The sounds of breakfast being enjoyed was music to my ears. It was a welcome relief to the past few hours for me, and judging by Etherea's silence, it was probably also so for her. She certainly seemed calmer now that my brilliantly-executed plan to inject something normal in to the morning had worked.

Or maybe she just couldn't think of anything worth saying. I certainly couldn't, and long ago I had learned to live by the motto 'It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.' I'll admit that some really stupid things had come out of my mouth when it had gotten away from me. I'm not talking about 'Haha! I can't believe you just said that!' funny either. I'm talking about 'Oh dear God, why would you say that?!'

While I wanted to say something, I wasn't keen on returning to the fear or anger from earlier; this aura of slight unease was definitely preferable. Since my mind continued to meander disjointedly about, I decided that it was definitely wiser to hold my peace. Better that I didn't prove myself an idiot.

Etherea held her peace as well. I couldn't tell if it was because she was having similar difficulty at restarting our conversation or if she was enjoying her pancakes that much. Mine were a bit crispy, but they still held a fluffy center that was delicious. Hers should be much better.

While unwilling to converse, I was not above intently watching her at the top of my vision while feigning interest in what I was eating. Despite the fork haphazardly strapped to her hoof she managed to eat daintily. Each bite was carefully speared through its center so that it would not fall off or apart. As the intended morsel rose gracefully in to the air, she would arch her neck slightly to the side while tilting her head to approach from an angle. She ended by stretching her muzzle forward and carefully placing her mouth around the syrupy confection.

As exacting as each step was, it was clear from her fluid motion that she had quite a bit of practice. She got not a hint of crumb or syrup on hoof, lip, or nose. Even more impressive was that her voluminous mane never came close to having any part of her breakfast touch it. She was a picture of grace that belonged at a royal dinner table; not at an end table that had been hastily pulled from a nearby couch.

Myself? I just put each piece in my mouth as soon as it was empty of the previous. She seemed to pay me no mind, though one ear remained pointed roughly in my direction. Despite what I'm sure was a socially inept eating method, I finished barely faster than she did. With round one down I collected her plate and began cooking the second.

Her soft, tentative voice broke through the quiet with a question. "With no Harmony... how does your Sun... work?" I glanced over my shoulder to again find Etherea warily eyeing the bands of light on the living area floor.

I'm no astrophysicist, but having watched more than my fair share of Nova, Discovery, and a variety of other informative channels, I knew my way around the basics. Where the hell do I start?

"Um... In a nutshell; gravity."

"The... Earth Harmony constant?" She looked back to me with a cocked head and deeply furrowed brow. "But... your world does not have Harmony."

"Okay, you're going to need to explain Harmony and magic for me." She opened her mouth, but I held up my hand to forestall her. "It'll take a little, but I'll tell you how my world works if you tell me how yours does."

"Okay..." She nodded, then seemed to consider the word in her head. Didn't it translate well in to Equestrian? Now I wanted to ask her about the spell she had cast! There was just so much to cover. I was beginning to think I knew how Twilight felt about something new and unusual.

"Well, in the beginning there was a giant cloud of dust. Dust is matter. It has size, shape, mass, density, and so on. Objects with mass pull on other objects with mass and try to draw them in. That pull is gravity. The more matter there is, the stronger the pull. The dust pulled on itself and eventually a ball of it formed in the middle. When the ball became big enough, and the gravity strong enough, it collapsed in on itself and the pressures caused it to ignite. More or less." Should I begin the process of explaining nuclear fusion, or not?

"So... your Sun is little more than a ball of... burning Earth?" Her tone and stare were incredulous.

"Ehhhhh..." Sort of? "It's more complicated than that."

"How complicated?"

Right. Basic descriptions were going to be tough to pull on someone... -pony... who was educated, but knew little about the topic. And 'It's magic!' would not work on her for obvious reasons. I used flipping the next set of pancakes as a good excuse to collect my thoughts.

"It's mostly made of Hydrogen gas. The pressure of gravity is so great that the Hydrogen is being squeezed in to Helium. That process releases huge amounts of heat and light." There we are. Nuclear fusion in less than a hundred words.

"So it is not actually... burning, but... the effects are similar. Why does that work?"

Goddamnit! Why? I hated that question because of the abuse it heaps on people who are only trying to be informative. Largely at the hands of toddlers.

Though hers was a pretty good use of it. Why should matter form completely different types of matter when smooshed together at a fundamental level? I doubted that she knew the exact nature of her question.

"Um... You would need to ask an expert." Telling her that I had no idea what the answer was made me feel like an idiot. At least the pancakes were ready.

She was giving me an odd look as I turned around. Like she was not sure she believed my answer, but she did not feel comfortable calling me on it. After a moment of indecisively working her jaw, she finally got up the nerve to ask the question that had been bothering her.

"You are not an expert on the... processes of your... world? I do not mean to be... rude, but you seem to know... a lot despite that."

"Thanks. But I just work in a paint store." She gave a tiny jerk and blinked. "I'm just interested in how things work." She seemed to accept that. Or at least file it away in favor of more pressing questions.

Looking at the two plates of pancakes before me, I decided that cutting hers up before handing it over was probably more considerate. She hadn't liked me doing so right in front of her, and I suspected that the proximity made it seem like she was helpless. Lacking magic, that was true in a sense. But that knowledge wouldn't make it any easier to bear. If I cut her food on the counter beforehand, then it could be seen as part of my presentation. She certainly looked less upset when pre-cut pancakes were set before her.

She still insisted on awkwardly handling her own applications of butter and syrup though.

"If..." she paused to briefly wrangle the syrup bottle with her hooves, "If your Sun is using... matter from its creation... to make different matter. Won't it eventually run out?"

Two things about that one response. I couldn't help but take note of her very first contraction. It was like a baby's first word, only ponified. Which only made it more awesome. She didn't seem to notice this though. The other was that she had figured out that the Sun had a limited lifespan from the basics I had given her. Quite the feat. Or a lucky guess. Either way I was doubly impressed.

"Yeah. But that's been calculated at something like five billion years from now." My response was casual, but hers was anything but.

"Five billion years?" she said with a flat tone. "Billion..." With one brow arched high on her forehead it was clear she didn't believe me.

"Uh huh. So, no worries about it breaking any time soon." I tried to keep my words nonchalant. The hope was that if I was calm, she would...

"Suppose... I believe that. You can't use magic. How could... you even measure it?" Her skepticism remained strong.

Nuclear fusion? No problem. Long term observational analysis? That was a tough pill to take?

"I'll be honest. I don't really know. But the evidence from its size and rate of 'burning,'" her lips parted a hair as she intently followed my fingers doing air quotes, "leads our scientists to believe that we will never have to worry for our Sun. They must have used some fancy telescopes and high-end math to come up with that. Things I don't have access to. Why? How long do you think yours will last?"

And I then got to see how ponies blanche. We're not talking a faint paling and a look of unease either. The blood drained completely from her and I swear her fur instantly shifted several shades paler. Her violet eyes shot wide as her entire body clenched up, stiff as a board. I doubted she was even breathing for a moment there. Just as I was beginning to worry over apparently having broken her, she mouthed something to herself before forcing herself to take a deep, but strained, breath.

"I am NOT going to ask Celestia THAT!"

Fuck! Ow... Her high-pitched shout hurt. And my earlier assessment about the potential strength of her voice had not been off. The happy knowledge that Princess Celestia existed, and therefore Princess Luna did as well by association, was completely overridden by the fact that I had apparently said something epically stupid. So somehow I had done it again. I could probably just stop talking and my life would become a lot less awkward.

"I'm... sorry?" I tentatively ventured. She snorted angrily while holding me in a steady glare. "What? I don't understand! What's wrong with wanting to learn these..."

"Celestia IS the Sun!" she hissed through bared teeth, cutting me off as she rose to her hooves.

Oh? Oh! Oh... I gulped, horrified at what I had stumbled in to, and unable to look away from the pony before me. I had just...

"Asking her... her... when s-she... she..." Etherea was shaking noticeably, her wings half flared and the fur of her back standing on end. I leaned back and put my hands out in front of me to ward off her attack. I knew there was little I could do if she was angry enough to use magic, but my reaction was involuntary. If I were to rate her anger on a scale of 'none' to 'blind, murderous rage,' we were very near the latter end judging by her stance.

"L-look, E-Etherea... I didn't m-mean it l-like that-t! I didn't know...!" My hasty words were embarrassingly close to begging.

She growled, low in her throat, and raised a hoof. My eyes were beginning to hurt from staring uninterrupted for so long, but I didn't dare blink. If I blinked she would strike. That's how these things worked, right?

With some visible effort she put her hoof back down. "R-right. Right... You are in the dark as much as I am." Some part of my mind noted what she had said and gleefully called out how (somewhat) wrong she was. However, most of my attention was on her slowly relaxing stance. It allowed my mind to do the same for me, but I still kept a wary eye out as I put my hands back on the counter. Her eyes remained narrowed at me.

"You are just... ignorant. You meant nothing by that?" It was partially a statement, probably for her own benefit, but it ended like a question. I nodded with all the honesty I could muster. "Then... I am sorry. But please... asking that... I can't imagine..." She shuddered before plopping her rump back on the carpet, her head dropping to face her plate. Or the floor. She didn't seem to actually be looking at anything.

"I'm sorry as well Etherea." I said softly, "I'll keep saying it as often as I have to. Contrary to yesterday, I'm not actually out to upset you. If I do or say anything really upsetting, just tell me to shut up, or that I'm an idiot. Just... don't hurt me..." I trailed off. It was pathetic, sure, but at the same time I suspected that if she knew I was scared of her, she would be less likely to continue stoking her anger. I felt a twinge of disdain at myself for playing on the fact that she seemed to have a wholesome personality like those shown on My Little Pony, but I had nothing else to go on.

"Shut up. You're an idiot." The snide comment directed down at her hooves had just enough levity behind it to let me know that the situation was passing.

She couldn't see it at the moment, but I nodded. I again set upon my pancakes, though with less gusto than the first set. She stayed still for a bit, her ears working back and forth a little as she thought, before going back to her own breakfast. To her frustration she had to adjust her fork back in to position, which took a moment of fighting it with her mouth. I spared her further embarrassment by pointedly paying no attention. Still, when she began eating again, she was spearing her pieces and chomping on them instead eating carefully as she had before.

Round two was finished in the same relative silence.

While I was preparing round three, almost like clockwork, she ventured another question. "So your Sun... is a giant ball of burning... gas? That still does not explain... your day and night cycle. If anything... your Sun would sear the land."

Right. We weren't done yet. I prayed silently to every deity I could think of - except Celestia and Luna - that the rest of the explanation would go smoothly. Simply naming them seemed highly unlikely to attract their direct attention, but after asking when the Princesses were going to kick the bucket... I wasn't going to take my chances.

"Well, it comes back to more gravity. Earth and the moon were formed the same way as the Sun - matter being pulled in to a giant ball. With the lightweight stuff going mostly to the Sun, that left mostly the heavier things, like rocks, to form the world." I leaned against the counter beside the stove while waiting on the new set of pancakes to cook. "Everything was in motion, and the gravity caused it to swirl about like water going down a drain. The Sun formed from the main swirling motion, but each planet formed from its own smaller eddy. So the Earth formed while spinning, and it continues to do so. From our perspective on its surface it looks like the Sun moves across the sky."

She pondered this for a long minute. Disbelief and confusion were fighting for dominance, but she couldn't exactly call me a liar. Well, she could, but I knew she couldn't come up with a better explanation for how a system without Harmony and magic, however those two worked, could function. At least not on the spot.

"I... guess that could work." She said hesitantly. "If the entire system... was 'swirling' in the beginning, then does that... mean your world also moves around your Sun?" She really was a smart cookie!

"Mmhmm." I nodded. "That's where the seasons come from. The world sits at an angle, so as it orbits the Sun, parts of it move in and out of the direct path of its energy. When pointed away we get winter, when pointed toward we get summer."

She cocked her head and her jaw dropped. Any anger from earlier was clearly forgotten as she tried desperately to understand.

"Seasons too...? But the moon...? Weather..." she trailed off.

"The moon orbits the Earth just like the Earth does the Sun. And yes, the weather changes based on forces beyond our control."

"So..." Here it was. The epiphany where she realized that the world was one big Everfree Forest. I cringed inside as I prepared for another break down. "Everything that is... happened by chance? Like your world won the lottery?!"

Okay... Not quite what I was expecting. She was focused a bit differently than I thought she would be, but she looked more confused and awed than distraught.

"Er... Yes?" I tried to switch my train of thought from damage control to simply remaining in the conversation. "We got lucky with what we have. So much so that some people think there's someone watching out for us."

"But if everything is an accident, then... how did you make...?"

"God, you two are loud." Both of our heads whipped toward the hallway. Since I had already been facing that direction it wasn't much of a task for me. Etherea, on the other hand, had to turn almost completely around. In her surprise she spun fast enough that her mane whipped out around her, and wound loosely around her chest and neck. It took a wing quickly slapping to the carpet to steady her as Craig shuffled further down the hall and out of sight.

Fuck, if Craig hadn't just scared the crap out of both of us! I hadn't even noticed that he had stopped snoring. Though I had been a bit preoccupied... I couldn't help but grin slightly when I noticed that Etherea had put her be-forked hoof on the ground again, and would need to readjust it.

"And that's my roommate. His name's Craig." I said.

Her ears were back at attention, but one took a moment to turn my way as I spoke. The short wait while Craig putzed about in the bathroom was a good excuse to set up the current round of pancakes for Etherea and myself. Etherea, for her part, shifted to the side a bit after regaining her balance, which placed her a little farther from where Craig would emerge.

"Thanks." Her eyes flicked to me as I set her plate down before going back to watching the hall.

From up close it was clear just how nervous she was. She sat on her haunches with her forehooves collected neatly before her. Her back was straight and tense, and her wings were again held stiffly at her sides. I had to do something to reassure her.

"Don't worry. He's nice. A bit... exuberant, but nice." She nodded faintly. Craig was a hoot to be around, but I finally had someone who understood big words without lengthy explanations!

It was a quick trip, and maybe a splash of water on his face, so Craig soon shuffled back our way. He entered the living area dragging his feet and failing horribly to cover a massive yawn with a hand. He was dressed in last night's pants - now with extra rumples! - and a wifebeater of questionable age. And with the way he squinted and blinked at us, it was clear that he was exhausted. That was no surprise since it was little more than an hour past sunrise; he'd been asleep for maybe four.

But he was still Craig.

"Good morning pony princess lady."

She twitched her wings, but her voice was steady. "Good morning."

"Craig, this is Etherea. Etherea, Craig." Only Craig could see me, but I motioned to the both of them as I said their names.

Craig planted himself on a knee before her and held out a hand. She leaned away when he did so, watching the appendage carefully. He just held it there patiently. When she continued to do nothing but look up and down between face and hand, he wiggled his fingers beckoningly and gave a little encouraging smile. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what he was up to. Eventually she raised her left forehoof tentatively off the floor and set it on his palm. Before she could react he grasped her hoof, swooped down, and kissed it.

"And a pleasure it is to meet you!" Etherea started to recoil, but Craig had already looked back up at her with that smile. The easy, disarming one that winningly dimpled his cheeks and was so brutally effective. Etherea stopped and I swear she began to blush. Her ears folded back as she looked down and away. Apparently its effects weren't confined to just human women.

I was so goddamned jealous at how easy he made that look. Maybe if I'd begun the morning kissing her hooves as well...

Craig just continued smiling for a moment before standing again. I rolled my eyes as he moved around behind the island toward the stove. The chivalrous attitude had been way over the top, but the smacking of his lips and animated scratching under his arm that followed was business as usual. Not to say that I didn't do the same, but I would refrain from it when in front of a lady.

"How's the old noggin?"

Etherea, who had been examining her hoof as if trying to decide whether it would bite her, scrunched her muzzle in disdain. "I'm not old... and I am just fine...!"

"So you can speak English, huh? That's pretty weird. I thought that you'd be talking Chinese or something. Like a different language that nobody could understand, so we'd have to play Pictionary to tell you things."

She looked up at us. Surprise, thoughtfulness, and confusion were all rapidly taking turns vying for prominence across her face. "It's a simple translation spell. All unicorns who might be involved with diplomacy are taught it. How..."

"That's cool. How does it work? Like are you reading my thoughts right now? Can you tell what I'm thinking?" He turned from adding fresh pancakes to the pan and struck the classic 'thinking too hard' pose at her - his fingers pressed to his temples with his brows low over his eyes. Etherea's brows, on the other hand, only climbed higher as she pulled her head back and blinked rapidly.

"Craig, lea..." I tried to interrupt and give Etherea a chance to catch up.

"N-no. It doesn't... work like that. After I... establish a basis for a language, it reads your intended message from the air, and... translates it back and forth for me." Craig nodded along while she continued to look more bewildered.

"Craig..."

"Okay, that's really cool. But what if I talk in a different language? Does it keep reading my mind?" Craig turned to me with a huge grin. "Dude. We have to get her to start speaking Russian!"

I buried my face in my palm. Etherea, bless her, kept trying.

"No! It doesn't do that! And I would have to... sample that language too. And it only works for speaking. If you were... to write something, I still could not read it. How..." She was becoming frustrated.

"Craig! No!" I had turned around by this point and held up a finger to shush him. His mouth was open again, but he closed it at my preemptive interruption. However his cocky grin remained.

"Right. The pony princess is your thing." I groaned, but he turned to monitor his cooking. A good thing too, since a distracted Craig would only create more burnt pancakes. I was no longer so willing to set off the fire alarm.

I turned back around to Etherea and spread my hands apologetically. "Sorry about that. Like I said; exuberant." Her eyes flicked from me, to Craig, and back again as she nodded slowly. Her expression was carefully neutral, and for some reason it made me uneasy. Still, I could tell she wanted to say something so I gave her an encouraging wave. She waited expectantly before speaking, like she was testing Craig to see if he would interrupt again.

"Craig, how did you know I was a princess?" The level way she said it, like it was a dig for some very specific information, set me on edge.

"Oh? I get to talk?" He teased. "Well, you had that necklace thingy and the crown. They looked pretty important." Etherea began nodding slowly; watching carefully as though she didn't quite believe him. "And Alex told me you were."

Fuck you Craig! Her eyes narrowed as they settled back on me.

"You told me you were a princess yesterday." I explained plainly. She mulled that over in her head a little. I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I was about to relax when she suddenly stiffened and her ears shot up.

"Wait. You could not... understand me earlier. How did you type in Equestrian?!"

Oh shit...! My mind went blank as I realized the danger. I wasn't prepared to lie to her, but this was probably the single worst line of questioning. I couldn't just tell her everything, could I? The morning had been hard enough already. But now she was catching on to my deception...

"You knew Equestrian!" With that accusation I knew I had a front row seat to a train wreck. And I couldn't do anything but watch. "A-a-and... And you were n-not... s-surprised to see me! A pony! Why aren't you more s-scared of me? You act l-like you've s-seen ponies before. Y-you even... You knew I was a p-pony bef-fore I said anything! You knew w-what I e-eat! Y-you kn-knew where I was, and how t-to find m-me..."

Yeah... She was a smart cookie. Too smart for her own good apparently. And my health. Whatever she was seeing in my face as I tried to recover something resembling coherent thought must have been confirmation enough for her. She began backpedaling, straight through the sunlight that had so worried her earlier, her eyes shimmering with barely withheld tears.

The next came out as barely a whisper. "H-how did you know about..." she gulped, "What do you want with... me...?"

Nothing. Not one thing came to my mind. Nothing that would seem reasonable at least.

"Dude..." Craig drawled softly behind me.

Craig could talk any woman in to his bed, but given his penchant for making light of a situation - whether prudent or not - I didn't trust him to disarm this confrontation. With Etherea cowering against the far wall it was all on me. Great... Because now I was on the spot again. I needed to come up with something fast. I didn't want her thinking about fighting back and finding out just how defenseless we humans were against magic.

From the way Etherea was acting, she seemed to think that everything had been an attack on her. It wasn't unreasonable, just false. Simply telling her about My Little Pony before leading in to the events of yesterday would take time - quite a bit, if this morning's conversation was any indication - and all the while she would be sitting over there, terrified. I needed a way to get her past the idea that we were out to get her, and that meant having proof that her assumption was false.

Fuck it. There was only one thing that had proof that she wasn't a target, and it was still hidden in my closet. I got up and headed around the kitchen island. Etherea had tightly wrapped her wings around herself in a sort of full-bodied feathery hug. She shrank back as I passed, trying to hide within her own wings, and my gut seized up painfully. Nearly anyone else probably would have been fighting tears at the sight of those wide violet eyes desperately begging to not be harmed. As it was, I just felt numb all over.

Digging around in my closet took a moment, but it was not hard to retrieve the item from where I had buried it earlier. I unrolled it on the floor just inside the entrance of the living area before gently sliding it closer to the trembling alicorn.

"We didn't know about you specifically." I said softly and with a hint of a quaver. I wasn't sure how I should feel about this. Overwhelmingly sorry? Angry? Relieved that I would no longer have to worry about hiding this? Scared? Mostly I was just resigned, but that still felt wrong. It hurt to see the look of confused horror on her face as she stared at the bright cartoon ponies posing for a group picture on the poster. But it seemed like it wasn't hurting enough.

I waited a moment, leery of what she might do, but she stayed transfixed by what was before her - her chest heaving in time with her rapid, ragged breathing.

"Wha... elles... ai... uuhh..." Her whole body shivered as she trailed off. Her forelegs slid forward, settling her stomach to the floor, and her chin fell to rest between her forehooves. She exhaled gustily and then went limp.

Surprised, I rocked back on my heels as she collapsed. What the hell was this? A sick feeling of dread welled up from within my gut, bringing a lump to my throat. I might have made a mistake. A big one. She had already been in pretty bad shape, so this could have been inevitable. But maybe not. It was the least dramatic faint I had ever seen, but she was still out cold.

I turned to Craig, not sure of what I would find, but expecting that I wouldn't like it. He was just watching. His eyes were a bit wide, but otherwise his face was unreadable. There really wasn't anything else I could do now. I rolled my poster back up and stuffed it behind the end of the couch furthest from Etherea, then wandered back in the direction of my seat, slipping past Craig as I did so.

It was strange, feeling the bottom drop out of my gut as I passed Craig, but it wasn't until I sat down at the island that he came away from staring at Etherea. His mouth curled disapprovingly when he turned my way.

"That was cold, dude..."

The empty pit in my stomach flared in to an inferno.

"FUCK!" FUCK! Pain exploded in my forearm as I smashed it with my forehead, crushing it against the island top. Craig was free with admitting when he fucked up because he claimed to do so very often. If he thought I had fucked up, then I had fucked up. Royally. And that meant I was also a hypocrite for thinking that I would be more capable at calming Etherea than he.

"Fuck... Fuck... Fuck..." I said to the counter top, a mere inch from my nose, as I rested my head on my now throbbing arm. I couldn't think of anything more appropriate.

"Okay, dude, that was freaky. You alright?" Craig asked from behind me. We had been roommates for a little over a year, but this concerned tone of his was new to me.

"No." My anger settled to a steady simmer. Normally I'm rare to anger and it's generally a slow, controlled burn that dissipates over time. There are very brief exceptions when something overcomes my self control, and woe to those who push me there. Generally there's no easy target, so hitting something inanimate hard enough to feel pain makes for a decent substitute.

"I've fucked up everything I've done today. I think she almost killed me earlier when I surprised her, I'm pretty sure she fell again in the hallway, just about every answer I've given has scared or angered her, and now she's fainted! At least when she's like this I can't do anything else to her." I said self deprecatingly while waving in her direction. I finished by setting my chin on my arm. "Maybe I could keep her knocked out until her friends come for her." That wasn't sarcastic at all!

Someone slugged my shoulder.

"Ugh. Stop whining. D'you see what's over there?" Craig's question had a bite to it. Still, I focused on the pony across the room. Her forelegs were stretched out before her, cradling her chin, while her hind legs were curled under and partially hidden by a limp wing. Her mane similarly concealed her bandages. With her face relaxed it looked like she had simply laid down against the wall for a catnap. Other than the object of my shame, I wasn't sure what Craig was getting at.

"No. Enlighten me." I snapped.

"God, you're hopeless." Thanks Craig. "That there is a girl. Yeah, she's a pony. But she's still a 'she,' y'know? And being a girl, she probably likes girl things. Flowers, candy, frilly clothes, spending money. That sort of thing..."

"Okay? Your point?"

"I'm getting there. Hold your ponies..." I whipped around on my seat, ready to slug him back. He raised the spatula defensively in front of a barely-contained smile.

"Get on with it!" I growled.

He just chuckled. "What I'm saying is you've gotta' treat her like a girl. Pony."

"Mare. She's a mare."

"Seriously? Isn't that what a girl horse is? I know she looks like one, but you couldn't come up with anything better?" I shrugged. It was a good point, but not one I had an answer for. I waved my hand, urging him to get on with whatever he was doing.

"Whatever. So if mares," my eyes narrowed as his emphasis pushed that button again, "are anything like women, then you gotta' be gentle to them. Talk softly 'cause they're delicate. Load them up with complements. Treat them right. Pamper them and make them feel special, even if you don't really mean it. If they're happy, you're happy." And this was why I hadn't trusted Craig with the situation. Etherea wasn't a piece of meat for him to coax in to bed.

"She'd already learned the truth. I wasn't going to hide that..." I tried to explain.

"But you did it all wrong! You know what I said about being gentle? She was getting all upset and you just shoved that poster in her face. You should have taken it slower, talked to her and felt out her feelings. Yeah, it seems stupid and silly, but you've gotta' be all touchy-feely if she's throwing a fit, so she knows you care. Give her a hug or something."

Sure... THAT would have gone over wonderfully!

"I know about being considerate. I screwed up! I've had a bad morning, alright?" I did care, after all; that's why I was angry with myself. Craig's advice was good in a general sense, but the specifics weren't there. I looked over my shoulder at Etherea and started chewing on the inside of my cheek. "So what now, oh great and wise one? How do I fix this?"

"Relax, Padawan." I rolled my eyes. "She's all stressed out right now. Most girls just need some time getting done up to relax. A nice long bath, some candles, flowery shampoos and things, do up her hair... If she feels pretty she's going to be happier, and it will give her time to calm down." he finished with a knowing smile.

"Right. We don't have any of that." I said, but realization struck me even as the words were leaving my lips. Craig just smiled wider, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It's your turn to go to the store!" I gave him a dubious look. "Look, I'll keep an eye on her. You also need some time to calm down, and this gets you out of her hair. Okay?"

It made sense. I didn't like how he got to his point, but he was still right. And the idea of running out for some stuff got me thinking about what else we'd need. We didn't have nearly enough vegetarian food in the apartment and we needed more towels. Something also needed to be done about the hallway so that Etherea wouldn't risk a concussion just for wanting to get to the bathroom.

"Fine." I nodded. "But I need you to help me with what to get for her 'me time.'" Craig added a brow waggle to his unrelenting smile. "Oh, and your pancakes are burning..."

It was my turn to grin like an idiot as I slipped off my seat while Craig rushed to fix the mess he'd made of breakfast. Even with Craig's adventure into charcoal creation, and my repeated breaks to gaze forlornly at the insensate pony, I soon found myself in my car and on the road. Leaving the apartment had me feeling very strange, and not just because I felt nasty for doing so without taking my morning shower. I had just borne witness to what could be a pivotal moment in human history, and here I was driving out of the parking lot like nothing had happened. There was no reason to expect anything other than normal people doing normal daily activities, but it felt like there should be something visibly different. Like people running around with 'The End Is Nigh' signs, or oddly specific shapes to the clouds, or...

Once the radio started playing I let everything else fall away. Given my mood I would have preferred something harder, like Five Finger Death Punch or Korn, but I had to settle for the dulcet tunes of Metallica and Alice in Chains. Not my favorites, but neither did I dislike either band. The only thing I didn't like about the drive was that it was too short; there wasn't enough time to get in to a proper driving rhythm and zone out to my regular daydreams. But then, since I usually daydreamt about ponies, perhaps that was for the better. I now had actual ponies to think about - it seemed silly to continue delving in to stories about imaginary ones.

I had three main stops: some place for food, a store for feminine care and other odds and ends, and one for fur care. The first two were relatively easy, though I still felt like a poorly-concealed spy while going about my business. I had a pony in my apartment and I half expected someone to point that out. I even went so far as to check my shirt for stray hairs before I left my car the first time. Stupid, I know, but I was little more than a ball of nervousness now that my anger had been soothed away by music.

I did find a nice surprise while poking around the super market: fresh flowers. Maybe Etherea ate them, maybe she didn't. Thinking about the Ponyville in the show, I decided that I might as well pick up a dozen roses. The initial thought was that even if Etherea didn't eat them, they would still class up the apartment. Maybe. As I was buying them, and the clerk asked me questions about their intended recipient, I began to worry that they could also be taken as romantic offerings. I highly doubted that would be the case, but still...

My second stop was probably the strangest set of purchases. The tellers certainly gave the assorted items a second and third look while ringing them through. A healthy variety of brushes (tooth and otherwise), clippers, snips, tweezers, body washes of several fragrances, shampoos and conditioners collected in much the same way, styling spray, hair oil and shine, one of those eyelash longer-izer thingies, a drier, a couple of irons, curling tools, and even two perfumes that I thought had fragrances that would offend neither a pony, nor us apartment denizens. Added to that were several sets of towels and half a dozen carpeted bath mats.

The amount of money I was shelling out was staggering. I knew I could soak up the occasional emergency splurge like this because I was pretty frugal otherwise, but this wasn't at all what I wanted to spend it on. Plus, just spending large chunks of money at once always made me antsy. I didn't like seeing it all leave my pockets.

My last stop involved an internet search with my phone first. I had to find a place that sold horse care products. Hair brushes were all well and good, but I knew they'd do little for an actual fur coat. It was really weird going in to a store that sold primarily 'cowboy accessories' just to buy a couple of the fine coat brushes and a soft curry comb. I wasn't questioned about them, but I felt like I was practically oozing suspiciousness and had to force myself to not repeatedly look over my shoulder.

Heading back to the apartment initially calmed me. Some good music and knowing that nobody could bother me while driving helped immensely. Pulling in to my designated spot in front of the three story building brought all my anxiety back though. For one I didn't know what I was returning to. Visions of an angry alicorn lying in wait to assault me when I opened the door might be a little farfetched, but that didn't stop me from dreading it. Also, there was the matter of my neighbors. I was bringing home a lot of weird stuff. Add that to the events of last night and I was sure to get a ton of questions I didn't really want to field. So I rushed everything to the door. It was probably the most noticeable way of doing things, but I wanted it over with.

Simply opening my front door was harrowing, but the scene that greeted me was shockingly anticlimactic. In front of me, across the open space of the living/dining area, was Etherea still against the far wall. As far as I could tell she hadn't moved since I had left her. The kitchen area to my right had casually discarded breakfast dishes filling up the sink, but otherwise Craig was missing. There was music coming from deeper in the apartment that matched the station I'd just turned off in my car, so I knew he would be in his room.

The various bags I'd brought in with me made a horrendous clattering and rustling as I set them on the kitchen island, but I still caught a high-pitched squeaking noise come from across the room. I froze and slowly raised my eyes to the golden-yellow pony's prone form. Now that I was paying closer attention, I could see that she was awake. She hadn't moved. At least not much. She still rested her chin on her forelegs, but she was slowly rubbing her front hooves together.

I waited a minute to see what she was doing, but it wasn't anything more than I'd already seen. Just as I was about to ask her if she was okay she made another 'sort-of' squeak. I waited, cocking my head to make sure I was hearing this correctly. A bit later, she did it again.

It was... hiccups?

I stayed put for a while longer. Partially I wanted to see whether she would do anything else. She didn't. The other thing was that I had to make absolutely sure I knew what I was doing and didn't fuck up again. I intended on partially following Craig's advice about being reassuring. Ask her how she's doing. Tell her I'm sorry. Again. Let her know that for as long as she stays, that Craig and I will do our best to make this her home as well.

Also, I had to compose myself. Etherea squeaking every so often made me want to giggle, and I couldn't do that!

Her ears folded tighter as I approached with a glass of water, but otherwise she didn't move a muscle. Except for the periodic adorable squeak, of course. I set the glass down within easy reach, sighing as she leaned closer to the wall and away from me - her first real action since I'd gotten home. Her eyes focused on the glass as I backed up, then up at me, and finally on the glass again. She never stopped rubbing her hooves together.

I sat down and leaned my back against the TV. I was glad that she didn't seem aggressive, but by that point I shouldn't have been surprised. Either ponies were as pacifistic as those in the show, or she was just a kind soul.

We stayed that way for a couple of minutes, both of us content to quietly ignore the other. Well, she seemed content to ignore me and stare blankly at the wall. I was waiting for her to make the first move. It didn't seem about to happen though, so once again, after trying to swallow my trepidation, I broke the tension.

"Hey. How're you feeling?" My voice held soft and steady so it was a good start. Her ears twitched, but she didn't move. I pressed on. "That's fine. I know this is all a big shock... Scratch that. I'll give it overwhelming." I rubbed my forehead with a hand. "Other than hiding knowing something about your world, I have been completely honest with you. I didn't mean for any of this and I am sorry."

I lapsed back in to silence to give her a chance to respond.

"Hic."

I sighed when nothing more seemed forthcoming.

"I'd like to think that I know how you're feeling, but I'm not sure I can. I do sympathize though. You don't need to fear us. The truth is that before last night, ponies like yourself were just a children's story. I never thought that responding to someone who I thought was pretending to be a pony would..." careful Alex, "um... create this kind of mess."

I looked to her expectantly, but she just kept staring straight ahead and fiddling with her hooves.

"Hic."

"I just want to help. If there's anything I can do to help you get home, I will. If it's nothing more than providing you safe place to stay, then I'll do that." She didn't even twitch.

"Hic."

"Fine. Hate me if you want, but I'd really rather be friends. At this point I'd just settle for not being enemies." I rested the back of my head against the cool glass of the TV screen and stared out through the blinds at the partially clouded sky. I probably needed to get a better method for blocking the view inside if she was going to stay here; someone might still see her in here.

"Hic."

I chuckled. I couldn't help it! Her hiccups were like Rainbow Dash snoring; you were never prepared for something so adorable coming from a pony like that.

That got a reaction though. She suddenly levered herself up to sitting, scowling at me before latching on to the glass with her forehooves and shoving her muzzle in it. I didn't want to risk worse so I remained where I was despite my desire to back away defensively. Forcing my restless stomach in to being happy with me not moving, I simply followed her with my eyes.

She quickly downed the water and then waited. Her frown gradually deepened, but apparently her hiccups had been scared in to fleeing her wrath. She turned her attentions back to me when it was clear that the water had been effective. Again I found myself trying to put on a relatively passive, pleasant face. She in turn began working her jaw - her lips faintly pursed and her eyes narrowed.

I'm not sure why it had taken me so long, but it was then when she was giving me a cold glare, as though figuring out just what to do about me, that I noticed another little detail. The fur of her cheeks was mussed. It held firm to random patterns as though recently scrubbed. Had she cried while I was gone?

"H-hey there." I said tentatively.

Her response was to clench her jaw, screw her eyes shut, and light her horn. I couldn't help twitching as a shot of fear stabbed my gut. I was resolved to let her do what she was going to do though; I had faith that being a pony, it wouldn't be anything too bad. Another long, tense silence stretched as she did whatever it was that she was doing. Apparently, since nothing began hurting, she wasn't going to smite me.

Eventually she let her magic fade and brought her attention back to me.

"Can... you...? Never mind. I seem... to have kept it." Her words were a bit strained, but at least she was talking to me.

"What was all that about just now?" I asked hesitantly.

She cocked her head arched an eyebrow like I was missing something obvious. "My spell?" I nodded. "It was the... translation spell. It fades if I do not... concentrate on it. I... So I had to cast it again."

I gaped at her. If she lost the spell any time she wasn't conscious, that meant she hadn't understood a word I'd said. God damnit!

"So... You didn't catch a word of what I just said?" I just had to ask it. And of course she shook her head.

"I did not... feel much like talking, if you can understand that. Also, do you know how bad... it hurts to do magic right now?"

I shook my head.

"No! Because your horn... isn't throbbing!" She snapped. She was right - at the moment - but oh, the images that brought to mind! I fought valiantly to prevent my mouth from breaking out in a full-blown, toothy smile. I still couldn't help letting an amused chuckle escape. Her guarded expression at my reaction only amplified the moment, but I managed to wrestle down the urge to laugh to a raspberry-like snort. She recoiled - eyes wide and nostrils flaring - as she finally realized what she had said.

I probably only had a brief window to diffuse this before she took insult at my reaction, so I quickly jumped back in. I just prayed that I could keep myself from making things worse.

"D-don't worry about it! It's okay, and I understand. I know that I'm not your favorite person right now. I was just baring myself again. Trying to apologize for being insensitive and offering support for what you're going through. Trying to let you know that we had no idea that you were actually real before last night. Letting you know that now I just want to make it up to you because I feel horrible." I gave her a pointed look as she tried to reign in her embarrassment and rejoin the conversation. "And you didn't get a single word of it..."

"You will... have to forgive me for my reaction. Finding another world that knows... of my own is shocking. But... Craig...?" I nodded. "He just let me... be. He tried talking to me, but I ignored him. Then he ignored me back and left... after a while. It surprised me since I expected to be watched... or guarded. It made me think." She lifted a hoof and absentmindedly rubbed her other foreleg with it. "I realized something. If this... was a plot to get to me... or anypony else in Equestria, then it is the worst planned and... executed one ever."

A small, wry smile crossed her muzzle though her face was stern. "That does not mean I am... particularly happy, but an unfortunate accident is... preferable to something... malicious."

"Ugh!" she suddenly flopped back to the carpet, her legs stretching out before her, " I can not believe I just... teleported like that! I just wanted to... scare you. To make you apologize, and stop being so mean! Nopony could figure out... where you were..." She looked up at me from the floor, a bit of venom creeping in to her voice. "...because you are not even one of our ponies!"

I couldn't tell whether she was more upset with herself, or with me. I still bet on the latter, but at least she wasn't cowering in fear. "And now, I'm... stuck on a world that confuses... and frightens me." She fired another glare at me from her position on the floor. I know. It's all my fault.

I suddenly had an idea. "Tell you what. This morning was pretty awful all around. Let's just write it off and start again. What do you think?"

She raised an eyebrow but didn't disagree. Her scowl faded to blankness which felt like victory to me!

"Hi. I'm Alex, a human from Earth." I held out my hand.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, but she still sat back up on her haunches. "Hello. Princess Etherea, and I am a pony from Equestria." She said after a pause, setting her hoof on my hand again, rubber bands still in place. Her ears remained folded, though now at about half-mast. It felt like actual progress and I couldn't help grinning like an idiot.

"A pony you say? I've heard of those!" I knew I'd eventually say something stupid... I was still nervous as hell, and it wasn't doing me any favors at editing the thoughts coming out of my mouth. Etherea frowned and tilted her head to look down at me over her nose.

"That is right... I am very curious as to how you... know of Equestria." she said with a twitch of her wings. The switch to imperious mode was jarring. Naturally, the whole 'you know what I am when you shouldn't' had become a major point of interest for her.

"One second. Do you want help with these?" I asked, pointing to the rubber bands. At her nod I carefully stretched them and slipped them off of her. It was a royal hoof I was holding, after all.

"The short of it is that for some reason Equestria has become popular as part of an animated TV show." I explained, releasing her hoof. "I'm a fan of it. When I got your message, I thought I was talking to someone pretending to be a pony. I thought the human I was talking to was overly obsessed with a fantasy." I needed to make sure she understood that point.

"So you decided... to torment this supposed human...?" Icy was a good descriptor for her tone.

"Sorry..."

"You say that so often. How do I know you are sincere every time?" Her level stare bored in to me. It felt like an interrogation. Perhaps that wasn't a bad analogy.

"Well... You do... um, keep bringing up things that I regret. And there's not much I can do other than tell you that I am." I explained, trying not to show how nervous I was at the prospect of her not believing me. "Well, that, and all the stuff I bought to try and make you feel at home."

She perked up at that. Or maybe it was just surprise. Her head swiveled to take in the various bags that were threatening to spill from the island onto the floor.

"You bought all of that just for me?" she asked incredulously. There was a hint of something else as well. Excitement?

"Well... not all. A good chunk of that is food. Pretty sure you're used to better than the bachelor chow we normally eat around here. I can at least follow a recipe, and I thought you'd appreciate food that wasn't just microwaved." I got up and made my way to the other side of the room. I sorted through the various handles growing in to the air like a flimsy white plastic forest, finding those that belonged to 'her' stuff. It also covered for me needing time to think about how I wanted to say the next part without setting her off again. She probably didn't want to wander around with a tear-stained face, but I was sure she also wouldn't want me pointing it out. Princess-ly pride and all that.

"Plus Craig suggested that a nice, warm shower might be a good way to relax. I know I don't want to go all day without getting cleaned up from yesterday," I met her eyes with small smile, "but princesses first."

She blinked several times, looking me up and down as I brought the bags over to her. "Wait... 'Bachelor chow?' That... uhh... You are not female?" Her pitch jumped up dramatically at the end.

We just stared at each other for a minute. She gradually shrank back from me as though suddenly afraid that I would explode. I wasn't sure what to do. I guess it must be the hair. Mine was a lot longer than Craig's so I think I could see where she was coming from. I wanted to laugh because it was such a silly mistake, but again, I was trying very hard not to upset her. I was okay with it, so she didn't have to worry. I long ago gotten used to occasionally having people make the same mistake when approaching me from behind.

"N-no. I'm pretty sure I'm a guy." I would say her blush was priceless, but I had to struggle harder not to laugh. "It's o-okay. I get..." a snicker made its way out despite my efforts," ...get that occasionally."

"Sorry!" she blurted before dropping her eyes to the floor. Her ears had folded from half to fully back, but at least this time it was simply in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it." I assured as I crouched with the bags. I couldn't fight the smile on my face, so I didn't try very hard. I did cover it up a bit by burying myself in the task of sorting out the various odds and ends I pulled from the bags. With everything laid out beside her I moved back a bit.

"You said that your spell doesn't let you read things?" she nodded, "Okay, well, there's a couple of shampoos, some conditioners, body wash..." I went around the piles and pointed things out as I explained what each was supposed to be. She was like a kid on Christmas with a tree-full of new toys. The shampoos and perfumes received cursory sniffs, but other than giving me a quizzical look when I pointed out the latter, she kept her thoughts to herself. "So, does a shower sound like a good idea?" I finished.

"It does," she began before looking behind me, "but without my shoes... that hallway is... dangerous."

"Way ahead of you." I got back up and retrieved another bag. I heard her shifting around as I made the round trip again, and by the time I was on my way back she had stuffed several bottles and things under a wing. I couldn't quite tell what she had chosen, but it felt good to know I hadn't done wrong. Or maybe she was just being polite since she wasn't really in a position to be choosy. I always had to ruin my own good mood.

I moved to the hallway and laid down a line of mats so that she could walk around without risking life and limb. Through Craig's partially-open door I could see a passed out form lying face-down on the bed. He normally wasn't awake at this hour, so it was hardly surprising that he went back to sleep after eating. I still didn't like it though. What if Etherea had needed something? Was he callous enough to just ignore her!

I shook my head as Etherea made her way in to the hallway. She still pointedly walked around the areas of direct sunlight and her first steps off the carpet were hesitant. Once she was sure that her hooves weren't going to be playing individual games of slip 'n slide, I led her the few feet to the bathroom and stepped in ahead of her.

"The shower might be a bit small since it was never designed with ponies in mind. You should at least be able to fit lengthwise without too much trouble. Hot water on the left, cold on the right." I demonstrated by turning the knobs on for a moment. "The sink's up here and the faucet works the same way as the shower. The toilet..." I suddenly thought about the porcelain contraption and how it was just as poorly designed for pony physiology as the shower. Perhaps more so. "...well, I'm not sure what to say. The handle's here to flush it..."

I had forgotten something! Towels! "Excuse me." I said, quickly brushing past her.

While retrieving a set of pink washcloths and towels - her device was pink, so I had guessed that she liked the color - my phone went off. I froze, looking toward the couch. I don't normally receive a lot of phone calls, so I took notice every time it rang. But who would be calling me? At about ten in the morning... On a Thursday...

"Oh, SHIT!" I cried out.

Shit, shit, SHIT! I leapt across the room and scooped up my phone, towels flailing behind me as I dragged them along. I skidded around the corner in to the hall as I pressed the button to answer.

"Heyyy..." I said in to my phone, feigning calmness. Etherea was poking her head out of the bathroom and looking at me with wide eyes. I practically shoved the towels in to her face. Why was she bright orange? No time for that now!

"You sleep in, or something?" Carl, my assistant boss, didn't sound angry. Yet.

"Er... Not really, sorry. I was supposed to be in now wasn't I?" I kept my tone level as I made my way back to the living area.

"Nine thirty you lazy bastard. You coming to work today?" Still not overly angry-sounding.

"Sorry, but no. Something came..."

"Oh your mother's arse! Y'know you're supposed to close today. What're you doing, jackin' off?" Now he was sounding a bit put out. It wasn't true anger despite what he was saying, just frustration.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped. This was as much a surprise for me as well." I really felt like an ass now. Someone else was going to have to close for me, which probably meant Carl, and it also left the store with one less person. With a staff of only six, even one person calling out could make things very difficult. Late spring/early summer was generally the busiest time of the year too.

"Damnit, Alex! What the hell's going on? Now I have to work alone with Bill?" Bill was one of the part timers. He's a nice guy, but rather slow because he's getting old.

"Look..." I needed an excuse. And quick! "Let's just call it, um, a family emergency." Good enough.

"Fuck!" Yeah, he wasn't happy. I almost never called out, even when sick, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. "Fine, I got it. You going to be in tomorrow?"

I was going to be as honest as I could, considering I was essentially hiding an extraterrestrial in my apartment. "I... don't know. Maybe? I'll give you a call later when I know more." When I know whether Etherea will be okay. I did still want to earn money after all.

"Okay. I guess there's not much I can do. Fuck! You'd better be in tomorrow though!"

"I'll let you know, okay? Talk to you later." I wanted this over, and pronto. He dismissed me quickly, which was what I wanted, but I still felt like a dick. Damnit.

I flopped back to the couch and rested for a moment. I could hear the sounds of the shower in the bathroom running so it seemed Etherea didn't need me holding her hoof. Thank God. Hopefully she was making out alright; that shower really didn't give her any room to turn around in. At least with the rubber mat in place she wasn't going to slip and fall. Though that reminded me she still had the bandage in place. Again, I just had to trust that she was fine.

I heard the toilet flush. That brought up another question. How the hell would she use the thing? It was built to be sat upon or peed in to. Her sitting on it would probably take her hind legs off the floor and require some sort of gymnastic balancing. Being a pony, she was built front-to-back, not top-to-bottom, and with the toilet seat at the height it was, there was no real way for her to stand over it. When it came to the other...

I flipped on the TV. As curious as I may have been, I really did not need to think about how the pony in my bathroom was doing her business. It was interesting to note that she had turned on the shower before going. I guess mares and women had some things in common.

The selection of shows was downright dismal. It was Thursday morning after all. I normally stick to a select few channels - Cartoon Network, History, and Scyfy, with the occasional foray elsewhere if I found an interesting movie. But this early in the morning? There was nothing I really wanted to watch. The other channels weren't much help either since I wasn't in to Soap Operas or gameshows that didn't feature Bob Barker. I was shit out of luck. Because of this I spent some of my attention listening to Etherea moving around in the shower. It really wasn't hard to hear those hooves of hers.

It was close to twenty five minutes before I heard her shut the water off. The heater had about half an hour's worth, so unless I wanted a partially cold shower I would have to wait a little. At least the coming conversation would be interesting. Not like the commercials on TV. Speaking of which, I needed to think about how I was going to do this. Showing her episodes of My Little Pony was going to happen, I was sure, but which ones? "Friendship is Magic," the two-part series opener, was probably the best to start with, though I was very tempted to show her my favorite...

"Alex...?" Etherea's tentative question came softly out of the hallway.

I made my way to it after turning the TV off. "Yes?" The sight that greeted me was a very damp golden-yellow pony face peeking around the doorframe of the bathroom. Her blue-on-blue mane hung to one side and was weighted down by the water that remained. Faint wisps of moisture flowed out around her hooves.

"I... will need more towels." she said, turning orange again. Which was adorable.

I stared at her for a moment, processing that. Of course she would. She's a pony, and that meant lots of fur to dry. Her mane and tail by themselves would likely take more effort to get dry than the entirety of Craig or I. Oh, and don't forget her wings... Which left me wondering just how long it would take her.

"Right. More towels." I quickly returned to the kitchen area, opened that bag, and brought out every single one. She backed into the bathroom as I approached again and gave me a good view as to why she needed so many towels. It wasn't just her. Sure she glistened from nose to tail with moisture, but all that water was getting around the bathroom as well. The floor was only the main casualty. She was holding her wings partially extended and the act of moving about was flinging droplets across nearly every surface.

I immediately held out another towel. She took it in her mouth and laid it on the floor. I quickly handed her another. And another. She went so far as to lay one across the counter around the sink. Doing so meant that she turned her back to me, giving a hop to get her front hooves up there. It also meant that I got a wonderful view of her as she reached up and over the counter.

Her mane fell off the opposite side of her neck, the soft arch of which I traced down from behind her ear until it met with her withers. My eyes paused there before continuing past the small crest at the base of her neck, then drifted lazily over the muscles lining her back - now pulled taut with the effort of holding out her wings. I followed the long line of her spine as it ran gently down her back, noting how the curves outlining her barrel drew smoothly in to her slimmer flanks before widening with her hips as I did. It wasn't quite a human hourglass figure, but it had the right shapes in the right places.

Stretched out like this she had a lean look to her, but it was a good one. She showed plenty of tone and lacked the extra fat that I might have expected from someone royally pampered. My eyes drifted ever lower and I saw that the strain of balancing on her hind legs - even with her forehooves resting against the counter - caused the muscles along the sides and backs of her legs to stand out in relief. She was a runner stretching and I couldn't help admiring the shapely lines of her long legs as they reached up to meet and disappear in to her hindquarters. Fortunately her limp tail prevented me from seeing anything I shouldn't.

I found myself avidly watching the subtle shifting of moisture-borne highlights playing across her coat as she moved the towel in to place. Her mane and tail shone with healthy brilliance in the light, but her wings were something else. Each translucent feather glimmered with its own highlight, and being lit from other side gave them an ephemeral appearance. It was entrancing. It was...

What the fuck was I doing?!

I reached in and set the rest of the towels beside her on the counter. Her head whipped around and she looked me up and down as she tried to figure out what I was doing. It made the light dance across her in a way that tugged at my eyes with insidious whispers. I quickly turned and left.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day I let myself fall back on to the couch, flopping my arms out to either side as I did so. I couldn't do this. This wasn't happening. I had been staring at her; soaking in her appearance. I hesitated to admit the truth to myself, but now that I was aware of it, it haunted me behind my closed eyelids.

Etherea was gorgeous. Her tail may have been strategically placed, but I knew that a part of me wished that it hadn't been.

I knew where this was going too. I had a bad habit of picking out the prettiest girl wherever I was and then pining for her. And it was always someone I could never have. My desire to be with her would clash with my inability to satisfy it and I would grow frustrated. This would lead to some amount of depression, especially when I was away from her. The longer I got to be around her, the longer I would have to deal with these conflicting feelings. And the longer I would be unhappy.

Etherea was the epitome of unobtainable. It didn't even matter that she was a princess because she was a pony. A pony. And while I didn't yet know much about who she was, I could already tell that I liked what she was. I was attracted to a pony - essentially a miniature horse. The whole princess deal was just an extra insult.

And if she stayed here then there was no way I could get away from what I was about to put myself through. But I couldn't throw her out. I didn't want to.

Fuck me.