Fluttershy looked at the door in front of her. Was she too early? Too late? She had taken her time feeding and caring for all her little friends, so she was probably late… but they hadn’t agreed on a time, had they? She disliked it very much when she had to meet somepony without agreeing on a time.
She took a deep breath. Because of the proximity to the Everfree and the orchard, the air smelled of forest with an apple scent. It calmed her down enough to knock on the door.
Nothing happened.
Maybe he wasn’t home? They hadn’t agreed on a time after all… What if he had gone to her home and they somehow missed each other?
That would be terrible… Should she go home and see if he was there? Or should she knock again? There was a chance he just didn’t hear her….
As she stood in indecision, she heard a sound from her left. Looking over, she saw Mr. Bear come out of the Everfree forest. When he noticed her, he started running over.
“Oh, hello Mr. Bear.” She greeted as she was picked up and hugged by the dear. “Did you have a nice trip into the Everfree? And what have I told you about hugging ponies while dirty?” She chided him lightly.
“Rawr!” He apologized sweetly. She would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him. She had been taking care of him for a long time after all.
“Oh that’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.” She accepted the apology with a smile. “Do you know if Jax is home?”
He set her down and opened the door, walking in. He looked back at her to see if she followed. She took a step back and looked down. “Oh, I don’t know if I can just walk in like that… can you just check if he’s home?”
He nodded and went further in, stopping in front of the open bedroom door. He looked back at her again and confirmed that he was there.
So the poor dear was just sleeping in? Maybe she should come back later, he did look kind of tired yesterday….
Mr. Bear went into the bedroom, out of Fluttershy’s view. Oh no, was he going to wake Jax because of her?
“Ahh! What the?! Mr. Bear?” She heard from the room. Jax sounded very confused. A bump sounded from the room, followed by a series of curses. Soon Mr. Bear came out again, backside first, with Jax in tow. It looked like Mr. Bear had bitten into the hem of his pants, the only clothing he was wearing, and was dragging him along. Luckily the carpet let him slide along without too many problems, she noted. Not that he looked happy about that. “Stop it! You know how much pants cost in this world? Not that I do… but I’m guessing it’s a lot!” He sounded angry… oh no….
“Mr. Bear! Let go of him this instant!” She hurried in. “I am so sorry Jax, are you okay? I just asked Mr. Bear to check if you were home, I didn’t know he would… oh but it’s not his fault! He probably thought I needed to talk with you about something important! Please don’t be mad at him…”
Jax scowled at them both. He really must have disliked to be woken up like he did. “I-If you want to be angry, then be angry with me… I asked him to check up on… on you…” Her voice wavered a little, but she really didn’t want him to blame Mr. Bear for what happened.
To her relief, Jax’ scowl left his face slowly. He gave a tired sigh and ran a hand through his morning mane. “I’m not… It’s fine. I was just hoping to catch up on some sleep, that’s all.”
“Oh… well I can come back later if you want?” She offered, looking down at the floor.
“No it’s…” He yawned widely. “… fine. It will take me forever to fall asleep anyway.” He lifted himself off the floor, giving Mr. Bear an accusing glare. “What would you have done if I was naked?”
Mr. Bear shrugged.
“Well… Ah, whatever. It’s good to see you again buddy.” Fluttershy smiled in relief as Jax hugged Mr. Bear. “I can see and smell that you need another bath, Fluffball.”
“Rawr.” Mr. Bear agreed.
“Oh, I can help you of course.” Fluttershy hurriedly offered.
“I’ll take you up on that. Oh by the way, I have some bits to pay you back for the shampoo, brush and ball you gave me some time ago. I also need to buy some groceries… I only have apples as it is.” He went over to a basket by the fridge and took out an apple, offering it to her.
“Oh. No thank you, I had breakfast not too long ago.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“Suit yourself. Anyway, how much do I owe you?”
“Oh, it was 10 bits.” She noticed that his arm froze for a split second, before continuing its path towards his mouth. He took a bite of the apple and chewed thoughtfully. He didn’t look too happy about it. Maybe 10 bits were a lot for him? “Oh, but I don’t need it that much. I can wait until you have more bits….”
“No… no it’s fine. I was just thinking that I’ll have to… but it’s fine.” He went over to the table and grabbed a brown coin purse and took out ten coins. “Here you go.” She looked at him for a bit. It looked like he had made up his mind.
“Well… if you’re sure.”
“I am. I’ll manage.” He smiled, but it wasn’t… it wasn’t like his earlier smiles. Fluttershy didn’t know as much about smiles as Pinkie, but she did know that this one looked a little sad.
But what could she do? Refuse to take the bits? He had already insisted that she take it, she didn’t want to be rude… this was what he wanted, but he didn’t really want it… or was she just reading too much into it?
She went over and took the bits.
“Now… let’s give this fluffball a shower.” His smile became a little more genuine, which was a relief. She smiled back.
***
Fluttershy and Jax were walking towards the town to buy groceries for him. Giving Mr. Bear, or Fluffball as Jax had taken to calling him, a bath had taken some time. He was a big bear after all. After that Jax had decided he needed a shower as well, but that hadn’t taken as long.
“So…” Jax started. “How’s Discord?”
Fluttershy stopped and looked at him in surprise. Nopony ever asked about Discord, not unless he had done something bad… “Oh, he hasn’t done anything to upset you, has he? Sometimes he just can’t help it, but he’s trying. I promise to talk to him about-“
“No no, nothing like that.” He held up a hand to stop her from talking. “I was just curious as to how he was doing. He has been nothing but helpful, I promise.” He started walking again, and Fluttershy followed, a little surprised. Nopony had called Discord helpful… ever. Had they? She couldn’t remember even any of her friends saying those words… they were mostly suspicious of him.
“Oh… The last time I talked with him, he was fine. We have tea every Monday, so I’ll make sure to tell him that you asked about him… then he can come and tell you himself?” She asked delicately. It would be wonderful if Discord could make some more friends. She worried about him sometimes.
Jax looked at her for a couple of moments, then shrugged. “Sure.”
Fluttershy smiled. It would be good for Discord to make some more friends, and maybe he could even help Jax with his… problem.
A sharp intake of breath on her right brought her back to the present. Looking over, she saw Doctor Whooves was looking at Jax with wide eyes.
They had walked into Ponyville without her noticing, but there was something wrong. The atmosphere was heavier than usual. Several ponies had stopped and were looking at Jax with something that looked like… Oh no…
Fear.
Fluttershy knew that all it took was one pony to panic, for the rest to follow suit. She quickly swallowed down her fear of public speaking and stepped forward to explain the situation, but before she could get a word out, Shoeshine screamed and ran away. As Fluttershy watched, several other ponies did the same, leaving only a few. She noticed Bon Bon and Amethyst Star shaking their heads before moving on, leaving the street practically empty.
Looking up at Jax, she expected him to be sad or hurt by the ponies that ran away, but to her grief, he looked angry. A deep scowl adorned his features, which saddens Fluttershy more than anything else.
She had been angry once… it didn’t do anypony any good, least of all herself.
She carefully put a hoof on his leg, and gave him something she hoped was a comforting smile. She wanted to say something, something clever or funny that would disperse the situation, but the words escaped her, and she ended up just hoping he could understand her feelings nonetheless.
He looked at her for some seconds, before the scowl was replaced by a face that looked too tired. Jax sighed and faced forward again.
“Let’s… get the stuff. I hope they won’t run at the stalls, otherwise it will be pretty hard to pay.” Sometimes Fluttershy wished that she had Pinkie’s ability to make anypony smile. She just couldn’t find the right words.
She nodded.
They didn’t run at the stalls, but that only seemed to cheer Jax up a little. They went back to his house and spent the rest of the day answering mail. For some reason a lot of creatures wrote to Jax, some encouraging, some less so.
It seemed to cheer him up a little more, so Fluttershy did her best to help.
***
Luna was laying on her bed, feeling the heat spread on her muzzle. The book she was reading was very… graphical. She had to continue however… for her research, of course.
She was done writing her own book. It was filled to the brim with all her regret, and she could not say she wanted to publish it for all to see… but she was fairly certain Jax was right. The populace did not understand her, and ponies fear what they do not understand. All they had right now were the tales of Nightmare Moon. She needed to show them her side of the story, or nothing would change.
She was just taking a break from it. She knew she would have to read it over again to correct mistakes and maybe delete or add to sections. Then she could give it to a publisher and have an editor tell her to do it again but better. Or she could ask Twilight to read it over.
Until then, she would do some research on… a certain subject she did not know a lot about. She had some time until she met with the lawyers after all.
The door suddenly opened. In her panic, Luna threw the book away in a random direction. It hit a lamp that crashed into the wall. She would have to get somepony to change the light bulb on it… She slowly turned her head towards the door, seeing Celestia looking at her with a raised brow. “Luna… What are you doing?”
“Just… reading a book, sister.” She smiled brightly, willing Celestia to believe her.
Celestia’s gaze slowly left her to look over at the ruined lamp and the book that had caused said lamp to fall.
To Luna’s horror, a spark of recognition entered Celestia’s eyes. She quickly levitated the book back to her, but the damage was already done.
“Say… Luna.” Luna could practically hear the smirk forming on Celestia’s muzzle. “I’ve heard some maids talk about a certain book… a certain erotic book. Apparently they can’t find it anywhere. I wonder where it could have gone….”
“We… I have no idea… what you are talking about sister. Why would a bunch of maids share such a book in any case…?” She fiddled nervously with the book, trying to discreetly pull the covers over it.
“Ah… One of them wanted to borrow it from the other. Apparently it disappeared somewhere during the night… I do wonder where it could have gone.” Celestia approached slowly, still smirking. The common pony probably did not even know she could smirk. Luna hated when she did it. “I can only imagine what could have happened to it. Maybe some foul villain stole it and was reading it on her bed until-“
“Uggh!” Luna buried her muzzle under the covers. Celestia could be very tiring when she wanted to, and it was not even that late. “What are you even doing up? Is it not far past your bedtime? I doubt you came to investigate some book the maids were missing.” She asked from under the covers.
“It’s not that late, Luna. I came to see my favourite sister, of course. Done with Night Court already?” Luna slowly removed the sheets to see Celestia smiling down at her with the serene smile she was so good at. It was so convincing that Luna could not tell whether it was real or not.
“Yes. There are still no reservations made, all I do is clean up after Day Court.” She lowered her gaze, but shook herself out of it before it could take hold. “It gives me time to pursue my other projects and… do some research.”
Celestia raised a hoof and pointed at where the book was under the covers. “Research?” Again with the smirk. It annoyed Luna to no end.
“By the moon, yes! Research! For when…” Luna suddenly felt very self-conscious. Her blush returned full force and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with her hooves. She clopped them together nervously. “For when me and Jax….”
Celestia’s smirk disappeared instantly and was replaced by a worried frown. “Isn’t that a bit fast? You only recently started dating.”
“Yes, I know but…” She sighed in defeat. ”I want to be ready for when… we decide to… Do it. I’m not saying I am going to jump him the next time I see him, but on the other hoof… How long should I wait?” It did not take long for them in the book, which worried Luna. Was she doing it wrong? Was Jax mad with her for not… No. ‘Twas but a piece of fiction. No need to take it too seriously….
Celestia entered the bed and lay down beside Luna, laying a wing over her in the process. Luna scooted a bit closer to the white mare, accepting the comfort that was offered. “You can take all the time in the world, Lulu. There is no need to rush these kinds of things, and when you are both ready… you will enjoy it all the more.”
Or they would both get more and more nervous. Luna folded her ears. There was a lot she did not know about being in a relationship.
It was a little scary.
“If there is something you want to know about sex, you can just ask me.” Celestia continued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Luna snorted. The day she asked Celestia about that subject was the day she decided to go out and wrestle a manticore with one hoof tied behind her back. “Right.” She said in a tone that clearly conveyed her feelings.
Celestia sighed. “Fine, be that way. You can only learn so much from a book.”
“And what were you going to do? Make charts for me? Demonstrate on a phallic object? I think I shall take my chances with this book.” She wished she could make her blush go away. Or better yet, go back in time to warn herself that Celestia was going to burst into her room, so that she could hide the book properly.
“There is no need to be embarrassed, Lulu. Sex is a completely natural-“
Luna charged her horn and teleported her out of the room, to just in front of her doors. She really hoped Celestia got the message.
For a while nothing happened, but just as she was about to take out the book from under the covers, she was blinded by a bright light. “-act.” Celestia finished her sentence, then turned to a blackboard she had brought, with something that looked like a rough sketch of a… “In fact, if this pie chart represents your hormone level, and this pie chart represents his hormone level…” She pointed at the two circles, then at the thing between them. “then this oval represents-“
“Away with thee!” Luna teleported her out again. Celestia could be so tiring when she wanted.
Another bright light, and she stood there with a banana… what did Luna do to deserve this?
“Now, I know a blowjob sounds like you’re supposed to blow, but you actually have to suck. I will now demonstrate on this banana.”
“Tiaaaahhh!” She threw herself at the bigger alicorn in a desperate attempt to stop unfolding events. She managed to wrestle the banana from her sister’s grasp, open the window with her magic, then throw it out. It hit a passing pegasus guard, but that was a price she was willing to pay. “What the Tartarus?!” She heard before she closed the window again.
She was breathing heavily, most likely out of fear for the atrocity she almost witnessed. She turned slowly. “Tia… Please. No more.”
Celestia’s smile had all the intensity of the sun, and soon gave way to laughter. “I don’t…” She could not even finish a sentence. It became so bad she had to lay down on the floor. Luna waited patiently for her sister to get it out of her system. In hindsight it was a little bit funny, but she refused to laugh.
“I don’t know what you expected, sister.” Celestia finally got out between gasps. “When you gave me such an opportunity on a silver platter.” She dried her eyes with a hoof. “Ohh, it has been a long time since I had the chance to laugh this much.”
“I am glad one of us had fun. Please do not try to make me think of you in that sort of situation ever again… please.” She shivered slightly.
“If you say so.” Celestia said in a tone that made Luna very afraid. It sounded like she had every intention to scar Luna mentally with images she did not want to see. “Sex is completely natural though. I don’t know why you are reacting so immaturely.”
Before she could answer that she was not acting immaturely at all, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”
“Apologies, your majesties.” Justice Law bowed deeply. He was the last lawyer to join Luna’s team, and had already proven very able. There was just something about his smile that was a little off, but Luna could not quite pinpoint what… “I did not mean to interrupt, but the meeting is about to start Princess Luna.”
“Of course. You did not need to come all the way, but thank you.” She turned to Celestia, who was looking at her with that serene smile again. “I shall see you at moondown, sister.”
Celestia nodded. “Have fun.” Luna rolled her eyes. Going through every law in Equestria and discussing it with a team of lawyers was not what she would describe as fun.
It was soon Moonday, however. She was sure that would be fun.