It wasn’t going to be a long walk for Sniff out to Sugarcube Corner. Although it was a bit awkward making the trek while carrying a bottle of bourbon, though he couldn’t remember what brand it was. The label had been washed off from being kept in a cooler the summer from the year prior. One of the few outings at least most of the group was able to take part in.

Not that this was what he was thinking of at the moment. It just bugged him that he spent so much on it and couldn’t even remember what brand it was.

“Sniff!” A voice called out to him from behind. “There you are!”

Sniff turned around to see Amethyst Star trotting up to him, though she wasn’t smiling like she was the last time she had tried to catch up to him.

Whatever it was, however, he didn’t need this right now.

Amethyst started to slow down as he came to a stop.

“I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.“ She drew in close enough to see the current state that he was in. “Are you alright? You don’t look so well.”

Sniff did his best to be cordial in spite of growing impatience.

“Hey. I’m sorry, but this actually isn’t a good time for me.”

As expected, his response caused Amethyst to look uneasy.

“Does this have something to do with what happened in the castle today?”

Sniff didn’t have a statement ready for this and had to play it safe.

“There’s been a lot that happened today. If you’re talking about the screaming… That’s something I think Twilight is going to address. It’s not my place to say anything that might create confusion or lead anyone to think something’s wrong. But… I know you’ve been trying to get in touch with me. I know."

He was repeating himself. This wasn’t like him, and right now, he really needed some space.

"But I’m busy tonight, and tomorrow is going to be crazy. I can already tell. Is it okay if I get back with you after tomorrow?”

Amethyst gave an uneasy smile but, thankfully, wasn’t looking to pry.

“That’s perfectly fine, and I hope everything is okay, but if you need some pony to talk to, there’s a lot of us who are good listeners. And we also wanted to thank you for all the charity work you did for us. There’s a lot of good causes that are going to be very well supported this year because of all your help.”

Hearing that only seemed to make Sniff feel worse for having avoided her as she was just trying to thank him. Perhaps his need for sex was making him paranoid, and he would have to correct himself.

“I appreciate it. And I owe you for the inconvenience of having you run around like this. When we meet up, it'll be my treat.“ He saw her ready to speak up and probably tell him he didn’t have to, so he beat her to the punch. “And I won’t take no for an answer,” he said with a convincing enough grin.

Amethyst held silent for a moment with her mouth slightly open but conceded.

“I look forward to it. Have a good night, and… whatever’s bothering you, I hope it gets better.”

With that distraction out of the way, he made a beeline for the confectionary shop. Once inside again, Mrs. Cake greeted him with an empathetic smile. From behind the counter, she motioned with her eyes toward the far side of the shop.

In a small booth to themselves, Swift Sails sat in the outside seat of the booth, keeping Spike stuck on the inside. He sat with his head buried in his arms, surrounded by treats of all sorts. None of which were touched, save one slice of carrot cake, missing only a spoon fulls worth.

When Swift Sails noticed Sniff, she looked up and welcomed him with a brave smile, though that only served to hide how distraught she was.

“I hope you brought some good news.“ She turned back to Spike. “Even the best carrot cake doesn’t taste so sweet when you’re worried about somepony you care about.”

Mrs. Cake quietly stepped over, “I hope I’m not intruding on you."

She gave a knowing look of what must be happening. Not even her doors could ward off the horrific sounds that escaped the castle’s walls.

“I just wanted to see if I could get you anything.”

Sniff looked to Swift Sails and then to Mrs. Cake again.

“Actually, my good friend here loves what you do with your carrot cake. Would it be possible for her to see the kitchen you crafted this masterpiece in?”

Mrs. Cake took a look at the dish Swift Sails barely touched and quickly realized what he was really asking for before putting on the best smile she could.

“You know, I so rarely get somepony as invested in my baking that they would be so interested. I would love to give a tour. But, if you don’t mind, I might have to lock you in for a while, while I’m showing her around. I trust you and Spike not to make a mess in the meantime.”

Swift Sails left her seat with Mrs.Cake to give Sniff the space he needed. After quickly locking the front door and flipping the sign from open to closed, the two disappeared behind the counter, finally leaving the pair alone.

After a moment of silence, Spike finally spoke, his face never leaving the safety of his arms.

“Is Applejack okay?”

Sniff took a deep breath and prepared himself for the conversation that he knew was going to be about more than how she was doing.

“Yeah, bud. She’s good. Despite what you heard, she’s doing just fine.”

Rejecting the words of comfort, Spike kept his face hidden away.

“Sniff, Applejack is more than just my friend. I should have been there. I could've helped.”

Sighing, Sniff uncapped his bottle and poured himself a small shot in an empty water glass Swift Sails must have used.

“Yeah… it was rough, and I’m sorry…no, I’m not sorry we kicked you out like that. I’m just sorry any of this happened. I don’t know what else to say about any of it. Sometimes bad things just happen. But you didn’t need to see her go through that… I hated being there.”

Spike raised his head finally, showing his bloodshot eyes from likely untold hours of tears.

“Then, why did you? Why did any of you? Even if it was going to hurt me, why couldn’t I stay?”

Sniff dabbed his finger into Spike’s glass of water and let two drops fall into his bourbon.

“Cerb and Benny have training in taking care of field casualties. And as experienced warfighters, they have a better understanding of how to help someone like her tough it out. Chris is our brony expert, so we need him in case anything weird popped up. Big Mac is her brother, and there was no way we’re going to kick the royals out. Lumberman was taking care of Applejack, and still is back in their room for the night. Becky and Redheart, that’s obvious. The rest, just like me, were there to help keep everyone as calm and strong as possible. But even then, it was crowded in there.”

Spike glared his teary eyes at Sniff.

“Then why did you stay?”

Sniff picked up his glass and took his first sip.

“Spike… how many times have you had to hold someone you care about while they struggled to help someone screaming in pain? Or bleeding out and scared out of their mind? Do you know how to hold someone close when the shit gets so intense that you have to tell them that everything is alright? That the person, or pony, you both care about isn’t going to die despite everything you see trying to convince you otherwise? Do you even know what it’s like to stand back and watch someone you care about suffer, yet be helpless to do anything?”

Spike dropped his glare and sulked.

“No...I’ve only seen them scared at the worst.”

Sniff took a long stare at his glass before slamming what was left and then poured himself another.

“Spike… Today, I found out that one of my best friends had his whole life ruined because he watched someone suffer. All of us have suffered in one way or another. And I thought Cerb endured the worst of us because of everyone he lost and the months of surgeries to fix his torn-up body that he still suffers from today.”

He thought back to the early days after Cerb returned and how broken his friend was, all the venting rants Cerb went on about in his drunken rages.

“But in some ways, he’s also different. He knew every day when he woke up, and every night before he slept, he and anyone around him could be killed, and they would never see it coming. They all accepted that just to stop from going insane. So when it happened… they would hurt, but the shock and awe that makes even grown men crumble wasn’t there. They could grieve afterward, but they knew that… Hey… At any moment… This could be it.”

Sniff swirled his glass and guzzled a triple shot. As the burn worked its way down before settling in his gut, he set the glass down and poured another.

After another two drops of water fell into his glass, he tried to remember where he left off.

“Yeah… Benny—" He paused, remembering it wasn't his place to drop that information. "Shit, I wasn’t gonna say his name…“

He stared at his bottle, trying to gauge his tolerance.

“Well, fuck it. Now you know. He was the same way. He’d board ships out at sea and try to catch criminals and terrorists. At any moment, he and anyone else he served with could be shot or blown to pieces. But the person he watched suffer wasn’t a sailor… or a marine… or a soldier.“

Bracing himself to recount the grim facts, he took another sip from his glass.

“Cerb likes to call all your friends warriors. And I suppose they are… but they’re not soldiers. They don’t wake up every day, put on a suit of armor, and wonder if today's the day some psycho is gonna show up and murder them. That’s not how this world works. Hell, just the fact that any of you can bleed is suddenly a thing that can happen. So… believe me… you were not ready; you were not prepared. Shit… If not for the fact so many of them had to watch all of us break down and put on our best fake strong faces while Kelly was bleeding to death, I don’t think any of them would have been able to stomach what we saw. But you…"

There was so much more time Sniff needed to make sense of this for Spike. This drake was practically a man for all the years he's lived, yet still like a child. There was no clear-cut way to make this conversation palatable.

"You’re a lot like Benny in how invested you are in saving the innocent. Not just protecting them; you care. I’ve seen it in the way you interact with them. Just like him, you would have been blaming yourself and been suffering nightmares for a long time… and no one in that room wants that for you.”

Slightly overwhelmed by what he’d been told, Spike dropped the angry act.

“Is everypony else okay?”

Still holding the looking of someone calm and collected, Sniff took another sip and held his glass.

“We had a meeting after we finished taking care of Applejack. Everyone found out at the same time what happened to Benny… It didn’t make the night any easier for any of us. Everyone back there is hurting on the inside. So… I think—“ He quickly downed what was left in his glass. “—as a good friend, who isn’t getting drunk like me or half of my other friends, or busy taking care of Apple Smash or her family… I think they need someone who wasn’t there to be taken down a peg or two and just be a good friend. Preferably one with scales and kicks ass with the craziest green flames I have ever seen in my life.”

Spike smiled, happy at being reminded of how he was finally able to step up again and help.

“Well, I’m always good for that.”

Sniff chuckled, sadly pleased that his mind was somehow young enough to be so easily pacified.

“Spike… you’re a good guy. And I’m trying so hard not to say kid. And after seeing what you can do on the battlefield, dude, you’re not just brave. You are a force to be reckoned with, but your greatest strength is still taking care of others. Don’t get your priorities so mixed up that you take yourself away from doing the most good and taking hits you don’t need to. So, how about we get all these desserts packed up so you can head home and get some sleep. Come tomorrow, you can help everyone start the day off with an awesome breakfast to help bring their spirits up.”

With a new outlook, Spike smiled and hopped down from his seat.

“Sounds like a good idea. I’ll let Swift Sails know we’re ready to go.”

Sniff grabbed his bottle and stood up.

“I still have another stop to make tonight. I probably won’t be back until tomorrow. There’s some things out in town here that I need to help straighten out before tomorrow. And Twilight is going to be joining me for breakfast at seven with Oven Fresh.”

Spike stopped short of rounding the counter and looked up to Sniff disappointedly.

“Why are you not coming back tonight? Is everything alright?”

Sniff nodded, but he didn’t look all that convincing, and he knew it.

“Things are… I know they’re fine. But… I’m having a hard time dealing with everything, and I’m the kind of guy that needs time away from the problem to deal with it sometimes. That, and I need to let Oven Fresh know that Applejack is fine. I doubt she missed the screams and is worried about her.”

Spike could tell there was something else but decided to let it go and moved to change the subject.

“Oven Fresh is pretty cool. It’s nice to know there’s another fire breather in town. But, you go and make sure she’s okay. And if you have the time tomorrow, there’s something else I’d like to talk to you about. One on one. Man to Man?”

Sniff smiled and winked.

“Man to man? Yeah, I’ll be around,” he answered, sounding a bit more cheerful, unlocking the door and letting himself out.

Walking down to Oven Fresh’s place- What was that? Six shots he had? Seven? It was hard to tell just how much he was going to be feeling it since he couldn’t remember what proof that bourbon was. How much did it cost again?

Right… it was over two-hundred dollars and meant to be sipped. Had to have been at least ninety proof.

As late as it was, he hoped Oven Fresh would hear him knocking, but was surprised to see the light inside the shop was still on. So, cautiously, he opened the door and stepped inside.

With weary eyes, Oven Fresh sat up from behind the counter, “I’m sorry. I’m not actually open. I’m just waiting for-oh, my gosh, you're here.“

She ran up and threw herself around Sniff, slamming the door shut and locking it with her magic.

“I heard Applejack screaming and thought maybe something was happening in there. Then I saw Spike being carried away and thought the worst was happening. But as soon as I got there, the guards said that Celestia had ordered that nopony was allowed to enter.“

She pulled back with her hooves resting on his chest and looked him in the eyes, showing all her concern.

"What happened? Is everypony alright? You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Wordlessly, Sniff pulled her tightly against him and let go of the strong front he had been holding up.

“Holy shit, did it ever get bad in there… Applejack had over twenty huge fucking splinters jammed up in her hooves, and we had to rip and cut them out… Jesus fucking Christ, I’ve never seen someone suffer like that… And I’ve seen some serious shit. I can’t get it out of my head...and I can...I can still hear her screaming.”

Oven Fresh followed him down as he fell back against the door and slid to the floor.

It was clear Sniff wasn’t going to be able to hold up on his own tonight. He wasn't even going to try, and there wasn’t enough alcohol in his system to do him any favors.

“I didn’t know how bad shit was because your bodies are so different from ours. I feel terrible for lying to Twilight the whole time, telling her that everything was fine, but holy shit do you all bleed a lot. Thank fucking Christ, Chris was there… Turns out, there’s a lot of blood vessels and shit that run through your hooves and shit.”

Oven Fresh wasn’t fully following along, and his repetitive cursing only made it harder to understand.

“I… don’t know what exactly you're talking about.”

Frustrated, tired, and not nearly drunk enough, Sniff ran his fingers through his hair and took a few deep breaths.

“Did you know that one of the functions of your frogs is to help send blood back up to your body? And the further they had to cut in, the more they wanted to use magic, but there was too much of a risk of taking out more of her hoof on accident, which meant she probably would have bled to death."

The still-fresh memories of Applejack wailing as Cerb pressed his blade in deeper while her blood painted the bedding flashed in front of his eyes.

"Jesus… I don’t think everyone knows just how close we came to losing Applejack tonight.“ He gave a short pause as he realized something. “It’s been less than two weeks since we got here, and three of us have almost been murdered, assassinated, or torn apart by killer trees. And now one of you almost died trying to save us because Cerb was trying to save a bunch of you that were there to keep us safe while we're trying to save Becky… How the fuck can this be based on a kids' show?”

This was a bit too much for Oven Fresh to take in all at once. She couldn’t process it all, no matter how hard she tried. All she knew was that he was safer with her.

“Peter, I am so sorry, but I have no idea what’s going on anymore. Are you sure you and your friends are safe with Twilight if this is the way things are going?”

Sniff dropped his bottle, letting it tip over and roll away on the floor to cover his face with his hands.

“That’s another thing. This feud with you and Twilight has got to stop. I don’t know who started it, or who made it worse, but Twilight knows she screwed up and wants to apologize.“

He pulled his hands free to let his arms go limp.

“There is so much going on that I don’t know how she’s holding it together. She’s still up there in her castle trying to work things out with the three of the four other royals because of some serious shit I can’t even talk about because it’s that big. But she and I worked everything out. It was just a big misunderstanding, not unlike any we’ve had. The big difference was that I was a huge jerk to her when we first met, and there was some other drama with her because of another friend of mine, and she took it the wrong way and totally understands why she reacted the way she did… She wants to do breakfast with us tomorrow at seven, and I’m begging you, please, to just sit down and talk with her.”

After hearing all that, Oven Fresh, despite all the odd things Sniff had already said, knew she couldn’t say no without sounding like she was the problem.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll be civil and see if we can’t straighten things out.”

Sniff rolled his eyes up into his head and huffed, just wanting this pointless feud to be over.

“Look, long story short, her whole thing is friendship, and we got pretty tight, then she thought she screwed everything up and wasn’t being a good friend. Then in comes you, being the amazing, wonderful, beautiful, uber-powerful, living flamethrower that you are.“ He gave her a grin after seeing her light up. “She thought you were trying to steal me away, as a friend. And just like you, probably just got a little overprotective.”

That brought up a case of Déjà Vu that Sniff could more than relate to.

“Believe me. I did the same thing to Starlight when I thought she said the wrong thing to one of my friends and treated him poorly. That’s just how we do. No one is wrong in all this.”

Oven Fresh clearly didn’t like hearing this but gave in. Sniff meant too much to her. Far more than to allow something so contrived as a princess having a tiff interfere with staying close to her stallion.

“Fine, I’m not going to hold a grudge against her. I just… Peter, I just met you, and I’m sorry, but I really like you and don’t want to see anything bad happen to you.”

Sniff reached out and pulled her in close against him.

“I know. My friends showed me what you did out there… That was some scary crazy stuff. And you didn’t back down at all, because I asked you to go. You two will get along just fine. Believe me, Twilight cares about me just as much as you do… But she’s not tricking me into dates or posing in short skirts.”

He wanted to laugh at the cute look Oven Fresh was giving him but was more concerned with ending their dispute.

“We’re just friends. You have nothing to worry about. ”

Oven Fresh rolled her eyes as Sniff relaxed her hold on her before she walked away to pick up Sniff’s bottle.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

Sniff went limp against the door, letting the back of his head hit with an audible thud.

“I’m distracted with good company, I guess.”

Oven Fresh held up the bottle in her aura, curious as to what new drink he brought over.

"And I'm happy to have yours… and what is this?"

Sniff looked over to see her examining the bottle.

"Really expensive bourbon. It'd be about two-hundred and fifty bits in your currency."

Her eyes went wide. A bottle of anything cost that much?

"Holy smokes! That's a lot of bits just for a drink." She turned to him, a grin slowly forming. "Is it any good?"

Sniff shrugged, a little smirk curling in the corner of his mouth, the bourbon finally kicking in.

“It’s an acquired taste. It’s supposed to be refined and sophisticated… The kind you sip and not guzzle like I did.”

Oven Fresh snorted with a laugh as she trotted over to sit with him on the floor.

“Well, why’d you go and do that?”

Sniff took hold of the levitating bottle, ready for another go to help him through the night.

“Because… just like the alcohol we shared at our welcome party, if you drink enough of it, you might feel better. And if you drink a lot of it, you can feel numb inside… a little more, and you can forget what’s going on around you and—“ He paused as he watched her happy expression slide away. “—not feel so miserable.”

Oven Fresh put her hoof over Sniff’s hand, still holding the bottle.

“Is that what you’re trying to do?”

Sniff lowered his eyes to the floor, his prior desire to drink fading. At least to the point of what he was planning.

“I thought I was going to. I drank enough to get a warm tingly feeling going, but… not enough to really change anything in me… I… had to help Spike out of a rough spot after I made Swift Sails fly him out of the castle so he didn’t have to watch us get all the splinters out of Applejack. I needed something to help me through it, but I managed to figure out the right things to say to him. Helped him out a lot faster than I thought I would be able to.”

Oven Fresh took a good long look at how miserable he really was and started to see the tells of how he hid it.

“Peter, would you like to stay with me tonight? If you need time away from everything going on with the rest of your friends, I already offered you a place to stay. And, even though I was hoping to teach you how to make dinner rolls tonight, I don’t think that’s what you really need right now.”

She made an expression that said she just remembered something.

“Tell you what. I imagine you don’t want a lot of extra attention right now from random ponies walking by. So how about you grab two glasses from the kitchen, your fancy bourbon, and anything from the shelves you think might be nice to snack on tonight. I’ll go get the room ready for you upstairs so we can just take it easy for the rest of the night and let you unwind.”

Sniff looked at his bottle and thought that maybe another drink wouldn’t hurt. It was what he wanted anyway.

“I don’t know if you’ll like it, but… yeah.”

Oven Fresh closed her eyes and smiled with a happy sigh.

“I’ll meet you upstairs. Glasses are in the second cupboard to the right, and there’s a basket next to the sink to put everything in. Oh, and even if you’re not hungry, could you at least grab a sourdough roll or two for me?“

She turned and headed for the stairs, not even giving him time for any follow-up questions.

“Thank you, and if you could turn the lights off before you head up, I’d appreciate it.“

Reaching the stairs, she raised her voice to holler back to him, “Sometimes, ponies think I’m still open if I leave the light on. Kind of annoying when they start knocking on the door, and it’s almost midnight!”

Sniff stood up with his bottle. Standing up straight, he realized just how not drunk he was, after all. Granted, the fact he hadn’t eaten since breakfast wasn't going to help if he kept drinking, so bread was definitely on the menu for him tonight. However, his positive outlook slanted when he entered the kitchen.

He closed the second cupboard on the right, having found it to be empty.

“How the fuck does she not know where are dishes are at?“ He turned towards the stove. “And where the fuck is the basket?”

Not wanting to be a bother, he took matters into his own hands to search for what he needed.

The glasses were in a cupboard over the sink, and he hastily grabbed three. Sadly, he had less luck with the basket, unable to find it in any cupboard.

Annoyed at his lack of success, he filled one of the glasses with water for the bourbon and figured he was going to have to carry everything in his arms if he couldn’t find something to put the snacks in.

Of course, that impromptu plan only lasted until he walked behind the counter and saw a stack of baskets. Even if that wasn’t the one she probably wanted, that’s what he was going to use, and carefully stacked everything in before searching the shelves for the rolls she wanted.

He saw a short loaf of what must have been their version of Italian bread that looked good enough to grab. Then a few scones.

He’d never actually liked scones before, but hers were softer, sweeter, and overall easier on the pallet.

In the end, what should have taken two minutes took almost ten for all the digging around he had to do. If she didn’t think he was an idiot for not finding everything right away, she might have wondered if he’d upped and ditched her.

Best to have a good line for when he walked in.

Thankfully, he was only a little tipsy at best. Not drunk enough that he couldn’t think of a good excuse as he neared the top step...or have to worry about tripping over his own feet.

“Sorry, I must have heard you wrong when you told me where to look. But I got us more than enough to hold us over for—“

As soon as he entered the room, he realized that he walked right into her trap. The lights had dimmed, with only a few candles lighting the room. Freshly opened incense had replaced the empty, stale, wooden scent the loft had during his last visit. But there on the bed, comfortably waiting for him with her legs folded underneath her, lay Oven Fresh in a set of stockings, a short open vest, and her short skirt facing his direction to greet him.

If Sniff didn’t know any better, she must have thrown on some eyeliner and lipstick.

She softly flashed her eyelashes up and down as she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Sorry for the bad directions. I didn’t think you would feel up to going out for dinner, but if you already had a special drink for us to share, then I should at least dress up for the occasion.”

He had been bested and couldn’t have been any happier for it.

“You know—“ He grinned, smiled with a huff, then chuckled and shook his before looking up at her again. “You set me up so smoothly, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”

Oven Fresh curled herself towards him, bringing the front of her vest more into view and her top rear leg in, exposing more of herself without knowing what it was doing to him.

“Well, after what you picked out for me at Rarity’s shop, I remembered that I still had a few things lying around that were at least sort of close to what you asked for.“ She playfully rolled her eyes, knowing he liked what he saw, but still felt a little silly for rushing into the sudden act of dressing up. “And since I know how much you enjoy seeing a cute little mare in a short skirt, I figured I might at least dress up for you so you have something more to take your mind off of things.”

Sniff sat down on the bed in front of her with a delighted grin on his face.

“I think you were hoping I would see something I wanted to put my hands on.”

Oven Fresh turned her face away and blushed, her previously seductive persona vanishing.

“Noooo. That’s not at all what I was thinking.“ She turned her eyes back to him. “Not that I wouldn’t love that, but I’m not doing this for me. Please don’t think… Okay. I probably can’t convince you otherwise after I lit the candles and opened the incense. That might have been a bit much.“

She grinned and tried to look innocent.

“Sorry.”

With an inappropriate show of mirth, Sniff started to pour them both a small glass.

"If this is something you want to do for me, I got no right to stop you." He gave another glance over her thighs. "And I lack the willpower and desire to ask you to do otherwise."

Oven Fresh giggled as Sniff moved his finger from the glass of water and let two drops fall into each of their glasses.

“I still don’t know what it is you like about this so much. I know it’s cute and all, but… you really like it that much?“ She turned on the bedroom eyes and spoke again in a sultry voice, “Or is it just me?”

Sniff handed Oven Fresh her drink, and they toasted their glasses.

“You really have no idea what turns me on about you wearing that, do you?”

Oven Fresh grinned as she took her first sip, but it turned to confusion, then shock as the flavor overtook her.

“Wow… that is… I was going to say horrible, but then it—”

Sniff toasted her glass again as she tried to assess how to unpack the flow of unique flavors.

“You, my dear, have an acquired taste.”

She giggled quietly as the bourbon gave her a deeper blush, the alcohol hitting her almost immediately.

“Judging by the company I keep, I’d say it’s certainly good taste. But, no. I honestly don’t know. I thought you had an appreciation for fashion or happened to have a thing for mares that dress cute.”

“Ovens...“ Sniff set his drink down in the basket and took on a more serious tone, “I want to ask you something, and no matter what you do, please understand that when I ask this, it’s coming from a place of complete ignorance about parts of your culture.”

Oven Fresh set her drink down and prepared to hold back her embarrassment, or at least not laugh in his face.

“After our last discussion, I can only imagine this must be a real doozy of a question.”

Sniff held his breath, getting ready for her worst reaction.

“What is your culture’s view on sex and other forms of physical intimacy?”

For a moment, Oven Fresh looked as if she was waiting for the real question to come, only to realize that was the whole question.

“Oh? Um… I don’t think we really have much of an opinion on it. So long as a mare and a stallion love each other and want to start a family, then it’s perfectly normal.”

Despite being a very flat and straightforward question, Sniff seemed disappointed in her answer.

“Oh… alright. So, you’re all very traditional with… Well, traditional by our standards. I guess that’s probably why you have no issues having to cover up. Makes sense.”

Oven Fresh mulled over that last statement while nibbling on a dinner roll.

“I suppose that is our tradition, but what does that have to do with us covering... Wait, covering up what?”

Sniff was halfway into a bite when it dawned on him that she missed the biggest part of his question.

“Oh, my god. You really don’t know.”

Oven Fresh pushed a smile, but it was one of embarrassment, yet she had no idea what she felt embarrassed about.

“I don’t know what?”

Sniff shifted to sit Indian style, careful not to knock over anything in the basket as he contemplated the latest minefield he found himself navigating.

“Okay… again… complete ignorance of your culture. Please explain to me how sex is performed between a mare and a stallion.”

Oven Fresh rolled her eyes at what seemed like an easy question.

“You can’t be serious? Everypony knows what… well… you know they… Uum…“ Her cute bemusement made a sudden shift to looking lost and confused. “Is this a trick question? Because I… know I know, but… No, I couldn’t have forgotten how… um… Could yooooou maybe jog my memory?”

Sniff couldn’t believe this. He’d met married couples and even at least two with foals of their own. Not to mention a royal nerd who was supposed to be the smartest thing of four legs; this wasn’t possible, shouldn’t be possible.

“Oh, my god… none of you know. I—“ He struggled to make sense of any of this. “So, you have no idea how your vagina comes into play for having sex?”

Oven Fresh looked shocked and maybe even a little insulted.

“What? That’s disgusting. How would—“ It finally occurred to her that she had no clue what sex actually was, and she changed her tone. “I’m sorry. I… I guess I don’t know,” she answered depressingly.

Sniff slung his head, saved from his perversions by her ignorance.

"Ovens… I'm so sorry. I totally misread what you were doing, and what I hoped was normal for me might be normal here… and I can't believe I just admitted that."

Oven Fresh stared with her mouth agape, then knocked back the rest of her drink.

"Okay, maybe we're getting a lot of things mixed up here. Do humans normally not get married before having foals?"

Sniff poured himself another shot and drank it straight, making sure he was at least sufficiently buzzed for this.

"Okay, so—" He made a face like he swallowed a jalapeno. "Oh, that's not gonna sit well. Oof. Anyway… so, I have to apologize, because where I come from, sex is something we often do casually, with no intent of having kids. Just strictly as a pleasure thing....or stress relief."

Everything Oven Fresh was hearing wasn't making any sense. Not just in principle, but the whole concept of sex without marriage or starting a family seemed to go against the whole purpose. She didn't even know what to ask.

Sniff could see the stone face looking back at him and knew if he was going to make any headway, he was going to have to lay down the most basic foundation of biology for her. God save his sanity if this was going to be as cringe-inducing as their underwear conversation.

“Holy shit… Okay, let me give you the rundown.”

And thus, began a long and detailed...very detailed, explanation on biology and sex.

While the discussion left him feeling more than a little awkward, he quickly noticed something. The more and more he explained, the more Oven Fresh would draw in closer, but she also did more to cover herself.

After Oven Fresh heard everything from the process of arousal to insemination and birth, with hand gestures to visualize the process, she didn't know what to think.

"Peter… I've made dishes with ingredients that shouldn't mix, and even understand some complex spells and potions that go against our traditional understanding of magic… but this is almost too much to take in. Metaphorically, not literally." She gave him a perplexed look. “And you wanted to do that with me?"

Sniff went to pour himself another drink, but Oven Fresh pulled the bottle out of reach and scolded him, "No. I want you to answer me without numbing yourself. You… wanted to start a family with me?"

Sniff sighed, really wanting that drink if he was going to continue this conversation, but knew he was gonna have to power through without alcohol’s sweet release.

"First off, I skipped the part where I can't get you pregnant. I don't know if you have some magic biology that lets your race breed outside of your species, but we can't. And even if your magic does let you, it turns out that magic doesn't exactly work on us. Certainly not in that regard. So, no… we could never have kids together no matter how much we try."

Oven Fresh closed her eyes and slowly shook her head.

"This changes everything, or at least it should. Peter… I really, really like you. I wanted to see if you were the one for me. But I also want to have a family of my own one day. And now, I realize that I didn't even know how to start one. And if what you say is true, and other ponies are going to be taken back by as I was… I don't know how I'm going to make this work."

She suddenly found herself at a crossroads. Should she go after what she thought she wanted, knowing it could never happen, or listen to her heart? Then again, if he knew this, why would he want it?

“But… you still wanted to do this with me."

Sniff immediately reached for the bottle but again and had it pulled out of reach, leaving with the only option of explaining himself if he wanted to either move forward or drink more.

"Ovens… I tried really hard to convince myself that I was never going to be interested in any pony here. Humans don't take a sexual interest in… non-humans. But then I got to know you and… I really like the kind of woman you are. Pony or not, you are fun, smart, and far more confident than most women I know. All of that really got me interested in you.“

He grinned, trying to break up the drama with a little humor.

“But then you put on that damn skirt and… I dunno. I mean, yes, I have a weakness for them, but… it also… I dunno.”

The humor was fading in his tone and becoming more serious as he started to take a closer look at how he even got this far.

“It… aroused me seeing that part of you like it was framed for me. And I think I associated it with everything that was human about you to me and… I don't know what to say other than I found myself wanting to at least try to do something more with you."

Oven Fresh started to relax more as Sniff opened up and decided to pour them both a drink. As he reached for his glass, she pulled it back and held up the water glass for him. It took him a second, but he understood why she was holding it for him, and he dipped his finger inside.

After dropping the water in their glasses and being allowed to sip his drink, being how she pulled it down when he tried to slam it, he continued to explain.

"The other night when I offered you that… special massage... that was me testing the waters, so to speak. And you were so into it, and I thought you wanted it but were playing hard to get or just being cute.”

On second thought, perhaps that was a lie. Although, even without the alcohol, he still wouldn’t have known back then.

“Maybe I was just lying to myself and wanted you to want that… But it got to the point where I realized you didn't know. Or at least didn't know what foreplay was or… I didn't know what you knew. So I stopped."

Oven Fresh ran through her thoughts as she sipped her drink.

"I did want it. I may not have known what it actually was, but I didn't want you to stop."Feeling a little more buzzed, she gave a nervous smile. "I've been thinking about it ever since. Hoping that if I got a little closer to you that we could give it another try. But... that's not what you said sex was. So, what was it you were doing?"

Sniff took another sip and set his drink down. If she was going to be completely honest, he might as well, too.

"I'm a pleasure seeker. I love… not just what feels good for me, but also making others feel that as well. And after the great time we had and seeing you enjoy even a regular massage as much as you did, I got carried away and wanted to give you an orgasm because I thought you were interested in me in that way. I mean, despite everything I learned from you, about why you didn't cover up, at the very least, you had to know.”

Again, he reminded himself that her honesty deserved his. What he was saying was shifting the blame, even ever so slightly, and that was nothing like the person he wanted to be.

“Well, no… I guess I wanted to believe you knew. But if I was right, then… well, to be honest, I wasn’t planning on having sex with you that night. Like I said. I just wanted to make you cum. I tend to get more enjoyment out of that than I do getting off myself.“

He saw her deadpan and realized where he misspoke.

“Cum, or cumming, and getting off are just other ways of saying orgasm or ejaculation. People don’t use technical terms when talking normally with each other bout this kind of stuff.”

“Oh…” Oven Fresh again found herself missing some of the pieces to put this all together. “How… How would you do that if we weren’t going to have sex?”

Needing another pick-me-up, Sniff finished the last sip of his glass and handed it back to her for a refill.

“That’s another big difference in our cultures, I guess. We have a lot of ways to make each other cum without actually having vaginal sex.”

Oven Fresh slowly froze, letting more than just a shot’s worth pour into his glass.

Thankfully, Sniff quickly reached out and tipped the bottle up with only two shots worth in his glass.

“Easy there, and I’m sorry. I only gave you the most basic aspects of sex for the purpose of getting pregnant. You see, women got it made. As great as an orgasm feels, guys really only got one option. Stimulating the penis, as I told you, is what’s needed to make a guy ejaculate. But for the ladies. There’s a lot more ways to make you cum than penetration. What I was going to do was work my fingers over your clit… assuming you have one. But, that would be more masturbation than anything else. And no, even if you did that with another pony, or whatever else is out here, you can’t get pregnant from that.”

There was a lot for her to try and process after all of that. Unfortunately, it left her reassessing her entire pursuit with him.

“Peter… I don’t know what to think anymore. I like you, but I also want a family. But I can’t hold our differences against you just because we can’t have a foal together. That's not your fault, and it doesn’t make you not a great stallion-man, I mean.”

In a sudden fit of confusion and inner turmoil reaching its limit, Oven Fresh grunted in frustration before rolling onto her back, clutching her head. She rolled back and forth a few times and mumbled incoherently.

Honestly, it would have been cute until she started bucking her back legs like she was pedaling a bicycle and nearly tipped over their drinks, had Sniff not caught the basket in time.

After the kicking stopped and her body fell flat, Sniff assumed any good graces he had with her were over.

“So… I guess this is the part where you tell me to leave, and you never want to see me again. But before you kick me out, just know that I never had any intention of doing anything that—”

“I don’t want you to go,” Oven Fresh lamented, eyes still glued to the ceiling. “I’m… I just don’t know what to do anymore… I had this stupid idea in my head that I could win you over, and maybe you would be a good husband, and we could get married and…"

Sniff turned away from her on the bed and sulked.

"It's fine. Believe me. I get it. You don't have to apologize for wanting something as wonderful as—" He sulked even further. "You're making the right choice. And not that I think you need it, if you wanted any help finding a stallion that's more your type, I'll probably end up meeting a lot of bachelors when my marketing business takes off. I'd be more than happy to introduce you to them."

He turned to see why she was being so quiet and could see how crushed she was. This was what he was afraid of. She didn’t just like him; she fell in love. She wanted something real, long term, marriage, a family… and he robbed her of all of it. He hurt her in all the ways he never wanted to.

"You're lucky that you already have the confidence to pursue what you really want and stick with it. But at the very least, I'd like to stay friends. We don't have to be a couple or date…"

He couldn't take his eyes off her, looking up at him like he was the one breaking it off.

"We can still make those rolls if you… I should probably stop now, shouldn't I?"

Oven Fresh rolled herself upright and moved herself to sit next to Sniff.

"Peter, you have nothing to apologize for or feel guilty about. You've been nothing but kind and respectful to me. And unlike me, you've been honest about what you wanted and where you stood with something that you were clearly unsure and uncomfortable with, but you still gave me a chance... I wasn't honest with you or myself."

She leaned against him, understanding how utterly busted everything was between them.

"When you told me that you just wanted to date and I said you didn't have to commit to anything, I was committed and treated this like you were, even if you didn't think it. That was my fault for walking into this so blindly, fully aware there was so much I didn't know about you."

Sniff laid his arm around her and did his best to comfort her.

"I told you before that I don't do well being alone. I shouldn't have pursued this knowing that what I wanted—"

"Peter," she spoke his name in a desperate voice that demanded his attention. "You told me you're here for a fun time, not a long time."

She laid her cheek against his chest and dragged it up until the bridge of her muzzle was pressing its soft fuzz under his chin.

"So, if I only have you for a short time—" Sniff inhaled sharply, knowing full well where this was going, but failed to pull himself away.

"Ovens—" Sniff's words suddenly were locked in his throat.

Slowly, Oven Fresh pressed further into him and kissed his neck. "—can we at least make it a fun time?"

She nuzzled in closer despite him not actively returning the affection but continued to softly speak out her requests.

"Show me what I don’t know about everything you want under my skirt. We can go slow if that’s how you want to do this, but please don't leave me wanting this when I know you want it, too."

As this lonely woman in wanting, pined for his affection, he took in the sweet scent from her.

It was soft and alluring, yet still overpowered the incense that filled the room. At the same time, it was richer and harder to avoid than the smell of baked dough that was entrenched in her mane. It stimulated his thoughts and left him more excited and eager to give in. This perfume she was emitting, even if subtle, was overwhelming and melded into him like the bourbon they shared.

He couldn’t feel so miserable having her this close, nor could the reality that she was innocent of the lustful desires he was used to weigh against him. Or at least she was until he introduced them to her. She was still innocent.

Pure.

Soft.

Warm.

“Ovens,” Sniff softly spoke her name and brought his hand up to stroke her neck, down to her shoulder under her vest. “I won’t string you along, and I can’t commit to a future so uncertain… but I want to give this to you tonight. Only this tonight, though. I’m not ready to go farther for reasons I still need to work through.“

He moved his head back and brushed his nose to hers before tilting up, then kissed her tenderly.

“Lay down for me.”

Taking his lead, Oven Fresh turned and laid flat on her bed with her legs stretched out behind as she had their last time. To her surprise, Sniff joined her on the bed, half-seated next to her, and helped her to lay on her back. Apparently, he was actually going to stay lying with her.

Once situated, Sniff gave her a cautious look. He was wary but still excited to venture forward on this experience.

"Just relax and let me feel things out again. If there is anything I do you don't like, don't hold it back. Be honest with what you do or don't like. This isn't about what I like. We can explore that another time when I'm ready… Are you?"

Oven Fresh nodded silently without a hint of hesitation.

"Okay," Sniff softly answered before he started to get into position.

Sniff remained lying on his side, letting his left arm rest under Oven Fresh's neck and bringing his right hand into the tuft of fur on her chest. He started slowly with what felt like how a normal massage would begin. Gentle rubs worked their way down over her barrel and stopped to feel over her breast.

Sniff noticed a sudden shift in Oven Fresh's breathing.

"That feel good when I do that?"

After a few short breaths, she brushed her lips against his neck.

"It all feels nice, but that caught me by surprise. Still, keep going, please."

There wasn't much to her breast, but Sniff took his time exploring them.

Her skin was shockingly far more exposed, the hairs much finer the further south he ventured he came to find.

It was nice to find that with some lite brushes and gentle tugs between his fingers, her nipples hardened and perked in all the ways he would have expected with his former lovers. Even a playful pinch or twist caused her to arch, moan, or yelp at the attention she was given, which only emboldened his efforts as he moved on to what she was waiting for.

Before starting this, he wanted to give her the experience he knew how to give. That meant moving slowly as he worked his palms up and down her inner thighs and the crest of her hips, meeting her slender legs.

This is where his teasing began.

It started with letting a finger nudge briefly against her silky lips, his thumb sliding over the peak of her mound, a fingertip faintly tracing dangerously close to the divide that glistened under the dim, auburn lights still glowing around them.

Every moment of contact with her increased the intensity building up, leaving her chest heaving with subtle whimpers creeping out and her legs quivering.

Sniff had been diligent in his work and observed what worked best for her, but was surprised to see just how fast she was nearing what had to be a climax.

"I don't think you're going to last much longer at this rate," he spoke in a whisper. "Do you need me to slow down?"

In response, Oven Fresh reached behind Sniff's neck, pulled him close, and showed what she wanted as she searched his lips for another taste of bourbon before pulling back with dreamy eyes.

"Keep going. If this gets better, please show me."

Sniff grinned and kissed her back, just as gently as their first.

"You'll know it when you feel it. Just tell me if it becomes too much."

With only the tip of his middle finger, Sniff slid down and parted her folds from peak to base. His finger, now slick from her aching depths, laid flat along her slit as he pulled it back and forth in slow rocking motions.

Such an overwhelming flurry of sensations, Oven Fresh arched her chest up, gasping reflexively. The impulses from her inner lips, treated by the talents of the man she seduced, left her jaw slack. She heaved with shallow cries of ecstasy, each breath a plea for more of his attention.

Her pleas were hastily heard and answered with his finger curling into her folds as he pulled back, only before then plunging forward again into her virgin depths, stroking his palm over her exposed clit peeking out under its hood.

Inside, she was tight. Not so much that a finger was uncomfortable, but sex would have taken some patience. But even with the ease of access she offered, every stroke in and out hugged aggressively on his digit. He could feel the bands of muscles that tried to hold him in place ripple past each joint in his finger, fighting to hold even the tip inside. Even her pink pearl was attacking his hand, pressing up against his palm and dancing around his finger as he twirled circles around it's bulbous form.

What little control she had left withered as she dug her hooves into covers and raised her hips up into his hand. Her motions continued, thrusting up against his palm and pushing his digit in further. Her whimpers began to shorten, and her pants grew faster until she cried out, knowing this was what he wanted for her.

Her hips locked, and her legs held tight while Sniff took control, furiously fucking her with his hand. The sight of her body's welcomed violation retreated into the darkness when her eyes clenched shut, her body filling with electric delights.

She held still as the waves of pleasure crashed against her inside, filling her dark vision with stars and her mind with nothing but the sensations that left her paralyzed.

Then, slowly, the peak began to waiver, leaving her left leg feeling weak, followed by her right, as both gave out.

Her body fell flat on the mattress, but Sniff's hand never strayed, still knuckles deep and petting her inner walls with small, subtle strokes.

The peak had left her, but it felt as if the rise just before the climax had returned, leaving her overwhelmed to the point she couldn't tell if it was just as wonderful as the climax or simply painful.

Sniff nudged her cheek with his nose and hummed.

"Was it good?"

"Yes," she gasped. "It was—" She felt his thumb start to trace around her clit. "Stop-Stop. That's too much."

Immediately, Sniff pulled his thumb away and held his middle finger motionless against her spasming snatch.

"Sorry. You're a bit more sensitive than I thought."

Oven Fresh reached down and brought Sniff's hand back against her, returning his finger completely inside.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Mmmmph… because it doesn't feel like a bad thing."

Sniff chuckled and returned to teasing her inside.

"Well, for you, it's not really a bad thing at all. I mean… God damn. You came in less than three minutes."

Her inner muscles flexed down the length of Sniff's finger, sending another wave of pleasure that pulsed through her body.

"Oou… Ooh…" She blinked a few times, trying to remember what they were talking about "Oh… Is that normal?"

Sniff fiddled his digit around inside, making his finger puppet squirm and clamp her legs around his hand.

"Don't know. You're my first."

Deep inside, the stimulation from the vibrating finger spread through her loins and sent tingling sensations up her spine. She moaned and trembled as the pleasure began to spike.

As she lay there, helplessly taking in all the care her man was providing. He hit a particular spot that made her yelp, coming down with a whine as her body locked up.

suddenly concerned again, Sniff ended his teasing immediately.

“Was that too much, or did it hurt?”

Her eyes were still closed, and she was panting wildly.

“No. Emm-Mmm,” she did her best to answer before she calmed herself enough to speak clearly. “No… that felt… Actually, everything feels… I swear by Mistmane’s fabled garden, that felt like how something as beautiful as her miracles must have looked.“

She squeezed her legs tighter around his hand and started to grind into his trapped limb with a moan.

“Mmm, and by that, I mean you almost me cum again.”

Sniff was impressed, in part that she apparently was quick to pick up on the vernacular.

“Oh… you’re going to be lots of fun.”

Oven Fresh giggled for a moment but winced when Sniff’s hand shifted and pressed against her clit again.

“Oou… that’s… that’s still a bit too much, but…“ She flinched and looked at him with pleading eyes. “Can you do that finger thing again?”

Sniff was about to start but saw another question waiting on the tip of her tongue.

“You okay for me to start again?”

She licked her lips and looked around the room for a moment before returning her eyes back to him.

“Could I make one, maybe, really strange request?”

Sniff chuckled and grinned, a perverse sense of excitement growing.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of the adventurous type. How can I feed your fetish tonight?”

“Fetish?” She asked, clueless, but eager.

Sniff rolled his eyes, a little annoyed he had to fill in so many blanks, yet oddly amused with enthusiasm.

“Sorry, sex term. It basically means something you would desire or get a lot of sexual gratification from, but typically isn’t directly or even closely related to traditional sex. Sooooo, technically, I could say you have a hand fetish.”

“Oh?” Oven Fresh purred before turning her attention to the basket and levitating over her glass of bourbon.

“I don’t know if I would get gratification out of this.“ She gave Sniff a guilty look. “Actually, I’m pretty sure it will, but… I really like the taste of our drink on your lips. Could we maybe, I mean, if we even can… share a drink while we kiss, and you do the finger thing?”

Sniff looked at the glass floating by his face, intrigued and a little mischievous.

“I’m a little tied up at the moment. Can you bring the glass up for me?”

Sniff didn’t take in much of the drink for them to share.

As it turns out, no matter how hot you think something like that is, one, any drink you share is essentially backwash at that point, and it never tastes as good as you think it would when you receive it. Two, it’s usually messy. And three, that bourbon may have been smooth, but if it goes down the wrong pipe, it’s both uncomfortable and usually ends up killing the vibe. However, just enough to wet your lips and coat your tongue? That’s what you’re looking for and that's what Sniff was giving.

After setting the glass down, Oven Fresh returned her attention to Sniff, eagerly re-engaging their kiss.

As soon as he felt her tongue venture out to taste him, he returned the gesture and put his finger to work again.

It was better than she had hoped for. Feeling his lips against hers, the sensation of their tongues intertwined with the lingering honeyed melodies of bourbon, her convulsing sex dripping with sweet rewards of another approaching climax, yet still, she desired more.

She pulled Sniff closer and pressed her tongue deep to savor the hints of caramel and oak that gave way to another sweetness that was as pleasing as the scent of clover it came with.

Oven gave a throaty moan that hummed heavenly into her lover's core. Her moans again quickened, and her muscle clamped in downward strokes on his finger stirring up her insides.

Then, again it hit.

Sniff felt her body clamp down on him so tightly he could barely move his finger, trapped below the soft lips that convulsed around the imprisoned appendage. She truly was an immaculate specimen, the likes of which he had never seen. It was as if her body and personality were built for sex.

Seeing how quickly she could adapt to and embrace this lascivious lifestyle, there was no way in hell he could think this was a show they were in, much less one intended for children. This had to be something different altogether if she could become this lewd and sultry. She could even be too much for him to handle without becoming addicted himself. He had to stop before he lost any more of his inhibitions and convinced her to try something that might end up hurting her.

For the time being, though, her climax had left her flooding over his knuckles while her body was floating with ecstasy, even after her peak started to drift away. Eventually, she broke free from the kiss to catch her breath.

“Peter… how… long can I… we… keep doing this?”

Sniff kept his hand as still as possible while inside her and quietly laughed.

“If I had to guess, and certainly hope, longer than ten minutes. Although with a pussy like yours and the way I felt it grip down on my finger, I might not even last that long.”

Oven Fresh practically vibrated at the idea of it.

“Can we do that next?”

It took every fiber of his being to remain strong.

“Ovens… believe me, I want to… so fucking badly right now, but I think I need to stop here for the night.”

Oven Fresh’s face switched from her excited smile to a look of concern and obvious disappointment.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? Did I hurt your hand when I had one of my orgasms?”

Sniff felt his erection flare even harder in his pants at her mentioning her orgasms. The sudden sexual jolt was so fast it actually made him groan uncomfortably.

“No. You were… oh, there are so many more things I want to do with you, and you have no idea how much more we can do. But we agreed to start slow and that this was all I was offering you tonight.”

Oven Fresh finally relaxed her legs from Sniff’s hand but greedily tightened again when he tried to pull it away.

“Sorry… I’m still, uh… It-It’s nice just having it there, still. But, can we be open about this so I can know what’s going on with you? Even as just a friend that you will hopefully have sex with someday soon?” she asked with a guilty smile.

Sniff chuckled, finding himself admiring this mare more and more.

“I’ll talk if you give me my hand back.”

Oven Fresh groaned but released his hand, though she tried to follow it up as he pulled away.

“Gah… I miss it already.”

Sniff took a quick examination of his fingers and the impressive amount of fluids he extracted with them.

“I can tell.“

He put his hand off to the side and hoped it would air dry. 'Hoped' being the operative word… she was incredibly wet, after all.

“But, yeah… I have a bit of a problem. Not really a terrible one, but… I am addicted to this. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to do this with you, and one of the reasons I stopped the first time.”

For a moment, Oven Fresh couldn’t tell if that was a joke for how obvious this could be addicting or if there was something else she was missing.

“Why is being addicted to this a bad thing? No. How is being addicted to this a bad thing?”

With a sigh, Sniff rolled off his elbow and laid flat on his back.

“It all ties in with who I am.”

Sniff sat on an office loveseat with his professor finishing a downward stroke onto his lap as his condom filled.

“All that cardio really paid off, didn’t it.”

His professor let herself slowly fall against her former student and showered him with kisses down his neck until she collapsed from exhaustion.

“Peter… what am I going to do with you?”

Sniff slowly ran his fingers up and down her back.

“You mean besides having me come back for my referral?”

His professor sat up, guiltridden from giving in so easily to his ploys.

“I have no right to be with a man of your age. As much as I love the idea of it, I can’t keep this pace up. But you… I know you think this proves you’re right. And the fact that I know I’m going to fuck you every day before you leave only proves that I’m just as lonely and broken as you are.”

Sniff smirked as if it were a reflex.

“Are you?”

She reached behind her back and brought Sniff’s hands up to her breasts.

“When I lost my husband, I never let go of the dreams of having him back and making up for all the lost time. So I started looking for younger men that reminded me of him and how he made me feel. And I did everything I could to lure you in closer to me just so I could live out that fantasy a little more. And the closer you allowed yourself to become, the more I pursued you knowing that it wasn’t what I really wanted. And it certainly wasn’t what I needed. But… here we are. You wishing you could prove me and the books wrong, and me wishing you didn’t wear a condom.”

Sniff chuckled and continued gently playing with her tits.

“You should have asked. Plan B is pretty cheap here on campus.”

She chuckled along with him and tried to grind into what bit of stiffness remained left in his cock.

“Tomorrow, perhaps… but you know I was right about everything I said before. You might have a firm grasp on things now, but one day you’re going to find out that you’ve become so addicted to this, only to realize too late that you’ve lost sight of what you thought you wanted and end up hurting others.”

Sniff sat there with his fix met and knew he had only treated his symptom, not the cause, which hurt for him to admit.

“One day I’ll have to stop… I suppose. But can you really say you’re worse off for what I led you into doing with me tonight?”

She sulked, having her fix finally met as well, and no argument to speak of.

“No… I might not have needed this with you, but I certainly needed this. Not just a good fuck after all these years, but I needed to be shown that I knew what I was doing wasn’t going to make me happy.“ She brought her sad eyes to meet with his again. “But unlike you, I’m ready to change.”

Sniff snorted with a sly grin.

“Yeah, after the weekend is over.”

She smirked back, now willing to humor him a little.

“Yes, this will be my last hurrah… And I’m going to savor every moment of it with you… you will be my last guilty pleasure. And after you, I’m going to keep jogging my routes like always, but I’ll be jogging as the older woman trying to stay active for a better future with… Probably Professor Hazicks. I’ve been putting him off for so long. All because I’ve been running and jogging my routes, trying desperately to live in the past a little longer.”

Sniff forced a smile and rubbed her thighs, still resting alongside his.

“I’m happy for you… More than this, that’s what I wanted.”

She returned an honest smile.

“But—”

“Because you’re a good person,” Sniff continued, wanting what was on his mind off his chest. “My mother was a good woman until she forgot how to love herself, how to recognize all the good things about her. She let the physical become the only thing that was important. And every man she hooked up with or brought home to fuck while her piece of shit husband was doing the same thing, ruined her. I tried to help her, remind her that she was beautiful, that she used to be kind… that she could have been a good mom to me again… And yeah… I was taken advantage of. And you’re not the first doc to tell me that it's not unheard of to be abused and enjoy it.“

He smirked, but the tears were working their way out as he held his professor just a little bit closer.

“She was smart… She made it all about me. Showed me how to enjoy it and matched her praise by pushing me towards my own rewards.”

Saddened, the professor laid her hands on his chest.

“Peter… what really happened after she started her training sessions with you?”

Sniff couldn’t force a smile any longer.

“She didn’t just teach me how to please her. She taught me so much more… How to dance. How to get the girl. What to look for, what to say, how to lie… Math… She actually taught me fucking math when I was failing. Showed me how to write like I spoke. Most of all, she made me feel loved when my family wouldn’t. And then… I realized that after everything she taught me, she just wanted me to be like her...exactly like her."

Remembering this painful truth always hurt. It's what made everything hurt.

"No real love. No real attachments. No commitment… she never taught me those things… So, I made the same mistake twice… Tried to show her that wasn’t just beautiful, she was more than that. That she could do more than act kind and still be honest. That she could be a real lover to me… And I was so close. So damn close that I finally got her to love me.”

The professor shook her head sadly and the young man's misguided claim.

“She didn’t love you, Peter. No woman like that could love another person.”

More tears ran down his face with his understanding coming back to the forefront.

“No… she did… She loved me so much that she pushed me away to stop herself from exploiting me… Found a place that would take her in for treatment and left me a letter with an apology saying I deserved better. That the world needed someone like me to fix the broken like her.“

He looked up at his professor with all the heartbreak returning.

“I could have been a monster had I been selfish… and I could have saved Kelly if I wasn’t so afraid of not being the only one so fucked up from a broken home that enjoyed the chase of the next pursuit… And she knows too much to be tricked into changing her ways now… She’s too much like the loveless child she grew up as to tolerate being changed and not getting her way.”

Oven Fresh cuddled in close to Sniff’s arm and waited for his long silence to end. If anything he shared with her this night and all the pleasures it could bring really could give more insight about who he was then, and was now, more than ever...she wanted in.

“Well, if all that ties in with who you are, I hope there's enough rope for me.”

Sniff laughed at her quick wit.

“Ovens.“

He thought about opening up to her about his real past, but he couldn’t. How could he put any more on her plate than he had already dumped?

“Part of me is broken inside, and if I’m not careful, I’m going to get carried away. And right now, as much as you enjoyed my finger, my penis would hurt you because of how tight you are.”

Oven Fresh blew raspberries and rolled her eyes at such an idea.

“How?”

Sniff, in turn, rolled his eyes right back at her, figuring the fastest solution would be the best solution at this point. That meant undoing his pants enough to expose himself.

As soon as Oven Fresh got a sight of what he had hidden away under his pants, she reeled back.

“That! That’s what you have sex with?!”

Sniff started to do up his pants again, having his point impressively made.

“Yeah, and you’re not ready for it. Though, if you even wanted to try after—”

“Yes!” Oven Fresh belted out without a second thought, only to realize what exactly she’d said.

“Sorry,” Her voice squeaked with her apology. “The size… yeah… That’s a lot bigger than your finger, but just looking at it and after everything you told me… I want to make you feel good too. Make you cum.“

She snuggled back in close to him, embracing his rich scent, along with a stronger dose he suddenly released with his sudden exposure.

“Have you do sex the way it’s supposed to be done. Even if I can’t get pregnant from it, I mean." She suddenly had an epiphany. "Come to think of it. I might be the luckiest mare in Equestria.”

Sniff laughed at her profound declaration.

“Okay, this one I gotta hear before I continue. Please, do tell.”

Oven Fresh rubbed her thighs together just thinking about her new revelation.

“Well, the one thing I do know about sex for us is that once we do it, we get pregnant. I know it seems weird after hearing me and needing to have it explained to me, but… for some reason, all I really seem to remember from before was that ponies do it to start a family, and after they do it, the mare gets pregnant. No redos or questions about it. It’s kinda like… magic, I guess.“

She quickly cracked a wicked grin and giggled.

“But with you, I can’t get pregnant. And if just your fingers can feel this good, I’m going to have more sex than any pony in the whole world.”

Sniff laughed at her simple approach to such a concept. However, he was certain there would be plenty of people back in the human world who’d be equally as enthused at such an idea. Then again, she’d have some stiff competition if Chris ever got farther with Cream Heart.

“Oh, wow. You’ve got the master plan right there,“ he said with a laugh, though it died off shortly after that, and he knew he had to confide at least something more with her. "But… I might need your help here because it’s not just that I want sex so badly as it is.“

He sighed deeply. This next portion needed to be said, as it truly was where he needed her help.

“I’m… easily tempted and already have been by a few other mares here.”

Oven Fresh gave him a curious look.

“But… am I not the only one you want to have sex with?”

Sniff turned his head away in shame, already knowing this next part would be painful.

“It just happens. Especially if I don’t get off every few days. But… the day after getting you fitted for your new skirt—" He turned his head back toward the ceiling, letting his eyes wader slightly along with his thoughts. "—of which I cannot wait to see you in that thing, I was about as hard as I am right now. And I thought about you, Mayor Mare, Swift Sails, the fucking… spa ponies, I think? I was even tempted just talking to them and trying to help them out. And please… try to understand that I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to want… so much.”

Oven Fresh was still trying to figure this all out, though, it did open her mind to a new line of questioning.

“How much sex can you have in a day? And do you normally last ten minutes?”

Sniff turned back to face Oven Fresh and her bizarre shift in questions, utterly stumped for a moment.

“What? I… I dunno. Um… I’ve done five a day more than a few times before. I normally last an hour, maybe? Half an hour if I try hard. Though, with you, I probably won't have to try hard. But I’ve also done marathons for hours, which isn’t even… Wait… Why?”

Oven Fresh looked to be uneasy about something.

“Well… please, believe me. I want you all to myself…”

“But?” Sniff asked, afraid of where this was going.

“Buuuuut,” Oven Fresh slowly started to answer, though she questioned how well Sniff was going to respond to this admission. “Your dick is ginormous. And even your finger, well, the big one at least that rubbed, oh yeah, that clit thing you talked about, pretty sure I got one.”

“Yeah, ya do,” Sniff quickly answered, his prior cockiness returned.

Oven Fresh rolled her eyes at the immature display.

“Yeah, that. So… here’s the thing. As amazing as it feels, this is gonna probably have to be a nighttime thing for me. My heart and lungs feel like I just fought off the Timberwolves again.”

“What?” Sniff wasn’t following her logic. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Oven Fresh jabbed Sniff’s side, looking almost offended by his question.

“Lemme finish. Geez... but I run a business, and I can’t keep running off with you. No matter how much I love what we do and what we’re gonna do when I get that cute new skirt to wear for you. But if you have a need for five a day—”

“Oh my god,” Sniff moaned out loud, having figured out where this was going.

“Or—“ Oven Fresh really started expressing how overwhelmed with the idea she was. “—Luna forbid you need hours' worth of sex.”

Peter couldn’t believe his wet dream for no strings attached unlimited sex was being offered to him here of all places.

“Awe, fuck me.”

Oven Fresh perked up over what sounded like Sniff's offer.

“Yes! That’s the idea. Me, and… I dunno. We’ll figure that out later. Unless… how close are you and Twilight?”

For a moment, Sniff went the kind of quiet one does when they heard the wrong thing being said to them.

“All of my friends are making themselves better. They’re getting their broken issues taken care of. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d say the worse their problems are, the closer to death they come. But unlike all of them, I never got—”

Oven Fresh waited for the next shoe to drop, thinking she really upset him.

“You… never what?”

Out of nowhere, Sniff noticed a pattern. Cerb got fucked up in combat but ended up with Fluttershy and Rarity. They both ended up getting him back on the right track. They were even closer, and he seemed much calmer after nearly getting killed.

Benny had his near life-ending experience and nearly died fighting it, but his progress came along with getting paired with Pinkie.

Kelly had to be saved by Big Mac, and there was no way those two weren’t fucking. That had to take a level of commitment that went beyond what she would have needed to cross the line he was about to, or more honestly, was currently crossing.

Conversly, Becky faced her fear of death by helping with her medical knowledge and was active in the practice again. And during that whole time, Rainbow Dash had been propping her up and encouraging her the whole way.

Of course, not to be overlooked, Starlight was with Chris and pushed him to go out and actually fucking interact with society… probably was going to get him laid too.

And though he didn’t say it earlier, Lumberman wanted a family again, but he earned it by taking care of Applejack.

If anything seemed clear to Sniff, it was that ponies came to his friends to help them with their darkest demons. Refusing their help put them in danger. Accepting it gave them more progress with less fallout. And while Twilight was kind to him, she wasn’t the one he opened up to about his problems and offered help.

With the pattern now fully realized, a new feeling emanated from Sniff as he accepted his fate.

“Ovens… Everyone got paired up with at least one pony here to help them fix their problems. And looking at it again, they also might be given a challenge of saving a pony as well. I saved Twilight… I think you’re here to save me.”

Knowing the cost, he surrendered himself to her. Hiding away and jerking off in the shower to stem his desires and repressing his demons had already failed. He couldn’t fix himself on his own, at least not anymore.

“Whatever you think is best… I’ll do it. If it means putting others out of danger trying to save me when whatever brought us here tries to punish me for it, then I accept this. But—"

Things were so complicated now. His addictions were probably going to get him killed if he didn't accept Oven Fresh's help, but Twilight was still special to him. She gave him a new outlet for something he struggled with. Not only that, she made it clear in so many ways she wasn't interested in him. Logically, if she was so easily triggered by just a question about dating, Oven Fresh asking her to sleep with him would be jumping on a landmine with both feet.

"—don’t drag Twilight into this. Not when I'm clearly not someone she even wants to be with. All she wants is to be friends with me, and I'm only willing to give her what she wants. Nothing more, nothing less.”

"Trixie, calm down."

Trixie stood angrily in the middle of an open field of flowing grass, shouting back at her disembodied voice.

"Calm down!? You just told me that The Darkness is at one of our mirror worlds! It's getting closer."

"This is sadly the pace of things. We have seen many fall, but the mirror realms always fall first. Their barriers are but only reflections of a world of Harmony. However, even this mirror has shown promise of their resistance. The Good King Sombra has seen the Light of Harmony from your world. If they can resist, that may speak well of your chance to save your world. It is possible that you may even have more time to prepare. The mirror worlds have shifted so much farther than the others that it will take the darkness even longer to reach your world. You may be the key to putting an end to this madness.”

Trixie scoffed and spat.

“But how? You still haven’t— Wait! I’m sorry. You don’t know either!”

“We know only that the humans are the key. With them, Harmony has a chance to—”

Trixie quickly cut the voice off with a scream.

“I’m not going to marry some weird looking, human stallion!”

“Technically, we never married. We just had se—”

Trixie threw her hat down and stomped.

“No! No! I’m not going to let some human stallion rut me either!”

“I spent many nights with Kelly. And they were all wonderful. Even if I lacked the anatomy for her to return the favor of eating—”

Trixie started yelling incoherently.

“La-La-La-La-Laaaaaa! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhh! Not listening to any of this! Not listening to any of this! La-La-La-La!”

“We never said you have to be the one to pursue such ventures with the humans. We only said that they are the key and you should do as your heart tells you to. And it appears that we have not been able to see you before because you have been separated from your connection to the Harmony of your world. If this truly is the case, you have been freed from the bonds that Harmony cast upon you.

“Much like Luna of the Crystal Ring, you will be free to create your own Harmony and determine your own fate. If you desire not to love a human, you need not to.”

“It would seem that not only are you freed from Harmony’s hold, but your human champions are also just as free. We have never seen them, no matter how hard we have searched. In fact—”

The illusion of open fields of grass faded to a night sky over Ponyville.

“Oh, my…”

Trixie looked down at the familiar town and gasped.

“Look! The Darkness is already there! We’re too late!”

“No, Trixie. That is not The Darkness. That is only the absence of Harmony. Or at least a force strong enough to disrupt or negate its flow.”

Trixie gave a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s good news. Wait? Is it? What could be doing that?”

“That… well, it is hard for us to say what it could be from here. The Harmony surrounding the disruptions are so… specifically restructured that they no longer seem to function with any of their magical properties.”

Trixie looked over the town to see if anypony she knew was walking around but noticed instead a massive blacked-out area.

“Hey? Why is the house the humans came in all covered up?”

“Human house?”

“The humans already have a house built where they were summoned to?”

Trixie shook her head.

“No! I mean the house they came in. I think it belongs to the Benny stallion. Nice guy from what I remember of him. Still don’t know how he was able to watch my show.”

“Benny knew who you were?”

Trixie walked in circles looking down over the town for anything else that might have stuck out.

“Yeah. Actually, your special human Chris knew all of us. So did Becky, the poor thing. Hey? Maybe that’s something that you could help with. How did you cure Becky’s Idiotapthic Pulm… Pulp? Pulpinirony Fiversis? I can’t remember what it’s called. The disease that’s supposed to kill her without her special medication?”

“Trixie Rose... What did you do?”

“Me?! I told you what I did! I hijacked this Trixie’s spell to bring in a different group of humans! The group her world’s Harmony was going to bring in was no different than those that I… I mean we… Gah! The Crystal Rose of Harmony picked the same exact variant of humans from beyond the reach of the mirror realms! Only this stupid Tree decided to bring them in almost five whole years later than when mine did. I mean me…. Rose! In this world, Chris and the others showed up after I was reformed by her Twilight! And she even reformed Starlight!"

Trixie did a double-take in the direction where she thought the voice was coming from.

“My Starlight was reformed?!“ She gasped. "Was my Starlight also a cult leader?”

“Yes… but that’s not the point. Trixie Rose, I fucking swear, if you mixed up meeters and feet—”

“Oh, grow a cunt, Luna Ring. The Crystal Rose side of me did the calculations…. Maybe The Darkness created some interference? Shit. No. That can’t be right. The Harmony Pillars wouldn’t have landed to clear the path for them if Rose fucked it up.”

“Good grief, Rose. I hope I do grow cunt so I can actually feel something when the other Echoes figure out what we’ve been doing and decide to fuck us!"

“We’re fine, so long as you keep your emotions in check and keep what you slurped up from Becky hidden… Hoooooooe-leeeee Shit! This changes everything!”

“Rose... Choose your next words carefully. If you say anything cross about Becky’s cu—”

Out of all the dreams Trixie could have been having, listening to these two bicker was worse than watching the highlights of her other self getting humped by the, at least, somewhat better-looking Chris.

Not that she found him cute or endearing in some perverse way… Stupid ear twitch.

“No!... well… sort of… But it was the same for me! We remember! My Trixie side wasn’t supposed to be chosen! It was supposed to be Cadance. She stayed true to the words where everypony eventually gave in like we both did. My Rose side realized too late that everything went wrong because Harmony always listens to The Words but still needed the humans. But what happened the more we stayed with our humans?”

“Our Harmony light faded. For me, at least, it didn’t return until we figured out how to make our own.”

“It didn’t fade… It was disrupted by the human’s power that made us stronger.”

Trixie looked down at Ponyville and the various dark spots all over the ground.

“Are you saying all those blacked-out spots are from humans and ponies having sex?”

“No, Trixie. It means the humans you summoned have so much power inside them from the world they came from. The blast that hit you was from their world and was enough to give you more power than any pony in our entire existence.”

Trixie probably would have soiled her cape had this not been a dream realm.

“What!”

“Trixie Lulamoon. You have been so thoroughly saturated with the power the humans possess that it must have removed or at least disrupted all the Harmony that makes up your existence. More than likely, you have been slowly regaining your Harmony. That is why you could see this realm after your body adjusted to their power. It is also why now you can hear us, and we can hear you because your Harmony is returning. Though, I fear sooner or later, the Harmony of your world will be able to find you again. If there is enough Harmony in you, you could have your memories taken from you again.”

Trixie searched the empty space around her for this Luna Rose dream version.

“What do you mean, Harmony can take my memories? How… Why would it?”

“We, or at least the Rose side of us, was once foolish enough to think we should follow the words that dictate how the world was to be. For all the moons we can remember, the Harmony side of all us Echos sculpted a world to fit the image of the words. Pulling the strings of the world we controlled. Whispering the suggestions to guide the ponies to power. By empowering them with the Harmony we controlled, we made them durable and strong. With our guidance, they were made civil, clean, simple. However, the reach of Harmony is not infinite. For those whose realms are more like those of yours and mine, unlike that of Luna Rose, our bodies are only entangled with the many variants of Harmony, not constructed from it."

This news hit Trixie like a landslide.

"I thought Harmony was just a phrase we use for all of us working together. That's what the Tree of Harmony is for. The Elements of Harmony are supposed to work together to use it to stop the dark forces of chaos like Discord and Tirek?"

"Chaos and dark magics are a part of Harmony. Nearly everything in our worlds is bound to it. Harmony can control how fast we grow or mature. It can even reach into your mind and whisper suggestions you thought were your own, or blur away things you should know. Like what happened to those who perished or where they lay. And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself. How could you forget something so primal of an instinct as how to rut?”

“Rose, something is wrong. The mirror world.”

The view of Ponyville swirled in a blur to blackness.

“It’s gone… not destroyed, just… gone. The Darkness, as well. It’s almost as if we’ve been cut off from observing the Harmony of their world. There is nothing left, not even The Darkness.”

Not that Trixie knew what was going on, but this information set her on edge.

“Is The Darkness still coming? Is it already here?”

"We don't know. Much like your world, we have never seen this before.”

The black vision swirled again, dark colors forming into the interior of castle walls. The vision grew around them until it showed a familiar hallway that Luna Ring recognized. Strewn about we’re pieces of shattered crystal, as well as some blackened construct.

“Something has changed on your world Trixie. It feels like a portion of the Void that has swallowed so many worlds has been removed, but… Rose, we must bring this to the attention of The Sword and the others.”

More confusion set in for Trixie.

“The Sword? Are you getting ready to fight?”

"Trixie, stay quiet and do not venture far from here. We must look into this.”

Still searching her surroundings for the voiceless bodies, Trixie began to panic again.

“Don’t venture far from here? Where is here? I don’t even know where I am!”

To her dismay, there was no response.

“Hello? Me? I mean, Rose me? Other Luna? Crap!” She looked around the unfamiliar castle interior, utterly lost. “Gah! Why couldn’t Twilight have given me a book that would have taught me something useful?”

Upon hearing her words, the world began to change to a familiar scene of Twilight’s castle. Judging by all the books, it must be some kind of library or study.

“Trixie, it’s good to see you again,” Twilight’s voice spoke up from her side.

Thinking this had to be another illusion, Trixie turned to see Twilight looking off towards the doorway at another Trixie. Strangely, this Trixie was not happy to see Twilight.

“Is it?”

It likely wasn’t, given how Twilight lowered her head and turned her attention to Sniff, sitting in a chair looking over a large tome.

“Peter, could you give us some space. I don't want to risk you getting hurt by mistake.”

Cautiously getting up, Sniff put the tome down and exited the room. His timid appearance looked nothing like the human Trixie remembered.

Once out of the room, Twilight approached the Dream Trixie with a mixed look of anger and sorrow.

“Look, none of us liked how things turned out, but there’s a certain way we have to do things. And I understand why you were so attached to Chris, but if any of us are going to keep him and the other humans safe, we need to be at our best.”

With no change to her mood, the Dream Trixie glared harshly at Twilight.

“I was at my best with Chris.”

Doing her best, though visibly struggling with trying to control herself, Twilight lamented without change.

“Yes, I don’t doubt that. However, without him there to be with you, and with Starlight on the loose again, he’s not safe.”

Only growing in her frustrations, the Dream Trixie huffed.

“And who’s fault is that?”

Still standing firm, Twilight levitated over the large tome Sniff had been reading through.

“There’s plenty of blame to go around. Between you and me, I’m focusing on Celestia for her inspirational idea to bring Starlight out of Tartarus to be rehabilitated. I don’t know what made her think somepony that twisted should be my pupil. That mare has no interest in learning about friendship.”

“Tell me about it,” the Dream Trixie grumbled.

Twilight shifted through some pages, settling on one full of shield magic illustrations, then turned it towards the Dream Trixie.

“I did some digging on her. Every pony that I’ve talked to can’t point to her having any friends, not since she was a very young foal. Only one that her father can recall, but she gave up on him the day he left for Celestia’s school.”

Twilight started levitating up another book. This one looked to be full of her own notes and drawings.

“The friendly thing to do would be to find her again and show her everything she’s missed, but to quote Kelly and her hunger for battle… fuck that. She’s a danger to all of us, especially Chris. Which is why I’m sending you after her.”

The Dream Trixie turned up a curious eye, somehow growing more livid at the suggestion.

“And what? You want me to put a shield around her and drop her off at Tartarus for you?”

Twilight dropped the book at Trixie’s hooves, finally letting her real anger show.

“I know what you want, Trixie. I get it, but something is telling me Starlight is involved with the Crystal Rose and is also telling us to work with our humans. How, I don’t know, but behind all the dark thoughts she used to fuel her agenda of conformity and sameness to build her utopia, she’s full of hopelessness. I’m going to give you all the training I can to protect yourself and Kelly. Then, I can make sure you can beat the information out of her. Whatever she’s planning, and whoever taught her all those advanced spells she’s learned. Otherwise, nothing will change. That includes the law.”

Slowly dropping her guard, the Dream Trixie softened her stance.

“What if she doesn’t want to talk?”

Twilight narrowed her brow.

“I value the lives of our friends more than Starlight’s sad excuse for an existence. And whether I like it or not, you’re stronger than me now. So, until I can change that, you can find her and make sure we all can have a happy ending to our story, or at the very least, write the last chapter for hers.”

There was a shift in the dream Trixie’s stance. She looked to have come to terms with their arrangement.

“This doesn’t change things between us, but it’s a good start. Teach me.”

For once, Trixie sat and listened attentively. She didn’t know all the terms Twilight used, but so much of being explained seemed to make sense just by listening to it. How much she’d be able to recall could be an issue, but if this dream had any resemblance to her reality, Starlight could be in danger.

With the warming of the sun rising, Trixie woke to see she had beaten her alarm clock.

“Hmm? Crap!” She shot up from her bed. “They weren’t done! I could have learned… no. That can wait. I know what I have to do.

“Rose, it appears we have missed the departure of our Trixie.”

“This isn’t good, Ring. Sword knows we’re up to something. She may even believe we’re involved with the new form of Harmony that found its way into the mirror world. Do you think it has something to do with Celestia’s connection to that realm? Both of our worlds never were able to settle that issue, and it was always a priority on our Harmony’s mind to attend to.”

“There is another issue. The new Harmony that entered the mirror world. It is a variant of ours. Not pure like Sword and the others… And which memory is this?”

“One of false hope. A dead-end where we thought Starlight would summon The Darkness, but her desire was to prevent Rainbow Dash from performing her first Sonic Rainboom to trigger Harmony’s plan to unite her with the rest of her friends. That way, she could find Chris and steal him from us. I almost killed her because of it. Although… I didn't know Twilight’s true motives at the time.”

Still being observed by the echoes, the memory continued with the Dream Trixie finishing her training under Twilight.

“Twilight, if this works and we save Equestria from whatever threat Harmony hasn’t explained to us, swear to me you’ll remove that stupid law.”

Twilight bowed, giving her word.

“If the humans are safe, there will be no need to keep their guardians safe from magic contamination. All that will be needed is a majority vote from the other royals to revoke it, and I’m certain the only nay will be Cadance. I also suspect that Luna would likely vote yay. Although, after losing Kelly to you, she might be bitter enough to do something stupid and vote present. We’d still have the majority, but even if she votes nay, then it will fall down to districts to decide, so only the Crystal Empire and Everfree Capital districts wouldn’t allow for it.”

Not fully trusting, but not willing to risk giving up the chance to be back with Chris, Trixie nodded and departed the room, letting Sniff return to assist Twilight.

“It got kind of loud in here. Is everything okay?”

Looking concerned, Twilight trotted over to Sniff’s seat.

“Peter, take a seat. I’d like to pick up where we left off last night after reviewing ‘Familiarity Linked Magic.’

Slowly, Sniff took his seat, though he looked apprehensive about doing so.

“Twilight, I want to help, but I already screwed things up with Celestia. Things were different with her, and I know you—”

His words were unexpectedly silenced by Twilight jumping onto his lap and pressing him back into the chair with a kiss that violated her own decree. She held him under her intense display of passion until he dropped his defenses and gave into the temptation to start feeling over her, groping and nervously exploring under her tail.

“Mwah,” Twilight grunted as she pulled back and started to undo his pants with her magic. “Celestia had her chance with you, Peter, and with any luck, Trixie will take care of this darkness looming over us. Then it will be just you and me. Unless… are you still having feelings for Amber?”

Peter struggled to keep his hands on Twilight, every part of him both afraid of touching her, yet too afraid to not comply.

“She… she’ll never see me like that.”

Twilight comfortingly caressed Peter’s face as she held his cock in her aura and positioned him.

“Celestia led you on and hurt you. Amber has kept you at an arm’s distance ever since she’s known you. I won’t do that to you. I would have come after you sooner, but I had to keep Chris and Starlight separated as much as I could. They could have ruined everything for us. Had Cadance found out and moved to separate all of us before I took action—”

Peter looked up to his Twilight with doubtful eyes.

“You never loved Chris?”

Twilight lowered herself down, letting him penetrate her, meriting barely any reaction.

“I know that’s how it looked, but I had to know what it was about you humans that could let you accept us. And Chris was so adamant about pursuing a relationship with Starlight. I was bound to figure out what I needed to win you over. We were good friends, nothing more.”

“Twilight wanted to be with Peter and almost lost him to Celestia. But unlike my Trixie side, she wanted to keep it secret, not be open. She was embarrassed about how she felt. Afraid of what others would think. But it all fell apart when I saved Starlight from herself and reformed her before she could change the past, but that was all she had planned. After that, she lost her dark thoughts and finally had hope… Learning that, Peter refused to stay a secret lover to Twilight. It changed nothing for us. The Darkness still came, and we lost everything.”

“We all received the same warnings, but even in our world, Starlight’s attempt to change the past failed, yet the ripple in time still caused our demise. What’s more, what role did The Pony of Shadows play in all of this? In our world, we never faced him. Yet, in your world, you defeated him, but we both still suffered The Darkness.”

We only banished him... something down there in our Trixie's world killed that fucker... or at least a part of him? Much like Discord, we could never fully observe other constructs. We only know what the words had planned to work around them, and the words never spoke of him after his banishment, nor what would happen if he hadn't been freed with the pillars."

"Rose... The Pony of Shadows, The Void. How similar was their Hopeless magic?"

Well, unlike some of the other chapters, this one had a very heavy focus on one character, with only one deviation, because I'm sure many of you were curious about what was going on with Trixie.

But... damn... Sniff gave in. Although, to be fair, she played him pretty well. Even still, it wasn't an easy choice for either of them once they had a better understanding of what they were getting into.

As for Trixie, shit's getting weird and... The Darkness is gone? Maybe? Who knows? But that Pony of Shadows is fucking dead. But what's more, it seems like there's at least some correlations between the history of relationships within the alternate universes.

Regardless... breakfast is going to be interesting tomorrow morning for three of our key characters.

To find out how the breakfast goes, tune in next week for the publication of Chapter 66.

Note*

I had heavily contemplated making portions of the story that heavily focused on sex, either chapters all to themselves or making a separate side series that would focus on such exploits. However, as much as I don't want the clop content to distract from the story, these are part of their stories in how our characters grow and develop together. It wouldn't make much sense to have every time they get into it end with a fadeaway and have you look somewhere else to see what happened. That would grow tiresome and annoying reading farther on and wondering what the reference was or trying to remember which set of stories it came from.

That being said, in my prewriting state, I've already come across a setup where such scenes will be their own separate entries because... there's just too much to cover to try and fit all the content in one single chapter... maybe two or three, actually. I wrote a lot of clop.