With so many relationships blooming and bonds strengthened, love was prospering in Ponyville. So perhaps it was only appropriate that the Princess of Love was in the area. However, if only she had been greeted with better news.

"That's horrible!" Cadance shrieked. "A human foal? Butchered like… like… nothing in Equestria has ever done something so… I can't believe this. It’s no wonder poor Benny didn't wish to revisit his past. But then to have the walls he built to hide it stripped away.”

Cadance had figured that there were reasons she hadn’t been given all the updates from Cerb and Becky earlier, but this was not even fathomable.

“At least Benny had such a good friend like Justin to pull him out of his darkness so many years ago… but if it is as you say, then it would not be likely we could convince him to join us back home in hopes of helping him."

In full agreement, Shining sighed.

"Not while bound to a Pinkie Promise. I heard rumors Celestia proposed legislation to limit the use of such agreements, but negotiations broke down because all the scholars who were supposed to write it up were bound by Pinkie Promises, so they were forced to bury it."

Sharply turning away, Cadence scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous. If anything, Celestia would have been the one bound by it, not any of those uptight jerks that work for her. And that's beside the point. However, that also means there will be more for me to deal with while with Justin if he's been carrying Benny's burdens all these years."

Now that the brief was over and Cadance was caught up, another problem needed to be addressed.

"Cadance, did you know Celestia told Twilight and the rest of the girls not to get too close with the humans?"

"What?" Cadance looked genuinely shocked by the question. "Why would she order such a thing?"

Shining shook his head.

"I think it was ordered long before we met them. We had a vote on it after we heard Benny's story. She was angry about all of us voting to remove the restriction. I think she knew how easy it would be to start falling in love with them, and I'm scared she was right."

Cadance grew silent, remembering their own concerns from the after-party. Nothing of her reaction gave any motivation to Shining, though there were other issues to bring up.

“It’s even more evident with Twilight now, and you should know before meeting him tonight, and I wish she would have told you earlier… But thinking about it, I also don’t really know how to feel about Twilight being with Sniff. I thought-”

Cadance blinked hard and shot a glare at her husband for the rapid change of topic.

“What?! We have our own problems to deal with and you want to put that on the back burner to play big brother?”

Shining held his tongue for a moment, not wanting to snap at Cadance’s understandable anger, but he knew this was worth bringing up.

“Sniff… is dating both my sister and Sergent Major Cirrostratus Cutter’s daughter, Oven Fresh. At first-”

“He’s cheating on Twilight?!” Cadance gasped, the gravity of the revelation finally hit. “That weasely little scoundrel!”

The expression on Shining’s face was the perfect blend of annoyance and lack of patience, which thankfully gave enough pause on his wife to assert himself back into the conversation. He didn’t even need much time to explain this admittedly confusing situation, which was all the frustrating.

“Are ya done interrupting me? Because I can tell you what you really need to know about what’s happening or you can run off right now and start a fight with my sister over something you’d probably love to hear but don’t know yet.”

Cadance dropped her head low and sulked.

“I’m sorry, Shining. I… you finish telling me everything you need to tell me. I have something I need to tell you as well, but after what you told me, it can wait.”

Shining was too frustrated to try and argue who should go first, thus went back to explaining what he needed to.

“I’m very happy for Twilight getting to be with Sniff. He’s been very good to her, and I understand why he ended up with Oven Fresh first. But the thing is, Oven Fresh asked Sniff out, not the other way around. After he said yes, and Twilight found out, she realized too late that she actually wanted to be with him. Then, when she went over to talk to Oven Fresh so she could watch over him and know that he needs protection, Oven Fresh told Twilight to ask Sniff out... which she did. She asked him, telling him that it was Oven Fresh’s idea and… I’ve never heard of anypony doing that. It’s like they're both special someponies with him, but… also, not?”

If shuffling a full deck of cards was a good representation of the brain working out problems, Cadance was trying to shuffle a pair of dice, then somehow in this analogy, she lost the second dice piece and rolled a one.

“Oven Fresh is using Sniff so she can date your sister?”

“What?” Shining couldn’t believe the Princess of Love wasn’t following along with this, though granted it wasn’t exactly an easy concept to explain. “How did you… no, sweetie, no. Think, hun… What if it’s not only Justin that’s full of love and has different ways of sharing it? Because I think just about all seven of them have found somepony to love, but I don’t know what will happen if Twilight can find them a way home and they can’t come back.”

Realizing that words alone were not going to do the trick if she was having this much trouble following along, he had another idea came to mind.

“Actually, let me show you something.”

Shining guided Cadance down the empty halls and into Twilight’s study. Since he couldn’t use the amazing gifts for his wife, he might as well use them to prove his point… and it was super effective.

Cadance was in tears as she finished reading the inscription.

“I don’t know which is more beautiful? The elegant details that went into crafting such a work of art, or the words he had scribed for her. Be brave with beauty. Be strong with mercy, and everything about faith and finding value in herself instead of Celestia or Luna. Ugh! Why did Celestia make such a stupid rule?! Twilight could have married that colt by now if not for her!”

That should be enough to help Shining move the conversation along, though there were still a few things to clear up.

“So, here’s the thing. If not for me telling Becky how stretched thin we are for friends, that we had to use Twi’s friends for our wedding party, there would have been no doubt that… let’s face it, hun. If what we’re feeling for them and what they share is a different kind of love, what we’re showing in return looks like the real thing to them.”

Cadance, hearing Shining’s confession, lost all the passion she had from Twilight’s gifts and her heart sank.

“Shining, I wasn’t only angry earlier at the thought of Sniff cheating on your sister. I was also… angry at myself. I… haven’t been able to stop thinking about the dance with Justin. So much so that while we said we would welcome him back to the Crystal Empire, I’m afraid to help him... but I’m so drawn to him.”

Shining softly trotted up to Cadance to nuzzle noses with her and let their horns touch.

“Honey, it’s… I know this has been crazy for us, but we still love each other.”

Cadance wasn’t going to let that be left open as anything but the truth and pulled Shining in against her for a loving embrace.

“I could never love another the way I love you, Shining. The thoughts with Justin were exciting before, but I don’t want… I don’t want to feel him against me when I have you.”

Shining pulled back from the embrace, surprised at the sudden change.

“You… oh… alright, we’ll all just, uh… Well, we’re all already friends, and by the looks of things, Justin will probably end up being in Twilight’s horseshoes and be dating both Fluttershy and Rarity. So, he’s probably going to be too busy with them for… uh… we still don’t know what it is we felt, though, do we?”

Cadance sighed, secretly loathing herself.

“No… but it’s been keeping me up at night imaging what more there was Justin could show me. But tonight, I'd like to try something with you. I might have discovered something special we can share with each other."

Within the first two steps Cerb took into the garage, he noticed the lights were on.

"Holy shit the power came back on without the generator."

Hearing the new guests that had arrived, Pinkie called out from the kitchen.

"Cerberus! Is that you?!”

Cerb hurried himself into the kitchen, excited to see power wasn’t limited to just the lights.

“Yeah, I thought I’d swing by early with Flutters and Rarity. Where’s Benny and how did we get the power back on?”

Pinkie finished spreading out a selection of pastries on the countertop, currently dusting off a puff of powdered sugar from her hooves.

“Twilight put a storm in a box so you wouldn’t have to use the generator, and Benny's out bowling with Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. But don't worry, he’ll be done with his double-double… Well, just a double date now… sorta. I think? What do you call it when you date two ponies at the same time? Luna didn’t stay and might be mad at me.”

For a moment, Cerb was silent just as his two marefriends were. Clearly he missed a lot.

“When did this happen?”

Already in the know, Rarity nudged Cerb’s hand.

“This might seem like convenient timing on our part, but Pinkie Pie had the brilliant idea of surprising Benny with a Double-Double Date, not knowing that… well, let’s just say that Pinkie is terrible at math and didn’t let anypony, or Benny know, that he would be the only stallion."

Cerb huffed a slight laugh, confused, but also amused at the chaotic visual his mind was currently conjuring.

"I have soooooo many questions.”

Pinkie matched his mirth by snorting into a giggle.

“Yeah, tell me about it. Everything’s been so crazy since you guys all showed up. And for some reason, today has been the craziest day yet, if you ask me.”

Despite the chipper way she spoke, for the briefest of moments, Cerb thought he saw something else.

If Cerb didn’t know any better, behind that bright pink colored smile and infectious laugh, there was some deep-rooted sorrow Pinkie was trying to hide.

“Hey, ah… Pinkie? You doing alright?”

Pinkie smiled brightly, but even the muscle memory of how to make that face couldn’t change what the eyes were saying.

“Me? I’m super. Benny’s smiling and he’s all happy, and we’re gonna have a big Post-War Party Party tonight and I totally forgot to grab the drinks in Twilight’s storage. You like the honey whiskey, right? I’ll be back in a jiffy with some bottles for us. You three have fun with the power on while I’m gone.” She snorted a laugh, which sounded a little off. “Ha! That rhymes.”

Cerb didn’t know Pinkie all that well, but that was certainly out of character for her. So once she had trotted out of sight, Cerb turned to his two mares.

“Okay, I know I’m not exactly up to speed on current events, what did I miss?”

There was so much to say about what happened with Pinkie at the house there today, but Fluttershy thought it best to keep the answer simple.

“To put it lightly, Pinkie set Benny up on his blind date, not realizing she had… feelings for him. We had to stop her from, uh… trying to assert what she wanted during the date she set up for him.”

Cerb shook his head, knowing full well just what exactly Pinkie was capable of doing when left unsupervised.

“That girl needs some serious help.”

With another Pinkie Pie crisis averted, Rarity could relax, and maybe take advantage of having Cerb alone again.

“Yes, that’s an understatement. Also, try not to be alone with her for the next few days… preferably no less than three others with you. We would rather not have her attempting to see if you’d be accepting of her feelings if she can’t have Benny.”

“Sage advice there, Rarity,” Cerb replied with a grin. “But hey, since Benny’s going out to try and beat my score of how many beautiful ladies I can date at once, how about we pop in a movie?”

There was one movie Rarity could think of they could watch to start a conversation over, so long as the discussion in question involved recreating as many of those sex scenes as possible. Or at least that could have been the plan if not for Pinkie returning it to it’s hiding spot before they got back to the house.

Not hearing any requests, Cerb continued looking through the stack of movies before Rarity could pull herself away from her daydreaming.

“What sounds good? Comedy, action, cartoons, or… Fluttershy… how much do you really want to know what my war looked like?”

Fluttershy's ears perked up on alert.

"You have movies about your war?"

Cerb turned around, holding the American Sniper and Black Hawk Down movie cases.

"I got two movies that do a good job showing what my war zone was like. I can show you, but there's a lot of things you're not going to like seeing."

Rarity eyed the two films he held with trepidation.

"How bad is it?"

Now that it was asked out loud, Cerb was heavily debating if they were ready for something this graphic. After a second thought about it, this had been a good day, there was no need to ruin it.

“Actually, let’s hold off on these. I’m in a feelgood mood.”

Not satisfied, Fluttershy trotted up in protest.

“No, it’s okay. I want to see what you saw.”

Sticking to his new plan, Cerb put the movies back and skimmed over for something more light-hearted.

“We can watch them another day, Flutters. I got plans I’d rather not be put off because of what you might see in these. But for now… do you guys know the story of Robin Hood?”

Fluttershy cocked an ear to the side.

“You mean the story of the pony that robbed from the rich and gave to the poor?”

“Yeah,” Cerb chuckled at his next choice. “That’s the story, but this version has the same guy from The Princess Bride as Robin Hood, and it’s a comedy.”

Fluttershy was introduced to a close-up view of Robin Hood Men In Tights.

"That's a whole lot of arrows for one bow."

Fluttershy and Rarity we're doubled over laughing. The movie ended with a hilarious twist, one they could relate to.

Rarity leaned hard into Cerb, still cracking up.

"That poor girl. She wanted that key to work so badly!"

Fluttershy fell chest first into Cerb's lap, finally starting to calm down, but was still tickled over the ending.

"She was so close. That locksmith better get there fast."

Rarity caught her breath and nuzzle in close around Cerb.

"That was an excellent choice, darling. But now that it's over and we have some time before the party starts, might we entertain ourselves before we have more visitors?"

Cerb turned to see Rarity giving a very sultry smile. The three of them were an item now, but how ready was he for this? Beyond sleeping in the nude with them, massaging around his hard-on, kissing them… there wasn't much farther to go, was there?

"And what did you have in mind?" He said, grinning his invitation for her.

Taking that as an open invite, Rarity brought her lips dangerously close to his and whispered, "You have no idea how badly we've wanted to have you like this. To find the day you wanted to be with us, to have things be different." She traced her hoof down the side of Cerb's face. "To know that you desired us just as much as we-"

Rarity was silenced by Cerb making the move and pulling her into a kiss. He wasn't going to know just what all he was going to enjoy with them if all she was going to do was talk about her feelings. They should be past that by now and… she was a surprisingly good kisser when not rushed or playing timid.

Given enough time since that morning, most of the shock had worn off and he could appreciate what he was doing.

Kissing her was… how long had it been? He didn't remember any woman's lips being this soft. And her tongue was powerful, yet there was a slick smoothness that drove him wild the more she fed it to him.

"Don't forget about me," Fluttershy happily introduced herself into the mix.

With a gentle pull of her wing, she guided Cerb to her and gave him the same deep loving lip service she had back at her place. Only now, there was no rush. No reason to hurry. She could really get into the motions of pressing her tongue in to explore all the flavors and tingling sensations she could discover with him.

Cerb was starting to suspect that Fluttershy, despite her normally shy and timid nature, wasn't afraid to be aggressive and forward when it came to physical affection. Combined with the same wonderful feeling she gave him, just as Rarity had, this was actually starting to turn him on.

Rarity was thrilled to see how far they had come together. Watching Cerb with Fluttershy, it was like her dream had come true.

They had won him over and could show him a mare's true romance. Actually, he wasn't the only one who needed to experience the passion she felt inside.

"Oh, Fluttershy, darling," Rarity cooed. "Might I pull you away from Justin for a moment?"

It took a few more mashing of tongues before stopping Fluttershy seconds away from straddling Cerb's lap, but she managed to pull herself away.

She took a few heavy breaths, staring lustfully into Cerb's eyes.

"Don't keep me away too long. We don't know how much time we have left."

Knowing that was the case, yet still wanting to capitalize on their time, Rarity grinned.

"I know, dear. That's why I want to make sure I finally get to really enjoy this."

Without warning, Rarity leaned over in front of Cerb and pulled Fluttershy in to finally enjoy her fellow mare as her mutual lover.

Now it was time for Cerb to let go of his fears and moral restraints. These two were his everything, and they were making out with the deepest French kissing he had ever seen. His attraction to them was now also with the visual and physical as well as the emotional and mental. Something he was willing to encourage them for more of.

"I'm so glad things are different. Different is good."

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash’s cheerful voice shouted from behind, shattering whatever atmosphere had been built up.

All three jumped, not expecting company so soon and turned to see Rainbow Dash flying in place just past the kitchen.

With a nervous smile, she motioned a few subtle nods of her head that there was more company in the garage. Cerb quickly determined that she wasn’t messing around or trying to spook them, she was warning them.

“Hey, Becky! Your electricity came back on! Cerb’s already watching a movie!”

From just beyond the garage, Becky shouted back, “What?! How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know! Let me ask!” Rainbow called out before fluttering over to the couch of the three, nervously sitting apart from each other.

“Uh, really guys? Are you trying to make shit look weird for Becky when she gets in here? Relax, she won’t know if you all just act natural… well, I’m guessing what was natural before I’m guessing you two finally asked stud muffin out?”

Rarity started to let her heart rate come down and moved back to how she would normally sit alongside Cerb.

“Yes, we did, and after the movie, we thought we had a bit more time to get better acquainted with each other.”

Rainbow snorted, picking up the subtext.

“Yeah, ya did.”

Fluttershy took a more comfortable position with her forelegs over Cerb’s legs and gave a grateful smile to Rainbow Dash.

“Thank you, by the way, but we didn’t get a good explanation of what Twilight did to give the house its power back. Pinkie said Twilight put a storm in a box, but who knows what that means?”

Amidst the conversation, Becky finally made her way into the house to see the glory that was the return of functional technology.

"Oh, my god… I don't have to charge my phone in the car anymore! What happened?"

Cerb found the remote and tried to act natural.

"Sounds like Twilight found a way to put a storm in a box and gave us our power back. Shit, my phone's probably dead by now. Excuse me, girls. I'm gonna take care of that right now."

As Cerb went looking for his charger, Becky went over to investigate the living room.

"What did you end up watching? This wasn't another war movie, was it?"

Rarity was doing her best to fight a twitch she felt coming on. Thankfully, the fear of getting caught was helping her subdue those thoughts.

"No, though that was an option, we decided to watch Robin Hood."

"Men In Tights," Cerb clarified from the kitchen.

Not the biggest fan of Mel Brooks, Becky rolled her eyes.

“Lame… Where’s Ben?”

There was a moment Cerb considered the humor that would be had if he told her that Benny got roped into a blind date, only to have Rainbow Dash’s reaction flash in his memory.

She hadn’t just interrupted them that they weren’t alone, she interrupted them so Becky wouldn’t see what they were up to. Rainbow Dash was cool with it, but maybe she knew Becky wouldn’t be. He had to play this carefully for all their sakes.

“Benny's in town hanging out with some of the girls from the welcome party. They went bowling.” He suddenly realized how wrong that sounded. “How the fuck do ponies bowl, anyway? How would they even hold the ball?“

Becky was quiet for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, though she quickly seemed to brush it off.

“Whatever, but if we can watch movies again, Dash wants to watch an action flick. Something with cool fight scenes. Ninja shit or something like that. What do you think is a good one?”

Honk-Honk!

By the sound of things, Lumberman's truck just rolled up. So, welcoming the new distraction, Cerb looked out to the garage.

"Shit, is everyone showing up early?"

Sure enough, after the engine turned off, Lumberman walked in carrying Applejack, not missing the obvious.

"We got the power back?"

Cerb held up his phone, showing the charging icon on the screen.

"Yeah, some kind of horse magic. We're waiting on Twilight to get back to fill us in. What are you two doing here so early?"

Lumberman seemed to hesitate for a moment, so Applejack answered for him.

“If y’all need to know, I need a bath but I can’t wash myself on account of my hooves are all messed up. We need tuh use the tubs here so I don’t mess up the bandages.”

Lumberman gave an embarrassed grin as he nodded to confirm her statement.

“I need some plastic bags to cover her hooves up. She didn’t have any, and it was gonna be a pain in the ass to try and use her tiny ass tub… I didn’t think we’d have a crowd here. Now, this seems a bad idea.”

Applejack groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Woody, I feel gross and this is the only place tuh get me washed up before the party. So unless all the tubs are being used, I’d rather not wait fer the day to come where I don’t need the help.”

She turned and shot an angry glare around the room. “Y’all have to forgive me for being a tad bit ornery at the moment, but I’m tired, I’m sore, and I hate taking these goddamn pills ya got me on. Got me feeling loopier than a drunken Wonderbolt in a tailspin, and I’ve been stewing in my own sweat since y’all cut me open, not that I don’t appreciate y’all keeping me alive and shit. Beyond that, please don’t make this any weirder for us than it already is and just give us some privacy fer a bit. I’m looking at you, Cerb, ya asshole.”

Cerb recoiled a bit, not expecting to be called out, but knew she had every right to.

“What? It was a joke. I was just trying to cheer yer brother up, and that’s just the kinda shit we do when we’re stressed.”

Lumberman didn’t want the extra attention, but there was no getting out of it now.

“Look man, can ya get me four plastic bags and some rubber bands, then bring in the wheelchair from the back of the truck? I don’t want anybody fucking with us. I’ll even use the tent farther out.”

Becky sighed, seeing how much of a problem a simple bath was going to be for them.

“Applejack, I’m sorry again that your hooves are all fucked up. If you need help washing yourself, I can help if having Lumberman do it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Applejack answered, not even giving it any consideration. “Woody here’s been taking care of me just fine. And no offense, but I don’t much like the idea of being passed around like a load uh dirty laundry everypony has to take turns with. Sides, us Apples stick tuh’gether.”

Leave it to Rainbow Dash to play the mediator and normalize the situation. Anything she could do before someone said something or misinterpreted the situation.

“Don’t take it personally Becks. Applejack is the last pony to ask for help, even if she needs it. And even if she does, it’s gonna be a family affair first.” She turned to Applejack and Lumberman, shooting them a wink. “Stubborn old mule.”

Applejack was about to go off on Rainbow Dash, mainly for the old crack, but the smile she saw on the rainbow pegasus made the insult and wink make sense. Even the bashful smiles from Fluttershy and Rarity added further clarity.

Somehow, Rainbow Dash knew and was looking out for her. Loyal to a friend, through and through, and with friends like these, she had to laugh at the growing absurdity of this crazy experience she was fumbling her way through with Lumberman.

“Heh-heh, figures you’d be the one to know who does and don’t ask fer help. Ya lazy know it all bitch,” she playfully said with a grin.

And just like that, the game was on, and Rainbow loved to play.

“Goddamn, Lumberman. Stubborn, cranky, and smells like ass. You got yerself a real prize winner there.”

Eager to keep the game going and get the last word in, Applejack huffed a laugh.

“Yer one to talk. Fastest pony alive with four hooves and two wings to wash yerself with and ya still yer the last one to hit the showers. Not that it shows.”

Rainbow mockingly winced in pain.

“Oou, ouch. I don’t know how you can say that when it's you who doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

The room went silent, and all eyes were on Applejack. Her lips perched and lips bulged out the side as the anger was about to reach a boiling point… and then she sighed.

“Goddamnit. I got nothing after that one. Ha! Ya got me.”

Ever the braggart, Rainbow Dash shouted in victory.

“Ha! Yeah! Two and oh, baby. Get to stepping Apples, walk away rule.”

Applejack’s eyes went wide, blindsided by the game making a long-overdue return.

“Walk away? Wha? Awe, you trifling bitch. This ain’t over. I’ll getcha back, you wait and see. Come on Woody. Rainbow got the drop on us. Total bullshit, I tell ya.”

Lumberman finally broke his straight face and started laughing as he escorted her out to the bathing tent.

“No leg to stand on. Damn, that was cold. I didn’t even have a comeback for that.”

With Applejack finally out of earshot, Becky relaxed enough to laugh.

“Jesus… fucking brutal, Rainbow.

Rainbow trotted back into the living room, making her way straight towards the stack of movies.

“Bah, she’s a tough cookie. Besides, all the shit she talks on Lumberman, she’s fine. Anyway, what’re we watching? I want to see what kind of badass moves you humans can do. I barely got to see Cerb in action. He ends his fights too fast.”

While wowing Dash with a traditional action flick, likely something from the glorious 1980s would’ve been awesome, Cerb had a better idea.

“Hey, if that’s what you want to see, we got something that’s exactly what you're looking for.”

Finally able to wash up, Applejack sat in her tub, grossly disappointed in how uneventful things were starting off. The bags being placed around her hooves were only more degrading. Not even the charm of Lumberman's attention to her care could rekindle the magic of reliving this event.

"How drunk was I last time we did this? Because this is ass. Ow! Not so tight."

Lumberman laughed, wanting to have a little fun since she was in a good mood on the ride over.

"But look at how cute you are with your little baggy mittens."

Unamused, Applejack nearly slapped him.

"You know how much I hate this, right?"

Still bemused with pushing her buttons, Lumberman started to fill a small bucket with warm water.

"I know, I know. It's not the first time I had to give you a bath."

That did little to perk the farm pony up as she sulked further in the tub, her ambitions laid to waste.

"If it were just Benny and Pinkie here, I know they wouldn't have bothered us. I'd rather-" She grew quiet, still wrestling with her feelings for Lumberman. "I like it when it's just you and me. No commotion in the background from everypony else. None of yer friends barging in… especially when I got these stupid looking things wrapped over muh hooves."

Too distracted with her own thoughts, Applejack didn't notice Lumberman had already stripped down to his boxers and started to step into the tub with her.

"Are you-"

Lumberman sat beside her and started to get everything situated for the bath.

"I can't do shit from outside the tub. Wash that head of hair of yours maybe, but that's about it. And I don't want you to start crying about me getting too close or going poking and prodding. I need a bath too. Aight?"

Applejack didn't complain. This had made a sudden turn for the better.

"I'm not crying. You see me shedding any tears? I'm just saying that I don't want… you know… this is private stuff."

Lumberman responded by gently removing Applejack's hat and started with the first dosing of water over her head.

"Believe me, I'd rather it be just the two of us for this as well. And if I gotta fight Cerb or whoever else to keep'em from fucking with us, I will. They should know better than to walk up in here and do something stupid. But I know they won't, so relax and let's get you all washed up. With any luck, come tomorrow or the next day, we won't have to come over and we can just use your tub."

There was too much goodwill being cast her way to accept his help freely. She didn't deserve this much from him.

"Please don't be starting no fights, Woody. Especially not with yer friends… and no offense, but could you even take Cerb in a fair fight?"

Lumberman laughed.

"Beat Cerb? Probably not. Don't mean I wouldn't hit'em though. Wouldn't be the first time."

That couldn't be possible. Not as far as Applejack was concerned.

"You beat Cerberus?"

Lumberman snorted.

"Hell nah. I did hit'em though. He just hits harder.”

He chuckled again before speaking a little lower.

“We weren't exactly the best of friends when we first met."

That said a lot if they ever fought each other, and since the mood had shifted, she might as well ask about that.

"How'd you two become friends anyhow?"

A grand story was about to be told. At least once Lumberman got enough shampoo to work into Applejack's hair.

"After I moved to Indiana, with everyone else, I acted like I was still in my old hood. Pushing my way around, rude, starting fights, talking shit… I was pretty much the biggest jerk out there with a point to prove. The only guy I never really messed with was Cerb. Not at first at least."

This had all the hallmarks of a situation of Cerb laying the smackdown in the making.

"Ya didn't try taking a swing at 'em, did ya?"

Lumberman laughed again as the thought about it, adding a little more water to her mane.

"So, get this. Still freshman year, we're getting ready for winter break, and I'm being even more of an asshole because I hated living there. My dad's murderer was still running free somewhere, and my mom was blowing our money. It was going to be a lousy vacation, and I stopped caring what I said to who or if they tried to fight me, and… I forget what started it between me and him, something about how I said his dad was… oh… yeah. I'm not repeating what I said."

Applejack turned with an expression that asked for the details all on its own, but Lumberman wasn't dropping those details.

"What I said wasn't important, but let me tell ya how it started. Not that I hadn't had my run-ins with Cerb and the others before, but we didn't really hit it off until we both took things too far."

A much younger James, long before he was Lumberman, slouched deep in his seat, glaring at the largest student in the classroom.

“Will you shut the fuck up about yer gay ass dad’s builder shit. The only stocking stuffer you’re gonna get yer dad is them ass cheeks spread.”

A much younger Justin turned away from his conversation with the equally younger Benny and Sniff to address the slight against him and his father.

“James, how about you shut the fuck up and keep your fag fantasies to yourself and jerk off to it at home back in your closet before I knock yer fucking teeth out.”

Sadly for Justin, James was too annoyed to back off.

“You ain’t shit, Justin. I put niggas bigger than you in wheelchairs. You think-”

“Jesus Christ!” Benny shouted over Lumberman in mock amazement. “How hard do you have to fuck a man in the ass with a one-inch dick put to him in a wheelchair?”

The nearly full classes, still without supervision, all joined together to laugh at the juvenile humor. However, that only pushed the young James to antagonize the altercation even further.

"Keep clowning, Ben. See what happens when you talk shit and get a lead pipe taking yer legs out from behind."

Justin figured he had James pegged at this point.

"Oh, so you got to start a fight when they ain't looking, like a pussy, and you need a weapon 'cuz you're a little bitch?"

Benny chuckled like the immature fourteen-year-old he was.

"He even admitted that he wants to take me from behind. It's all so clear how you really feel about us, Jamie."

Unsurprisingly, James refused to back down and reached under his desk, before grabbing his crotch while flipping them off.

“Y’all inbread flannel-wearing fucks are the ones keeping it in the family. It’s no wonder yer daddy works construction. Pounding wood all day with all the other rednecks is right up y’alls alley.”

If this punk, James, wanted to keep it on family, Justin could play that game. Only he’d be more cutting.

“My dad started his own business and at least taught me some manners. I feel bad for you though. You show up here like this is gangland and you're the head of the mafia. But you’re just a friendless dickhead because your daddy is probably just as big of a piece of shit as you.”

Now devoid of bravado, James jumped out of his seat, tipping his desk over, ready to fight.

“You wanna talk shit ‘bout my old man, fuck boy?”

Kelly, who had been standing watch by the door as soon as the argument started, ducked back inside.

“Justin, stop. You can’t get in any more fights at school and the teacher’s coming.”

It was true, and actually, both of them were close to suspension for fights, but James had been working his way up the list of kids that needed to be taught not to be the bully when Justin was around.

“Hummel Park, bring your punk ass down the far side of the trail where no one can interrupt us.”

James took a step back and over aggressively put his desk upright, glaring down at Justin.

“I’ll be there after detention. Don’t puss out, bitch.”

For the rest of the class, James had his eyes set on Justin.

Sadly, Justin was right about one thing. Ever since arriving in October, missing nearly two months of the start of the school year, James had no friends. He didn’t try to join any sports or clubs and barely even talked to anyone. Nothing outside of the fights he would start. He was nothing but trouble with an attitude, and the only person who ever got in his way was the former school bully and future Marine.

There was so much unwarranted hate for Justin, and they had nearly come to blows right before Thanksgiving break. A similar buildup had occurred where James had readily grown more antagonistic day by day nearing their vacation.

Hours later, after class had ended and James spent all of his detention trying to figure out how to hurt Justin the most, he had run out of time and was already at the park.

It was a stupid idea to venture out this far. The park was the complete opposite direction from his new home. And this was farther than he even wanted to walk in thirty-three-degree weather. With the wind chill, it was below freezing, and this Goodwill bargain bin hoodie wasn't cutting it.

However, Justin had insulted his father and he was too angry to let that go. Too proud… too desperate for any form of validation to not make himself important enough to somebody. Make that somebodies. Justin brought friends.

Better talk a strong game before going down swinging.

"Awe, shit. Who's the coward now? You brought your whole crew. I ain't no dick sucking bitch like you steroidal ass. Oh, and ya brought the school mouthpiece. Good. I wanna hear this motha’ fucker call it when I knock your ass out."

Peter, still in the process of gaining his nickname, Sniff, called out from the closing distance.

"You came alone because no one wants to help you. Even if they did, you'd need at least a senior big enough to fight Justin… also, the fights off. At least for now."

Naturally, James wasn’t about to let things go and threw his book bag off to the side, continuing his march forward.

"Oh, hell no. I didn't come all this way for nothing."

Counter to the approach, Cerb dropped his bag and stepped closer to the would-be arena.

"If ya gotta hit me, fine, we'll fight. But I'm sorry… I didn't know about your dad."

James stopped dead in his tracks. How did they know? He hadn't told anyone. His mother had told the school not to bring it up out of fear of someone getting the word that's where they had moved to. Which was neither here nor there at this point, but he had to know.

"Man, fuck you and your apologies. Who the fuck told you bout that?"

A young lady, wrapped up in more layers than seemed reasonable, stepped out from behind the others. She went to clear her throat, but it ended in a sickly cough, which took her a moment to recover from.

"I'm sorry about your dad, but I'm the one who told them. I'm Becky, we don't have any classes together so that's why you probably don't know me."

James eyed the pasty white half of a face he could see behind her scarf.

"You’re the chick on yer death bed. I know who you are."

From behind her, someone groaned.

"What an asshole."

Ignoring the peanut gallery, Becky sighed, questioning if her friend's change of heart to fight this new guy was going to be a good idea or not.

"I'm not dying yet. There's other treatments I'm waiting to try, but if you're wondering how I know, it's because my mom knows the same dealer as your mom… but at least your mom doesn't take you along with her. Otherwise, we would have met already."

Still angry and a bit confused, James didn't believe a word of it.

"Fuck y'all lying asses. You wanna be little bitches and not nut up, fine. I'm leaving, but you talk shit about my dad again-"

He realized too late that he should have accepted the apology and left because Justin was stepping up to him.

"Oooh, so you do wanna go?"

Justin stopped short of striking distance and stared James down.

"You think you’re better than us because you’re rich and get everything you want all the time?”

That question came out of nowhere and totally threw James out of his game.

“Rich? I ain’t rich, bitch. You don’t know who the fuck I am. Y’all candy ass bitches don’t know the kinda shit I been through. Y’all racist fucks don’t know what real life is.”

James proceeded to vent out his frustrations. Talking down to Justin about all the violence he’d seen, the jumps, death threats, drive-bys, his brother getting shot, his father’s murder. Damn near everything, and it felt so good to put Justin in his place.

With the playing field reset, James stood more ready than ever to fight.

“So, what now, fagget? You gonna disrespect me like that again?”

Cerb sighed, though didn't seem as taken back by the rundown James gave.

“Nah… I wouldn’t have said that before if I knew any of that, but we know how ya feel. That’s why I wanted to apologize first… After Becky told me about... that… I could see everything my friends have gone through, or most of it at least.”

One by one, each person started to share a bit of their history. Benny didn’t have much to share at that point, only that he’d been there for his friends. However, hearing about how Kelly lost an entire side of her family from some real gangster shit by the cartel, and Becky’s mother being just as much of a piece of shit as his own was more than enough to compensate and at least put them on a more even playing field.

“Aight… so yer all's life sucks too. You think that makes us friends?”

Amber, who hadn’t said much earlier, walked over and set her bag down, making the contents slosh around and clink together.

James cautiously eyed Amber. She was the most different from the group. Of the group there, she was the only other one besides Peter that was at least half black. Half black and half Mexican, from her father and mother respectively. He found it odd how comfortable she was around the others there. At least she was cute and wasn’t afraid to speak up.

“Look, I get it. I spent enough time getting shot at in Detroit, so coming out here stuck between warehouses, that loud ass airport, and country bumpkins, all while we’re mixed in with these stale ass crackers. “ She grinned and shot Justin a playful look. “No offense, Jay.”

Justin laughed, clearly not giving a fuck.

“Oh, yeah. So offended. You're lucky you got the hookup.”

He finished his short-lived laugh and sighed before returning his attention to James.

“I still feel bad about what I said, and I’m still good to throw down if you gotta get it out of your system.”

James looked Justin up and down and took a step back.

“You fucking with me?”

Amber unzipped her bag and pulled out a tall bottle of spiced rum.

“Justin used to be the school bully, as the stories like to say. But one day, he finally picked a fight that didn’t get him in trouble with the cops and became a good boy. Or at least he tries to be. He’s not the white knight he makes himself out to be. He’s still just a big bully, but he’s running out of assholes to fight.”

Justin decided to make his position clear.

“I know most of the fights you got it were because of your sister. Those guys are a bunch of pricks and deserved it… they also got it out for you for the same reason they came after Amber and Peter.”

Peter and the others slowly started to join the circle that huddled together, passing the bottle of rum around. A momentary distraction from the warning Justin was about to give.

“They have family out of town that are even worse, and the cops know they can’t be everywhere all at once.”

Cerb grabbed the bottle and took a nice long pull before wiping the lid clean and offered it to James.

“I’ve been fighting these racist pricks since I was a kid. First time was when they tried to rape Becky… so now the cops don’t mind looking the other way as long as it’s them losing teeth.”

James looked at the bottle but hadn’t been convinced he could trust them or this wasn’t a trap he was walking into.

“How the fuck you go from wanting to knocking my teeth out to apologizing before telling me you still want to fight me. And now you’re telling me your gonna offer me protection like the fucking mafia?"

Wordlessly, Kelly reached in and took the bottle.

“Justin’s got a hero complex like Captain America, but a mean streak like the Punisher.” She took a long pull from the bottle and offered it to James without wiping the rim clean. “If you hang with us, you get to help us beat the shit out of them… aaaand earn some brownie points with the popo.”

Hesitantly, James slowly took the bottle and chugged more than what was needed to impress them. Captain Morgan wasn’t the strongest alcohol out there, but it would make for a good start to a shitty weekend, or help to numb the pain he would have if he choose to fight. At the very least, it would help him make a choice before Justin made it for him.

“You said you still wanna fight. This like some blood in, blood out initiation bullshit?”

Humored by the analogy, Justin shook his head.

“Nope,” He said with a grin before taking another shot's worth of the rum. “I said something that gives you the right to hit me. Just like I got every right to punch you in your smug face for saying I fucked my dad. Ain’t either one of us gonna let that shit go until we duke it out.”

Applejack couldn’t believe how Lumberman used to be. She also wondered what he must have said that was so bad he wouldn’t tell her even after telling her everything else.

“So… that’s when you finally hit ’em?”

Lumberman poured more water to rinse off her shoulders and continue working his way down, now that her mane was finally untangled and thoroughly washed.

“Yep, and Cerb even let me throw the first punch. A perfect right cross to the face. And then we duked it out… sort of.” He huffed a weak laugh. “That asshole let me hit him so many times because he thought I needed to get my anger out. Otherwise, I was likely to start some shit again if I didn’t take care of it like that… but then I punched him in the ear… He had a lot better right hook than I did.”

Applejack didn’t seem to follow along with why he was smiling and laughing at that point.

“So… when did y’all actually become friends?”

The truth was stranger than fiction, making Lumberman snort out a laugh.

“Me and Cerb? Shit, that night. Are uh… god I miss her. Amber, the one who brought the booze, I just told you that everyone gave their sob stories and didn’t give the details. Besides living in Detroit for a few years, which is actually worse than where I came from, her mother wrote her off and her father was pretty much always drunk. She spent most of her time at her aunt's place since she was rarely ever home. But, on the bright side, her aunt didn’t care if we all crashed there. So long as we didn’t break or steal anything, we would usually hang out and get drunk there in our free time. That's where we all stayed that weekend."

Lumberman's stories were so hard to believe, but as far as she could tell, he'd always been honest with her.

"Did ya both really have to hurt each other just to become friends?"

Lumberman moved his hands further down Applejack's sides, working in a good lather.

"I think so, and Cerb was right. If I hadn't fought him that day, or get to hurt'em as much as I did, I would have held a grudge. And I don't know what it is with guys, but if the tension gets too strong, sometimes the only way they can get their point across and make the other guy understand is to fight. Kinda like putting action to emotions shows how serious they are, and even if they aren't the one who wins, just that physical expression makes the other guy realize the conviction he must have. Also, even for the one who loses, they know that at least the can get a few hits in, which still lets the other guy know that he's still gonna get hurt if he pushes things too far cus the other guy isn't afraid of losing. They get a better understanding of each other."

Applejack would have to think on that one. Although, it did seem to help Starlight and Rainbow Dash patch things up rather quickly. So, there must be at least some truth to it.

"Was that how you felt?"

Lumberman slowed his hands for a moment, trying to think back to that day.

"Yeah… I knew I hurt him when we fought. He was holding his jaw all the time we hung out. And I remember being so fixated on the fight and how bad I really lost. But it never felt like he was angry or actually trying to hurt me. He enjoyed fighting me, but not hurting me… I dunno. It was weird, but at least I knew he wasn't a racist."

That was another topic she was curious about.

"The racist? What did they do to you and your sister?"

Lumberman huffed, both angry at their memories, but had some good ones mixed in.

"Mostly they called me names and started fights. It wasn't often though. We, uh… we hurt them a lot. Eventually, most of them gave up or moved on. A few even came around and apologized, walked away from their toxic families, and started over. Others stayed bitter and are probably still in jail. That's all in the past now, though. Also, that's why I think I should give Hard Hat a chance to correct himself, even if I can't fight him like how me and Cerb went at it."

There was some odd comfort that came with knowing that even if Lumberman couldn’t beat Cerb in a fair fight, he could at least hold his own for a while and get some good jabs in. All the safer she could feel around him. Hard Hat was another matter to deal with, though.

“I think that’d be mighty respectable of ya, and I'm glad that ya made such good friends with Cerb and all of them… and I'm afraid that ask but, who was Amber?"

Lumberman's hands stopped and an eerie cold ran through his fingertips. The question alone was more than enough to stir up old ghosts and bitter thoughts for Applejack's caretaker. Even the shift in his voice matched that of when he spoke of his father.

"Amber was one of our other friends back home. She was crazy. The shit she pulled and got away with… one hell of a fighter, too." He took a deep breath and tried to get back in the groove of taking care of Applejack. "She joined the Army right out of high school, so did Eric, another buddy of ours. Neither of them made it back to us, though. Same for Tim, but unlike Benny, none of us knew what he was going through and couldn't help him… now it's just the seven of us."

"I'm sorry," Applejack softly spoke, any sense of joy she had now left her. "I should of remembered you bringing them up the first time we got drunk together."

Lumberman did what he could to push past that dark part of his life. Starting with letting his mare know she didn't need to worry about it.

"It's okay, Apples. It is what it is, we moved on."

Applejack could feel the warmth returning to Lumberman's fingers. Even his motions got back in stride as his hands regained that all too familiar feeling of wonderfulness sliding over her. Then, much to her surprise, Lumberman leaned in and hugged her from behind with something unexpected to say.

"You kinda remind me of her. Strong, brave, kicks ass… loves tequila."

Applejack snickered and softly hugged around his arms with what little she could.

"I can't wait till I'm done with these damn pills. Can we celebrate my recovery with a bottle or two and some dancing?"

Lumberman hugged a little tighter with another squeeze before going back to work.

"Tell you what. Once yer done with them pills and get back on your hooves again, I'll get ya so drunk ya won't be able to use'em. Hell, I'll even let ya sing again."

Applejack rolled her eyes, as her lips curled up.

"Oh, kiss my ass, Woody. You love my singing."

Lumberman laughed quietly and gave Applejack a quick tickle.

"I gotta wash yer ass first."

Applejack giggled, happy to see how things had panned out.

"Any excuse tuh get yer hands on me again? Okay, okay, I won't stop ya this time, but do be gentle. I’m real fragile like."

Happy to now have the exchange of banter again, Lumberman laughed but was still a little uneasy about touching her.

“Hey, for real, though. This is gonna be just like this morning when I helped ya get cleaned up. So, if I do anything you don’t like, please say something.”

The temptation was so strong, but so was the soreness and humiliation at the thought of floundering around with her bag covered hooves. She couldn't ask him. Not now. Not like this. But if he did so on his own, who was she to stop him?

"You know why I never once told ya how to take care of me like that this morning? That's cuz I trust ya with doing anything I would do down there. So don't be fretting so much about offenden me none."

That was potentially saying a lot and Lumberman didn't know how to take it. She said it so heartfelt and sincerely. If it was a flirt… no… that was too direct to be a flirt, as best he could have guessed.

"Well, let's get ya laid down on your back and I'll try to make it quick."

As Lumberman got Applejack on her back, he finally noticed something that he should have noticed earlier.

"Hey, Apples? Is your stomach swelling or… I'm sorry. I'm being a total asshole right now, I'm gonna shut up."

Applejack craned her neck to see what she should have known he was looking at.

"Oh, uh. Yer guess is as good as mine. Far as I can tell I must'uh been slacking on the farm or had a few too many sweets. All the extra sugar had to go somewhere, and it’s not like they hurt or nuth’en."

It really wasn't that noticeable. Nobody else had even bothered to say anything about it. Or was he going to be the first? Just the thought made her feel cross.

"I like ya Woody, but you go on and make one fat joke, magic proof, and stitches or not, yer walking outta this tent with fewer teeth you came in with."

And with that stated, apparently, Applejack growing a pair of tits was not a topic to make fun of.

"I ain't saying shit bad about'em. I just didn't know… you know what. Heh, I get it. This is weird and I'm trying to make a conversation about it. Let's just get this bath going again. Alright? Alright."

Applejack chuckled, it was good to get a rise out of him again.

"I'm messing with ya, Woody. I'd never hurt ya… that bad."

"Yeah-yeah, ya got me." He took a breath to steady himself. "Okay… here we go."

He started to work a lather of suds over her breast, drawing a half moan half giggle from the stricken mare.

"Okay, now what's so funny?"

"Nuthing," Applejack bashfully answered. "You know how nice yer hands feel… and you know I'm a bit ticklish, ya goofy rascal. "

Lumberman shook his head, taking it for what he figured it was.

"Whatever."

Then for the final moment of truth. He took his left hand and spread the later over her crotch, drawing a sharp gasp from Applejack, making her body tense up as a flush of red spread from her chest to her face. That was either one of two things, and he drew his hand back immediately.

“Shit, sorry. Did I... “

Applejack relaxed, but she brought her forelegs up to cover as much of the blush as she could and averted her eyes.

“Sorry… I wasn’t ready for it to feel so… uh… fuck me, this is embarrassing. Please don’t-” She choked on what to say. “I can’t help it, Woody, and I can only imagine how disgusting you must think I am fer… goddamnit, don’t look at me.”

Well, clearly her reaction wasn’t one of pain, and her embarrassment made it obvious. Wasn’t too much Lumberman could do now but try to console her on what she felt.

“Hey, woah. You're not disgusting, I should have figured that since my hands... “

That was it. He’d had enough of dancing around the topic and needed to address it if he was going to be taking care of her.

“Alright, I think we need to have a talk before I do anything else. I have no idea what y’alls view on sex is, but it’s obvious you know what masturbation is, so I have to know if you’re going to be comfortable with me taking care of you like this if it’s going to be so stimulating.”

Applejack’s blush deepened and she hid further behind her bagged hooves.

“Woody, could we maybe just be done with this first and talk about it later? I know I already told ya that I trust ya with doing anything I would do down there. I just happen to be sensitive, and-”

“Apples...” Lumberman cut her off from what was likely going to be a long tangent of rambling. “How about we just stop right here and rinse off for now. You’re plenty clean as it is, and we can figure a better way to do this tonight when there’s not so many of our friends around. You okay with that?”

Applejack wilted at the downfall of the experience ending so anticlimactically.

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best, and I’m sorry if…”

Her words were quieted as Lumberman laid his hand softly over her chest, looking down with a confident smile.

“Hey, you’re fine. Ain’t nothing changed between us.”

There wasn’t much conversation after that as Lumberman finished up. A few more buckets of water and she was rinsed off. A quick scrub for himself mixed in between had his bath for the day taken care of as well.

Thankfully, there were still more than enough towels for them and drying off was surprisingly easier than the last time. Although, it hadn’t been as entertaining since she kept her tail under control the whole time, which was probably for the best.

There had been some uneasy tension between them at first, but as Lumberman went on without acting as though there were any issues, even Applejack lightened up. She was even smiling again by the time he picked her up and stepped out of the tent to head back for the house.

As Lumberman stepped out to make sure the coast was clear, he just barely caught the sight of what looked like Midnight stepping back into the house through the back door.

“Sorry, again things got so awkward in there. Probably should have just tried to rough it out back at your place.”

Applejack scoffed with a laugh.

“It’s just a bath. I don’t need ya to worry about… wait a second? Why would-”

“Yo!” Benny shouted from the back door to greet them. “About time you two finished up! The girls have been waiting on your slow asses!”

Lumberman turned to Applejack with a grin and winked.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll work everything out tonight. Let’s get ya inside though. See what the girls want with ya. Probably wanna check out your hooves again or something.”

Not more than three steps later, Rarity trotted out with the rest of the Mane Six and Starlight, an excited smile on her face.

“Darling, it’s about time you got done in there, and Lumberman dear, I hope you don’t mind us borrowing Applejack for a while. It has been the craziest of mornings, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

Fluttershy flew over to help Applejack into her wheelchair that Twilight had been so kind as to levitate over.

“There you go. Nice and comfy. Oh, dear. You’re still a little damp, but that’s okay. We’ll get you all fixed up.”

Applejack cocked an agitated glare at the bunch. If only she could tell them what they had just interrupted.

“Fixed up? I’m perfectly fine just as I am.”

Rarity rolled her eyes with a know it all smile displayed proudly for all to see.

“Oh, please, Applejack. This is a special occasion. It’s our first Post-War-Party Party.”

Fluttershy giggled, as she started to push the chair towards the tent they just came from. She knew Applejack was going to want to hear what she had to say.

"Also, you remember that wonderful joke we told you before? We have a better punchline for you. Also, most of the boys wanted to wander off to collect some firewood for tonight. That and we needed something else to do before Benny gets back.

After all the setbacks and confusion, this was some welcomed news. Better act natural.

"Go on ahead, Woody. I'll see ya back in the house."

Lumberman waved her off, still wearing his goofy grin.

"Have fun."

Just trailing behind the girls, Sniff came out the back door.

"Aye, there he is. Come on, Woody. Need ya to give us a hand out there… and we need to talk."

Lumberman looked off to the side to see Cerb and Chris standing near the edge of the forest. He was about to ask why not talk inside the house when the introduction of a middleweight division fight started to blare through the speakers in the house.

Sniff grinned and shrugged. There was so much to inform Lumberman on.

"We got some guests and Becky is talking up the fighters for them.."

A collection of female voices called out in excited cheers, calling out their support for the guy in blue trunks or the guy in black trunks. Brad Tavares was going up against Nate Marquardt for three rounds.

[Earlier, within a minute of Lumberman leaving with Applejack, just beyond the last hill of the human embassy.]

Sniff was huffing along the way with Oven Fresh strung over his back. He accompanied Twilight towards the house, still deep in an uneasy conversation.

"Alright, yes, you both made your point. I'll… I will open up my prospects."

Twilight was beside herself. It’d taken an entire hour of debating and the whole walk here just to get this far. Still, progress was progress.

"Thank you, and Ovens, what the shit? Why did you never say getting rutted wore you out this much."

The aforementioned baker was still visibly exhausted but wore a blissful smile in spite of it.

"That wasn't rutting, but it was sooooo good, and I can’t wait until we can finally go all the way... But we also never went that long before, and that was only with his hands. Even the morning you came over and we were in the kitchen still, that was only a few minutes and three orgasms. The longest we went before was maybe half an hour at most."

Twilight scoffed, still annoyed with this new discovery.

"Well, it's a good thing all I did was lend a hoof. Peter is having enough trouble carrying you here."

Sniff rolled his eyes, still in disbelief how much they managed to talk him into.

"I'm sorry I'm not the human version of Bulk. You seem to have me confused with Cerb. Oh, and just so we're clear, I'm agreeing to go on dates with your friends. I'm not just going to wine and dine-"

'No bump and grind?" Twilight said sarcastically. "I can't believe you asked Cerb that after his date with Rarity… and he didn't, you know."

For all the shit he was getting, Sniff had to lay the record straight for his absent friend.

"Of course he didn't. Cerb may be the most brutal man I've ever known, but he's also a gentleman. I said that to him as a joke because we both knew it wasn't true. But he cares about her and Fluttershy. Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed himself to stay so close to them like he is… certainly not open up to them in ways he wouldn't with us. If anything, I pushed him closer to them by making him question himself."

Twilight pulled back her hostility, surprised to hear his acceptance of a potential relationship for his friends.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

Sniff readjusted Oven Fresh on his back with a low grunt before responding.

"Sorta… I was still in a weird place with everything, but he was happy. Why not push him into it, ya know? At the same time, I know him enough that he would take a more serious look at his relationship with her so he didn't rush in with thinking about it… pretty sure he's already thinking about what I was thinking about, even more now that they all fought together."

Oven Fresh was curious. After seeing the three of them on the battlefield and how close they were, that could impact a lot of other lonely mares.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because," Sniff gave her butt a little pinch, managing to get a small jolt from the mare. "Cerb has two weaknesses. Girls that are very loving and passionate or timid for him to take care of, and badass chicks that can hold their own. So if they've been taking care of him like you two have for me, and fight like hell, which you both have, he's going to have a hard time making a choice of who to pursue."

That was something Twilight wished she could have told them earlier. Although, if they hadn't made a move, how flexible might he be?

"Peter… what if just like me and Ovens, they both wanted to share him?"

Sniff thought about what kind of odds would have to exist for Cerb to be hit with a double whammy like that. Of course, after thinking about the question, and who had asked it, the odds of it being a hypothetical quickly vanished.

"Holy fuck… you can't be serious? Is double-teaming us going to be the norm? God damn. Who is Pinkie going to invite along with her when she goes after Benny? There's no way that's not going to happen the way things are going."

Twilight cringed at the question. He was almost right about that.

"Actually… Pinkie kinda fucked herself out of that possibility. She put Benny on a blind date with Luna, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch… She didn't realize she wanted to be with him until after she saw the porn like I did."

Sniff started to sweat slightly, barely able to imagine the kind of chaos that pony could cause if that was her motivation to hook up with Benny.

"Jesus fucking Christ, please tell me she's… god damn, I'm honestly scared for Benny now."

If Twilight could ever relate with Sniff over something, that was on the list of her top five things to panic over.

"Don't worry, we set her straight on not forcing herself on him or trying to come between any of them… also, don't allow yourself to be alone in the same room with her. And if it's not Ovens or myself with you, you probably should have at least three others around you, just in case."

Now Sniff was concerned for his safety.

"How worried should I be?"

Twilight took a deep breath and swallowed her anger.

"If she flirts with you and doesn't take the hint that you're not interested, tell her that I said she needs to chill out. She'll know to back off."

Sniff nodded, assuming there was a story better left untold to explain that.

"So who isn't dating somepony? If we all are, it's a conspiracy. There’s no way we all wanted the same thing at the same time."

Oven Fresh gave a happy sigh into Sniff’s neck, not sharing the same sentiment.

"Don’t be like that, Peter. I think you were right when you said that we’re all alike on the inside, but you had to get to know us to realize it. We never had a problem wanting to be with any of you, especially Rarity. And if not for her wanting us to be together, I never would have had my skirt done in time for our date, so I hope Cerb says yes to both Fluttershy and Rarity. They're both so nice.”

She started to giggle again. A terrible series of thoughts had brought her to a comical conclusion she had to share.

“But if he ruts like he fights, those two are in trouble."

Surprisingly, of all things, this got Sniff to laugh.

"Oh, God. Cerb could pound this whole town then fight his way to Canterlot and still have the stamina to fuck somepony else."

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of Cerb fighting his way through Celestia's guards with the greatest of ease… then the thought of Fluttershy and Rarity laying on a bed together, just as worn out as Oven Fresh. That was even funnier.

"Ha! Ooooh, I really need to warn those two."

Nearing the house, Sniff made a late observation.

"Huh… I wonder why Lumberman is here so early? Oh, shit.” He looked at Twilight.”We’re early. You wanted to get here early to check on Pinkie, didn't you?"

Twilight giggled nervously, her cause for concern to arise early had been discovered.

"Unfortunately, you can never be too cautious with Pinkie Pie. Oh, by the way, there's a little surprise for you in the house. Also, another surprise you should enjoy for the party."

Putting the issue of Pinkie on hold, the group entered the garage, with Sniff finally letting Oven Fresh down to walk inside on her own to avoid suspicion. As they walked in, they could hear Cerb in mid-conversation.

"I can relate,” Cerb said as he put his phone down and made a b-line for the next disk to put in. “Getting fucked up from a fight and being picky about who you're willing to let touch you, it puts you in a weird headspace."

Becky rolled her eyes, questioning the cover story.

“Oh, come on. No offense to any of you here, but don’t you think those two are getting uncomfortably close?”

From inside the garage, Sniff heard Becky’s question. A question like that wasn't what any of them needed. As much as he wanted to wrestle with his conflicting desires, any one of his friends putting friction between the next set of romantic pairings could put a serious damper on his social life.

He hadn’t even gotten his dick sucked yet.

“Yo, Lumberman! You get the power on?” Sniff announced from the garage.

Twilight giggled, following Sniff in from the garage to the kitchen with a tired-looking Oven Fresh, happy to brag.

“No, that’s the surprise I was telling you about. I figured out a solution for your electricity needs. I captured a thunderstorm’s power and stored it in some crystals. I originally planned to gather enough power to last you all for what I hoped would be a month, but after discovering how little power your devices needed to work, I have no idea how long it could last.”

Cerb pulled up a disk, one that looked to be a home copy, complete with a blank cover and Sharpie writing.

“So, you managed to harness the power of lightning or all the lightning of an entire storm? How much power is that anyway?”

Twilight took a moment to run through some of the numbers through her head again while Oven Fresh made herself comfortable on the couch.

“Well, each bolt of lightning should have about five gigajoules each, and at minimal, the storm should hold maybe two-hundred and fifty bolts… so at least one and a quarter terajoules? That could potentially last for years because even if each device in this house runs at max capacity, that’s only using maybe a couple thousand watts per day.”

After some technical speak that everyone only understood parts of, Chris’s voice called out, from inside the garage.

“You got the power back?! Starlight, you’re awesome!”

Starlight laughed, sounding not too far behind him.

“I’m glad you’re happy, but grab that other phone for me. It won’t take long for me to get it recreated for them to use.”

Chris's footsteps led themselves away before the mass of clip-clops made their way into the garage and Starlight walked in with her half-dozen weary harem.

"Oh, hello everypony. I see you got the power working. Thanks again, Twilight."

Twilight took one good look at the haggard bunch and her previous assumptions were verified...though far greater than she had anticipated. However, she opted to play it off for the moment.

“I can’t take all the credit, since Starlight laid the groundwork and even thought to even use the crystal storage system in the first place.”

Cerb was glad the conversation shifted so quickly and moved to keep it going back to questioning potential relationships.

“We’re all glad you did this for us, but since you’re all here, Rainbow Dash wanted to see how humans fight, and I got one of the best examples to share.”

Becky looked at the disk Benny had burned for them to watch and recognized it immediately

“Oh, shit. This can be like a redo of the day we ended up here. Which fight is that?”

Without skipping a beat, Cerb popped the disk in the Xbox.

“UFC 182, Jones vs. Cormier. I don’t remember at all how this one ended.”

Rainbow Dash lit up like a Christmas tree.

“You have movies of your fighting sports! This is so awesome!”

Cerb smiled wide and took his seat between Rarity and Fluttershy.

“Yep, and you all better take notes. These are some of the best fighters in the world.”

From inside the garage, Swift Sails announced herself.

“Hello? I brought tonight’s security. Is anypony home?”

Sniff sprang to the door to let them in, also noticing the state the six other mares Chris had brought with him. That would have to be addressed soon.

“Yo! You’re just in time. Oooh! The whole crew is here! Guys, come on in. You’re gonna love this.”

Swift Sails followed Sniff in, accompanied by Thunder, Helix, Onyx, Midnight, Ralph, and another half dozen other Luna Guards who were helping Pinkie bring the booze for the night.

“We wanted to get here early so we could show tonight's security detail the layout of the area. What are you all up to?”

Chris sought out Onyx, excited for the guard to see the spectacle.

“Hey, you’ll want to get a good seat for this. We’re watching mixed martial arts from our world. Lot’s of boxing techniques go learn from.”

Sniff laid his arm around Chris’s shoulders and leaned in, all buddy-buddy like.

“Dude, with your skills and these fights as inspiration, these guys will be kicking some serious ass.” He leaned in closer to whisper into Chris’s ear. “Lumberman is giving Applejack a bath. When he’s done, you, me, and Cerb need to pull him to the side and have a talk. You know why, so don’t play dumb. They need our help.”

They were nearly halfway to Cerb and Chris when Lumberman finally asked the question.

“So, what’s going on, man?”

Sniff looked over his shoulder, double-checking they weren’t being followed or spied on.

“Has Applejack asked you out yet?”

The question instantly put Lumberman on the defense.

“What the fuck’s it to you?”

Sniff gave Lumberman a look that he was insulted, then shook his head.

“God damn, yer as bad as Chris when I asked him. Just give me a yes or a no. Are you getting serious with Applejack or at least planning to? And for the love of fuck, don’t flip out on me because you won’t be the only one who’s hooking up with your guardian pony.”

Lumberman had been ready to start a fight if Sniff was going to give him shit for getting as close as he was with Applejack, but the clarification left him confused.

“Is this about me and Apples or you asking because you found out about Benny?”

Sniff sighed and motioned for Chris and Cerb to move ahead into the forest before answering Lumberman.

“Benny isn’t dating by choice, so I don’t know where he stands. I’m in over my head, Chris probably is too, and I’m about to find out if Cerb said yes or no as well. So don’t think we’re here to gang up on you, because I’ve seen how you two are together. Becky seems to be at odds with us doing this, but I’m pretty sure Kelly beat us all to the punch on this… She might actually have fallen in love if she’s this involved with Big Mac.”

Lumberton shook his head and held back his laugh as best he could.

"Sniffy, in over his head, Chris living his dream, and Kelly found herself a man… Cerb, though… should have seen that one coming.”

Finally deep enough into the forest that they were obscured from any onlookers, Sniff could finally start their meeting.

“Alright, I’m not pussyfooting around with this, we don’t have a lot of time before we start drawing any more unwanted attention than we’re getting. The ponies here were acting clueless about anything sex-related because apparently they only know about it when they find their special somepony, boyfriend, love of their life, whatever. That’s why they don’t wear clothes or try to cover up. However, if y’all haven't’ noticed, they’re falling in love with us, and it’s obvious you three are head over heels for at least one of the mares you brought here today. And before you all get on the defense about me calling you out, I’m dating both Ovens and Twilight.”

After rambling off so much so quickly, Sniff took a breather just long enough to let that sink in, then went right back into it.

“They asked me out, not the other way around. Anyone else care to fess up?”

Cerb grinned, figuring he had no reason not to come clean at this point.

“Flutters and Rarity both asked me today, and I said yes. Glad I’m not the only one.”

Lumberman gave his two friends an odd look and cracked a huge grin.

“Okay, Sniff, I’m not surprised your swinging-”

Sniff raised his hand with a finger pointed at Lumberman to make his position clear.

“I’m not sleeping around or cheating. I’m… “ He seemed to freeze up for a moment before he almost seemed to look sad. “This is different.... I’m still trying to figure it all out, but before you start throwing shade, could you just tell us what your intentions are with Applejack? Cuz if you're just super good friends and that’s it, then you know enough about us and can head back to disappoint her.”

Lumberman dropped his grin, realizing how serious Sniff was actually taking this.

“Aight, my bad, and… no, she hasn’t asked me out, but I’ve got a plan for that. And I’m sorry for coming at ya like that, man. Same with you Cerb, you really lucked out with the way they look after you.”

A moment of silence passed by and three who spoke up were looking at Chris, who was decidedly nervous to be on the spot before owning up.

“I’m glad I’m not the only guy with more than one mare.”

Cerb chuckled and gave a playful punch to Chris’s shoulder.

“Look at you. Cowboy Cake with, wait. Let me guess. Starlight and… damn… who else you been with?”

Lumberman grinned, thinking he had to know the most likely mare.

“Man, I still can’t believe you all are double-dipping like that, but fuck it. It’s gotta be Rainbow Dash. Yeah… after the fight those two had-”

“I’mma stop ya right there, bud,” Sniff interrupted. “Y’all ain’t going to believe this, and Chris, don’t you fucking lie, because after what I saw you come in with, they need to know what we know.”

Chris groaned so loudly, the others knew right away he was dealing with some serious embarrassment and didn’t want to talk about it. However, he also knew he wasn’t going to be able to bull shit his way out of it.

“I’m dating Starlight… and Cream Heart from the dance… and her friends Prim Posy and Cheerilee, also from the dance.

Cerb exhaled loudly and bent over with his hands on his knees.

“Jeeez-us, Chris. How the fuck-”

“And Derpy,” Chris added, now beat red in the face. “And they invited Nurse Redheart in at the end before they all got together to ask me to be a part of their harem.”

Cerb blinked repeatedly, having speculated that Chris was fooling around, but that was more intense than what he was going through.

“A harem?”

Chris double facepalmed and groaned again, already feeling the awkward and judgment piling on.

“I don’t fucking know how the fuck it happened. When Starlight and I patched things up in the orchard I told her that I wished I had come here alone so I didn’t have to worry about you assholes giving me shit for wanting to be with a pony.”

He slowly pulled his hands away and saw he had their undivided attention. However, it didn’t look like they were in any position to pass much of any judgment. If that was the case, he figured he might as well just be honest with them.

“She thought I would only like her as a friend but wanted to make up for pissing me off at the end of our movie night and probably giving me alcohol poisoning. That led to her re-introducing me to the four girls that bought the dance with me, and Derpy, to swap dates with. That’s why they were with me when we ran to the gym for Cerb’s fight to go into the forest with Fluttershy for Becky.”

At one point Sniff was following the story, but was totally lost now.

“Hold up… so it was Starlight that set you up with Cream Heart at the arcade?”

Chris quickly realized how long this was going to take and leaned his back against a tree to get comfortable.

“Yes, but before that, she also wanted to help out with giving us power back at the house. So, we came back here and she tried to duplicate about an ounce of gas from the generator to see if she could even do it, and no… she can’t. The spell has limitations on how complex the substance can be. All the chemicals that go into refined gas was too much and it exploded in a fireball.”

Without even pausing, Christ couldn’t help but feel stupid for his mental failure that day. He didn’t remember a time before where he had been in so much danger and not even reacted.

“I stood there and watched her spell go into a critical meltdown like a dipshit. Since I was momentarily retarded, she tackled me and put up a shield around us… From there, one thing led to another, we kissed, she talked me into keeping the original plan with dating the others and just added her into the rotation... God that sounds fucked up when I say it like that.”

The more Chris heard himself retell the story, the more ridiculous he knew it sounded. Then again, look at who he was talking to. Also, the fact they were already in a world based on a children’s cartoon helped make it ever so less insane.

“She convinced me to agree by sitting on my lap and grinding into my crotch, and… fuck… I shouldn’t need to explain why that worked. You know who I am, but after that, she went to the others and told them what happened between us. Berry Punch dropped out after having second thoughts about being with a human or some bullshit.”

He shook his head at that. Still not sure why he wasn’t told the full story about it. Not that it mattered anymore.

“Later that night, when Sniff was on his date with Oven Fresh, I went out with Cream Heart and she tried to one-up Starlight’s story and… good fucking god. I’m calling bullshit on them not knowing about sex beforehand because we didn’t fuck, but she was going through the motions over my pants.”

Chris had to take a moment to collect his thoughts. This was the most insane story he could tell. It was up there with some of the fanfics he’d read before. Although, some of the similarities were starting to match up.

“Anyway… I went on a date with Derpy, and god damn is her kid cute. Anyway, she was shy at that point and I only gave her a kiss goodnight. Starlight, however… all I had to do was tell her about my date and just the kiss we shared. So, naturally, thinking I should have had more… we had sex that night… and the morning after where Twilight caught her coming out of my room. Twilight didn’t know, but she asked her to go back out to the Castle of the Two Sisters with her after that. Which brings me to a point I need to share with you if you go that far with them.”

Sniff nodded and butted in.

“I was going to talk to just Cerb today and get a feel for things, but then Chris brought in his harem and I saw the same exhausted look on all of them but Starlight’s. The same look Oven Fresh has, and that’s when I knew we all needed to talk.”

Chris took a deep breath and prepared to try and explain this as best he could, while the others continued to listen with wrapped attention.

“Turns out, our magic touch isn’t limited to our hands. If you end up having sex, they cum super fast, super hard, and might get a little aggressive if they want more, and they all do.”

Sniff did a sharp turn back to Chris.

“What? Oven Fresh has never… well, okay, maybe one morning, but… nevermind. You’re skipping over the most important parts.”

He turned back to Cerb and Lumberman, delicately trying to balance potential sensitivity and what was likely happening.

“They… do certainly want to keep the sex going, but it will exhaust them. Not just that though, don’t let them get… shit, okay, they might get aggressive about vaginal sex, but don’t let them get carried away to try to take control. We’re too big for them, there’s no way to safely go all the way without-” He raised his hands and emphasized a focus on his fingers. “-helping them work their way up to it.”

Chris nodded again, a little regret still showing through, while the others listened on.

“I found that out the hard way. For now oral is a safer alternative, but giving or recieving… they… can’t get enough of it.”

Lumberman started to back away pumping his hands out, motioning them to stop.

“Okay, that’s… look, it took me a lot to get to this point where I want to be with Applejack, but I don’t need to hear about y’alls sex life with your multiple waifus.”

That had escalated rather quickly and Sniff agreed they needed to pump the breaks a little.

"Alright, but like I said. I wasn't going to pussyfoot around with this. We're all grown adults. We understand the birds and the bees, and there's no better combination of broken fucks who could have been sent here to end up meeting these girls. It's like I said back when Benny told us what happened to him out there. Our lives are better because of them.”

Even if it was obvious, that got everyone’s attention highly focused on Sniff again on his speech.

“Benny needed to get over what happened to him, he did that with Pinkie's help. Cerb had his nightmares and isolation, now he has Flutters and Diamond Thighs. Kelly needed a solid man in her life and now she has Big Mac. Chris needed his confidence, and now he's basically got a harem. Even Becky has a shot of surviving her disease and went back into medicine because of Dash and the others. I'm surprisingly slowing down and re-evaluating my shit because of Ovens and Twilight… And you, Lumberman… After what happened to Cerb’s family, then losing Amber, which hurt you the most, and that cunt that fucked you over...”

It hurt Lumberman hearing her name again, even more so after talking about her with Applejack. However, hearing Sniff bring it up, it was clear he knew why Sniff was so quick to see there was something between his attachment to Applejack. It was enough to have him explain himself.

“Even if Apples and I can’t have any kids together, I want to be a part of her family. Yeah… I’m willing to go this far. I don’t care if she’s not what I imagined a wife to be. Her family is good to me and took me in just like your folks did, Justin… God.. I’m even slipping back to those old days.”

Cerb lowered his head, the cruel reality of their destiny taking hold again.

“Look, guys… do we have any reason to believe we’re ever going home now that the one that brought us here is dead?”

Sniff shook his head, having already accepted that such a thing was unlikely.

“I trust Twilight. Girl knows her shit… but she’s never shown any confidence in it even being a possibility. So if there is a way home, The Pony of Shadows took it to his grave. Twilight’s going to have to start from scratch, which I imagine is going to be like a race to the moon, except no one knows where the moon is. All they know is there’s a black hole in the way and no means to get past it.”

Lumberman sulked, his words from earlier no longer sitting well with him.

“I kind of had the same conversation with Benny before he left for his blind date. I told him, in not so many words, that we’re stuck here and between the five of us guys, we only had two girls to choose from and-” He paused for a moment, realizing what Sniff had likely intended this meet up to be for them. “-ain’t none of us interested in each other like that. Our options were either what we’re doing now, or dying alone. Benny wasn’t sold on it, but you all had the right idea. I’m not ashamed of what I want, and we all have our reasons for what we’re doing. We need to let him know he can be happy, too.”

Chris felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, though one heavy piece that was hung behind caused some concern.

“What about Becky?”

Cerb stood up a bit taller, ready to provide a solution.

“Becky might not be ready for any of this. She wasn’t excited for Lumberman and Applejack being so close and must have assumed what we all know now. Her and Dash are tight, but Dash seems to know what’s going on and is looking out for us. I don’t know why, but I’ll talk to her. Figure out a way to ease her into it. Even if she doesn’t want to find her stud out here, at least be cool with us.”

With that cleared up, and no opposition being offered, Cerb hiked up his ax and looked around them at the many trees to choose from.

“Welp, since we’re all on the same page, I’m dipping out early tonight. I made some plans for me and my girls before I knew what they really wanted and asked me out. I might not know how this three-way relationship is going to work, but those two saved my life in more ways than one. I want to show them how much I care about them, so, don’t be surprised when I step out.”

Lumberman chuckled and started to look for a good source of timber.

“This shit’s so fucking crazy, guys. Let’s grab some sticks and get back to the party. I’m sure the girls are just fucking loving the fact we wandered off into the Everfree right after the Timberwolves came after Cerb and all them... Those things scare the shit out of me.”

Twilight led the rest of the Mane Six into the bathing tent while letting Oven Fresh lean on her for support and Starlight bringing up the rear.

“Alright, girls. Rarity has a surprise for all of us, but you can also thank Oven Fresh and Peter for their help as well.”

Applejack sat anxiously. She was supposed to learn more from Fluttershy about what she was dealing with. Why did the others have to be here? Maybe she could be clever and find a why to sneak away to find out privately.

“Uh, how long is this supposed to take? I’m sure the rest ‘uh y’all girls got things to do. Or could I just come on back when yer all done? I can just have Fluttershy roll me out and she’ll bring me back when yer all done.”

Given Applejack’s anxious behavior, Fluttershy could sympathize but put the brakes on the chair and giggled a little inappropriately.

“Don’t worry Applejack. Everypony here knows the punch line. We were going to bring you in earlier to talk about it, but we didn’t want to bother you while you were with Lumberman.”

Starlight looked around the tent, heavily confused about what Fluttershy was talking about.

“Punch line? I don’t even know what the joke is. What are we talking about?”

To answer, Twilight levitated the series of boxes Rarity had brought over earlier and placed them out in front of their respective owners.

“Well, the joke, it seems, was mostly on me. Although I have to say Starlight, I’m so impressed at how fast you were able to get so much closer to Chris than anypony else did.”

Twilight quickly realized she was getting off-topic already and returned to her lecturing mode. She was going to get this out in the open, one way or another.

“Remember that lovely scent I mistook as perfume on you the other morning? I know what it is. And I’m so glad you must have made it quick that morning with Chris. You wouldn’t have been very helpful out there in the Everfree Forest if you were as tired as the rest of the girls you brought with you.”

Starlight began to silently panic at the accusation. There was no way she could have known. She was so careful and cautious, but then she noticed the weary look on Oven Fresh as she was lowered down onto a pile of towels with Twilight’s help. Her eyes went wide when Oven Fresh giggled and winked at her.

Despite her best efforts, Starlight’s secret was out and she knew she was busted.

“Oooooh, fuck me.”

Twilight grinned devilishly as she channeled some magic into her horn, ready to cast a spell.

“Oooooh, I bet he did.”

Well, things with Shinning and Cadance look... good? Egh, at least they have a common interest with each other and are still committed. Plus, she has something special she wants to share with him.

Otherwise, over at the human embassy, Pinkie might be regretting her decision with Benny. Yet, at the same time, she certainly seems happy with it at the same time. Happy enough to grab the booze and give Flutters and Rarity some much desired alone time with Cerb... for a movie and only a few smooches? At least he's enjoying it.

Although, Rainbow Dash dropping in for save was pretty legit. Just about as legit as that slam on AJ about not having a leg to stand on.

Not far away from where the walk away rule led them, AJ and Lumberman had some fun and we learn a little bit more not just Lumberman, but some of the others as well. A little more history to help with the big picture of things.

Also... she was so close.... so... damn... close.

Then Sniff showing up after Twilight lost her shit over how Ovens got wore out and Sniff must have tried to play it off as nothing big? How could that not happen? Although, that is sure to complicate things in the long run... or make things more interesting.

Otherwise, the pre-party is a UFC fight, four of the five guys coming clean with each other, and the main mares finally getting together to talk about getting dirty.

... if only Starlight hadn't been so caught off guard.

Anyway, be sure to come back next week and see the party getting started in: