The Time of the Grey Knight

by Uros Osium Tokker

Months after the events of the first season Twilight Sparkle realizes something after she had a foreshadowing of the future. Worried, she finally does what she thinks is right and tries to summon the supposedly most dangerous creature known: A human.

8. Public Relations

Chapter 8: Public Relations.

Finally someone jumped to the fray :3 Nobodyreallyimportant and Destruc2 are going to be t he proofreaders for my stories ^^ I will thank them in every chapter from now on cause they are awesome 83 so without further ado:

Thanks to the proofreaders Nobodyreallyimportand and Destruc2.

Also, about some reviews:

The ending is, literally, the ending. It means that when it ends it will have a good or bad ending. The nightmares have a predestined ending and not all can be turned for good, at least not the first time around (Some will), but Pinkie is the one that I think has the best psychological functions, capabilities and developing as she is already technically insane, but in a good way, so her nightmares will be harder to overcome while the others may not be so bad… technically. You all will see in due time :3.

I also want to say that I do wish for a happy ending, but this story is like most I work with: It grows on its own, I basically write it when inspiration hits me, the guidelines I lie down basically do not count for shiz if it wants to go somewhere else, which is why I think I have some quality to write: I do not force things, I have it in my head and it flows alone, I only need to get it catalyzed properly and grind it down until it is good enough once the initial chapter has been laid before me (Which is why this one took around 16-17 frigging days. I had it basically done in 7 and then keept on adding things or correcting others).

Mind you that this has also a negative effect: I have basically envisioned the whole thing in my head and it also has spawned stories after all this happens…

If it ends happily.

However I won't push it and the decision is still for you all to make, though after how dark things are going to be at some points (Though there will be a 50% dark 50% light and happy action) I do hope you all want a good ending :3 Be as it may be though, I will keep on working. Thank you.

Sidenote: Subconscious voice, this: 'Hello!' in J's mind is courtesy of Nobodyreallyimportant :3 I found it funny and quite interesting so I left it there ;3 could add something in the future ^^.

From the desk of nobodyreallyimportant (more of a cardboard box, really)

Hi all, I would like it to be known that I voted for a good ending. I hope I edit to you all's expectations.

Onwards to the story!

*** WARNING ***

This chapter contains 'mature' content. If you can't depict what it means… eh… when the next warning appears be mindful of what you read. It is technically not required to read it but if you don't mind such a thing I would advise you to do so ;3.

"I have to quote a very nice phrase from a very nice flash game," J voiced before he even opened his eyes, "My whole me hurts"

"Accurate phrase and detailed enough."

When J finally opened his eyes he saw the bright light of the sun coming through one of the windows that were on the walls of Berry's bar. Interestingly enough he had no migraine, the sun didn't hurt him, but… literally, and I mean it, everything hurt right now; every-single-cell. He could feel the pain in every nerve of his body and the only reason he could find of it was the magic that Celestia had granted him, the one that made sure to protect him from minor harm, sucking out the 'venom' that was the alcohol by not so kind means.

It took him some time to understand the situation he was in, though: He was in the bar, alright, but he also was NUDE and was lying on one bar table under the sunlight that was so bothering him so 'gently' so as to not dozing back to sleep. He could also see most his clothes around with his blurred vision, though most of them were now floating, cleaned and being folded by a white unicorn he thought he remembered; of course the bright red spots on her cheeks weren't there the last time. J also saw another pony, a brown mare with glasses and… ooooh shit.

"Uh… Mayor, He groaned, rubbing his face and eyes as he tried to get up, not minding his lack of clothes as much as his lack of balance.

The Mayor seemed flustered as J got up, but she simply gave a smile as Berry Punch walked around, getting Octavia and Silverlight from more or less the same positions as J from other tables around the bar, though they weren't in the same situation as him. It was good to be a pony if you wanted to go around nude.

J finally caught notice of his particular predicament though as he felt his head clearing, so he literally picked the darned round table he had been lying over and used it to hide his privates with the biggest blush he had ever sported in his life. He could be a total pervert sometimes, like most males of any species, but this was probably far too much, more so in a land where he was the weirdest thing alive. Besides, he had never enjoyed the things he did while drunk… and this was already leading him to think he had done one of those.

"Sorry to bother you dear, but it is almost time for dinner and Berry would like her bar empty, so she called Twilight but she seemed to have had a bad night…" The Mayor trailed off, not wanting to add more to it.

"I-I understand what you mean."

J still blushed furiously until his underwear came to him, floating and surrounded in sparkly light. He was fast enough to drop the table and get them on before being seen again. Such an interesting scene also included him falling face first on the floor.

When he heard a very characteristic giggle J could do little more than to blush even more. The reason? Well because he thought she would giggle or scream her lungs out to be truthful. And who, you may be asking, is the one he thought would do such a thing? Well…

"H-hello Rarity… eh heh heh… um, how much did you see," he asked between shudders as he took every piece of clothing that Rarity sent his way to cover up everything.

J wasn't sure if he felt most embarrassed about his maleness being seen or his wounds, though the latter was most worry than embarrassment to be perfectly truthful. For him it meant that there could be problems if Rarity asked something that he wasn't too fond of right now, at least he would want to get it explained slowly and without any of the girls prodding more than he wanted.

"Long en… I MEAN! I saw quite a lot… Oh darn," the alabaster unicorn was all red right now as she looked away. "I… I just came here to pick you up after the Mayor had a word with you. Fluttershy finally got Trixie to calm down, but poor darling won't even give us a piece of her mind right now, I think she just secluded herself in her own mind"

"I see," J got all his clothes on, shaking the embarrassment from his head. "Well then, what do you want Coral?" The name still sounded quite weird in his mind as he referred to the Mayor.

"Well dear, I wanted to wait until later in the day to talk with you about what I said yesterday, but…" She looked him up and down, "I am honestly not sure if you will be able to stand up for the whole day. Don't get me wrong my dear, but what you took would have made anypony visit the infirmary for a week or two"

"Needed it, regardless," J couldn't help but hide his blush. "Yesterday night was… it was worse than anything you can think of."

"But I can think of something my dear, that is why I am here." The Mayor sat with a serious look in her face. "I wanted to ask if you will use those five hundred bits for anything, and I need an answer now."

J's mouth hung agape. Ok, it was not as serious as he thought but, damn! Receiving the money? Strike one in weirdness. Strike two, though far from weird; was the entire fucking HORRID night. And then this question? That was weird, in fact for some reason he felt angry. He had lived hell in a few days and now he was being asked for money after going through the worst night in his life.

Basically his answer was, "Girl… what the fuck?" That made all the (aware) mares gasp. "I am sorry for being so rude but, seriously? You are asking me for money? I do not know what you want it for but yesterday night I lived HELL! No, wait, that isn't exactly precise, let me rephrase it for you; last night I DIED once and almost DIED twice. You don't have to understand it, in fact if you ask Celestia and she thinks you should know, then you will know and you will understand. But seriously; why the money? Why? Is there something so important that I have to be asked for such a frigging thing after drinking my ass out just to try and FAIL to forget what I had to do yesterday?"

The outburst made him feel bad, but his mind was hurting from so many places that he feared of it rupturing and him going insane. It was not the fact that there was danger in his new 'line of work' or the nightmares, it was the sudden change from something so nice and lovely that was living with the ponies, to something as horrid and dark as to fight for your life against monsters that no imagination could create even in his world. It just felt so wrong that he could hardly comprehend it, and it was treating to tear his poor humanity asunder.

Simply put: Too much too fast.

"Granny Smith is dying," the Mayor snapped with her eyes empty and her look down.

J felt like he had been crushed mentally at those words. His previous line of thoughts was cleansed and something clicked in his mind. 'Stop worrying about yourself for a moment, you prick!'

'That… felt like a ton of bricks' He thought at his internal monologue's tone. It wasn't the first time it scolded him and it wouldn't be the last "What do you mean by that?"

"Her sickness has advanced to third grade. She is basically sleeping most the day away and Apple Jack has told me that she sometimes forgets things. I looked in every book of medicine that Twilight had during our stay at her library yesterday, I also asked Redheart about it a while ago before it came to happen, but it seems the only explanation they have is that the sickness is in its final phase," The Mayor was talking without much of a feeling in her voice. "I have been her friend for fifty years, we haven't even reached our seventeenth birthday together"

She gave a little dark chuckle as she walked towards one of the windows in the bar to look outside. With a sigh she rubbed the glass with one hoof, giving a sad smile to the passing ponies that didn't acknowledge who was in the now closed and quite dark bar.

"You know, she, I and Mrs. Cake are the oldest ponies in here" The Mayor didn't look away from the window even for a second "Most people leave once they reach our age to live the rest of their lives in other towns, much like Apple Jack's parents whom left after Apple Bloom reached her first year of age, my own parents and most ponies here, including my daughter," She gently chuckled at that bit of information. "This place is VERY quiet and peaceful my dear, but it is the only Annie, Gretel and I would have as our home" At that the Mayor couldn't help but give a little laugh. "And if you are wondering; Annie is Mrs. Cake and Gretel is 'Granny' Smith. They took long to get used to being called Mrs. Cake and Granny Smith mind you, as much as I took to get used to being called Mayor"

The Mayor tore her gaze away from the street and instead bore holes in J's mind as she tried to read him and every reaction of his. Her looks had changed ever so slightly, but were clearer than anyone would think. She was angry, but understood, in fact it seemed she understood better than Rarity did as her gaze would glare daggers, but it also had sadness for him and maybe pity.

"I know more than you think my dear, Princess Celestia is a great friend of mine as she is of my father for some reasons that I don't really know. I do know, however, whose dangers you had to survive yesterday night and, in fact, I do understand how bad you could take this little request as from being practically slaughtered in your sleep, FEELING every second of it, would probably make anyone want little more than solitude or, maybe, some recognition" J looked down, appalled and frankly ashamed "To be asked for such a pitiful thing as is money I would understand some infuriation, however do understand that I do not ask it for greed or any other purposes my dear, I ask because I know how to heal Granny Smith and because what you have is what I need."

At that he perked up, even Rarity came closer and Berry Punch did nothing to hide her curiosity on the matter.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, my young boy, that I have been saving since I first knew of Gretel's sickness," The Mayor stood there, firm and quite defiant for an older mare "Annie and I both look older because we exposed ourselves to it WILLINGLY when it was developing and still contagious so we could spend as much time with her as we could until she simply looked and felt old enough to be unable to do so anymore." Even with her firm stance The Mayor looked like she had been stabbed at that. "The treatment costs thirty thousand bits, one thousand for every unicorn needed for the incantation and the preparation. No natural medicine can help here and Princess Celestia cannot grant such personal favors for others would want her to help with this, in fact doing this would drain the dear princess of a week's worth of capabilities to rain the sun, leaving her little sister with the burden of reign and to raise both sun and moon without the thousand years of practice her sister had."

"But… thirty thousand? One thousand for every unicorn," Rarity was stumbling a bit with each word as she looked from J to The Mayor. "If Princess Celestia would use so much power that she would be out of it for a week… h-how are thirty unicorns going to supply so much power? I-I never heard of something like that."

"The payment is, in truth, one hundred." The Mayor said clearly "Nine hundred are expenses for medical care, healing tonics and one month worth of their healing job as they will be confined in bed, spent from the magical use. I was lucky with that deal because every unicorn has been waiting years to heal Gretel, they all are friends from this city that moved away, yet they all want to help, so they lowered the price to one fifth of what it would be originally." Rarity gasped and Berry fell down as she heard that "Yes, it is quite a sum, but it is so because there are chances that one of the healers gets the disease instead of curing it. The longer we wait now that it is in the last phase the riskier it will get. If it goes like this for a few more weeks there will be no chance, neither I nor Annie or Gretel wanted to tell Applejack or the others about this but…"The Mayor was silenced as she saw something in front of her.

It was the card, no, the check that Celestia had sent with the amount of money he had for his new 'organization'.

"Have it, call them all as soon as you can," he said flatly, his look somber.

"I… thank you, young man," The Mayor tentatively took the card with her hooves and smiled at him. "I wasn't sure… I didn't know if you would give so much money away. I had to work for almost thirty years to save those twenty five thousands… this is a lot of money."

"I don't care about money, I never have," J was blunt. "I am sorry about the yelling, I had to know that if you wanted it, then there was a reason for it, and a good one. However I do want to ask you something in exchange…"

"Ask away," The Mayor was positively cheery now "For this I would do anything, I can't wait to see Gretel back again. We have so much to talk and so many things to do." Rarity couldn't help but giggle at how dreamy the Mayor had turned out.

"Well, I don't want much if I am to say the truth. I basically would like it if you can keep track of the money Celestia sends," J basically begged for it. "I am not good at storing money, when I have it I spend it, I don't see much use in simply hoarding even now that I may need to do so," He scratched the back of his head as he blushed. "And… well, since I still feel a bit 'open' from the alcohol from yesterday I would… eh… like to ask if you know how well interspecies relationships could turn if you, say, mixed ponies and humans?"

Silence was king for a whole, awkward, minute.

Berry had busied herself taking Octavia and Silverlight to the bathroom while the question lingered in the air. Before it was broken both mares came back, tumbling a bit while giving out groans and trying to hold onto each other mostly because otherwise they would fall to the ground and snore the day away. It did take them a few minutes to notice that there were other ponies in there. Well, a few minutes and two buckets of water from Berry.

Rarity and The Mayor were a much different story.

Whether Berry had preferred to say nothing and walk away (She knew J from his… interesting acting at night, that was it), Rarity had been flustered beyond belief and her imagination was running rampant, much more after she had seen him NAKED. It was not full of lewd thoughts though, she did think about a few possibilities but, to be truthful? She was thinking about WHO (even though she had an idea) could have perked his interest and how it could play out. So many sappy romances had that effect on her.

The Mayor was red too, but she had a bit of a smile on her. She could hardly help but to think about Twilight and how close the two of them had been the other day. Maybe it wasn't her, but The Mayor did doubt it, in fact she was quite sure it was her, as J would discover later. Looking over at Rarity she also thought that there could be others mixed in this, not that it would be so weird with so few stallions and so many mares. Both mares and colts ended up with the ones they loved, sex wasn't that important, species wasn't that important, what was important was love and friendship in these relations, were them permanent or flings from time to time.

However…

"Of course I could help you, dear, but I would prefer if you came to the Town Hall latter if you feel yourself able," she finally said. "I am not the most knowledge pony my dear, but I do have a life full of experiences. Still that would be better to discus in private you know? I do like to be open with everypony and our society is, as far as Twilight told me about yours, quite more open, but we do like some privacy and THIS may need it. I do doubt you want everypony knowing the specifics about this request…"

"I…" He stopped, taking a long breath as he looked at the now expecting eyes of the mares around him. "Yeah… Yeah I will go to the Town Hall. First, though, I want to go with Rarity, and then meet Silver Spoon in the library, if she's going there" He looked back at Silverlight.

"Yes, I will send her in a few after she is out of school," Silverlight groaned. "Thank Celestia I convinced Marion to stay at home, at least my mate has some decency I seem to lack."

"Hey, your oldest friend is a prissy and bitchy 'queen,'" Berry stated as she walked behind the bar to prepare some mixes. "After all the discussion yesterday it is a wonder you didn't drink three times more."

"Thank you Berry, that makes me feel so much better," Silverlight grimaced.

"What did I miss," Octavia grumbled, a huge headache storming her head.

"Not much," Berry assured her. "Though yesterday you and the nice guy were playing so much that it was a wonder how you don't remember about it. In face it was impossible to get you away from each other and Silverlight wouldn't stop looking. I got lucky enough to get everypony but you three out of here" Her tone was firm, gentle and warm, like always. Berry Punch was used to the things happening in her bar, but this did make her blush and giggle a bit when no one looked.

That granted them both another load of stares. First at J and then at Octavia. What had happened last night?

As if sensing the question Berry simply took one glass she was cleaning up and, while looking at it with expert eyes, said, "After Octavia took four shots she began to feel 'funny', like most would with what she took. With what she made me take I couldn't get that 'warm feeling' for a couple of hours, so I made sure she didn't try to hump the walls." Berry snickered and Octavia blushed profusely. "However, you," She pointed at the human, "Got up a bit groggy not much latter afterwards. You got to beg her to forgive you about what you did (or whatever) when you two met, I don't know what it was all about, but she said she would if you made it worth her time."

Both Octavia and J blushed to such an extent where the mare's fur turned red all over her face and J could only try to look away in a bit of shame.

"I don't know who was worked up the most, but there was a lot of kissing and… touching all night long." There were some giggles as Berry said that. "Silverlight woke up when it was already going and she insisted on keeping it GOING, if you understand what I mean, clapping at the event." Berry chuckled as the rich mare blushed heavily, not giggling anymore. "I honestly couldn't keep up after six in the morning, so I went to my room to make sure my little girl was still asleep and to get some rest myself. I don't know if something else happened here so don't ask me, but I promise that there was at least two hours of fooling around on your part."

Octavia couldn't keep on with this anymore; she got up and walked away, embarrassment plastered on her face. Nopony knew of it but she had thought that, even with how rude it had been how they had meet; J would be a nice person to have as a friend, one sincere friend at least. What he had done to make up for his harsh meeting had touched her so… not even music and concentration on her task could clear it away. Maybe it was because she was starved for someone that was genuinely good, or because he had made the effort to reunite her with her sister, maybe even because he 'put her in her place' after she went full auto on her sister! SHE DID NOT KNOW! However, to let it go like that… to get drunk and… well…

"I'll… I'll see you later, Jonathan," She said meekly as she finally went out of the bar.

Silverlight was fast to follow Octavia, both because she was getting so red that she didn't know what to say and because she had seen what time it was so she would need to hurry to get everything planned if she wanted free time to speak with her daughter about the possibility to have new friends. Second thoughts about sending her to the library were there after she heard what she heard; of course she had been drunk that night too, so she wasn't someone to talk.

"So darling… can we get going?"

Rarity finally found her voice, even as quivering as it was. This had the potential to be such a drama! She was intrigued and fascinated, whatever was going to happen would be IMPRESIVE. Of course she felt slightly bad for J, and only slightly because this would all go well on the end, she was SURE of it, but the joy of being part of this kind of story made her feel so… so complete. She had always wanted to be on her love novels SO much, it was the type of fiction she loved the most so it didn't matter if she was just an observer, she would enjoy this all the way. Of course she had to stay focused now; she had a friend that needed cheering, another that needed help, and then there was Trixie.

The latter was still not too nice to her eyes, much less after the last night she had to spend with her, but when she broke down into tears it had made her pity the poor creature. She was so afraid and alone… It was like she was seeing her sister after their parents had decided that it was time for them to leave the two youngsters in charge of their family business in here. It felt a bit like betrayal at first, but it was how things were around Ponyville, at least for most ponies.

"Yea, yea we should go," J answered finally, rubbing his eyes. "When would it be a good time to go to the Town Hall?"

"Anytime you want is fine dear," The Mayor gave a little smile. "Today there should be little to no work, there is nothing special going on. I will need a few hours to redact the letters and sent them all though, so you can take your time doing your things." she gave out a little giggle. "You seem like you need it at least."

"I do, I do," J shook his head and gave a little groan. "Thanks for… everything, I suppose, Berry"

The mare gave a wave and a little chuckle "No need to, but next time we will see how much you can drink without getting knocked out, for now…" She looked shocked as she heard steps down the stairs. "GET OUT OF HERE! I don't want my baby girl scarred for life!"

*** A quick escape later ***

"You know darling, I don't hold anything against you for… a wild night, if you want to call it so," Rarity and J had walked away of the bar quite fast, giving the Mayor a quick goodbye before they heard, "Mom… where is that nude creature? He looked funny." The reaction from J had made Rarity snicker loudly as the poor human tried to outrun his shame to no avail.

"I feel stupid," he retorted. "I feel rested, also quite hurt, but rested nonetheless. I was hoping for that, not for the… what happened tonight when I was drunk, much less to lose it and yell at Coral like that," his face felt somber for a second.

"Slip ups do happen darling, not everything can go as planned," Rarity tried to assure him with a sincere smile as they walked away from Ponyville. "Besides, it did sound like you were fighting those things Pinkie called Nightmares, right? At least Mayor Mare seemed to refer to them."

J shuddered and froze.

"Darling? Are you alright?" The worried look on Rarity burned in J's mind, but he didn't move "Jonathan?"

"I would like to let what is in my mind, remain in my mind," He said, resuming his pace.

"But… if I asked," J had passed the now quiet Rarity, yet the words made him stop again, "would you lie to me?"

Again he froze. "I could either tell you or… not tell you," He admitted like he had done in the spa. "You know that."

"Would you deny me the information then," She asked; genuinely hurt. "I thought we had made good acquaintances yesterday. You seemed nice and chivalrous. Even if it was something horrible you could tell me, if that would help you…"

"If I told you, then you could maybe hate one of your friends," J's words were fast, cold and maybe hurtful, but also the truth "What I experienced yesterday night was a nightmare… inside one of you," He said, Rarity trembled slightly. "Would you want to know what horrors I lived there? Who was it that the Nightmare had as host? The thing doesn't seem to want to hurt any of us, but it is there and, to sustain itself, it had to corrupt a bit of one of your friends." Looking back J saw Rarity's more than worried expression. "Still, do you want to hear about it knowing the risks it entails?"

Rarity doubted for a second, but she did come beside him to answer, "Yes, I want to."

The next fifteen minutes were very slow and tense.

Rarity had turned her color, that of a cute marshmallow (as some would call it), into a bleak mockery of the perfect white from before. Her hair seemed to get wild as she heard the story, her cheeks were green the few times she felt bile coming up and she didn't even mind the few times that dirt got over her hooves or even her tail as she let it drop to the ground. While she didn't have the best of relations with Pinkie she did have her as a great (albeit random) friend, one that would cheer anypony up.

To see what had been done inside of her mind, to hear that Celestia said EVERY one of them had such a travesty inside of their minds. She had to ask why that happened, why he was in that horror and how could he say he would do it again if it was needed.

The thought of saying 'No' the next time he asked her if she wanted to know had popped into her mind a few times after that.

"I woke up to discover my face marked with this," he touched the leather like skin in his face. Still it was not much, but it felt weird, "and the marks in my back. I am not sure what could happen if I make another mistake on this line of duty again." J sighed as the walk towards Fluttershy's home came to end for the cottage was now in sight. "I… would thank you if you didn't mention this to Fluttershy. She would be unable to sleep for a long time if she knew of such a horror happening to two of her friends, even if I am new and… don't really think I deserve the worry."

"You do my dear, you do," Rarity said in a weak voice as she tried to regain her usual manners after the shocking tale. "I do believe you did your best, in fact, since you came you seem to have been doing so with your life on the line every time"

The excitement she had felt before in the bar at what could be a sappy novel in real life had turned to amazement at the courage of the human. She knew that he had much more in hiding that he had told her, but for some reason Rarity was sure that she wouldn't like, maybe wouldn't even comprehend what it was. She wasn't sure why, she simply knew that the truth could probably be harder to swallow than what she had already heard, which was no small feat.

However to see such a knight, aptly named so, willing to protect Twilight and the others, the whole Ponyville in fact, made her feel warm inside. Was it because there had never been a real knight for a long time? Not a real hero? Fighting monsters was hard task, and there were some very nasty ones as well as good monster slayers to control them; however this was a different range of things. Creatures that went to your head to corrupt and devour you, that… that was horror in pure essence.

And she LOVED the idea of such a colt (Or a man) with such valor to confront them.

Now that she knew more about it she couldn't look at the human with any ill intention. Yesterday she had felt a bit obliged to be nice, today morning, seeing Octavia and him 'happy' together she had been genuinely nice. Now? Now she saw him in shining armor like some short of hero.

But she did also see a grim side of this.

"But I do fear… that if you do that again you may die," She said in a sorrowful tone. "You are risking it all, I can understand that you feel compelled to do the right thing darling but… why?" Rarity stopped as she watched him tense. "Why all this? Why so many risks? I know if you asked the princes she would take away her orders and would seek for another solution. Why do you have to live these horrors alone?"

"I am not alone" J flexed his fingers and, to his surprise and Rarity's, the sword appeared "I am not now, I have friends and I have a purpose. I am away from home and I am in a world that is nicer, cleaner… the only stain here is me."

For some reason J had turned quite dark after the talk, he felt as if all this was his fault somehow even knowing it really wasn't. It was normal though, the past night still hung on him.

"If I do this right, then I may believe I made up for all the wrongs I did before I got here," his voice was dreamy at those thoughts, "and I will be at peace knowing I cleansed what is dark within me."

"That is stupid and you know it," Rarity spat. "You have to let it go, please," She begged "Celestia can take care of this, maybe even we can do if the Elements are needed." She was genuinely concerned about him, enough to get close and thug him to get down. "Please? I… you have done much already, you have saved Twilight, you have tried to do the same within Pinkie's mind… it would be horrid if they lost you because you felt compelled to sacrifice yourself to simply felt at peace."

"You worry about me," That made J chuckle and obviously lighted his mood.

Rarity, in turn, became flustered. "You are a decent person and a knight to boot, and I do mean so literally, darling," She said in a defensive tone. "If there were more like you there would be much less wrongdoing everywhere. I DO like that about you and I DO appreciate what you have done in a way you can't imagine. Until Twilight came all of us six were pretty much divided my dear, if any of us were lost…" Rarity gave a somber look towards Ponyville and then towards Fluttershy's house. She seemed to grow sad at the thought. "It… I don't know what I could do. All of us had friends back then, except Twilight, but we did not share such great friendship together as we have now. It would be the most painful lose any of us could endure."

J nodded, knowing well what she meant, "I promise I'll do my best, it is why I am here."

"But I don't want you to," Rarity practically sounded hurt as he did all but get it. "If you told all of us what you saw, if you told all you would need to do, I bet they would want you to get away of such a duty." She gave him a gentle nuzzle, "I am generosity my dear, but what you do goes much too far even for my taste. It is pure sacrifice and you are hay bent on doing if it that is the cost you have to pay. That I find it endearing, as I know anypony would, does not mean I, or anypony else, would want you to do it ever again"

"Is that so?" J couldn't help but chuckle, "So you wouldn't want the guy that you like to get killed?"

Rarity blushed at that and J knew it had been quite mean, but come on; you have to admit he did need to think in ANYTHING else but what had been occupying his mind until now. This kind of fun would probably mean he would get it later if Rarity had the chance to pay him back in kind, but it was not really anything he was worried about, in fact he had been at least slightly relaxed by such a petty thing. "Don't look at me like that Rarity, I am sorry but it was a prime chance to relax and laugh a bit," J admitted with a light chuckle, getting up and giving the white mare a gentle stroke over the neck, which made her shiver. It did seem that his hands worked magic with everypony (Experience: Twilight, now Rarity and… probably Octavia?), mostly because they had nothing like this and only dragons or Diamond Dogs seemed to have this kind of appendage and the intellect to use it without murdering someone. Well… scratch that, just dragons. "I promise I will make up for that, I don't want to embarrass or get you angry"

"Oh, I will hold you to your word, mister knight," Rarity grinned with a bit of mischief in her voice as she began to walk towards the hut again. "However, right now you will have your hands full trying to cheer up Trixie in any way, so it wouldn't be good to get you distracted."

They continued for a little while until they reached the hut, of course there had been a lack of problems since the day had started so they did have to show their ugly face right now, or at least it was basically all too easy for J to think something would happen with Trixie being there, Fluttershy probably having two nights of sleepless vigil and, maybe, Rarity wanting a little payback from his act. He was used for things to mess up, as said; it would be natural… just as natural as the reaction of most the animals that were around Fluttershy's hut at least.

Except for Angel bunny, whom was guarding the door like if he was a knight on his own, all the birds and most the wild animals that were around the hut went away when J approached enough for them to be sure that he was going inside Fluttershy's home. J had realized quite easily that they hadn't done it because they were cowards or because they didn't care for the one that treated them and usually made sure they were alive, well fed and free of illness, it was because humans are, by nature, predators, killers and scavengers, or, in few words, dangerous creatures. Ponies here were as intelligent as humans, or more, but they were good natured and the animals didn't have to fear them.

That the critters hadn't seen a single human in millennia didn't mean that they had forgotten about them. They, however, knew that if the human was with a pony, one that was friends with the yellow mare, then Fluttershy would be ok. Of course the fact that J had the sword still in his hands could probably also deter the poor woodland critters from having much courage in this endeavor and probably be quite skeptical of him being benevolent towards them.

When Angel gave J a glare that was as, if not more, dangerous than what he had lived near the Nightmares, the fear seemed to control the magic that forced the sword out and called it away. It was not until then when J finally noticed it had remained in his hand as he approached Fluttershy's hut. Why? He didn't know, but as Rarity looked over him with curiosity J felt the need to have his sword back, something that seemed… imperative.

"Angel? Why won't you come in?"

The thoughts in his head banished as he heard Fluttershy's voice. For some reason that made Angel seem relaxed, though the bunny still looked one of the most dangerous creatures he had ever seen in Equestria. In any case that changed as Fluttershy opened the door and hugged the poor bunny until he tried to escape and breathe.

"Here you are you little cute thing," She said in her usual cheery and 'loud' voice as the poor bunny tried to flee for his life. Fluttershy only let go of Angel as she looked at the pair that stood by her door, still the bunny did look pissed, "Oh! Hello, I thought you would take longe.r"

"Yea, I woke up a bit early it seems." Suddenly J felt heat spread over his cheeks, "Ah… sorry to make you wait, I assure you there won't be any problem like that again"

"Indeed there won't," Rarity gave out a light chuckle as she came in, throwing J a naughty glance that made him blush harder.

'Peeeeeeeeeeeerfect' He groaned mentally as Fluttershy shrugged and went inside, letting the door open for J, whom was busy nagging his mind about the most recent events to try and clear up everything in his head 'Twilight seems to like me… wait, seems? I think I did something really well or either stupidly wrong to get kissed twice by her so, let's be realistic here; 'Seems' doesn't 'seem' an option anymore.'

Getting inside the hut J tried to wash away the thoughts for a moment so he could see the room that the series had showed many a time. It was mostly unchanged, in fact it seemed pretty much a perfect copy, but there was a huge table in front of the sofa where a bundle was covered by a blanket. Trixie, if he was not mistaken.

'Ok, let's think in whatever else I can think of but Trixie.'

He quickly took his attention away, there were MANY ways he could mess this up and he was not willing to think of them even if they tried to creep their way inside of his mind.

'You should stay calm,' a voice chimed in, much to J's initial distaste. However this time not Celestia, but Luna, as J recognized the tone with her next words. 'Trixie has been under too much stress, almost more than a pony can handle. If you aren't confident she will notice it and ruin your chances to make her calm down at all.'

'But it is not so simple,' J gave a concerned look towards Trixie as he approached, only to sit in front of the table as both Rarity and Fluttershy were at the sides. 'What should I do? I try to get over what happened yesterday and today I have THREE new things to worry about! How the hell did I get to be liked by Rarity and… and Octavia? I know I am not the best drunk ever, but to do… whatever I did? I don't want to harm Twilight's feelings after…' He gave a huge mental sigh, 'and that is something else entirely, what should I do with her? What should I say? She is the one I have been with since this all began and I… I like her, but I do not know how I will mess up this… relationship? I don't know if it is something like that, at least not yet.' If this had been a face to face conversation J would look by now as defeated and sad as one could be. 'Then there is Silver Spoon… I know it is a minor problem but I think I may have messed up. The kid could make both Rain and Final the most miserable girls in Equestria."

'First let us talk about the most urgent problem you seem to have,' Luna spoke out with a gentle tone in his mind, 'all of the Mane Six share a very deep magical bond Jonathan, much like you do with me and my sister now.' J thought that she had tried to mean something with that, but he failed to get a grasp on it. 'The feelings,' she continued, 'each of them feel towards anyone will magnify if they find things they like towards them, so if one loves you and other simply likes you, the feeling will grow towards the one that is stronger.' That made J felt a pang of something inside of him, though he knew not what it was, 'This means that if Twilight loves you and, for example, Miss Rarity likes you as a friend but harbors longing feelings towards you, then she too will love you if the feelings are deep and sincere enough. Remember, though, that free love is something important in Equestria so you should not feel ashamed as no one else will be.' Saying it was easy, but J thought that it would be hard to apply it. 'I wanted to use me and my sister as examples, however we both find you a friend. Twilight… she seems to have bonded with you more, something that will make the others feel for you more and more, though not as much as Twilight does, at least not now.'

'But… what I am to do? I always tried to seek for the ONE, not the MANY,' that almost made him chuckle inwardly, almost, because this was far too serious and because his head was hurting with so many worries. 'If this was a peaceful time I would not mind, maybe… in fact… in fact maybe I would let my perverted side out, if you don't mind me saying so,' Luna only chuckled and J could feel her blush, 'But right now? Right now I am worried that this may make things complicated.' He let out a sigh, one that seemed to stir Trixie up as soon she pushed her muzzle away from the confines of the blanket. 'Talking with her and hoping to NOT mess everything up, alongside making sure the fillies have their first friend here, is eating my frigging mind Luna! And I am sure there are more problems to address that I forgot.'

Finally Trixie showed her face, sad and seemingly broken enough to not show much more emotion than the bloodshot eyes could, meaning that she had shed enough tears to fill a lake. However she didn't seem much worse than Twilight had been, the problem was that she had not the luck of Twilight and she had no one to talk to, at least no one that she WANTED to talk to, as Fluttershy had already shown yesterday.

'About the fillies… just relax,' Luna's voice sent a wave of relief towards him for some reason, 'I, as the princess of the night, know of the nightmares of others, my dear Jonathan. I saw the one you had to survive through as much as the ones that the poor Silver Spoon has lived through since she knew that her best and only friend was going away for a time.' At that she sighed gently and continued with a sad tone, 'There are many more things that will happen, they all will test the limits of you, Jonathan, and I am sorry.' Luna half whispered to him, 'Celestia says there will be some tranquility after all that has to happen today happens, but it may last only a day or two until it gets bad again, though I think you may even have a week to relax. I ask that you do your best and that enjoy whatever you can since Celestia and I will let you be, so you have the mind all for yourself. I hope that tomorrow you feel better in mind and body so we can talk some, Celestia is eager for this weekend and to attend to that party Pinkie's planning.'

J simply grimaced a bit at that, it was not that he didn't like most what had been said, but he was unsure if after all this he could relax for a few days or a whole week, the thought simply seemed too alien to his mind right now. Trixie saw this and she looked at him as defiantly as possible, thinking it had been directed at her. By the time that J noticed it the harm had been done.

"So you are the one that saved Trixie from death's clutch, are you not?" Trixie gave a weak but angry tone. Her throat seemed to be hurt as each word made her wince a bit, "May I beg for the reason as to WHY did you throw Trixie to this fate?"

'Good start, if I say so myself.' "I did nothing of that, in fact I arrived too late for you if that makes you feel better," For some reason J had been way too harsh, he felt like it at least, but it was the truth. "The only one alive by then was your mother, and I couldn't save even her," J tore his gaze from her and looked down. "In fact if it was not for the princesses I would have lost both myself and Twilight. Celestia was the one that, by your mother's plea, saved you."

"Hmpf," Trixie lifted her muzzle as if in defiance, "I don't care who did it, you went there and brought only Trixie back. I do not like that." She spat with a low growl. She was obviously not as strong as when she first awoke but she sure as hell had a bitter mouth.

"Trixie, please, we talked about this," Fluttershy begged with as much of a demanding tone as she could muster. "He did all he could there. Would you have preferred to…?"

"Yes, I would have," Trixie scolded, "Trixie's mother and father died protecting Trixie! I should have done something… Trixie doesn't deserve to live." The mare sniffled but no tears came down. She had spent them all. "They protected Trixie to the bitter end… that giant monster almost got Trixie and Trixie's dad had to sacrifice himself for Trixie's sake."

Silence dawned and two scenes unfolded.

On one side Trixie simply threw away her cover and turned so to not look at the human as her tired form gazed towards the Everfree Forest. Survivor's guilt or maybe something else, Trixie was no expert on the matter and none of the present besides her knew really how bad she felt, not like she cared enough to tell them. She had lost all she cared about a second time and she had been saved by a 'monster' and that dammed Twilight. She knew nothing of why her parents had tried to make her forgive that blasted mare, but these past days it was all she could think about thanks to the wound that hurt most deeply to her right now.

On the other side was J, with a completely different mindset than before. He no longer worried about what had dawned to him today in the morning as he was too focused on how to save the barrier that now seemed to separate Trixie from him. It was not that she did matter to him, it was cruel but she was not his friend and, as much as he hated to admit it, to him she was not that important. It is not that he knew nothing of her from the series; it is that the pain Trixie felt was also within Twilight and the fillies as well as the Mane Six in some way thanks to their friend feeling like she was. For him Trixie was something he had to fix so his friends could be alright. Cruel? Yes, probably, but no one said he was perfect in any way, in fact he would be the first to deny such claims.

'But… what am I saying?'

The realization that he had helped the Mayor mostly for this reason, even if it had been subconscious, hit him hard, much like if he had been thrown a ton of bricks. The pain that Applejack would have felt if Granny Smith died would hurt not only her, but her friends too. He did not care about money and he had felt bad about the outburst, he was sincere in that, but J had to admit something: He did not care, he DID NOT CARE, about anypony else but those he had known already and that were friendly towards him. This now included, besides the Mane Six and the princesses: The Mayor (Coral), the fillies Rain and Final, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Silverlight (Somewhat) and Berry Punch (Again, somewhat).

It basically meant that he cared little to nothing about most Equestria? Yes, he had to admit that he did not care much. In fact like when he was on Earth he tried to keep a small circle of friends and not mind the rest of the world. 'I have to change this,' J finally thought. 'I am the nicest I can towards my friends, but it seems I have turned so cold towards everyone else…' He stared at nothingness for a moment before wondering, 'Have I been like this all the time?'

Maybe it had been in a subconscious level, but he had to admit that he had already told this to the Mane Six before and they hadn't said anything too to him for that. However this was hurting him inside now that he figured that such a thing would be cruel in here. Again… what did he do in Earth? Well, as said he did care for his friends and his family, nothing else. In Earth there were bigger assholes than in here, maybe he could defend his ideas and his ways with that back in his place but…

But in Equestria… what? Were all so bad as in his world?

Equestria tried to be all about love, friendship and kindness. Celestia had made sure it was so, probably because of what had happened in the past. But if that was the case, then who was he to bring any kind of hatred? He already hated himself enough, and that too had to change at some point, maybe. So how could he care not for the well being of such innocent creatures as the ponies? They all cared for each other, even if they hated each other's guts, a perfect example would be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. If they saw each other in problems the most probable outcome was that one side would help the other, though grudgingly.

"Trixie… Would you like to come with me to see your daughters?"

"WHAT?"

Even if her voice was hurt Trixie had turned and had yelled to the limit of her lungs, her face aghast with anger and worry.

"I am here to help, and even if they say things that may hurt you it is my belief that you should talk to them," J tried to look at Trixie in the eyes but he didn't feel like deserving to do so right now. He felt like a prick, at least until Rarity came to his side and rested her body against him. It was a gentle gesture, and she gave a sweet smile, but J could only return a serious, albeit more relaxed, look towards her.

"They think you are a coward, they think that you did hide behind your parents," J continued, but tried, this time with all his will, and not because he felt bad, to not look at her for he knew that she would shed tears even if she had none left to do so. "I don't want anyone hurt anymore. I had enough of that already and my sanity can't take much more of this," In fact his mind was about to burst with so many new plots and twists, so many fears and so many possibilities all brought in one single sphere of thought to his already occupied mind. "I want to help, but you have to come with me to Twilight's house."

"TWILIGHT!"

'Oh… I fucked it up, didn't I?' 'Yep, you seem to have an affinity for that, don't you?'

"Why does that stupid mare have more luck than I? WHY DOES SHE HAVE TRIXIE'S KIDS!" Trixie began to cry slowly, lying down as she covered her head with her hooves, "WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO END BADLY FOR TRIXIE BUT GOOD FOR THAT BLASTED MARE?"

"Because it did not end well for Twilight either," Rarity boomed finally with a scorn in her face and a powerful, yet quiet enough tone. "Do you think it was any better for the poor dear? That is your and HER family that had been torn apart"

"What does the stupid mare care for Trixie's family?" Trixie yelled from under her own hooves' cover, "She has everything made up for her! Trixie had no fancy princess or goddess or… whatever to look for her!"

"Your parents are… were Twilight's aunt and uncle," Fluttershy told Trixie as she got closer to the mind broken pony. The blue mare stopped sniffling and cursing under her breath at those words. "She… she was pretty hurt… I haven't seen her as broken as that day. Trixie, you should go, if not for her, your cousin, you should go to see your little girls." Fluttershy gave Trixie a gentle caress over her neck as to try and, somehow convince, Trixie to calm down. "I do think… I do think you should forgive Twilight, she did nothing wrong to you, ever," At that Trixie gave her a scowl, but a weak one at least. "But if nothing else, you should talk with your girls… or do you want them to think badly of you all their lives?"

Even if she mumbled from time to time or when she tripped over her words, Fluttershy had a way to make sure anyone that DID hear her would fallow her advice, for it was, more often than not, sound. Trixie tried to say something against it, to give a retort of some kind, but each time she tried to open her mouth she winced, probably at the pain from yelling earlier and at the thought that, sooner or later, she had to go see her little girls.

"They know I am their mother, right?" Trixie finally sat back on the sofa with a sorrowful look back on her face, "I understand… if they hated Trixie… I went away for seven years, how could they think of Trixie as their mother? I left them with mom and dad when I should have been there for them." A little tear escaped her dry eyes, if this had been any other moment she would be crying rivers by now. "How can I face them? How can I… how can I forgive Twilight? She took away Trixie's girls… she was braver than Trixie, she did better than Trixie…"

"She did never better than you," Rarity had to chime in as a look towards J showed her that the human, as resourceful as he had was, could hardly think of something now, 'Too much in his mind, the poor thing,' she thought before she continued talking, "Twilight is a great unicorn and a magician, a great PONY. Your problem is that your ego gets you carried away my dear, if you were to be, let's say, gentler and nicer, things might work out better." She tried to offer a smile, though it was not as sincere as she wanted it to be. "The harm that is already done cannot be mended, but darling, think of all the good you could do for Twilight, for your little fillies, and for yourself if you tried to turn over a new leaf as a better pony."

There was a moment of silence as Trixie looked away towards the Everfree Forest one more time. "Give… give Trixie one day… that is all she asks," she didn't say much more, simply she took the blanket and went into hiding under it. "Trixie needs some time to think," was heard between mumbled words and whimpers.

"Trixie," J finally found the strength to talk again, which granted him the attention of every mare in the room, even if Trixie didn't even try to get out from under the blanket, "the more time you take, the worse it will be. I don't want to pressure you but… are you sure that you want to wait?"

A few seconds went by. Everyone was quiet.

"I need time… I… please… Let Trixie be," she begged, the mare didn't even change positions under the blanket; she was probably brokenhearted and mind fucked by now.

Fluttershy shook her head and gave J and Rarity a pleading look that simply asked for them to leave. Trixie was still in very bad shape and if the yellow pegasus thought it was good to let her be for a while more then maybe it is what they would have to do. Rarity simply nuzzled J to get up and get going as the white mare was not as good at making people feel better as Fluttershy was, something that now was required and that she had more than noticed the past day.

J felt…well, he felt nothing, or not much at all. He had done his best but it was obvious that Trixie was in a state of mind that he could only make worse right now. He had to force himself to be better than he was now, that he had ever been, to gain more tact and to simply have a better way with people. That until now he had done it 'right' was a miracle and he knew it, Equestria simply handed it to you in as much of a silver plate as you could ever ask for.

That would hardly last much longer.

As he got up Rarity gave him a gentle smile once again. This time J reciprocated, he was feeling little, but he had tried to make rights from some wrongs and had noticed a new thing he had to change. While the visit hadn't been what he had hoped, it had been an advance towards something better, if he used it well.

"Please," Trixie poked her muzzle from under the blanket for a second, "tell them… tell the fillies… that mommy loves them, that mommy is sorry. For everything."

J was about to walk away when Trixie said that. It was not that he didn't feel bad for her, at least now he did(Which was not saying much in his favor, but at least was something). However, as he stopped to consider it, he realized the idea was not a good one, at least Final would probably hate it, not because Trixie said it, but because she didn't even dare (At least as the filly would put it) to go and tell them face to face. Rain probably would take it better as the little unicorn seemed to be more on the shy side and she didn't seem as harsh as her sister with Trixie. Probably the best thing to do would be to tell Rain first and then see if the little girl could do anything to warm up her sister about it.

"I'll tell them," he said finally, "at least I'll tell Rain, but Final wouldn't take it kindly if you didn't go yourself, even then she may not take it very well, but at least if you show her some courage she will warm to it a bit more than if I told her myself." It felt harsh but also was the truth "I do hope you will go and talk to them tomorrow. Even though I think Final won't welcome you yet… it is better than to wait for her to forgive you if you don't show up. Will you really go to Twilight's house?"

After he left the question lingering in the air J left. It was not like Trixie was going to answer and much less that he thought she would answer, in fact she would not say anything for the rest of the day, no matter how much Fluttershy tried her best to talk with her about anything. Whatever that could get her to do something but hide under the blanket. Until the next day Trixie would simply think of what she would say when she saw her young girls again.

*** A few minutes later, nearing Ponyville again ***

"I was cruel back there," J stated as they walked back to Ponyville.

J and Rarity hadn't shared a word until then after that 'interesting' and brief visit. Rarity had thought that things would go smoothly and that Trixie would probably recover a bit. The outcome hadn't been exactly that, but at least that obnoxious mare had quieted down much more than she had originally thought. What bothered her was that J didn't seem to be in the same shape as yesterday, in fact he wasn't in the same shape as a few minutes ago and it wasn't only for the nightmare he had to live through.

"Something on your mind," Rarity didn't look at him; they simply continued walking as she wasn't sure if she would like what she would see; his face full of concern and self loathing. She had seen it earlier and she wasn't sure how to help, it did hurt her more than she would let through, "You weren't as rude or as harsh as you may think dear. You were simply direct and sincere, much more than most ponies I know at least, if we don't count my closest friends of course"

"I was not rude, I was simply not caring," he said bluntly enough to make Rarity cringe. "I didn't care for anyone I hadn't meet and befriended, in fact I didn't even care for Celestia until she was sincere with me when Twilight suffered her loss." J sighed and stopped, leaning against a lone tree near the road as he looked towards Ponyville. "That is one of my problems, one I tried to hide so much that even saying it didn't make me realize I should change it; if I don't know someone well enough for my liking then I don't care about them at all. However I try my best to look nice, nice enough so I indeed fool myself even when I told you and the girls that I practically did not care, and this was the other day at the spa," he simply rubbed his forehead in thought. "Too much denial is too much. I… I may have been worrying for the wrongdoings of old for so long that I didn't see the ones I do wrong every day."

"You are worrying too much," Rarity simply waved at him and continued walking, forcing him to follow close by to hear her. "You have arrived here not long ago and you have already faced many dangers. How soon would you like to change a whole life worth of doing what you do with the pressure you are under right now? If you do want to improve yourself, then I'll be honest darling; simply don't try to rush it." She smiled gently at him "I know you want to do your best and to be the best po-, I mean man, you can be, but if you worry too much you will only hurt yourself and anyone close to you, and I have to wonder, would you want Twilight seeing you hurt for being too headstrong and thinking any change deserves a sacrifice?"

'Easy for you to say such words,' he thought bitterly. 'I have to become the person I should be or I am probably dead, not so easy when you don't even know the time you've got left.'

'You know, your whining is getting tiring. Dude, you need to chill.'

As they crossed the limit between the road and Ponyville, J relaxed. 'But what she said is true,' his thoughts drifted to the things he had done already, his worries and the pain they were causing him already. 'Too much pressure, too much worry. I could have done things better if I took it easier, if I calmed down.'

'Give the man a cigar, he had an important revelation.'

He didn't even pay attention to the ponies he had to avoid (Well, more like they had to avoid him) when he and Rarity headed towards the library. At least Ponyville was accustomed to him by now; a good night of gossip could do many things and was a magic all on its own.

'I think I am going to do NOTHING with what is left of today and then tomorrow I'll do the same thing, more so if I have a week with no worries.' He visibly relaxed and even let out a smile, 'Besides Pinkie should have the party ready soon as Luna said, and I can't wait to see her and not what I had in my mind yesterday. I bet she can make me laugh somehow.' J chuckled, catching Rarity's attention for a moment.

"What is it dear?" She asked with curiosity, "I thought you were going to be, as Pinkie puts it," she made her best attempt to emulate the pink pony's demeanor, "a Mean meany Mc meanypants!"

"Just thinking," He admitted. "I think I have to relax a bit, I may not want to, if I have to say the truth, but I do see that I need it. If I keep on worrying too much I am going to slip up, the problem is that such a thing wouldn't hurt only me; it would hurt many ponies, including all of you." At that he looked up towards the fashionable unicorn's house. "I don't like to think that I am important, but I was with her when all this happened, so until she is fine again I will do my best to not mess up things, and afterwards? I will do even better"

"That's a good start," Rarity gave a little chuckle as she looked at him and then at Twilight's house with a little glint in her eye. "I will not lie darling; I know not of what you are going through, in fact I have yet to lose someone so I don't even know how Twilight is faring and would hardly comprehend it. I do not know of how horrendous it is to do what you do against those monsters, those… nightmares… at least not much more than from what you have told me. However I do know that you two now need to take things slow." She gave a knowing glance towards him, "You do not have to change my dear, what I have seen makes it obvious that you are somepony that is very, very good, though you do have a very dark side, much like anypony else." Rarity simply shrugged as she said that, nopony was perfect, "However you do want to change, which is good. The thing is that with all the pressure you seem to want to try and force it." She gave him a serious look, "doing so will guarantee you failure. If you try to force it like you have been doing the only thing you will earn is more problems, both in mind and body."

"I know, I know," they finally reached Twilight's doorstep as he gave a heavy and tired sigh, "but what can I do Rarity? I have to come to terms that I am not in my home anymore, that here my life can be the best, what I always wanted, but also that it comes with the price to put that life on the line and, if I mess it up, those of my friends too." Rarity feared that J would simply bash his head against the sturdy tree house when an exasperation frown crossed his face. "I am not innocent, I am not even as nice as I try to be. I am just lucky from being here and I fear that I am not going to be enough for this. In most stories the good guy always wins… but this is not like most stories and I am not sure if I am the good guy, in fact I fear that what I am is the bad guy that has yet to discover he is such a thing,"

Rarity simply smirked at that. It was a serious matter, of that she was sure, but it was looking so much like some of the novels she read from time to time…

"Darling, you should take it slow. I promise we all will help you in anything you need, you are our friend and Twilight thinks you are important, of that I am sure" There was a glint of something in her eyes as she said that "Speaking of which, I am not sure if it is right for me to go in there. I wouldn't want to make her feel bad if I said something wrong, that would be the WORST-THING-EVER," she blushed as she said that in such a tone that she was almost yelling, "Uh… forget I said those words my dear."

"Would be quite hard to forget that," A voice chimed in from between the pair. When they looked to see whom had talked they saw Twilight standing there with a little smile, "especially since you are the most dramatic mare in all Equestria"

"DARLING!"

Right then and there J would have laughed his ass off, quite literally at that, at the scene that unfolded as Rarity pounced at her friend, pushing her into the tree house. Poor Spike never saw it coming as he found two horned heads flying towards him, fast. Three fillies were there to see the whole thing and laugh wholeheartedly while a single adult mare tried to make sense of what was happening in here.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Silverlight asked out loud as she placed a hoof under her chin.

There were some mumblings coming from the white mare as she embraced her friend, of course Twilight wasn't much better with conversation as she fought not to swallow Rarity's mane. J simply gave a little smile as he got in the house, freeing Spike from under the weight of the two mares (Though if it was only Rarity he would hardly have minded).

"Nah, but she hadn't seen Twilight in a few days, you should understand how she feels right now," he said with a gentle smile as Silverlight took the hint. "At least in her case she won't miss her for so long, in fact she won't have to miss her from now on…"

"I know where you are going with this, I will be fine," Silverlight assured him, "and thanks for caring." She would have felt quite stupid if she discovered he didn't, at least not as much as he supposed he had to, but at least a bit was better than nothing. "I am good because it seems my little girl is fine with the choice I made."

The young grey filly, Silver Spoon, was there with Rain and Final, J noticed it only when she flustered a bit and looked at him like if he was some kind of monster before her mother gave her a little smile and a nod. She seemed to want to say something, or maybe to move, however she did nothing as she rubbed her left foreleg against the right one in embarrassment, much to Final's dismay as the pegasi finally pushed her forward with a gentle shove.

That act of courage and friendly demeanor made J catch a glance of the girls. They did seem to be more cheerful than the past days, probably as the nightmare had said 'A defense mechanism' so none of the ponies would be sad for long. However, it did catch his attention that the fillies seemed happier and, in fact, more colorful than before as they seemed to be full of energy, or at least Final was that lively while Rain seemed to still remain as quiet as always.

However, of the fillies, the one that was really changed was, in fact, Silver Spoon. While being the same as in the cartoons, the filly had bags under her eyes of such a size that could make anyone think the worst, her mane was messy and her glasses a bit dirty, much like her fur and even her necklace. If it wasn't because J was sure that the girl had been a mess before coming here, as it was obvious she had 'suffered' a quick makeup session, one would think she was always like this, or worse.

"Hello, I'm Silver Spoon," Usually a follower and not loud spoken (If she had to go first), Silver Spoon's voice was meek and timid, as well as very fragile. It was obvious that the poor filly had been, for a time now, suffering from a breakdown "I… I suppose I have to thank you for this? I mean… us three?" She looked back at Final and Rain for approval. Old habits die hard.

"Yea, we do," Final said in her assertive tone. One thing that hadn't changed was that the young pegasi was much too serious, direct and sure of herself. Silver Spoon nodded and continued, "I… I wouldn't have made any friends on my own. Didn't want to go out at all and such…" It was obvious that she wasn't all that used to saying 'thanks'.

Final didn't continue, she had seen her sister lowering her face again and it had taken her attention away. Such a thing soon took everyone else's attention too, much like if she was the focal point of a disaster. Unbeknown to all, Rain was not made for the life in the circus, she hated the spotlight, or any kind of 'light' to be truthful, but she did miss everything she had known until that day, something in special if she were to be asked.

"I understand," J gave a little nod to the girls. "Could I borrow your Rain for a second though? She still seems like something is nagging her and we can't have that, can we?" J gave out a light chuckle as he picked the very small unicorn up and carried her away towards the kitchen for some privacy.

None followed him, in fact the scene relaxed down in the main room and some idle chatter took place as he walked away with the little filly. She trembled at first, but soon simply nudged against him and sighed happily as she was held close.

To J this had come as a surprise. When he saw the young filly like that he thought of two things; A chance to talk to her without her sister nosing about and the care he had felt so long ago when his life took a turn for what you could call the worst. She looked so hurt and helpless that, from within his being, he simply had wanted to comfort her and make her happy if he could do so. In fact he would never say it, but on them he saw both his sisters.

Of course he had something to tell her too, so keeping a little secret would be easy.

"Rain Berry, why are you so gloomy?" He asked after taking a seat near the entrance of the kitchen, "I know you ponies recover very fast, no matter how sad the situation is. I am sorry if you don't like me worrying when this is a family affair," 'At least of what little family you have,' he thought before continuing, "but I don't want any of you sad, it will only hurt you more, something of which we already had our fill for a lifetime."

"It's… not so easy for me," Rain had such a whisper like voice that she was almost identical to Fluttershy in how hard it could be to hear her if she felt shy or afraid. "I miss grandpa and grandma… and yes, I know, sis didn't want to hear it when they told us they weren't our daddies, she is too headstrong and has many… dark emotions, but I did hear granny and grandpa." She sighed long and hard, looking sad, "I miss mom..." She gave a little whimper as she tried to embrace J with her hooves, her face burying in his chest, much like if she feared he would go away and leave her alone. "I always wanted to meet her, to know why she left… however, when I did, she didn't tell, she simply came back and… and didn't treat us like her daughters. I want my mom, not 'aunt Trixie.'"

This did catch J by surprise, at least a bit. He knew that the girl didn't look as convinced as her sister when she said she wanted nothing with Trixie, but like this?

"I thought they had said nothing…"

"They told us only once, but sis didn't want to hear it and they thought it would be better to not bring it up again," Rain sniffled. "I… I suppose she took it badly that mommy went away, leaving us behind. I don't know why she kept telling me she wasn't my mom, but I am sure it had to be a good reason, right?"

"I don't know why she did what she did. I went to see her today, but we didn't talk much," however he did have something to say, "she did say, though, that she is sorry, and that she loves you two."

At that the young filly turned from gloom to vibrant happiness. She hugged J hard enough to take the breath away from him even with her young age and small stature. The girl was indeed so happy that she could be heard mumbling words of thanks and some other things under her breath. Clearly she had been waiting for something like this and was hard pressed to refrain from being so happy.

"However," He coughed, catching a bit of his breath after Rain relaxed a bit, "I don't know how your sis would take it, much less if I told her that Trixie wants to come here tomorrow if she is able." After all he wasn't sure if she would indeed come or not.

"Oh…" that made the young filly stop with her antics and look down in worry, "I… don't know? Sis still feels bad because mommy had to hide behind granny and grandpa, in fact I am not sure how she doesn't feel… well… hate for what she did." At that she looked away in shame. "I… I must admit I think it was…"

"They asked her to," J assured her, cutting her line of thought and bringing her gaze back up. "They were her parents, I am sure they wanted her safe and they protected not only her, but you two too. If I could say what I think though, my money would be that both your sis and mom suffer from an illness of the mind right now, one that is making them feel in certain ways that will not only hurt them, but each other too."

"What do you mean?" Rain quirked an eyebrow, a bit confused by his words and very worried for her sister and her mother.

"Your mom and sis have survivor's guilt. They feel bad because they survived and your grandpas did not, though Trixie shows it feeling sadness and shame in that she did nothing and your sister probably hides it in that she hates your mother since she thinks that she had to die, or at least to do something, so your grandpas could be alive today." J sighed and gave Rain a gentle caress over her neck, making the young filly relax and sigh in contempt at the touch. However J knew that it was not enough to make her relax after what he had said, "I don't want to worry you any more Rain, I just am sincere with what I think"

"You don't make me worry," She admitted, nuzzling his hand for some scratching since he tried to take it away. "I know things will work out. Granny always told me that there is no door closing without a window opening, I try to be cheerful since… well… I cannot do much magic or anything special at all." Rain gave a meek smile, blushing a bit as if she had told of a secret she wanted to keep hidden, "I am just a very small pony, one that has a useless horn, but I am very smart"

"We will have to wait and see," J scratched his newest marks idly, something that would, in time, denote anxiety to those that knew him well enough. It was mildly in concern and because he wanted to know what Rain meant by her horn; however he didn't feel like it was the right time to ask.

"I will wait, I know sis will be glad mom is back, in time," Rain practically chirped in happiness. "I only hope she takes it well at first, she can be very mean if she is angry"

"Like all big brothers and sisters," He chuckled and thought back to some of the most… interesting times with her sisters, Namely when they teamed up to tie him up or beat him in mock fights, their upbringing made it simply look fun to them, "but things are hard and you have to understand that you have taken it better than your sister. Final does not like Trixie, she doesn't seem to want her as a mother, at least for now, so I am pretty sure she will be angry whenever Trixie decides to come here, so give her time, ok?"

Rain nodded and gave him a gentle hug before hopping down to the floor. With a little smile she waved back at him and ran towards Silver Spoon and her sister. At least the girls would now be able to try and develop a little friendship that, with luck, would flourish with time. The idea made J jealous, as he would probably lack the time to have such a simple life as them (Or a life at all, if it all went to the worst case scenario), but he discarded such a dark feeling as he saw them smile at each other.

'At least the kids will have a good day,' He thought, resting against his seat, not caring much for the hunger that was slowly eating at him. It took a whole minute until his stomach roared out in displeasure,. 'I think my stomach has some problems eating only fruit and hay lately,' That thought made him chuckle, "Oh geez, look at me, worrying about everything there is to worry and then some" He groaned, not noticing that he was talking to himself, "I am a mess, aren't I?"

'well when you bring it up like that…'

A familiar voice invaded J's thoughts, "Well, all things considered…" Twilight had barged inside the kitchen a minute afterwards Rain went out; she had said nothing as she simply wanted to eat something and not to disturb her friend after Rarity had told her of what seemed to be the problem today. It was not that bad if you thought about it; he simply had too much on his mind and was stressed to be the best he could in everything, only to find it too much for him in so little time.

It made her think of herself in that regard. They weren't that different. The mare had seen him doing his best to do exactly that, though, the best he could, but he was trying to change many things at once.

First he was trying to control his rage, quite easy if you take your time.

After that he was trying to be more caring towards everypony, a huge task when he had been shunned by his own people either by his choices and decisions or by his own right when his darkest side took over and he got into a fight.

Not only that, but he also was trying to be more open, friendlier and to take chances when in his world he would hardly ask anyone the hour in thoughts of that person lying to him.

If you couple that with what had been happening these past few days… well… She hated to swear, but if it was in her head she could say 'What a mindfuck' without too much of a hassle.

"Har-de-har-har, Twilight," she couldn't help but chuckle at his comic look as he said that, "You know I do my best with this." He looked towards the main room to see Silver Spoon praising at Rarity while her mother admired her little filly's sudden change and happiness. "I hope all I am doing doesn't end up exploding in my face. I am trying too hard to do everything right, I may be very well forcing it." Twilight heard the deepest sigh coming from him. "It never spelled anything good for anyone when they did things just like me."

"And you know I thank you for such a thing, forced or not," Twilight admitted while taking an apple and munching on it diligently. "If it was not for you I would be a clump of sadness right now, I owe you a lot." She gave a little blush as she finished her apple in quite a hurry, "Of course it does help to see the girls happy, which is also of your doing and… should we talk about Octavia?" In her voice there was a hint of naughtiness that J wasn't sure that he liked.

"Err… I much prefer we wouldn't," He tried to hide his face. It was becoming something quite negative that, unlike most guys, he had zero capacity to hide his feelings. The only thing he had changed from his mother's training and it had to bite him in the ass.

"Jonathan, you want to change and I want to talk about that with you, but if I may be so blunt? That is one of the easiest things you can change and I would advise you do indeed change it right away, Jonathan," Twilight's face grew serious, as much as her tone, at least it was enough to force J out of his blushing stupor so he would look at her again. "I do not mind that you did something with her, even if it was more than only fooling around, touching and kissing, hay, in fact why should I be bothered?" She giggled nervously at that. "Look, I know we said to go slow and the like but… I… I dunno. Even after you told me that the one you liked the most was Pinkie Pie… I think we ended up being close too fast, but I do not complain. The thing is," she went closer to J and, without as much as asking, hopped onto his lap, "I know you like me, maybe not in a deep way, not yet at least" At that she blushed profusely. "But you do… and I like you too, a lot," she gave him a gentle kiss in the cheek after those words, trying to harness enough courage to keep talking. "You have helped me more than any colt, well, male had ever done, in fact more than any mare (best friends excluded of course). The few times I had a coltfriend it has been a few days, or even hours, a little play in the hay and little else…"

He still blushed, but he still took Twilight in a tight embrace "That is why I don't want to have those kinds of messes; I was drunk, I wanted to get drunk, not to maybe fu-" Twilight placed a hoof on his lips to silence him gently.

"I told you we all share and we all have fun with whoever we want. If you two would want it, then just do it." She chuckled a bit "Though I would like if you told me beforehand if we… you know… grow closer?" Twilight blushed and gave a shy smile as she took the hoof away from J's mouth, "I mean, it can happen, I would hardly believe that is possible but it can, in fact my books says that, with what has happened, we have a 63.095% chances of getting together if we-MFFF!"

Her blush grew hotter as she felt J kissing her. She had been rambling and he had just kissed her, not to shut her up, not to make it stop, simply because he had to admit that it was cute when she grew so worried that her mind just slipped and went into overload, much more if it was because she was feeling so shy. However this time Twilight noticed that there was something quite different with the kiss.

In part it was much like when he drew his sword and didn't notice it had remained, refusing to go away. It was something asking for this, something deeper and that he neither recognized nor liked, but also felt good. J had simply wanted a kiss at first; one to reassure Twilight, specifically one deep and nice, but in the end he wanted it to be simply a kiss… not to start playing with her tongue and pull her closer with his arms, much less his caressing as he touched her underbelly and her neck as if teasing her. He wasn't going to lie; he liked the feeling, and Twilight didn't seem to want to push away so she had to like it too.

'Yes, I love le sexytimes!'

What was not exactly of his liking is where the hand was slowly creeping its way to.

'Aww…'

Before it would escalate any further he pushed away. He tried to do it very gently so as to not give the wrong impression while he forced his hand out of the way so he would caress Twilight's flank before the intention was anymore obvious. "Heh… sorry," J blushed heavily. "I… uh, I think I still feel a bit randy, and with all the nervousness and with my mind wanting so much to relax that it wants maybe a more direct approach…" He mumbled, still feeling the long tongue of Twilight playing with his. It seemed the ponies had quite the long tongues, much like equines in his world, which made him wonder…

"You don't have to apologize, I liked it," Twilight gave him a sensual look, which made him gulp, "but you did seem surprised with the kiss, at least it seems something caught your attention. I think you would need to visit the Mayor before we… ah… take it a step closer." Her wink was as mischievous as her smile.

"What do you mean," J gulped down, his blush growing.

"Oh she already guessed out that we were at least CLOSE friends, well, not as close as she had openly told me but it seems we are nearing that point." She snickered a bit as J looked away in embarrassment. Had he been that obvious?

' Yes, yes you were.'

"The Mayor is a very nice mare," Twilight continued' "she has initiated some of the colts and even some of the mares that were too shy. It is not something she has to do but everypony here knows she does it, in fact she once told me she enjoyed a very wild life until she decided to settle down here as the mayor and that when she came here everyone was very accepting, enough to let her continue." A little snicker escaped her lips. "I think everypony wanted a mayor that wasn't stuck up like the last one, at least for what I have read"

J arched an eyebrow at that, "Oh? If she enjoyed that kind of life… why would she settle down?"

"Granny Smith got as bad as you saw in the cartoon that showed part of our lives," Twilight's cheerfulness seemed to go away for a bit. "Miss Cake called the Mayor and she came here to finally settle down and be with her friends, both she and Miss Cake watched over Granny Smith since that day." Then Twilight smiled again, "Of course you know some of it, she came here to tell me you had given her something that would get everypony she had called on the ready to cure her," her smile broadened, "So everything will be fine! Though I made her promise she wouldn't tell AJ yet, I want a surprise for her."

"Yeah…" J chuckled gently and, relaxing against the seat, snuggled Twilight close against his chest, "At least it seems I have made two things right in my time here: I have helped Coral and I have helped Silver Spoon. With some luck that filly will turn to be nicer in no time."

"And what about me?" Twilight asked with glitter in her eyes, looking maybe a bit disappointed that he didn't talk about her.

"I have helped you, Twilight," He caressed her mane with a gentle touch, "but you can hardly lie to me with that look. I know you are still as hurt as Final and Trixie are. The only one that seems genuinely ready to heal is Rain Berry and you know that." Twilight did, in fact, look away as he said that, only to have J take her muzzle back as gently as he could. "It only means I have to try harder, and I will try harder until I make you happy," He smiled, giving her a gentle squeeze, "No matter what it takes and what I have to d- wait," J blushed as he remembered the bit about the Mayor.

"Or who you have to do," Twilight giggled, regaining part of her humor. "Relax about it Jonathan, you are already making me more than happy, but I think if you want to do something with me in the future…" Her cheeks flustered at the idea "You first need to know about how we do it and… well I'm not the best mare to ask or practice with. I know that to you it probably sounds more than weird, no matter if you like the idea, but I would advise of you to reconsider; not everything can be learned by books and, even if you don't believe me, this is usually taught in person." She looked hid her face against her chest as she blushed fiercely, "There is no book for this and I… uh… I tried to get one when I was younger. The whole of Canterlot knew of my 'curiosity' back when I was just hitting puberty."

J snorted and burst out laughing, making Twilight look at him with a bemused look, "What? Did you think I wouldn't laugh? I am a knight and a gentleman, but you should know by now that I hardly hide what I feel." He stuck his tongue out, "I mean, it has been pretty obvious since I came here."

"Of course I didn't hope you wouldn't laugh, that would be pretty dumb," Twilight snickered. "You are as blunt as a pile of rocks, which is a nice feature if I may add." She grinned and pushed herself up enough to be face to face with him. "I like you and how you are, Jonathan, I hope you know that. You are sensitive, maybe too much, but after you told me about your life I see it as normal, if not a bit undertone as you are quite strong of mind in some things but weak in others, which is also a good thing." Twilight heaved a quiet sigh, "You do your best, but you push yourself too hard, you are hardly the forgiving person and you compensate trying to be the best friend and the most dependable person you can. Only four days and that much has been made clear… yet you want to be even better."

"I must be better," J tried to look away but Twilight's eyes were taking his full attention, as if she had put a spell on him, 'Heh, just like the song,' he thought before he shook his head. "I need to be better, for everypony"

"And you will be," she assured with a little smile, "However I am sure Rarity told you already; don't push yourself too hard, it would end badly." Twilight's smile faded, "I… I know I wouldn't be able to live it if something happened to you, you have done so much for me already, duty or not, that I want to repay you somehow." She let go of a sigh as her face grew closer to his. "I want you to be with me, if you would like… tonight"

"B-but," J gulped down as he tried to back away through the chair in vain, "W-what about The Mayor? I… don't know if I can do such a thing twice a-and… didn't you say I have to learn first?" He blushed as Twilight pushed closer. This was getting to be too much.

"I don't mean to do it like she is, she is going to teach you, in part for me, in part for you, both as a friend as to return a favor," Twilight said, practically mouth to mouth now with a grin plastered in her lips. "I want to sleep with you again, that you hold me again. I want to feel safe, like you made me feel when that horrid day took place…"

She pushed closer, practically kissing him but by less than an inch, her looks pleading and her voice sweet. However J could do little but worry 'I-I should say something' He thought as he gulped down 'B-but I can't!'

'Just like every male in existence. I am no exception.'

"I want you to love me…" Twilight finally whispered.

A second of silence as Twilight finally kissed him and…

"HELP!"

The kiss was forcefully broken as the pair took notice of the trembling filly that ran across the kitchen like a grey blur that was followed closely by a yellow one close behind her.

"Ah will help ya' alright! Get back here ya' git!"

The shouter's accent and the small size, yellow fur and reddish mane were none other than from Apple Bloom.

If the two had been paying attention to what happened outside of the kitchen and their little so called privacy, they would have known that someone had knocked at the door: The Cutie Mark Crusaders, well, all of them but Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle wanted to ask Twilight to give them some magic ointment for Scootaloo as the young chicke- I mean pegasus had a little 'accident' as they tried a new possible cutie mark stunt.

There is not much need to say what happened once Silver Spoon was seen other than how quickly the poor filly had been turned white from her normal grey.

So engrossed had the pair been that they hadn't noticed the yelling and the discussion that had taken place no longer than a minute ago. It was going well at first thanks to Rarity and Silverlight, until Silver spoon feet confident again and said something she shouldn't have, mostly because her pride demanded her to do so.

What a surprise it would be for the filly to see that neither her mother nor her new friends backed her up as she called the 'simpler' pony filly a few chosen words of hers. It was only because Silver Spoon had quite the agile feet that her face had not the mark of a hoof imprinted onto it as Apple Bloom chased the prissy filly all over the house until she cornered her in the kitchen.

"And there ya' go, ah am going to pay you back fer all the times ya' done something tha me and mah friends had to suffer from ya and yer prissy lil' friend" Apple Bloom almost growled as she came closer to the cowering Silver Spoon "Prepare ta get roughed up! YAAA… uh?"

Apple Bloom had lunged with all the intentions of giving Silver Spoon a new face, luckily enough Twilight had gotten off J so he could get up and pick the yellow filly out of the air a few inches away from Silver Spoon's cowering, limp body.

'Last minute save,' J chuckled to himself as he held onto the filly with all his might. Even for one so young she had quite the muscle strength. "Relax there, ok? Why are you trying to rough poor Silver Spoon up?"

"Wh-what in tarnation are you?" Apple Bloom looked terrified for a bit, but soon she shook her head and answered, "She called ma parents something that ah ah'm going ta make her regret!"

"I suppose that was to be expected," J left out half a growl under his breath; this had been seen coming a mile away. "Here little one, she lost her only friend, I asked her mother if she could come here to make friends with the fillies in the main room since they have lost… something very dear to them not so long ago and they now live with Twilight and me." The filly had been paying attention to all but at the last bit she tilted her head in confusion "Just… ask Twilight later, ok? However, I would thank you if you try to be friends with Silver Spoon…"

"What?"

"And help her being less of a prick, ok?"

Apple Bloom lifted a hoof to complain until she saw Silver Spoon's scowl at the idea. That made it all the sweeter for the little filly as it would be a nice payback and maybe she would get her to stop her antics, leaving a lot of breathing space for them all.

"That doesn't sound like haft a bad idea mind ya," she grimaced as J left her on the floor, "Ah'm Apple Bloom, who are you?"

"I am J… Jonathan" J seemed to shudder as he said his own name "Call me J; I will be living with Twilight from now on." He tried to hide a blush as he turned, "However, meetings are for tomorrow, I have to go somewhere." 'Before I decide not to, because I am having trouble doing anything right now,' he thought. He groaned under his breath before Twilight stopped him with a pleading look, "Sorry Twilight, if I don't go to the Mayor I assure you that I will have trouble wanting to leave." He offered a little smile and the mare blushed.

"I'll see you tonight." she asked with a shy tone.

He chuckled and kneeled in front of her, "You can count on it." He planted a gentle kiss on her cheek and then went out towards the biggest 'normal looking' building of Ponyville.

For Twilight it was a moment of glee as she squealed happily, jumping up and down much like pinkie and practically yelling "YES" again and again with happy thoughts. She was sure that, be it more or less, J had been taken back by what she had done, but at least it was obvious he seemed to feel something for her almost as much, if not as much, as she did for him. For her such a thing was all that mattered right now.

"Gee Twi, ah didn't know ya had it in ya to get somepony so weird," Apple Bloom giggled as Twilight got surrounded by everypony in the house. Twilight didn't much care for any comment right now. She was, at last, happy again.

*** Back with J after a quick walk through the city…***

***WARNING! ADULT CONTENT AHEAD! BE MINDFUL OF WHAT YOU READ! IN OTHER WORDS: SEX AHEAD!***

From the cardboard box of nobodyreallyimportant

Oh my gawd, don't look little children (and you stuck up pricks that I know are out there).

Onwards!

'I have to make a mental note for all the buildings' J though in embarrassment as the Mayor's secretary, Raven (or at least The Mayor had called her Raven), typed a few things away. Her black mane, white body hair, grey eyes and big glasses not so impressive compared to other ponies, but her serious demeanor did make her stand out.

He had arrived in less than five minutes to the building, still as weird looking (to him) as ever. The inside, though, was pretty plain in comparison to the outside. A huge rug had its domain on the first floor with a big chandelier in the ceiling that would surely lit the place if it was dark, though right now it gave no light and one could see the golden light shine in from the windows and reflect off the many mirrors and some of the paintings that were spread all over the building's walls. The decoration was rich, that was true, but it looked normal.

Asides those things there were also a few other points of interest if this was your first time in this building. First we have the twin stairs that were at each side of the 1st floor and that went towards the 2nd, as it seemed to be divided in two parts (as it was big enough to be compared to one or two houses on its own it was not weird). In the first floor there were also rows of sitting places on both sides of the main hall with a little stage halfway towards the back and a single door that lead to a room at the end besides the little office where J was now.

"How much longer will the Mayor be in there," he sighed out loud as he leaned against the wall.

"She already sent the cards a while ago, she is having a conversation with one of the unicorns that came to visit a while ago so he can coordinate with the rest," Raven had a businesswoman tone with a bit of an uppity hint to it. She seemed nice but first and foremost there was her work, and then everything else; at least that is the impression she had given to J. "The Mayor should be ready in a few mi-"

"I am readyyyyy," the Mayor said in a sing-song voice as she practically bounced the little office.

"Scratch that," Raven sighed, picked up her equipment away and walked away slowly. "I will take my leave now, if you do not mind."

"Oh, are you leaving Raven?" The Mayor chuckled as she gave the fellow mare a gentle slap on the flank, "I thought you were going to join on this."

Raven threw the Major an icy glare, "I must let you remember that I am your secretary, Coral, not a toy." She rubbed her flank and lifted her muzzle. "I came here from Manehattan because you asked for the best help you could get and because your daughter is my friend, however my family does not allow such freedom as you are used to so I plead you to refrain from these advances. Good day to you." With a final goodbye she went away.

There was a moment of silence afterwards, broken only by the hall's exit closing a minute afterwards and the Mayor's laugher filling the place when she was sure that Raven was finally gone. "That girl is too young and too stuck up," Coral couldn't help but to wipe away a little tear of mirth. "You know, her family sent her here so she would relax a bit after she finished her studies? Some of the younger ponies think we should change our ways because they are 'amoral.'" She snorted, "With how little males there are out there we would be done for if we started marrying and remaining faithful as they say. These kids nowadays…"

"Eh… Coral?" He tried to be gentle interrupting the mare.

"Yes dear?"

"It isn't that I wouldn't like to hear about it but… umm… I am already kind of worried about my own thing right now," he gulped and looked down, red coloring beginning to spread all over his face.

"Oh, of course," The Mayor simply chuckled and waved a hoof as she went out of the office. "Follow me, dear."

After getting out of the small office J had little time to ask the Mayor anything as she was already in the left side of the stairs, trotting upstairs with a little smile and singing something under her breath. It looked like the mare was quite happy about something, but even as he got closer to her J had little time to say anything.

"I can guess that Twilight has told you about my little story?" She chuckled, not waiting for a response, "You know, I don't mind that people talk about how eh… wild I was when I was young you know? I am young at heart dear, and even if I look a bit old for some I do have quite a life to live, one much happier now that I know my good friend will come back in good spirits after so many years." The Mayor didn't even stop to open the door, simply pushing it out of the way as she reached the top of the stairs.

The room he followed Coral to ended up being little more than a plain room with the typical sofa, table, two chairs and little else, it was even sparsely decorated with just enough to make it look appealing to the eye as otherwise it would be classified as Spartan, though the plain white color and few pieces of furniture here and there were below what most ponies would get. There were also two doors, one probably heading to a kitchen and the other towards the bedroom, probably the one Coral was heading to as she stopped for nothing with her little tale.

"As I told you earlier, few ponies remain here all their lives. I was very much one of those that went away when they were of age, but I wanted to come back someday after I had enjoyed everything Equestria had to offer me," she passed a little armory where J could see a finely crafted bow and a brown cloak. "Why, I did even hunt some of the dangerous monsters there were back in my time when some of them went out to torment villages around the world, but mostly people remember me for my 'lively' parties," Coral snickered as she opened the door that, indeed, lead to her room.

Unlike the main room, the bedroom was painted in blue, had a huge bed (in human standards it could probably fit an ogre or something), a lot of furniture and a single door that led presumably towards a bathroom. There were also a few exhibits with equipment that ranged from armors to weapons, trinkets, staffs and also bones, teeth or the like from some creatures that probably would eat J alive if he tried to do something about them.

"I must admit that at first I was quite ashamed of being known exactly for THAT reason, but over the years I came to enjoy it," The Mayor hopped on the bed and, with a hoof, took her glasses to leave them on the little table besides the bed to give J quite the look "While Equestria is quite liberal a lot of ponies feel shy towards the act of… well, having sex, at least they do nowadays and I do not know why that is."

J gulped at the view as his most perverse side took control over his mind, something deep down asking him to go there and… well, the rest was obvious. However as Coral said that J couldn't help but think that, if he came here and their lives were partially shown in Earth, maybe some of the influence was being carried over here by the same magic that could pull him onto this world. He would need to ask Celestia later, as influence being transferred (One way or another) could be pretty damn harmful towards either world.

"So I suppose that is why, once I got my cutie mark" She showed her flank with a grin "Most thought that I wouldn't be only the Mayor, but also a kind of… teacher if you will. Believe me I did not mind it at all, and I still don't." Coral gave out a wholehearted chuckle, "Besides I never was too fond of keeping to myself and I like to play at any time to both relax and keep my muscles in check as, if you don't know, mating is the best exercise as every single muscle is used during the act."

"Once you got your cutie mark?" J interrupted her, "Does that mean you didn't get it until you came back?"

The Mayor simply chuckled, "Dear, none of us, not I, Gretel or Annie got our cutie marks until we hit our thirty years or so, when Gretel finally fell to the sickness." That made Coral look sad for a moment, but now that it was 'solved' she recovered quickly. "It is funny you know? We were, technically, the first Cutie Mark Crusaders if you think about it."

At least that made J smile, "You should share that with the actual Cutie Mark Crusaders then, they could use your little help."

With a little smile The Mayor simply patted at the bed, giving him some space on her side. J got the message and simply walked forward, sitting in the bed with a huge blush. Basically she had said that it had been enough idle chatter.

"Are you still nervous," she asked with a gentle and concerned look as it had been more than obvious that J maybe wasn't as ready as he had once thought in his home world. "It would be the first time I have failed at one of these initiations my dear, but if you feel uncomfortable we can talk about who you like and nothing else, that is-"

"No, it's not that." he cut her off, placing a hand on her belly to caress her gently. It was not something 'else', but more to reassure her and his own self that all was going well. "I… I-I do… I do like Twilight," J finally confessed, swallowing quietly, "but if you know all that Celestia knows-"

"I do dear, you don't need to keep secrets," she quickly assured him.

"Then you should know that I already know a lot, if not all the ponies around here," he let out a huge sigh as he looked at Coral with pleading eyes, "and I like the characters of the Mane Six, much more now that I know them in person. What will I do then? I am attracted to HOW a person is, not how they look or what they are… what will I do if I hurt any of the six's feelings? What if I find another pony that I like that is not them? That is the ONLY thing that is eating at me right now, I don't want my 'job' messing with me while everything bad is 'at bay', at least for now."

"Dear, on that term you have no control," the Mayor said as she got up and took a few steps on the bed, soon lying on top of his chest and most his lower body as she gave him a bit of a dirty wink. "In Equestria it has always been free love, even in the oldest of times. We have a low ratio of male population and, for what Twilight had told me, we have none of that strange technology you talked her about, artificial insemination was it?" She waved it off "We have to do it the old fashioned way if we have to have kids, but there are very few males as Equestria is composed mostly of magical stuff, no matter how much nature it has. This means that we need a bigger and more capable intellect, at least us ponies do, so our species evolved to have many, many more mares than colts over the time, which forced our 'morals', as you humans would put it, to be different than yours," She snickered a bit before she planted a quick kiss on his lips, something that made him blush, "And since we live for so long we have time to explore a lot of nice things over the years. We have limits of course, but I am sure you know how it goes. Both or more parties have to agree to what is going to happen, have to know what it is all about and must be willing and knowing of everything that is going to take place. There are no more rules than that."

'Greater intellect? That sounds sexist man, You gonna' take that?'

J thought about that. It was true that in the cartoon there had been few males if compared to females, at least in most cases (In fact he could count around 3 to 1, if not 4 or maybe 5 to 1 females to males), so it would make sense that, to survive, one stallion had to copulate with more than one mare.

Since they live a lot it would also be quite difficult to remain 'faithful' to the same person, no matter how strong the bonds, as over time one would get 'bored' of it no matter what. It is sad but it is true. This would also encourage loving couples to play with others as it is obvious there is no taboo about the same sexes and the like playing part on all of this. Although, that did make him wonder what kinds of taboos do exist.

Finally J decided to come back to the world of the living and ask her "Coral?"

"Hmmm? What, dear?"

What J saw caught his attention as he suddenly was amazed at how easily he could doze off from things like this happening to him. The Mayor had basically turned 180 degrees and was offering him a perfect view of her privates, though they could be hardly seen right now for some reason. It was not all, though, as she had obviously taken her time unzipping his pants with her mouth and was smirking naughtily with the zipper still in her mouth.

"Eh… oh… umm…" J blushed like there was no tomorrow, a bulge came to occupy his now unprotected shorts in mere moments. "I-I was going to ask you about the taboos that exist in here and all that, since I don't know if they are the same as in my world…" He gulped as the Mayor's hooves began rubbing at his bulge with little to no shyness towards the act.

"Well, let's see," she kept on playing with his still hidden member, "we have a lot of natural medicine so as to not get pregnant, so, as far as it is consensual and everypony knows what it is going on and has the chance to put a stop to it at any time? We do not much care as far as it is done in private." She chuckled a bit as she relaxed gently, playing with her tail so she could hit at his nose playfully. "So bondage, incest or anything the like is not frown upon, as well as pairings with other species and such," the last made her giggle as she seemed to look back in time at something in special. However she waved it off fast and returned to the matter at hand.

"Why, I know of a few mares that had foals with a dragon or a diamond dog thanks to the magic in us granting us the change. They had none of the parent's traits in most occasions except for their eyes or character, so it is no big deal," the Mayor gained a thoughtful expression before continuing, "Rape or the like, even if it is role-play, is quite frowned upon, though. Bondage or other kind of restrictive plays are allowed, but nopony would like to see others forced to do anything, or harmed, and that kind of role-play has sometimes gone from play to literally being what it had been intended to. Also it is a crime to do anything with fillies; our bodies hit maturity around the time when we hit ten years, though a late bloomer may reach twelve before her body grows to its fullest since the magic makes us grow a bit randomly thanks to our longevity, but until a filly or foal grows to a mare or colt it is not allowed to do anything with them," she had stopped her playing as long as she did that, her tone and face quite grim.

For J it was ok in general; meaning that it was pretty hard to swallow. A lot of things that would probably make you an outcast here are, in fact, normal in Equestria. Did it make any sense? Did it bode well with what he knew of the land? Well… yea! I mean, love, friendship, understanding, forgiveness and all the things that are so scarce in Earth are common in here, they take precautions and make sure everyone enjoys from a party, to a conversation or a deeper and close bonding such as the intimate act of sex.

Whereas a human would call this all a bizarre caricature of what they thought was the 'holy' union of two people, or whatever else you would like to call it, a pony would call these things normal day to day life.

"Don't get me wrong my dear," she cleared the tension with a little giggle, "those things happen very little, if at all, luckily." The Mayor shuddered at the thought. "Kinks and others though? That is more common, though for it to happen inside the family it is quite hard as it is forbidden by law to inbreed as it seems that magic doesn't allow the foal to develop very well." At that she shrugged, "Still you can fool around with your family if you like, as far as everything is consensual and you take precautions, otherwise it is quite a problem for anyone involved." With that done she began to undress him with both her hooves and mouth; quite effectively, mind you, "That is more or less everything you need to know. Make sure everyone wants it, that there is no one underage and have fun! If you think you are going to do it at least"

"Well," he chuckled nervously, "I think we are about to." In fact, by the time he said that, he was almost unclothed. The only thing that still kept him somewhat decent was his boxers, and with the quite big bulge it was obviously not much for decency mind you.

"W-wait… I think there is something wrong in here," J blushed heavily as he took a peek under his last line of defense towards nakedness. "Oh god…"

"What is the matter?" Coral finally took the last clothing with her hooves and pushed it away, "It is quite nice down here, what is wrong?" She chuckled with a bit of a naughty glint in her eyes as she eyed the piece of meat in front of her.

While most of J's body was detailed with old wounds and scars from his life, his lower body (At least his privates) was pretty impolite and unharmed (Any man worth his salt would protect that before anything else you know?). The problem any human would sooner or later see is that for a guy his size 11 inches were pretty much something quite abnormal… not that he would have noticed earlier since all that had happened to this point had made him burn everything in his body to the point where he didn't even need to go to the bathroom, heck, he hadn't even had a shower yet!

Speaking of which…

"I-I need a shower, yes, that is it," he gulped down. "Haven't had one since I arrived here, I need to clean up if we are going to do something."

Technically it was not a lie. The shower yesterday had been to clean the blood and today he probably still had the smell of alcohol, yet his reason to consider yesterday's shower as null was simply: He had been worried out of his mind, he was shocked in fear, hell, he didn't even notice his maleness being so big! He was like a robot and had simply stared blankly at everything as she took away his pain and the shock.

J tried to smile and appear sincere, however if he was successful or not the Mayor didn't seem to mind as she just got off the bed and quickly went to open the bathroom door to show quite a nice shower (Almost human sized) and other equipment obviously made for pony use.

"Haven't had any fun in here for a while dear, so if you don't mind…" Coral grinned as she turned the hot water on and got inside, letting the water splash down her mane and undoing her hair as it covered her face partially. "I wouldn't mind some clean play to be your first, if you don't mind the cramped space"

Without any kind of clothing on him it was quite obvious that J was aroused, not only by the obvious erection mind you, but by the fact that he couldn't tear his gaze away from Coral, whom was lying against the white wall of the shower with her hind legs spread as she watched him intently. The Mayor could only laugh under her breath, trying to keep her composure as best as she could, but she had to admit it had been a long time since anyone had came here to learn how proper ponies do things, much longer had it been when someone from another species had tried to seek guidance for the same.

"I don't bite dear, but if you don't want to come here I would understand it," she said finally, not yet moving an inch. "You come from a completely different culture, I would expect you to be reticent, but as I have done with others I will do with you. If you refuse my little teaching, then I won't bring it back up ever again, and you do not know anything about how ponies do it.." Coral gave out a little giggle as she leaned herself against the wall to expose more of her privates to J. She was having quite the fun with this little charade, "If you ever want to know how gentle or rough you can be, where to touch and what to do, I assure you no one else but I will gladly tell you. I do not blame you if you chose to walk away now my dear, in fact I had expected you would, but I sincerely can't say which is the better option. To accept this kind of teaching or to wait until you think it is the right time with someone you hold dear."

"This is the sex with more talk that I will ever have," J simply facepalmed with a groan. Coral started laughing her flank off thanks to that.

"So you are going to come in or what?" She tried to hold her laugher just enough, "Doesn't seem like your 'little' friend wants to go at least."

"The problem is that 'my little friend' was half this size the last time I saw it," He blushed at that. "I mean, I was not hung like a horse the last time I had… uh… some alone time."

Coral simply arched an eyebrow, "Dear, you got teleported to a new world for you, infused with magic, defeated monsters and even traversed a nightmare; and you are surprised of such a little thing as probably magically enhanced genitalia? I think your priorities are a bit off."

"Heh, yea, I suppose I simply worry about everything," J rubbed his head with a sheepish grin on his face. "I think I should finally disconnect and just act until this peace is broken then."

"What do you mean by that, dear," the Mayor was unsure of what to make up of that, at least until J took his place inside of the shower and his maleness was placed right in front of her face, at which point the colors of the Mayor finally turned a bright red.

"Ooooh I see," She chuckled, taking one hoof carefully towards the phallus. "Then, allow me to start…"

Truth be told, J hadn't expected to come as forward looking as he did, in fact he had almost hoped to slip on the surface of the shower, hit his head with something and avoid this awkward situation. Mind you that with him being as open minded as he was, the Mayor looked like quite the mare, or if you find it very hard to digest like that. She was quite a beautiful woman. In fact she was mature, a milf, what you could call an idol as if she had been human, then you probably would have had in front of you a woman on her 30s, probably around 35 or so, with smooth features, perfect hair and a figure to kill for. So… what was the problem?

Well the problem is that, even if you are a furry or something similar, you would face the fact that you, indeed, were going to do it with a completely different species, that any other human that saw you would call you the worst things that you could imagine and that, deep down, you probably liked this because it looked and felt taboo as hell.

And man, did it feel good.

"Oh god!"

It had been simply the touch of her hooves and it already felt like he hadn't had any in years, literally. Instead of bony, harsh or simply extremely thought, the touch felt gentle and warm as the hooves seemed to grip at his member much like they would if they were hands, probably by simple magic or something else, he didn't care as he felt sensitive enough to simply cum from the pleasure that the rubbing of his whole maleness was giving him.

That was, of course, before the Mayor finally took the teasing to the next level and she used her long tongue over most the underside of his length, showing both that it probably was true that all the horses had quite large tongues and that Coral had enough skill to envelop it around his member, squeezing it gently as she moved too slowly put the tip of his member inside of her muzzle with a sultry smirk plastered on her face.

"You are… a frigging… tease," he groaned, gripping the borders of the shower while panting.

"The word you seek is skilled my dear, skilled" She gave the tip of his shaft a kiss as she said so "Now hush! I am going to show you how far a pony can take it"

All of sudden she took one of her hooves away as well as the tongue, giving him a bit of a sultry smile before she opened her mouth and took the whole thing inside in one fast motion. It felt like a vice grip on his member as the whole thing was being massaged by Coral's mouth and throat to the point of making it almost a perfect fit in which he could not escape the feeling of that tongue enveloping as much of his member as it could. The Mayor began to bob her head up and down, forcing a hiss of pleasure to escape from J's mouth after he was able to breathe again.

She kept on a very slow pace for what J had thought was something between hell and heaven as Coral made sure to squeeze his shaft the whole way down with her muscles expertly moving so as to touch every single inch of his meat to the point where she was basically sucking him dry. The worst, or best, was when she stopped her bobbing and simply centered on his cockhead, licking it whole with her tongue and squeezing it gently with her mouth as she looked up at him while the water splashed down on them.

'Such a frigging tease! GOD!'

'You know you love it, now shut up and enjoy it.'

The Mayor took the shaft away from her mouth with a loud *POP* and a giggle, giving it a light lick with her tongue before turning her back at him and resting on the shower's floor. "Since you seem to hold your own well enough dear, why don't you come to me? I am sure you want some 'revenge' for that lesson I just gave you," the mare looked back with a big smirk and winked at him.

"Oh… it is on." The poor guy didn't know he hadn't blown his load by now, but he was sure of one thing. This kind of revenge would be fun. Since he wasn't the biggest apple on the tree in Earth, J had made sure to know how to touch a girl the right way for the times he had been with one, so if Coral wanted him to take revenge, he would give her hell in a sense.

"What is taking so long dear? Don't you- waaaAAAAH!"

He didn't know why, but her pussy was now perfectly visible and it was quite obvious that Coral was aroused as it didn't take him more than a few seconds to find her clitoris and give it a light rub with one of his hands. The other hand he used to prod her wet lips just as she began talking. It made J chuckle a bit, but he didn't stop or falter as he pushed two digits inside Coral's tunnel, prodding and touching around very gently, searching for an especially sensitive zone as he made sure that sensitive button of hers was attended at every moment.

"You… tease," she panted, her mouth agape as those fingers of his pushed further inside of her until the hand could go no further or it would get inside of her. "Come on… we are flexible…" Coral moaned out in need, "put it inside."

"All in due time," J snickered, rubbing his body against Coral's back, positioning himself so he would go inside shortly after taking the hand away. "Weren't you the one asking for me to get some revenge?" he practically purred as he finally found the spot he was seeking for, "you wanted it, now take it!"

By now, if someone was in the main hall, the cry of ecstasy from the Mayor would have made them come running to check on what was happening. Luckily none came and the only thing that was going on was the huge orgasm that Coral was having as J did his best to rub her G spot with both his fingers, not caring anymore about the tease but to get her spent and pleased so when he would get in she would simply want more even if she could not stand on her four legs.

He didn't know why he was so aggressive sexually as he had been tame the times he had an encounter in Earth, nor did he know how it was that he hadn't came yet after Coral's blowjob, he only knew he wanted her pleased and full of a little something else. It only made him chuckle and grin with lust, much as if he was in simple need to mate as if an animal, when the Mayor practically begged under her mumblings and moans for him to mount her. So, finally with a grin on his face, he took the hands away to get a firm grip on the shower's edge and on Coral's hips before he slammed his dick into her.

Surprisingly, the head went in right away accompanied by a shared moan by both J and Coral, though it was small compared to the huge scream of pleasure that came afterwards as J had thought the mare would squeeze him in place, or that the girth would be too big, not that Coral would let him push and push until practically three fourths of the whole thing were deep within her and he had not filled her up!

"G- god! How far can I go," he practically squealed as the Mayor pushed back, taking the thing balls deep.

"Dear… you should know," she panted, groaning as she moved her hips to tease him while he was within her as her muscles clamped down, "that we ponies… are more than… what meets the eye… now… Do it hard!"

The Mayor didn't have to ask twice, when she asked was when J rammed himself back and forth once, making sure she could take it all and simply enjoying the feeling of tightness as every single inch of his member was enveloped in pleasure.

In no time he was pumping in and out, panting as the water splashed down on them and pulling himself on top of Coral to share a passionate kiss as she filled the mare again and again, only pushing out to make her change her position so she would be face to face to him when he took her again, filling her to the brim with his cock once more.

There were no words besides grunts and moans as J took Coral's hips to ram harder and faster inside of her, simply panting between moans as he tried his best to hold as much as possible as the feeling of pleasure was overwhelming him the more he lasted and the harder he tried to please both her and his own self. She only seemed to enjoy it and suck him in harder, her need as obvious as his own.

"C-cant… can't hold…," he gasped out between his moans.

"Then let it go dear! Release it," Coral screamed, another orgasm hitting her.

J didn't need any more encouragement. He buried himself inside of her one more time and let out basically a howl of pleasure as she clamped down on him, sucking him dry as he shot wave after wave of seed inside of her depths, making both of them spasm in the pleasurable throes of orgasm, finally lying against each other as J did his best to not let his weight down on the now spent mare. Not that he was in better shape than her.

"G-god… I haven't had one like that… in a long time," J got enough strength back to pull Coral up and in turn lie down with her on top. The water's relaxing effect and her hot and soft body adding an especially nice edge to the feeling of the afterglow. "Is… is it weird that I think I liked it more with a pony than with a human?"

Coral simply chuckled tiredly, giving him a kiss, "I doubt you liked a human as much as you liked one of our ilk, my dear."

He simply blushed slightly, not sure enough about it to call it a compliment or something else.

"I mean that you probably were less inclined towards your own kin, darling," she gave him a friendly smile. "It happens here too, but as far as I know in your world it would have been impossible to explore such a thing without being persecuted."

"Well… that I cannot deny," J could only smirk as he moved slightly, making both of them moan as it seemed something wanted to stay up. "I mean… I am still aroused! I couldn't even last this long with any human girl I knew…"

"It is part of the magic of the princess, dear," Coral finally took his member out with a heavy sigh of both relief and pleasure as she let the water was down on her body as she looked up at the shower. "She told you she didn't want to do you any harm, in fact she changed her magic so to ensure that, if you survived, you would find happiness in here" At that she gave him a gentle but a bit sad look "I don't know why she was so gloomy, I haven't seen her like that in all my life; I only hope that after this you know a few things about us ponies, if you succeed."

"If I have to be sincere," He chuckled as he pointed at his shrinking cock, "I think I have learned that this feels fucking good, if you excuse my dirty words." She only chuckled and waved her hoof towards him. "But seriously, if it is about anatomy? I have learned quite a lot"

"Which was basically my objective," she interjected with a quick smirk, "you see, asides the fact that you need to get used to our customs, you need to know that, unlike your women, we like both tender and caring as much as rough as demanding." Coral gave him a dirty wink "To be a good lover is very hard in Equestria, it is another reason why there are mostly lone mare mothers out there, or pairs composed of mares. Colts hardly watch out for their partner's pleasure except if it is two stallions together, if you get my drift, my dear," J simply blushed at the thought. "However you did use your hands and did your best to hold out as much as I did which, I must admit, was impressive"

"Tell me about it," he couldn't help but look a bit appalled. "I thought I was going to lose it once we began but… I don't know. I wanted more to hold until I could mount you. It is like these feelings I have been having as of late; demanding, alien and scary, yet natural, warm and… right? I couldn't explain"

'Can you even hear me? It's rude not to respond, you know.'

The Mayor pondered about that for a moment as she looked J up and down, scanning him for something. "Dear, I think that the problem here is simple. The magic basically gave you a bit of what you would have if you were a pony," she said with a light smile "You are stronger, faster and… more endowed as you have noticed. You came here and Equestria fused with you as much as it could, a lot more once Princess Celestia gave you her gift. Since in your world the ponies are… something different," she seemed very unlevered as she said that. "I suppose that you are feeling some animal like needs mixed with all of this, it could explain why you are feeling so antsy and part of why the situation is overcoming you."

"Oh" Was all he could say as he pondered about that "Do you think… I should talk with Celestia about this?"

'Yes, you probably should.'

"Probably," Coral nodded gently, "but right now… do you fancy some food?" She snickered as J heard his own stomach growl as if it was a monster, "I think at least a part of you does not agree with all you have done, dear"

J simply smiled and nodded; soon following Coral out of the shower once they cleaned up a bit more. Most the day would pass talking about Equestria, some of her customs, behavior (both in and outside the bedroom) and the nations that were within this big magical world.

For once he felt relaxed and, as he noticed, after the sex his mood had relaxed and he felt rejuvenated as if he had taken a burden off of him. Maybe Coral was right about him having maybe a part of animal within him after all this ordeal? It wouldn't be so surprising after all, the spell was complex, the situation was complex and magic world against non magical creature didn't mix as well as anyone would've thought. Whatever it was, right now he felt like a million dollars' worth.

***WARNING END!***

*** Later, as night came to claim most ponies' consciousness… ***

The talk had taken quite a lot more than he had thought and now the night had claimed its place with the moon standing triumphantly where the sun should've been what he thought had been simple moments ago. The chilly wind was whispering to him as he made his way to Twilight's house. Only a few words being heard tonight from within the remaining houses with some lively joy inside as the families with foals or fillies had to restrain the kids so they would go to sleep since the week had ended and they would not go to school in the following two days.

Jonathan, for once thinking of himself with his full name, simply thought about what would happen now. He just had had an intimate encounter with the Mayor, he had learned of what was normal and what was not in this world regarding to 'privacy' and relationships (Something that, even if he dared not admit it, he still needed to wrap his mind around) and less 'intimate' things such as about the nations and how it may be possible for him to have a bit of an animal (Its essence, that of a pony or a horse, at least) within him. Truthfully he felt better than ever even after the time that had passed since his release, something that sincerely had caught him off guard as he had thought his mind would return to the mess it had been a while ago after he had been so carefree for a few hours.

To be fair the only thing that occupied his mind now was…

"How was it?"

Enthralled as he was in his own thoughts; J had not seen that he was close to Twilight's house than he had thought, in fact we could say he could taste how close he was.

*THUD!*

'*sigh*'

And feel it too.

"FFFF… This is going to cost me someday, I know it," he groaned, looking to his side to see Twilight giving him a nervous smile, as she waited in front of the library with the door open as if she had swung it so violently it had almost came out of its place. "Twilight? Is everything ok?"

"Yes, yes it is. why wouldn't it be ok," Twilight's voice seemed sad and her face showed nervousness beyond belief. Her smile crumbled slowly before she simply trotted towards him for a hug. "I am nervous for Celestia's sake," she whispered in a squeak. "I don't know why, but I couldn't help it after you were gone one hour! I… I think I may feel too clingy, that I may be simply needy of someone that understands what I am feeling," she sobbed. "I… I fear I don't feel what I think I feel. I fear that what I think I have towards you is only desperation coming at me and forcing me to seek someone to comfort me." By now Twilight was looking away, ashamed of the idea that had been eating at her mind after the joy from before vanished. As always she thought about things too much, and once she was almost sure she was going to fail someone she crumbled, and sometimes she endangered others. Twilight simply felt horrible as she thought that.

"Sssssh…"

She heard him whisper at her, embrace her and take her chin up so he could give her a little kiss. Soon her worry washed away as she felt her cheeks flush and her whole body warm up after hours of hiding her feelings from Rarity, the fillies and Spike. Her self- loathing vanished, her doubt erased, and her worry evaporated as she felt tranquility overtake her mind before he pulled away.

"All will be fine," He promised her. "For now… I think someone wanted me to have me in her bed tonight," J winked at her. "A good cuddle and a good night's sleep will help you as much as I can."

Twilight smiled brightly through flushed cheeks as he took her up in her arms and carried her over towards the bedroom where he undressed and she waited, for he would end up in her bed, which had remained big for she wished him to be there. Minutes after they embraced each other the sleep had crept up on them, taking both their minds to the dreamscape where, after half a week of uneasy sleep, they enjoyed happy dreams at last.

However someone wanted to give a message.

"Such a beautiful couple," the voice was loud, but ethereal, as if no one could heard it even as it was right in front of the resting bodies of both J and Twilight, "I wonder if it will end as happily as this scene, though I don't count on it as much as I count in something else."

The room was dark, unnaturally so. The only thing that was able to be seen was the window while the light didn't even creep inside the room. Everypony, including the sleeping Spike, couldn't even wake up as the darkness engulfed the room. Even if they were aware in their dreams it would have been for naught as whatever energy was this prevented them for getting up.

"After all, as simple as this is, it could change everything." Finally a hint of a feminine accent could be heard, but only for a brief second "Still… that is why I am here, right? I need to say thanks, even if it changes things for the worst"

'Indeed, one shouldn't let debts go unfulfilled'

A small glimpse of light broke through the darkness and a glint of black hair and dark colored metal reflected dully as the form of a mare, bigger than anypony else, sighed and nodded before getting close to the bed for a simple deed. She nuzzled J, took something from her head and left it on his side of the bed before giving his forehead a kiss.

"Thank you… thank you for all, d…"

A bright magical flash overtook the scene as the mare disappeared from sight, a single perfect tear falling to the bed, over a bright and shiny obsidian gemstone that shone through the moonlight. It was lined with gold and silver and, in cases, what seemed to be platinum. Some words could be seen engraved on the rock that read:

"To my beautiful Diana,

Even though this gift would only mean I would never love you as you deserved, know that I will always have you in my heart and that I will be always with you. Your… Jonathan, I will…."

At some point the stone had something else written on it; however it had been smashed and cracked something powerful and the rest of the message had been lost.

What did this mean? Sadly only time would tell…

*** End of Chapter Eight ***

Well…

LARGEST-CHAPTER-EVUR!

I struggled with every-single-scene. I wrote it: 12 pages in length. SHORT! I didn't even put everything I wanted in there! Edit: 16 pages. STILL SHORT! And these scenes suck! *Rewrite a hell of things* AHA! This is it… wait, something is missing… 19 pages? Nah, still not all the content I wanted.

THERE! ALL DONE! Whew, I think I did well enough? *re-reads* Yep, all in place, man, I think it took a long ti- 17 days? Seriously? F*** ME!

I haven't been so stressed in my whole life: A whole week with exams, then a Monday with another one waiting for me with its beady eyes looking to get my rear unprotected. Man, I haven't flunked so many in a row in a LONG TIME. This comes to bite me back time and time again. I was way too nervous and I took my time with this while also doing the same with school. Though for various reasons I can assure you that, even if you don't like this chapter for some reason, it has been done much better than my studying, promise.

Now onto less stupid and ranting things that I need to adhere:

SEX! Yes, sex. Look, I know I have thrown myself to the lions here, but hear me out: This story takes place in Equestria, where a dragon can have a crush on a pony and everypony is like "Ok, whatever, good luck sport!" and other species wouldn't be too different. Also this world is all about understanding, safety, happiness and FUCKING MAGIC, do I need to clear anything else? Yes, I do: The fetishes, kinks or anything else are, most probably, seen as perfectly fine as far as it is consensual and you take care, why? Because, seriously, these are not human minds, these are ponies, and they want to be happy so… why would they hate anything if it didn't harm them or anyone they cared about? Just have fun and make sure everyone involved wants it ;3

So yea, I do not plan on showing all I said or get too perverse with naughtiness mind you, but once I thought about it, really, I didn't see a single problem with the thought that all of this could be perfectly normal, I mean… MAN! There are gay animals out there and they don't fucking mind! Then, why would they mind sexual deviation if it didn't harm them? Answer is: they don't.

So love me or hate me, but I think this makes perfect sense, magic world or not.

Also: Spooky apparition at the end! Hah! In your face XD… wait, that doesn't make sense.

From the cardboard box of nobodyreallyimportant

So… Much… Editing… Man, I hope I did a good job.

If I didn't, well… have a drink in apology. （ ^_^）o自

Have a nice day everybody. So long.