was transferred over to the serving tray, Spike stepped down from his stool.

“Okay, now you give it a try.”

Luna looked at the stove, a mix of excitement and self-doubt shaking her voice.

“Nothing needeth be changed?”

Spike pointed to the glass of water.

“Just do what you saw me do. I didn’t change anything but lower the heat, so it’s already where it needs to be. You don’t need to do anything but add the butter, check the pan, and keep an eye on the pancakes until they’re ready to be flipped. Just use the same confidence and focus you have when moving the moon, and you’ll be fine..”

Another unexpected voice called out from just outside the kitchen.

“Spike? What’s that smell? Are you trying to put gummy bears in pancakes for Pinkie Pie?”

Twilight trotted into the kitchen and jumped back at seeing Luna at the stove.

“Princess Luna? What are you doing here?”

Luna, entirely focused on the task in front of her, never let her eyes leave the stove as she answered.

“Not now, Twilight. Pancakes require the utmost of attention and focus. Preparing an unsavory feast to start the day will not be a skeleton welcomed in thine closet.”

If it wasn’t the humans, it had to be another princess driving Twilight to question her sanity and choice of maintaining sobriety.

“Spike… could you be a peach and pour me some coffee to-go and then grab me a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. I think I need to have Benny show me how to make an Irish Coffee... Actually, wait till I get back and make sure Luna doesn’t burn the kitchen down while I go grab Starlight. I need both your help today. And Luna, if you’re going to—”

Luna suddenly started to prance in place, lost in a burst of sporadic jubilee.

“Bubbles! The bubbles!“ She successfully flipped her fist unburnt pancake. “By the boiling water of a dragon’s claw, the spitting butter has revealed thy path to the mastering of pancakes!”

Spike looked up at Twilight, knowing full well what she was going through after walking into this without context.

“Don’t ask, I swear most of it makes sense. You go get Starlight, and I’ll grab the bottle.”

Not wanting to happen upon any reasons to start chugging the bottle and seeing how well she could handle things stumbling drunk, Twilight teleported upstairs.

She was about to knock on Starlight’s door when the door next to hers opened up, and Starlight walked out giggling.

Starlight, unaware of Twilight’s arrival, was in the middle of backing out and adding more to a conversation.

“Yes, I know; it’s fine. You go on ahead and get dressed, and I’ll see if Spike made breakfast.”

This was an odd change that Twilight had to address, despite all the follow-ups she feared she would have to deal with.

"Who are you talking to?"

Starlight jumped with a yelp, wondering how long Twilight had been there.

"Twilight! You're… back? Is everything okay?"

That was the kind of question Twilight didn't know whether to take as being concerned or if her pupil was trying to be elusive.

"Things are great, actually. So great that I came to see if you and Spike could help us finish up faster... and who's in that room?"

Starlight relaxed and came at Twilight with a competent tone.

"Oh, I moved Chris up here to be closer to me after a pipe in his bathroom broke. Well, first, I was going to move him a few doors down, but then he started saying how worried he was about Benny and Cerb. So, we talked, and, for how upset he was, I figured I would just do what everypony else was doing with Cerb and Kelly and spend the night with him. Though, it was kinda more like when you and AJ were both having a hard time.”

She gave a glance over her shoulder at Chris’s door, looking ever so pleased with her results.

“I think it worked really well. Sure, it took a while to get him to the point where he could calm down enough to fall asleep, but he's… sorta doing better now." She moved in close enough to whisper. "Chris is surprisingly sensitive for as big as he is, and he's got so many other issues he's going through. The poor guy really needs some help getting past all his insecurities, and there's just so much going on with him."

After that explanation, Twilight had to commend her student.

"That's so considerate of you. Is he going to be okay if you leave for part of the day? I think if everything goes according to my schedule, we should be back some time in the mid-afternoon."

Starlight looked back to Chris's room, "I think he should be fine, but if you could give me a few minutes to talk with him, maybe? I don't want him to think that I'm abandoning him or anything."

"Ugh," Twilight groaned as she tried to hide her embarrassment for her misjudgment and expecting something wacky or out of place. "Yes, and I'm sorry. It's been a really challenging morning, and I just want to get this done so we can help Becky, get everypony out of the Everfree Forest, and I can have the time to fix things between me and Peter."

Starlight laid a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"You're doing so much. It's okay, I'll meet you downstairs as soon as I get things sorted out with Chris, then I'll help you with whatever you need. And when we get back, if you need any help with Peter, we're on good terms, so I can help with that too."

This was one of those moments Twilight was glad she was sober for and replied with the most gracious response.

"Thank you. I am so proud to see how far you've come with making friends and all you're willing to do to help others around you. Meet me down in the kitchen when you're done. Take as much time as you need. I don't want Luna burning the castle down while we're gone."

Her nostrils flared as she caught the scent of something on Starlight.

“Are yooooou wearing perfume?”

Starlight cocked an eyebrow, and her left ear twitched.

"Perfume? Why would you— why is Luna here? What happened?"

Twilight shook her head with a groan.

"Sorry, Fluttershy and Rarity started wearing this new perfume, and it’s not bad. It smells… weird, but also really nice at the same time. Well, that and I can also—“

She took a few short sniffs around Starlight’s neck and hair. There was something else on her. A scent that was stronger but didn’t linger far from her coat like the perfume.

“Oh… so that’s why I kept smelling the champagne from the mimosas after our last brunch together. Chris smells just like it… a little heavy on the sea salt this time, though. “

Twilight then giggled as she thought back warmly to her night with Sniff. The thought of having him back in good graces made the chaos from earlier that morning not seem so bad. That, and Chris smelt like champagne? The scent seemed a little stronger, too.

“The way humans smell is so strange, but I can’t complain about waking up to the smell of clovers. Peter left his scent all over my bed, and it’s even stronger in his room. But as for Luna, I have no idea. Something about pancakes. I'm not even going to ask. Just please don't keep me down there too long. I'm afraid to find out at this point."

Starlight nodded and turned back to Chris's door, swiping her tail in small twitches from side to side.

"I’ll try to make this quick. Just give me a few minutes, and I'll be right down."

As Twilight left, Starlight headed back in, walking into the situation of Chris still looking for his pants from the night prior.

With only a limited time left with him, she closed the door behind her, but Chris was still in a panic to find his clothes.

”What the fuck is Twilight doing back here? Are they done already?" He asked.

Starlight wasted no time running up to Chris and tackled him back onto the bed, and pressed her lips against his. After all, there was only so much time with him she could get away with.

"Thank Celestia, you thought ahead about a cover story."

She kissed him again and dug her tongue into his mouth. The clock was still ticking, and she held that entanglement longer than they should have before divulging the rest of their situation.

"She wants me and Spike to go with her so they can get back earlier and she can patch things up with Sniff.“

She moved in to steal another kiss, but stopped with a new thought. “Do you think their going to fuck each other? Sniff and Twilight, I mean?"

Chris was too worried about someone walking in on them to give a shit.

"Sniff doesn't know what he wants. Last time we talked, we still didn't know if any of you were even interested in sex or how any of you felt about it. Then the more time we spent around all of you, we got the impression you somehow didn’t even know what it was.”

Starlight giggled and ran her back leg up Chris’s thigh.

“Don’t be silly, everypony knows what sex is. I grew up anti-social and focused all my studies on magic and creating my stupid, flawed concept of a utopia where everypony was equal. I never studied biology or looked at relationships past what I remembered while having a friend when I was a foal. I'm… kind of only now starting to grow up and mature. You’re the second friend I’ve made my entire life after losing Sunburst. My first crush, my first kiss… is it really any wonder I never knew what a dick could do for me?"

Chris looked at Starlight’s cute little face as she tried to make her point and was too distracted by Starlight trying to work him up again.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Starlight really didn’t want to leave Chris, especially when she was hoping to exploit his newfound talents for a few more hours. So, in hopes of getting one more round in, she decided to crawl up closer to have them nose to nose.

“It sounds like I’m going to be out there with Twilight until after lunch, but hopefully before dinner. So, you'll pretty much have free run of the town today. Prim Posy might like some help with breakfast. Nurse Redheart could use some company, and Derpy would love to see you for lunch today. Also, Cream Heart won’t have Button at the house during school—"

Chris brought his hands and clasped her muzzle shut.

“Starlight.“

He pulled her muzzle close and gave her a quick kiss.

“Stop trying to have me fuck your friends,” he told her, half being serious and half being playful about it. “Believe me, you wore me out pretty good last night, and as amazing as it would be—”

Starlight pulled herself free and rolled onto her back, bringing Chris along to be on top of her.

"Mmm, Chris. I'm not saying you have to or need to, especially for their first time. And I didn’t really wear you out, I just didn’t want you to stop when I couldn’t keep going. Besides, I want you to do what you want to… even the mouth stuff."

Chris tried to stand up, but Starlight wrapped her legs around him and pulled him back together with her.

"Umph," he grunted as his hips crashed into hers. "I thought you said the oral stuff sounded gross?"

Starlight played coy and avoided eye contact as she worked her way around to explain.

"I know, but you said that right after we just came over each other, and I thought being covered in our juices was kinda gross at the time. But then I saw how much you liked tasting me on your fingers and… what really did it for me—"

She lit her horn and pulled Chris's boxers down. Before he could protest, she had already thrust herself up and guided him inside of her. He bottomed out with a wet slap and forced down a grunt from each other.

Starlight raised her forehooves and caressed Chris's face tenderly.

"Every time you made me climax, I thought I would go mad if I felt anything better than you thrusting deep inside of me."

She knew part of Chris was trying to resist her out of sheer nervousness, but the desires Chris left her with made it too tempting for her to stop. That, and it didn’t take much to bring him back into giving her what she wanted.

"Feeling you cum inside me made me feel amazing all night long. Even long after you pulled out and fell asleep... It felt so damn good, and I'd like to have that one more time before I go."

"Starlight," Chris was struggling to hold himself back. "As soon as you get back. Anything you want, we'll do it. Let's just not get caught—"

Starlight pressed herself hard against him and started to grind while squeezing her inner muscles.

"Don't hold back like you did last night. It doesn't hurt anymore. Just cum inside me as fast as you can, and I'll let you do whatever you want to me after I get back, instead."

There was nothing Chris could do. He’d opened Pandora's box and released all the curses that followed along with the gift of carnal delights. Starlight was like an addict with a new drug, and he was her supplier... her only supplier. It would have been the perfect one-sided deal if not for two glaring flaws.

“Okay,” Chris submitted to her request. “I’m so fucking hard right now. Put up your soundproof spell. We’re both going to need it.”

Starlight’s aura spread out over the room to protect them from any potential eavesdroppers, then faded.

Chris acknowledged his first dilemma with taking Starlight’s virginity and teaching her all the ins and outs of sex. He wanted it just as bad as she did, maybe even more than she did, though that might not be the case if she was going to be like this. Regardless, he had the advantage of letting his fear and embarrassment subdue his willingness to give in.

The second issue for Chris, however, Starlight was kind enough to remind him of after she finished casting her spell.

“I know I’m being selfish, just don’t lick out any of the girls yet or let them suck you off. I want to be your first, but if they want this—“ She grunted loud now that the room was protected and Chris started doing the work for her. “I know you want to.”

“Only if they ask for it,” Chris declared during his frantic, wild thrust.

His second problem was also knowing that despite his resistance and distance from all the offers, he wanted it. And just like Sniff, Chris didn’t know how long he’d be able to resist, if at all. He was, after all, already this far gone.

Starlight didn’t answer with words. She spread her legs wider and wrapped her forelegs around his neck to pull him in for another French kiss. Kisses made everything so much more intense, and she was already close to another climax.

Starlight teleported in and greeted them with a level of excitement not fit for any pony this early.

“Good Morning!“

Her eyes first tell on Luna staring intently into a frying pan.

“Princess Luna. Sooo good to see you. What brings here today-oou you’re making us pancakes?”

Luna was in the zone, but welcomed the enthusiasm.

“Good morning to thee as well, Starlight. Twas a most remarkable evening before returning the sky to sister, and soon Kelly shale wake to the morning sun and be so wondrously delighted with a feast of perfectly golden pancakes.”

Starlight looked at the stack of at least fifty pancakes.

“Wow! You sure made a lot of pancakes. Are they for everyone? I’m pretty sure Kelly can only eat two or three of them.”

Luna turned and looked at the pile of pancakes she had robotically created.

“Oh… well then. We suppose there will be plenty for all.“

She grabbed a small stack of pancakes and put them on a serving tray with the rest of the breakfast spread. Her enthusiasm left the others wondering where this all was coming from or why it revolved around Kelly having breakfast, and only Kelly.

“Twilight, we trust thee will oversee the completion of a safe return of Becky’s new medicine and everypony with Mr. Cerberus. We shall remain behind and inform the others of the success achieved thus far. We are sure that a celebration is in order for achieving so much.”

Twilight gave a low bow to Luna.

“Of course, Princess.”

Starlight trotted over and sampled one of the pancakes.

“You did a great job on these, Luna. And don’t you worry, we’ve got this in the bag, but you should get some rest still. If we're gonna celebrate, we don’t want you falling asleep before somepony wants another dance party.”

Luna laughed, giddy at the thought of another fun night together with Kelly and the rest of her new human friends.

“We would wish for nothing else.“

She was about to leave, but thought to remind Twilight of something.

“And Twilight, my dear. We do apologize again for not being so forthcoming. But seeing as you have handled learning so much without our assistance, we will be made more open with what we learn. We expect more of you than you may expect of yourself, but that has come with your abilities that we now know we took for granted. If you are in need of anything, do not be afraid to ask.”

It’s amazing how much better a day can get once the coffee kicks in, and Twilight had the friends to prove it.

“Thank you, but I think we have it all under control. I’ll let you keep Kelly and them company and rest up for tonight.”

No sooner than Luna had teleported out of the kitchen did Spike enter with Twilight’s requested bottle of Jack.

“Okay, I got the bottle, and your coffee is in a thermos. Do you need anything else?”

Twilight started to pull magic into her horn and prepared to teleport them.

“Nope, and the faster we get done, the faster we’ll be back.”

Starlight stepped back, realizing something.

“Oh, actually, you two head off without me. I’ll be right behind you. Nopony upstairs knows which room Chris got moved to. And… well, there’s some other things I need to fill you in on. Chris might have his hands full today.”

Twilight shrugged, figuring this wasn’t going to be some big hang-up that would leave her strung out in the wind all day.

“Okay, that’s no problem. Just use one of the spare maps to help you find your way out there. I’m sure if you fly high enough, you’ll see the castle, and you can make it there in no time.”

Starlight immediately teleported upstairs and headed for Sniff’s room. He was usually up by this time, and she didn’t want to risk what walking in on Chris in the shower would lead to.

Actually, that’s exactly what she wanted to do, but priorities had to be kept to avoid suspicion. She knocked on Sniff’s door and hoped she wasn’t intruding, but for how quickly the door handle was reached and started to turn, she must have caught him at a good time.

She watched the door open to let the faint light from the rising sun pour into the hallway, and just as overly chipper as she was downstairs, she welcomed Sniff into the new day.

“Good morning, Sniff. I hope you—“

Starlight wasn’t greeting Sniff, or even a human for that matter. Who she saw left her suddenly very confused.

“Swift Sails? Where’s Peter?“ Her eyes went wide with illicit thoughts, “Wait? Did you two—”

“Morning,” The weary armored guard greeted Starlight. “I’m not late, am I? Midnight Flash and Ralph said they would do a later turnover with me since I’m working alone right now.”

Starlight had assumed something must have happened between these two, but even if that mare had showered, there was no trace of that scent she could pick up.

“Uhh… I don’t know anything about that.“

She secretly tried to take another good whiff, but only the soft tones of clover and sea salt that was Sniff’s normal scent seemed to fill the room. She knew what that perfume scent was that Twilight noticed, but it wasn’t in this room at all.

“I just came to ask Sniff if he could let Chris know that Princess Luna showed up and made us all breakfast. I’d tell him myself, but he’s in the shower.”

She peered into the room and looked for any signs she wasn’t the only one who got lucky last night, and knowing Sniff, how could it not have been a case?

“Did you stay with Sniff all last night?” Starlight asked, trying not to sound too nosy.

Swift Sails stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her, looking rather perky and motivated.

“Yeah, Peter needed an escort last night. Didn’t really say why, so I picked him up after his meeting with the mayor and brought him back. I don’t know why, but he had it in his head that he wasn’t good enough for us ponies. A nice stallion like him? Can you believe that?“

She started to walk down the hall with Starlight quickly came following along.

“So, I followed him up to the roof, and we talked for a while. Then, after I cheered him up, I got us some towels, and we took a dip in the hot tub. Then everypony else was asleep, and he asked me to stay in his room with him. Poor guy didn’t want to be left alone. He took the bed, and I pulled in a smaller mattress and slept on that.”

Something about that story seemed far too innocent for Starlight after all the scheming and well-crafted lies she and Chris had worked out together. While Chris might have been clever, if not more intelligent than others let on, Sniff was a pro.

“And… that’s it?”

Swift Sails shrugged, too convincingly oblivious to be hiding anything.

“Pretty much. He thanked me for being a good friend and promised me a free wing massage and another slice of carrot cake. Then he laid down and fell asleep right away. Do you know if I can have any of those pancakes Luna made?”

No matter how close Starlight got, she couldn’t detect a trace of Sniff’s scent embedded on her or that same natural perfume Chris had commented on.

“Luna didn’t specify, so… go ahead. But do you know where Sniff is?”

Swift Sails slowed her pace.

“He wanted to go pick up the last few things he ordered for Twilight. He asked me to escort him again, but I couldn’t because I have to stay here. I felt terrible not being able to help him, but he said he would leave early and ask Oven Fresh to go with him. I tried to tell him he’d be safe and asked him to tell me what he was so afraid of, but he… I dunno. It’s like he’s afraid of ponies liking him too much... Should I have gone with him?”

Starlight was too out of touch with what was going on around her after being so absorbed with Chris. Although, hearing this did make her concerned. Sniff was a good guy, and a good relationship between him and Twilight was going to be needed for her to keep things going well with Chris. Sadly, while she lacked the many details needed, she still gave her best advice.

“I think Sniff will be fine. Oven Fresh seems like a nice enough pony. But if you’re really concerned, maybe you should go to Kelly’s room and ask Luna for permission to go check on him. After all, if you’re here to help watch over the humans, but if she’s here as well, then I’m pretty sure they’ll be safe. And I—“

She took a short pause and sighed. Sniff was still close with Chris, and they even shared some interest in mares together. If Chris could help, that would be good for everyone.

”I guess I’ll go let Chris know what’s going on.”

Twilight paced back and forth in the COC.

“From the top, Spike. Active overwatch. Active recon. React team status. Active support. Supply status. And the most current sitrep with defensive posture.”

Spike flipped through a series of pages and then doubled back when he realized everything was in order for once.

“Everything is so easy to read and follow here. Who made these?”

Twilight stopped and drew a breath so harshly it could have passed as a grown.

“Benny established and ran a majority of the admin side of this exercise. He let me take over the operations, supply, and logistics. We shared the intel and communications responsibilities but left the weapons and security to Shining. So, you can thank Benny for the organization and format of the reports. Now if you would.“ She tapped her hoof on the cobblestone floor. “From the top.”

If Spike didn’t know any better, he’d swear she wanted out of this castle as soon as possible and so he rushed to read the reports.

“From the top! Overwatch team Rainbow is currently out with overwatch team Thunder on standby to relieve. Overwatch team Thunderlane is still down for the night. Recon team Onyx is currently active and patrolling after relieving Recon Team Mjölna. Recon team Helix Ray is out and on standby to relieve. React team Macintosh is still down for the night, except for Big Mac. He’s up and helping with the supplies. React team Mjölna is escorting the first and second detachments back to Ponyville with a scheduled return time of three hours from now. Active support has been reduced to minimal support with BonBon, Pinkie, myself, and Starlight whenever she gets here.”

Twilight was listening attentively, but running over the mental list of ponies who were no longer there when she remembered something.

“Spike, there should be a thin folder in the back called Lessons Learned. Make a note that Roseluck, Lily, and Daisy are to be rewarded for all their dedication and time away from their own work to be escorted in and out to prepare the gathered flora for transport. Additionally, we need to thank Bulk Biceps, Lyra Heartstrings, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia for volunteering to help transport the items back to Ponyville today.”

Spike finished scribing the notes but then returned with a question of his own.

“Hey, Twilight? Why didn’t you just teleport all the supplies back to the castle like you did with me this morning? I know the Sanequo… Sanek-Sanequeen… That really important flower has to be handled diligently and is sensitive to magic, but everything didn’t need to be carried back, right?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to pacing.

“Yes, Sanequinaria Canteradensis has to be carried or flown back gently, but everything else? Well, you see… obviously, in a real-life situation, it was a matter of life or death and… I mean… Goddamnit, add to the notes that in the future, non-sensitive materials should be transported via teleportation if such an option is available.”

Spike finished noting that gross oversight of safety and continued on.

“Okay, last few things, our supplies are set to run out by tonight, but we should be back by then. Last sitrep updated says that Rarity was heard screaming in the forest, but it was later reported that she stepped on, and I quote, a fucking pointy stick. Although, Rainbow Dash wrote in her report, and I quote, really fucking doubt that, I bet a hundred bits… umm.”

He flipped over a few pages, trying to make sure he didn’t miss something.

“It looks like then she drew a big smiley face of herself laughing and left another note saying that page six of eight must have been lost in the wind and not ripped out on purpose. And lastly, that Cerb, Fluttershy, and Rarity decided to leave together with Rarity to lighten the load as a precaution for the extra stress put on Cerb’s leg during the chupa-“ Spike’s voice cut out as he went back to reread the word over and over again until he was sure he read it right. “-Chupacabra attack!”

Twilight groaned, already feeling another headache coming on.

“Yes, Spike. A chupacabra tried to attack Fluttershy, and Cerb scared it away. We can tell you about it later. Keep going.”

Spike was shocked by how calm Twilight acted but figured that was a good sign of how safe they were and continued reading.

“Right… uh… it says here that they decided to leave early with hopes of making it back before dark. Umm—“ He flipped to the last page. '—defensive posture shows… nothing. We’re at the lowest security posture. There’s nothing happening. It’s been quiet the whole time for everypony except the chupacabra attack. So, uhh… I guess we can relax?”

Twilight stopped pacing again and turned an ear to Spike, but then turned to BonBon, who’d been quiet during the entire discussion.

“What do you think?”

BonBon looked up from the pages of older reports.

“Uhh… I don’t know? It seems pretty quiet out there.”

Twilight nodded, knowing that’s what anypony would say.

“It does seem that way… which is why I don’t trust it. BonBon, go wake up the rest of Macintosh’s react team. Tell them to make sure all their gear is ready to go. If they tell you it’s ready without examining it, then tell them I will conduct a complete and thorough re-inspection directly with them. In two hours, we will do the same with Thunderlane’s overwatch team.“

Revitalized with a new dedication to over-precaution, she turned to Spike.

“As for you, Spike. Take a copy of the inventory list to verify that all remaining items are accounted for and have them ready for me to do another check to verify. In the meantime, find Benny and Pinkie and tell them I want to see them. We’re going to go over our final movement out of here back to Ponyville. I want no mistakes, no discrepancies, or surprises.”

BonBon looked a little concerned.

“Okay, is everything alright? You seem tense...more so than usual.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and grunted.

“Last night, when I went to go check in on Cerb and Fluttershy before they camped out for the night, I was so sure that everything was perfectly fine, that we were done because the hard part was over. Then Cerb snuck in and scared me. It was all a joke, of course, but he did it because I put everypony in danger by relaxing so much, and he was right to do so. The mission wasn’t over, and me, acting like it was, left everypony there vulnerable. And for as smooth as things have been going for us—”

“Woo!” Starlight shouted in an exasperated voice as she teleported into the center of the room. “Found it.“

She turned to Twilight, very excited, like she had a lot of good and bad news.

“Good, found you too. Do you have a moment?”

Twilight was almost ready to announce she was right but held off until she heard what Starlight had to say and instead finalized her orders.

“Bon Bon, Spike. No surprises. Now, please carry out my orders, I’d like to have a moment with Starlight in private.”

The two left the room, and Twilight gave her the time for whatever was so important from her student.

“Okay, Starlight, what’s up? And what took you so long?”

Starlight’s left ear flopped back and forth a few times, and nervously swished her tail.

“Well, mostly, I went back to let Chris know about the breakfast left in the kitchen and wanted to tell him that he should take some to Nurse Redheart, but he was in the shower, and it was awkward… I guess.

Chris was cowering under the shower head with his hand extended to keep Starlight at bay.

“No, for fucks sake. You drained me dry last night and had me pound out my reserves this morning. You don’t have time, and I don’t have the fluids.”

Starlight continued to try and press past his hand to join him.

“You got at least a little taste left, and we have plenty of time if we work together. You wash your hair while I suck your dick. Then I’ll break this water pipe, and you move into my room with me. It’s the perfect plan!”

Chris almost gave in but somehow found the strength to resist.

“I don’t even jerk off this much. How are you this horny?”

Starlight ran her hoof over her mane and held down her twitching ear.

“I was respectful and knocked on his bathroom door to let him know I was there, though I didn’t open it. I didn’t want it to be that awkward, even though he said it’d be okay if I did come in since I already saw him naked at the hospital.”

Twilight clenched her eyes and shook her head, somehow managing not to scream.

“You what? At the hospital? But he’s so… shy, I thought. Isn’t he?”

Starlight couldn’t help but smile, even though she probably shouldn’t have since it almost looked like she was bragging.

“He is, but he’s also such a sweetheart and just wanted to be as helpful as he could.“

She dropped her smile as she remembered what happened. Somehow, that was enough to stop the twitches.

“But that’s also why I said he should take some breakfast over to Nurse Redheart. I don’t know why, but for some reason, when Chris was standing naked for them, they started hounding him with questions about his bio-maturity or something. Then they started asking a bunch of questions about his penis, and he said he needed to stop. You know how they are about staying covered up. But even when he went back to change, they just kept trying to have him come back out and answer their stupid questions.”

That information certainly gave more legitimacy to the claim, Twilight remembered Starlight mentioned as to why she was taking care of him.

“That’s terrible, and so unprofessional. I’m going to have a not-so-nice chat with them when I get back and—”

“It’s fine,” Starlight said, trying to calm her mentor. “Nurse Redheart was trying to reign them in for not respecting Chris and ended up stomping her hoof so hard it smashed the tile on the floor because of how angry she was at them.”

Despite her less-than-stellar history with the nurse, Twilight thought she would have to change her opinion about Redheart.

“Wow, I would think at the very least she deserves breakfast on us.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, knowing that wouldn’t cover it, but would be a nice bonus after she got Chris to come around and expand his horizons. Maybe Nurse Redheart would be forward enough to help Chris not be so bashful or timid and teach her the particulars of human sex.

“Probably more than that since she also broke a bone above her hoof and cut her frogs open pretty bad. She had to get stitched up by Becky.”

Twilight’s mind immediately went back to the image of Kelly bleeding out, Trixie’s bloody nose, then Starlight’s bloody lip before she was able to force said thoughts from her mind.

“What’s going on? That’s three ponies that have had blood-related injuries, and at the rate things are going, they’re getting progressively worse.”

While unintended, Starlight couldn’t help but think of what a great distraction that was from everything Chris related. However, it was a pretty concerning matter.

“Hey, you know what, you’re right, but, let’s stay focused. I don’t know about you, but I would really like to get back to Ponyville as fast as possible. So, let’s focus on that right now. What do you need me to do?”

It was hard to get all that new info and not try to tackle it right there and then, but Twilight agreed.

“You’re right. We get everypony home, maybe throw a little party to celebrate, then it’s back to business.”

On second thought, with all this good karma Starlight was building up, and Twilight now semi-distracted, it seemed like a good time to leverage a favor.

“Oh, and this can wait for you to decide on, obviously, but I was thinking. Do you think we could leave a room open for Chrisa a little longer at the castle with us? He could really benefit from the support I’ve been able to give him after earning his trust back, plus he’s been helping me with the friendship lessons just as much. And… well, we might need his help with Sniff.”

All the immediate concerns selfishly fell back onto Twilight’s desire to fix things with Sniff, and she reacted with stage one of Panic Mode.

“Sniff? What’s wrong? Please—”

“He’s having self-confidence issues,” Starlight answered, hoping to stave off a panic attack. “I’m also a little late to get back because Swift Sails was worried about him, too.”

Starlight stood by the two bat pony guards at the double doors leading in, ready to fly off and find the Castle of the Two Sisters.

"Morning, guys. Just a heads up, Princess Luna, is here. She's talking to your relief. She should be out—"

The double doors sprung open, and Swift Sails came charging out.

"Hey, guysyoucango-Oof!"

In too much of a hurry, Swift Sails collided with Starlight and took the two tumbling down the steps.

Swift Sails was quick to get up and shook off the pain.

"Oops, Sorry, Starlight." She lent a hoof to help the still-prone pony up. "Luna said since she was staying here that I could have the day off. Oh, and you two as well, guys."

She gave a nod to Midnight and Ralph, who both seemed unphased by the update. Not that Swift Sails cared about that at the moment; she had more important matters to deal with, but pleasantries were still in line.

"Be ready to join the party tonight. That's an order from Luna herself. But if you could lend me a hoof, I have no idea where Sniff ran off to. I know who Oven Fresh is, but I've never been to her house."

Starlight brushed off some of the dirt and dust, surprised a simple tumble hurt this bad. Must have been all that armor Swift Sails hit her with.

"Oww, and that's great news for you, but if Sniff is with Oven Fresh, there's only one place they'd be right now." She powered her horn up with a spell. "Hold on."

Without even asking, Starlight teleported all four of them out in front of Oven Fresh's bakery so fast she didn’t even realize the spell was completed.

Actually, all of her teleportations were getting much faster the more she woke up.

"Welp, that solves the problem of finding him. Midnight… Ralph? You two wait out here for a moment while we go in."

Starlight sighed, getting ready to wrap up the story.

"He wasn't crying or overly distraught. He just looked… I don't know exactly. Defeated? He looked a little relieved as soon as he saw Swift Sails was there. Which, is kinda strange when you consider what happened to Kelly after a guard showed up out of nowhere with a spear, but still. He's with both of them, and they're taking good care of him, especially Oven Fresh. I guess she made him breakfast and was holding his hand the whole time."

Twilight sulked for a moment, but then took a deep breath and stood tall and resolute again.

"First things first, we finish this operation here, get everypony back safe and sound, and then I'm getting my castle back in order. That includes fixing things with Peter and make sure nopony is going to try and poach my human."

"Poach your?" Starlight wondered for the first time if she'd happen across Twilight one morning in the future, smelling like clovers and mare lust. "You mean you don't want her—"

Twilight looked like she was just insulted.

"Hello?! Peter is my good friend and my responsibility. I'm not about to step aside and have some random mare take him from me. I have plans with him! He's going to Canterlot with me, and I'm going to show him the time of his life and pamper him until he's as spoiled sick and as painted up as Rarity. Oven Fresh may be the best baker in Equestria, but I'm the goddamn Princess of Friendship. And if she thinks she's gonna steal him away from me with bread bowls and dinner biscuits? Oou… She doesn't have a clue about the kind of friendship skills I've acquired."

That was not the reaction Starlight was expecting, but she really should have.

Not really, but it was worth rolling with.

"So… you're pulling out all the stops for him, aren't you?"

Twilight grinned, channeling some of the confidence that Cerb prided himself on with his warrior spirit.

"Nothing’s off the table. Whatever it takes."

That's as close to a yes as Starlight needed.

"Great, Chris will be in the room next to mine, and I got your back for whatever you need."

Overhead, a gust of wind rushed in from the open ceiling, and the active Overwatch Team leader landed with an urgent message.

"Twilight, we’ve got movement from the south, lots of movement. Whatever it is, it's either really big, or there's a lot of them."

She followed Twilight, rushing to a window with a telescope to see for herself. It was almost like Twilight had expected this to happen.

"If there is no change of course, both the Recon Team and Cerb with Fluttershy and Rarity could end up in the direct path. We need to get them out or at least somewhere safe."

Twilight searched the dimly lit canopy and then finally located the signs of movement. Birds were fleeing to the sky in droves, and even some of the tree tops were shaking. The disturbance was too widespread to be one large creature.

This was exactly what Twilight was afraid of.

"Rainbow," Twilight stepped back and collapsed the telescope. "Take your team and split up. You're the fastest, so I want you to locate Cerb's team while the others locate Onyx Armor's group. Move as fast and as silently as possible, but above all else, make sure everypony makes it back here. Our best bet is to hold up here and utilize the castle's defensive position to protect Cerb and Benny.”

It was clear now why Cerb had planned so much and needed so much information. Evacuation routes, emergency procedures, defensive postures, weapons, armor, food, conflicts to expect, and external support. He wanted to be ready for anything, and he left everything Twilight would need to make the smartest choices given any scenario. Taking in consideration the lesson he taught her last night, she wasn’t going to let him down twice.

“Everypony that is not essential to security will fly back to Ponyville right now. Every Earth pony and unicorn not fit for battle will return with me to Ponyville. Any pegasi willing to stay behind will help with search and rescue."

Rainbow Dash saluted, "I'm on it Twi. Don't worry, we'll bring 'em home."

Starlight didn't like how serious the situation was growing or the fact that Twilight was leaving.

"Wait! Why are you going back to Ponyville?"

Twilight didn't stop but explained as she made her way to the steps.

"This isn't a training exercise anymore, as far as I'm concerned. Lives could be at risk. Anypony that isn’t fit to face the dangers that we do is going back, and I'm not taking any unnecessary risk. I'm bringing backup. While I'm gone, you stick with Benny. He's in charge until I get back, but Shining has operational control of our forces. You're the heaviest hitter I have with me right now. So I'm counting on you to hold off anything that Shining can’t keep out."

"Twilight, no!" Starlight shouted as she ran to her mentor's side. "The rest of our support is probably scattered all over town at this point. I can find them. You're in charge. They need you here. Let me take back the nonessential ponies and bring back… Who’s all our backup?”

So, I'm not going to do much of a recap this time, just a few things to go over.

First and foremost, Luna is fucking adorable.

Anyway, Fluttershy's dream shows that she did at least at one point understand sex, or at least witnessed it. So, if the dream is legit, she did honestly forget. Also... why the fuck didn't Cerb wake up?... or did he? DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! He didn't. El oh el.

Benny and Pinkie finally got close, so that's nice... though... wtf happened?

Also, Chris is in waaaaaay over his head and Starlight is... she's just fucking thirsty. There's no two ways about it. But, at least she's not against sharing.

Lastly... why does shit always have to go wrong just as you think it's over? What could be on it's way? Only one way to find out, and that's to tune in for the next installment with Chapter 62. Broken Arrow.

Also, a very big THANK YOU to The Fan Without a Face, as he has taken over as my editor, and has been doing a phenomenal job.

Oh, yeah! Not much to brag about, given how there are stories out that with a lot more well-known writers or now classic stories, I've reach a milestone of having 100 readers actively tracking Crossing The Trixie Bridge. I simply am blown away to discover that this work of fiction has garnered that much attention. Especially considering all the issues with my earlier chapters (something I'm slowly working on fixing, by the way).

But if you're reading this, Thank you. I appreciate the support and look forward to bringing you much more content.

Expect a lot more intensity in the next set of chapters.