For the last two and a half weeks, Thiemo had something he thought he would never again experience in his life. He had not even thought about it for most parts of his long journey, the thought only coming to his mind on the occasions where he had some peace from the unforgiving world. That had been mostly at night at the campfire, or when he had felt nature’s call. Now that he had it, he noticed how much he missed it. A normal daily routine. It was so simple and yet still gave him such a feeling of happiness and normality in his life, a life that had gotten out of hand all too often.

He would wake up around six in the morning, which was nothing new, and then proceed to commence his morning ablutions while in his rented apartment. It was something he could afford, because due to his contacts with Rupie, he had found a job. Nothing extraordinary, but it was enough. The soldier had introduced him to a friend who owned a bar near the castle, and before he knew what was happening, he had found himself employed. Maybe Rupie hadn’t been completely altruistic in that regard – after all, this just so happened to be the bar where the guards hung around once their shift was over, but he didn’t really mind. He didn’t mind either that his boss was a griffon. Well, it bothered him for the first two or three days, but Rolaf had proven to be pleasant enough company. After all, it wasn’t really fair to think that his entire race consisted of assholes, though he had to remind himself of that a few times.

He also had to adjust to taking orders from a boss. Pleasant company or not, Rolaf still represented something that Thiemo hadn’t had in a long time – a superior. Sure, he had had to live under the thumbs – or hooves in any case – of Princess Twilight, Celestia, and Luna in the past, but their interactions with him had not been that regular. Storytelling had been his main source of income on his travels, so switching to a situation where he had someone observing him as he went about his job had been an almost alien situation for him.

At around half past seven, after a small breakfast, he would make his way towards the Tavern at the Corner, as was the name of his workplace. He would usually clean and serve, if necessary, guests who ordered their first dose of brain softeners at that time of the day. It was a simple job since he didn’t have to deal with drunken ponies, griffons, or other species at night. It wasn’t that he hadn’t offered to do it, for more payment of course, but Rolaf had been keen on doing that himself. Griffons.

As he entered the Tavern at the Corner today, an unknown scent filled his nose. It was neither vomit nor other body fluids. The former happened quite often, the latter only when a guest was too drunk to make it to the toilet. No, it was new, and if he didn’t know any better, he would say it smelled aromatic, almost arousing, lingering through his body even after he had taken the first whiff. What was also new was that Rolaf still stood behind the counter and sorted bottles in the shelf.

The bar looked like what Thiemo would call an English pub. He knew plenty of those, for they had been at every corner in London. The chairs, or rather the cushions with an attached wooden base, were thrown around wildly as usual. The only sign of the modern technology that was typical of the city was a crystal chandelier that was still on, even though the sun was high in the sky already.

“Morning.” He yawned, still a bit tired, and hung his orange coat at a low-hanging clothing rack next to the door. “No business last night?”

Rolaf briefly turned his head towards him before he turned back to the bottles. “Nah, it’s spring.”

Confused, Thiemo looked at the elderly griffon before he went behind the counter as well and put on an apron. “And what does that have to do with how it looks here? Don’t get me wrong, it’s less work for me this way.”

With a bottle in his claw, the griffon turned around. “Rupie told me that you were new here, but even you can’t be that clueless.” He shook his head while Thiemo took the bottle from him. “Bring this to our customers in booth two.” In the back part of the pub were three areas, where curtains kept them from the busyness in the front. Who had the right amount of bits, or had the right status of a VIP, could use them. Each of them had a large cushioned bench with room for up to eight ponies, a fine marble table, and a waitress so that they didn’t have to get their drink from the bar like the others. Most of the times they were rented for some business meetings, but never before had someone stayed till the morning, meaning that Thiemo was the one who had to serve them.

With a last suspicious glance at the grinning Rolaf, he turned around and marched through the room, over to the dark violet, velvet curtains. As he came closer, he heard sounds that he couldn’t place for a few seconds. It sounded like someone was playing in the mud and throwing it with hasty movements against the wall. “Pardon, I’m here to bring your wine—” Thiemo stopped as he bore witness to the scene that played out in front of him. The table was missing the marble top. Instead, it had soft cushions on it that turned the bench into a large, soft bed. On the bed lay a sleeping mare, and next to her was a stallion who was almost standing on the back of another mare. The hip movements of the stallion left no doubts as to what was going on.

The stallion stopped his thrusting and reached out a hoof for the bottle, thankfully causing the squelching noise to cease at least momentarily. “About time.” Worthy of a Frenchmen, he pulled out the cork with his teeth and took a swig. The mare underneath him coughed, and he passed her the bottle. “That would be all.” Thiemo nodded and was about to close the curtains again, but then the mare who had been sleeping until now shouted after him.

“Wait, we need one more. Want to join?” She grinned at him and whipped her tail a bit, giving Thiemo a brief peep. “I’ve never had a human before.”

The three ponies looked at him questioningly as Thiemo desperately tried to keep a straight face. “Uhm, no thanks. I’m already seeing a mare…”

“Too bad.” And with that, the mare who invited him turned to her side again. “Hurry up, I want another turn.” Thiemo closed the curtain and stumbled, still slightly flabbergasted, back to the counter where Rolaf greeted him with a grin on his beak.

“Spring?” he just asked the griffon.

“Yep, spring. Ponies go into heat twice a year. The first time usually falls on the week before the Hearts and Hooves festival. Just about everything is closed down for the entire week, and the ponies follow their instincts. Nothing for me, because if not for those weeks, they seem to live almost abstinent, least as far as I know. Still, I make about thirty percent of my income during spring because I rent the booths and help the exhausted guests back on their legs.” He rubbed his claws. “After all, I can take almost twice as much because I have to clean that all up again.”

Thiemo crossed his arms. “You mean I have to clean that up, right?”

“Only if you don’t finally tell me where you got that black eye from. I can still see it after weeks.” For a moment, he considered telling him the story, but then decided against it. No one needed to know that Fluttershy, as she tried to hold back Rainbow from beating him up when they had met in the streets, had accidentally hit him. No one had expected her strength, apparently not even herself. Applejack had later told him that not only was the shy mare actually had to put with Eris as a life mate, but she also fought with bears on occasion. Luckily, Rupie had resolved the situation in the end.

“Not in a thousand years.” Rolaf shrugged and grinned. Maybe not all griffons were assholes, but the ones he knew were all very close to it.

It was early midday when Thiemo was finally finished preparing the main area of the pub for the evening business. Luckily, he didn’t have to clean the booths today. All three were still rented for a couple more days. It wasn’t to say that he was looking forward to the eventual cleaning up. He hung his apron at the rack behind the counter again and put on his coat again. As always after work, he would visit Twilight in the library before he went to see Aura. His daughter had taken up residence with Applejack and the rest of Twilight’s friends in the loft that the alicorn had in town. It was two storeys of pure luxury, with enough bedrooms to host even three more ponies. If you were someone who loved books, it would have been something akin to winning the lottery.

In the evening, he would visit Amaryllis. It seemed like she had gotten used to living in the palace quickly. Part of that was without a doubt her little sister, Skyla. The small alicorn, who seemed take after her mother, though her coat was of a darker pink, seemed to dote on her new big sister and almost never left her side during any waking hour. The first few days he had gone to the castle directly after work, but just couldn’t part the two sisters, meaning that he had only managed to spend a small amount of time with his marefriend.

Now that he was walking around the more familiar roads, he noticed how many couples there were. Ponies everywhere were snuggling against each other, occasionally even multiple mares with one stallion. What was an even rarer sight was when he spotted a human walking around with a griffon. The human saw him and waved as a greeting, which Thiemo returned. There were only a few hundred human that lived in the city, and so seeing one amongst the thousands of other citizens was infrequent to say the least. The only other one he had met was Bartholomew, a regular in the pub. He was an elderly man with a full beard and who owned a small hut out in the tundra, where he made a living with ice fishing. He sold his catch at special merchants here who targeted griffons and other carnivorous creatures. He made a profit by being able to sell his fish for almost the same price as everything else that had to be imported at a high cost. Too bad that he spent all his money on alcohol. Thiemo wouldn’t have met him otherwise, but he never really got any useful information out of him in any case, as most of the time the man was too drunk in the morning when he got into the pub. All that he had gotten out of him was the he was from Ti and had fled when he was around forty. Until he made it into the Crystal Empire, he had been living in the forests around Trotterdam, a small village near the border of Prance.

Thiemo lowered his arm again and took a turn to the right that led to the library. In general, there were far less ponies on the street, but knowing that all the ones that were not here were doing the same thing was strange. Not the fact that they did it, of course – that was completely natural. It was rather the fact that they all knew that they were all doing it. He stopped and blinked. Would that mean Aura would be like that one day as well? No, he didn’t want to think about that. He shook his head and went the last few metres and arrived at the stairs that led to entrance of the library. There were pillars in front of the entrance, large windows, and a sign that asked the visitors to be quiet that was hung at the door. The latter opened automatically as he reached it and entered inside. Immediately, he was greeted by the smell of thousands of books. When he had come here with Twilight for the first time, because he didn’t find the way on his own, the alicorn had almost drooled when she had caught the scent.

Thiemo looked around, only to see that it was even emptier today than usual. Most of the time, there were one or two ponies wandering between the shelves, which could be heard loudly on the crystal floor. Today, on the other hand, it was totally silent. Not even the mare at the receptionist area was there, only a sign that said that no books could be rented at the moment. With a sigh and a shrug, he went down the corridor, heading for the staircase that led to the cellar. The word ‘Archive’ was engraved on the old wooden door. He knocked before saying, “It’s me, Estoc.” A click could be heard before the door opened magically. The familiar face of the Captain of the Royal Guard met him and let him enter. “Morning,” he greeting the pony.

“Morning, Thiemo.” The Captain closed the door behind him again. They stood in a corridor that separated the rest of the library from the archives. Important documents were stored down here, and a wide array of different spells were placed on this corridor to hinder intruders from reaching them. Good that he had a permission from Twilight and Cadence.

He was about to step through the first magical barrier, but then something occurred to Thiemo, and he turned back to Estoc. “One question…” He waved his hand through the air. “Twilight isn’t uhm… you know… like the others?”

Estoc looked at him in confusion. “Like the others? She is an alicorn, so no, not like the others.”

“No, I mean…” Thiemo tried to search for the right words. “It is that time of the year. The birds and the bees.” Estoc just blinked, seemingly lost, before his eyes widened slightly in realization of what the human was talking of. “In heat! Exactly, that’s the word.” He had learned the words in Cervidas, but there were many that he had never used. It was seldom that he had found the need to use the language.

“What? Oh, yeah. No. I have never seen her… or any of the other princesses like that. I don’t think anypony has ever seen any of the princesses in that state. But yes, it’s that time of the year soon. I think Canterlot will be due in a few weeks, shortly after Hearts and Hooves Day.”

“Day? I thought it was a festival? And what do you mean with Canterlot? Does every town has its own window for that?” Thiemo scratched his head.

“In Equestria, it is only one day, but here in the Empire, it is a two week long festival. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is also the Princess of Love, and that’s what the Empire runs with.” That made sense. “The highlight of the fest is the large tournament and the ceremony at the end when the Crystal Heart gets charged for another year. And uhm… yeah. Most towns have their own time for it. My mother had explained it to me once… exactly! It has something to do with our herd instincts. Mares that live closely together, like in towns and villages, synchronize with the leading mare. Even today, that still happens unknowingly. That’s why different towns have different times. But I believe that Princess Twilight may know more about that if you are interested:”

“Isn’t that a bit… indiscrete?” As the question left his mouth, he realized how stupid it must have sounded, seeing as he was asking someone from a culture where they all ran around naked most of the time. As expected, he just got a questioning look from Estoc again. “Let me guess. Sex is natural and nothing to be ashamed of.” He nodded, and without further ado, Thiemo stepped through the various barriers. Whatever Estoc still had to say, he wouldn’t hear it here.

Quickly, he opened the door on the other side and entered the room that was called the archive. If Thiemo had to compare it to something, it would be the holo deck of the Star Trek series. A gigantic crystal computer, as Twilight called it, took up the centre of the room. A large console, filled with glowing crystals of all kinds, were connected magically, providing power that humans on Earth could have only dreamed about. They were operated by little crystals that had to be moved on the input fields like a computer mouse. There was no display. Instead, there was a huge hologram that the console created in the large, free room. The last time that Thiemo had been staring so fascinatedly at the ceiling of a room, as he did during his first visit here, was when he had visiting the planetarium with the young age of seven.

Every time he entered the room, a different image was awaiting him. Today it was a giant picture of the planet Albion that slowly rotated in the air. The only constant was the alicorn at the console, who was moving the control crystals with both forehooves over the console. As usual, she was completely caught up in her work to find out more about what happened a thousand years ago with the humans, Nightmare Moon, and of course, Blue Light. “Hey, Twilight.”

The mare spun around and saw him approaching. “Thiemo? Is it already noon?” He just nodded. “Whatever! I have found something big!” Her horn began to glow, and a small box floated over to her. She opened it, and Thiemo saw that various control crystals were inside it, all wrapped in velvet. She took out the first one, which read ‘Albion’. “What you see here is an image of our planet as it is today,” she began to explain. She put in the new crystal with the others and moved a few others around. The planet spun and eventually came to a halt as it showed the continent where Equestria was on, with the island Ti far in the west. “I have found an old map in the archives, which was made before the Empire was sealed. Take a look at that.” She moved the new crystal a bit, and a few new land masses were added into the hologram while others disappeared. The changes were highlighted in red, which also accounted for the entire island of Ti. “Ti didn’t even exist two thousand years ago, but the records of Index said that the humans fled from the island and built Amissa Heaven. No civilization like theirs is formed in less than a thousand years, not to mention a few hundred.”

Thiemo remembered what Index had showed them. “Wasn’t that the last order Blue Light gave Index? Compare the two maps? And if I remember correctly, Luna and Echidna were arguing about the origin of the humans. Do you think that has something to do with it?”

“Very likely,” she agreed. “I just have no idea what it means, but I think I’m on the right track.”

“Anything else? Something new about Blue Light?” He had asked her that question almost every day when he came here. Thiemo just wanted to know what the deal with the alicorn was. Why had he contacted his soul, and why he had his cutie mark on his shoulders?

Sadly, Twilight shook her head as usual. “No, I don’t think I’m telling you this for the first time. The Crystal Empire had been sealed until long after his time. If I want to find out something about him, I would have to go back to Equestria.” She and her friends had decided to stay for a few weeks. Now that he knew of the upcoming fest, he also knew the reason.

“When will you finally talk with Cadance and your brother?” As always, she ignored the question and turned back to the console.

Thiemo watched Twilight over the shoulder for a while longer before he bade her goodbye. He tried to figure out how these computers worked, but he just couldn’t figure out which movement of which stone did what. If Twilight hadn’t assured him that it took a lot of training to use it correctly, he would have assumed that she was just moving the stones randomly and hoped that they would have the desired effect. After all, he knew people who were basically smashed their heads on the keyboard and still produced something semi-useful.

Since Twilight was more occupied with the research on the human’s origin, and he couldn’t be much of a help, their visits had been mostly of a short nature. Now he had to decide whether he should visit Amaryllis in the castle or Aura in Twilight’s loft. Since he was feeling a bit adventurous, he decided to visit the Princess first. As nice as a daily routine was, he missed travelling and the feeling of unfamiliarity a bit. Over time, it had just become his daily routine. The castle was also closer to the library than the loft. Also it was early in the afternoon, meaning that in the loft would be a blue pegasus with hormone fluctuations and a genuine dislike towards him that would be waiting for the chance for another face to face encounter. Then he would rather take the dislike of a large, white alicorn, since his chances of survival there were significantly higher.

It didn’t even take him five minutes until he climbed the stairs of the castle and nodded at the two guards at the entrance. As always, they showed no reaction, but he didn’t really care. Now that he thought about it, Rupie had been the only guard he talked to. “Hey, Thiemo!” He looked up from the ground and saw Meena coming out of the teleporter in the middle of the hall. “Good that you are here.” She pulled out a file that she had tucked under her arm and took out a sheet of paper. “Here are your results.”

Thiemo took the paper and skimmed over the content. Next to a schema that described his new bone structure, it contained a few diagrams about the magic in his body. His skeleton was still the same, aside from the small changes from his tail. But he couldn’t figure out the diagrams. “And that means what exactly?” he asked and pointed with a finger on some numbers.

Meena followed his finger with her eyes. “Well, these are the magical values. They are similar to what we see in earth ponies, only that you don’t have a magical nervous system. What that exactly means for you we can’t tell until we run further tests. If you want to, we can schedule them for next week.”

He folded the paper and let it disappear in his pocket. “I have to think about it. Maybe I’ll check you back some other time.” Thiemo didn’t want to play the lab rat again. “I take it you were visiting Amaryllis?”

“Oh, of course. Maybe you should see her now.” Thiemo looked at her questioningly. “I don’t think she took it well.”

“Didn’t take what well?”

“Sorry, doctor-patient confidentiality. If she wants to, she will tell you.” Thiemo considered shoving said relation down her throat. After all, she had brazenly allowed Twilight to assist in examining him. Of course she had the excuse that said princess was a doctor in the magical science, and therefore had been a necessity, but that sounded a bit far-fetched. Now though, he really wanted to see Amaryllis and not argue with the woman, who was again only wearing a scrub, so he just went past her. “Hey!” she shouted after him. Quickly, he placed the crystal into the right socket and entered the teleporter.

The first thing he saw was Rupie, who had been waiting to use the teleporter as well. “Good that you are here. I was just about to go get you. Princess Amaryllis asks for you attendance.”

A loud crack, followed by a shatter, broke the peacefulness of the hallway. “I take it that’s the reason?” Rupie nodded and stepped aside. He didn’t need to be asked twice and rushed over to the room that had been assigned to his marefriend, which was on the fifteenth floor. The entire floor was basically the private area of the royal family. Carefully, he knocked at the door. “Amaryllis?” No reply, so he repeated the procedure. “Amy?” Thiemo quickly looked back at Rupie, but he just stood there at guard some distance away. “I’m coming in.” Slowly, he opened the door and looked inside the room. Shards were scattered around the door, which must have belonged to the vase that used to stand on the commode. The flowers were lying in wet spots on the carpet. The blanket was next to the bed where Amy was lying spread out, crying and sobbing. Ignoring the chaos, he rushed over to her and sat down on the bed next to her. “Hey, what’s the matter?” His hand wandered over her back, and she finally seemed to notice him. With swollen red eyes, she looked at him before she threw herself into his arms. “Everything will be fine,” was all that Thiemo could say. He still had no idea what was actually going on.

“Nothing will be fine!” Amy managed to get out, sniffling. “Nothing will be fine. I don’t even know what I am anymore!” Thiemo waited for a minute and let her cry into his coat while he softly stroked her mane. “I don’t even know what I am,” she weakly repeated eventually.

“Well, a very sad princess for one.” She looked at him, slightly angry. “A bit naïve, with a strong character, playful, well-read, and not to mention graceful and beautiful.” Slowly, she leaned against his chest again. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” She nodded.

“The doctor was here.” He knew that but stayed quiet. “She gave me the results from the examination.” Amy wiped a hoof over her nose. “She said… She said I would never be able to lay eggs.” While Amy burst into tears again, Thiemo could only try to keep down his confusion.

“And that means?” he tried.

“I will never have my own hive. She said I was just like a normal pony!” He blinked again.

“Hold on, let me get this straight.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and held her so that they looked into each other’s eyes. “Your… reproduction system is that of a normal pony, not a changeling?” She nodded. “Which means that you aren’t going to lay eggs but will be getting foals like every other mare?” She nodded again. “I don’t see the pro—” Before he could finish, Amy’s right hoof made harsh contact with his shoulder.

“That’s not the point! What am I!? I’m not a changeling but not a pony either!”

“Well, what should I say?” This time Amaryllis had to blink. “I’m a human with a tail. Humans don’t have tails! So I’m not a human but not a pony either.” Judging by her face, she began to understand what he was talking about. “But you know what? I believe we two make the best ‘Not Pony’ couple there is.” Now she was smiling, much to Thiemo’s relief. “So, how about you freshen up yourself and then we let the chambermaids deal with the chaos here, while we make ourselves a nice evening in the city?”

“You mean like a date?” Thiemo nodded.

With one leap, Amaryllis was on her legs and disappeared through the door into her private bathroom. Not knowing what to do during the minutes of waiting, he stood up and was about to go to the guest’s bathroom, only to bump into Cadance in the door to the hallway. The princess had a tray, with a thousand piece box of tissues and a large bucket of ice cream on her back. She looked at Thiemo for a few seconds before she grinned. “Well, maybe another time.” And with that, she disappeared down the corridor again. You could almost think she had been waiting to do something like that.

Author's Notes:

One day to late, but the chapter is a bit longer than normal. Maybe thats makes up for it a bit.
JBL was concerned that the "heat" would turn ponies into mindless sex machines. No, that's not the case. They will get frisky, a bit kinky and more flirty, but that's it. But because they are more fertile during this time, they get a few days off, or two weeks in case of the empire, to make more little ponies.Also, to work with your mind elsewhere also is never a good idea. So... yeah, its spring in the Empire.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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