Reilly completed his late grandfather's scientific work and managed to create a whole new world that's similar to the Equestria that fans know. Falling in love was unintended. So was being persecuted by the ponies he wanted to befriend.
Previously known as "Miasmata: CH"
My Grandfather was a scientific genius. In finishing his work for him, I've managed to enter a new universe of my own making: a somewhat modified Equestria. However, it's unlike what I imagined, and the less tolerant nature of these ponies isn't exactly helping either.
Even if I could leave, I can't let my family know about this, let alone the whole human world!
"Reilly," the pony said to cut into the silence that settled between her and her guest. "Let's talk."
"Let's not."
Lyra Heartstrings sighed as the human shifted himself to face away from her on the couch he had been stuck on for the past hour. She gulped while thinking how else to tell Reilly that Twilight Sparkle, the princess' student, was going to come over. She planned to do that the moment she showed up at Reilly's makeshift home outside of town, but wanted to be as tactful as possible. "Should I get you more tea?"
Her attention remained fixed on the nearly-still human, barely noticing his shoulders rise and fall from his breathing.
She idly tapped her hoof to a steady beat like that of a metronome. Reilly had started off really nice when she first met him, but saw how he became slightly more withdrawn over the course of the week. Lyra thought that going to Rarity for a set of clothes would show how much she knew about humans, but that didn't really follow through as planned.
Taking him on a tour of Ponyville seemed to do the trick, and seeing him smile and look around in amazement made her happy. She got to show that humans weren't just some made up tale. That they were real and could talk and understand like anyone else in Equestria.
Actually, Reilly proved to be really smart. Not only did he know a few things about Equestria, which surprised her, but he even disproved a lot of the misunderstandings that were written about humans in the books she read. Lyra could listen to him talk for hours, and felt brave enough to introduce him to her housemate, Bon Bon. He didn't jump to conclusions about her living with another mare like so many ponies had, and despite being initially wary, even Bon Bon had to admit that the humans that she had been raving to her about for all these years were "pretty interesting." Lyra couldn't have smiled any bigger than she had that day.
But then he was struck by a cluster headache, something she recalled reading about that humans went through. Reading about it from a book could only help her understand so much, but even after watching the pain expressed in Reilly's face herself, Lyra couldn't even imagine how tough his life was.
Lyra could lift and carry things in her magic just fine, but wasn't exactly suited for the more advanced spells that other unicorns could do. Such as a spell that could give her an inkling of the pain he felt. She lifted her hoof and contemplated resting it reassuringly on his shoulder, but thought better of it.
It had been a few days since Reilly's last excursion into town. Things definitely didn’t go as well as expected, and since then the human chose to remain inside. It was embarrassing, yes, but Lyra felt she had to take his side if no one else was going to. She rationalized that it was just how he was raised. He explained to her all sorts of things about human culture that wasn't mentioned in the few books that she found.
At the very least her housemate chose to remain neutral about the whole debacle. Bon Bon was still tending to her store and promised to head over as soon as she could. Ever since they were kids Bon Bon was sort of her protector. Lyra was determined to be Reilly’s, and felt the best way to diffuse the situation was to invite Twilight over. Twilight had a lot of influence on the townsfolk, and Lyra wanted to nip the situation in the bud.
It just so happened that there was a knock at the front door. "I'll get it," Lyra said and found that it was Twilight as expected. "Hey. He's inside." She led the other pony into the room and directed her to sit near the couch. "I'll get us some tea." After saying that, Lyra went to the kitchen.
After setting her saddle bags onto the floor next to her, Twilight did not waste any time getting to the point she wanted to make. "We need to air your grievances in order to start dealing with your problem," She stated. Taking out a notepad, quill and ink well, Twilight didn't want to spend any more time here than she had to.
"My problem?” Reilly exclaimed. He quickly turned over to glare daggers at the pony that abruptly accused him. “I'm not the one with the problem, Twilight. None of this was supposed to be this way. No one is supposed to be this way, here."
"You mean the nature of some ponies' relationships?" She asked while scratching her quill against the notepad. "It's none of your business who ponies choose to like." Twilight returned to observing Reilly. "I recall you mentioned something about a book. Could you tell me more?” She patiently awaited his response, holding the quill tip close to a fresh page.
"Like I said last time you decided to bother me about it, I find it disgusting and it's against nature. Just accept that some people see the world that way."
“What about the book, Reilly?”
“Why can’t you just accept that I have a different opinion than you?” Reilly asked with waning patience.
Lyra came back into the room hearing their raised volumes and placed the tea pot and cups on a nearby table.
"I can't accept that you can't accept ponies for who they are," Twilight countered in a stern voice. She fought the urge to simply jump squarely in front of him to let her know what she really thought. She couldn’t let go of the image of the human exclaiming in public how disturbed he was to see two stallions sharing an intimate moment together. Nothing was as embarrassing to her as vouching for Reilly to everypony just moments before he excoriated her fellow ponies for their “shameful choice.” She bristled at the memory and wanted nothing more than to have him apologize.
Lyra however, wasn't as able to restrain herself. Things were supposed to be get better after Reilly got to give his side of the story. She never realized that he’d be interrogated and have his words twisted around like that. "Twilight, please lay off him. You promised not to do this if I let you in, remember?"
"I just don't understand how anyone can be so ignorant!"
"I don't think you even want to understand why, Twilight!" Lyra started to feel fed up with the other pony's attitude. Just because she was the princess' student. Just because she lived a certain way!
While she didn't fully agree with Reilly's feelings, Lyra wouldn't just let him get bullied around by everyone else. He was from a different world. They had different ways of thinking and a different way of life. Not to mention his cluster headaches! He had to suffer through something that was more or less a curse. Lyra didn't understand why Twilight couldn't sympathize with that.
Twilight huffed out, "Reilly, answer me!"
Lyra stepped in front of the other pony and declared in his defense, "If you can't accept him for who he is I think you should go, Twilight. It was a mistake to ask you to come over."
"It was a mistake to let either of you in. Both of you leave me alone!" Reilly growled out in frustration and got up from the couch. He easily towered over both mares when standing and began making his way to his room before the next cluster attack was due. "Agh!" He screamed and clutched his left temple with his left hand. He tried desperately to catch the nearby table with his free hand as the searing pain made him sweat and tremble. He stumbled back to the couch as his eye began to tear up.
"Reilly!" Lyra gasped out in concern. She motioned to help but then froze in place.
Reilly clenched his teeth at the sight, unable to escape before it happened again. A surge of force like a gunshot tore through the left side of his head and he curled into a fetal position on the couch. He was too paralyzed from the bludgeoning of this cluster to even turn away in disgust.
Meanwhile right in front of him, Twilight and Lyra turned to one another with vacant looks of longing.
“Twilight…” she drunkenly moaned out the pony’s name.
“Lyra…” hearing her name said with such lust made Lyra gasp and flick her tail.
Both of their faces were flushed red. It was just like what happened that day. The moment Reilly was struck with a cluster headache while taking a tour of the town. All of Ponyville took part, but the sight of Soarin and Braeburn embracing one another was forever fuel for those lonely nights in bed. The way that Soarin traced kisses down braeburn’s neck, along his muscled form, to his large, meaty horse dick. It twitched in excitement before Soarin engulfed and licked and sucked on the Appleloosian’s member. She remembered how his cheeks puffed out from the way the wide rim scrubbed against his lover’s tongue, jutting out a bulge every time Braeburn thrust his length.
Lyra gasped and tried to shake the image out of her head. Already her body felt hot. She felt herself drooling and despite her best efforts, she looked over Twilight’s petite form and felt hungry for her touch. Lyra pulled the unicorn toward her and pushed her head down to her nethers. She moaned as she had Twilight noisily work for forgiveness in return for what she accused Reilly of.
"Wait...no...ah~" In the fogginess of her pleasure she knew she needed help. Lyra didn't want to feel so good. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. It was scary how she reflexively arched her back from the languid strokes of Twilight's tongue.
Mares weren't supposed to do this to each other.
"Ahn~" Lyra groaned as Twilight continued to lovingly trace her folds with her tongue. She shivered in unwanted delight when she felt the other unicorn moved her muzzle away to lie on top of her. Touching her tummy against hers. The heat in her loins going untended drove Lyra to press more of herself against Twilight.
“Twilight….mmmm, more!” She couldn't understand why now of all times she had to do this.
“You...ah...taste so sweet, Lyra….” She felt Twilight's tongue lap her cheek and caress her mouth.
It wasn't right. It wasn't what Reilly said that humans did. It felt wrong, like something deep inside was set that way but she ignored it.
But it felt too good to resist. Lyra melted into the feel of Twilight against her, wriggling her hips in like motions to return in kind to the mare's grinding. She heard Reilly’s pained screams but only felt Twilight. They exchanged a passionate kiss while the human howled for help.
"Oh God! Oh God, it hurts! AGHH!"
Lyra couldn’t tend to his pain while enthralled with Twilight’s restless tongue and the rough way she nibbled her neck. She winced and shuddered from the white hot climax that washed over her and Twilight, as they screamed rapturously in each other’s embrace.
For Reilly, the headache slowly subsided, granting him some reprieve and a chance to catch his breath. What filtered into his nostrils however was the musky smell of release from the two ponies lying on the floor nearby. The rugs were probably stained, as well. He could hear their post-coital coos and pants and wanted nothing more than to puke his guts out.
Reilly Haightsgaze couldn't wait to get out of Equestria to fix everything. He wouldn’t let his grandfather's greatest invention lead to such an awful conclusion, nor would he let his condition ruin what should have been his paradise.
“No, that’s not it,” Reilly grumbled to himself. He tapped his pen on the right edge of the scratch paper he was transcribing onto. He thought back as best as he could to when his grandfather first told him about his invention: “Olweighs Haightsgaze's Book That Can Create An Entire Universe,” or OHBTCCAEU for short.
That very book, which Reilly painstakingly finished to create his perfect Equestria, was left behind in the “real” world. And he needed to start from scratch if he wanted to get back home to fix this flawed world. Grandpa Olweighs had an inkling that that would happen, and had documented how to make another OHBTCCAEU. Reilly took that list along with everything that he thought he’d need, and successfully brought it over upon touching the first page of the book. The world he once knew dissolved around him the moment he focused on the picture of Equestria he printed from a website and entered what was otherwise an impossible dream. Everything but the initial OHBTCCAEU had transferred. So he had to make another one, because that's what happened.
However, in the course of his time here, what was probably the most important key to escaping this nightmarish Equestria was damaged by stains that made his grandpa’s tiny, messy handwriting all the more illegible.
Reilly retched at the very thought of what caused those stains and took a moment to recollect his thoughts. When he was ready, he once more tried to recall what was necessary to make another book.
'Your mind is key to holding the reality together, Reilly," his grandpa's voice echoed. Reilly smiled at the fond memory of that old man's voice while he disciplined a younger Reilly for taking a picture of his brother into the bathroom one sweltering summer day.
“Eh?!” An exclamation preceded Lyra’s head jerking up into view outside the window. “What am I doing outside? Reilly?!”
Of course, Reilly was the one who threw the ponies out as soon as he was able, along with the carpet they ruined. He didn’t much care if Twilight wasn’t around with Lyra. Now that she was conscious, however, he had something very important to do.
Reilly shut the blinds before she saw him.
“Please let me back in, Reilly!” He heard her tap her hoof against the glass and call out at the neighboring window to his left. Begrudgingly making his way over, Lyra’s wide, teary-eyed face came into view. “I don’t know what came over me, Reilly. Because I’m not even into mares, Reilly! I promise I’ll fight my urges next time! Reilly!”
“I don’t want there to be a next time!” He growled and shut the blinds closed, moving to the next window.
“Please forgive me!” Lyra begged as she appeared in front of this last window. “I’m sorry! Please, please, forgive me!”
He hesitated for a moment, seeing the pure sincerity of her words. Then he shut the blinds.
“Awww!” Her voice wailed out. Reilly waited for a moment longer until her hooves shuffled away before letting out a relieved sigh.
The creaking of the front door drew his attention toward the lime green mare using her magic to open and close the door behind her. “Forgot that the door doesn't have a lock, yet,” Lyra mused while walking into the house.
“Ugh…” he groaned and returned to the desk and his papers, deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble of dealing with her anymore.
“Reilly, I have a plan.” Lyra cantered up to the human seated at the desk and waited for his curiosity to get the better of him. However her patience was the first to give out. “Ok, so I was thinking that if Twilight won’t help everyone understand you, Princess Celestia will!”
“Go away,” was his reply.
She chuckled and continued anyways, assuming he didn't understand what she was saying. “The Princess meets with foreign dignitaries all the time! She won’t be blinded by any weird biases and will get you the way I do.” She puffed her chest out in pride and waited for his agreement.
Instead he ignored her and continued writing whatever it was he was doing, much the same way Bon Bon did back home when she told her housemate her ingenious plan.
“Reilly?”
“Go. Awa-...” He stopped and hissed out, grasping the left side of his head. Lyra felt a sense of unwanted lust boil within her but didn't understand why it didn't make her act on it this time. Instead she had enough sense to aid her human friend in his time of need, as well as prepare a makeshift harness to drag Reilly to the train station since he would be too incapacitated to put up a fight.
By the time Reilly’s cluster attack abated he was already on the train to Canterlot. And that was taking into account all the times Lyra stopped to fight off the urges to jump every mare they passed. They were just so beautiful and lickable and Mrs. Cake especially with her wide hips and soft, huggable body. But now that they were on their way to see the princess, Lyra was sure Reilly’s problems with the intolerant ponies of Ponyville would be a thing of the past.
Lying across the full length of the train bench while trying to recover from the attack, Reilly took note of how the train car was much roomier than it seemed in the show. He also contemplated that since monarchs were given rule through divine right, Celestia really would understand much better his problems and even help him finish up his linking book. He longed for good old fashioned conservative thinking in this corrupted version of Equestria.
Reilly hated Blueblood with a passion.
That unicorn was so stubborn and mean when he showed up in the Gala episode. While he didn’t really pay any mind to write anything about Blueblood in the OHBTCCAEU, Reilly never thought such a slip would lead to seeing the unicorn stallion seated on the throne in Canterlot. He didn’t care that he was just there temporarily while Celestia was out on some errand, according to Lyra.
"Hmm...does he do tricks?" The prince asked after Lyra explained the situation.
Reilly clicked his tongue at the disparaging look he got from Blueblood.
“N-no, but he really needs royal help, Prince Blueblood.” Lyra’s tail wagged as she surreptitiously glanced up toward Reilly. His face was in a scowl as usual, but she felt that he was uplifted by the amount of effort she was putting into helping him.
“I don’t even know why we’re here anymore,” he grumbled out loud enough for her to hear.
“Reilly, we’re here to get support from ponies even more influential than Twilight Sparkle,” Lyra repeated her explanation from before. “You see, besides changing a bit of your message, an appeal from authority is sure to get everyone off your back!”
He more or less ignored what she was saying until he felt the shadow of a cluster attack. He cleared his throat and looked to Lyra, who nodded in understanding and rushed to get the palliative ingredients.
“Ugh…” Blueblood groaned out. His face reddened in a blush while confusion became obvious in his eyes. “I...feel strange…” He wiped his brow and looked to the far end of the throne room where a few of the guards had begun to kiss one another.“You, there. Reilly, was it?”
Reilly was clutching his head and trying to cover his teary, irritated eye. This attack seemed a bit more shallow than usual, but the sandpaper-like grinding into his brain was still tough to tolerate. “What do you want?” He growled out in irritation, less able to hide his annoyance in his current state.
Blueblood nibbled his lower lip anxiously for a moment. “Can I...suck your cock?”
“What?!”
“CAN I SUCK YOUR-”
Reilly hollered back in disgust. “I’m not deaf, you retard!”
“M-my apologies,” Blueblood flinched at the human’s harsh tone. “It’s just...I've never wanted to suck anyone’s cock as much as yours, before…”
“That’s just abhorrent!” Reilly reeled away from the look of sinful want on the stallion’s face. “You’re sick!”
“Ah~” Blueblood gasped and clutched at his chest at every one of Reilly’s harsh words. “Please...more~”
“No. I’m leaving.” Clenching his jaw, Reilly focused as best he could to fight through the pain and walk away. He had to get out of this palace of depravity as quickly as possible.
"Please master!" the prince begged pitifully. He rushed after Reilly, feeling his heart pine for more abuse. "Stomp on my feelings, more! Pull on my foreskin! Give me your delicious human cock!"
"YOU'RE DISGUSTING!!" Reilly stumbled as fast as he could away from the creature chasing after him. "LYRA! LYRA, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" He took deep, labored breaths as wave after wave of pain barraged his senses with only slightly more intensity than the awful sounds of illicit moans echoing throughout the palace halls. He disregarded the armored stallions around him tightly embracing one another, grunting and inhaling each other’s lengths, to swing open the throne room’s doors and look for Lyra.
To his dismay, he found the unicorn mare pinned under the princesses, being toyed around by both royal sisters.
Stuck on her back, Lyra desperately delved her tongue into the moaning and writhing princess sitting on top of her. "I'm sorry...Reilly!" She gasped out. "I couldn't...stop myself! Ahn~" They giggled and moaned, teasing the pony with their hooves and magic.
“I want your delicious human cock, master, but I can’t wait!” Blueblood whined out, still trailing after Reilly with his bobbing dick now exposed and bouncing against his underbelly. “I’ll just pretend that a guard’s thick horse penis scraping the inside of my ass is yours! You there, guard!” He called out to a lone yellow-coated pegasus stallion with a blue mane over. “Pleasure me,” Blueblood demanded and kept his focus on the human as he was mounted. “Ah~ It feels so dicknificent!”
Reilly clenched his teeth and recoiled in pain from the cluster attack making his eye throb and tear up even more. He buckled and collapsed onto the floor as Lyra was eaten out by both Celestia and Luna, and he was unable to even scream out from the increasing pressure against his brain.
“I want to drink all of your cum, too!” He heard Blueblood’s shaky voice mindlessly whine out in-between gasps and grunts. “And bathe in it! Please give me your cock! Master!”
The stench and sound of sin all around him made his skin crawl; Reilly Haightsgaze couldn't wait to get out of Equestria to delete everything and start all over. He wouldn’t let his grandfather's legacy be tarnished, nor would he let his headaches decide his fate.
There’s a little boy and his grandfather in a sort of lab. They’re both humans, and the little boy is just so excited to finally be invited to the older man’s laboratory. It’s something I’ve dreamed about plenty of times, but I’ve yet to hear the boy’s name.
“How does it work, grandpa?” The boy would ask. He’d slap his little hands against the tabletop, looking toward the man in a lab coat with admiration.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older, R-----,” The older man dismisses the boy’s eagerness with a smile on his face.
The boy would then attempt to get the answer he sought using a different tactic. “...you don’t know, do you?”
“Hmph. It’s hard to explain in a way that you’ll understand.”
“Try me, grandpa.”
“Fine. Well, you see the page? I used a special resin…”
---
Lyra spasmed to consciousness. “What kind of dream was that?” she murmured to herself, the memories of her recent dream muddied by the chilled air around her. After rubbing her eyes, she felt a chill of realization. “Eh?!” She looked around at her surroundings, seeing that she was outside of Reilly’s house again. “How did I?” She sat up and groaned from the effort, wincing, even. Lyra felt sore and ached all over. Still, she managed to stand up and adjust her saddle bag, then make her way over to the front door of Reilly’s makeshift home.
“Reilly?” she asked aloud, peering about when she pushed open the door and stepped through the threshold.
“Oh. You again,” Reilly said to her coldly. He was on his couch as usual, with the table pulled up as he returned to writing something.
Lyra pouted, hurt by his attitude toward her. She trotted inside with a bit of the doldrums weighing on her shoulders, making her way to Reilly’s side. “How’s your list doing?”
“It’s good. No thanks to you.”
“Oh, come on!” Lyra suddenly ignited in irritation and stomped her hoof hard enough to leave a mark in the floorboard. “I’ve been trying to help you, haven’t I? Why do you have to be so mean all of a sudden?”
He muttered something unintelligible in response. “...what was that?” she asked, adjusting the direction of her ears.
“...disgusting…” She heard him say now, but she couldn’t understand why or what the meaning of that was.
“Could you run that by me, again?”
“I said that you’re disgusting!” Reilly suddenly hollered, slamming his hand against the table.
“Ehh?!” Lyra hopped back in surprise at his eruption. “What are you saying, Reilly?”
“You revel in sin! I thought I could tolerate it at first, but I finally realized it back at the castle...you really don’t care about my views at all”
“No!” she exclaimed and shook her head. “I completely respect your upbringing and would never try to upset you on purpose!” Her ears now drooped as she pawed at the floor with her hoof. “It’s just that...I can’t help it. There are times that something just...takes over me...it’s not like I want to do that stuff…”
“If you’re serious about wanting help, we’re gonna put a stop to this,” Reilly said.
She blinked and looked up toward the human, noticing a determined expression on his face that just caused her spirits to brighten. “You mean you’ll give me another chance? Oh thank you, Reilly!”
“Not so fast!” Twilight declared as she entered. She glanced at the clock on the far wall to confirm something, then returned an irritated stare at Reilly. “I’ve timed it to make sure that I won’t be here during one of your cluster attacks,” she stated. "And even if I have to spend the next few hours here, I’m going to find out what your plans are and stop them once and for all!”
“You want to know his plans? He’s going to help me, Twilight!” Lyra said.
Twilight narrowed her eyes in bemusement. “Help you?” she asked the other unicorn.
“That’s right!” Reilly said, stepping forward. “Lyra made an important first step in her recovery by asking for me to help her. She’s no longer going to live with her judgement clouded. The mare you see standing before you now will see the light of goodness and shun evil from today onward!’
“Wait. What are you even talking about, Reilly?” Twilight asked. Her ears pinned downward and she took note of his sudden excitement.
“There’s a form of therapy that humans discovered that works for people that are serious about curing themselves of homosexuality. All sorts of treatments were made by professional psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors! If it wasn’t for politics ignoring the evidence and harm such a sin of choice creates, I’m sure we’d have been much further along than we currently are! I know for a fact that Lyra and many other ponies like her weren’t born to do what they’ve chosen to do since I’ve arrived and I plan to fix things to how they’re supposed to be.”
“Curing homosexuality’? That’s absurd, you idiot!” Twilight screamed in dismay. “I can’t even fathom what sort of alleged ‘evidence’ is provided by so-called doctors to come up with such conclusions. What do you even know about psychology? From what you read in a magazine? This is entirely unethical and downright wrong!”
“If that’s how you’re gonna be, then I think you should just leave, Twilight!” Lyra demanded. “Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?!”
Twilight whinnied and rolled her eyes. “If you don’t care about what I have to say, I guess I’m going to tell the princess about this!”
“The princess has already given me sole responsibility to look after Reilly!” Lyra smirked and presented a rolled up scroll from her saddle bag and using her magic, brought it over to Twilight to see. She unfurled it and held it before the other pony.
“What?!” Twilight stared at the certified document with an incredulous eye, aghast that it was even notarized with the royal seal. “How did...why would Princess Celestia ever agree to this?!”
“I...have my ways…” Lyra hesitantly admitted, feeling her face get hot from the memory.
“Now that you understand,” Reilly openly scoffed, “get out before you try to rape Lyra again.”
“I DID NOT RA-...UGH!” Twilight stomped out of the house and slammed the door behind her.
“Good riddance,” he sighed and made his way upstairs. Lyra wasn’t sure what to do and simply waited for Reilly to come back. A short moment later he returned wearing a button-down Oxford shirt and pleated khakis. He pointed to the couch, and she understood the gesture to hop onto it while he dragged over a chair. From his pile of papers he retrieved a notepad and a manila folder. “Let’s begin,” he said after taking a seat on the chair.
“Ok,” Lyra said, feeling a bit anxious like she was taking part in a serious exam.
He cleared his throat and she watched him with a bit of admiration. Reilly looked quite professional, Lyra thought. “While the Bible clearly states that homosexuality runs contrary to God’s plan for relationships, those who struggle with homosexual feelings are still God’s children, in need of His forgiveness and healing.”
Lyra furrowed her brow in confusion. “Uh, ok…I know I said that I’ve been reading a lot about humans, but I think there’s a few things I’m missing.”
“Like what?”
“Um...when you say ‘God’, what exactly do you mean? Because the books that talk about humans were a bit sparse in that department...’
“Hmmmm, how about you fill this out while I tell you a few more things about humans?” He shuffled through the manila folder and handed her multiple sheets of paper, fifteen in all, filled with different sorts of questions. He offered her his pen as well, which she held in her magic. “Now while you’re doing that, I’ll start from the beginning, which funnily enough is called ‘Genesis’.”
Lyra looked at the different pages. They were mostly questions about her and her family, much like a form that a doctor’s office would have. It was mostly straightforward. Names, ages, etc. Farther into the questionnaire, she had to list her hobbies, activities and even answer a few personality quiz-type questions.
“Which leads us next to Leviticus…”
She half-paid attention to what he was saying while trying to answer the questions as truthfully as she could. The fifth and sixth pages took a bit longer to fill out than the ones before, but Lyra continued on.
“Various professional groups that are experts on the subject…”
It was at the ninth page that she glanced up and shifted her attention back to the lecture for a moment.
“There’s something called the ‘Wizard of Oz’ principle,” Reilly continued. “The lion wants courage so he can be the most courageous one on the journey. Some people call it the ‘cannibal compulsion.’ Cannibals will eat people, but only the enemies they admire. If their enemies are courageous, cannibals will eat their heart. If they are strong, they’ll eat their muscles. There is a compulsion to take into yourself the qualities you feel you’re lacking and someone else has. Eroticization is one of the ways to do that.”
Lyra in all honesty didn’t know what Reilly was talking about, but it sounded right. Lions and manticores were indeed terrifying carnivorous beasts...she shrugged, thinking that’s where he was going with that point and returned to filling up the last page of questionnaire.
“Lyra? I’m here with the hot sauce like you asked for yesterday!” Bon Bon stepped in through the front door, looking around for her housemate. She didn’t get why her long-time friend chose to spend so much of her time with the human, but trusted that Lyra could take care of herself. Although it had been a bit of a bother with making up new excuses to tell Treble Clef where one of her symphony performers had been.
“Ugh!” Reilly groaned out, grasping the left side of his head.
“Oh no, Reilly!” Lyra gasped out. She jumped to her hooves to start taking care of his pain when Bon Bon walked into the room.
“Lyra...I…” Bon Bon moaned out, unable to stop looking at her housemate with lust in her eyes. She shrugged the saddlebags off sighed.
Lyra shook her head, lip quivering. She tried to help Reilly over to the couch but to no avail. He collapsed to the floor in front of her, and she tried to pick him back up. She hesitated as unwanted urges made her heart race at the sight of her housemate nearby. her attention eventually moved more and more to being concerned with the other pony. “Bon Bon!” She called out in concern and took a few steps toward her feverish-looking friend.
“Lyra...Lyra, I don’t know what’s come over me…” The curly-maned mare gave an impassioned plea. She had trouble walking in a straight line, instead staggering to and fro and she finally dropped onto her haunches. Bon Bon was panting, but driven to keep moving forward toward Lyra, dragging her rump across the soft rug and causing a slightly wet trail. “I want you to taste me. Then I want to taste you. I want to feel your lips on mine. Mmmmm…”
“N-no, we can’t, Bon Bon,” Lyra weakly protested.
“Aagh, it hurts!” Reilly groaned, rolling around in pain while holding the left side of his face.
“Why not, Lyra? We’ve been together for so long...we’re practically sisters, but never expressed it…”
“I...I’m not gay, Bon Bon!” Lyra screamed in desperation. “I won’t give into temptation! I’m stronger than that!”
“I’m not gay either. I’m just...so in love with you right now,” Bon Bon sighed happily.
Lyra felt her heart skip a beat, but continued trying to resist. “It’s...not how you feel, but whether you act on those feelings…” Lyra focused as best she could, recalling Reilly’s lecture. However her eyes continued to roam the other mare’s sweaty form as she slowly but surely dragged herself closer and closer. Lyra practically got dizzy at the sight of her friend’s messy look. “I’ll admit that...I feel the same as you, Bonnie.” She gulped, seeing the earth pony just a few hoofsteps away, now. “It’s...it’s not gay if we don’t touch!” Lyra panted out.
“But...I want to…” Bon Bon protested, letting out a disappointed nicker that nearly drove Lyra to sexual madness.
“Y-you stay there, Bon Bon,” Lyra said in a fluster. She scrambled away, skipping over the still-writhing Reilly before setting her haunches down. They now sat on either side of him, faces flush and eyes half-lidded.
“It hurts! Ahhh, my eye!”
Bon Bon didn’t wait to get started. Her hoof was already by her nethers as she lied down on her back for better reach. “Lyra,” she moaned softly. “Lyra…” She looked over to the mint-green unicorn and shuddered from a light orgasm.
Lyra caught her friend’s gaze and felt a chill of excitement. She opened her legs wider for Bon Bon to see. She felt a moan escape her lips from the way her lifelong friend was enraptured in watching her openly schlick. Hearing her pants and smelling her musk. What Lyra wouldn’t do to give her a taste…
‘N-no!’ Lyra shook her head and felt ashamed for that slip.
But as long as they didn’t touch, she thought...
“Turn over,” Lyra gave a husky-voiced order. She cleared her throat, feeling her heart pounding. “It’ll, um...feel better.”
Bon Bon bit her lip and eagerly nodded. “Right.” Her voice was laced with excitement. The mare’s eyes were lit up with an eagerness to please. With some effort she presented herself, as if waiting for some stallion that would never appear to mount her.
“Move your tail, Bonnie...give me a better look,” Lyra almost growled out her demand, this time. Her hoof circled and rubbed her moist crotch, audibly signalling her arousal to the other mare.
Bon Bon lifted her tail while trying to look back at her friend. Her expression was so submissive, it made something burn inside Lyra. Something primal. She shivered and watched her foalhood friend begin to rub herself. With her magic, Lyra spread the mare’s lips and did what she could to rub her all over.
She wasn’t touching her, so it was ok.
“LYRA!” Bonbon cried out from the attention. From the commanding tone her friend had used to make her present herself like this.
“BON BON!” Lyra hissed out and rubbed herself faster and faster. The sensation of her best friend’s body through her magic was amazing. She could practically feel Bon Bon’s spike in energy as she came at the same time.
Both mares flopped to the floor, panting and moaning. Fatigue overtook their bodies and made their muscles feel heavy from exhaustion. Lyra could already hear Bon Bon’s light snoring as she saw that Reilly’s cluster headache had passed.
“I did it!” Lyra cheered with a tired smile. “Reilly, your...therapy worked. I didn’t have sex with her!”
“Yeah,” he said with a tired smile of his own. While not completely aware of what had happened around him, Reilly Haightsgaze felt blessed to know that he made a difference in someone’s life. “It did, didn’t it?”
Reilly gave a ghastly, blood-curdling scream as an attack hurdled him out of his sleep. He desperately gasped for air and was covered in a cold sweat. When he opened his eyes he saw that it was still night time; everything was covered in shadow save for a sliver of moonlight passing through a gap in the drapes.
“Dear, are you alright?” A voice whispered in concern, barely audible over his heavy breathing. He felt someone touch his shoulder and through the dim light, he was barely able to discern that a pony was in bed with him.
“Lyra? What are you doing here?” He asked through the searing pain, recognizing the voice as hers.
“Shhh.” Her hoof lightly pressed against his lips, Reilly was stupefied into silence. He watched as she moved with practiced ease in the dark room and placed something warm over his left eye. Instinct told him that it was a teabag pressed against his eye and he immediately held it with his hand, alongside Lyra’s hoof.
“Feeling better?” She asked as though it was a rote question. The sincerity in her voice belied the fatigue this common occurrence created. The moonlight peeking in between the curtains cast a faint glow to highlight the soft yet brilliant gold of her eyes. Reilly felt too self conscious and worried about fumbling his words so he simply nodded his head in reply. She smiled and gave a sigh. Reilly then felt the smooth frog of Lyra’s hoof against his knuckles as the pain of his headache gradually eased away.
“Thanks.”
She smiled and scanned his face as best she could in the darkness. “Alright. Let’s get back to sleep, then. You need your rest, since Melody’s first day of school is tomorrow.”
“...who’s Melody?”
“Our daughter,” she quickly said, a hint of surprise in her voice. As he remained in stunned silence by her statement, Lyra adjusted how she was positioned to look him close in the eye. She removed her hoof from atop his hand and rested it gently onto his arm, caressing it softly. “Reilly, do we need to see a doctor?”
“No, I don’t need to see a doctor.” He removed the teabag from his eye and watched it be taken out of his grasp and placed on what was probably a nightstand by Lyra’s magic. “Daughter? What are you talking about?” She frowned and shifted even closer to him.
She pressed her forehead against his, careful about her horn. “Hmmm...it doesn't feel like a fever…and it’s not like you've bumped your head recently...”
The soft hairs of her face was like a smooth velvet. She was warm and Reilly smelled a hint of toothpaste when she spoke out her observations. He felt another part of him stir and he pulled away, much to her surprise.
“Y’know...I think that last cluster attack really took it out of me, Lyra,” he said to ease her concerns. Reilly placed his head onto his pillow, feeling the cool fabric touch against his cheek. “I think I’m just really tired.”
“Oh,” he heard her say. She then turned to face away from him before lying down as well and he thought that was that. But then she surprised Reilly by pressing up against him, then used her magic to drape his arm over her.
“If that’s the case,” she began to say, “we should just...get back to sleep like I said.”
Reilly became hyper aware of the pony he had previously held disdain for. Every breath that she took, the slightest move that her body made; he felt every curve of her backside pressing against him. Almost as if they were made to fit like this, together. The relative coolness of the room around them contrasted nicely with the body heat they shared from being so close.
It was quite an experience, lying in bed with someone else. Hearing every breath. Becoming self-conscious about moving lest he bother her. Reilly had no idea what to do with his hand as it rested on top of Lyra’s body. The temptation to begin rubbing up and down to feel more of her soft, warm coat was nearly too much to bear. So he shifted his arm so that his hand was on the mattress.
In turn the immediate response was for Lyra to press herself even more against him. Almost curling, really, so that Reilly was made to hold himself in a protective manner like a dragon would its hoard. A soft, pleased sigh escaped her lips and drifted into his ear like a sweet-sounding music note. His hand returned to her form and he was rewarded with another happy, saccharine-filled sigh of bliss.
His heart was racing in excitement, yet was so exhausted from his cluster attack that he still managed to go to sleep and didn't pay her curious movements no mind. Of course, he didn't notice the sigh of disappointment that escaped the pony’s lips.
---
Reilly stirred and found himself alone on the bed. The spot in front of him was no longer taken up by Lyra. As sunlight poured into the room, he sat up and looked around. Nothing of particular interest caught his eye about the bedroom he found himself in. The furnishings and such were all very homely and very welcoming. The pillow covers, blanket and bed sheets matched and were a soft blue color. Standing up, touching his bare feet to the carpeted floor, Reilly wandered over to the window and peered out to get his bearings. He quickly realized that the house was in the exact same spot as the other one, judging by the scenery; the neighboring houses and the street were just as he remembered.
Not sure if he should be unnerved Reilly turned away from the windows and approached the bedside tables. There were a number of picture frames of varying sizes and shapes, showing scenes and faces he couldn't recall.
Him and the Mane 6.
Him and the Cutie Mark Crusaders
Him and the Mayor cutting a ribbon.
Himself and Lyra.
There was one picture that was prominently placed on a nearby dresser. It was of him in a white tuxedo and Lyra clothed in a beautiful white lace and silk dress with accompanying veil. Right next to that were also a few sets of him, Lyra, and a filly. The filly had the same appearance as Lyra’s—coat, mane, etc.—but a pair of crystal blue eyes.
In every kind of picture, everyone looked happy, even him. It warmed his heart to see such normal, acceptable depictions of friendship and family. Reilly felt his worries ease and nodded in better understanding of what was going on. “I must have just been dreaming before,” he said to himself while idly rubbing his head. “The book actually worked. Thank goodness.”
He stepped out of the bedroom and headed downstairs, noticing how the wooden steps were a stained glossy brown. Pictures lined the walls, showing more scenes of outings and set family photos: A summertime picnic, Hearts and Hooves Day, Nightmare Night, Hearth's Warming Eve; of the holiday photos, Reilly recognized each and every one.
When he reached the bottom landing and glanced down the hall to his left he saw a home office with dark oak furniture. His dad’s office looked just like this one. In fact, much of the setup was reminiscent of how his old man had arranged everything. How the set of books on the nearby shelf sat, the mid-sized globe, the waist-high cabinets; if there was a computer monitor on the right corner of the desk set toward the back of the room, it would be the spitting image of his dad’s office. Practically a replica.
Curious if that would also be the same, Reilly looked to the door frame but felt some disappointment. It lacked the scratches he made while growing up—little ticks into the grain of wood to measure how much he grew year by year when he was a kid. Reilly’s gaze turned toward the floor, where he spotted something below knee height. He squatted down to see a number of scratches that cut into the wood and smiled. The tallest scratch was about half the size of a pony’s.
A light clanging—a metallic tap, suddenly caught his attention. ‘It came from down the hall, I think.’ Standing up, he padded softly against the wooden floorboards when he heard the metallic tap again. All signs of where the sound was coming from pointed to the kitchen, and so Reilly headed there. Nothing was amiss from how he remembered. The tiles, counter tops and pantry were all the same. The breakfast area, however, was completely remodeled and unfamiliar. Back in the other Equestria, Reilly had no need to entertain guests anywhere other than the living room. But there she was before his very eyes: the filly in the photographs. Looking every bit like a smaller Lyra, except the filly’s mane seemed much more wavy, the pony looked up and spotted him.
He froze midway between the island counter in the middle of the kitchen proper and a few feet away from the breakfast area.
“Mornin’ Dad,” the filly casually said mid-chew. In a show of dexterity she lifted the spoon she held in the crux of her ankle and scooped up some oats, making a bit of a metallic clang when the spoon tapped against the interior side of the bowl.
His heart was nearly caught in his throat, but regardless of how surreal it felt, Lyra said last night that this filly was his daughter. He’d have preferred that his daughter went to attention when he entered the room, but he could always change that. “Hey...Melody…” Reilly said as he remained in place. She paid his awkward tone no mind while ravenously finishing her breakfast oats with a couple of spoon-sized shovels.
“Is mom almost ready? She always takes a mondo-long time to get ready even though she’s already pretty!”
He wondered if he had any more kids. While he felt blessed to already have a beautiful little foal, Reilly didn't know if he could ever tell his family back in the real world. Did he already tell them in this version?
“Dad? I asked about mom…?”
“Hmm?” He blinked when her question finally registered in his mind. “Your...your mom?” Reilly stuttered out. “I’ll check.”
“Nah,” Melody said before grasping the bowl with her mouth and carried it over to the sink. With the assistance of a step stool the filly rinsed her breakfast wares then trotted past him to the hallway. “I've got it covered, dad.”
He watched in silent curiosity as the pony’s little hooves echoed against the wood floor. And then… “Mom! Hurry up!” she shouted in a squeaky manner.
Reilly flinched in surprise from the set of lungs that the little filly displayed.
“Will just be a moment, sweetie!” Lyra’s voice called out from upstairs in much the same manner. He wondered where Lyra was since he was upstairs not too long ago.
“Whatever,” Melody sighed in mock impatience and began nudging Reilly toward the door. “We’re gonna leave you behind, mom!”
“Hey, settle down, Melody,” Reilly said as he was pushed forward. He was now surprised by her sheer strength and tried not to stumble as they made it outside. The door was opened in a light touch of golden-orange magic.
“C'mon mom, I wanna go, already!” Melody called out again as they made it to the front of the house.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Reilly heard Lyra’s voice amid a chuckle followed by the door closing. “You’re so excited, aren't you?”
“Duh, mom! It’s the first day? I gotta make a good impression, right?” Melody’s focus seemed to change when she bumped against her dad. “Right, dad? You always say that first impressions are important! Tell mom that we have to go or else I’ll be tardy!”
The sheer amount of energy that the filly had was admirable, he had to admit. Reilly turned to face his supposed wife just as his supposed daughter asked. However his voice caught in his throat even more so than last night from the appearance of the demure pony before him. A white wide-brimmed sun hat fluttered slightly in the warm late-summer breeze. The faintest touch of makeup highlighted her features. A soft gaze of affection in her eyes cast toward him.
“Uh…” was all he managed to say, his mouth agape.
“Equestria to Dad! We still need to get me to school!” Melody playfully chastised, bumping her flank against his side.
Reilly broke out of his stupor and mumbled in surprise. Lyra laughed, hiding her smile behind her hoof.
“Sorry, your mom’s just so beautiful.” He thought that even more so when the mare’s face blushed and she flashed the cutest little grin.
“Dad, you’re such a weirdo!” Melody giggled and smiled. “Of course mom’s beautiful! Now quick gawking and let’s get me to school!” She had been trotting in a circle around him at this point, her impatience completely worn thin. Melody also began to use her tail as a makeshift whip, swinging it harmlessly at Reilly’s legs.
“Gentle Melody, that’s not how a lady acts!” Lyra suddenly chastised the filly in a stern voice, making the little pony’s ears pin low and her eyes aim toward the ground. Melody’s tail even curled somewhat from the thought of upsetting her mom.
“Now, now, Lyra, it’s alright,” Reilly said with a chuckle. “I’ll make sure she acts appropriately from now on.” He extended his hand to caress the mare’s cheek, making her blush.
“You spoil her too much, dear,” was her reply.
“Why are you so dead set on going to school?” He asked, turning toward Melody.
Without needing to think about it, Melody answered, less wary from the kind tone in his voice, “It’s because I finally get to make new friends!” Her helium-rich cheer made him smile and laugh, something that she seemed to take a lot of enjoyment from hearing.
---
They entered the town proper, where the morning traffic of ponies walking about was starting to increase. As the family of three continued down the sidewalk, more and more ponies began to take notice of them. He expected more of the same - seeing them hurry away, or to sneer angrily in his direction. Instead, they greeted him with smiles and waves, as well as Lyra and Melody.
This simple act made him realize just how ostracized he was in that other Ponyville. Here, no one went out of their way to attack him with venomous words, such as calling him a homophobe.
They next walked by the library tree that a certain unicorn lived and worked in. Reilly wrote that the library was frequented much more often that the show would have everyone believe. It just so happened that at that point Twilight stepped out of the library and noticed the him walking by. “Hey, good morning, Reilly! How are you, today?”
“Hi, Twilight,” he replied. “I’m good, thanks. Yourself?”
“Couldn't be better!”
Reilly couldn't help but feel both strange and off kilter about having such a civil conversation with her. It was just like when they first met; the time before he let her know his personal opinion. Before she and most of the ponies around him decided that what he believed and thought was wrong without even understanding what they were talking about.
“Do you have some time to talk? I’d love to learn more about your world,” Twilight said with a giggle.
“I’m a bit busy taking Melo-...uh, my daughter to school”
Twilight looked past where Reilly was and spotted both Lyra and Melody. “Oh! Of course,” she said in reply after waving to the two of them. “Whenever you’re free, then. Just stop by Golden Oaks, ok? Can’t wait for another intellectually stimulating discussion with you!”
“Sure thing,” he said and continued on. Soon enough schoolhouse was in sight on a hill just a few blocks away.
“Good morning!” a stallion standing with a group of plain-looking ponies further up the road, said. Reilly didn't recall seeing them on the show, even as background characters. But whatever details weren't specified would be filled in by the book itself, so he thought nothing of it.
“Good morning,” Reilly returned the greeting.
Another stallion stepped forward, looking a bit eager as if he was about to meet Santa Claus. “How do you do, Apostle Haightsgaze?” He called to him with a smile.
“Apostle?” Reilly asked, pointing to himself. “Me?”
“Why of course! You’re the one that single-handedly showed us the light, aren't you? By the way, I really appreciated your homily last Sunday about love and tolerance. Really powerful stuff. I’m looking forward to this week’s service!”
“Of...of course! Always a pleasure!” Feeling elated now, like the next step he took would cause him to walk on air, Reilly smiled nearly ear to ear and proudly puffed his chest out. It was a short walk from there when they arrived at the playground in front of the Ponyville schoolhouse, where a number of other foals and who Reilly assumed to be their parents, had gathered. The foals were busy playing and screaming as kids were wont to do, while a small group of four or five curious fillies and foals gathered to watch the family that arrived.
Cheerilee, who Reilly considered Ponyville’s only teacher, caught his attention by waving in his direction with a wide smile on her face. He returned a polite but small wave back.
“Lyra, Reilly!” She called out to them. “It’s so great to see you!”
He couldn't recall when if ever he really met Cheerilee, but then again there was a lot he wasn't recalling as of late.
“I’m here, too!” Melody charged forward with feigned irritation in her tone. Her short legs quite a distance as she galloped over to the mare.
Cheerilee looked at her approach with a wide-eyed smile and made an exaggerated gasp of surprise. “Whoa! You’re so big, Melody! What have your parents been feeding you, huh? You’re going to be as tall as the princess, before we know it!”
Melody giggled and shook her head before saying what was on her mind. “We haven’t been able to play in so long, Aunt Cheerilee! I missed you!”
“And I missed you too,” Cheerilee cooed and nuzzled the little filly. When she righted herself she added in a careful way, “While at school you have to call me ‘Ms. Cheerilee,’ you understand?”
Melody nodded her head but never seemed to lose that excitement in her eyes. “Okay, Ms. Cheerilee!”
“Now you go and run along now until class starts, ok? I’m going to talk to your parents for a bit.”
“Sure!” Melody scampered off to meet with the patiently waiting group of foals and they all began to run around and play.
With that all said and done, Lyra and Cheerilee quickly exchanged a friendly nuzzle and began to chat. After saying his own pleasantries Reilly’s attention drifted off to observe the happy innocence of the children playing around until the school bell rang. The mares didn't seem to mind as they were caught up in conversation until Cheerilee had to usher everyone into the building.
When they filtered inside, the children were made to sit in no particular order at the desks. The parents stood at the walls at the back and around the room and watched with fondness at their kids’ first day of school. One parent even seemed to have what looked like a tintype camera and took a snapped a shot much to his wife’s chagrin.
“Welcome to the Ponyville Schoolhouse. My name is Ms. Cheerilee, and for the next few years I hope to bestow upon you the same love for learning that brings a smile on my face everyday. Parents too, I look forward to having your cooperation as your colts and fillies grow into fine young stallions and mares.”
The adults gave a polite stomping of their hooves against the floor save for a lone set of hands clapping. No one seemed to be confused or weirded out by such a thing. And Reilly couldn't stop his smile during the rest of Cheerilee’s class.
---
“Alright, time for recess,” Cheerilee announced. The children eagerly rushed out to the front yard and the playground, barely needing to wait for their new teacher to finish her sentence.
Several parents tried to chastise their energetic foals while following them outside. Reilly and Lyra headed outside as well and remained close to the schoolhouse building while the children played and introduced themselves to each other. Aside from the occasional greeting and casual discussion about dogma, most of the adult’s attentions were split between keeping surveillance on their children and speaking with Lyra.
Holding multiple conversations at once without missing a beat, the mare managed to switch to different topics on a dime without ever mixing up who she was speaking with. Her grace was something that he definitely admired. Lyra was the daughter of a noble, at least that’s what Reilly had written in the OHBTCCAEU to explain why she was in the Canterlot Wedding episodes.
It was quite surprising that he forgot about that, considering just how the other Lyra acted. The one beside him now seemed much more in-character in his mind than that sinful, lust driven OOC. It would also explain how she was able to get a royal meeting approved so quickly, even if it did end up being with Blueblood of all ponies.
Reilly’s attention once more turned to his daughter. He barely knew her and wanted to immediately step into his role as a parent. The way Melody skipped and laughed in such a carefree manner tugged at his heartstrings. ‘Even I think that’s corny,’ he chuckled despite himself.
“Hmmm? Is something funny?” Lyra asked with a glowing smile on her face. The crowd of parents had apparently dispersed, leaving only him and his wife on the bench.
“No,” Reilly quickly replied. “It’s nothing. Sorry, Lyra.” She took that at face value, not pushing any further. It was quite heartening for Reilly that she was so considerate, but at the same time it niggled him enough to blurt out, “Say, Lyra…”
“Yes, dearest?” She looked at him in expectation, waiting patiently for what he had to say.
“Are you...happy?” He lightly grit his jaw, feeling his throat tense a bit. “With all of this? With me?” Reilly was apprehensive of hearing her answer. Of pinning his hopes on this not being some nightmare instead of his perfect dream finally realized.
“Being the wife of the Equestrian Church’s President couldn't make me any more happy, dear!” Lyra said with a loving smile. “And as the mother of our child I can say without regret that I’m very fulfilled.”
Some doubt still remained and he needed her to make him feel better about himself. “Am I a good husband? A good father?”
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly when he asked that, but a large rumbling from the schoolhouse grabbed both her and Reilly’s attentions. Reilly and Lyra went to investigate the source of the rumbling inside the schoolhouse and saw a giant pile of boxes near a collapsed shelf. A pinkish striped tail stuck out from the pile as a soft voice cried out, “Help!
They both sought out the mare trapped under the pile of books before unearthing a very embarrassed pony’s face. “Cheerilee, are you alright?” Lyra asked first, continuing to remove enough of the pile for the teacher to sit up.
“Um...yes…” Cheerilee nickered while trying to hide the fierce blush on her face. “Th-thank you, both of you, for helping me...I don’t know what would have happened if any of the kids saw me in such an embarrassing situation. Not to mention that i just have so much to do before the end of recess, like picking up some copies of the first homework assignment I ordered in town...oh, what am I going to do”
“We can help you clean up, Cheerilee,” Reilly said without hesitation.
“And that way you can get your orders and be back in time for class!” Lyra added.
“Oh, thank you so much, Reilly. Lyra.” She nodded and explained what she had in mind for the second half of class before making her way to the door. “You’re lifesavers. I’ll try to make it up to you as soon as I can!”
“Looking forward to it,” Lyra said and Cheerilee went on her way. Soon enough Reilly and Lyra were moving the desks around how Cheerilee instructed, and together made short work of cleaning up the classroom. There was still some time before class was due to start again and the couple had perched themselves on the teacher’s desk to observe the fruits of their labor.
This sort of everyday moment was exactly what Reilly wanted, among other things.
“So, Reilly…” he heard Lyra call to him on his right. When he turned to respond, she pressed her soft lips against his, letting him melt under the warmth of the touch before pulling away. “Y’know, Reilly,” she continued, a wily smile on her face. “I was thinking lately…” She leaned close and whispered into his ear, “how about we give Melody a little brother or sister?”
Reilly gasped at the suggestion, quickly becoming aware of the pony sitting next to him.
It was all too surreal, now.
He was still a virgin...or technically, he was. Biology notwithstanding, the fact that he had a daughter with a pony was evidence enough that he wasn't a virgin in a sense. And drawing from that conclusion, it would have meant that he and Lyra had wed. After all, since they were married, it was perfectly fine. But his concern was on what sort of temple the marriage was consecrated. Was it even a sanctioned, recognized marriage in the eyes of the priesthood?
It was said, after all, “For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.”
Reilly wanted to know. He needed to know.
While casting a sultry gaze his way, Lyra happened to glance at the clock. “Oh no. You’re almost due for an attack. I’ll get the Capsaicin, dear.”
He blinked upon hearing that. “Wait, before that, Lyra, I have something to ask you.”
She gently stroked her hoof along his cheek, cutting him off. “It’ll have to wait, Reilly. I don’t want you to feel any more pain than you have to.”
“No, this is something that I really need…” He stood up only to gasp and stumble forward onto the student’s desk in front of him. He braced himself for the cluster attack. Gulped and grasped the left side of his face. “Agh! Please, Lyra...don’t go. Don’t leave me…” The all-too familiar pain rushed through the left side of his head.
She nodded and sidled up to him, placing a comforting hoof on his cheek. “Reilly, stay strong. I’m right beside you, ok?”
“Th-thanks,” he exhaled with a smile on his face despite the pain. He groaned and desperately wanted something to relieve the anguish coursing through him. He couldn't remember the last time a cluster attack was ever this bad. So much so that Reilly sobbed and haggardly gasped. Yet he didn't want her to leave him. He needed her. He didn't want to be left alone.
Sensing this, Lyra felt conflicted about what to do. She didn't leave like he asked her to, but felt pangs of guilt and her own anguish for not being able to do anything more. “Oh no...Cheerilee!” Lyra called out with desperation in her voice. “Cheerilee, help!”
“I’m coming!” Cheerilee’s voice carried over from outside.
“Please, he really looks hurt!” Lyra cried out.
“Agh...it hurts!” Reilly growled.
“I’m coming…” Cheerilee’s voice said again, as though making some sort of plea. “I’m coming…Ahn! I’m cumming!”
When he snapped opened his eyes, Reilly saw that he was still in the schoolhouse. An orange glow of sunset filtered in through the winds. His brain then registered the now-familiar musk of pony release, and he cringed in disgust. He looked toward the front of the room to see Lyra curled up with Cheerilee on the teacher’s desk, both of them panting and covered in sweat.
“Whatever,” he replied out of habit. He rubbed his temple with his eyes closed and sighed in exhaustion. “Let’s just get Melody and go back home.”
“...who’s Melody?”
“What are you talking about?” His eyes snapped open and he looked at the ponies untangling themselves from one another. Cheerilee and Lyra exchanged glances and a mutual look of confusion. The expression on their faces was clear to him that they didn't know what he meant. This made Reilly gulp. “Melody. You don’t remember Melody?”
“The...only pony I can think of is Octavia Melody. Is that who you mean?” Lyra asked. Her eyes widened in alarm and she whined, “Oh no...have you been meeting her even though you already have me, Reilly?!”
Her exclamation ignored, Reilly Haightsgaze remained silent and gulped bitterly in realization. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to remember what could have been and left for home.
Lyra’s thoughts lingered on last night’s dream. It was…different, that’s for sure. She felt like she was someone else, experiencing a stranger’s feelings, having memories of things that she was sure she had never done.
The boy loved visiting his dear grandfather.
She finally saw a scene outside of the laboratory, a different dream than she’d been having for the past several nights. It was through the eyes of that boy she’d seen so many times before, from a point of view as though watching actors in a play run their scene.
He always seemed to get into an argument with nearly everyone. The doctors gave that condition a name; they seemed to have all sorts of names to explain all of the boy’s problems, except for why he had them in the first place.
She continued trotting ahead, making her way to the front door of a house just a little outside of Ponyville, south of the town along a small trailing road.
That was why the boy loved visiting his grandfather: he was the exception. His grandfather was wise and smart and knew so many different things, and the boy readily accepted what he said without argument. The wonders of the science that his grandfather practiced sought to explain the world, the how and the why. The primary focus was on answering mysterious of life. The questions that hadn’t already been revealed. The ongoing fascination that was developing grew a wide smile on the boy’s face as he rang the doorbell.
Shaking the thoughts out of her mind, Lyra opened the door and walked into the house. “Reilly? You in?”
“Are you sure it’s alright for you to just stroll in like that?” The other pony that Lyra wanted to come along with her asked standing a few steps behind. “I’m pretty sure that’s trespassing.”
“It’s fine!” Lyra answered with unwavering confidence. “Me and Reilly go way back!” Without further protest the second mare stepped inside after Lyra and closed the door. “Reilly?” Lyra called out next. “There’s someone I want you to meet!”
He adjusted the pair of glasses he wore while looking down from the top of the stairs. “Get out,” he said with a scowl.
“Wait, wait! Reilly!” Lyra looked up the stairs from where she heard the human's voice. With her brows furrowed upwards she whined and quickly gestured for the other pony to step forward. “I know you’ll be happy when I introduce you to a certain pony.“
He let out an annoyed huff and took a heavy step forward.
“This is Octavia Melody,” Lyra announced with a tinge of desperation.
“How do you do?” The gray-coated pony greeted with a nod of her head.
“...Hi. Nice to meet you.” Reilly said, his tone less harsh toward the gray-coated pony. He wasn’t at all unfamiliar with Octavia, but never really followed through with writing anything entirely detailed for her. He detested how everyone always wanted to pair her with Vinyl Scratch, much the same way that Lyra was shipped with Bon Bon. The thought made him huff out. Despite the progress Lyra said she had the other day when she was tempted by her housemate, what she did with Cheerilee was reprehensible. It made his scowl deepen and caused Lyra to let out a forced chuckle.
“Um...you left in such a hurry the other day that you forgot the extra ink wells, quills and paper we went to the schoolhouse for.” Lyra started to take said items out of her saddlebags and place them onto the table.
“That’s why we were there?” Reilly said quietly. “Huh.”
“Y-yeah…so…I brought all of the things we got from the schoolhouse yesterday because you left so suddenly without saying anything...and didn’t answer the door when I knocked last night...for three hours. I didn’t want to bother you since you were, y’know...sort of grumpy,” Lyra said to cut into the silence that settled as she took out several reams of paper from her saddle bags onto the table in the living room, but it failed to prompt any new response from him.
‘And yet you simply walked in without knocking just a moment ago...’ Octavia rolled her eyes at the awkward moment and said, “Lyra’s told me about your cluster headaches. I can’t even imagine the sort of pain that you’re subjected to whenever they happen.”
“That’s an understatement,” he scoffed, his fingers tapping on the banister.
“...right,” Octavia said after a short pause. “In any case, I’d like to invite you to a concert, Reilly. Music does have some healing properties, I feel.”
This drew Reilly’s interest and he slowly descended the stairs until he was standing right in front of the ponies. He looked over Octavia, barely able to hold back his excitement at meeting the mare. “I’ll accept your invitation, Ms. Octavia,” Reilly said with a smile. He felt quite comfortable with her already, figuring by her demeanor so far that she’d be able to resist temptations of the flesh. Unlike a certain unicorn he knew.
Octavia nodded and turned to leave, the objective of Lyra’s favor of her met. “I’ll pick you up tonight. Let’s say, five o’clock?”
“Sure,” Reilly said with a slightly lighter mood in his tone. “It’s a date.”
“Uh...no...it isn’t…”
“Oh.”
---
There was an amphitheatre outside of Canterlot. A stately construction of windswept, wing-like facades that were inspired by the princesses, themselves. A contrast of day and night motifs could be found all over. It was built in celebration of Princess Luna’s return by the master artisan Diamond Chisel.
While everything that Octavia was telling him seemed impressive and important, Reilly had no clue or idea when such a thing was built. Nor did any of this seem to be mentioned on the show or even in the comics. He had never seen any fancanon about an ampitheatre when he was copying and pasting things from online to make his descriptive book. Surprises like this reminded Reilly of how important it was to complete the linking book so he could go back to Earth and fix the mistakes that had been popping up. Though, things like the amphitheatre they were entering was interesting. He wouldn’t mind keeping stuff like this in his fixed, correct version of Equestria.
The well dressed ponies standing around and talking in the spacious lobby paid as little attention to Reilly, Octavia and Lyra, however for the two mares the looks from the others were hard to ignore. Reilly found it hard to stop his attention from drifting over to the pony on his left. Octavia was wearing a sheer black dress that sparkled with sequin floral designs. Lyra wore something out of a Disney movie: a bright yellow gown that complimented her eyes which reminded him of Belle.
“Octavia, is that you I see?” A shrill voice called out from across the lobby. Not even Reilly was able to remain oblivious to the tall and slender mare approaching them. She sashayed and grinned, letting her blue transparent evening gown flutter in her wake.
“You know her, Octavia?” Reilly asked.
“She’s someone I used to...be close with,” Octavia explained in a sanitized way.
“Page Van Hautey, nice to make your acquaintance. I’m actually Octavia’s ex-girlfriend, if you want to know the truth,” the mare stated sharply. A proud grin remained on her face as she scanned the three in front of her. After a single pass, her eyes settled on Reilly. “You must be the human I’ve oh-so-heard about. Mmm, how droll.”
“Hmm?” Reilly was only paying half attention, trying to figure out if he wanted to keep the amphitheatre in his correct version of Equestria or not.
In the meantime Octavia quickly stepped in front of Reilly, facing Page with a less-than-amused look on her face. “I hope you’ve had enough fun. I’d like to take him to his seat, now.”
“Oh, Octavia,” Page tut-tutted and sighed. “And to think, we lasted all through high school. I just want you to see what you’re missing these days,” she cattily boasted. She even went so far as to flick her tail while walking away.
Reilly was the first to speak out, in a comforting, sympathetic tone that took the girls by surprise. He took a knee in front of her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “It sucks that you’re no longer friends, Octavia. Losing one of your girlfriends, especially if you knew each other since high school, must be tough. Can’t say I’ve kept in touch with any of my guy friends from that part of my life,” Reilly said in a sympathetic tone. “But I think you’re better off. She doesn’t seem to be the kind of mare you want to associate yourself with.” He had strong suspicions that she was gay. With that in mind, Reilly didn’t want Octavia to fall to any lesbian tricks if he could help it.
“Uh...thank you?” She sent a questioning glance to Lyra who just shrugged her shoulders in reply.
“You’re welcome, Octavia,” he said. Standing back up, Reilly looked around. “Let’s listen to this concert, shall we?”
“Sure thing.” Octavia led the way once more, past the ticket kiosk and into the music hall-proper.
A whole town’s worth of ponies seemed to be packed inside the hall, dressed to the nines. There was a sort of hushed raucousness to the conversations everyone was collectively having, intermixing day-to-day gossip with immediate discussions on Reilley the human and the number of things he was involved in lately. The aisle the three walked down was covered in a velvet carpet that inclined down toward the stage. There was a noticeable lack of seats as the ponies mostly sat on their haunches atop plush pillows of varying design.
Just as he was about to ask Octavia about his seating situation, Reilly immediately ducked behind Lyra’s left and crawled along the floor when he spotted Blueblood seated in the viewing box high above on the opposite site of the main hall.
“R-Reilly?” Lyra stuttered in surprise when she felt him press up against her side.
“Shut up and keep walking,” he growled out and crawled ahead using Lyra as cover.
Octavia looked back over her shoulder when she heard Reilly’s tense voice and couldn’t help but guffaw at the strange sight of the human shuffling along on all fours.
“Shush,” Reilly grumbled. Octavia barely managed to stifle another chuckle before looking forward again.
“Got it,” she said amidst a bit of laughter as she led the small group all the way down toward the stage side access. The cellist could imagine how enjoyable it was to see Reilly awkwardly waddle up the several steps on his hands and knees until he seemed to feel safe enough behind the curtains. “Having fun?” She teased receiving a pout in reply. “This way, I want you to meet the conductor.” They followed Octavia further backstage where they came upon dozens of ponies hurrying to and fro with equipment and instruments.
A dark green pony spotted the group and shooed away the worker that she’d been speaking to. “Name’s Treble Clef. You must be Reilly. Octavia mentioned she’d bring you here.” Her pace was fast and her attention shot to Lyra changing from vaguely polite to plain old annoyed. “Along with bringing you. It’s good to see that you’re alive,” Treble Clef quipped. She brushed back her white and black striped mane, letting it hang completely toward her right side like a cascading waterfall of hair that reached to her chin.
“I’m sorry boss, I was busy taking care of Reilly,” Lyra said with a wince of embarrassment. “I even have a royal document that says so!”
The pause was brief as her lips curled upward. “Huh. Of all the excuses that your Bon Bon told me, I think that’s the wildest one...” Then she began to laugh and whinny with excitement until tears formed in her eyes. Not a beat passed when her expression turned serious again, though not as stern. “Well, at least you’re in time to play with us.”
“What? Oh no, I’m sorry. I’m here to listen, not play. Besides, it’s been a while since I seriously practiced!”
“Nonsense. You said you were sorry, so this is your chance to make up for your mistake. Now get along. Don’t dawdle or you’ll delay the show.” Treble Clef placed an instrument case at Lyra’s feet, making her stagger back a few steps.
Just as she was about to comment about the wear and tear of the case in front of her, Lyra immediately felt the urge to inspect the instrument within. “Wait a minute,” she said as her eyes grew wide in recognition. “This is my lyre. How did you get my lyre?”
“It’s thanks to your housemate,” Treble Clef curtly replied. She took a glance over Reilly while he was looking over the lyre exposed in its case, a habit that Octavia noticed.
Lyra stammered, trying to think up an excuse. “What? Seriously...I...Reilly!” She turned to ask him for some support but only saw Octavia standing there, and she realized that he had already gone off to find his seat. “Awww, Reilly!” Lyra whined as she was dragged toward her place on stage.
Crawling back up the aisle a forgone choice, Reilly searched around for a free seat in the middle area that Octavia said was supposed to be his. He hardly cared about the protests of the fancy-dressed ponies waiting patiently for the show to begin as he made his way for the plump green cushion with gold tassels in the middle of the row. Reilley wordlessly plopped down onto the admittedly comfortable cushion, crossing his legs over.
“Excuse me,” a pony said in a stern manner to his left. “I said ‘excuse me,’ sir.” Wearing a frown like a wrinkly rubber mask, Reilley looked to the bespectacled older mare that was seated on his left. Her own frown remained when she said, unimpressed by his dour expression, “You’re sitting on my tail.”
Reilley blinked at that and felt an honest blush heat up his face. “S-sorry,” he mumbled and quickly lifted his hips for the mare to pull her tail away. He cleared his throat as she “Hmphed” in his direction. Other than that interaction nothing else happened during the twenty minute wait before the lights dimmed and the audience mostly quieted itself.
The conductor, Treble Clef, stepped out and began to waver her baton without preamble. The gathering of more than a dozen ponies arranged in a half circle proceeded on cue, playing their respective instruments. There were tubas and saxophones, trumpets and flutes; all sorts of instruments that Reilley recognized but didn’t immediately or ever know the names of. However his eyes zeroed in on two ponies in particular. Reilly watched as Lyra and Octavia played their instruments, the lyre and cello, respectively. Even amongst a dozen other ponies from where he sat, the two of them stood out in both sight and sound. The fact that it synched up with how he wrote it was quite a comforting notion, indeed.
The first set took about three or four minutes before Treble Clef turned to face the audience and give a short spiel about being honored and whatnot. Reilley was quite impressed with the fact that there didn’t seem to be any need for a tune up period before the show began, as symphonies and orchestras seemed to always have back home. The next set, written by some pony he never heard, began with a mix of brass and string leading into the drums.
Before the next set began, Lyra was placed at the front of the group and a spotlight was pointed right where she was to sit. Reilley was genuinely interested in watching and hearing her solo when he groaned out, feeling the shadow of a cluster attack. “Oh no…” he said with despair and dread laced in his voice. Ponies in the crowd started to shift and feel spikes of arousal and the need to loosen up their garments and accessories.
“...fuck,” he grumbled and felt a burning puncture as though someone was firing an arrow from inside his head. Reilley hissed and clenched his eyes for the faintest moment. The pain wasn’t enough to completely paralyze him, but the ponies around him were already drawn to another with lust and wanting in their eyes.
His eyes were still closed when a cacophonous roar of moans and sinful lust filled the hall. When he opened his eyes, Reilley spotted that a pile of mares formed on top of Lyra; a writhing multitude of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies licking and kissing and prodding her body all over. She shuddered again and again from the masterful ministrations and gasped aloud when one mare’s mouth pressing between her hindquarters was exchanged for another. And another.
Moans of rapture and howls of unfettered hedonism filled the air, as did an excess of sexual musk that formed a pungent haze that made Reilly gag and cough in nausea and revulsion. The mare on his left was pinned down by another mare that was eating her out, sloppily and noisily pushing her muzzle between the previously uptight pony’s snatch. Reilly retched at the sight and sound of the vile act and try to stumble away in the other direction, but fell over when he realized his legs were numb from the way he had been sitting. “Fuck!” He screamed out and began to desperately crawl away while a stallion in a top hat in the row to his right was being reamed hard and fast by another stallion.
Reilley was quickly running out of stamina and energy to get out of this awful situation when a pair of hooves appeared to lift him up. “C’mon, Reilly,” Octavia grunted while pulling him onto her back. “You need to get outside!” He was too big to fully carry him out, so she strained and fought to get him in a secure-enough way to at least be able to lead him away in his condition.
“MASTER, COME BACK!” Blueblood screamed out in the heights of his climax. From the viewpoint of his spectator box he spotted the human being tugged along by a grey earth pony through the throngs of ponies fucking and being fucked. A pair of hefty cocks pushed and bounced against one another to grab the prince’s attention. The stallion’s attention immediately pulled toward the stiff cock delicacies bobbing in front of his eyes and he let out a dramatic moan and whinny. He attacked the one closest to his drooling mouth and moaned at the salty, unwashed cum receptacle that was sure to fill his mouth after some time in his care. Swirling his tongue around it a good number of times, he pulled his mouth off with an audible pop, before ensconcing the other lidded cock into his mouth.
As though reading his mind a pair of hooves raised the prince’s hindquarters up for all to see and he shuddered and moaned loudly from quickly being speared by stallions with vim and vigor. A number of different cocks pushed in and pulled completely out of his ass, each different shapes and girths. Blueblood felt like such a slut and didn’t care why.
---
Octavia wiped the sweat off her brow, slightly panting from near-exhaustion. She had managed to pull Reilly out of the amphitheater and carry him to the sidewalk curb before she nearly buckled. “You’re...a lot heavier than you look,” she quipped, managing a sly grin. “You’re lucky that I’m a bassist.”
“Thanks...Octavia…” he gasped out. “You saved...my life…”
“Hmm? Oh it’s nothing that dramatic, Reilly.” She chuckled and nudged her hoof against his ribs as she sat next to him. “Though it was plain as day that you were suffering in there.”
“Like you couldn’t believe!” He said, nodding. “It’s so disgusting…”
“Yeah,” she began with a sigh. “That was a bit beyond the pale, no exaggeration.” There was a time and a place for those sorts of things, in Octavia’s mind. It was so curiously random. Disturbing even, from how widespread and out of character it was for the usually conservative audience that was in attendance. Though nobles and upper class ponies with fetishes and kinks weren’t completely unheard of, the very public nature was surprising for even her.
After a few pants for breath, Reilly smacked his lips while holding his hand over his left eye. “You want to...get breakfast, sometime?”
“...like as friends?” she asked. Her attention moved to the human next to her, a bit confused by his confession while he was looking quite disheveled and uncomfortable as he did.
“Yeah,” he immediately said to follow up, trying to recover. Reilly cleared his throat and nodded. “If you’re willing to be friends with me, I’d love to start with that.”
“Hmmm, sure.” She nodded after a small moment of thought. It was a good idea to try to take one’s mind off of the...whatever it was that happened during the concert. “Do you need me to help you get home?”
“I do, actually.” He leaned on Octavia and with her help, Reilly got back to his house outside of town.
