His stomach was growling terribly. It was so loud, it sounded like a pissed off bobcat had managed to crawl down his throat. Karon was still half asleep when it happened, but even so, it was hard to ignore the gaping hole where his stomach should have been.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes before opening them. The sun shone strong, too strong, and he turned around grumbling before putting his pillow over his head. By the looks of it, he had slept pretty far into the day, but he didn't care. He felt too weak to deal with this waking up nonsense.

His stomach growled again. He thought about all the food that was downstairs, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, pears, and plums. His stomach growled again, this time in displeasure of the imagined breakfast.

He wanted meat.

Sweet juicy bloody meat. Meat so rare you could feel blood drip from your teeth. Something to sink his teeth into and tear off, something that had once been a living, breathing creature.

He was so glad Twilight did not possess telepathy. If his new pony friends could read his mind, they would run away from him screaming in terror, but really, Karon couldn't help it.

He came from a place where meat was a constant part of the diet. He was no herbivore.

Right now, he just wanted to go back to sleep and dream of killing and eating things. He was sick of the vegetarian life style he'd been forced into. Healthy or not, he came from a line of meat eaters and he had four very sharp canine teeth to prove it.

It was strange, now that he finally had settled in properly. Now that he could wake up and not worry about anything, he didn't enjoy it that much any more. Don't take it wrong, Karon loved Equestria, but without some kind of crisis demanding his attention, he started noticing the little things enough to the point where they bothered him immensely.

Poor Fluttershy. Last night she had sat with him wearing a large wonderful smile, lovingly talking about the animals she took care of, and others she had not yet met.

Animals that Karon was now fantasizing about gutting and grilling.

But imagined meat is not as sating as it sounds, and despite the unappetising options available to him, Karon felt the need to eat. He shuffled out of bed and put on his clothes, the feeling of his new robe and boots already putting him in a better mood.

He needed to find Rarity and do everything he could to thank her for it. It was hard finding the words for how he felt when he put them on. It was simply....

Awesome.

All that was missing was the hat, and then he would be complete. Well, the hat and a cheeseburger, perhaps. Maybe there was a carnivorous race somewhere that he could introduce it to. And pizza, oh ponies needed pizza if they didn't already have it.

Now that he thought about it, Karon was beginning to sense a lot of business opportunities.

But that would have to wait until later, he already had too much on his hands. He climbed down the ladder and went out into the main library, it was empty.

Karon went down the stairs and searched around the library but couldn't find Spike or Twilight anywhere. He really hoped Pinkie Pie hadn't decided to throw another surprise party after all. He was afraid what could happen if Pinkie Pie started to deliberately get herself drunk.

It would be the end of ponyhood was they knew it.

He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Vegetables and fruit mocked him with their healthy non-meat existence, and he closed the door again in disgust. He was overreacting yes, but the thought of never again eating meat ... was aggravating.

“Stupid pony innocence,” he muttered darkly to himself as he went into the main library and looked around. Maybe he should read a book to distract himself, but that would only work for a short time before the hunger got too strong to ignore.

He sighed and went to the front door and opened it. Outside there were several ponies walking by who all waved happily to him when they noticed him standing there on the library threshold.

“You don't know it little pony, but I could eat you.”

“Oooookay, enough with the psycho predator act. If we really need to kill and eat something then just do it.”

“Are you crazy!?! The ponies would freak and chase me out of here without a second's hesitation.”

“If you killed something where they could see it, yes.”

“I doubt there is in anywhere in Equestria ponies aren't aware of the comings and goings of other creatures. The entire place is so innocent that if I killed something, it would send signals everywhere.”

“So don't do it in Equestria.”

“What are y- ... the Everfree Forest.”

“Yes. Ponies might all be herbivores, and to them to hunt and kill is as taboo as it gets, but the Everfree ... that is primal nature at it's finest.”

“You might be right. We know that it is outside of pony influence ... I think I will head out a little sooner than I first planned.”

“Not too soon. We still need to be prepared for whatever could happen. The forest might protect us, but if we start hunting, I think it will call off the veil and make it a fair game. We might find ourselves prey instead of predator if we are not careful.”

“Fine ... It will be something to look forward to.”

“Good. Now try and find something else to eat. Like some of Pinkie Pie's cupcakes or other baked goods.”

Karon considered this for a moment and realized it was not a bad idea. A little unhealthy, sugary sweetness might brighten his day.

Pinkie Pie had mentioned that she worked at a place called Sugercube Corner. It should be pretty close to the library and fairly easy to spot if Pinkie's description had been correct. It should basically look like the gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel ... Which was a little creepy because Karon couldn't stop imagining Pinkie throwing fillies in her oven and making them into baked goods. Or maybe a secret torture chamber in the basement where she made cupcakes out of pony corpses....

Naaaaaaaaw, sounded a bit too far fetched, but on an unrelated note, he was never going to follow Pinkie Pie down a basement alone ... never ever ever.

Karon walked down Ponyville's main street and passed by a lot of unnaturally happy ponies. He just didn't get how they could be so perpetually joyful.

"Must be something in their brain chemistry. Maybe they have a constant high?"

He spotted a building matching Pinkie's description coming up on his left. It wasn't until he was about to open the door that realized something.

He had no money.

He smacked his forehead and curses his own stupidity. He needed to find a way to earn money. Maybe the business ideas had come at a perfect time after all.

Karon went to a nearby tree and sat down leaning his back against it's trunk. He took a deep breath and released it before plunging into his possible future ventures.

“Well, we still have that opportunity with Applejack. We owe her a better distillation process, but we also offered to expand her business by helping her make different kinds of drinks.”

“Hmm yes, but honestly I only know the theory behind making alcohol because Varsif was a whiskey fanatic.”

“Doesn't matter, we know enough to make it work and with a little herbal knowledge we could start making interesting things ... Maybe we could make absinthe.”

“Don't tempt me with that idea. We both know I would succumb to alcoholism within a day if I could make my own absinthe, but we could work out something, then demand a percentage of all sales of it.”

“Sounds like a good way to get started, but we need something else. Something practical we can do to generate a constant flow of money.”

“Twilight told me about a zebra named Zecora. I already have a working knowledge of herbology back on Earth. It should be relatively simple to adapt it to the new conditions of Equestria.”

“Okay good, a herbalist. We can work with that, what else?”

“Well, at the core of it all my greatest asset is my knowledge. I know a lot of things these ponies don't. I can offer this knowledge in different forms perhaps, maybe agree to teach unicorns new magic.”

“You can always open a school for teaching stallions how to properly please their ladies. By all accounts, they don't know what they're doing around here.”

“There is a limit for when things get too weird, even for me.”

“At the moment, but that will expand until you will barely blink at the suggestion eventually.”

“But not today. So the plan is to settle our debt with Applejack and then go do more research concerning the properties of the local flora.”

“Hmmm ... Our knowledge is our most valuable asset, but you forget, ALL of our knowledge has something in common.”

“Which is?”

“It is HUMAN knowledge.”

“...You want Lyra to pay to get lesson on humans.”

“Why not? Not something ridiculous but say, let her pay a small fee or pay for a dinner or something and we tell her about a specific subject concerning humanity.”

“It feels a little like taking advantage of her.”

“We are taking advantage of the situation, not her. Besides, it will be a good chance to get to know her better.”

“Her too? Aren't we already supposed to get to know Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity better?”

“Yes, but Lyra is kinda cute.”

“This again? Fine, I will get to know her better, but I have no intentions of seducing her.”

“Have to do it to somepony sooner or later. Pick one now and get to work I say.”

Karon considered the conversation to have taken a drastic turn for the worst, but he had a point. Lyra would certainly pay for lessons on humans, and Zecora could teach him the local herbalism art. Of course, Zecora might charge him ... Maybe he could trade some magic knowledge for plant knowledge.

But no matter how that would, go he still had no money, “bits” they called it here, and he wanted something tasty to eat.

He sighed and got up from his comfortable seat in the tree's shadow. If he wanted something tasty to eat, then perhaps he could go find Lyra and ask if she wanted to buy him dinner in exchange for some human 101.

It was better than anything else he could think of at the moment, Rarity and Applejack could wait after all. The question remained though, where does Lyra live, and what does she do? Most likely something musical if one judged her by her cutie mark, then again, it could be drama related as well if one went after the traditional Greek lyrical art.

He thought about it for a moment, but since he had no idea on where music or anything else would be practised in Ponyville, he might as well ask any random pony if they know where Lyra is.

He looked around and saw a strange little pony with shock blue hair and huge purple sunglasses walk past him. He turned and approached her.

“Good morning. I am new around here and I was wondering if you know where I can find the pony named Lyra?”

“Yeah, sure I know. She's at her house. Take this street then turn left at the next intersection and keep going until you see a yellow house with a brown door. It has a mail box with Lyra's and Bon Bon's names on it.”

Karon only stared at the random pony that had just given him a perfectly detailed description of where to find the pony he was looking for.

“Only in Equestria.....”

“Uhh, well thank you....?”

“Name's Vinyl Scratch. The most talented DJ in Equestria.”

“Really, you've got DJ's here? ... Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll see you around.”

The pony only gave him a little twist of her neck as goodbye and trotted off. Karon stared after her for nearly a minute then shook it off.

“How about we just stop expecting things to be anything but bizarre. That way we wont stand around with our mouth open every time something weird happens.”

Karon followed the instructions the pony had given and eventually tracked down the house she had been referring to. There was a mailbox outside with Lyra's name on it right next to someone's with the name Bon Bon.

He opened the tiny little garden gate and passed through the white board fence that surrounded the lawn. It looked well kept, and for some reason, he just couldn't see Lyra being a garden pony.

He stopped at the door and briefly considered how he should do this. He could simply ask if she wanted to have a lunch with him and he could tell her about humans ... and then gently hint at the moneyless state of his personal economy.

"Sounds good."

He knocked on the door a few times then took a step back and waited. He heard hoofsteps on the other side of the door before it opened up and he found himself staring into the blue eyes of the cream coloured pony he had seen when he first walked into Ponyville.

She obviously recognized him because her eyes widened to double their usual size, and she didn't move, at all. It looked like she had suddenly frozen and couldn't move even if she wanted to.

“Uhm, hi my name is Karon. I was wondering if Lyra is home?”

Her mouth opened and a lot of air slipped out but no words. Eventually, something that sounded like a no was heard.

Karon frowned at her then looked at something behind her.

“You sure? Because she is standing right there behind you.”

Bon Bon turned around and saw Lyra standing in the hallway with a severe case of bed-mane. She was staring at Karon the same way Bon Bon had done just a moment ago, but her eyes shone not with shock and fear, no Lyra's eyes shone with almost feverish intensity as she looked on the human.

She really, really wanted to talk to him.

Karon tried to defuse the tension and waved at the unicorn.

“Hey there Lyra, sung any good songs lately?”

Her face split into a huge grin and she rushed forward until there was barely a finger's width between them. She put her front hoofs on his chest and stood on her back legs. Her face twisted into a look of deep concentration and she looked down at her right hoof and her horn began to glow.

Karon's eyes got bigger and bigger and his stomach got sicker and sicker as her hoof slowly morphed into a horrible caricature of a human hand.

“Just run, no funny comments or jokes ... just run, please.”

But the worst part was when she hobbled on her back legs and took a step backwards, then she stretched out her newly formed human hand as if she wanted him to shake it.

Karon almost vomited at the thought.

“No free lunch is worth this! Don't touch it either. It might infect you!”

“With what, human handiticus?”

Karon steeled his mind and stomach and forced his right hand to grasp the small turquoise hand before him and shook it quickly. The worst part was that it felt exactly like Twilight's coat had.

“Lyra....” he gently said and took a step back watching the hand with undisguised revulsion.

“....Please put that away and never do that again.”

Lyra looked a little heart broken after he said it, but Bon Bon looked at him with naked gratitude. The poor pony had suffered through too many incidents where Lyra had thought a human hand was more practical then a hoof.

“I'm s-sorry....” Lyra said and she looked really sad, like Karon had decided to come here only to break her heart again. He would have to rectify that.

“Lyra, what I meant is that it looks ... very ... wrong on a pony. Yes, I admit having digits on your hand makes a lot of things easier, but you have a unicorn horn, and that developed for a reason. So please, try and use it instead of morphing your hoof into a hand, okay?”

She nodded but still looked a bit sad, Bon Bon was looking at her with a little sympathy and obvious relief. She must have thought this might end the human-obsessed nightmare that was living with Lyra.

Not even close.

“So Lyra, I have a deal for you.”

She tilted her head and waited for him to continue.

“If you buy me lunch, I will tell you so much about humans that it will make your head spin.”

Her face turned into a pure manifestation of fierce joy, and she ran back into the room she had come out of. Karon had barely time to begin wondering what had just happened before she returned with a notebook levitated above her and all hooves back to normal.

“I had to get my notes. I wrote down all the questions I wanted to ask you in this.”

“Are there a lot of them?”

“Of course! I had to use the entire notebook and there is still so much more I need to know.”

“Wait, you filled the ENTIRE notebook with nothing but questions?”

“Yes, of course. I thought about making another one, but decided I wanted to get the answers in this one first.”

Karon looked at the notebook hovering above the eager pony then back down at her.

“You're going to be buying me a lot of dinners in the future.”

Karon and an overexcited Lyra had left Bon Bon behind at the house and went to a dinner restaurant that Lyra had recommended. They had plenty of baked goods, and Karon had gulped down five large sandwiches and three muffins before Lyra began asking questions.

The next three hours were spent answering almost a hundred different questions. During that time, he ate three more sandwiches and a chocolate cake he shared with Lyra. Her questions ranged from everything concerning the daily lives of humans to random questions like why humans had five fingers and not eight.

During their conversations, Lyra was shocked to hear that humans do not control the natural cycles of their environment. She was terrified when he told her they were omnivores and as such ate meat. She was thrilled when he told her humans primarily depended on their technological works, and Karon tried to explain how they worked as best he could.

Honestly though, he hardly knew himself. Technology had always been a boring subject in his eyes. Who would find the idea of a robot arm that was controlled by your brain amazing when one could control another human being entirely with a little magic training.

The sun was moving across the sky at a steady pace, and eventually after having spent three hours answering questions, Karon declared that he was done.

“Sorry Lyra, I'm really grateful for buying me dinner like this, but after all the questions and answers I'm feeling so confused that I can't really think straight. We will have to continue this another time.”

“That's fine, I already have so much already! I need to go home and write it all down before I forget anything. Please come visit me as often as you want, and we can talk more about humans, you truly are amazing.”

She had this complete look of satisfaction Karon had never seen on a female before outside of the bedroom. Maybe she found it exhilarating in more ways than one. He would have to watch out, or that human obsession and glorification could easily be projected unto him.

He did not want Lyra as a stalker with a crush.

They both said farewell to each other, and Lyra practically danced her way down the street back to her home. Karon wondered what Bon Bon thought of all this. She looked like she had suffered through the worst of Lyra's obsessiveness, and he couldn't convince himself that she would be happy now that Lyra now had found a real life human being to focus it all on.

Karon looked around before spotting a large clock on the wall inside the restaurant. It was 15:33 according to it. Karon got out of the seat he had been sitting on. Well, seat might be a bit of a stretch, it was a pile of hay stacked so ponies could sit on them. They were surprisingly comfortable.

He decided it was time to visit Rarity and offer whatever insight he could give her about human fashion. It might not be a lot, but he knew it better than most human males his age would, and it would have to do.

Karon also had discovered that he actually liked Rarity, more so than the rest of the ponies with the exception of Twilight. There was just something about her that hinted at a deeper secret or potential, and there was nothing Karon loved more than solving a hidden mystery no matter what form it took.

He headed over to Rarity's boutique and knocked on the door before stepping in. Rarity was standing in the middle of the shop concentrating on the group of tools flying around one of the pony mannequins and was making a dress of some kind with impressive speed.

There was no one else inside, so he hung back and watched her work. He didn't know if she had heard him or if she was too busy with her work to notice him. She was singing a wordless song to herself as she worked. It couldn't have taken more than twenty minutes for her to sew the entire dress.

“That's quite impressive work lady Rarity.”

She jumped and squealed in surprise at hearing his voice, She gave him a look of equals parts indignity and amusement.

“Karon dear, you simply have to stop showing up like this out of nowhere. If this continues, I will start beginning to think you're spying on me.”

“With beauty such as yours, could you blame me?”

He smiled at her and she smiled back, her eyes sparkling with concealed laughter.

“No, I guess I can't blame you.”

“How fortunate I am to be so easily forgiven, but I came here to make good on my promise concerning human fashion.”

She peaked up at this, but frowned as she looked back at the mannequins behind her.

“I would love to ... but I'm afraid I will have to fill out an order I received this morning. They will come and pick up the dresses this evening and I simply can't be late.”

“If you don't mind I can stay here with you and talk while you work. That is if you don't think it will distract you too much.”

“I could never ask you to remain here while I'm too busy with work. It would be dreadfully rude of me.”

“Lady Rarity, the simple pleasure of being in your company will be enough to keep me here for hours on end.”

“Well, if you insist.”

She turned around and went back to the dressmaking. Scissors and fabric floated in the air and were soon joined in by threads and needles. It was almost hypnotic to watch, and it had a gentle harmony to it as everything worked together smoothly.

Karon walked over to a nearby table and sat down on it. It stood a little shaky as it bore his weight, but it held.

“So, let's begin then.”

And for the second time that day, Karon racked his brain for information he usually had no interest in beyond the rudimentary basics. He told her about different fashions and styles that had been worn by different cultures across the ages from farmers to nobility, men and women, and all else he could think of.

Rarity seemed especially interested in the old Asian style of clothing and looked very interested in making herself a kimono for the early mornings.

The boutique was naturally very bright because of all the white in the colouring, and Karon kept track of time simply by observing the light becoming weaker and weaker as time passed.

Rarity never faltered for a second in her work, which demonstrated how deeply ingrained the activity had become in her psyche. As long as she kept her eyes on her work she seemed to be able to give Karon all of her attention during their conversation.

Eventually they strayed away from the topic of fashion and the conversation became a whole lot more personal.

“So lady Rarity you have to explain, how is it that you have not yet moved to a larger city like Canterlot. Surely your work would generate more profit and become more well know across Equestria if you were not constrained here in Ponyville?”

“I have thought about that many times, but I always come to realize that my life here is far too important to just leave. Besides, there are plenty of influential ponies that have come here to look through my creations. It does not perhaps reach out to as many ponies as I would like, but I could never abandon my life and friends here in Ponyville.”

“So you have lived here your entire life?”

“Yes, my family lives here and I never left despite thinking about it may times, but what about you? Do you have any family where you're from? Is there some way to give them a message that you are all right?”

Karon didn't answer at first. He kept looking down at the floor as he carefully scanned his emotions.

“They're all dead.”

All the things that had been held in the air dropped at the same time and clattered against the floor as Rarity turned around and faced him aghast.

“Oh no I'm so sorry I didn't mean to ask something so terrible ... Do you ... want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“I understand....”

The mood had definitely been ruined at the sudden revelation. Rarity didn't go back to work but didn't say anything either in case that might make the situation even more awkward.

Karon on the other hand was surprised. He hadn't thought he would be ready to even mention his family, but now it was out in the open ... It had hurt to say it but not as much as he had imagined it would.

He had learned to live with the pain, but he did not want to discuss what had happened that night with anyone. Varsif had spent years trying to make him go through it all again but had failed.

“Rarity ... please don't mention what I just said to anypony else. It must stay between the two of us.”

“Of course. I'm so sorry if I forced you to experience any old memories.”

“You didn't. They are safely locked away.”

Rarity didn't respond at first. She appeared to be mulling over what he had just said before speaking. The sun had begun to set outside and the shop gained a look of calm and peacefulness as it dulled in colour.

“So, now that all that trouble with the princesses has been taken care of, what do you plan to do here in Ponyville?”

It wasn't very subtle, but Karon still felt grateful she had decided not to push the subject of his family. He still wanted to talk with Rarity.

“I have a few ideas. One of them is to offer magic training to unicorns that want it, and the other is to begin working as a herbalist. Perhaps making oils or other ointments.”

“That sounds like excellent ideas, but I must ask ... are you sure that will be enough for you?”

Karon's tone betrayed his surprise at the question. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we haven't know each other for more than a few days, but I had the impression that you are a very adventurous pon ...,I mean human. Those ideas sound splendid for a regular pony, but are you sure you will not get restless?”

“She has a point. The life of a quiet Ponyville resident is not one we could handle without going ballistic at some point.”

“I know, but at the moment we don't have much choice. We still have too much to learn about this world and I don't want to leave my new pony friends ... I like them.”

“It will not last. Sooner or later this town and these ponies will not be enough for you. A trickster is our nature and a trickster does not live a quiet complacent life.”

“One thing at a time. Things might not become all too exciting in the near future but it is necessary.”

“I think you might be right lady Rarity, but right now I have no desire to leave. Especially not when I have such exquisite company in which to spend my time with.”

“You flatter me too much. Keep this up and I'll start expecting it from you.”

“That is because you make it so easy for me Rarity. Giving you compliments comes naturally.”

“I take it you are this charming to a lot of mares then.”

“No, just you.”

She gave him an unsure smile and fluttered her eyelashes a little. Most likely she wasn't even aware she did it.

“I don't now what I could have done to earn such special treatment.”

“It is because you are special.”

Now the smile left all insecurities behind and for a moment the shop almost seemed to shine in its normal bright colours. The smile faltered a little as she walked forward and placed a hoof on his right leg. She looked at him and asked carefully.

“I hope I did not upset you when I asked about your family.”

He sighed. “No Rarity, it was just sudden, but please, never ask of it again.”

“Of course. I'm sorry I was so insensitive in the first place.”

She still looked at him and he understood what she wanted. He got off the table and fell down on one knee and allowed Rarity to give him a light hug.

Karon was extremely proficient in sensitive types of magic, those which are mentally and emotionally based. He was talented at manipulating them and also very talented at sensing them, especially if he was in physical contact with the one he was reading.

Right now he could feel Rarity's emotions clearly.

She was still unsure how exactly she should behave around him. He was no pony and Rarity had difficulties in treating him like she would any other stallion, but she also found him very interesting. He had showed himself to be just as passionate and dramatic as she could be most of the time and she had never met anypony else like that before.

She also felt something else, hidden a little further in her heart. She found him exciting in a dangerous way. He had stood up and fought against the two most powerful beings Rarity knew of and lived. He came from a far off place and had saved one of her friends from a terrible fate, and then there was something else. There was a darker edge to him Rarity couldn't place. She had faced many dangers before and knew how to recognize then, but despite this, Karon had given her no reason to distrust him. Even Celestia had forgiven him for all wrong doings and welcomed him.

And now, she had also terrified herself with dragging up the subject of his family. She couldn't imagine how such a thing must feel and she felt sorry for him for having to endure whatever painful memories he must have.

All in all, her heart was a battleground of conflicting emotions, and above all else confusion reigned. She did not know how to handle all of it. She had little experience in matters of the heart as her hopeless infatuation with prince Blueblood had showed.

Karon felt all of it and was surprised somepony like Rarity had managed to keep it hidden and under control. He would have expected her to have expressed all of it with flare and drama at her earliest convenience.

The worst part came after they had held that light embrace for a few moments. Physically, she only had a light grip around his neck and nothing more, and there were no bodily indications for what he felt bubbling up inside her.

Desire.

It was not very strong, and it was mixed in with her confusion to the point it was hard to separate them, but it was there and growing.

And then Karon felt it again, this time from himself.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Would this be a bad time for saying I told you so.”

“I did not ask for your opinion!”

“It's your opinion idiot. I told you this was happening.”

“I don't want this to happen, things have just calmed down and I don't want to create another mess to deal with.”

“Would you relax and stop being such a control freak. Hey, if you play your cards right, you might even get both Rarity and Twilight. Think they would agree to a threesome?”

“I hate you.”

“Self loathing is a tragic thing.”

Karon had been so busy arguing with himself he hadn't noticed how Rarity had not yet let go of him despite the fact it must have been several minutes now. And her grip was getting tighter.

When Karon noticed he started to panic. He had no idea what to do, his logical reasoning told him to excuse himself and go some place far away and cool off. His body thought differently and was pressing Rarity tighter as well.

Soon Rarity and Karon were crushing themselves against one another and he heard Rarity lick hers lips several times. He could feel her heart was racing and realized his own was following that example, but neither of them did anything else.

What was he supposed to do?

They remained there holding each other hard. Rarity was the first to break off and put both her hoofs against his chest, her cheeks were flushed and the sky blue eyes had a misty glance to them.

When she started to lean in against his lips, he panicked completely and sprung up from the floor.

“I ... I think, uh ... I should leave. Bye!” he stammered before turning around and walking away from the store with as much speed as possible. He had no idea how to identify all the emotions that were raging on inside of him at the moment and didn't care to try.

He just kept walking without turning it into a run. He really wanted to, but there had been enough of making a scene for the day. Now he was going to head back to Twilight and not get out of bed for a few days.

And shower in very, very cold water.

“Real smooth. It's not like she was as scared about all of that as we were.”

“Then why did she do it!?”

“Maybe she isn't so much of a self-deprecating idiot as we are. Is there any reason why she shouldn't want to be with us?”

“There are a million reasons.”

“Yes, but none of them are good. You are going to stay here for a while, so take a lover. It will be good for both you and her. Rarity is perfect for that.”

“There is so many things wrong with that. I don't even know where to start!”

“Oh for fuck's sake, you are a trickster! If it is strange, weird or outside of the boundaries of that which encompasses all things normal, then you have a moral obligation to do it.”

“I think you have misunderstood the concept of having morals.”

“No, I understand it perfectly. Stop fighting yourself and embrace who and what you are. The only problematic thing right now is you.”

Karon felt him temper rising. He was truly an asshole at certain times. His walking turned into angry marching and judging by the ponies he passed by, he didn't look very happy.

“So much for not making a scene.”

But he didn't try calming himself down in any way. He might frighten a few ponies, but it was a good way to get rid of energy, and right now he needed that.

He arrived at Twilight's library only feeling more aggravated than before. Why did he keep getting himself into situations like these? It was ridiculous that he had managed to get an other worldly anthropomorphic pony interested in him, and even more ridiculous was the fact that he had managed to make himself interested in her.  

He stopped before the door and took a few deep breath, steadying himself. The situation was not good, but it was bearable. However, if Twilight found out about what had just happened ... he would be screwed.

He pushed the door opened as gently as he could, but it still squealed loudly as it swung on it's hinges. Stepping into the library Karon shook his head in annoyance.

Having heard the door opening, Twilight had made her way down from her bedroom and stood at the top of the stairs looking at Karon unsure of what to say. Obviously he should have waited a while longer before returning because she knew something was wrong.

“Did something happen Karon?”

“Any ideas for a convincing lie?”

“At the moment no, just act like you are annoyed for something trivial and not worth mentioning.”

“No nothing has happened ... I guess I just woke up in a bad mood. I think I will retire early this evening. Was there something you wanted from me?”

“Actually yes, I was wondering if you wanted to talk to me. We haven't just had a friendly conversation since you arrived here ... but if you're not feeling up for it, we can do it another time.”

“Great now I feel bad too.”

“Sorry Twilight. I promise you that I will set aside time tomorrow, and we can just relax and talk about whatever you want to. Right now though, I need sleep and hopefully wake up in the morning feeling better.”

“All right. Goodnight Karon.”

He went up the stairs and followed her into their room before heaving himself up to the platform while Twilight climbed up the ladder. She went over to her bed and laid down upon it reading a book. Karon tried to ignore her as best he could and took of his clothes. This time though he took off all of his clothes and stood naked before slipping in under his covers.

Twilight hadn't taken her eyes off the pages of the book, but he could see the blush and the tense way she held her head as if she was afraid of looking up. Karon had hoped she would retreat from the bedroom when he decided to go nude, but apparently not. He wanted to be alone and think things through.

“Sigh, doesn't matter I guess. So what are we to do?”

“You already know what you should do. Stop acting like a scared little bitch.”

“I am not, I am just willing to think things through before taking risks.”

“Lies and more lies. You're a risk taker that doesn't give a fuck about consequences and you know it. So what's the problem?”

“The problem is that it would risk the very delicate friendship I have built up with these ponies. Things are moving a bit too fast for them to be able to properly get used to the way I act. They will end up rejecting me. Also, Rarity happen to be a pony, I am a human and like human females.”

“You also like Rarity, I can't see where that is unthinkable.”

“You know that they have a word for people that have sex with animals back at Earth.”

“Yes but that does not apply here really. All these ponies are highly evolved creatures on par with humans and can't be labelled as animals, which creates a new kind of taboo about having interspecies sex. And that argument would be based solely upon the sanctity of procreation with one's own species, but since you don't give a fuck about humanity at large, and do not plan to ever spawn a little monster, that does not apply either. Hence, we are left simply with the fact that the situation is weird, and you are having trouble accepting it because you feel like the situation would require you to let go of your constant need for control.”

“And all this means we arrive at a conclusion that says...?”

“That this potential relationship with Rarity is the same shit you find in any relationship. Fear of loss of control, check. Having trouble accepting the differences that forces you to challenge your own world view, check. Being unable to find a proper protocol to follow since the particular situation is unique, check. Really, it's just a rehearsal of the same shit every couple of every species goes trough. Hell it doesn't even have to be couple it applies to all relationships of every kind.”

“She's not human!”

“That's just racist ... Wait, no it's not, it's speciesist .”

“Which means?”

“It means that since you don't plan on making babies, the shape of her physical vessel has no relevance in this argument. She has all the qualities you would like in a human female with the exception of physical form.”

“It still feels ... wrong.”

“If it makes you feel better you're not human either.”

“WHAT!?!”

“I thought you had figured this out by now. You are not human, your body was destroyed remember? What you are now is a physical realization of your inner trickster nature. Sure, you look like a human, but you're not. That's merely the original design used to create what you are now.”

“So what am I?”

“You are the trickster named Karon who one day will become a wizard. That is who and what you are. You are no longer limited by whatever genes your family passed on to you. You are unique, belonging to no species in the universe. You are a trickster, you are not supposed to be able to properly be caught or defined. Human is merely the distraction and form you have. It is your energy and nature that define your value and existence.”

“Great, so now I have not only a relationship, but also an existential crisis on my hands.”

“Hardly. You know who and what you are, now act within this knowledge and stop denying it. No creature can fight or deny their nature without it destroying them.”

“So is that what I will be to others? A shapeless meaningless thing they can not understand.”

“How does one creature understand another?”

“By their ... actions.”

“Exactly. Accept yourself, then act as yourself and they will know you not by what species or name or any other category they try and force you into. They will know you by the way your nature dictates your actions.”

“What if they can't accept that person?”

“Then you don't belong together. It is an infinite universe. There is room for everyone in it.”

“This will not be easy.”

“No worthwhile lesson is easy.”

“Is that what this is? Just another lesson?”

“What else would life be?”

Karon had no answer to that.

His head still reeling from the events of the day, Karon decided it would be best to go to sleep and hope that perhaps things would become clearer in the morning. He needed to absorb all that he had told himself ... however that worked.

One of the privileges of being so talented in sensitive mind magic is that one can make themselves fall asleep more or less at will. Karon began his usual breathing exercise and after a few minutes allowed himself to drift into sleep.

                            ***************************************

He was standing in an old forest, giant pine trees stretched up into a cloud free night sky. The moon was full and the stars twinkled above. On the ground, snow covered the earth and wrapped it in cold winter's embrace.

Karon looked around, this dream felt too real, too tangible.

He could feel the cold air on his skin, and in the distance a wolf howled at the moon, calling to his fellow hunters.

Karon twisted around when he heard footsteps in the snow and his jaw dropped in shock at what he saw before him.

Clad in a large brown robe made from a dead bear, fur still attached, stood a large, heavily muscled man. His face weathered by long years spent in harsh climates and framed in by long white beard and hair.

“Varsif?” Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Don't wake a sleeping... Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 46 Minutes