Fireflare

–but Wishing Star held out a hoof and stopped her with a wicked grin. “You know, pet, part of being a mistress is handing out punishments when the pets are acting up. It’s all an exercise in good training, really.”

The brown unicorn rose, her hips sashying as she gripped the head gently in her forehooves. “So…” she breathed over Vinyl’s horn, “here’s what’s going to happen.”

With utmost gentleness, she lifted the white head and leaned into the DJ’s chest, sliding the neck through the collar with that same, wicked smirk. “Octavia,” she murmured breathily, “is going to endure the tender, sweet mercies of my dear Fireflare.” Her hoof trailed from Vinyl’s shoulder down her foreleg. “You… and I, meanwhile….”

She grabbed Vinyl’s Fetlock and suddenly dragged her into a standing position. “We’re going to check on the kids!” Wishing Star chirped brightly, tugging her out of the room. “Bye you two, Fireflare nothing above third level!” The doors slammed shut behind the two unicorns.

There was an awkward moment.

“Okay, just so you know,” Fireflare finally said, “she was completely serious. And she can, you know, kinda tell if we haven’t, uh…”

~~~~~~

Moonshine sighed, dragging a hoof down his face. “Look, even if you do have a crush on him, I don’t know if he can return those feelings. Like, at all. I mean, maybe he’s able to, I dunno, but–argh.”

He stared at the sky for a few seconds.

“Okay, okay. How about this. You two can hang out or whatever, and I don’t know, when he’s like eight maybe you can start kinda dating? I… no, that wouldn’t work… My point is, puberty. Puberty is when things get serious, because of… things. At least I think that’s what it’s called–no, what I’m saying is, I don’t think… I don’t know if anyone is going to be able to take two kids in love seriously, because, uh, you’re kids. So…”

He frowned. “I’m really not getting this across well. OKAY. What I mean is, just… just don’t expect anything grown-up from a kiddie relationship. If it lasts long enough, maybe it works, but… he’s five, so just… know that, right?”

Solar Flare rolled his eyes. “Are you two done talking over there? That pooka thing put yakity sax on, and you know what happens when he does that!”

~~~~~~

“I received no help from the fae in this endeavor,” Glory Star replied quietly. “I simply… have my reasons.”

“She can be stubborn when it comes to secrecy,” Comet Trail confided, accidentally jumping her character into a pit of boiling pudding. “Oh! Did… did I lose–oh, wait, there I am…”

“The deaths presented in this game are both less painful and less permanent than reality’s version, as an inherent property of a property meant to challenge. And I just found the hidden emerald.”

Octavia blinked, then blinked again.  Vinyl and Wishing Star’s departure had been…rather quick, and…somewhat intimate?  Even the DJ, who usually acted brash and in charge of things, had a submissive wide-eyed expression right before she was pulled out of sight.  It took a moment for the cellist to completely take in what had just occurred.

“Um…w-well, then.  I…I suppose that I…wouldn’t be against such a thing, honestly.  And we shouldn’t disappoint our spouses, of course,” Octavia stammered, a blush evident through the grey of her fur, though there was no signal of discomfort from that emotion-sensing collar Fireflare had given them the night before.  “So, uh…here? I mean, we’re behind closed doors, but still…”

~~~~~~

“…I understand, Moonshine-sama.  I have done something foolish, and will do a better job at restraining my emotions for the next…uh, couple of years to a decade, dependin’ on how Flare develops.  Until then, know that I both respect your judgement, and also would never intentionally cause emotional trauma to your lil’ bro.  This is…well, I guess it’s an awkward sitch for all of us, so thanks for…y’know, makin’ valid points without yellin’ and callin’ me foolish, I guess.”

Tempo gave one more respectful bow towards the colt that had been having a really unusual day so far, and then turned towards her favourite sparring partner.  “A’ight, ya punk!  Hope you enjoyed your break, ‘cause it’s only gonna get tougher from ‘ere on!  BANZAI!”

~~~~~~

“Oh, this is…good, I think,” Pitch commented, as the characters in the game were sent out of the bonus level and back to the main path. “Getting all of those emeralds unlocks…I want to say ‘the final level’?  Perhaps just an extra cutscene following the last boss’ defeat, since collecting such trinkets during the chaos of multiplayer is usually quite a feat.”

Fireflare sighed. “Look… Wishing Star shouldn’t have done that. I mean, I was about to punt your wife’s head through a window, I’ll admit that, but the teasing was… absolutely the wrong ‘punishment’ for the situation and quite frankly she shouldn’t have brought you into it. She just reverts a bit to ‘sex goddess’ when she’s stressed… I’m pretty sure once she’s calmed down, she’ll realize what she did was wrong and apologize.”

The pegasus stood up. “That being said, for the moment she is a quote unquote mistress and she takes that duty very seriously. So… we should probably head up to the bedroom and, uh, yeah.” With an awkward glance behind her, the pegasus walked toward the living room door and opened it. “…After you?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare took the charge with a firm stance, whipping up his forelegs in a block and quickly moving them about to counter the filly’s blows. Moonshine rolled his eyes, walking up to the porch and taking a seat to watch.

At this time, Wishing Star and Vinyl Scratch burst through the front door, the brown unicorn grinning like a maniac. “Well, it looks like our kids are sparring again. Moonshine, dear, how are things out here?”

“They’re fine now…” the grey colt allowed. “They got weird a little earlier, but… Uh…”

He fidgeted a bit. “…Miss Scratch, you may want to give Tempo that same talk that Mom and Madre tried to give me.”

Wishing Star, still smiling, turned her gaze toward her son. “…What.”

“…Cause, you know, I’m pretty sure I screwed it up.”

“…What.”

“…See, I kinda found them, you know, kissing, except I think she was kissing him–”

Wishing Star sat down and facehooved, her smile gone. “Wow, okay. We really screwed up this time.”

~~~~~~

“I, uh, don’t really get into video games that much,” Comet Trail admitted. “I mean, I can see the appeal and all, I just… there’s a lot of stuff that goes on in them and around them and it can get just so… overwhelming, you know? Not just playing the games, but keeping up with all the ponies that talk about them and the various strategies they come up with and… it’s all so complicated.”

~~~~

For a while, Vinyl had been stunned.  Star’s closeness, her authoritative tone, how she had alluded to what the loves of their lives would be doing before pulling a 180 and pulling her along…the DJ, usually the most brash pony in the household, was honestly blushing from it all.  But now, that blush was gone…and Vinyl was still stunned, but for an entirely different reason.

“What.”

She turned her head to the side.  Vinyl saw Tempo who apparently already had a crush that her momma didn’t know about seriously how had she MISSED THAT defend against the counter, and continuing the assault against a colt so much younger than you like for Celestia’s sake Tempo what the heck are you THINKING where did we go wrong if this isn’t puppy love then he’d better at least like wubs with some hoof smacks instead of trying to find another avenue of attack.  The DJ then faced Moonshine again.

“What.”

~~~~

They made their way up to the bedroom, locked the door behind them, and events, as they say, eventuated.

~~~~~~

“I...” Moonshine coughed. “I think I got the message across, to not expect adult feelings in a kiddie relationship, but I... wow.” He stared at the two ponies sparring on the yard as Solar Flare used his smaller size to knock Tempo’s legs out from under her. “Is... is this how you and Madre felt when you were trying to figure out what to tell me?”

“I’m guessing so,” Wishing Star replied vaguely.

“...I don’t think I told them about sex,” Moonshine clarified suddenly. “I just wanted to make sure they understood the relationship part of it.”

The brown unicorn sagged in relief. “Oh thank the princesses...”

~~~~~~

“Fun memories can be made anywhere,” Glory Star countered, “depending on the mindset of the one who is making the memories in question. No, my interest is more broad and far reaching than mere entertainment. Right now, behind that screen, so many numbers and equations are running so quickly in a delicately balanced system, interpreting my inputs and calculating the results, but what we see is my character singlehandedly taking off two hundred of this boss’s hit points. Incidentally, why does this boss have so many hit points? This is only the first level of, let’s be honest, a fairly simple game.”

–but Wishing Star held out a hoof and stopped her with a wicked grin. “You know, pet, part of being a mistress is handing out punishments when the pets are acting up. It’s all an exercise in good training, really.”

The brown unicorn rose, her hips sashying as she gripped the head gently in her forehooves. “So…” she breathed over Vinyl’s horn, “here’s what’s going to happen.”

With utmost gentleness, she lifted the white head and leaned into the DJ’s chest, sliding the neck through the collar with that same, wicked smirk. “Octavia,” she murmured breathily, “is going to endure the tender, sweet mercies of my dear Fireflare.” Her hoof trailed from Vinyl’s shoulder down her foreleg. “You… and I, meanwhile….”

She grabbed Vinyl’s Fetlock and suddenly dragged her into a standing position. “We’re going to check on the kids!” Wishing Star chirped brightly, tugging her out of the room. “Bye you two, Fireflare nothing above third level!” The doors slammed shut behind the two unicorns.

There was an awkward moment.

“Okay, just so you know,” Fireflare finally said, “she was completely serious. And she can, you know, kinda tell if we haven’t, uh…”

~~~~~~

Moonshine sighed, dragging a hoof down his face. “Look, even if you do have a crush on him, I don’t know if he can return those feelings. Like, at all. I mean, maybe he’s able to, I dunno, but–argh.”

He stared at the sky for a few seconds.

“Okay, okay. How about this. You two can hang out or whatever, and I don’t know, when he’s like eight maybe you can start kinda dating? I… no, that wouldn’t work… My point is, puberty. Puberty is when things get serious, because of… things. At least I think that’s what it’s called–no, what I’m saying is, I don’t think… I don’t know if anyone is going to be able to take two kids in love seriously, because, uh, you’re kids. So…”

He frowned. “I’m really not getting this across well. OKAY. What I mean is, just… just don’t expect anything grown-up from a kiddie relationship. If it lasts long enough, maybe it works, but… he’s five, so just… know that, right?”

Solar Flare rolled his eyes. “Are you two done talking over there? That pooka thing put yakity sax on, and you know what happens when he does that!”

~~~~~~

“I received no help from the fae in this endeavor,” Glory Star replied quietly. “I simply… have my reasons.”

“She can be stubborn when it comes to secrecy,” Comet Trail confided, accidentally jumping her character into a pit of boiling pudding. “Oh! Did… did I lose–oh, wait, there I am…”

“The deaths presented in this game are both less painful and less permanent than reality’s version, as an inherent property of a property meant to challenge. And I just found the hidden emerald.”

Octavia blinked, then blinked again.  Vinyl and Wishing Star’s departure had been…rather quick, and…somewhat intimate?  Even the DJ, who usually acted brash and in charge of things, had a submissive wide-eyed expression right before she was pulled out of sight.  It took a moment for the cellist to completely take in what had just occurred.

“Um…w-well, then.  I…I suppose that I…wouldn’t be against such a thing, honestly.  And we shouldn’t disappoint our spouses, of course,” Octavia stammered, a blush evident through the grey of her fur, though there was no signal of discomfort from that emotion-sensing collar Fireflare had given them the night before.  “So, uh…here? I mean, we’re behind closed doors, but still…”

~~~~~~

“…I understand, Moonshine-sama.  I have done something foolish, and will do a better job at restraining my emotions for the next…uh, couple of years to a decade, dependin’ on how Flare develops.  Until then, know that I both respect your judgement, and also would never intentionally cause emotional trauma to your lil’ bro.  This is…well, I guess it’s an awkward sitch for all of us, so thanks for…y’know, makin’ valid points without yellin’ and callin’ me foolish, I guess.”

Tempo gave one more respectful bow towards the colt that had been having a really unusual day so far, and then turned towards her favourite sparring partner.  “A’ight, ya punk!  Hope you enjoyed your break, ‘cause it’s only gonna get tougher from ‘ere on!  BANZAI!”

~~~~~~

“Oh, this is…good, I think,” Pitch commented, as the characters in the game were sent out of the bonus level and back to the main path. “Getting all of those emeralds unlocks…I want to say ‘the final level’?  Perhaps just an extra cutscene following the last boss’ defeat, since collecting such trinkets during the chaos of multiplayer is usually quite a feat.”

Fireflare sighed. “Look... Wishing Star shouldn’t have done that. I mean, I was about to punt your wife’s head through a window, I’ll admit that, but the teasing was... absolutely the wrong ‘punishment’ for the situation and quite frankly she shouldn’t have brought you into it. She just reverts a bit to ‘sex goddess’ when she’s stressed... I’m pretty sure once she’s calmed down, she’ll realize what she did was wrong and apologize.”

The pegasus stood up. “That being said, for the moment she is a quote unquote mistress and she takes that duty very seriously. So... we should probably head up to the bedroom and, uh, yeah.” With an awkward glance behind her, the pegasus walked toward the living room door and opened it. “...After you?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare took the charge with a firm stance, whipping up his forelegs in a block and quickly moving them about to counter the filly’s blows. Moonshine rolled his eyes, walking up to the porch and taking a seat to watch.

At this time, Wishing Star and Vinyl Scratch burst through the front door, the brown unicorn grinning like a maniac. “Well, it looks like our kids are sparring again. Moonshine, dear, how are things out here?”

“They’re fine now...” the grey colt allowed. “They got weird a little earlier, but... Uh...”

He fidgeted a bit. “...Miss Scratch, you may want to give Tempo that same talk that Mom and Madre tried to give me.”

Wishing Star, still smiling, turned her gaze toward her son. “...What.”

“...Cause, you know, I’m pretty sure I screwed it up.”

“...What.”

“...See, I kinda found them, you know, kissing, except I think she was kissing him--”

Wishing Star sat down and facehooved, her smile gone. “Wow, okay. We really screwed up this time.”

~~~~~~

“I, uh, don’t really get into video games that much,” Comet Trail admitted. “I mean, I can see the appeal and all, I just... there’s a lot of stuff that goes on in them and around them and it can get just so... overwhelming, you know? Not just playing the games, but keeping up with all the ponies that talk about them and the various strategies they come up with and... it’s all so complicated.”

“…maybe I should talk to my mother,” Fireflare said quietly. “She’d probably know how to… well, at least she’d have an… you know?”

The brown unicorn managed a wry, humorless chuckle. “Are you projecting, Fireflare?”

“…maybe a little, but… this is a serious thing.”

~~~~~~

“….I’m five,” Solar Flare pointed out. “And we’re both blank flanks!” he added. “I mean, I–This is–I have no idea how to handle this!”

“OOOOOOkaaaaaaay,” Moonshine intoned, walking up to Tempo and grabbing her shoulder, “this situation looks like it calls for a little Ol’ Bro’ intervention, whatnot, so, uh, Solar, could you maybe sit on the porch while I have a private chat with Tempo here?”

He didn’t wait for a reply as he dragged the filly a short distance away. Once he was sure they were out of earshot, though, he turned on her with a small scowl. “It’s obvious that you had something planned here, so don’t even bother trying to deny it. What exactly did you want to happen with my brother?”

~~~~~~

“Why are the ketchup bottles walking?” Comet Trail jumped her character over one, landing on a floating ledge and running past a glowing box– “Ah! My character is flashing silver, is that bad?!”

“It means you can throw forks now.”

“…Glory, you know an awful lot about this game….”

The other pegasus walljumped her character into what looked like a sun in the background. “I have my reasons.”

“I feel as though we are definitely missing some vital information here,” Octavia commented, “but I suppose that cannot be helped.  If your gut instinct is to seek out family over unprepared comrades, then that is probably the best path for you to follow.”

“Even though all this dartin’ ‘round the subject is making it sound like really juicy info that just gets more appealin’ the more you guys talk ab-”

Vinyl was then interrupted by Octavia putting her hoof on Vinyl’s mouth…well, at least an attempt to.  The DJ decided to be playful and lick it, eliciting a giggle from her spouse as the hoof was quickly withdrawn.

~~~~~~

Okay, so this was bad.  Getting pulled away from Flare helped Tempo realize just what she’d done.  She was supposed to be a master of stealth and secrecy; a shadow in the night that was not weighed down by emotional ties!  And yet, here she was, getting the stink-eye from Flare’s big bro.  Yep, this was definitely bad.

After taking another few seconds to consider how more awkward things could probably get, she tried to face Moonshine. But, she couldn’t look him in the eye, and instead she lowered her head in shame.  “A thousand pardons, Moonshine-sama.  The life of a ninja is a lonely one…and by that, I mean that your lil’ bro’s the first pony to actually take me seriously about it.  They don’t say it, but I get the feelin’ that my own ‘rents and sibs think it’s just some phase, and I’ll eventually find a more borin’ way of gettin’ a flank-mark.  But Flare is just as focused on his dream as I am on mine, and…and…well, just what kind of age limit is there ‘posed to be to start havin’ a crush?  Do I hafta hold it in an’ wait until we’re both adults, an’ a few years’ diff don’t mean diddly-squat, until confessin’ that I might like ‘im as more than just a sparrin’ partner?”

~~~~~~

“It’s apparently that Magmatron’s fault, Comet.  I think I read somewhere that he enchanted regular condiments to ruin the Waffle Kingdom’s main resource…or was it that he built the giant bottles of ketchup with mad science technology?  Either way, ketchup on waffles is…not a good taste combination.”

--but Wishing Star held out a hoof and stopped her with a wicked grin. “You know, pet, part of being a mistress is handing out punishments when the pets are acting up. It’s all an exercise in good training, really.”

The brown unicorn rose, her hips sashying as she gripped the head gently in her forehooves. “So...” she breathed over Vinyl’s horn, “here’s what’s going to happen.”

With utmost gentleness, she lifted the white head and leaned into the DJ’s chest, sliding the neck through the collar with that same, wicked smirk. “Octavia,” she murmured breathily, “is going to endure the tender, sweet mercies of my dear Fireflare.” Her hoof trailed from Vinyl’s shoulder down her foreleg. “You... and I, meanwhile....”

She grabbed Vinyl’s Fetlock and suddenly dragged her into a standing position. “We’re going to check on the kids!” Wishing Star chirped brightly, tugging her out of the room. “Bye you two, Fireflare nothing above third level!” The doors slammed shut behind the two unicorns.

There was an awkward moment.

“Okay, just so you know,” Fireflare finally said, “she was completely serious. And she can, you know, kinda tell if we haven’t, uh...”

~~~~~~

Moonshine sighed, dragging a hoof down his face. “Look, even if you do have a crush on him, I don’t know if he can return those feelings. Like, at all. I mean, maybe he’s able to, I dunno, but--argh.”

He stared at the sky for a few seconds.

“Okay, okay. How about this. You two can hang out or whatever, and I don’t know, when he’s like eight maybe you can start kinda dating? I... no, that wouldn’t work... My point is, puberty. Puberty is when things get serious, because of... things. At least I think that’s what it’s called--no, what I’m saying is, I don’t think... I don’t know if anyone is going to be able to take two kids in love seriously, because, uh, you’re kids. So...”

He frowned. “I’m really not getting this across well. OKAY. What I mean is, just... just don’t expect anything grown-up from a kiddie relationship. If it lasts long enough, maybe it works, but... he’s five, so just... know that, right?”

Solar Flare rolled his eyes. “Are you two done talking over there? That pooka thing put yakity sax on, and you know what happens when he does that!”

~~~~~~

“I received no help from the fae in this endeavor,” Glory Star replied quietly. “I simply... have my reasons.”

“She can be stubborn when it comes to secrecy,” Comet Trail confided, accidentally jumping her character into a pit of boiling pudding. “Oh! Did... did I lose--oh, wait, there I am...”

Fireflare coughed. “She was… Dark Star did kind of…”

“Yes, I know, hon. I know. But that’s not the point.”

“…actually, I’m not sure if we should be talking about this. I mean no offense,” the pegasus added as she turned to the other mares, “but it’s kind of–”

“On the other hoof, they’re fairly normal,” Wishing Star pointed out. “Maybe they could give us some advice on how to handle–?”

“I don’t know if normal is a good source of advice here, and besides they can juggle their heads–!”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare was unable to think straight for a while. Lips touching–did that mean that mean he was married to Tempo now?! Wait, no, they had to have a wedding first–was this good? It didn’t feel bad, it was weird, she was a friend, not a–

“Uh….”

At Moonshine’s utterance, the smaller colt pushed himself off the filly with a sudden gasp. “I, I don’t, she just–!” His eyes went wide, and he gave the filly a pointed look. “Did you plan that?!”

Moonshine held up a hoof. “Er–”

“I mean, I didn’t–I’m not angry, I think, but–er, what I mean is, I’m just… curious. Yes. Curious.”

The Pooka stood on its boombox, hissing laughter echoing throughout the yard.

~~~~~~

“WELCOME TO BLARZIPAN, HOME OF THE WAFFLE KINGDOM. THE EVIL MAGMATRON HAS KIDNAPPED THE PRINCESSES! AND ALSO THE EMERGENCY BACKUP PRINCESSES! NOW IT IS UP TO A CREW OF MECHANICS TO SAVE HER!”

Comet Trail raised her eyebrow. “…how old is this game?”

Glory Star shrugged. “Sometimes nonsense makes the most sense. Oh, we’re starting. Do watch out for those walking ketchup bottles.”

“Juggle?  Missy, I don’t know where you come from, but jugglin’s no fun unless you have at least one more ball than ya got hooves,” Vinyl replied, as she pulled off her own head and scratched an itch that had suddenly manifested on the back of it.  Perhaps she and Octy had done some…really, really outrageous things involving science and magic back in the day, but there were good memories tied to those things, so the DJ didn’t let any semi-snide comments drag her down.

With a roll of her eyes, Octavia decided to take control of the situation.  “Well now, if we can temporarily put aside unusual abilities that may or not be spitting in the face of a laypony’s deity of choice, I honestly cannot say with certainty that we could be of any more help to you two.  But, if you wish for an honest and trustworthy reply to your current conundrum, Vinyl and I can still try our best.  Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Aww, yeah, that’s the spot….I mean, uh, yeah. Totally can tell you stuff without unfairly judgin’ your past decisions.”

~~~~~~

While still on her back, Tempo decided to go the route of plausible deniability, instead of admitting that she had angled her head a certain way on purpose before they collided.  Or letting the brothers know that she had a nice chat about ways to get close to Flare while cleaning up from the Downy incident.

“Plan?  PLAN?!”  Tempo’s eyes locked onto Flare as she righted herself, and got back onto her hooves.  “Are you insinuating, lil’ guard colt, that in the middle of a combat scenario, I would purposely endanger myself by allowing you to flip me into a…a smooch?  Why, that just sounds reckless and preposterous!  And…okay, so maybe we’re both already familiar with reckless and preposterous things ‘appening regularly. But some things just happen!  And after they happen, you’ve just got to accept that it happened, and be brave enough to decide what to do with the results!”

With that said, which should perfectly absolve her of any connection to the idea of her purposely making out with a slightly younger pony, Tempo took a deep breath.

“…So…uh…you wanna…go…out…for pizza some time?  Or, uh…something.”

~~~~~~

“Oh, ketchup, my old foe.  You chose to go against all that is right and just, soiling poor innocents with your staining red substance.  But you shall rue the day that you have messed with us, for we shall vanquish thee, spread thine remains over our hayburgers, and devour your-”

“Eh, don’t mind Pitch right now,” Reverb interrupted, defeating one of the bottles with a single press of a button.  “Very first game in this series was one of the very first games she tried.  Lost all of her lives to the first enemy and had to restart before figurin’ out the controls.  Still holds a bit of a grudge.”

“…Least I could still eat ketchup.  You swore to never eat beansprouts again after a certain boss foiled you one too many times.”

“...maybe I should talk to my mother,” Fireflare said quietly. “She’d probably know how to... well, at least she’d have an... you know?”

The brown unicorn managed a wry, humorless chuckle. “Are you projecting, Fireflare?”

“...maybe a little, but... this is a serious thing.”

~~~~~~

“....I’m five,” Solar Flare pointed out. “And we’re both blank flanks!” he added. “I mean, I--This is--I have no idea how to handle this!”

“OOOOOOkaaaaaaay,” Moonshine intoned, walking up to Tempo and grabbing her shoulder, “this situation looks like it calls for a little Ol’ Bro’ intervention, whatnot, so, uh, Solar, could you maybe sit on the porch while I have a private chat with Tempo here?”

He didn’t wait for a reply as he dragged the filly a short distance away. Once he was sure they were out of earshot, though, he turned on her with a small scowl. “It’s obvious that you had something planned here, so don’t even bother trying to deny it. What exactly did you want to happen with my brother?”

~~~~~~

“Why are the ketchup bottles walking?” Comet Trail jumped her character over one, landing on a floating ledge and running past a glowing box-- “Ah! My character is flashing silver, is that bad?!”

“It means you can throw forks now.”

“...Glory, you know an awful lot about this game....”

Fireflare suddenly groaned. “Oh frick… Starry, we screwed up.”

“What?”

“With Moonshine. About…” She sighed, gesturing at herself. “You know.”

Wishing Star’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh yes, that. We were rather intense, weren’t we?”

“Yeah, when we do eventually tell him, he’s gonna freak.”

“Well… maybe he’ll be mature enough to handle it by then?”

~~~~~~

Let us now take a moment to consider the laws of physics.

Two objects are hurtling toward each other. The one is larger, but is hurtling up. The other is hurtling down, and has less mass. Oh, and both objects are somewhat anchored to the ground–the smaller one, less so, because the rest of its body is still charging at the rest of the body of the larger one. In the end, the additional forces behind the smaller object are enough to overpower the larger one, although the larger one is still somewhat able to direct the resultant motion due to stronger anchorage and the element of surprise.

The end result, therefore, is a very surprised small colt atop a slightly larger filly, with the added emphasis that their lips happen to be locked.

There is the additional fact that the Pooka is able to switch the music from battle to romantic without blinking an eye.

This is the situation that Moonshine walked in on. He stopped, staring at them for a few seconds in stunned silence, the words of his parents still bouncing through his skull.

~~~~~~

“Um…” Comet looked through the list. “This… Hark character seems kind of cute.”

“I believe he is the most compatible with your playstyle and mindset,” Glory Star agreed. “As for myself, I shall select Wanderban.”

“What kind of a name is Wanderban?”

~~~~~~

Tempo’s eyes immediately widened.  Here she was.  With Flare.  Kissing.

Okay, so…think, Tempo, think.  Look around and evaluate your surroundings.  This situation was…not horrible, to be honest.  The music was…unexpected, but nice.  Moonshine…eh, it didn’t really matter, but having an audience didn’t really help right now.

So.  Now what?  She could push Flare off…being the larger one of the two…but…well, she didn’t want to send the wrong message.  Not that this was really the best way of sending a right message, if you could call this that…

Ultimately, Tempo decided to wait until Flare broke off the kiss, which would probably be followed by a cry of ‘cooties’ and then some petty squabbling to save face in front of the guy’s bro.  That could work.  If that’s what Flare wanted.  Really, Tempo wouldn’t complain about staying like this even longer…

~~~~~~

“Expert?  For your first time ever with this game?  …Well, knowin’ your luck, you’ll probably be fine, but speak up if you end up wantin’ to switch.  Now, me, I’m goin’ with Raistlin…”

Fireflare coughed. “She was... Dark Star did kind of...”

“Yes, I know, hon. I know. But that’s not the point.”

“...actually, I’m not sure if we should be talking about this. I mean no offense,” the pegasus added as she turned to the other mares, “but it’s kind of--”

“On the other hoof, they’re fairly normal,” Wishing Star pointed out. “Maybe they could give us some advice on how to handle--?”

“I don’t know if normal is a good source of advice here, and besides they can juggle their heads--!”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare was unable to think straight for a while. Lips touching--did that mean that mean he was married to Tempo now?! Wait, no, they had to have a wedding first--was this good? It didn’t feel bad, it was weird, she was a friend, not a--

“Uh....”

At Moonshine’s utterance, the smaller colt pushed himself off the filly with a sudden gasp. “I, I don’t, she just--!” His eyes went wide, and he gave the filly a pointed look. “Did you plan that?!”

Moonshine held up a hoof. “Er--”

“I mean, I didn’t--I’m not angry, I think, but--er, what I mean is, I’m just... curious. Yes. Curious.”

The Pooka stood on its boombox, hissing laughter echoing throughout the yard.

~~~~~~

“WELCOME TO BLARZIPAN, HOME OF THE WAFFLE KINGDOM. THE EVIL MAGMATRON HAS KIDNAPPED THE PRINCESSES! AND ALSO THE EMERGENCY BACKUP PRINCESSES! NOW IT IS UP TO A CREW OF MECHANICS TO SAVE HER!”

Comet Trail raised her eyebrow. “...how old is this game?”

“Presents,” Wishing Star said simply. “From Fireflare to me. I… am a little bit insaitiable, to be honest. It’s not healthy,” she added quickly, “it’s a side effect of my own trauma, but it does help me cope. You should, when the time rolls round, figure out your own level of how much you want, and talk it out with your partner.”

“Alright then. Well… this has been strange,” Moonshine quipped as he stood up, “but from what you said I’m guessing I would have gotten this chat sometime soon anyway, so… yeah, okay.” He shrugged. “I’m going to go… check on Solar Flare. He’s probably snogging Tempo while he can.”

Fireflare rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t.”

“Hey, you never know.” With that, the gray unicorn walked out of the room, leaving the four adults to sit in awkward silence.

Which was broken by Wishing Star. “I am better at it, you know.”

Fireflare groaned. “Yes, we know… Seriously, though, how much did we screw that up?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare charged at Tempo, reared up, and slammed his forehooves at her face. Was it a simple move? Yes. But it was also a powerful one. The Pooka, constantly grinning, watched on.

~~~~~~

“Okay, so… is this one of those ‘just go right’ kind of games?” Comet Trail asked, grabbing a spar controller in her wings.

“Actually, the box advertises a ‘three-dimensional multiplayer gravity-based experience,” Glory Star replied.

“Oh. So… it should be easy for us, since we’re pegasi.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, sincerely hoping that this wouldn’t lead to yet another competition with semi-embarrassing results. “Right, yes, we’ll lend you the recipe sometime.  Back to the main point, I do believe that you two did just fine.  Despite your personal histories, you presented the matter without a strong bias one way or another.  I believe Moonshine successfully understands the high risk of pursuing such intimacy too quickly, while still learning that it is a natural component of life that can also lead to closer relationships.  I’m glad that we were here to help deal with some tangents, but ultimately, I think that things went well.  Perhaps you won’t even need us for your next foal…”

“Yep.  And hey, if y’ever need to tack on some extra addendum like buyin’ condoms or masturbation,” Vinyl added, “lil’ Moony’s going to be much more acceptin’ and willing to learn than he was before today.”

~~~~~~

This was it!  A moment that could decide the entire battle!  If Tempo missed and got a pounding straight to the noggin, or if she could disable Flare in the process, then one of them would surely be too disoriented to effectively fight for the rest of the battle!  Willing to take the ultimate risk, Tempo waited until the last possible second before moving her head around Flare’s hooves, and using her incredible closeness to her opponent to strike with a MIGHTY HEADBUTT!

…Well, not an effective mighty headbutt.  She was angling her head upwards, instead of down.  Leading with her mouth instead of her forehead…and aiming towards Flare’s…okay, either this was an extremely unusual disorienting technique, or Tempo was about to let her emotions get the better of her and straight-up kiss the poor colt.

~~~~~~

“Well, do remember that there are still limits on what can be replicated through modern technology,” Pitch spoke up.  She would have said more, focusing on the importance of the medium to present an environment that could be enjoyed by all without being biased towards particular characteristics, but it wasn’t exactly a lengthy process for Reverb to select a new file for them all to play with.

Fireflare suddenly groaned. “Oh frick... Starry, we screwed up.”

“What?”

“With Moonshine. About...” She sighed, gesturing at herself. “You know.”

Wishing Star’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh yes, that. We were rather intense, weren’t we?”

“Yeah, when we do eventually tell him, he’s gonna freak.”

“Well... maybe he’ll be mature enough to handle it by then?”

~~~~~~

Let us now take a moment to consider the laws of physics.

Two objects are hurtling toward each other. The one is larger, but is hurtling up. The other is hurtling down, and has less mass. Oh, and both objects are somewhat anchored to the ground--the smaller one, less so, because the rest of its body is still charging at the rest of the body of the larger one. In the end, the additional forces behind the smaller object are enough to overpower the larger one, although the larger one is still somewhat able to direct the resultant motion due to stronger anchorage and the element of surprise.

The end result, therefore, is a very surprised small colt atop a slightly larger filly, with the added emphasis that their lips happen to be locked.

There is the additional fact that the Pooka is able to switch the music from battle to romantic without blinking an eye.

This is the situation that Moonshine walked in on. He stopped, staring at them for a few seconds in stunned silence, the words of his parents still bouncing through his skull.

~~~~~~

“Um...” Comet looked through the list. “This... Hark character seems kind of cute.”

“I believe he is the most compatible with your playstyle and mindset,” Glory Star agreed. “As for myself, I shall select Wanderban.”

“What kind of a name is Wanderban?”

“Not my textbooks though,” Wishing Star amended.

“Oh, definitely NOT her textbooks.” The pegasus nodded in agreement. “Trust me, those are… well, uh, do you have any questions?”

Moonshine tapped his chin. “…Okay, so… I’m assuming that sex is part of your adult happy fun time–”

“Basically all of it,” Wishing Star admitted readily.

“–and I’m assuming that it’s not something you’re going to ask me to join–”

“Incest!” Fireflare cried, facehooving. “Totally forgot about incest. It’s both wrong and illegal to have sex with anyone you’re biologically related to, especially directly.”

“–so I’m guessing that the collars that everyone but Mom is wearing is somehow a part of this…?”

Fireflare coughed. “Well… yes, but they’re not, uh, directly necessary–”

“Let me put it this way,” Wishing Star interrupted. “There’s food, which is stuff you eat, and then there’s food culture, which is preparation, organization of dishes on tables, the expected appearance of the chefs, how the diners should behave, the variety of tools that can be used in the kitchen, a few hundred unique recipes…. Similarly, there’s sex, and then there’s sex culture. In this metaphor, I am a famous five-star chef at a high-class restaurant, Fireflare is my loyal assistant slash apprentice, Octavia knows how to make an omelette at home, and Vinyl has just graduated from eating grass to making a PB&J sandwich.” She grinned broadly. “Basically, these two asked us to teach them a few tricks.”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare’s eyes narrowed as he bent down, intending to tackle the charging filly–but he ended up swinging his head as Tempo rolled around, trying to use her brief instability to push her into an unbalanced position! The narrator put on some suitably epic background music as the two unicorns battled for no readily apparent reason.

Well, actually, it was the pooka who put on the background music, but that was a minor detail.

~~~~~~

“This multiplayer sidescrolling platformer seems decently nonsensical,” Glory Star declared as she pulled one of the cases out.

“…what are those supposed to be?” Comet Trail asked, looking at the cover.

“Oh, don’t mind Vinyl’s onomatopoeia,” Octavia spoke, before her partner could let out a ‘humph’ or a ‘leer’.  “There is simply a fair bit of rivalry between her and Star when it comes to this aspect of life.  Vinyl’s actually been, well, fairly pleasing on a regular basis since the honeymoon…”

Vinyl decided to stand up at this point, giving Octavia a lot more room on the chair.  “So, we all good now?  Any more Q’s or A’s?  ‘Cause, y’know, other than that last bit, I’d say that we’re fairly solid.”

~~~~~~

Flare’s gambit worked. Tempo had to be fairly close to actually accomplish anything with her roll to the side, and hadn’t factored in just how far the colt could swing his head.  She felt the nudge, and was pushed further than she would’ve liked.  Still, it wasn’t a difficult situation to recover from; she pushed against the ground with her kickers, and ended up standing on her forehooves.  It was a silly pose, perhaps, but it gave her enough control to swing around and face Flare before gravity dropped her back to a four-legged position.

She was a little scuffed up, and her opponent less so, but the little ninja was mostly prepared for whatever the future guard pulled next.  And dang, that Pooka had really good taste in music.  Really invigorating stuff!

~~~~~~

Reverb quickly recalled memories of playing that game, and while its simultaneous multiplayer could get chaotic, it was still enjoyable to work through things together.  “A’ight, sounds good!  Let’s pop it in ‘n play!”

“Presents,” Wishing Star said simply. “From Fireflare to me. I... am a little bit insaitiable, to be honest. It’s not healthy,” she added quickly, “it’s a side effect of my own trauma, but it does help me cope. You should, when the time rolls round, figure out your own level of how much you want, and talk it out with your partner.”

“Alright then. Well... this has been strange,” Moonshine quipped as he stood up, “but from what you said I’m guessing I would have gotten this chat sometime soon anyway, so... yeah, okay.” He shrugged. “I’m going to go... check on Solar Flare. He’s probably snogging Tempo while he can.”

Fireflare rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t.”

“Hey, you never know.” With that, the gray unicorn walked out of the room, leaving the four adults to sit in awkward silence.

Which was broken by Wishing Star. “I am better at it, you know.”

Fireflare groaned. “Yes, we know... Seriously, though, how much did we screw that up?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare charged at Tempo, reared up, and slammed his forehooves at her face. Was it a simple move? Yes. But it was also a powerful one. The Pooka, constantly grinning, watched on.

~~~~~~

“Okay, so... is this one of those ‘just go right’ kind of games?” Comet Trail asked, grabbing a spar controller in her wings.

"Actually, the box advertises a ‘three-dimensional multiplayer gravity-based experience,” Glory Star replied.

“Oh. So... it should be easy for us, since we’re pegasi.”

“But only between reproductive pairs, such as a male and a female.”

“Right, and–”

“Hold on,” Moonshine interrupted. “You’re all mares. I thought that meant you were all female? How can you have kids?”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “We, ah, have magical trinkets that let us ‘switch equipment’ as it were.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“Other side effects,” Fireflare continued, “include a variety of personal and highly embarrassing diseases–which you can only get if your partner has them, so it might be good to check–and, well, just… exhaustion. Physically.”

“Really, you could find that sort of thing in a textbook,” Wishing Star pointed out.

“…I suppose… Anyway, the whole point is, this is a serious part of anypony’s life, and also a very ordinary one. Er, not ordinary. Regular, that’s a good word. It happens to… almost everyone.”

“Okay. Um…” Moonshine nodded slowly. “So… I know I should only do sex with ponies I trust, and who consent. I’m guessing it’s possible to not do that?”

Fireflare’s eyes hardened. “Yes. Sex without consent is called rape. The perpetrator forces the victim to stay close even if they struggle. It’s worse then murder.”

“And sex without trust is usually a sign of an abusive relationship,” Wishing Star added, “which tends to lead to… very bad situations.” Her eyes grew distant as she contemplatively rubbed her neck.

Moonshine gulped. “I… see. Did… I say something wrong?”

Instantly Fireflare’s eyes softened. “Oh, nonono. No. You’re right to ask, because if you didn’t you wouldn’t know, it’s just–”

“Before I met your madre,” Wishing Star managed, “I was… put through a number of bad situations. I’m… quite honestly, still a mess, but when she found me I was almost completely broken. We tend to react strongly when we think about… that sort of thing.” She smiled awkwardly. “Part of why we wanted the other adults here.”

~~~~~~

The end result of the first strike was essentially that Tempo kicked Solar’s foreleg, while Solar managed to land a decent punch on Tempo’s ankle. Wincing with pain, Solar Flare growled at the filly as she landed. “Too much showing off, not enough substance.” He started circling in the opposite direction, eyes on the flighty unicorn. “Put some distance between us, I see…”

~~~~~~

“Do you…” Comet Trail looked over the collection of games. “Do you play all of these regularly? Or… just to completion? Or what?”

Vinyl, now somewhat bored, was simply holding her two hooves up and looking at them funny, to achieve a ‘floating sausage’ visual effect.

~~~~~~

Tempo quickly shook her hoof after successfully landing, hoping to get rid of some of the sting left by the impact.  “Hey, if you’d prefer me goin’ super-unicorn on ya and just warpin’ willy-nilly, instead of some kick-ass flips, just say so.  My fault for givin’ ya a sportin’ chance, I guess.”

The filly quickly took account of her surroundings.  There was still room behind her to dodge, if needed.  But that advantage wouldn’t last forever, especially if Solar maneuvered her into backing up against the manor.  Given that Solar had already made one move, it would be easier to make another, so trying to bait him once again would just be a waste of both of their time.  Ultimately, she decided to charge straight forward, as fast as a filly that wanted to be a ninja could.  The plan was to pretend to go for a head-on attack, but then roll to the side and hit whatever seemed most vulnerable.  An actual direct attack seemed foolish, and trying to flip or teleport completely behind Solar would probably lead straight to a painful counter.

~~~~~~

“Well, our moms would have a fit if we spent a ton of bits on a game and then NOT eventually beat it.  Sure, we don’t ALWAYS beat a game before asking for a new one…it’s easy to get bored an’ lose focus if you feel forced to do somethin’…but there’s still a limit on how many unbeaten things we can own before gettin’ more,” Reverb tried to explain, her eyes not shifting from their gaze upon the video game collection.  She’d used the word ‘we’ a fair bit, which was technically accurate, but Pitch and Tempo usually trusted her judgement when it came to requesting games they’d enjoy.

“As for why so many games are still on these shelves…well, most of these provide forms of entertainment that can easily be revisited,” Pitch added in. “Activities such as the ‘New Game Plus’, or reaching a new high score. But for quite a few titles, it is simply quite hard to find a store that takes in previously-owned games and actually gives you a good deal.  So, we may as well just keep them in our collection until, perhaps, some distant relative becomes interested in Final Fantasy and we can pass these things on to them.“

“Not my textbooks though,” Wishing Star amended.

“Oh, definitely NOT her textbooks.” The pegasus nodded in agreement. “Trust me, those are... well, uh, do you have any questions?”

Moonshine tapped his chin. “...Okay, so... I’m assuming that sex is part of your adult happy fun time--”

“Basically all of it,” Wishing Star admitted readily.

“--and I’m assuming that it’s not something you’re going to ask me to join--”

“Incest!” Fireflare cried, facehooving. “Totally forgot about incest. It’s both wrong and illegal to have sex with anyone you’re biologically related to, especially directly.”

“--so I’m guessing that the collars that everyone but Mom is wearing is somehow a part of this...?”

Fireflare coughed. “Well... yes, but they’re not, uh, directly necessary--”

“Let me put it this way,” Wishing Star interrupted. “There’s food, which is stuff you eat, and then there’s food culture, which is preparation, organization of dishes on tables, the expected appearance of the chefs, how the diners should behave, the variety of tools that can be used in the kitchen, a few hundred unique recipes.... Similarly, there’s sex, and then there’s sex culture. In this metaphor, I am a famous five-star chef at a high-class restaurant, Fireflare is my loyal assistant slash apprentice, Octavia knows how to make an omelette at home, and Vinyl has just graduated from eating grass to making a PB&J sandwich.” She grinned broadly. “Basically, these two asked us to teach them a few tricks.”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare’s eyes narrowed as he bent down, intending to tackle the charging filly--but he ended up swinging his head as Tempo rolled around, trying to use her brief instability to push her into an unbalanced position! The narrator put on some suitably epic background music as the two unicorns battled for no readily apparent reason.

Well, actually, it was the pooka who put on the background music, but that was a minor detail.

~~~~~~

“This multiplayer sidescrolling platformer seems decently nonsensical,” Glory Star declared as she pulled one of the cases out.

“...what are those supposed to be?” Comet Trail asked, looking at the cover.

Fireflare lifted her head. “Okay! So, intimate exploration of each other’s bodies. That’s basically what sex is.”

“Very basically.”

“But we’re not here,” the pegasus growled, “to talk about what sex is. We’re supposed to talk about what sex means. Emotionally, and socially, and… things like that.”

Moonshine frowned. “I’m still a bit confused. What does pooping have to do with–”

“Wrong hole, kid.” Fireflare held up her hoof to cut off her wife. “And we’re not talking about the what anymore. We’re talking about the why, okay?”

Wishing Star nodded, sitting back. “Alright, Fireflare, go on.”

“Okay, so…. because sex is so intimate, you–actually, you shouldn’t do it at all. Not until you’re eighteen–”

“Fifteen.”

Fireflare looked at her wife. “What?”

“Fifteen,” she repeated. “The usual range of puberty is around thirteen years old, so he’ll be very confused handling the way his body changes and should wait until he’s more familiar with the new hormones before he tries to form opinions. On the flip side, waiting too long will make him unable to really process whatever it is he’s feeling, so he could easily rush into a bad relationship.”

She fanned herself with the duster. “I speak from experience, believe me.”

Fireflare stared at her for a moment. “…okay, fine. Fifteen. And even then, it should be with somepony you…” She paused for a moment. “I’m going to go with ‘trust,’ because technically love isn’t necessary for sex, but because it is such an intimate act it’s kind of expected.”

“You didn’t really plan this talk out did you?” Moonshine asked.

~~~~~~

“…You know, if you’re going to taunt me,” Solar Flare pointed out, “you really should think about what you’re saying. Because what you said doesn’t make any sense, and quite frankly I–”

Without warning he snapped forward, feinting a swing at her right foreleg before swiveling into an uppercut.

~~~~~~

“The real trick is to ensure that both players feel the need to work toward the same goal while making neither of them feel redundant,” Glory Star mused.

Octavia then straightened her posture, and attempted to ‘straighten out’ the other adults.  “Ladies!  Sex.  Very intimate.  Wait until your body can accept it.  Only do it with those that consent, and that you can trust.  Now that we’ve recapped your points, shall we continue with the talk?”

Vinyl, meanwhile, was going to say something about ‘wrong hole’ not being a descriptive enough term when it came to colts. But she quickly decided to just sulk instead, not wanting to be treated like a filly and get another inanimate Downy boop.

~~~~~~

Striking in the middle of a sentence, to try and catch her off-guard?  Clever indeed, but the execution was not quite swift enough.  Tempo quickly transitioned into a backflip to avoid the initial swing, and attempted to kick Flare with her hind legs in the process.  The uppercut would graze her, but she’d at least give as good as she got, and once again be a safe distance from her foe once the flip was done.

~~~~~~

Pitch agreed with what was said, and had nothing more to add to the conversation.  It was fortunate, then, that they reached the triplets’ bedroom at that point in time.  It was a tad messier than usual, mainly as a precaution in case Wishing Star reanimated Downy again before leaving.  The area with Pitch’s egg was immaculate, however, just in case anything left haphazardly lying around could possibly lead to unforeseen consequences.

“But only between reproductive pairs, such as a male and a female.”

“Right, and--”

“Hold on,” Moonshine interrupted. “You’re all mares. I thought that meant you were all female? How can you have kids?”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “We, ah, have magical trinkets that let us ‘switch equipment’ as it were.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“Other side effects,” Fireflare continued, “include a variety of personal and highly embarrassing diseases--which you can only get if your partner has them, so it might be good to check--and, well, just... exhaustion. Physically.”

“Really, you could find that sort of thing in a textbook,” Wishing Star pointed out.

“...I suppose... Anyway, the whole point is, this is a serious part of anypony’s life, and also a very ordinary one. Er, not ordinary. Regular, that’s a good word. It happens to... almost everyone.”

“Okay. Um...” Moonshine nodded slowly. “So... I know I should only do sex with ponies I trust, and who consent. I’m guessing it’s possible to not do that?”

Fireflare’s eyes hardened. “Yes. Sex without consent is called rape. The perpetrator forces the victim to stay close even if they struggle. It’s worse then murder.”

“And sex without trust is usually a sign of an abusive relationship,” Wishing Star added, “which tends to lead to... very bad situations.” Her eyes grew distant as she contemplatively rubbed her neck.

Moonshine gulped. “I... see. Did... I say something wrong?”

Instantly Fireflare’s eyes softened. “Oh, nonono. No. You’re right to ask, because if you didn’t you wouldn’t know, it’s just--”

“Before I met your madre,” Wishing Star managed, “I was... put through a number of bad situations. I’m... quite honestly, still a mess, but when she found me I was almost completely broken. We tend to react strongly when we think about... that sort of thing.” She smiled awkwardly. “Part of why we wanted the other adults here.”

~~~~~~

The end result of the first strike was essentially that Tempo kicked Solar’s foreleg, while Solar managed to land a decent punch on Tempo’s ankle. Wincing with pain, Solar Flare growled at the filly as she landed. “Too much showing off, not enough substance.” He started circling in the opposite direction, eyes on the flighty unicorn. “Put some distance between us, I see...”

~~~~~~

“Do you...” Comet Trail looked over the collection of games. “Do you play all of these regularly? Or... just to completion? Or what?”

~~~~~~~

Tempo looked back at her opponent, giving a similar honorable bow.  She may have preferred stealth, but trying to pull something sneaky like a teleport this early on was just disrespectful.  Besides, reckless use of gimmicks and trickery had a habit of failing in past sparring sessions; it was far easier to wait for Flare to make the first move, and an opening in his defenses in the process.

~~~~~~~

Reverb’s ears picked up, even if parts of her face were still a tad droopy.  “Oh, video games? That’d be awesome!  I’ve got some kart racers, some brawlers, even a co-op blaster or two…you guys are gonna have a blast!”

“I, uh…” Comet Trail cleared her throat. “I don’t mind brawlers or anything, but… well, I don’t know. A lot of them seem so copy-paste….?”

~~~~~~~

“Right. So. When two or more individuals are attracted to each other, either romantically or physically, they will sometimes feel compelled to…” Fireflare blushed. “Uh… how do I put this–”

“Explore each other’s bodies,” Wishing Star provided.

“…that’s… a decent way of putting it, I guess.”

Moonshine frowned. “So, what… they poke each other a lot?”

“More like… rub against one another.”

“What, you mean like hugging?”

“No. Yes. No, I mean.” The pegasus twisted her hooves around each other. “Hugging is… anypony can hug another pony, and it just means they’re friends or something. Sex is more… close and… constant and… there’s a lot more going on, is what I’m trying to say.”

Moonshine frowned. “So…. like sparring, but full body instead of just hitting with hooves.”

“No!”

“It has been compared to wrestling,” Wishing Star pointed out.

Fireflare put her head in her hooves.

~~~~~~

Solar Flare raise his head, circling around Tempo carefully. It was tempting to be the first to strike, but that could give the filly an advantage. No, best to watch her closely, wait for an opening.

Although… a little taunting might cause her guard to slip…

Of course, if Flare insisted further, Tempo would have to strike first and give him the advantage…if only because she didn’t want to just stand around and banter for the rest of the dang match.

~~~~~~~

Octavia decided to chime in this time, not exactly disappointed with how the other adults were handling things, but unsure of what exactly they’d try to say next.  “It really…expresses itself in different forms, I believe.  Some ponies go their entire lives without ever wanting more from their loved ones that hug, and that’s fine.  But the majority of ponies, when they find someone to connect with, tend to show affection in…oh, how do I put this delic-”

“They’re talkin’ about using that part of your body that gives you a warm, tinglin’ sensation when you’re rubbin’ it in the shower, but in a way other than when you go potty.”

“VINYL!”

“What?  Someone had t’say it…an’ I knew you were never gonna, ya prissy…”

~~~~~~~

Fireflare lifted her head. “Okay! So, intimate exploration of each other’s bodies. That’s basically what sex is.”

“Very basically.”

“But we’re not here,” the pegasus growled, “to talk about what sex is. We’re supposed to talk about what sex means. Emotionally, and socially, and... things like that.”

Moonshine frowned. “I’m still a bit confused. What does pooping have to do with--”

“Wrong hole, kid.” Fireflare held up her hoof to cut off her wife. “And we’re not talking about the what anymore. We’re talking about the why, okay?”

Wishing Star nodded, sitting back. “Alright, Fireflare, go on.”

“Okay, so.... because sex is so intimate, you--actually, you shouldn’t do it at all. Not until you’re eighteen--”

“Fifteen.”

Fireflare looked at her wife. “What?”

“Fifteen,” she repeated. “The usual range of puberty is around thirteen years old, so he’ll be very confused handling the way his body changes and should wait until he’s more familiar with the new hormones before he tries to form opinions. On the flip side, waiting too long will make him unable to really process whatever it is he’s feeling, so he could easily rush into a bad relationship.”

She fanned herself with the duster. “I speak from experience, believe me.”

Fireflare stared at her for a moment. “...okay, fine. Fifteen. And even then, it should be with somepony you...” She paused for a moment. “I’m going to go with ‘trust,’ because technically love isn’t necessary for sex, but because it is such an intimate act it’s kind of expected.”

“You didn’t really plan this talk out did you?” Moonshine asked.

~~~~~~

“...You know, if you’re going to taunt me,” Solar Flare pointed out, “you really should think about what you’re saying. Because what you said doesn’t make any sense, and quite frankly I--”

Without warning he snapped forward, feinting a swing at her right foreleg before swiveling into an uppercut.

~~~~~~

“The real trick is to ensure that both players feel the need to work toward the same goal while making neither of them feel redundant,” Glory Star mused.

Glory Star flicked her wings. “I agree, watching them is not the most entertaining subject at hand. Perhaps miss Reverb could allow us to join one of her digital entertainment venues?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare stepped into the yard with a deep breath. He turned around, giving Tempo a look, and bowed his head.

And only his head. His eyes remained fixed on her, watching her every move.

~~~~~~

“Alright, so…” Fireflare took a breath. “Normally, parents would wait until their kids had at least hit puberty before talking about this with them. But, well… the fact is, me and Star aren’t entirely normal and that… may have had an impact on your own development, which… means we feel we should talk about this early.”

Moonshine tilted his head. “And… Miss Octavia and Scratch are here for moral support or something?”

“….basically, yeah.” The pegasus steeled herself. “Alright, so… when two ponies–”

“Or griffons,” Wishing Star added. “Or dragons. Actually, let’s just say ‘when two people.’” She paused. “No, just ‘people,’ two’s only the most common number….”

Fireflare shot her a look. “Right, thanks.”

~~~~~~~

Tempo looked back at her opponent, giving a similar honorable bow.  She may have preferred stealth, but trying to pull something sneaky like a teleport this early on was just disrespectful.  Besides, reckless use of gimmicks and trickery had a habit of failing in past sparring sessions; it was far easier to wait for Flare to make the first move, and an opening in his defenses in the process.

~~~~~~~

Reverb’s ears picked up, even if parts of her face were still a tad droopy.  “Oh, video games? That’d be awesome!  I’ve got some kart racers, some brawlers, even a co-op blaster or two…you guys are gonna have a blast!”

“I, uh...” Comet Trail cleared her throat. “I don’t mind brawlers or anything, but... well, I don’t know. A lot of them seem so copy-paste....?”

~~~~~~~

“Right. So. When two or more individuals are attracted to each other, either romantically or physically, they will sometimes feel compelled to...” Fireflare blushed. “Uh... how do I put this--”

“Explore each other’s bodies,” Wishing Star provided.

“...that’s... a decent way of putting it, I guess.”

Moonshine frowned. “So, what... they poke each other a lot?”

“More like... rub against one another.”

“What, you mean like hugging?”

“No. Yes. No, I mean.” The pegasus twisted her hooves around each other. “Hugging is... anypony can hug another pony, and it just means they’re friends or something. Sex is more... close and... constant and... there’s a lot more going on, is what I’m trying to say.”

Moonshine frowned. “So.... like sparring, but full body instead of just hitting with hooves.”

“No!”

“It has been compared to wrestling,” Wishing Star pointed out.

Fireflare put her head in her hooves.

~~~~~~

Solar Flare raise his head, circling around Tempo carefully. It was tempting to be the first to strike, but that could give the filly an advantage. No, best to watch her closely, wait for an opening.

Although... a little taunting might cause her guard to slip...

“We could psychoanylize your reluctance to socialize on your own terms and how it leads to a constant self-feeding cycle of a lack of self confidence which in turn makes you seem incredibly shy while your situation is not helped by having two laid back older siblings or one surprisingly intense younger sibling or the body image issues you have from being stunted despite having such large wings.”

The brown pegasus stared at the maroon one.

“…or we could not,” Glory Star offered. “I was only suggesting.”

“I believe I need to remind Tempo of my superior expertise in combat,” Solar Flare announced, standing up. “We’ll be in the yard.” He took his empty plate to the kitchen sink.

~~~~~~~

“The Freemaresons? Really?” Moonshine looked up at Vinyl. “Well, I don’t know. I haven’t seen their sigils anywhere.”

“And how would you know what Freemareson sigils looked like?” Wishing Star asked.

“Glory Star.”

“…point.”

The majority of clean-up now done, Tempo started to rush to the nearest exit.  She nearly ran straight into Reverb in the process, who was able to finish off her meal in the time it took her siblings to place their own, and the adults’, plates in their proper place.  But a quick little ninja teleport meant that no collision actually happened, and Tempo just continued out at the same quick pace.

“…Think we should watch ‘em, ‘case they injure themselves?” Reverb suggested, levitating her own plate to the sink, and then turning on the tap with a spell so that the pre-soak could commence.  She sounded much better than just minutes prior, such is the wonder of a good, energizing meal.

~~~~~~~

“The beginning tends to be the best place to start.  There’s a few ways to interpret that in this case, but I suggest just telling the lad why you wanted to speak with him in such a manner.”

Glory Star flicked her wings. “I agree, watching them is not the most entertaining subject at hand. Perhaps miss Reverb could allow us to join one of her digital entertainment venues?”

~~~~~~

Solar Flare stepped into the yard with a deep breath. He turned around, giving Tempo a look, and bowed his head.

And only his head. His eyes remained fixed on her, watching her every move.

~~~~~~

“Alright, so...” Fireflare took a breath. “Normally, parents would wait until their kids had at least hit puberty before talking about this with them. But, well... the fact is, me and Star aren’t entirely normal and that... may have had an impact on your own development, which... means we feel we should talk about this early.”

Moonshine tilted his head. “And... Miss Octavia and Scratch are here for moral support or something?”

“....basically, yeah.” The pegasus steeled herself. “Alright, so... when two ponies--”

“Or griffons,” Wishing Star added. “Or dragons. Actually, let’s just say ‘when two people.’” She paused. “No, just ‘people,’ two’s only the most common number....”

Fireflare shot her a look. “Right, thanks.”

“Actually,” Fireflare interjected, “I think we should go to the second… living room, if that’s what it’s called.” She frowned. “Seriously, you mares should make a map of this house at some point.”

Moonshine sighed. “Is this about the thing Mom said was happening?”

“Yes, this is about that thing,” Wishing Star replied with an all too wide grin. “And trust me, it’s a lot better than philosophy!”

“Or worse,” Fireflare pointed out. “Depends on how you look at it. Anyway, I’m done with my plate, so… Girls, Solar, you and the triplets try to behave while us grown-ups talk with Moonshine.”

Glory Star wavered in her chair. “We will not intentionally violate the spirit of the rules, though the letter may be sacrificed for it.”

Fireflare gave her a firm look.

“…and we will behave.”

“You know, we did try a map, once,” the gray mare said.  “Spatially, it all worked out, but we’ve always had a problem with consistency.  I could tell you the exact route to the largest room in the mansion, but whether it wants to be a ballroom or an indoor swimming pool today is up to…well, we still don’t know.”

“This month’s hypothesis is that it was built by Freemaresons…’pecifically, ones that were gettin’ shortchanged by their contractor an’ wanted to get even,” Vinyl added, following her wife.  “We may never get a real answer, but makin’ a game out of guessin’ has been pretty fun so far.”

“We could psychoanylize your reluctance to socialize on your own terms and how it leads to a constant self-feeding cycle of a lack of self confidence which in turn makes you seem incredibly shy while your situation is not helped by having two laid back older siblings or one surprisingly intense younger sibling or the body image issues you have from being stunted despite having such large wings.”

The brown pegasus stared at the maroon one.

“...or we could not,” Glory Star offered. “I was only suggesting.”

“I believe I need to remind Tempo of my superior expertise in combat,” Solar Flare announced, standing up. “We’ll be in the yard.” He took his empty plate to the kitchen sink.

~~~~~~~

“The Freemaresons? Really?” Moonshine looked up at Vinyl. “Well, I don’t know. I haven’t seen their sigils anywhere.”

“And how would you know what Freemareson sigils looked like?” Wishing Star asked.

“Glory Star.”

“...point.”

“I’m not that rude!” Fireflare protested. “I mean, I’ll eat scraps, yeah, but I’m not going to steal anything!”

“This mare can eat three square meals of twenty four muffins,” Wishing Star confided, “and still come out looking like an amazon! I used to be so jealous of her.” She grinned. “Then I realized I had an easy-to-control amazon who’d do anything for my cooking.”

“…almost anything,” Fireflare grumbled. “There are lines I don’t cross, not even for… really good cooking.”

“And what about adult happyfun time? Does that sway you?”

“…sometimes.”

A sudden thought popping into her mind, Octavia raised a hoof to the collar currently around her.  She didn’t feel anything unusual emanating from it, which was a relief.  Despite a full explanation of just how it worked, as well as reassurances from the other couple between last night and now, it would certainly be awkward if the thing suddenly lit up at the breakfast table.

“Actually,” Fireflare interjected, “I think we should go to the second... living room, if that’s what it’s called.” She frowned. “Seriously, you mares should make a map of this house at some point.”

Moonshine sighed. “Is this about the thing Mom said was happening?”

“Yes, this is about that thing,” Wishing Star replied with an all too wide grin. “And trust me, it’s a lot better than philosophy!”

“Or worse,” Fireflare pointed out. “Depends on how you look at it. Anyway, I’m done with my plate, so... Girls, Solar, you and the triplets try to behave while us grown-ups talk with Moonshine.”

Glory Star wavered in her chair. “We will not intentionally violate the spirit of the rules, though the letter may be sacrificed for it.”

Fireflare gave her a firm look.

“...and we will behave.”

“…I’d still like t’spar with ya after brekkie, though,” she added, before taking her first bite of the meal prepared for her.  “Y’re an excellent sparrin’ partner, after all, an’…hey these eggs taste pretty good!  I mean, they already looked good, but y’can’t be sure about some things until y’try them.”

Next to her at the table, though Reverb was sluggish in doing so, she was able to cut off forkfulls of egg and enjoy the meal one bite at a time.  Pitch appeared to be happy with the eggs as well, though she didn’t speak up about it, as too many ponies focusing on the matter might start some new meandering about the sense of taste, or the noble sacrifice of the eggs in order to provide other beings with a few calories of energy.

Comet Trail rolled her eyes. “You’re just upset that she can sneak up on you so well.”

“Oh, if she were that sneaky, I wouldn’t beat her so easily.”

“I’m not that rude!” Fireflare protested. “I mean, I’ll eat scraps, yeah, but I’m not going to steal anything!”

“This mare can eat three square meals of twenty four muffins,” Wishing Star confided, “and still come out looking like an amazon! I used to be so jealous of her.” She grinned. “Then I realized I had an easy-to-control amazon who’d do anything for my cooking.”

“...almost anything,” Fireflare grumbled. “There are lines I don’t cross, not even for... really good cooking.”

“And what about adult happyfun time? Does that sway you?”

“...sometimes.”

“Perfect?” spoke Viny, suddenly perking up.  “Octy dear, n’matter how independent our kids are growin’ up t’be, gossipin’ about their love lives this early in the day is…oh, wait. You were talkin’ ‘bout the eggs, weren’t you?”

“Well, of course, my dear.  Besides, if one of our daughters was truly in love, or at least convinced herself that she was, don’t you think that we would already know about it?  And my, how awkward that would be, especially if that particular daughter took pride in matters such as secrets and stealth…”

Her family, used to her breakfast meanderings, began eating their eggs while she spoke.

After a moment, she flicked an ear. “But yes, it would be awkward for one who treasured stealth to be so found out.”

“Well said,” Wishing Star proclaimed with a nod. “It’s always a good idea to take a step back and look at your goals, if only so you can determine whether they are unrealistic.” She waved her fork warningly. “But don’t decide that too quickly, you could just as easily find what you need to do and work toward that.”

“Life’s not really about goals anyway,” Fireflare pointed out. “Goals get accomplished along the way, but it’s more about making an impact, keeping everyone you love in a good situation, leaving the world a better place.”

“Oh come on!” Moonshine whined. “I expected the philosophy from Glory, but you two as well? Is it too much to ask that we can just be kids?”

His youngest sister smirked. “What defines a childhood? The number of toys bought, or the number of games played?”

“Comet Trail, not you too!”

“…I’d still like t’spar with ya after brekkie, though,” she added, before taking her first bite of the meal prepared for her.  “Y’re an excellent sparrin’ partner, after all, an’…hey these eggs taste pretty good!  I mean, they already looked good, but y’can’t be sure about some things until y’try them.”

Next to her at the table, though Reverb was sluggish in doing so, she was able to cut off forkfulls of egg and enjoy the meal one bite at a time.  Pitch appeared to be happy with the eggs as well, though she didn’t speak up about it, as too many ponies focusing on the matter might start some new meandering about the sense of taste, or the noble sacrifice of the eggs in order to provide other beings with a few calories of energy.

Comet Trail rolled her eyes. “You’re just upset that she can sneak up on you so well.”

“Oh, if she were that sneaky, I wouldn’t beat her so easily.”

That was all Reverb mumbled to Star before her head started drooping down towards her plate, though both of her siblings caught her in time.  It was partly because that damned Downy was basically a separate entity from Star, but Reverb had no ill will towards the mare that had sicced it on them fairly recently.

Their sister taken care of, Pitch and Tempo were about to look at their own eggs for any signs of animation, when more hoofsteps took their attention.  Looking over to the room’s entrance, they saw their mothers walk in, clean, collared, and…was Vinyl a tad sluggish?  Probably had to do with ‘adult stuff’ that the triplets didn’t really care much about, though Tempo tried not to snicker over the thought that troubling dreams of demonic dusters would spread across the whole family like the stupidest curse imaginable.

Fireflare stepped in after the other two, still rubbing a towel against her feathers. “I think they’re asking about how the eggs were prepared, Star.”

Wishing Star blinked. “Oh. Ah, in that case, I mixed some cheese in while I was scrambling them.”

Glory Star smiled. Comet Trail gave her a look and frowned, shaking her head.

“So!” Moonshine said brightly. “Aside from your little run-in with Downy, how have things been for you guys? Any new crushes Solar Flare should be worried about?”

“Perfect?” spoke Viny, suddenly perking up.  “Octy dear, n’matter how independent our kids are growin’ up t’be, gossipin’ about their love lives this early in the day is…oh, wait. You were talkin’ ‘bout the eggs, weren’t you?”

“Well, of course, my dear.  Besides, if one of our daughters was truly in love, or at least convinced herself that she was, don’t you think that we would already know about it?  And my, how awkward that would be, especially if that particular daughter took pride in matters such as secrets and stealth…”

Her family, used to her breakfast meanderings, began eating their eggs while she spoke.

After a moment, she flicked an ear. “But yes, it would be awkward for one who treasured stealth to be so found out.”

“Well said,” Wishing Star proclaimed with a nod. “It’s always a good idea to take a step back and look at your goals, if only so you can determine whether they are unrealistic.” She waved her fork warningly. “But don’t decide that too quickly, you could just as easily find what you need to do and work toward that.”

“Life’s not really about goals anyway,” Fireflare pointed out. “Goals get accomplished along the way, but it’s more about making an impact, keeping everyone you love in a good situation, leaving the world a better place.”

“Oh come on!” Moonshine whined. “I expected the philosophy from Glory, but you two as well? Is it too much to ask that we can just be kids?”

His youngest sister smirked. “What defines a childhood? The number of toys bought, or the number of games played?”

“Comet Trail, not you too!”