“I think we need to have a talk,” was Celestia's opener to a whole cornucopia of insanity. It had rapidly came to the princess' attention over the last two days of the ponies being in Pete's house that they had become a severe financial burden on their host. She had personally scolded Rarity when the human had returned the day after his grocery shopping from yet another trip. This time for the personal care products for the fashionista. The bag of brushes, curlers, hair irons, make up, and more, had not made Celestia happy. Pete had insisted on their keeping the products, despite Celestia telling him to return them, and told them it wasn't much. The three hundred dollar receipt Luna found said otherwise.

In the few days they'd been there, with the help of Pete's computer, Luna, Twilight, and Celestia had researched the currency of the world they inhabited. While there were many things that followed their own world, gems and precious metals like gold, silver, platinum etc, the main method was paper money. After exhaustive research into the economy, and the trash can for the grocery receipt, they realized just how expensive their one week of food had been. It didn't take the trio very long to do quick math, the expense of one week times four, to see the outcome on the horizon. Thus prompting the current round table discussion.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh!” Pinkie shouted, raising a hoof. “I could bake things! It'd be just like back home, except I wouldn't be back home, but I'd be doing the same thing!”

“How would you give what you bake to customers if you can't let them see you?” Twilight asked, slightly exasperated.

Pete thought for a moment, “Well, I'd have to look into it more, but, uh, we could just ship them places. Like, delivery via the mail. We couldn't send anything like cakes, or whatever, but there's other stuff that would keep long enough to be shipped most anywhere in the states. ...maybe if the customer wants something that needs to be fresh that we could ship, like a pie or something, I dunno, then we could charge them to ship it overnight and it'd be there in the morning.”

Twilight shot Pete a skeptical look. “Would that really work?”

Pete shrugged in response as Pinkie began bouncing at the other side of the table. The other girls started tossing out their own suggestions based on their previous careers, however each had its problems. Twilight's job as a librarian and scholar wouldn't be of much use, and she was also busy trying to figure out the spell to take them home. Rainbow Dash's job controlling weather could certainly make them millions, provided that the eight magical ponies were ousted and she was allowed to fly about freely, which wasn't happening. Applejack's farming was of little use in a, relatively speaking, small apartment, and Fluttershy's home remedy veterinary style would be scrutinized in the more medical human world.

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed, then looked at Pete. “Rarity could still make clothes! She doesn't have to be face to face with customers to make simple things and sell them. If Pinkie can sell her sweets online, Rarity could sell clothes.”

“Well, that's possible … but from what I know she wouldn't just want to make plain things,” Pete said, eying the white mare in question.

“Well,” Rarity said with a flip of her mane, “it's hard to keep focused on things that are so... so drab like your outfits. But surely not everyp- ...everyone here dresses like that.”

Pete raised a finger and stepped out the door. The ponies sat in confusion for several minutes as Pete went outside his building, down the street and grabbed some random fashion magazine from a corner store. Rarity began hyperventilating in less than ten seconds after laying eyes on the cover. By the time she'd flipped through every page she was half catatonic.

“What was in there?!” Applejack shouted, waving a hoof in front of her friend's face.

“Just LOOK!” Rarity yelled, tossing the magazine on the table with her magic on some random page.

The looks on the ponies' faces were half of disgust and curiosity. Pete's was one of sheer amusement. Human fashion had gone strange lately, and honestly you weren't in the human fashion game without being big on public appearances. Pete gave a half knowing assessment of these things, himself being an editor for several magazines without discrimination against content, and Rarity sort of nodded along.

“I guess that does make sense. Even in Equestria one does not simply produce fashion statements without attaching their name and face to them.” Rarity nodded somewhat hesitantly as she spoke, more reassuring herself than the others.

Twilight sighed, “So much for that idea.”

“Look, it's fine,” Pete raised his open hands in a form of surrender, “I have quite a bit in the bank, and I can pick up some extra stuff in my usual job to supplement my income. It shouldn't be too hard. You all just focus on getting home.”

“Ah agree,” Applejack said from across the table, “We should be focused on gettin' home instead of gettin' jobs.”

“It's not that I don't like having you all here, but you've got responsibilities back in your own world.” Pete followed up.

The next two days were yet more busy work for Pete, and his wallet, as he scurried around town buying baking goods. Tins, materials, anything that Pinkie thought she'd need. As he did so, Luna and Celestia quietly took receipts and added them up. They continued to be unamused by how much their displaced subjects were costing this human. In just over a week of them being there, they'd spent nearly two thousand dollars. Celestia was unsure what the conversion would be to bits, but they were both aware that, for the human world, this was a lot.

“More to the point,” Celestia said to her sister, the pair up on the roof away from the others below preparing for sleep, “He continues to buy these things without complaint.”

Luna nodded, “True, but also, perhaps he sees it in his best interest to do these things. He has seen, roughly, what our powers are. Maybe he fears what we could do.”

“That doesn't make sense. If that were the case, why did he refuse to return the cosmetics that Rarity asked for? I personally told him to take them back, yet he insisted she keep them.”

Luna paused in thought. “What do you think then, sister?”

Celestia too stopped and thought for a minute before responding. She had been studying Pete for the past week, yet every time he turned around he confounded her. There were concrete aspects of him that she could pin point, but his actions were wild, varied, confusing. “I need more time,” was all she said. To which Luna nodded.

Below, in the apartment, the mares and Pete were getting ready for bed. Rarity and Fluttershy were talking in the corner, the fashionista's hair filled with curlers. Twilight was in the kitchen, still on the internet, while Pinkie bounced around her putting baking supplies away. Pete and Rainbow were on opposite ends of the couch, a movie coming to an end, and AJ had just entered the bathroom. It was at this moment, the credits rolling, that RD looked over at Pete appraisingly. Pete looked back, confused.

“You, me, right now.” Rainbow said, lifting herself off the couch with her wings and hovering in the center of the room.

Pete blinked. “Um, what?”

“C'mon!” Rainbow Dash half shouted, “I keep seeing these movies and guys getting exploded and tossed out of buildings. I have to know if you're actually that tough.”

Pete rubbed the back of his head and laughed. “Are you kidding? I'm not that tough. Maybe those guys are, but not me.”

Dash just smirked. “Prove it.”

With a heavy sigh, Pete stood up and got opposite Rainbow Dash, rolling his shoulders to loosen up in the process. Leave it to Dash to want proof of someone's weakness. The pegasus gave a backwards nod when they were both ready, challenging Pete to move first. And move first he did. Cautiously he reached forward and grabbed Rainbow's left hoof tightly. The cyan pegasus, also curious, tried to tug herself free, quietly testing the grip of hands. Finding her hoof trapped, she yanked hard, causing Pete to stumble forward. She then flew around him, hoof still caught, and wrapped her free foreleg around his neck.

“Too slow,” she chuckled.

“Oh, gods,” Pete groaned at the familiar phrase.

Before Rainbow could inquire about his groan, Pete performed a quick bowing motion, flinging the choke-holding pegasus off his back, putting her back to his front. Smiling, he let go of her hoof and wrapped his own arm around her neck in a hold. Dash rolled her eyes and quickly hit Pete in the stomach with her back hooves. The force caused him to step backwards putting space between the two again. This space didn't last long though, as Pete lunged forward yet again, this time wrapping his arm around the lower end of Dash and tugging her to the ground with all of his weight. Rainbow, unprepared for the sudden increase in weight, dropped along with Pete to the floor. Once there, however, she tried to regain her flight, with little success as the human continued to roll her towards her back, pinning her wings.

It was at this point, Rainbow stuck to the ground, wings useless, hooves pushing on every part of Pete's upper half, looking for a way to dislodge him, that Applejack trotted out of the bathroom. Glancing around the room she saw her friends ignoring what was obviously, to her, an assault on Rainbow, and became furious. In moments she was in prime bucking position, her front half tight like a coil, backlegs off the ground. The next moment Pete was flung off Rainbow Dash, across half the apartment, and landed in a heap near Rarity and Fluttershy next to the doors to the roof. With a light shudder and a groan he tried to stand up, but found his muscles lacked the will.

“AJ! What the heck?!” Rainbow shouted, lifting herself off the ground.

“He was attackin' you!” the farm pony retorted.

“Attacking!? We were wrestling! You know, roughhousing? Me and you do it all the time!”

“Well that's not what it looked like to me!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Did you see anypony else getting upset?” There was silence as AJ looked around the room, her friends focusing on Pete's still motionless form. “And now you've probably killed him!”

“I'm not dead,” Pete half yelled, “Just hurt.” He sat up experimentally, and groaned again. “A lot. That was a hell of a hit.”

“See, he's fine.” Applejack said definitively.

Rainbow just groaned and trotted over to Pete. “You sure you're okay? I've been bucked by AJ before … you don't normally just get up after.”

Pete gave a little smile, “Well, we were trying to find out if humans were that tough, right? Question answered, we can be pretty damn durable.”

To the side of them, Applejack trotted out the door onto the roof, Pete hoped to cool off, while Rainbow Dash stretched her wings out and winced. “I think I pulled something when you got knocked off me,” she grumbled.

Pete chuckled and extended his hands, “Here, turn around.”

“Why?” Rainbow blushed slightly.

“I have been told by various people that I've got some kind of magic hands.” Within seconds half the room was looking at Pete. “Without any kind of formal training, many people have told me that I'm a rather adept masseur.”

Rainbow gave a cocky smirk, “Oh yeah? Try it.”

Pete cracked his knuckles, causing Rarity and Fluttershy to flinch, and then started to feel down Rainbow's back. Gently prodding with his finger tips, he made his way to the spot between her wings that he'd pet the other day. Frowning slightly he began to gently rub in counterclockwise motions with his fingertips, the left ones between her wings, his right hand slightly lower. After a moment of grimacing on Rainbow's part, she suddenly relaxed with a deep exhale. Her wings extended to their full length, a surprising four feet by Pete's best judgment, and then both the wings and mare laid down on the ground. Pete's hands followed her down as the mare beneath his fingers let out a deep, contented sigh.

Fluttershy moved backwards, even further from Pete's sight as her own wings slowly unfurled, as Rarity stepped forward. The white mare's eyes were glued on Pete's fingers as they moved. After watching for a bit she moved up to Rainbow's face, the pegasus half lost in the sensation as her wings flapped gently of their own accord.

“Is he really that good?”

Rainbow focused her eyes and looked up. “Oh yeah,” was all she could say before relaxing again.

Beneath his fingertips, and her fur and layers of skin, Pete could feel Rainbow's muscles. On the outside there wasn't much difference between the ponies, other than height and maybe a little chub on a couple of them. When in physical contact that changed though. Pete could feel how toned the pegasus was, definitely an athletic body, especially around the wings. He could feel the individual muscles tense and relax as he moved up and down her back with his hands. It was a unique sensation for him and, unknowingly to him, Rainbow. Pete finished by gently running his palms from the back of her mane to her tail, smoothing the fur he'd displaced with his fingers, and gave her a light pat on the back.

“How's that?” he asked, a light smirk on his face.

Rainbow let out a low moan. “Just five more minutes,” she said, sleepily.

Rarity took another look at her friend, then to their host. “Well,” she started hesitantly, “I-if you don't mind...”

“Go on, lay down,” Pete said with a roll of his eyes.

“Well, it seems you come highly recommended at least,” the alabaster mare responded, laying down a couple of feet away from Rainbow.

Once more Pete began to work his fingertips in a counterclockwise motion, moving his hands down Rarity's back. This time, however, his recipient was giving instructions. Obviously this was not the first massage she had received, and was not afraid to give orders when she thought necessary. Generally it was a simple “higher” or “lower” and Pete had no problems with following. It wasn't long until her commands were hardly more than whispers, however, and Pete was essentially in control again. Not that it mattered, he did roughly the same thing he'd just done to Dash, except without the focus on the wings. He also noted that, contrary to fan belief, Rarity was rather trim. Not quite athletic like Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't pudgy like Pinkie Pie had turned out to be. None of the mares were downright fat, but it did surprise Pete that Rarity wasn't the least bit squishy, certainly no marshmallow.

He finished by smoothing Rarity's fur, as he had Rainbow's, and then stood up. The fashionista muttered something, but like his previous 'client' she wasn't as conscious as she should be. Pete figured he'd either hit a literal nerve and knocked the two out, or he'd done a good job. He was banking on that second one because AJ was pissed off at him enough as it was. Despite his still aching body, he helped Pinkie Pie lay out the girl's bedding, and then retired to his room.

“Early for you, is it not?” Luna inquired as she returned from the roof, catching Pete just before he ducked into his room.

“Ask somepony else for the details,” he said with a grin, “You'll understand pretty quick.”

Soon after, Celestia and Applejack returned from outside. Applejack tossed her hat next to her pallet and laid down with a slight huff. The Princess of the Sun, however, trotted to the kitchen to talk with her sister and Twilight. After telling Luna what had transpired between the human and farm pony, Twilight told Celestia that she wanted to stay up a bit longer at the computer. Celestia, slightly worried about her student's increasingly nocturnal habits, decided to chat with her sister a bit more while Twilight worked. The idle chatting did not last long, however.

“Alright, ah need some answers.” The three in the kitchen turned to see Applejack, wide awake, enter.

“Shouldn't you be asleep?” Twilight asked, stifling a yawn.

“Ah'm used to a hard day of work, Twi. It's takin' me longer and longer to get to sleep here.”

Celestia chuckled, “Perhaps then you can do a bit more than pace idly around tomorrow.”

AJ looked at the princess flatly. “No offense, Your Highness, but it's not like there's much to do around here. Unless y'all count gettin' molested.”

“Applejack,” Twilight sighed, “A massage is NOT molestation.”

“Twilight is right,” Celestia added. “Before their banishment, humans were rather adept at relaxing other creatures with their hands. There's evidence to suggest that they invented it, and what we have now is pale by comparison. Even then, it was not uncommon to see casual friends of humans getting such treatment. History claims that humans held many jobs that would surprise you, Applejack.”

“Like what?” she asked defiantly.

“Well, they used to be fantastic foalsitters. In fact, have you ever noticed the strange way we hold our young?” Applejack sat on her haunches in thought. “Now,” Celestia continued, “Imagine if you had hands, or better, imagine it was Pete.”

For a minute, Applejack's anger faded, and a slight smile crossed her face. It wasn't Pete she was thinking about, not specifically, but she could see what Celestia meant. This moment was shattered by Twilight gasping loudly and staring at the computer screen. AJ blinked and stepped closer to see, as the royals on the other side of the table moved to get a look as well.

It was an image of Rainbow Dash. Highly detailed, down to the fur of her coat. She was straddling the lap of a human, who was exposed. It took the group a moment to register the image. It was sexual in nature, very blatantly sexual. In that moment everything Applejack had said felt vindicated.

Twilight clicked on the computer and was taken back to the root of the folder. “There's a folder... with each of our names on it.”

“Me?” the farmpony asked, her eyes going slightly wide.

Twilight nodded numbly in response. “Us, Cheerilee, Vinyl Scratch, Lyra, Bon Bon, Mayor Mare, Trixie, Gilda, nurse Redheart, … uh, Sunset Shimmer?” Celestia's eyes bulged for a second, but it was seen by no one. “Um, Colgate, … my, uh, my mother,” Twilight cleared her throat, “Cadence, Chrysalis, Derpy-”

“Even Derpy?!” Applejack was astonished.

“It gets worse,” Twilight muttered as she saw the end of the list.

“How?”

“Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Babs Seed, and Applebloom...” the purple unicorn finished slowly.

Applejack didn't wait. By the time she heard the first two names she knew what the last two would be. She'd turned and started towards the bedroom on the far side of the apartment. Celestia moved first, but Luna was faster at the draw. Before AJ could get half way to her destination a blue aura enveloped her and held her off the ground. She kicked and wiggled, and grunted for a bit trying to free herself, before turning her head.

“Let me go,” she enunciated each word harshly.

“No.” Luna's response was simple and cold.

“Y'all can't keep defending him knowing what's in there! WE should never have BEEN here!”

“That is precisely why I'm saying we ignore this,” Celestia said.

“You think we should ignore that he likes to touch foals!?”

With Applejack shouting it didn't take long for the other mares to wake up. In fact, other than Rainbow Dash, the other three Elements of Harmony were bolted upright at her shout. They muttered between themselves, able to see AJ floating not far from them, and then moved closer, curious about the situation.

Celestia sighed, now having a full audience. “Yes. As far as he should have ever been concerned we were nothing but a figment of someone else's imagination. While the images might not be … pleasant, it still does not mean we should assault him for it.”

“Ah'm way past just buckin' him in the backside, Princess. Ah'm gonna kill him!” Applejack roared and started to thrash again in her magic bonds.

Around this point Rainbow had been woken up and was in the process of being filled in, Twilight having shown the others the computer screen and given a very brief summary. Applejack and the Princesses were still arguing as the mares that had been asleep fully caught on and started to think on this development. Of course the racket was hardly contained, and eventually Pete emerged from his room. His eyes were immediately drawn to the tan farm pony being held slightly off the ground by a deep blue aura. The other ponies focused in on him and that drew the attention of the tan mare, who began to kick and struggle once more for all she was worth.

“Ah'm gonna KILL YOU!” Applejack shouted as loud as she could.

“What the hell?” Pete blinked in confusion, looking to the other ponies for an explanation.

Twilight coughed into her hoof, blushed, and looked away. “Well,” she started, her eyes finally stopping on Celestia, “I was looking through your computer and I found some … pictures.”

“Pictures?” Pete half shouted incredulously.

“Yeah! Of all of us having sex!” Applejack shouted again. “All of us, includin' the princesses and Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, and Applebloom!”

This caused the group to react and swarm the laptop on the table, the folder for Applebloom still open and several images viewable through the thumbnail. Rarity took control of the cursor and clicked back into the main section, quickly skimming the names herself and opening a few. Pete though did not move. He stood in shock, having long forgotten his years of clopping and that folder specifically. His life had moved on, but with a mention his memories of that folder came back, sending a shiver up his spine.

“Well,” Rarity said, having skimmed several folders and images, “I must say some of these are fairly … distasteful, but I've never engaged in any of the, uh, 'activities' presented. It's more strange than that cartoon, for sure, but I'm not personally offended.”

“Y'all ain't offended that this THING was touchin' himself to your sister?!” Applejack was appalled at the idea.

“I admit that is somewhat strange, but she IS about that age, Applejack. If there were humans in Equestria and she decided to … mate with one, I certainly wouldn't stop her. So long as they actually seemed to be in love.”

“This ain't love, Rarity! This is outright porn!”

“Geez, AJ, what exactly is your problem here?” Rainbow Dash asked, floating up in front of her friend. “They're just drawings, half of them hardly even look like us, or your sister, and it's not like he's got the Cake's foals on there. I think most of us here are expecting the Crusaders to go through their first heat cycle soon.”

“S'not the point, RD! We're livin' in his house, and the whole time he's had some weird sexual fetish for us? Wrestlin' with you, havin' us all camped out in his livin' room? None of y'all find this weird?!”

“Applejack,” Pete said calmly, “ I swear I haven't had a single thought like that since you all got here. I'd completely forgotten about that stuff on my computer.”

“And that's just supposed to make it all better?” AJ shouted. “What's a human doin' having urges like that towards a pony anyway? It ain't right!”

Pete raised an eyebrow, “So dragons and ponies, griffons and ponies, zebras and ponies, that stuff just never happens?”

“T-that's different!”

“Not actually, Applejack.” The group's attention shifted to Celestia. “Humans, if you recall, were originally from Equestria. It wasn't uncommon for there to be humans within pony herds, just as it's not uncommon for the other species to be involved. While I'm some what surprised it carried down so many generations, I'm not going to say it's impossible for that idea to stay dormant inside them for so long.”

“I can understand what you're thinking though,” Pete followed up, “I mean, it wasn't exactly easy for me. Suddenly finding beings that weren't real, that only existed as two dimensional art, attractive. Especially not to the level it went to. Like a lot of folks I was outright emotionally invested in you girls' adventures, and your friends and families. It's hard to have hundreds of hours of video about someone and not feel an attachment.”

“Ah ha! So ya do have weird thoughts!” Applejack shouted in triumph.

“Not quite like that,” Pete said, crossing the room towards the laptop. “Yeah, I did, and I still kind of do, but there's a difference between these pictures that someone drew and the real thing.” Pete backed out to the main folder that hid his clop stash. “And I'm honestly sorry that you all saw this stuff. I know there's some things in there that aren't exactly normal by any means. Chalk it up to inexperience and young enthusiasm I guess.” He right clicked and hit the delete button, a box popped up informing him that the folder was too large for the recycle bin and he outright deleted it. “Now it's gone. Forever.”

“You think that makes up for it all?” Applejack twisted to look at Pete, “That doesn't solve anything! We're still stuck here in this house with some creepy guy that fantasized about not only us, but our sisters too!”

“And your brothers,” RD chuckled, causing both Twilight and AJ to whip around and scream, “What?!”

Pete blushed in response, “Uh, yeah. ...heh, I'm, uh, what humans would call 'pansexual.' I'm not attracted to one sex or another specifically, more just, uh, personality traits and stuff.”

Luna smiled, “Which would explain why you were so quickly attached to a show that seemed to be about positive emotions towards others.”

Applejack however only seethed harder. “So me, mah sister, and mah brother?! GREAT! Who next, Granny?”

Rarity cleared her throat, “Actually there was one folder...”

Applejack just stared. “Just how messed in the head are you!?”

“They were her when she was younger!” Pete shouted back defensively, though not entirely truthful.

“Ah can't believe we're stuck here with this guy! Out of all the billions of folks that are on this planet we get this one?!”

“Yeah! Out of the several other billion that would turn you in or sell you out, you get one of the few thousand to million that won't! You get one of the few that bought a thousand dollars worth of food, was more than happy to in fact, doesn't mind giving up his bed, his space, his privacy for you, and you spend the whole time skulking around and shooting him dirty looks! How DARE I!” Pete snarled at Applejack. “I apologized, Applejack. I had no way of knowing that you all were real, and I see now what I thought was innocent wasn't, but you've been a complete jerk this whole time. Even before tonight!”

“So what if ah have? Ah don't like being here, ah didn't ask to be here. This whole thing was one big mistake, but Twi seems content to just learn more about you humans instead of working on getting us home. Same with everypony else, gettin' jobs and lazing around like you do all day.”

“Applejack,” Twilight said, obviously feeling hurt, “I'm working as hard as I can, but there's something missing. Even Celestia can't figure it out.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow chimed in, “and us 'lazing around' is us trying not to be bored out of our skulls like you seem to be. It's not exactly easy for me to go from doing corkscrews at ninety miles an hour to doing nothing at all, all day long. But pushing Twilight isn't going to make her solve this thing any faster, and it's not like me or you has a better idea. It's her spell.”

Pete frowned and moved in front of Applejack, catching the mare's attention. “Look,” he said, stopping a few feet from her, “I know how pissed you are at me and this situation. I know, believe me I do, and if you think that bucking me so hard in my man bits that I never reproduce will fix it, then go ahead. Do it. Because I'm not even pretending that I'm some shining example of humanity, I've made mistakes. I've made a LOT of mistakes. When it was just pictures it was fine, but clearly that stuff on my computer was more, a lot more. And I'm not going to sneak away saying 'I didn't know, so you can't blame me.' I'll take the hit.”

“You don't know anything! Stuck here in this small box you call a house, day after day of mindless-”

“Nothing,” Pete finished, causing Applejack to blink. “That's how it feels, right? Like you're caught in an endless loop of nothing. Nothing you do matters, it's all just a waste of time until something important happens, then it's back to wasting time. That's been my life for several years now. I think that's everyone's life here. Waste time, important event, waste more time. It's a cycle and it's one that I wish I could break. I wish that I'd had even just the slightest taste of the world you're from, of having that cutie mark and knowing that every day I was doing something worth while.”

Applejack stood, dumbfounded, and thinking. He was right, that's how she felt. She hated dragging her hooves like this, getting nothing done, worried about her family. AJ was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she wasn't floating any more, Luna had let go to stare at Pete with the rest of the group. It was a foreign concept to them, feeling out of place. Their cutie marks told them what they did, gave them purpose. Humans didn't have that, and it was setting in now what that meant.

“I've looked for years for where I fit in, what makes me happy,” Pete continued, his eyes like stones. “I haven't found anything that makes me truly feel like I belong, like I have purpose. That's probably why I was so willing to make you all comfortable, and why I was so pissed off. I could have had what you all have, but I didn't. That upsets me, but also you're here. I have something that no one else does, I've been visited by interdimensional beings. Even if the rest of the world never finds out, I had a purpose. For some amount of time my existence was justified, because there's no telling what another human would have done. None of these movies or video games made me really happy, they were just bandages over a gaping wound that won't heal. Hiding the problem.”

“Shut up!” the tan mare screamed, her voice slowly cracking, “Jus' shut up. I ain't forgiving you, ah'd say you still owe us, but ah'm not gonna kill you any more. I might change my mind later, but for right now we need ya. Whether I like it or not.”

Pete nodded, “Alright. If that's everything … I'm going back to bed. Hopefully.”

Moments after Pete left, Applejack also returned to her spot on the floor and threw her covers back on. The rest of the group were wary, but slowly the adrenaline came down and they too turned in, save Luna and Celestia. The royal sisters spoke in quiet whispers for several hours, trying to figure out how to get home or ease the tensions that had arisen that night. Neither of them could come up with a solution for either problem, leaving both of them uneasy. Applejack had shown that the whole group was one massive ticking bomb waiting to go off, and Applejack had yet to finish erupting. Finding a way home was at the top of their list now more than ever. Not only for the sake of their displaced subjects, but for the sanity of their host as well.