The peace and quiet of the Canterlot gardens was misguiding. Inside the castle walls there was quite an argument, although it seemed to be one-sided.
“Intolerable! Irresponsible! Against all security protocols!” Tyler looked straight forward while Luna paced around him in the throne room, crudely lecturing her Dark Companion. “Tyler! Pray tell, how could thou let something like her go? Not only out of the CCF, but out of sight and out of Equestria’s jurisdiction as well!”

“If I hadn’t let her go like this, she might have caused a bloodbath with her swarm… I did the thing that caused the least collateral damage in that circumstance.”

Mumbling unsatisfied, she gave him another stern look.
“And thou art lucky things turned out that way! But the security and protection of this land is not a gambling matter! I will have to report this incident to Celestia. We will decide the consequences for thee together. Thou art dismissed.”

With this, he nodded briefly and turned around. But just as he started to leave, she looked at him again.
“Tyler!”

Looking over his right shoulder, he arched a brow.
“Yes, Luna?”

The young princess now bowed her head slightly.
“Tis good to see thee alive and well… After hearing of all the gore down there… I… I was worried for thee…”

A warm smile formed on his lips.
“God knows I did my best…” His smile now withered slowly. “Unfortunately my best isn’t always good enough… Nobody fears the new Changeling threat more than me! That’s because… next time, it would be my fault if they’re back… But these Descendants seem more of a threat to me.”

Just as he opened the large door of the throne room, Celestia stood before him. In surprise, he stepped a few steps back and let her in.
“Welcome back, Celestia…”

Celestia, in company of a brown coated stallion with golden mane and a mare of pink coat and purple mane, approached Tyler. Though, unlike Celestia, the two delegates had no Cutie mark. For a second, he frowned a bit in thought. Now that he thought about it, the shadow ponies also had no cutie mark… But before his thoughts could go into any more in detail, Celestia’s voice pulled him back into the moment. “Why hello, Tyler! May I introduce you to the delegates of Saddle Arabia? This is Haakim and his wife. My friends? This is Tyler Jones; he is a human and valuable ally to our nation.”

Haakim arched his brows and eyed Tyler curiously.
“I must say… I’ve never laid my eyes upon a creature such as you. May I introduce you to my wife Amira?”

Tyler bowed before Haakim and Amira before delivering a hoofkiss to the pink mare.
“My pleasure…”

Amira answered this with a smile.
“What a refined being. This will make a fine story at home; don’t you think so, Haakim?”

The stallion nodded.
“Indeed. Equestria not only is a land full of friends and history, but also of beauty and diversity.”

Tyler gave Celestia a short peek before nodding at both delegates.
“And it’s also a strong ally if you need one. Do not hesitate to ask for help!”

Haakim eyed Tyler for a short amount of time before giving another nod, one of great gratitude.
“Princess Celestia, there are friends of great honor and kindness at your side. Please, Tyler Jones… Accompany me and Amira into our chambers for a thorough conversation. I must admit my curiosity compels me to ask you for this.”

Tyler, however, shook his head.
“As much as I would love to stay and talk with you about various topics, I have to be elsewhere. Princess Celestia? As soon as your time allows it, I wish you to have a word with Luna. There was an incident of which I’m not very proud of, but we shouldn’t discuss this in front of our guests right now.”

Celestia’s smile ceased and she nodded.
“You have already given report to Luna I assume?”

As he nodded in reply, she closed her eyes. “Unfortunate, yet we can’t force fate every time we are displeased with it. Very well, I’ll inform you and all who were present during that time later this evening. Oh, and… I’m sorry. I forgot to send you and the girls these…”

A servant hurried to the princess and she took 11 tickets from an envelope.
“Take good care of these. I wish to see all of you on that Gala night as well.”

Tyler took the tickets and gave them a friendly nod.
“Thank you, I’ll be sure to do that.”

* * * * *

On his ride back home, Tyler looked outside the window of the train. Somewhere out there she was reorganizing her swarm, plotting and scheming already. It was what Changelings do. But he would be there to put her back into place. And not even an army of Changelings could stand in his way, this was his determination.

When Tyler finally arrived to his destination, and eventually the town, he was quickly smashed into the ground by Pinkie.
“Tyler!!! Where have you been??? I searched all over Ponyville for you!”

Pinned down by the pink mare, he looked up.
“Pinkie, what in the world is with you? Can’t I be gone for three days?”

Now the rest of the girls arrived at his side and Rainbow pushed Pinkie off from him. While he got up, Twilight took the chance to explain.
“While you were gone, Trixie showed up!”

“Oh yeah, she mentioned a visit in her letter. That’s good, right?” After a while of silence he leaned his head to the side. “Right…?”

Shaking heads from all six signalized him that in his absence something must have happened.
“That wasn’t the Trixie you knew… She was worse than the day we first met her.”

Pinkie bounced on the spot while looking at Tyler.
“She was mean and a tyrant! And she made my mouth disappear! Good thing we defeated her.”

Her claims left him puzzled.
“She made your mouth…? How did she… I mean… Man… That’s cruel for someone like you. We all know how you love to talk to us, Pinkie.”

“Unfortunately Pinkie is not exaggerating, Tyler.” Twilight continued. “Honestly, we have to talk!”

As the girls began to chat all at once with him, Tyler’s eyes wandered around before he raised his hands in a calming manner.
“Easy, girls…” he tried to calm them down. “Wait a second! Princess Celestia charged me with some minor memory spells. No need to tell me. Instead, show me.”

As he touched their foreheads one by another, the image before his eyes became clearer with every single one of his friends. Tyler saw the misery Trixie brought to Ponyville and witnessed the banishment of Twilight. But another thing caught his eye… A certain dark amulet around Trixie’s neck caused him to frown as he was in contact with the six mares. As the girls showed him more and more memories, he nodded. “That’s enough… Thank you all for your kind testimony in this. Twilight? I must have a word with Zecora and Trixie.”

“Zecora? I’m sorry. But you missed her, Tyler. Zecora went to Canterlot minutes before you returned.”

He thought a bit about it.
“Hmmm… I must have missed her at the station then… What about Trixie?”

Twilight shook her head.
“The last time I saw her was when Princess Celestia was here with the delegates of Saddle Arabia. She left Ponyville and ran off.”

He grumbled at this.
“I see… More problems…Well, she’s on foot, so she can’t be that far… Rainbow, will you do me a favor and take a sweep from the air?”

The cerulean mare raised her hooves in protest while flying around.
“Aw, T-man! Come on! Do I have to? I’m trying to avoid that mare!”

“Yeah, I know she gave you one oversized wing, but… Come on, RD! You’re the fastest around. If anyone can catch up with her, you can.”

With a sigh she bowed her head and nudged into his ribcage.
“Fine… Only for you, big boy…”

In an instant Tyler raised a hand.
“Oh, wait a second! While you’re all here, Princess Celestia gave me these for all of us.” With this he handed out the tickets to the girls and ended with Rarity’s ticket. “Will my suit be ready in time?”

With a wink, the white unicorn smiled up to him.
“It already is… But Tyler? Darling, there are even more tickets in your hand. Does this mean, you…?”

He nodded.
“Yes… I will hand them to Sam, Flynn and Rachel. I guess you’ll have to prepare something for them as well. Also, you will have your first female human customer…”

Rarity began to beam.
“Ooh! This will be so exciting. A human dress! This is so thrilling!"

* * * * *

It was late in the night when Rainbow let go off Trixie in front of the library. She found the blue unicorn on hoof on the way to Fillydelphia, a trip that would need 3 hours with the train, but a good day or two on hoof.
“Now what? I left you so nopony beats me up again and Twilight said she has forgiven me!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Twilight didn’t ask me to bring you to the library… He did!”

Trixie now winced and her ears dropped.
“H-he did? D-does he…?”

“He knows everything, Trixie. But he wanted to talk to you. That’s MY reason not to punch your flank now. We know it was your doing that he’s here, so… despite being a pain in the past, you DID something of use. I’ll give you props for that. But after banishing Twilight? If it would have gone by me…” The cerulean Pegasus gritted her teeth. “Argh, go in already before I mess things up with my mouth!” After saying this, she flew off to her home, grumbling.

With a frightened expression the blue unicorn knocked at the door, only for Twilight to open it.
“I see Rainbow brought you here… Please, come in.”

As the showmare entered with a bowed head, she looked up to Twilight.
“Twilight… You did forgive me, didn’t you? Why are you folks bringing me back again?”

With a sigh the librarian pointed her hoof at the door to one of the other rooms.
“Reading room 2… He’s waiting at the chimney… Don’t let him wait…”As Twilight went upstairs, Trixie approached the door. “And Trixie?” The blue unicorn yelped in surprise and jumped a little before looking at Twilight again. “Just relax, OK?”

It was dark and Tyler stood at a table when Trixie entered the room. Only the fire in the chimney shed light to the room. He was studying maps and the showmare gulped heavily. She already feared the other villagers for being mad at her. They had all the reason to, yet they weren’t. She was told the amulet corrupted her and it wasn’t entirely her own fault. But was Tyler informed of this? The room was gloomy and as she approached him slowly, every hoofstep was audible as a thunder strike. Twilight might have forgiven her, but Tyler was her herd stallion… What if he wanted to punish her for banishing one of his mares? For bringing so much misery to his friends? With a shaking voice she spoke up.
“Y-You wanted to see me?

“I wasn’t there for you…”

Now Trixie was stumped.
“What?”

“When you needed me the most… I wasn’t there for you…”

“Tyler… I… I don’t under-”

As he turned around, she winced back in fear he would harm her, but he simply knelt down and put his arms around her and held her close.
”If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. Whatever happened to you… I wasn’t there to help you with it. For that I am sorry…” Trixie didn’t recognize how the tears began to dwell in her eyes. “You will always be welcome in my home, Trixie… Never forget this! I am the living, breathing proof that you are indeed… the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Now the tears ran down her face and she closed her eyes with a smile.
“That’s probably the nicest thing anypony ever said to me…”

After a while he released her from the embrace and arched back a little to look into her eyes.
“I have to see your memories, Trixie… I must know how you came to the idea of having this amulet. I will have to see into your mind. It won’t hurt.”

Visibly unsure Trixie took a step back.
“Um… You won’t go anywhere private, will you?”

He chuckled a bit.
“No, of course not. I won’t look into the intimate phantasies of yours, don’t worry. Just a look to find out what brought you to that insane idea.” With this she looked up to him and after she had overcome her fears, she nodded with determination. He then rested his hand over her forehead when a slight glow emitted from his hand. And then he went backwards in time as he searched her minds for clues. Her memories contained lots of humiliation, hardships, and unkindness from others. Tyler frowned upon this. Being new to this mind reading magic, the images were quite blurry and sometimes several details were completely foggy. But there was something especially foggy when she entered the Fillydelphia train station. Then the memories were so blurry and distorted that he couldn’t read her mind at all.

With this he ended the contact with Trixie and blinked several times in order to recollect himself.
“That’s odd… There’s something in your mind that seems… I don’t know…”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head in uncertainty.
“If only I would know that myself, Trixie… You see I’m not good in reading minds… But still… being the amateur I am in this there’s something odd about the abrupt ending with some memories a few months ago… They feel… odd… misplaced…” He then took a note and a quill. “I want you to take the next train. Not to Fillydelphia but to Canterlot. I want the princesses to have a look at your mind. They’re far better in this stuff than I am.” He then handed her the written note. “Take this and cooperate with them. But not tonight… tonight you’ll stay in the library. I’ll prepare a bed for you in a few minutes…”

Trixie took the letter and put it into her magician hat.
“Again you’re doing so much for me…” She then bowed her head. “I on the other hoof did so little for you…”

“That’s not true… You’ve brought me here! This is by far your greatest achievement yet! Imagine what would have happened if I wasn’t around fighting that void dragon… Or not fighting the Changelings. Thanks to you I’m part of a herd and soon to be father. All of this was only possible because one showmare was determined to be a magician… and not a fraud.”

This brought a smile back on her face.
“A pity you are with a herd already…”

Tyler chuckled on this sentence.
“Yeah… heard that before… But four mares… Frankly that’s a second job. Especially with two of them being alicorn mares…“

Trixie now stood in front of him with her mouth aghast.
“Y-You and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are in ONE HERD???”

He suddenly held a hand in front of her mouth.
“Shut up! It’s not official yet! “

“Oh in that case I know nothing…” She responded with a nervous grin.

“Good girl!” he said with a warm smile. “Come on, time to go to bed.”

Half an hour later, Trixie was lying in the guest bed he had silently prepared and looked up to the ceiling. A warm bed… Now how long has it been since she was sleeping in a warm and cuddly bed? She couldn’t remember. But as she looked over to Tyler and Twilight she felt… loneliness. 'The comfort of others… This must be something so wonderful…' she thought. She then realized how big this bed was while she was lying in it on her own. And looking over to Twilight’s bed showed the librarian and Tyler snuggled against each other. A feeling came up in Trixie. A feeling she often had when seeing Twilight. It was jealousy. And she knew it was wrong to feel that way. But before she was going to think about it any harder, sleep took her into dreamland while she snuggled her pillow.

* * * * *

Gigantic green domes grew from the midst of several metropolises of the United States. The Las Vegas Strip darkened as it was devoured by the green light before America’s famous playground vanished. On the outskirts of the city, the dome ceased to grow and remained constant. On every TV channel was one face to see. It was the face of the president. The grey haired man swallowed and looked up into the camera.

“My fellow citizens…” As he looked up from his notes, it became obvious that this man was tearing up, yet was conserving the dignity one would expect from a politician. “As of 6 am this morning… large force fields have spread in each of every major city of the world. The question if we’re alone in the universe… has been answered. There is nothing our military can do to stop this. Even the usage of nuclear weapons turned out to be of little to no consequence. We can only hope that the humans inside these domes are alive and well. Our hearts are with them. If you want to escape these attacked areas, please do so in a calm and considerate manner…” A tear rolled down his cheek. “May God the almighty watch over-”

The broadcast was then interrupted as one large dome began to grow right in Washington, swallowing the White House in the process. Thus, slowly and surely, the planet was engulfed in a green force field on every major city. But for the few remaining human survivors, the true terror just began as the sky began to hum. Out of the eerie green domes came the swarm, filling the skies as they searched for more prey to feed upon.

Rachel woke up with a scream and huffed heavily before calming down. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Just a dream, girl! Calm the fuck down! Just a dream… With this she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Just a fucking dream… Jesus…” As she opened her eyes again she noticed the sun was already shining brightly. Another thing that made her realize that her horrific experience was a dream; She wasn’t on Earth, she was in a world full of talking ponies, no matter how absurd this might sound for a normal thinking person.

The door to her room opened and Lyra came in.
“Are you OK, Rachel? You screamed!” Rachel looked up and gulped before she nodded. The aquamarine-coated unicorn now approached her and opened the windows before standing next to the bed. “Come… Show me the bandages; we need to get you some new ones…”

Holding her hands up, she watched Lyra unwrapping her bandages as her aquamarine magic shimmered around them.
“I… I had a nightmare… about home…”

Stopping for a moment, the unicorn looked at her.
“Rachel, you went through Tartarus in that facility with Tyler… Your first contact with the Changelings must have traumatized you. Tyler and Sam told me that their queen blasted you. Tyler had problems with being blasted from Queen Chrysalis during their fight as well. Even Princess Celestia had problems with these Changelings in a direct confrontation… You are lucky to be alive, girl…”

Shaking her head vehemently, she looked at Lyra.
“No! You don’t understand! I saw my world ending!”

Stepping away from the bed, the aquamarine unicorn gasped.
“That must have been a terrible sight! I hope for you and your people that this was only a dream.”

Bowing her head with a nod, Rachel looked down.
“I hope so too… Maybe it’s only fear… I… I think I’m just unfamiliar with all of this ‘another world’ thing.” After this she looked up to Lyra and held her half unwrapped hands up again. "I'm sorry... I hope we three are not a nuisance for you and your other friend."

"Bon Bon? Oh, don't worry about it. Bonnie is fine with you three. She knows about my fascination with your kind. I had a long talk with her before you moved in and she says if you're helping with the household... You know, earning some bits, maybe a little help in the shop once in a while... and you're not causing any trouble, she's willing to let you guys live here as well."

“That’s pretty kind of you both. Listen, I… I may have some differences with Jones now and then, but I think you ponies are decent folks. I… I find your curiosity appealing for that matter, Lyra. Frankly I never saw someone looking at us humans with such inquisitiveness.”

With a smile Lyra continued to take the bandages off the hands until she gasped.
“It looks like you won’t need fresh bandages anymore. Your wounds… They’re healed!” After taking away the rest of the bandages, Lyra began to beam. “Oh, how wonderful!”

While slowly streaking over the marks on the back of her hands, Rachel’s fingers shook a bit.
“Lyra? Are those…?”

“Those are cutie marks! Yes!” she replied while jumping up in excitement.

Rachel, however, examined the marks on her hands. They both depicted two crosshairs lying over another and an eye in the middle of them.
“Does this mean… that I now have some superpowers as well?”

“Oh no…” Lyra said with a giggle. “You always possessed these powers. The special talent of a cutie mark is something lying dormant inside you. Nobody but you can discover this. Seems to me your special talent has something to do with crosshairs. Rifles or pistols maybe? Did you do something down in that facility to earn yourself that cutie mark?”

In her mind Rachel went through the events that happened down in the CCF.
“I remember that painful beam and something happened to me then. I wanted to shoot her, but my clip was empty… Then I…” In an epiphany she jumped up in excitement and looked at Lyra. “Lyra! For a unicorn, you are a genius!”

Beaming happily, the anthropologist held her head high.
“Well… I have my moments…”

Rachel then grabbed Lyra’s head and gave her a short peck on the nose before she changed for the day and went down to the living room.
“I have to see what I can do!” Lyra had to be right. It had to do something with Rachel and her Beretta and she was eager to find out.

“Hey!” Flynn was sitting in the kitchen while Sam and Bon Bon were preparing the breakfast. “Do yourself and the chefs a favor and eat something, before you storm into town!”

Rachel hesitated at the front door and thought about it for a second. There was actually no reason to hurry and do something about this cutie mark thing on an empty stomach.
“Breakfast… Breakfast sounds good!” While Sam prepared some pancakes, Bon Bon prepared some coffee. Flynn, however, had prepared some juice for everyone in the household and was drinking his glass already.

“Sounds like you were having quite a night. Right, Rachel?” A sly grin formed on Flynn’s face.
With a brief “Shut up!” Rachel sat down and had breakfast with the others. In an instant, her new cutie marks became the topic on the table.

* * * * *

At the same time in another part of Ponyville Tyler brought Trixie to the station, just as he promised. “You’ll be fine, Trixie. I’ve sent another short notice to Princess Celestia requesting Dusk Aegis for your escort once you’re in Canterlot. Don’t worry; he’s one of the good guards.” Kneeling down to meet her face, he adjusted her magician cape. “I might need some of your spells as well someday, Trixie. Would you do me a favor?”

The blue mare nodded with a big smile.
“Sure thing! What can I do for you?”

“Work on these firework spells. Make them bright, VERY bright!” Trixie thought about it for a minute, before she nodded. When the train was ready to leave the station, she raised her head and gave Tyler a short peck on the cheek before jumping into the train. He, however, shook his head with a caring smile and waved after her while she waved from her window. As the train was out of sight, he returned to Ponyville. Celestia would find out what went wrong. Then Trixie could make her way again; her way of being a good friend for the ponies around her.

While he returned to town, the three other humans were still sitting together with Lyra and Bon Bon when Sam spoke up.
“You know, folks… We need to get us some jobs! We can’t live here for free forever. That is, if you don’t mind being kicked out by Bon Bon…”

Bon Bon took another sip of her coffee.
“There’s still time, but I would prefer it if you would speed things up a bit. You are helpful in the house already, but the income of my shop can’t maintain the shop itself AND our bigger household.”

Sam nodded at the crème-coated mare.
“We’ll start looking for jobs today, Bon Bon. Don’t worry.”

Flynn then raised a finger.
“Wait a minute… Tyler lives here for about a year. Surely he knows a place we could go to! You know, Where a human could work.”

With this Rachel stood up.
“Right… I have to talk to that guy anyway, I need to know more about this cutie mark thing!”

Just as she opened the front door, Tyler stood in front of her with a hand in the air.
“Hey, folks! I was just about to knock!”

Rachel grinned at him.
“Oh shit, it’s the superhero of the nation… Come here!” With this she grabbed Tyler by the collar and pushed him against the house wall. “Tell me why I could fire magic out of my Beretta instead of ammunition! Tell me why my ‘cutie mark’ is something about shooting! Tell me what the fuck is going on with my body…”

Tyler blinked at her and nodded.
“Hmmm… I have an idea, but I don’t want to make hasty claims. You know what? I’ll have to go to Sweet Apple Acres for a few hours. Why don’t you come to the library this evening and Twilight will have a look at you? Her special talent is magic, so she would be the best pony to go to in Ponyville.”

Rachel now looked into his eyes and nodded.
“Agreed! I’ll be there…” When the others came out of the front door, she let go of Tyler and maintained some distance.

After they all greeted each other, Lyra poked Rachel into the waist with her horn.
“Stop looking for conflict with him, Rachel!”

* * * * *

After a short walk through town Tyler arched his brows. “I see… So you folks are looking for a job. Well, I was asked several times from two mares to start at their place, so why don’t we start there?” As they went on, Lyra noticed the direction they were headed.
“Tyler? Are we going to the spa?”

“Yes, indeed we are, Lyra! Aloe and Lotus always urged me to give it a go, so maybe they’re eager to give them a chance as well. Oh and by the way…” He handed out the tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala to them. “Don’t mention these tickets out loud, but they’re tickets to a Gala in Canterlot. Big event, make sure to have formal attire at your disposal.

Flynn looked down at the ticket before he looked at Sam.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Sam eyed his ticket and smiled wide.
“’Cos I’ve got a gooolden ticket…”

Flynn grinned wide as he sang along.
“I’ve got a golden twiiiiinkleeeee in my eye…” Both men now laughed as they went along.

Upon entering the spa, Tyler had a short talk with the receptionist and they were allowed to enter the rooms where the clients were treated. There they met Fluttershy and Rarity, who were on their weekly spa meeting. Spotting Tyler from her place, Rarity waved at him while receiving a mud mask. “Tyler! Darling, what brings you here?”
“Business, Rarity… So enjoy your stay while I might have a word with the staff.”
With the word ‘business’ the two spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus, gasped a little and hurried up with their two customers.

Sitting at a table a bit away the humans now waited for the spa ponies. Sam looked around a bit.
“A spa, huh? Sure, why not? Working with the hands always made me feel good.”

Tyler snickered a bit.
“Sam, that sounds sooo wrong…”

“Hehe… You’re just jealous because my black-“

“STOP!!!” Rachel interfered. “I don’t want to hear all this man-crap!”

Tyler chuckled, before he looked at Sam.
“I can point you at four mares who don’t complain…”

Rarity cocked her head as she overheard them talking.
“My… Whatever happened to his refined speech and behavior? Tyler is usually such a gentlecolt.”

Lyra stood next to Rarity and arched one brow with a smirk.
“If you would have read my earlier versions of Anthropology, you would have known that young, heterosexual men sure like to brag about things like young stallions do…”

“Well… Since there ARE humans… you, my good Lyra, have become a certain expert on the issue! What sources do you have? I mean, nopony ever went into the human world.”

“Believe me… If I would tell you that, you would think I’m a nutjob! Let’s just say that I feel somehow connected to them.”

By that time Aloe and Lotus approached the humans and greeted each one of them. Tyler smiled at the two mares.
“Aloe? Lotus? You look fabulous as always, ladies…”

“Oh, Mr. Jones… You charmer… We weren’t expecting you until the end of the week! What brings you and your human friends here?”

“Not the usual massage, I can assure you that… My friends here are looking for new jobs and I would like you to show them your spa.”

Sam arched a brow in disbelief.
"A massage with hooves?”

But Tyler nodded with a smirk.
“Trust me; these two got a whole lot better since they grew accustomed to the human muscles. Their hooves take so much tension from an aching back.” Lowering his voice he turned to Flynn and Sam. “Stay away from the spa during heat season… They don’t just massage your back during that time if you get me…”

Flynn nodded in understanding.
“Sure! We’ll keep it in mind!”

Sam, however, shook his head.
“I think you’re exaggerating… But anyway, let’s see what I can do here… A pony body isn’t exactly like a Bantam or a Napier… but I guess with some practice I should get into the thing… I… just need someone to practice with.”

Lyra looked up to Sam and smiled.
“I’ll do it!” Looking at Lotus, the aquamarine unicorn arched a brow. “Will I need to pay you for this?”

Lotus shook her head and looked between Lyra and Sam.
“We’ve heard rumors about these human hands… They would make a fine addition to our spa, Mr. O’Donnell. You can begin to work here…” The earth pony now looked at Lyra. “Since he’s not up to our standards, you would be of great help to demonstrate pony musculature. This always needs a volunteer. You are welcome to aid him in his training.”

“Well then, Mr. O’Donnell… Shall we?”

“Just say Sam…”

Tyler patted Flynn on the shoulder. I’ll have to go now. See you folks later!” With that he left the spa as Lotus watched Sam’s massage closely. “Careful now… I don’t know if you’re familiar with the muscles of a pony mare.”

With an arched brow Sam looked down to Lyra’s back.
“I… I can’t hurt her, can I?”

“Not if you’re careful for now… But there are petite spots! And whatever you do…” As he looked over to Lotus, his hand slid over Lyra’s cutie mark, and the right pressure accidentally caused the unicorn to moan in a high pitch before she covered her mouth with her hoof.

Sam immediately pulled his hand right away and looked at Lyra’s face.
“Shit… Sorry, Lyra!”

Lotus closed her eyes and shook her head.
“…don’t deliver pressure to the cutie mark…”

Lyra’s tensed body slowly calmed down and she looked up to him with her head red as a tomato.
“It’s alright, Sam… You’re learning, right?”

Lotus now approached Sam from the other side of the bench.
“Rule of hoof, Sam: The cutie mark is an erogenous zone on the body of everypony. Be very careful with it. Without care, you might deliver the right pressure to stimulate the customer. We do this service, but only to premium members of the spa, and even then it costs extra! Extra rule on this: This service is not served during heat season!”

Sam nodded, slightly unsure.
“Good… I… I’ll try harder.”

Lyra tapped his arm with her hoof.
“Go on… Because of you I‘m all tensed up…

While he trained with Lotus and Lyra, Flynn turned to Aloe.
“Massages and working in a spa…really isn’t my thing. But I’ll come back once I need a massage. Do you have a flyer or something? So I can see the pricelist of all the services?”

Aloe nodded with a beaming face.
“Certainly!”

* * * * *

As Tyler arrived at the farm half an hour later, he came across Applejack pulling out some empty carts of the barn; upon meeting, he observed her belly was slightly bigger already and he smiled upon this. He also recognized Twilight sitting on the veranda of the farm house with Granny Smith, preparing some lemonade for the harvesters. Approaching the barn, he then helped Applejack first.
"Applejack? Honey, you just rest now while Big Macintosh and I handle the harvest!” Looking over to the farm house he yelled over to Twilight. “Twilight, I might need some charges once or twice! Why don’t you spend some time with AJ? I will come to you two if the charge has worn off.”

While Tyler and Big McIntosh went to work, Applejack sat together with Twilight and Granny Smith.
"Ya got a fine stallion there, mah girls... Ah can't say that often enough."

Applejack blushed a bit.
"Come on, Granny... He just wants me to relax while bein' pregnant with his foal..."

Twilight grinned playfully while arching a brow.
"I could work here as well, but he wanted to do this on his own with Big McIntosh. Reminding you of someone?"

“Oh, alright... He's like me in a way... But only because he wants to protect me from overexertion! He's such a sweetheart..."

Both the young mares now looked all dreamy at Tyler as Granny Smith smiled at them.
"And what about yerself, Twilight? Would ya like to carry his foal as well?"

"FOAL?!?" In an instant Twilight was sitting straight and tight. "I-I-I-I think that would interrupt my studies for too long..."

"Let me tell ya one thing, mah girl...” The old mare now became very serious. “Nothin' is as important as family! And if ya have the chance to carry a foal instead of some dusty old books, then by all means: Do so! Foals teach ya so much more than books ever will! It's more than study, it's an experience! There will be a time when yer old as me... But ya will wish to have some children with him by that time. Someone to pass your knowledge on." With this, the old mare went into the house again.

Applejack nodded.
"Granny's good old sermon of passin' the torch to the next generation... I’ve heard it, Big Mac heard it before me, Apple Bloom will hear it, either from Granny or from me... And lil' Appleseed will hear it... Runs in the family, ya know? And while ya in mah herd, Twilight... Yer not only mah herdmate... Yer family, too!"

Twilight smiled at her herdmate, a lone tear of joy slowly running down her cheek.
"Thanks, AJ..." The unicorn actually never deemed having foals a big issue. Then again, before she turned to Ponyville, she never deemed friendship an issue of importance. And before meeting Tyler, love was out of the question. Lost in her own thought she watched Tyler while he was harvesting several apple trees at once. Would he love to have a foal with me as well? What if I don't appeal to him in my human form? What about my advanced studies?

* * * * *

High up in the clouds, Rainbow Dash yawned after waking up from a nice little nap at noon. After standing up, she spotted Flynn on the ground below her. Rainbow didn’t exactly know what to think of these new humans since Rachel said some nasty things, but Tyler said they were decent people, so she decided that hanging out with them once in a while wouldn’t pose a bigger problem.
After flying down to Flynn, she hovered beside him.
“All alone? Being left out?”

As he heard her, he looked up to her with a slight smile.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash… Nah… Not being left out, looking for a job. Sam already got something at the spa. I, on the other end, don’t see myself as a spa masseur… I want to fly again. But the Betty is ruined … And even if I manage to repair her, I have no fuel to run her and her propeller would be a major life hazard for other pegasi! Still… I’m a pilot! I belong up in the skies! Or at least something in that direction!”

“I hope you don’t mind me for asking… But how do you humans fly anyway? Who is this ‘Betty’ you keep talking about?”

With a grin his eyes became a little dreamy. “The Betty? She was my airplane! Unfortunately she lost her wings when we crashed into the Everfree Forest.”

This caused Rainbow to cock her head in wonder.
“You mean you guys could build a thing that could fly so you can fly in it?”

“Sure… Back on Earth there are pilots who are way better than me. The Top Guns! The best pilots America has at its disposal.”

Rainbow’s attention was now caught in an instant.
“So you humans have your own version of the Wonderbolts?”

“Sort of… Being a jet pilot always was my dream… But I never got good enough… Flying with Mach one in a jet… The sonic boom…”

The cerulean mare now cocked her head.
“Sonic Rainboom?”

“No, I said a Sonic Boom without a ‘rain’ in the word. That’s happening when you breach the sound barrier at Mach One. Mach One is as fast as 340.29 meters per second.

“That fast? That’s even more speed that I need to muster for the Sonic Rainboom!”

Flynn now arched a brow.
“How can you know that so precisely?”

"While training for the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy took my time. She said I flew one kilometer in 3.6 seconds flat!"

Flynn calculated for a moment before he opened his eyes wide.
“That’s about… 278 meters per second!"

“Yup! But I didn’t perform a Sonic Rainboom that day. I was only warming up. It needs more than that.”

Flynn was visibly amazed.
“Warming up? Rainbow, a life form that can do that out of sheer muscle power is freaking awesome! Have you ever thought about being coached?”

“Coached, huh? Well, your timing is a bit off if you think you could become my coach, Flynn… I already sent out an application letter to the Wonderbolts Academy. If they accept me, I will have plenty of coaching.”

With this he kicked some dirt.
“What a bummer!”

Rainbow nudged his arm. “Aw, come on! I think you can do something like that. You said you and Rachel are in the military? Why don’t you work as advisors for Princess Celestia?”

“Yeah… That might be a final straw. The laws of aerodynamics are the same for every universe.” He then looked up to Rainbow. “…right?”

Rainbow first blinked at him, then shrugged.
“How should I know? I’ve never been on your world for that matter. And I’ve got better things to do than to think of formulas of physics… That’s egghead stuff!”

Flynn nodded.
“Yeah… Theory is nothing for us who want to USE something… I’m with you there. But still I think that there should be something I could do for a living. Want to train a bit? I feel like running…”

Rainbow smirked.
“Sure! I’ll never say no to a race!”
With this she landed besides him and galloped on, only to make him run after her. “Hey! Wait!”

Meanwhile Lyra and Sam came back home from the spa after the first training session. Despite the human’s first mistake, the mare felt good and relaxed due to his later massage and smirked as he closed the door behind them.
“Bonnie? Bon Bon!!!” Realizing her friend wasn’t there, she closed her eyes beaming. “She’s not here… Good!” She turned around on the spot and smiled up to Sam. “Sam… Do you want to know why I’m so fascinated by humans?”

“Uh… Sure! Is the story good?” Going to her room with him, she closed the curtains and made sure the door was locked before she turned to Sam.

“It all began with a dream I once had. I saw two creatures playing on a playing ground, laughing and cheering as they went along… In hindsight I think they were two of your human children. I was puzzled first. I’ve never seen such creatures. Walking on two legs, no wings, no horns, no hooves… All they had was their imagination, their will to alter the environment around them. When I woke up again, I immediately wrote down what I saw in my dream, and did scribbles and sketches. But the more I dreamt of them, the more I learned. I learned that humans have hands and toes instead of hooves. That they use their hands to wield the tools they surround themselves in. Everypony kept on saying that humans don’t exist. That I’m crazy to think of such creatures. But if they only appear in my dreams and not while I’m awake… How could I be mad? It’s only the vanity of dreams, right? So I kept going on with my life in a normal manner. But when I dreamed, I saw those humans time and time again. Like I was somehow connected to your world…” She now eyed the door suspiciously. After she was certain no one was in the house, she came closer to Sam. “I want to show you my secret research room. Can I trust you not to show it to anypony?”

Sam thought about it for a couple of seconds before he smiled and nodded.
“I will remain silent.” Lyra now pulled a book out of her book shelf and the shelf moved aside, revealing a stairway down to a cellar. After following her down, he looked around. The walls of the room were plastered with sketches and notes and a chalkboard was filled with several theories.

‘Cloths are essential!’
‘Large gray houses for many families to live in’
‘Miniature humans are living in wooden terrariums?’

Sam whistled and looked at Lyra.
“All of this… comes from your dreams? I think your dreams must be something quite amazing for you then. All of this now makes perfect sense…”

As he studied the sketches, Lyra approached him.
“Sam? I don’t want to be rude with this, but… May I draw you?”

He turned his head to her.
“Draw me?”

“Sure! You are, and please don’t be offended by this…, I think you make a fine specimen of mankind.” She now raised a hoof to her mouth. “I’m not being rude with this request, am I?”

Thinking for a minute, he shook his head with a smile and waved her worries away.
“I take it you want detailed sketches from the head, the upper torso and the limbs?”
She nodded ferociously at him, beaming. “Yes! That would be wonderful!” With a brief nod, he then sat down and went into pose so she could draw. With a short giggle, she fetched pen and paper with and began to do this.

Hours passed like this before they took a break for some coffee and some waffles. When Lyra came out of the bathroom, she noticed Sam was working on the table.
“Uh… Sam? What are you doing?”

While concentrated on his work he didn’t ignore her. He gave her a short gaze before he looked at the object in his hands again.
“I’m trying to find out what’s wrong with my PSP… It’s broken and I want to know what it is… Not that I have a Sony assembly here, but if it’s completely broken, I might use the parts for something different.”

Lyra inspected the PSP thoroughly.
“This is a machine? But there are no gears, no moving parts!"

“No, there aren’t! It’s an electronic gaming device.”

The anthropologist looked up to him, puzzled.
“A game? But what games could you play with such a simple black object?”

“Why, video games!” Sam replied.

Arching a brow, the unicorn looked at him.
“Um… Don’t mind me asking, but… What’s a video game? Or a video for that matter?”

“Uh… Oh yeah, you ponies don’t have that kind of technology… Um… How do I explain this? This device runs with batteries who… to explain it simply, make this thing get to work like fuel to a locomotive.

“I see… Batteries!” She noted this down very specific and when he held up the battery, she nodded.

“So this little thing has coal in it?”

“Coal? No, no… I only said the thing to give you the idea of the mechanism. The battery itself is charged with electricity.”

“Oh, you charge the battery with lightning!”

“Uh… sort of… we make our own electric energy with power plants. Every household has a connection to these power plants and we use it to shed electric lights…” He then noticed her giggling. “Lyra? What’s so funny?”

“We ponies already know about electricity, although it’s not common! There are several laboratories in Canterlot and in the basement of Ponyville library that use electric energy converted from magic. But frankly, I deem light spells far more appealing… Some pony scientists think it might be of great help in major cities such as Manehattan or Las Pegasus.”

Crossing his arms, he leaned back in his chair.
“And you let me look like a fool while I’m explaining this like you don’t have the slightest idea? Thanks…”

“Aw, don’t be mad, Sam! OK, you charge the battery with power, what then?” As they conversed along, time flew by and Sam told Lyra about some technological marvels of the human world and she spoke of equestrian equivalents. The anthropologist nodded ferociously once in a while and took several notes. Humans were so exciting!

In the evening Rachel sat down in the library and Twilight inspected her cutie marks under a magnifying glass.
“That’s a cutie mark alright… And you say you probably got it when you were blasted in the CCF when Queen Shiria shot magic at you?”

Rachel nodded.
“That’s right… My magazine was empty at that time. When I tried to shoot her, it only made ‘Click’. That’s when that weird green magic came out of my Beretta.”

Twilight hummed a bit in thought.
“Alright… I’ll charge you with a little bit levitation. Then you will levitate this book up.” The librarian then began charging Rachel with some levitation magic, before she stepped back. "Well… This should do it! Now levitate the book. Raise your hand, point it to it and ‘will’ it up.”

Rachel held her hand up at the book, concentrated her thoughts, but the magic didn’t leave her body.
“Nothing happens… Am I doing it wrong?”

Tyler eyed the situation and nodded.
“Hmmm… Your Beretta is without ammunition now, right? Try to ‘shoot’ the book!”

Rachel gave him an annoyed look.
“That’s stupid! How’s that going to help?” She aimed her Beretta at the book and pulled the trigger. A violet bolt of magic shot against the book and smashed it away, before it hovered in midair for several seconds and fell down. Rachel blinked at the book. “Did I do that?”

Tyler’s brow twitched a bit.
“Just what I thought… You need an amplifier to get your magic out.”

Twilight looked up.
“An amplifier?”

“An amplifier or something to channel the magic energy. She needs a medium to make the magic work. I think she’s a magic combatant now. See the book? She has no control over the levitated object. Instead she shoots magic projectiles out of a weapon. Hmmm… Twilight, could you summon a shotgun without ammunition?”

The unicorn narrowed her eyes.
“No, I can’t. And even if I could, I wouldn’t create tools of violence in my library.”

Tyler nodded.
“Oh well, we might organize it the next days or so…”

Twilight rolled her eyes, annoyed.
“Why even bother?”

Rachel now patted the unicorn’s shoulder.
“I guess he wants to see if magic fired from a shotgun is spread out like shotgun pellets. If that’s the case a complete arsenal of weapons might be of help and the ammo is stored within my body. Interesting idea, Jones… Seems to me you’re making yourself useful at last!”

Tyler only shook his head with a grin.
“Yeah… I hate you, too!”

Before Twilight could say something, Rachel stood up and looked at her.
“Twilight? Thanks for helping me. Maybe you can advise me when I choose my spells for daily life.”

Sharing a friendly smile with Rachel, the librarian nodded.
“Sure thing. But if it comes to combat spells, you better speak with the royal guard.” Soon after that, Rachel said her goodbyes to both of them and went home to the others.

* * * * *

One week had passed and the harvest was already over. Tyler and Big McIntosh stood in front of the barn and gazed upon the many apples they had harvested. “That sure is a shitload of apples…”
A brief nod and “Eeeyup!” later both chuckled a bit and left the barn. After checking on Applejack, Tyler stayed half an hour in the farm house and returned to Ponyville again.

Meanwhile, the library was visited by Bon Bon, who sat down with Twilight for a cup of tea.
“Twilight… I’ve come here today because I worry about Lyra…”

Twilight looked up from her tea.
“What is it, Bonnie? Is something wrong with her?”

“No, I mean Yes! I mean… I don’t know for certain! She goes into her room with Sam sometimes and although I don’t eavesdrop on them, there is no sound whatsoever from her room. When I try to enter her room, it’s locked but despite all knocking she doesn’t open the door for an hour! Twilight… You have experience with humans… You have a herd with Tyler. Are these humans violent in a manner?"

Twilight’s eyes widened.
“Violent? No! No… Tyler never was violent to me or Applejack…”

With a sigh of relief the earth pony continued.
“There’s more… The way… The way Lyra looks at Sam these days…”

The unicorn’s brows arched and she cocked her head.
“What about it?”

Bon Bon now rested the cup in her hooves back on the table.
“She… I think she’s developing feelings for him.”

With a smile the librarian looked at her guest.
“And… that’s a good thing, right?”

First the crème-coated mare hesitated, the uncertainty was written all over her face. But then it bubbled out of her.
“I don’t know…, Twilight, these humans now have a female… What if he’s… not interested into Lyra?”

Twilight now levitated her cup down to the table and gave it a stern look.
“I see what you worry about…”

The earth pony now leaned forward.
“I remember when Lyra was in phases of deep depression, Twilight. That was before you moved to Ponyville. When everypony called her mad for believing in humans... I accepted it and a week later she moved in. She was an outsider, but she made good music. She was a great addition to my shop and her music soothed the customers to stay a little longer and buying some more. It was a good deal for both of us. Ever since Tyler came to Equestria she became so lively again, feeling confirmed and justified in her belief. I don’t want my best friend to fall into such a deep pit again. I don't know how she will react if her heart breaks..."

Their conversation was interrupted when a male voice spoke up.
"I see... You fear Sam could reject her and she might do something stupid with her broken heart..." A hand now rested on Bon Bon's right shoulder. With a gasp she looked up and saw Tyler standing next to her, smiling down with a friendly nod. "Lyra is lucky to have a friend as good as you, Bonnie..." He then sat down besides Twilight and got himself a cup of tea. "So, Twilight... What are we going to do about these two lovebirds?"

Twilight tipped her chin.
"This would be a job for Cadance... To give both of them a nudge into the right direction..."

Tyler, however, took a sip of his tea and shook his head. "No magic, Twilight... Love can't be switched on like the light. I may be a guy, but I know that much. It isn’t THAT easy!"

Arching a brow, the librarian then looked at him.
“Then what do you suggest, big guy?”

Taking a note and a quill, Tyler began to write, all the while Twilight and Bon Bon watched him.
“I think I need several things... I just need the help of a few ponies to pull this off... I'll need Fluttershy to communicate with the woodland critters a bit... Then I'll need Luna for the canto... And of course our two lovebirds need to be at the lake…”

“The lake? What are you planning? A boat trip in the middle of the lake?”

“Something I saw in a movie…”

As they looked into his notes, both mares looked at each other with anticipating smiles.
“Twilight! That’s a lovely idea!”

* * * * *

On the same day during the evening the girls stood with Tyler on the edge of the lake and kept sure to remain out of sight. Twilight nodded at Tyler.
“They’re out on the lake, Tyler. Bon Bon made sure that both of them are in the mood of doing something together.”

It wasn’t until long that Fluttershy arrived.
“Goodness! I came here as fast as I could! You made it sound like this is of grave importance. What can I do for you?”

Tyler nodded at her with a warm smile.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Fluttershy.” He then knelt down to the timid Pegasus. “Fluttershy? Would you kindly…”

He began to whisper into the yellow mare’s ear and she began to smile.
“Aw, Tyler… That’s sooo sweet! OK, you just wait here…” After a short instruction to the little critters, she gave Tyler a sign that everything was OK.

Twilight looked at the boat with a pair of binoculars.
“And I tell you, Tyler… Cadance would be of far better help with this!”

She suddenly yelped as Tyler pinched her flank.
“Cadance wasn’t around when you and I fell in love with each other, was she?” She first frowned at him for pinching her, but then smiled. He had a point there. Their love developed as well and she was happy with the result.

The sound of landing hooves took her attention away, and she looked behind her. Luna had landed behind them and blinked a bit, still a little bit sleepy.
“Tyler? I must insist to ask thee why thou demand my presence here to a time when I’m normally in good and deep slumber…”

With a smile he greeted her and gave her a short hug.
“Luna, we are here on the field of battle! The battle for love! And your Royal Canterlot Canto is needed in this battle!”

Luna’s expression went from surprise to amazement, and finally to joy as she beamed at him.
“Tyler! Thou think I could help somepony to find another one to hold dear and special?”

He came close to her and tickled her chin while looking into her eyes.
“I know you would be thrilled, my love. Can I count on you lending me this power for this very evening?”

Standing tall, the alicorn princess held her chin high and proud.
“This thou can, my Dark Companion.”

The preparations were now complete, and Tyler looked at each mare. “Music…?” With a smirk Twilight nodded and levitated the music crystals before her. He then looked over to Fluttershy who looked up from her many friends. “Critters…?” With a kind nod and a slight wingboner, the timid little Pegasus gave her friends the order to start. Finally, Tyler turned to Luna and again tickled her chin a bit. “Canto…?” With a sly grin, the alicorn’s horn began to glow and his throat felt a little odd. Thus he took a deep breath before he started his very own canto this evening.

“There you see her
Sitting there across the way
She may not be like you
But there’s something about her
And you don’t know why,
But you’re dying to try.
You wanna kiss the mare.”

Sam now turned around in the boat, looking for the source of the music, but from their point of view, no one could be identified as the source. They were perfectly alone.
“What the…? Do you hear that music too?”

As he turned to Lyra again, he saw that she was looking at him with dreamy eyes.
“Quite romantic, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you want her
Look at her, you know you do
It’s possible she wants you, too
There is one way to ask her
It doesn’t take a word
Not a single word
Go on, and kiss the mare.”

As the music continued and the critters began to move the boat a bit, another pair of binoculars was lowered from between some bushes at the water’s edge and Rachel wrinkled her nose.
“I tell you, Flynn… This sucks…”

Flynn however leaned at the tree they were sitting at.
“What? What did I do?”

“Not you, moron! THEM!!! Him… her… alone…”

The young man looked over to the boat and frowned at Rachel’s comment.
“Sam’s a grown man, Rachel. It’s his decision!”

“To be with a pony?”

“Yeah… He could as well be with a Rock for all I care. It’s his business alone. When it comes to relationships, as soon we crash-landed here, I stopped giving a shit about right and wrong. If it means so much to you that he sticks with a human woman, go ahead! You’re the only woman around.”

Rachel now stared at him before showing him the finger.
“Fuck you, Flynn! I hate it when you’re right!” This prompted him to chuckle and he took care that they went off silently.

Meanwhile Lyra rubbed her hooves and looked shyly at Sam as the hummingbirds hovered around them.
“I must say, our friends sure like to sweeten the evening for us. “

“Yeah… but I would prefer it when they either choose to join us or leave us alone!”

Lyra nodded calmly.
“That may be true as well… Some moments are best if experienced… in private.” With this she leaned against him, prompting him to look at her. A slight smile formed on his face. That smile however vanished as she looked up to him and made place for a surprised face as he noticed the blush on her cheeks. Slowly but surely, she got herself up and held his face with her hooves as her eyes looked deep into his. “Sam? Do you believe in interspecies romance? That two beings from different worlds… can love each other?”

He gulped as he looked into her eyes. There was a strange intelligence in them. This mare wasn’t like the ponies from earth. She’s not an animal, you idiot… Come on! Say something, brother!
“I… I think that’s possible, yes… I mean we humans have literature where humans have something with elves and aliens…” As her lips came closer to his, he frowned and raised a finger to them. “Listen, Lyra… I don’t know about you ponies, but my Dad once told me: ‘Son! Treat a girl right! No kiss on the first date!’ And frankly, you’re going too fast for my taste. Let’s not rush things, OK?”

Lyra now halted and blushed deeply. Her own excitement made her push so far. She felt so silly right now. Like a filly on her first time in love. Sam noticed this and harrumphed briefly.
“I take it ponies go a little further on the first date?”

She nodded and watched the sunset.
“Usually after a nice first date, she asks if he wants to… you know… wants to inspect his mare…”

Sam wrinkled his nose.
“Sounds like a meat inspection to me. So he looks if she’s appealing to his taste?”

A brief nod later Lyra replied,
“He also looks if her teats are well developed enough to feed foals.”

“And you let them do this? Has it ever occurred to you that this is wrong?”

The unicorn now looked at Sam with a puzzled expression.
“Well, I for one don’t want to give birth to a foal I can’t feed properly…”

“Lyra… That’s…” Both now looked at each other and chuckled embarrassed. “Look at us, we’re having an argument, that’s not the way this should go. What I mean is: In that case I wouldn’t inspect you, because I assume you would love your children enough to find a way to care for them.”

For the rest of the evening, they sat together in the boat and watched the sunset. There were no words, just sitting together was enough. By now the others left the lake and Luna returned to her carriage after saying goodbye to her herd mates. Lyra however began to doze off; she leaned against Sam and her eyelids became heavy as she noticed his hand slowly rubbing her tummy. As she looked up to him, he looked at the last rays of the sun before the giant ball of fire vanished behind the mountains of Equestria. After this he looked down to her.
“You like that?” She nodded with a smile and he playfully tickled her a bit, prompting her to laugh. “Alright… It’s time to head home.” With this he rowed the boat back to land and on the way home they came across the library.

Leaning against the giant tree, Tyler stood there and greeted them both with a friendly smile. Sam however shook his head.
“I don’t know how you pulled that off without speakers or without animal control, but that was some fancy show…”

Tyler playfully rolled his eyes.
“What did I do? I wasn’t in that boat, you know… Whatever happened in there is only a matter between you two…” With that he entered the library. “Come on! Flynn and Rachel are already in. I’d like to discuss some things with you three.”

Lyra looked up to Sam with a smile.
“It was a lovely evening, Sam. I enjoyed it very much.”

He knelt down to her and caressed her cheek.
“My pleasure… Maybe we’ll do that again someday… without the others… “ With a smirk, she gave him a short peck on the lips before she trotted home. Sam touched his lips and watched after her, before he went inside.

While Rachel and Flynn were sitting on chairs around a table, Tyler leaned against the wall.
“Everyone here now? Good… Folks… I’d like to talk with you about the role we humans play in this world.”

Rachel arched a brow.
“What’s there to discuss about? We want to get home, right?”

Tyler now approached them and leaned over the table.
“You can, of course, remain home once we find a way back to Earth. I won’t urge you to remain here against your will… But you all saw firsthand what this world has to offer. Allies as well as enemies... What I’m concerned about is this: If we can find a way back home to Earth, so can other beings. Maybe whoever finds it as well means harm to Earth. And I don’t know about you… But a fire breathing dragon in lower Manhattan is not what we want, do we?”

Rachel thought about her dream and knew Tyler had a valid point there. This made her nod.
“I’m with you on this one, Jones… What do you have in mind?”

Tyler stood up and looked out of the window.
“I thought I could be a guardian of these peaceful lands all by myself with the help of these ponies… But the latest incident with the CCF showed me that, I alone cannot always deliver the wished result. Thus, I think we humans should stick together here and make certain no one harms this world. That’s because this world is everything that stands between the evildoers and Earth.”

Rachel nodded with a warm smile.
“Sounds like a good idea to me…

Sam now raised an arm.
“So you want us to become some sort of Justice League?”
Tyler chuckled and shook his head. “No, not something like that… We’re not fighting crime. More like overseers of the two worlds we know. To watch out and make sure no one crosses to harm the other world. Harmony Rangers, if you will…”

Flynn snickered.
“Do you even know how corny this sounds? But hey… If it serves its purpose? Sure, why not?” He then held his fist into the air between them. “Rangers!”

Sam nodded and put his hand on Flynn’s fist.
“Rangers!”

Tyler smirked and also put his hand in.
“Rangers!”

All eyes went to Rachel who shook her head with a smile.
“You guys are crazy, you know that? Fuck yeah! Rangers!”

Twilight, who overheard this from upstairs, smirked while looking over her shoulder. Levitating a note and quill to herself she began to write.

Dear Princes Celestia,

Today I learned another lesson about human friendship. Although humans might differ and argue over many things and topics, it’s the things that they all need; a common cause or enemy that reunites them. Just as we ponies group together to fight off harms from the ones we love, humans seem to do the very same thing. And I’m happy to report that Tyler and the others are creating a human protection group, just like the Elements of Harmony, to keep our world safe in order to protect theirs as well. He seems very confident in this project, and personally, I feel very happy for him having other humans around he can work with.

Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle

* * * * *

On the next evening, in Bon Bon’s house, the humans sat together with the Mane Six, Lyra, and Bon Bon. Flynn summed up the tale of Tyler’s first battle in Equestria.
“So you ripped through a swarm of void bats and defeated a void dragon of ten to twenty meters… Weren’t you scared while all of that shit happened?"

Tyler looked around and at the girls.
“I was afraid something could happen to the girls, but… Worried for myself? No! During the whole fight I knew I was going to survive!”

Rachel shook her head.
“Yeah… Mr. Immortal here thinks he can’t die!”

“I didn’t mean it like that…” Tyler now looked down into his glass and became thoughtful. “I… always knew my end would come when I’m by myself. I would face death alone or not face him at all.”

The room now became very quiet. After a while Flynn clapped his hands to get everyone into other thoughts.
“Change of topic! What are the normal holidays in Equestria?”

With a grin Tyler raised a finger.
“Oh, there’s nightmare night in autumn, and Hearth’s warming eve in winter. That’s like Halloween and Christmas in our world.”

Twilight now arched a brow.
“Christmas? What’s that?”

“Due to human faith…” Sam started, “Christmas is the day Jesus Christ was born. The son of God who came to earth to save us and take our sins. There are many things and customs during Christmas. One is to give presents to one another.”

Rachel nodded.
“It is the time when even people in warzones stop fighting. There are rumors that during Christmas soldiers from enemy nations sang together between the trenches, although they were enemies in the war.”

Fluttershy smiled widely hearing this.
“Goodness! If it helps with bringing together enemies, then it must be such an important thing!”

Sam then stood up and nodded.
“It certainly is! There’s one human custom that’s very popular to Christmas among couples: Kissing under the mistletoe. The custom dictates that every boy and every girl standing under the mistletoe, have to kiss each other.” Once he had said that, Sam’s necktie was pulled towards Lyra with her magic. She was levitating a mistletoe over her head as well and gave him a sly grin.

“Uh… See? Lyra already understood that I am completely helpless if she is pulling me under the mistletoe…” As the unicorn giggled playfully, he leaned down to her. “And by the custom I’m compelled to give her a nice warm smooch.” He intended to give her a short peck on the cheek, but she corrected the angle of his face and gave him a long passionate kiss, prompting his eyes to open wide. While the girls giggled, the other two men gave him sly grins. He, however, harrumphed and sat near the piano Bon Bon had in her living room. It was almost never played, mostly since she and Lyra never had many guests on a regular basis. But today was a special occasion.

Seeing Sam at the piano, Rachel grinned and jumped up.
“Great! You always were good at this…” She then leaned against the piano. “Play it, Sam…”

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head.
“Oh alright… But only once!” As he began to play the piano, The humans immediately recognized the song and Tyler began to laugh. With a smile, Sam began to sing.

“You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.
And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you."
On that you can rely,
No matter what the future brings,
As time goes by.”

As he continued playing, Lyra’s eyes became all dreamy while watching him playing and singing for her and the others. But the others were far away as she only saw him right now. With her eyes fixed on Sam, she slightly turned her head to Bon Bon.
“Bon Bon?”

The Earth pony looked over to her friend with a smile.
“What is it, Lyra?”

“I… I’ve never felt this way for anypony… “

Bon Bon blinked twice and looked at Sam before looking at her friend again.
“Oh, Lyra… What if he wants to stick with his species than to stick with one of us?”

“You keep telling me the same old phrases, Bon Bon! But how am I to find out what he thinks if I don’t confront him?”

With this her friend nodded and smiled. “True… I just don’t want you to feel bad, I guess… Promise me you won’t let this take you down if it doesn’t go alright?”

Lyra now turned to Bon Bon and gave her a kind smile before she nodded.
“Thank you for caring for me so much, Bonnie! You’re such a good friend!”

With this she slowly approached Sam and watched him playing the keys on the piano. His fingers were so agile and dexterous. How caring and gentle he could do things with them. It was wonderful in her eyes. As she searched her own feelings, there was no doubt that she wanted to be with him. But she had to know if he would feel the same way, or if there was even the slightest chance of winning his heart.

Lyra then dropped the bomb.
“Would you be my special somepony?” The room was quiet in an instant as the eyes of the others were locked on them both.

Sam first looked at Lyra, then at the others.
“Excuse us for a minute, OK?” With this he went into another room with her. Bon Bon eyed them both with a concerned look.

Closing the door behind him, Sam sighed.
“Lyra… This thing about being a special somepony… It’s about relationship, right?”

She nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground.
“Yes… A deep one.”

“I see… A deep relationship. I’m not sure… I mean, have you thought this over? We are, after all… of different species…”

“Does this matter so much to you, Sam?”

“Uh…” He was stumped for a moment; he never really spent a thought about this. After all, it was only her curiosity and her desire to draw him.

“Sam… Look into my eyes and tell this mare that you didn’t enjoy our work together! The time we’ve spent together… The evening out on the lake in the rowboat… Tell me…”

He now knelt down to her.
“Listen, girl…I see the grave importance this has for you… I see how much I mean to you… You’re a great mare… But I won’t have a relationship with you out of pity… Those feelings have to come from themselves. I can’t just switch them on for your sake…”

It was in this moment that the unicorn could hear her heart breaking into pieces like a broken window. He was going to reject her, wasn’t he? After all, the chance was high enough for him being interested in humans alone. Tears began to dwell in her eyes.
“I… I see…”

Sam then rubbed his neck while he looked at the ground.
“So… can you wait a little for me to catch up?”

This prompted her to gasp deeply and her teary eyes went wide, looking at him. The fire in her heart that was almost gone and shattered, rekindled a bit. He didn’t seem to fool around with her.
“You… You mean…?”

“Um… Frankly, I liked the work with you and there was something… And while I doubt that Rachel wants to have something with me…”

Her mind began racing. Everything in her was anticipating his final answer. Her muscles shivered ever so slightly in excitement.
Sam then continued.
“…So… I think I’ll see what a relationship with you can bring forth. If you don’t mind a human like me around that is.”

Lyra could feel the drums in her chest as her heart raced excitedly as the rekindled flame turned out into a blazing hot fire of passion.
“Oh hush, you meanie… You scared me for a bit…” She then jumped up onto her hind legs and approached him with careful and wobbly steps. Standing before him, she rested her front hooves at his chest and shoulder. “I’ll do my best to be the best and most special mare you could wish for…”

Sam replied to this with a grin.
“A mare walking on two legs…? Definitely special in my eyes already.”

Caressing her cheek, he leaned in and both shared a gentle kiss together. All of Equestria vanished around the unicorn. As they both kissed each other, Lyra giggled a bit while thinking of how to introduce herself in the future.

My name is Lyra Heartstrings. I’m a unicorn and anthropologist. My special somepony is a special “somebody” called Sam O’Donnell. How goes my work on my Anthropology regarding humans you ask? It just started to get into detail…

Proofread by Rythmns