In the garage, Twilight was going over some last-minute calculations while Pinkie bounced around with her nonstop questions.

"You think if Benny has enough power, he can play all his music all at once? How much music can be played with sixty emps?"

"Amps," Twilight corrected her friend's terminology without looking away from her current task. "And I don't think their devices can play more than one song at a time. Now can you please let me focus on this. Starlight tried powering only one appliance using this same method and melted that sumbitch. If I put too much power into that electric distribution box Benny plugged his generator into, I could do the same to anything he left plugged in inside the house."

Stopping mid-bounce, literally floating in the air for a good few seconds, Pinkie stepped along Twilight's side to look over the notes.

"What's with the numbers, Twi? What's so important about one-ten and two-twenty? Is that how many songs you're going to-"

"It has nothing to do with the songs!" Twilight shouted in frustration. "Their devices need a hundred and ten volts of electricity to operate, but I wasn't expecting their power box to need double the power going into it for the house. I'm still trying to understand how they get their machines and gizmos to work with so little electricity compared to ours. So unless you want to spend the whole party apologizing to BenBen for ruining any future movie nights with us, would you mind giving me some goddamn peace and quiet so I can think?!"

Turning up her nose, Pinkie backed off and sat indignantly.

"Well, excuse me for being excited, ya big grouch. You don't need to be such a meanie about it. You could have just asked me nicely."

Nearing her breaking point, Twilight dropped her notes and turned around slowly at her friend.

"I did! More than once! I told you I needed to concentrate, that this was dangerous, and needed quiet time to think. I even asked you to give me some time alone to work this. You were gone for two minutes."

Pinkie huffed, clearly offended and missing the point of the outburst.

"Well, I was excited. You know I can't be quiet when I'm this excited. And you're smart enough to figure a little amathmatific sciency smarty-smart problem like this. I've been far more distracting while you worked out bigger problems than this."

Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s argument and went back to work.

"Yeah, well, today has been… difficult and confusing for me. And-" She stopped and turned back to Pinkie. "-Are you trying to date Benny while having him date other ponies at the same time?"

Pinkie dropped the attitude and gave Twilight her most befuddled look at the rather abrupt and seemingly out of no where question.

"I'm not dating BenBen. He's my best human friend. That's why he's going on a Double, Double Blind Date. As his best pony friend, I know that he needs to get out there and meet more ponies like us for him to be as happy as he can be. And look how much happier Cerberus and Sniff are since they went on dates with Rarity and Oven Fresh."

Twilight folded her ears back with a look of shock at the mention of Sniff.

"You know about his date with Oven Fresh?"

"Of course I know about that," Pinkie answered as if it were common knowledge. "Sniffy has almost every mare in town talking about it. There are so many single mares out there that want to ask him out. Actually, there's a lot of rumors that Applejack and Lumberman are already in love and dating. And I guess Chris went on a date while we were gone?”

Twilight stood silently, listening to Pinkie expand upon all the talk of the town. And Chris had gone on a date? What had exactly Starlight been up to these past few days? Maybe Pinkie would have more to share on that with some additional details?

“From the sound of things, there’s a lot of mares in town that want to ask Cerb out, too, but they're all scared of Rarity and Fluttershy. At this point, Benny is the only one ponies aren't afraid to ask out, so it's gonna be super easy for BenBen to make more friends.”

Pinkie took a moment to pride herself on how well she stayed on top of things with Benny. Although Twilight’s question made her wonder.

“Do you think I should have asked BenBen out? He is kinda cute and smells really nice all the time.”

She had a moment of deep thought and realized something.

"Hey… did you know I've never been on a date before? Come to think of it, since I've known you, I don't think you've ever mentioned a stallion you liked or wanted to date until today. Actually, nopony else has, except for Rarity when she got all googly-eyed for Prince Blueblood. But that guy was a jerk... Did he ruin dating for us? Also, sharing a stallion is what you're doing, not me. Well, sorta."

After hearing over Benny’s completion for his spa day, Roxie escorted him back out to the lobby.

"You know, if you're looking for a job, there's a profitable future in learning how to give massages."

Almost tempted to consider the option, Benny looked at his hands along with where said hands would likely have to go if he took such a job.

"Yeah, I suppose, but that's not really my style. Maybe in a pinch, but I'm better behind a keyboard. That or personal security… I think I'd rather avoid that line of work out here, though. But, I will keep the offer in mind."

Having been listening intently, Roxie nodded along.

"I don't think there's much of a need for security out this way. Maybe in Canterlot or Las Pegasus, but what genre of music do you play on the keyboard?"

Benny gave her a funny look before figuring out the miscommunication.

"Oh, no. A keyboard for typing. Admin work, like keeping track of files and preparing documents or scheduling. I've even had to do a lot of work for others with their pay. It wasn't really my job, but… long boring story, but I basically learned accounting."

Seemingly more excited over such trivial information, Roxie, nevertheless, stayed engaged.

"I see. That's a lot different than what I first thought, and… would you maybe be able to stop by tomorrow?"

Before he could offer a response, a distinctly royal voice warmly called out as the two reached the lobby.

"Benny, good to see you this fine afternoon."

Roxie immediately dropped to a bow.

"Princess Luna. To what do we owe the honor of your grace?"

Luna returned the bow and answered just as warmly, "I am here to escort Benny out this evening. Pinkie left a note with instructions on where and when to find you. Are you ready?"

Knowing full well he hadn’t been shown the bill, Benny turned back to Roxie.

"Was this whole thing paid for yet?"

Roxie smiled and shooed the two away with a wave of her hoof.

"She has a tab with us, so it's all been taken care of. Now, you go out there and enjoy yourself. I'll see you tonight at the party. You'll have to tell me how your date went."

After a quick thank you and farewell, Benny was out the door with Luna and quick to jump into idle chatter to pass the time.

"So… fancy meeting you here. And, is it okay if I leave my car there until it's time to head back."

Luna continued on and motioned for her three Lunar Guard members to fall back.

"It should be fine there. I'm sure no pony will mind. And who were you expecting to escort you on your Double, Double Blind Date?"

Benny stayed in step with Luna giving that question a bit more thought than Luna had expected.

"No idea to be honest. I barely had enough time to pick out my clothes for this after I was told what was going on. All Pinkie told me was I was doing this date at the bowling alley. I figured if it was a blind date, I wasn't supposed to know."

Luna's smile shifted slightly.

"I see. I suppose that's why you didn't greet me with flowers then I suppose?"

And instantaneously, Benny felt like a jackass, realizing Luna wasn’t escorting him to his date. She was escorting him as his date.

"Well, then… I must look like a massive tool, but at least Pinkie has good taste."

Luna chuckled slightly, though the mood did seem more appropriate now that the awkwardness had likely peaked.

"It would appear that we were both thrown into this rather abruptly. Are thou pleased with the present company?"

"I am," Benny answered, though his voice lacked any conviction.

Luna picked up on his response and felt terrible for feeling the same.

"Benny, do you consider us to be friends?"

After such a poor delivery, Benny got the feeling that his lack of enthusiasm had been discovered.

"I would like to think so. Do you?"

"Of course I do," Luna answered with an honest smile, though that seemed to falter as her thoughts built up. "But I asked this because I feel as though you might not wish to participate in Pinkie's plans for us. And if we truly are friends, I would wish for you to be honest with me. We are not blind to the pains of the past and the recent tragedies you suffered through… and your most likely lack of any interest in dating a mare. Even one who rules over the night?"

Benny took a moment to collect his thoughts, not sure if she was offering him an out, or fishing for a sign of his interest given how she posed that question.

"Well, I made a promise to Pinkie, I intend to make good on it. Though, part of that is…"

There was a long pause from Benny, and though the two never stopped walking, he was given all the time he needed.

"Can you tell me honestly, is there really a chance for any of us getting home? Or is it more than likely that me not wanting to grow old all alone means that I don't have any other option than to settle down with a pony?"

Luna slowed her pace as she thought and shortly thereafter stopped to address his question.

"My good friend, Benny. If I am to be honest, I have to tell you that this is sadly not an area of which I excel in. My sister, Twilight, and Starlight are more experienced in these academic areas of magic outside of the dream realm. But, despite even our collective thoughts and approaches, we are missing so much information to give you a definitive answer. But do not take that as us accepting defeat on this issue. Twilight has yet to fail us. I am sure she will discover what is needed to return you home."

Despite her reassurances, Benny didn't seem to give much of a reaction. He was incredibly difficult to read, but still came off as civil and pleasant.

"I can't hold any of this against anyone." He shook his head as if he disapproved of his own words. "I don't blame anyone but the Pony of Shadows. I just hadn't had the time to work out the possibility that maybe I was going to spend the rest of my natural life in your world. I hadn't even really thought about the possibility of dying here. And yet, here I am, likely responsible for both."

Luna motioned for Benny to follow along with him again.

"I believe I understand the rationality used to come to those conclusions. However, your nightmares, were they of common and trivial matters? Something any human could laugh their way through and escape them all lite hearted and without struggles?"

The rhetorical question put things in the perspective he should have started with.

"No… nothing about what I went through was easy. And obviously, I didn't have much of a choice but to fight back. But they were problems I wouldn't have had to deal with or fight alone against if I hadn't stopped turning away every offer for help… I was even jealous that Cerb was getting help. Even a little betrayed that he couldn't rely on us to help him… angry at myself for not doing anything."

Luna continued to let Benny vent but was thinking of a way to comfort him better once he’d finally let it all out.

"You know of the history of Tia and I, correct? How my jealousy led to so much misery."

"Yes," Benny answered, pretty straight to the point.

Luna grinned at some odd thought she realized.

"Tia may have been blind to much of what I was dealing with at the time, but she did reach out, and I had refused. I can admit that I was jealous of the success and favour she hadn't shared, betrayed by the subjects that knew not of my works, and hurt that I could not change anything for the better on my own… But unlike you, I was unable to fight my demons. I gave into them while you defeated yours. Granted, you had Cerb to hold you down and beat some sense into you before you fell too far from hope. I sadly didn’t received my just pummeling until after losing myself for a thousand years. But with the efforts of Twilight and her friends, I have become much better for accepting their help."

Benny nodded with an embarrassed grin.

"I know, I know. That's why I'm doing this."

Luna chuckled, happy to see she’d managed to at least alleviate some of the tension.

"However, prior experiences with Pinkie have shown that while she may have good intentions and methods that work, unfortunately, such methods work much better when everypony is made aware of her what she has planned."

And there it was—a big piece of this world's logic he had missed.

"Damn it… I think I overlooked that part of the equation on this."

Luna smiled and figured she had Benny at a good enough point to give him some distance.

"Would I also be correct to say that, while we are friends, we also have not had enough time together to warrant such an attraction? And not to say that you are not an attractive young stallion in your own appearance, but I think we both know it is not that simple."

Now Benny was starting to feel like an ass again and was quick to do some form of damage control.

"Alright, let me first start off by saying that I do think you are beautiful, perhaps not to the same standards I am accustomed to… but you certainly are pretty."

"So I have captured the eye of brave warrior Benny. Slayer of demons. Noble and wise leader of the human embassy."

The rather over dramatic act of praise caused the pair to quickly start laughing as they neared the bowling alley, but Luna spoke again to ease any tension.

"Let us not allow this moment to ruin itself with false expectations. We are friends who have yet to fully understand one another. What say thee? That we meet our fellow couples and enjoy the next few hours learning to play this game as friends. Then we will have a drink, or many, many more, at the Post-War Party Party and inform Pinkie that you should pursue a love life on your own accord."

Finally, the worry was gone. Benny was released from his bond and could enjoy himself, then he could come back to Pinkie to set up some boundaries.

"I like the sound of that, but let's be completely honest. I might not have any interest in finding love, but you… I'm thinking you got sweet-talked by Sniff or spent more time with Cerb than I thought."

Luna blushed, but not from Benny's accurate guesses. It was all she could do to smile proudly and carry on like all was fine.

"Your assessments are only partially accurate. However, I believe them to both be spoken for, though it would not be my place to speak of such things."

"Ha! Right, I bet-" Benny was suddenly hit with a heavy dose of reasonable deduction. "I'm the last guy of the group you all called dibs on, aren't I?"

Luna grinned, understanding that was probably the case.

"I would not know anything about who or if anypony has their eyes set on you, but I did notice at least one took an interest in seeing you again."

"Roxie?" Benny asked, albeit a bit shocked. "No, we were… holy shit, I'm blind… Goddamnit."

Before the self-deprecation could continue, a familiar voice called out from the doorway of the bowling alley.

"Hey, there, stud! Ready for our blind date?"

Benny looked up to see Vinyl Scratch singling him out.

"Hey, Vinyl! I was wondering who all Pinkie picked for this blind date thing."

Walking up, Vinyl was surprisingly chipper given the circumstances.

"Yeah. Pinkie said it’d be a surprise who my blind date would be, but when she hinted at it being a human, I wasn’t expecting you. You ever dated a DJ before?

“I… haven’t, no,” Benny cautiously answered, his smile thankfully stayed on as he tried to read the DJ’s expression, only to be blocked by her shades.

Luna chuckled quietly. The crazy antics of her subjects tickling her funny bone. To think that somehow Vinyl had misunderstood that she would be Benny’s date for the night. That would have made things easier, but Pinkie wouldn’t have…No… Pinkie would have.

Luna was going to have to fix this.

“Vinyl, it is wonderful to see you again,” Luna greeted the unicorn kindly as she placed a wing on Benny’s shoulder, silently urging him to hold his tongue. “Have your thousand bits bought you the favor of more than just a dance.”

Vinyl turned away bashfully…. at least as bashful as she could given her concealed eyes.

“Nah. It’s just luck I guess. Besides, these blind dates are really just getting to know somepony. I’m sure Benny over there has plenty of mares lined up. Emiright?”

Her chipper demeanor quickly dropped as a new thought entered her mind.

“Oh, unless you’re supposed to be with Octavia. In which case, yer the one who’s lucking out on that exchange. Not to say I’m not a prize winner, but Tavi?” She whistled in approval. “That girl is nothing but class.”

It was clear to Benny that Pinkie fucked this up. Clearly, she didn’t understand what a double date was, and now he had to apologize for the confusion.

“Actually, I think-”

Luna nudged Benny with her wing and stepped in to speak on his behalf.

“Actually, Benny has been so busy he hasn’t had the time to properly get out and meet many of the fine young mares running around Ponyville. He’s also had some… challenging moments since arriving and recently had a little too much excitement in the Everfree Forest. He actually just got back from the spa in town to help him relax. I came along to make sure he was going to be fine for his blind date since so much had been thrown at him. I’m sure you can understand how much of a change this must be for him ending up in a situation like this.”

“Indeed,” Octavia’s voice spoke up from behind, drawing the three others' attention. “I was hesitant to even agree to a blind date, especially one Pinkie suggested. But when she hinted at teaching a human how to bowl, well, I had to assume she was referring to you. Although I’m certainly no good at bowling. Seems kind of silly for Pinkie to set us up with a sport I’m terrible at, and I’m sure a human like Benny has never even heard of.”

She gave a nervous giggle. “Of course, I’m more than willing to learn with you if this is where you’d like to stay before the party.”

Well, whatever goodwill Luna had tried to show by saving Vinyl from any embarrassment just went up in flames, leaving Benny to suffer the consequences.

“Holy fuck sticks,” Benny declared in a bout of aggravation he couldn’t contain.

Unfortunately for Octavia, she had shown up at the worst time.

“I’m terribly sorry,” She said nervously, taking a half step back. “Is something wrong?”

What a disaster. First, Luna had to pull herself away from dating Benny because clearly, she was interested in someone else. Then, immediately after being relieved of the social pressure of trying to please a princess on a blind date of bowling, he walked into a second mare who had been sent as an additional blind date for him. What could have been saved by Luna pretending she was only seeing him off to the blind date, all but burst into flames as soon as a third mare showed up expecting to be his date?

What could he do?

… Lie.

“Girls,” Benny’s disappointed tone wasn’t filling anypony with confidence. “I must apologize, the other guy couldn’t make it out for the blind date. We were supposed to work things out, but it’s just me tonight. And I’m sorry, I don’t know who the other guy was, blind dates, them's the rules. So, the other guy could have been a pony for all I know. However… I would still like to enjoy a nice night out, and since I know both of you, so long as you’re both okay with it, would you both join me for an embarrassingly awkward Double, Double Date? I’m sure Princess Luna would greatly appreciate you helping me make the most out of this debacle.”

Luna gave Benny a look, questioning his sudden shift in attitude, as well as the convenient lie he pulled out of nowhere.

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Benny?”

Benny looked back at the other two of his three dates for the night. This time, his blinders were off, and he could see the disappointment drenched in Octavia's sad state and… did she get dressed up for this? She usually doesn’t wear a sash. Actually, behind those sad eyes, he saw something else he recognized. Plus, by the looks of Vinyl, she must have noticed, given her expression, she was asking for help.

“Yeah, these girls are great. And I made a promise. This will be good for me. Besides, -" He looked down at Octavia. "-I like bowling, and I can teach her a thing or two."

In a seemingly flawless transition, Benny had a whole new air of confidence and positivity around him.

"Vinyl, Tavi, could you do me a favor and go reserve us all a lane and get your bowling shoes, if they even make them. I need to go over some final security measures with the Princess, here."

He raised his injured arm and its bandages. "It's kind of embarrassing how I got hurt. I'll be quick, though."

Departing with a bow, the two trotted off together, and as the door closed, a faint trail of giggles and other sounds of excitement vanished from Luna's ears.

"Benny, that was an awfully kind thing you did just now. But if you are not ready-"

"It's fine," Benny quickly answered. "And I am so sorry that Pinkie put you in this position, but please, as a favor to me for doing this… let me talk to her first. Don't get me wrong, this was bad and could have been so much worse. At the same time, though… I at least somewhat know these two, and Vinyl already said this is just getting to know each other. Nothing big, and I need to start small anyway."

He grinned and horribly failed to force a small laugh. "I'm not looking for love. I don't even think I can at this point… but everyone I know is splitting off and doing their own thing without me. So, looks like I'm gonna need some new friends too."

Luna moved without thinking and pulled Benny into her with her wings hugging him dearly.

"My apologies may not be enough, but I am sorry about all of this. Please, if anything goes wrong or you are not comfortable with this promise you are holding yourself too, find me, and I will deal with it. But… if things go well, please let me know. Even as just friends, you will not be alone, as I will always have a place for you."

Genuinely moved, Benny hugged her back and thought she was taking things harder than she needed to be.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'll let you know how things go at the party tonight… and I'm sorry Pinkie tried to hook us up. You deserve better than what was left at the bottom of the barrel."

There was something Luna picked up in Benny’s voice that told her he was joking. She tried to muffle her laughs as she backed away, though, the absurdity made it impossible.

"Benny, you are far from the bottom of any barrel. Although, if things do not end for us as we both would wish… perhaps a not so blind date would be in order."

Benny eyed the Princess up and down, looking as if he was genuinely weighing in on such an idea.

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there. You shouldn't plan on settling for less. Best of luck to you, Luna, and I hope I don't see you single for long."

He gave her a wink before opening the door behind him. "See ya back at my place."

Luna winked back, keeping her smile as she walked.

"Best of luck to you as well. Also, Midnight Flash and Ralph will be staying behind to shadow you. Even without me to keep an eye on things, I trust them to be quite capable."

Nodding, Benny made his way inside with two guards, literally showing up out of nowhere. He hadn't even noticed when they got there, but was fairly used to such sudden surprises by now.

"Woah! Shit guys. I don't need you all up on me like this. I want to at least give the illusion it's just me spending time with my dates."

Midnight nodded rather coldly, nothing but his mind on his mission and his mission on his mind.

"As you say. We will not intrude."

As the two walked off, Vinyl hollered from across the alley.

"Yo, hot stuff! Come grab a ball!"

Now alone, Benny strolled over to the counter to pick out a bowling ball, an odd smirk slowly growing.

"Hot stuff? You're not one for mincing words, are ya?"

"That's Vinyl for you," Octavia quipped. "Never one to use a filter for her words. No matter how much I beg her to."

While it was a little more crude then he was used to, Benny could at least enjoy the flattery.

"Well, at least she's honest without a filter." He looked at the stallion behind the counter. "Can I get an eight pounder? And how much for all three of us?"

After the bill was paid, Octavia watched Benny grab the bowling ball and slide his fingers into the three holes drilled in.

"Well, isn't that convenient?” She said with a slight roll of the eyes as she looked over the other balls on the racks. “Which one should I get?"

Benny sized Octavia up for a moment.

"Grab one that has enough weight that you're not straining yourself to hold it. Not too light, though otherwise you’ll have a hard time controlling it."

After picking over a few, to Benny’s amazement, she went with a 12 pounder.

"Twelve? Guess I forget how strong you Earth ponies are supposed to be."

Octavia blushed, even over something that might have been more of an observation than a compliment.

"I wouldn't say I'm strong, even for an Earth pony. Really, my strength is my music if anything."

This little act of modesty, combined with her accent and blushing face left Benny somewhat starstruck. He had to admit, this mare was quite cute.

"Don't be so modest, and strength is relative. Pretty sure you got me outclassed. Be proud of it. Now come on, which lane we on?"

"Lane four, stud," Vinyl happily announced as she led the way. "We putting any bits on this game, or is that not proper dating etiquette?"

"Vinyl, please, of course not," Octavia corrected her friend.

Amused, Benny laughed at the two.

"Nah. Bets on a first date have to be for something simple or stupid. Like who buys the next round of snacks or bragging rights."

Now intrigued, Vinyl placed her ball down on the return, silently plotting.

"Hmm… Well, since we're going to the party tonight, is there going to be any dancing?"

That was an unusually open question, but not one Benny couldn't answer.

"Uh… Nothing like the welcome party, but I'm not going to stop anyone if they wanna dance."

Vinyl shrugged off her idea.

"Gotcha. I was going to suggest top score picks the song and dance partner. But if that's not in the works, we can think of something else to make it interesting."

As this was going on, Octavia was standing idly by, waiting to reign in any of Vinyl's bad behavior.

"At least let us play a game first to see if that's even a fair bet to make."

In that moment, Benny had a stroke of inspiration for something to incentivize them.

"Okay, how about this. Whichever of you scores the highest this first-round picks where they sit on the ride back to my place."

Vinyl's eyes went wide as she shouted, "We get to ride in your wagon! Oh! I'm totally taking top score. Sorry, Tavi."

Benny grinned, knowing the advantage any magic-user would have.

"Alright, you're looking confident, you roll first. And no cheating with your horn. That's an instant DQ. You have to actually hold the ball."

"Awe, buck. No fair," Vinyl whined, knowing she’d lost her only advantage.

Meanwhile, Octavia couldn’t help but relish her friend’s misery.

"How is not cheating not fair?"

Vinyl didn’t offer any of her usual smart remarks, and just sulked as Benny putin their information for keeping score.

With the rules set, Vinyl went up to roll, her usual confidence back and on full display.

"Come on, baby. Mommy's going for a ride tonight."

She rolled the ball down their lane with all the skill and accuracy she could muster… right into the gutter, twice.

"Oh, come on! What?! Is the floor slanted? This game is rigged."

Smirking like a shark, Benny stood up and readied for his first roll.

"I don't know about that. Let me try."

It might have been a while, but he didn't think he'd be too rusty. He lined up his shot and gave it his best… seven-ten split. Not bad, better than a gutter ball.

"Straight down the middle… you think maybe your ball is slanted?"

Vinyl laughed, borderline obnoxiously.

"The ball is fine. I just never played this by the rules before. I'm a total newb when it comes to playing fair and square."

Benny picked up his ball already prepared to bomb this next roll.

"Well, we’ve got time to learn. Won't be much of a fun date throwing gutter balls all night."

He made his roll, narrowly knocking down the ten pin and quickly tried to follow up with something clever.

"No, wait. I totally had something for this… Getting your mind out of the gutter and striking out, but not for a seven-ten split. Sniff said it once… damn it."

"Ahem," Octavia quietly alerted Benny of her presence, standing ready with her ball in hooves. "Is there a particular way I should hold the ball before I push it?"

After three dropped balls and one near-miss of his toes, it was clear Octavia would need a different approach to make this work.

In the end, it proved to be more of a balancing act on her hoof, cupping it in the bicep of her foreleg and then hurling it out like a shot put. With one semi-promising toss of knocking down four pins on the left, all she needed was a little help with her form.

"Hold on-hold on-hold on. Yer gonna fall over if you lean over like that."

Benny stepped up behind Octavia and helped her find the proper stance.

"Bend your knees, don't just lean over. Put your left arm-leg, dammit... Put it out when you curl the ball in. Then, you can swing your leg back down for momentum, brace yourself, so you don't tip over, and kick your back leg out on your throwing side to stop from kissing the floor."

Despite all the information being given, Ocatavia found It hard to focus on the instructions when all she could think about was how excited she was to have Benny’s hands guiding her through the motions.

"I think I'm starting to get the feel for this."

After that pun went over Benny's head, he backed off to let Octavia do her second roll. He watched her eye up her shot, though it still was odd to see a pony standing on their hind legs.

It was so easy to get accustomed to them walking and working on all fours, that the more alluring feminine human shape they took going bipedal became distracting. It wasn't just the human-like familiarity that he thought stood out, it was confusing to think how malleable their joints had to be. The range of motion they controlled shouldn't be possible, and yet, they performed it without the slightest sign of discomfort, just like how Octavia was demonstrating as she moved up and released the ball down the lane.

Down at the far end, the crash of pins clattering as they fell, ending her first turn, she turned to Benny with a question.

"How many points is knocking them all down worth?"

Vinyl swiftly celebrated her friend's success.

"Yeah! Way to strike 'em out, Tavi!"

With a touch of pride Benny marked up her points for her turn.

"It's a spare, not a strike… but I'm guessing a pro like Tavi here already knew that." He said with a grin before shooting a wink to the pony on the lead.

Octavia strolled back to her seat, a confident smile shining brightly.

"While the praise is appreciated, I’m afraid it’s untrue. Ask anypony that knows me, I'm not known for sports. If I did good, it's because you showed me how to properly bowl… Are you a professional?"

Benny was going to answer her question, but something else was running up too predominantly with his attention.

"Me? No, but… I'm not sure how often you must hear this, but I love your accent."

Rainbow Dash swooped to the backyard for a quick landing, taking a quick glance around to see who was still there.

"Hello? Anypony home?"

Twilight shouted from the house, "It's just me and Pinkie, Rainbow. We're in the garage."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Figures. The one time I drop in not coming through the front. Heh… phrasing." She dropped her smile and sulked when no one responded to her joke. "-Egh… it's not as funny when Becky's not here."

Rainbow let herself in through the backdoor and made her way into the garage to find Twilight busy at work.

"Hey Rainbow, you're just in time for my first test run. I'm about to give this house all the power they'll need for the party, and hopefully, the rest of the time they're here."

Rainbow looked down at the box decorated with crystals.

"You mean power for their movies and junk? Cool. How's it work?"

Twilight finished rerouting a few wires and closed the lid to the box.

"Well, most of these crystals hold the equivalent of a small thunderstorm. The output of each cycle initially taps a continuous loop of one lightning bolt, which can hold up to three million volts per meter. However, being how this is a closed-loop covering only about the circumference of about four centimeters, the second series of crystals will transfer-”

Rainbow Dash rocked her head back and groaned at the verbal onslaught on her brain.

“Gah! Okay, I’m gonna stop ya right there because you already lost me. Lighting bolts don’t work like that for me, your talking nonsense right now.”

Unsurprisingly disappointed, Twilight sighed in defeat. Why couldn’t Sniff be there to listen to her nerding out? At least he’d pretend to be invested.

“Well, in simpler terms, the first set of crystals recreate the electricity of a thunderstorm. The second set of crystals let that electricity run through it, and all of the rest of the crystals work as insulators and dampeners to lower the amount of volts coming in and match the proper wattage needed for all the lights and devices need to work without melting them with a power overload. Next time, just ask me what something does, not how it works."

Annoyed with the ever-growing list of frustrations she'd been dealing with after parting ways with Sniff, she turned her attention solely back to her work and ignoring Pinkie poking her head in different boxes.

"Why does anypony ever ask me how something works? Only Starlight can ever understand my nerd speak.”

Rainbow Dash stood silent at the claim. It wasn’t like Twilight to rant like that, but she couldn’t argue with the logic.

“You know what, Twi, you’re right. You do you, and I’ll trust that you know how something works so long as you can tell me what it’s supposed to do and cover all the nerd stuff for me.”

Twilight hung her head, already feeling bad for snapping so easily again.

“I’m sorry, Dash. I’ve had a bit of a rough morning. I’m getting closer to Peter, but I found out that dating him is going to be a lot more involved than I thought it would be. I wasn’t ready for some of the more…”

There was a long pause from Twilight, thinking about everything discussed at Rarity’s boutique. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were absent from that long talk, but given how little time Pinkie had with Benny, on top of setting him up with a blind date instead of trying to hook up with him herself, and Rainbow Dash… would Rainbow Dash be interested in females like she was in the story? She was possibly closer to her human as a guardian than any of the others.

One question might be able to give her some insight into how much they know or how active they’ve been behind closed doors.

“Say Dash, have you or Pinkie had issues with your ears and tails twitching uncontrollably since meeting Benny, Becky, or any of the other humans?”

Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side, caught off guard by the rather odd question.

“Huh?”

Pinkie sat on the concrete floor and brought her hoof to her chin, pondering in deep thought.

“Hmm… Nope. My last twitch’ah twitch happened right before they showed up.”

“No, I mean-” Twilight pulled back from pushing the issue more than she already had.

If they didn’t have the only consistent reaction from wanting to rut, she had only to assume they weren’t ready for this conversation.

“Nevermind, we can wait until after the party when we have everypony together to discuss some of the other new things I’ve discovered about human pony relations. It’s nothing bad, just… really confusing. In the meantime, if you both could help me make sure everything works with my Storm Power Box, we can surprise Benny and everyhuman else. Maybe we can even all make a thing of watching movies together?”

The promise of more movies? Rainbow Dash couldn't repress her excitement.

“Fuck yeah! Becky is always making references to movies and shows when she explains things to me. I can’t wait to actually see them instead of just hearing about them.”

Pinkie was just as worked up with the possibilities.

“Oou! I was looking around when I was cleaning up for BenBen! The Lion King has more than one movie! Also, if Becky is teaching Nurse Redheart and the other doctors at the hospital learn how to help injured ponies, they would probably want to see the movie about the biology stuffs BenBen hid in his closet. After seeing what can happen to humans when they’re hurt really badly, and BenBen was already cut by that meanie shadow pony, I want to make sure they can take care of him and the rest of our friends.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash celebrated the suggestion. “Becky’s hands sometimes have trouble working like they’re supposed to, so if there’s a movie that can help them learn more, think of all the ponies it could help, too! I mean, AJ might still be walking around if more ponies could have helped and had to do less cutting.”

Remembering all the blood and trauma of that night, Twilight shuttered.

“You make a good point, Rainbow, and that’s a great idea, Pinkie. With all the unknown dangers still out there, and seeing all the blood-related injuries Kelly, Cerb, and Applejack suffered, I can see why he said we weren’t ready to see what’s probably on that movie. As bad as it was seeing Kelly injured, having her unconscious made it a bit more frightening since we didn’t fully understand what was happening. Then seeing Cerb’s injuries and all the discomfort he had in spite of how tough he is was unsettling to say the least. But after seeing them with their injuries… I don’t know how I would have been able to handle being there for what all Applejack had to go through. If this movie shows their insides, and I’m guessing either their blood or organs gushing out, that could make us more prepared for even more severe injuries. We’ll have to make sure Becky and Benny are given extra compensation if that movie can help. But first… let’s hope this works.”

Twilight secured the connectors fashioned together to the fusebox and flipped a switch on her Storm Power Box. A low hum of power surged through the box shortly after, preceding the lights overhead flickering on. Inside the house, a series of beeps, clicks and whirring noises of various appliances sounded off.

The sights and sounds nearly overwhelmed Twilight with excitement. She might have just made a monumental breakthrough for integrating human technology and pony magic.

The three made their way inside to the delight of more lights glowing as well as the stove and microwave both flash 12:00 on their displays.

Testing the effectiveness of Twilight's device, Pinkie opened the fridge and noticed some cold air flowing through.

"It worked!" Twilight rejoiced, fighting the urge to break into a happy dance. "If I can get this to work for their house, I can make smaller ones for their smaller devices when they're out with us. They're going to love this! Pinkie, you go find that biology movie. I'd like to see what it has to offer. They might be getting a huge paycheck if it’s as helpful as the textbooks. I'll see if I can get their TV turned on.

After some fiddling with the entertainment system and accidentally starting The Lion King again, they had a good enough understanding of what to do… once they figured out how to get the movie with nurses on the cover in the Xbox.

“Hello?” Rarity called out from the garage. “Pinkie? Benny?”

Overjoyed to have more ponies with them, Pinkie bolted for the garage to greet the new arrival.

“Rarity! Oh! Fluttershy, too! You’re not going to believe this! Twilight put a thunderstorm in a box, and now the TV works! We’re about to watch that gross biology movie about humans, I think. Since you’re Cerb’s vet, you should watch this too!”

With the others on board, they all met up in the living room and made themselves comfortable, where Rainbow Dash asked, “So, what brings you two here?”

Basking in her premature success, Rarity floated down a collection of boxes.

“Well, after talking with Oven Fresh, along with some help from Peter, I started a new line of clothing I wanted to share for us to wear tonight.”

Already up to speed on what the attire was, Twilight went flush as she looked over the Xbox.

“Yes… they’re very nice. I’m sure Peter is going to like it. I hope Justin feels the same with yours. You too, Fluttershy.”

Ever curious, Pinkie was already opening her box.

“Awe! Look how cute they are!”

Worried about looking cool for the party, Rainbow groaned.

“It’s not another dress, is it? It’s one thing if I’m going to the Gala, and nothing against your dresses, Rarity-”

“It’s not a dress, Rainbow,” Rarity scolded. “I have no doubt that you’ll enjoy what I made for you. I took your taste into consideration and modeled it closer to what Becky wears.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked, sounding more interested. “Becky’s choices in clothes are pretty sweet. Not too flashy or bulky. Kinda like the clothes you made her. Yeah, I could wear something like that."

An unexpected mechanical noise alerted Twilight to their progress.

"Oh? There's a little button on the side. Let's see what we can learn from this. And don't worry, girls. If it gets to be too intense, we can stop it."

Begrudgingly agreeing to sit through this medical film, for both Cerb and Fluttershy’s benefit, Rarity prepared herself for the worst.

"I might not be able to stomach too much if there's more blood than what I've already seen. I can only imagine the kind of nightmares I'd be having if I didn't have Fluttershy and Justin with me at night."

The movie was popped in and started with a title screen far less animated than the other two they had seen. It was a still image of three nurses in uniform, with breasts far larger than either Kelly or Becky had.

They were staring out with… what kind of expressions were they showing? One was obviously happy, but her smile was like something you would see on a villain's face. Another was bent over with her mouth open, maybe screaming in pain? The other was licking some odd-looking tool, or a medical device none of them had seen before. Kind of looked like a plastic candle without a wick.

Whatever this movie was going to go over, the cover gave nothing to hint at what to expect.

On edge from the title screen, Rainbow Dash had a bad feeling about this.

"Twi, are we sure this is a movie about biology? I remember Becky telling me that ugh… umm…"

While Rainbow seemed to struggle to find the words to warn her friends with, Twilight tried to remember what button on the controller was the button to select an option. The smartphone was a lot easier to operate than this movie player device.

"Benny said it was, and Peter warned us about how graphic it could be… Oh, yeah. The A button makes it play."

The screen went dark, and sounds of strained grunts and panting started to play through the speakers. Then a whine that made Fluttershy's ears perk, reminding her of her last morning in the Everfree Forest.

"That sounds an awful lot like-"

The black screen faded out to a human woman, wearing only a nurse's hat, laying on her back, and having sex with a human man.

The porno scene in plane sight caused Rainbow to immediately jump out of her seat.

"That's what it looks like?! Holy shit! He's almost as big as Cerberus!"

Pinkie gasped in horror, but then dropped to a state of confusion.

"Dashie, look at those scrawny little arms. Cerb is way bigger than him."

Rarity was still in awe at what she saw on the screen.

“Not his arms, Pinkie, his dick. And how would you know, Rainbow?"

Like the rest of them, Rainbow couldn't bring herself to look away from the screen.

"I saw him naked when you stitched him up. He wasn't hard, but when that thing is, it's gonna be-"

"Waiiiiiiiit!" Pinked screamed to silence the room, then pointed to the screen. "Is that the lever Benny was talking about?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her naive friend’s rather juvenile response.

"Yes, Pinkie. That was the joke. If you were to touch his dick enough, it would get hard."

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity finally pulled their eyes away from the screen, looking utterly shocked. One after another, Rainbow had confidently answered every question. She even knew what a dick was.

"Rainbow," Twilight spoke up right before she paused the porno. "How do you know all these things?"

Rainbow gave the others a funny look. A genuine baffled look of bewilderment.

"We've been with our human friends for nearly half a month, taking care of them while getting to know them better and learning their culture and shit. You never talked to them about sex?"

After Becky’s short walk into the forest with Rainbow, the simple task of collecting firewood was put on hold due to another coughing fit. Of course, following one quick examination of pony nudity, a rather deep conversation had started between the two, and Rainbow Dash couldn't believe how much Becky was confiding in her. There she was, sickly, weak, in many ways sheltered from the cruel world she came from… admitting all her vulnerabilities. All of which led to Rainbow’s last question.

"Have you ever found someone that you trusted like that? The way you talked about being vulnerable with some person you trusted?"

Thinking back to her first, last, and only sexual encounter, Becky didn't answer at first. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts over such an odd time of her life.

"Once,” she finally answered. “But I don't want to talk about anything that's going to make you uncomfortable or gross you out. I'm sure the last thing you want to hear is about my sex life… or the lack thereof."

Rainbow cocked an ear to the side at her friend’s words.

"What's a sex life? Actually, how do you even have sex? I was thinking about it, and I don't think anypony ever told me about it."

"You… really don't know how to have sex?" Becky asked, utterly flabbergasted. "You walk around with your snatch out in the open and… actually, that would explain a lot. But how can you not know? You never got interested in a guy's dick?"

"What's a dick?" Rainbow asked, still just as lost.

There was no way Becky spoke the same language as Rainbow Dash, but all these dirty words weren't lining up.

"Dash, I'm going to start naming off some words. Just say yes or no if you know what they are."

Rainbow was still wanting to know what a dick was, but if Becky wanted to change subjects, Rainbow Dash would roll with it.

"Okay, but these aren't going to be a bunch of nerdy or really big words, are they?"

Becky shook her head.

"No. First word. Schlong."

"Are you trying to say long, but with an accent or something?"

"That's a no. So, what about pussy?"

Rainbow Dash snorted.

"Yeah, I know what a cat is."

Becky rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Not pussycat. Just pussy. So that's another no. What about cunt?"

"Uhh… no."

"Fuck?"

"No."

"Bitch?"

"No."

"Clit or clitoris?"

"Nope."

"Ass?"

"No."

"Rape?"

"Did you say wrap?"

"No… what about orgasm or masturbation?"

"Hey, you said no big nerdy words."

"They’re not," Becky answered, still amazed at what she was hearing. "Dash, if you had to give it your best guess, what do you think two ponies have to physically do with each other to get the mare pregnant?"

Now rather invested in the topic, Rainbow Dash sat and thought about it. It seemed like such a simple question at first, but it was like she had completely forgotten something she was sure she knew or at least should know.

Still fighting the illogical possibility a pony could be this sheltered, Becky thought of something that might help.

"You asked me if my old boyfriend wanted to rut me before we got married. What is that? How would two ponies rut?"

"Oh, that?" Rainbow Dash started to look more confident, even if it was obviously forced. "That's when they… uh… Well, they have to love each other. Then they can… they can… I dunno. I just know the word… I don't know what it is?"

One last chance for Becky to get any help on this.

"What do you remember being talked about when you heard that word?"

Now frustrated and desperately wanting answers herself, Rainbow Dash tried to think back. She went deeper into thought than seemed necessary.

"I… don't remember. I must'uh overheard it when I was a foal or something. I can't remember when and where I learned every word I know. But were all these other words things about sex? And, I don't mind talking about or listening to this stuff. I feel dumb not knowing it. Like, come on. Everypony knows how babies are made and what rutting is. I just never cared, I guess. Too busy being awesome and fighting bad guys, ya know?"

Rainbow finished with some punches in the air, along with some mid-air kicks against her invisible opponent. After her awesome combat skills were put on display, she noticed Becky didn't look invested in the conversation anymore.

"Uhh… unless you'd rather not talk about. That's cool. I'm sure I can ask Twilight to… nah. I don't need to hear a whole thesis about it."

Becky relaxed a bit as she sat and thought about this strange situation she had found herself in.

"No, it's okay. It's more that you asked me if I ever let someone see me naked and vulnerable. I have, but… I have a lot of mixed feelings about it."

Becky was opening up again. This was a good sign. Plus, Rainbow really was curious about something she thought she knew until just a few minutes ago. At the very least, she should know in case some other pony asked her.

"I still don't see what the big deal is about being seen naked. But, I guess it's different for you. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

Becky hesitated, but how long had she been carrying these thoughts? Perhaps it would be best to just finally let it out and put it to bed for good.

"I have mixed feelings about it because I've only ever let one person see me naked. And that was because we had sex."

In an instant, Rainbow wanted to celebrate her new friend's accomplishment, gush like a schoolgirl, and ask for the details but remembered who she was talking to. That and they were still talking about a subject she was woefully ignorant about.

"So… you had sex with a guy, but it was for leisure? Like, just to relax or… is sex supposed to be fun?"

Becky sighed, though the way Rainbow’s question was asked still made her laugh a little. Was she really going to admit this to a fantasy character that was clueless about sex? The fear of others finding out if Rainbow blabbed about it quickly faded as she thought of finally talking to someone about it. Plus Rainbow was the literal definition of loyal, so it’s unlikely she’d ever betray her trust.

"I didn't have sex with a guy… I had sex with Kelly."

Now Rainbow Dash was lost.

"Are you messing with me? Kelly's a mare like you. How can two mares have sex?"

That was a good question for the uninitiated. Too bad Becky had an equally valid question to stump this curious pegasus.

"Do you know what a mare and a stallion do during sex?"

And just like that, Rainbow was back to being clueless.

"Alright, ya got me there, but… how? Or even why? I still don't know what it is we're even talking about."

Despite still feeling apprehensive about coming clean about all this, she was already this far into it, might as well get these thoughts out of her head.

"The why is probably the easier of the two to explain. I was dating a guy after high-school. Things were good between us, but he wanted to have sex. That's typical for people, both male and female. But… I was worried about getting pregnant. We have ways not to get pregnant, but the thought of one of them not working and then me trying to raise a kid? I didn't know if my body could take the strain of carrying a child. I didn't have a job that could have supported us, no degree, no husband… And then my mind went to the logical conclusion of my kid and me being stuck with me at my mother's house… I'd never let that happen. Too much abuse and neglect, and even if I found someplace else to live, I wasn't going to live long enough to give the poor kid a life worth much before I croaked."

Rainbow Dash sat quietly, tentatively listening to a story unlike any she ever heard before.

After taking a deep breath, Becky continued with a fake smile as if she should be happy trying to explain this.

"So, I ended up breaking up with him. Or pushing him away so he'd break up with me. Either way, I was miserable. So, being such a good friend, Kelly decided to take me out of town. She was doing pretty well at the time. Had lots of extra cash and decided to blow some on me to help cheer me up."

"That's what good friends do," Rainbow Dash added, trying to make things a little less uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Becky huffed with a smirk. "So, we went out bar hopping and hitting up the clubs. Then, more than a little drunk, I told her that I might as well be a dyke if I'm too afraid to have sex with a guy."

"Dyke?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm guessing it's not the same thing as a river dyke? Because we have those."

"No," Becky shook her head with a chuckle. "We have those, too. Dyke is basically a mean word for a woman who loves or has sex with other women. It's different when a girl says it or if she actually is a lesbian or bi."

Despite Becky’s efforts to keep the explanation simple, Rainbow was just lost as she was with one of Twilight’s break downs.

"Huh?"

Realizing the words she used, Becky caught the slip-up.

"Right, sorry. Lesbian is the proper term for women who prefer women as their lovers. Bi or Bisexual is when a person likes both. Kelly is bi. I don't really fit any category anymore, but anyway. I told her that, and so she ran with the joke. But… when we got back to our hotel room, she…" Becky confusingly started to laugh. "That crazy bitch actually talked me into it."

Rainbow Dash gave an awkward grin, thinking she was supposed to be laughing along but couldn't understand why.

"Oh? Must have been pretty bad, huh?"

Becky's posture dropped some, but she didn't look saddened by the question.

"No…, it was good. I don't regret it. I even still think about it from time to time. She was amazing in bed. But… Kelly did it to cheer me up and help me get over the breakup, and we never did it again. But, we were all spreading out more around that time. Even after some of the worst times and we all got together or ended up back in our old shit town, I think that part of our life passed us by. That and I don't want to get too hung up on her when I know she'd never be serious with me."

Rainbow Dash nodded, thinking she was now starting to get it.

"Right… Okay, so. Two mares loving each other or at least living like a married couple, that's not unheard of. But you still haven't told me what sex actually is? I know now that two mares can do it, and I don't even know what that is."

Knowing this would be interesting, Becky reached for the bottle of vodka, then padded the grass next to her. She would need a drink for this and figured Rainbow should be seated for what she was about to explain.

“Have a seat, Dashie. I’ll tell ya how it all works.”

After thinking about how easy it was to talk to Becky, Rainbow Dash was almost insulted about the progress her friends had made with their human companions, or lack thereof in retrospect. If only they knew the conversations she had with Becky.

"That conversation came up my first day when I was taking care of Becky. From about the time I got there until Celestia showed up, we talked about all sorts of stuff. Sex was the first long conversation we had. She broke it down for me so it was easy to follow along. Usually, I space out, but she kept pulling me back into the conversation with questions she would ask or had me try to find something to compare to what she was talking about.”

Despite her lack of interest in partaking earlier, the past few days had given way to somewhat of a curious inkling to experiment.

“There is so much crazy shit you can do during sex. You know how dumb I felt when Becky told me that sex doesn't have to be for getting pregnant? Or that it can be two girls, or two guys, or two girls with a guy, or two guys with a girl, or… fuck! They even have orgies where it's just a bunch of them having sex at the same time and swapping partners."

"So… what is a dick?" Pinkie asked, totally breaking the mood.

Unfortunately, Twilight had too many questions to answer that.

"Hold on to that thought, Pinkie. Rainbow, if you knew all this, why didn't you say anything."

"I did!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "I kept telling everpony that they needed to respect the human's choice to stay clothed, not to ask questions about their bodies or covered up parts. I kept stressing that they had to really trust you to open up about that kind of stuff. I told you all more than enough to know that nudity and anything sex-related was a big issue for them to talk about."

While Twilight wanted to be mad about the outburst, how could she? Rainbow was right and actually took their sensitivities into consideration.

"Okay, you're right about that. Though, I guess I should ask, if you knew all this, why didn't you try dating any of them? Or, since you've been spending so much time with Becky, are you…"

Now Rainbow Dash was insulted.

"Ooooh, fuck you. You think just because I know what sex is that I've been flying around trying to get Becky to sleep with me? I'm not trying to get laid, or have sex with Becky."

Properly insulted back, Twilight snapped in response.

"Fuck me? Fuck you, Dash! I asked because I want to make sure you're not going to get hurt or endanger Becky with any of this. And if I'm jumping to conclusions, it's because I only found out this morning what sex was or that ponies and humans could do it together even if we can't have babies with them. And now I'm dating Peter with Oven Fresh, and even though she wants to have sex with him, I don't, even though you and I did in that goddamn story about us!"

After a moment of silence following that exchange, Pinkie slid out of her seat and trotted towards the garage.

"I can't do this sober. Anypony else want a bottle and finally tell me what a dick is?"

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow and sat angrily in her seat, ignoring Pinkie’s question.

"I'm sorry you didn't know what sex was. I thought you did. How could you not? You know practically everything anyway! And what story did you read about us?”

“Xeno-” Twilight stopped herself from going on with another rant as she finally realized her slip of the tongue. “Actually, that’s going to take a while to explain. I’m sorry, that has nothing to do with you directly, but I found a story about us with lots of things that make what’s going on with the humans seem like this is maybe a natural course for us. I’m still trying to figure out how much of it is based on reality. It’s not as accurate as the show Chris and Becky keep referencing about us, but some of the interactions with humans and us are similar enough that I have to assume a lot of things.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to ask about the story right now if that wasn’t the focus of the conversation. Her loyalty and promiscuity had to be dealt with first.

“I'm trying to get into the Wonderbolts. If I do make it, I wanted to ask Soarin out... date him, not Becky. We're just friends. And even if I was into mares, even human ones, Becky says she doesn't want a relationship. Not even a leisure one. Not when she doesn't think we can send her home or cure her… that's why I've been working so hard with everything lately and spending so much time with her. She’s secretly sad and thinks it's better to die with friends at her side than to leave a family behind. But she looks up to me for some stupid reason, so I'm going to show her that it can be done. I'm going to make my dreams come true, become a Wonderbolt, marry Soarin or whichever stallion is right for me, and start a family. Not just because that's what I know I want now, I want her to see that she can be like me. She can do more and be happy here."

Rainbow’s strong convictions seemed to fall heavily over the room. Even Pinkie caught enough of it after coming back into the room with a bottle of X Rated. It was a pretty pink color, so how could it not taste good?

Now looking to Rainbow for some insight, Rarity asked, "Is it wrong for us to want to be so intimate with them?"

Still angry, but not mad enough Rainbow couldn't answer, she turned an eye towards the question.

"No... that's one of the things Becky and I talked about. Having sexual wants and desires is natural. Even casual sex is fine. You don't have to love someone for it to be okay to have sex with them, it just has to be mutual."

Thinking about it, she started to lighten up a little. They were finally asking the right questions, just like she had wanted them to.

"Just be honest, and as long as whoever you’re doing it with wants the same thing, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s so natural that there's even times Becky wants it, and even I've thought about trying some things once I find the pony I want to be with. Though, I’ll be honest with you, I’m jealous that I don’t have a shot at Cerb or Sniff.”

“Really?” Pinkie asked. “Is it because Sniff is such a smooth talker, and you saw Cerb naked?”

While not entirely inaccurate, Rainbow still rolled her eyes at the rather simple minded reasoning.

“No, Pinkie. Sniff was a jerk when he first got here, but he was having a hard time dealing with being away from home and… I guess he’s someone who had an active sex life, as Becky put it. But it’s not the sex part that got me kind of curious about asking him out. Sniff is the kind of friend we all want to have. The kind that we all try to be with each other.”

After a moment had passed of remembering how crazy things had turned out from holding back so much information, Rainbow decided to open up a little more about her experiences.

“Remember when Luna found out that Cerb has night terrors and I told her that I knew about them? Well, the second night the humans stayed here, Cerb had one of his nightmares about being back in the war. He freaked out, and since they were all sleeping in this room together, he woke them up. I didn’t get all the details from Becky, but he was too shaken up and didn’t want to hurt any of them if he had the dream again. So, Sniff stayed up the whole night with him, even though he was exhausted.”

She looked directly at Rarity and Fluttershy, a deep look of compassion for the whole series of events that had played out.

“That next morning, when you two went running off with Cerb around the house, I stayed and talked to Sniff. That’s when I found out about him looking after Cerb and keeping him company. He even offered to pay me back for their breakfast I brought them. When I told him that we were there to help them out, he said all he wanted was for me to take care of Becky since she needed the most help. Even though he was exhausted and still sore from their crash landing, as well as still angry about being here in the first place, he was more concerned with his friends being taken care of than himself.”

Twilight nodded, remembering how slow she was to pick up on who he really was on the inside.

“I felt the same way about him too. I didn’t know how angry he was, or even the reasons. Then the way he talked to me, insulting and mocking me… but he cares so much about his friends and is always trying to help everypony around him. He was suffering from social withdrawal and having a hard time taking care of his own needs. It wasn’t until I really got to know him and saw how much he cares about others that I started to realize what kind of person he was. The night of the welcome party, he took care of me after Cerb had his night terror, that was when I really started to appreciate him."

A touch of bitterness entered her voice, remembering how close she had been to losing him.

"But I was too stuck on appeasing Celestia, trying to keep my emotions away from him that I failed to realize how attracted I was to the kind of stallion he is. Sure, he’s handsome and has that amazing smell of clovers… I love who he is. I loved him that way before I even considered that sex was something we could do.”

Rainbow softened her posture, hearing where Twilight was coming from, which had thankfully cleared up some of the negative air between them.

“Peter really is a terrific guy, just like Cerb is. I mean, that guy has lost so much. Becky told me about how messed up he was when he came back from their war. He was stuck in a wheelchair because he couldn’t even walk. He actually lived here in this house for a long time, but he rarely left. They would all come over and visit him, but for a while he wouldn’t talk much, he’d just drink until he passed out."

She looked around the large room they were in, imagining the hardships these walls must have witnessed, which must have been a lot.

"I talked to her about the nightmare stuff later on and found out that he would drink like that so he didn’t wake up from his nightmares. It was the only way he could sleep, but he’d still cry and scream while he slept. He eventually stopped drinking so much, but the nightmares didn’t end for him and he would jump up fighting people who weren't there or think he was back in combat when he got shot. She’s still worried about him, but just like Sniff, he kept putting the safety of his friends before his own.”

Since they were on the topic of Cerb, and Fluttershy thought she had the best grasp on his situation, she offered some comforting words of her own.

“We’re trying really hard to help him with all his problems. There’s so much more he’s had to deal with. Most of his friends don't know about all he’s been through.”

With the others opening up, Rarity sighed, ready to give her own view on Cerb.

“He certainly is selfless and protective. He knew the Timberwolves were dangerous, but when we found Zecora and realized that Onyx and his team had fallen behind to give her a chance to escape, he refused to leave them behind. Zecora told us there were too many Timberwolves to count, which made it foolish to run into a fight with such overwhelming odds. The safest thing to do would have been to get help, come back with stronger numbers, but with the signals unable to work, he told us to take care of Zecora. That he would find them and bring them back…"

Thinking back to that day, it brought about so much pride, joy, fear, and even a little sadness, knowing how things really were.

"I think it’s clear that he knew he was running into a battle he wouldn’t be able to fight alone, but he was too stubborn to let some pony get hurt or die because of him. Then… well, you saw him fighting out there, Rainbow. Not just how efficiently he wielded his ax or shot those nasty buggers to pieces. He kept himself the center of the Timberwolves' attention as much as he could, told us where to focus our attention to keep each other safe, and threw himself into harm's way the instant he thought we were in danger. He even went as far as to antagonize the bulk of them just to give us a chance to fall back or escape, as if any of us would.”

Twilight hadn’t had much time to dwell on that fight, there was a lot of gratitude she hadn’t had the time to express. Not that she could even begin to think of a proper way to do so.

“By the time I got there, he was already injured. He was bleeding, and I didn’t notice it at first, but he had a limp in his bad leg. But he fought so hard and even risked his life to save Spike. If not for his actions, Onyx Armor, Night Guard, Rare Find, Spike, all of you probably, likely could have been lost to us out there. But he never complained or asked for anything in return.”

She had a slight chuckle remembering the final moments of the battle. “It took the combined efforts of Rarity and Fluttershy to stop him from fighting for us, despite his injuries. He really is amazing.”

Rarity, not overly compelled by her sympathy for Twilight, wasn’t going to let that one slide.

“Emm, no, darling. I think it’s more likely he was afraid of getting between you and Oven Fresh at the time.”

Twilight frumped reflexively to the jab, stewing in her anger over that correction.

“Shud ‘aup.”

Still thinking about the fight, Rainbow had a blush growing that she couldn’t fight off.

“Cerb was sooo cool out there, though. Always in control, always there just in the nick of time. An ax in one hand, his gun in the other. Swinging and shooting at every stupid Timberwolf that got in range. And if he hadn’t jumped in to take on all those Timberwolves when he did, they totally would have swarmed us. Those few seconds he bought saved our tails. But even beyond that, he’s been so gentle with you two, trained Fluttershy to fight, was a total gentlecolt with Rarity on your date from what I hear around town, and he even stepped up to take care of AJ.”

Changing her posture to specify the record, Rainbow continued.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was mostly because Becky knew what to do, but that pep talk to keep her strong through the whole operation, then how he never got squeamish while having to cut out those splinters.”

Rarity felt a warmth inside growing and a sense of pride flooding in.

“Yes, and he has his sensitive side as well.”

Actually, active in combat wasn’t the only time Rainbow saw him in a way that impressed her.

“I’ve also never looked at a stallion and been so excited like I did until I saw Cerb without his clothes on,” Rainbow Dash added, a very small blush starting to form. “Kinda hot.”

Pinkie gasped as this was news to her.

“That’s how you knew he has a bigger lever than that guy in the movie?!”

“It’s a cock,” Rainbow Dash corrected her.

“It’s actually called a dick, dear,” Rarity informed Rainbow. “And you shouldn’t be looking at it.”

“Penis,” Twilight corrected both of them. “Or are those what Becky and Justin call them?”

Seeing the growing confusion, Fluttershy spoke up to help mediate.

“Justin uses both words, but usually says dick. I also wanted to say that Rarity and I are only telling you all this because we trust you all to not say anything about it. We already feel terrible about bringing up what we have shared. Justin trusts us not to go around talking about these things, and we don’t want to lose the trust he has in us or ruin our chances with him, but we started to realize that there was more to this than we could handle.”

Rainbow looked between Rarity and Fluttershy, now curious how Fluttershy actually fit into this.

“Wait a minute, I knew Rarity was attracted to him and that’s why she was so worked up over the date, but what about you? Are you both trying to get with him?"

Confirming the question, Fluttershy and Rarity made some flirty eyes at each other, sending Rainbow into another excited fit.

"Holy shit! Is that what’s happening now? First Twilight and Oven Fresh with Sniff, now you two with Cerb? What’s next? Applejack bringing… fuck… who would Applejack want to share Lumberman with? The guy hardly even talks to the rest of us or any pony else.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and grumbled for yet another questionable line of confidence being brought into consideration.

“Not that it’s really my place to say, Applejack, last we spoke with her, does have an interest in Lumberman like we all do with our human companions. However, lets be honest those two deserve each other. I really hope they can work something out. He would make her so happy if they stayed together Well, her and Starlight with Chris. I can’t believe how close those two are now.”

With a proud smile, Twilight remembered when she first noticed how comfortable those two had become with each other.

“Actually, I was rather surprised by that, too. When we were in the Everfree Forest, the plumbing in Chris’s bathroom broke, and then he was so upset worrying about everypony else that she had to spend the night with him just to keep him calm. She's even become a better friend because of how he's been helping her. Although...”

She turned to Pinkie, now confused by the update she received in the garage.

“Pinkie, didn’t you say Chris went on a date with somepony while we were gone?”

Assuming Chris’s date was with Starlight, Rainbow Dash started to have some mixed thoughts on that.

“Yeah… he certainly has made her a better friend… but… have you seen the way Chris looks at her? Or remember how he admitted that Twilight looked better as a pony than a human? And uh… Starlight came pretty close to kicking my ass because she was afraid I’d make him sad. Not that I blame her, dude's really nice."

"Well, just because they slept together and had a date doesn't mean they're having sex," Fluttershy calmly stated. "Rarity had their date, and Cerb might have suggested that most of our time together in the forest was a date, but we also sleep with Cerb every night, and we've never had sex."

Her eyes went back to the screen. "It looks a lot different from what I imagined."

With all this talk of falling for a human or wanting to fuck them, Pinkie started to fidget in her seat. Though she seemed to be more out of confusion than excitement, enough she didn’t even answer Twilights questions she had been interrupted from.

"Was I supposed to start dating Benny? I'm the only one not trying to date a human? And I just sent Benny up on a Double, Double Blind Date with Luna, Octavia, and DJ Pon3!"

Now that that was out in the open, Rainbow had some thoughts to share about that.

“Yeah, not gonna lie. I was really thinking you and Benny were gonna be a thing until you set him up with Luna. Not saying that you're not a catch yourself there Pinks, but… Luna? If you haven’t noticed the two humans on the TV and where the guys dick went, that whole area is where humans, especially the guys, seem to be attracted to. And Luna has probably twice as much ass as you do. Plus, she reeeeeealy seems to like our new human friends. Not to mention, being stuck on the moon for a thousand years, if she ain’t lonely and looking for company, she’s at least looking for some action.”

While the others pondering over similar concerns, Rarity surprisingly wasn’t too worried about the situation, though one other detail had her wondering.

“Pinkie, who did you get to agree to be the other blind dates for Octavia and Vinyl?”

That question visibly triggered Pinkie to the point she was starting to panic. All this new information was putting her in to a mental overload.

“I didn’t! All three are dating Benny at once! I thought Luna could use the company like Rarity did. But then I thought I’d double the dates for Benny to make it even better, and then I doubled the amount of extra dates that I doubled!”

“Oh, my,” Rarity suddenly felt terrible for Pinkie. “I happened to see Octavia out today. She was wearing the new sash I had put together for her. She said she wanted something to make her look extra special and catch the eyes as well as the ears of her audience, and was strictly intending not to wear it until her next performance. I thought that was odd of her, but she must really want to impress Benny.”

Now having moved from panicking to full on Twilight-freaking, Pinkie jumped out of her seat, nearly pulling her hair out in the process.

“Twilight! What do I do? I’m a single mare with no aspirations for married life! I live above my job and I’ve never even been on a date! I didn’t even know why Benny wanted to go swimming until now! I ruined my chances with him because I don't know what a dick is, and now he’s going to marry Octavia because of a sash. They might be having crazy human pony sex right now! I gotta stop him!”

Rightfully fretting for the success of her romantic future, Pinkie took off in a mad dash for the door, but felt a binding wrap around her neck yank her back, choking her in the process.

“Ack! What! Nooooooooo!”

Knowing exactly where this was going as soon it started, Twilight had attached a magic leash to the crazy party pony without her knowing it.

“Pinkie, what do you think you’re doing?” She scolded the mis-match-maker pony. You can’t just go and ruin a date you set up for him.”

“But, Twilight!” Pinkie whined, trying in vain to remove the leash.

Painfully groaning again, Rainbow rolled her eyes, disappointed at Pinkie’s complete lack of consideration for Benny’s feelings in all this. If not, then for her failure to execute logic.

“Pinkie, if you wanted to date Benny then you totally fucked up by setting him up with Luna and the killer music combo of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. Octavia is suave and refined, but also incredibly kind and sophisticated. Vinyl is a nonstop party machine like you, even if she’s just partying by herself. What was your plan for him to begin with anyway? Have him pick the best of the three, talk them into sharing him like Twilight or-” She turned her eyes back to Rarity and Fluttershy as a thought entered her mind. “-Are you having him pick, or is your plan to share him, too?”

Naturally, Rarity felt a little uncomfortable saying this out loud, but she was amongst friends and already had the support of others. So, might as well give up the ghost on this one.

“Well, we’re still working on the part of getting him to want to be with us romantically… well, that part is a bit complicated, but we’re very close. And we do plan on sharing him. So long as he agrees, that is. Although, unlike Twilight and Oven Fresh, Fluttershy and I are going to be together as a couple as well.”

Still panicking, Pinkie tugged harder on her leash.

“But I don’t wanna share him. He only has so many cookies left!”

Somehow surprised by the illogical response, Rainbow facehoofed.

“Pinkie, you can’t date Benny for his cookies, that’s insulting to him and beneath you. You date somepony, or a human in some cases because you love them. Just look at these three. They love their guys so much they're willing to share them even though there’s a chance they might have to end things if Twilight can find a way to send them home. And you’re going to risk coming between Luna and her potential somepo… are we calling them special someponies or somehumans? And why doesn’t anypony ever just say coltfriend or marefriend anymore? Not every day is Hearts and Hooves day.”

Ignoring the last part of the question, Twilight slid out of her seat and pulled Pinkie closer, more focused on the damage that could be done by interrupting what was already set in motion.

“Pinkie, if you really want to be with Benny, make sure it’s for the right reasons. And if you missed your chance with him, I’m sorry, but you have no right to come between him and whoever he wants to be with. You heard his story, and probably know more than the rest of us about his past. He already lost the chance to have a wife and a family of his own once. Would you really risk breaking his heart by having him lose another loving partner on top of risking his safety over a bunch of cookies? You even said he wasn't your type. What's wrong with just being his friend?”

“No,” Pinkie painfully admitted. “But… you're all going to be dating. Even Rainbow Dash is going to date somepony for Becky's sake."

"Pinkie," Fluttershy softly spoke up. "We're not trying to date Justin because of something we're going to get out of the relationship, we love and care about him. And like everypony else, our lives are better with him in it, and we want to make his better too. That's why we haven't asked him yet. He hasn't been ready for finding love yet, and he wasn't even interested in dating a pony, if he even is now. And from the sound of things, I don't think Sniff, I mean Peter, wanted to either at first. These things take time."

Defeated, Pinkie gave in to their lecturing.

"Fine… I won't try to date Benny."

Cautiously, Twilight undid the leash but kept the spell active at her side, just in case.

"If Benny ends up with one or more of the dates you set him up with and is happy, be happy for him. But if you can't and try to screw things up for him, there will be repercussions for it. I actually happen to like Benny a lot. Nothing more than a friend, but a friend I intend to keep safe just like Justin and the rest of them. You fucking this up will put them all in danger. And if I don't get to you in time, I can guarantee that Luna and Celestia will be far less forgiving than I would."

Pinkie sulked deeper, hating how foolish she had been.

"I understand… but I am going to check on them. I had already planned to when I stopped to bring back the party snacks."

Twilight groaned, a lot of doubts still clouding her faith in Pinkie.

"You can check on him, but make it quick, and cheer up. You wanted to make Benny happy and smile. If this works, you did your job, and you'll be better friends because of it."

Thankfully for all involved, some of the conversation was finally hitting home with Pinkie, encouraging some of her smile to return.

"Yeah… you're right. I wanted to see him smile so badly. I shouldn't want this now just because you all are doing it."

With no further protest, Twilight saw Pinkie out before returning to the living room, giving a sigh of relief.

"Well… there's one disaster avoided, and Rainbow, again, I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof at the apology.

"Bah. It's no big deal. I've noticed how everypony has been acting strange since the humans showed up. I can't be too surprised that you might think I was doing the same. But I'm sorry about the way I reacted about you and Oven Fresh sharing Peter. I thought you and him had something going long before she even came into the picture.”

Turning to Rarity and Fluttershy, Dash lightly bowed her head. “And sorry if I said anything to you two that came out wrong. Cerb’s… You're both lucky to have him. If you two weren't already where you're at with the Big Guy, I probably would have gone after him, too."

Despite the circumstances, Fluttershy couldn't blame Rainbow Dash for her taste in humans.

"It's okay. We do tend to get a little overprotective of him."

Sitting calmly, Rarity had already gotten over it.

"Nothing to worry about. I might have gotten a little worked up about you talking about seeing him naked, but it's not like you were wrong."

Happy things were more or less settled, Rainbow was left wondering something. If they were this open to the conversations going on, how much more she could ask?

"Can I ask you both a question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Seeing no harm, Fluttershy shrugged.

"I guess. What do you want to know?"

Knowing how intimate this was, Rainbow had to pull back on her original question after some second thoughts.

"What's it like sleeping with Cerb every night. I know you're not dating him yet, but if you both feel that way about him… is it nice to be that close to him, or difficult wanting to have more?"

Fluttershy wasn't expecting a question like that, and her bashful nature immediately returned.

"I'd say both, honestly. I love waking up wrapped up and lying on top of him… We still don't know why or how it happens with us, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want with him what that lady in the movie was enjoying."

"Fluttershy!" Rarity cried out in shock. "You didn't have to be that honest, but… yes. Sleeping with Cerb is wonderful, though it can be difficult not being able to-" She started to crack as she looked back up that frozen frame on the screen. "I want him to rut me so badly. You have no idea the amount of control it takes to not beg him to just take me and make me his before we even get under the covers together."

Rainbow kind of expected something along those lines, but was left a little disappointed for some reason.

"Oh… so you really haven't had sex with him yet. I totally thought that's why you screamed that morning in the forest but didn’t want to say anything with Pinkie around."

Fluttershy couldn't help but chuckle, remembering that event.

"Well, you might be half right about that."

Rarity blushed and tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, do be quiet. You're no better than I am, just not as loud."

There it was. Now Rainbow Dash was putting it all together.

"Ah, so you tried to do it yourself. Yeah, I tried that after Becky told me about it. It's nice, but I think I must have done it wrong. It wasn't like how Becky described it at all."

Twilight wasn't following the conversation at this point and was all to eager to be on the same page as the others.

"What was that scream about? It didn't make any sense when I read it in the report."

Rainbow Dash laughed and reached for the remote.

"Keep watching and find out. These kinds of movies are supposed to be all the same. You'll see."

Luna was strolling up and was greeted with a salute from two of her guards.

"Welcome back, Princess."

Happy to be away from the chaos that was dealing with humans, amplified by Pinkie, Luna gave a cheerful smile and subtle bow as she approached.

'Good afternoon. Midnight Flash and Ralph have been tasked with shadowing Benny for the time being, and thank you again for taking over the day shift."

The guard closest to Luna cleared his throat.

"Princess Luna, the second embark of guards, is on schedule to leave tonight and will be providing security for the Post-War Party. Also, Miss Kelly returned with her guardian and requested that we inform you she will be waiting in her room for you. She did not say what she wished to speak with you about, but it might have something to do with her guardian."

Given how that likely sounded, the second guard spoke up to clarify.

"He looked to be exhausted, but there didn’t seem to be any cause for alarm. That was only our observation.”

While Luna wasn’t apprehensive about Kelly seeking her out, if there was something wrong with Big Mac, that gave her a reason to worry.

“Thank you for the update. Carry on.”

As soon as Luna made her way inside, she wasted no time and teleported up to Kelly’s room. Standing at the door, she went to knock but hesitated.

What was she going to say? It wasn’t becoming of a Princess to come running at the request of her subjects. Not that Kelly was a subject of hers, she was a guest and a friend. What about Big Mac, though? Was he injured or ill? She’ll focus on that for now.

Knock-Knock-Knock.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. How many seconds have passed by? Why was she nervous? How long should she wait? The door was opening. Was it Kelly or Big Mac? Might somepony else be there?

“Oh, good you’re here,” Kelly greeted Luna at the door, opening it wide enough to let Luna see Big Mac sound asleep on the bed behind Kelly, standing with a light pink hue on her skin under a bathrobe.

There didn’t seem to be any cause for alarm, so all of Luna's attention went to Kelly.

“Is everything alright? I was told you wanted to speak with me?”

“Oh, right,” Kelly said as she turned back to give another look at Big Mac sleeping. “Could we… speak in private? I’d rather talk to you about this, not anyone else.”

This was good. Luna would have thought Kelly wouldn’t want to leave Big Mac’s side. Although, with everypony running around, there was only one location close by for them to have any privacy.

“Of course, however, the only place we can expect to not be bothered is thy personal chambers. If that is deemed acceptable to thee.”

After how much Luna had cut back on the old English/Ponish, Kelly could see something was bothering Luna if she was falling back on it.

“Yeah, that’s fine… You're using the oldie speak again. Is everything okay? You sound like you got something on your mind.”

Not able to take her eyes off of what was on her mind, Luna continued getting even more nervous.

“My apologies. I had an… interesting engagement today. Twas an unfortunate encounter that, bless Benny’s heart, he was thankfully able to salvage. Something that will need to be addressed at a later time. However, I am free now, and you may have me until we are to depart this evening.”

Kelly covered her mouth just in time to repress an embarrassed laugh. Beat red in the face, she waved her hand at Luna’s confused expression.

“Sorry, sorry. Phrasing.”

Without an explanation as to what the joke was, they walked up to Luna's room. One encouraging observation was from Luna taking notice of how much better Kelly was able to move on her own.

"I'm glad to see you're walking much better. But, what did you wish to speak to me in private about?"

Wanting to get more comfortable, Kelly took a seat on the edge of Luna's bed, nearly double the size of her own.

“I’m confused and need to work some things out. I’d ask my other friends, but… it doesn’t involve them, and I think you might have the most insight on this… or at least the most interest.”

If Kelly wasn't going to her friends for this problem, as well as the vagueness being used, Luna was certainly worried at this point. Then, without even thinking, she took a seat on the bed with Kelly, anxious to listen and assist if needed.

“Please, whatever it is that has you this worried, tell me, and I'll do all that I can to help.”

Kelly took a deep breath and steadied her nerves.

“Luna… I have no idea why everything has started to work out the way it has with all of us, but I can’t unsee it now. And I know it’s happening because I’m already in it. I’m in it, and I want it, and I’m so comfortable with it, but I’m so angry at myself because I thought I could change and be… something different.”

Luna listened, but couldn’t follow along to the nothing that was Kelly's description of her problem.

“Now Kelly, I’m sorry that you seem to be having a hard time, but you’re not being very clear on what your problem is.”

Deciding to just be upfront about it, Kelly placed a hand on Luna’s hoof that was sitting next to her. She turned to Luna, sad and apologetic eyes looking for an answer.

“The first thing is, I need to know. Do you want to be more than just friends with me?”

Humans... you have your power back! Woot!

Yeah, yeah. This was some big reveal. You all knew it was coming.

Unlike Benny's big Double, Double Blind Date. Did anyone else think Pinkie was gonna screw things up like that? Regardless, I liked how his trip to the spa went, as well as how he salvaged the situation with Tavi and Vinyl.

Back at the human embassy, I know some of these conversations aren't a rehash of events, I still enjoy letting these characters get together actually show the kind of impact they leave on each other. Often how some have completely different takes on what happens. Even better when it causes conflicts or the but heads over opposing views.

Also, I've been sitting on the porno Benny hid away for so long. Man was it rewarding to finally have it come back into play. Dreams again got nothing on that HD life. I hope you all got as many laughs out of that whole exchange as I did... and maybe were a little touched by what all Rainbow Dash had to say about Becky.

Lastly... Kelly and Luna. Nuff said.

Otherwise, you'll have to come back next week to see what's going to happen in Chapter 72.