The peace and quiet of Leo Goldhorn's mansion was disrupted by many sets of hoofsteps. The picture-perfect stereotype of a unicorn noble was currently sitting behind his desk and working on an idea of investing into some property deeds in western Equestria when he heard cautious knocking on his office door.
"Come in, Featherfall."
Leo knew Fortune's personal maid pretty well by now. The mare wasn't particularly skilled at anything or had any traits which would make her noticeable among other servants, but Fortune had a soft spot for the mute unicorn and the two spent a lot of time together. Plus, most unicorns frowned on being servants, leaving such positions to pegasi and mainly earthponies, and having one brought certain prestige to their employer.
The loud shuffling following the door opening made Leo look up, because up until now he'd been sure the maid was coming with a fresh cup of tea or something.
"Wha-" he immediately stood up, "Cromach, Connie, what are you doing here? Nopony told me you were on the way."
Cromach walked over and patted Leo's shoulder.
"Well, this quiet young lady ushered us in and we sort of persuaded her to let us surprise you. Deep down, I was expecting you and Fortune to be enjoying your relationship, so to speak."
"She's outside in the workshop. You know how she is, she loves to tinker. Last week she put a scope from a griffon rifle on a mace, but I'm sure that was just a joke."
"Do you mind calling her over?" asked Cromach, "The surprise is for her as well."
"Feather, go get Fortune, please."
The mare nodded and rushed off.
A moment of silence later, Leo continued:
"So, I've already met Astray, but who are the other two lovely ladies?" he gave Bubbles and Anvil a courteous bow, "My name is Leo Goldhorn."
The minotaur was wearing only an Order issue plain white shirt and a pair of brown pants she'd bought instead of her white overly tight ones. She was saving those for strutting around back in Manehattan. This was an official occasion, and while she didn't have any proper clothes, she didn't want to look like a pole dancer for once.
Bubbles, on the other hoof, wasn't wearing anything other than copious amounts of bandages wrapped over her legs and neck. At the mention of being lovely and a lady, she gave Leo the widest smile she could. She was still feeling shaky and the walk here to the mansion had been possible only with the help of Astray steadying her by grabbing her barrel or mane whenever she stumbled, but it was better than staying alone in the hospital or wearing a leash. After Leo didn't flinch at the sight of all her teeth, she controlled herself and ended with a bright cheerful smile.
"Ignore them, they're just Astray's harem," said Connie flatly, smug grin growing on her muzzle in tune with the minotaur's reddening face and closing fists. The fact that she didn't give the living volcano about to erupt behind her a single look meant she was more than certain what was going on, "The small cute mummy is Bubbles, and the giant pile of muscle crossed with a walking Playpony advertisement about to punch a hole through a wall is Anvil."
"Wasn't... thinking... about the wall..." grumbled Anvil, eye twitching.
"Hello!" Bubbles waved at Leo, "My name is Bubbles, as miss Connie said. I like running around, playing fetch, eating fried spicy chicken, and Astray," she scratched her chin thoughtfully and corrected her statement, "Wait, Astray first, the other things behind him."
Now it was the blushing satyr's turn to start intently examining the ceiling.
"Those three are the new Hoof of Fate," Cromach clarified the situation, "They still have a long way before they catch up to you and your old teammates, but not everypony's first assignment can be stopping a god and his fanatical cult."
"Taking it easy on them for now, eh?"
"Well, they are quite busy, what with the two girls vying for Astray's attent-"
"SIR!" Anvil called out indignantly, "I didn't know what you heard but it was just a mutually beneficial service which we happened to enjoy and might return to in the future!"
"Uh, what?" Cromach turned around, "I was just building on Connie's joke... wait..."
Contradiction waved her hoof between Astray and Anvil who were both now threatening to set the mansion on fire, heads turning into any possible direction that wasn't towards each other.
"You two... really, REALLY? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Connie's unstoppable laughter, Cromach snorting into talons covering his beak, Anvil's annoyed huffing, Astray's silent prayer to whoever was listening to end him on the spot, and Bubbles' unbothered happy expression were what Fortune came to when she opened the door.
"My my, did I miss something?" she asked, walking over to Leo.
"I'll tell you later," he whispered her an answer, and then cleared his throat loudly, "EHM, I hate to be the killjoy here, but since we're all here, what was the thing you wanted to tell us?"
Cromach let out one final chuckle, and reached out to the pouch on his belt.
"It wasn't exactly about telling you something, I'm here to give you something. Or, you know, return something," he opened his talons, revealing the pair of stolen magical rings.
"Holy!" Leo's eyes went wide, "You got them back? Sir, I don't know what to say."
"Your social status is still above mine, Leo, so Cromach will suffice as usual."
"Sir... Cromach, you will be a 'sir' to me till the day I die."
"Well, you shouldn't be thanking me for this anyway. My role was fairly small in getting these back. Connie and the others did most of the work. I only provided the muscle."
"He's just being modest," said Connie, "We would have gotten our asses kicked if it weren't for him."
"We wouldn't be here if any one of us wasn't there," Anvil corrected her.
"A very wise observation," Leo nodded, "That's how good teamwork should be. Do you want to stay here for lunch? I'd love to hear about everything that happened. The combat parts," he winked at Astray, "and the romantic ones as well."
Anvil scowled at Astray.
"I should rip your head off here and now to spare myself the shame."
"Please do," the satyr offered his neck, "I don't want to return to Manehattan only to find out Connie told everypony. Oh no... Antares."
"Oh my god..." Anvil facepalmed, "The old perv will never shut up about it. That's it, I'm moving back north and feeding myself to a frostwolf."
"Aaaaanyway," Cromach interrupted the lamentations, "If you want, Leo, you can remake the ceremony."
The unicorn shook his head.
"Honestly, I'd rather not. I have everypony I need right here, and I think Fortune will agree with me. We can have as many parties as we want later," he levitated the rings from Cromach's talons, "Fortune, your hand, please."
Fortune, still smudged with oil, gunpowder, and dirt followed Leo's soft telekinetic pull on her fingers and presented her palm.
"We said all we wanted to say at the ceremony, but this was still missing," he guided the enchanted ring onto the satyr's finger, "Not anymore."
The second part of the custom was for the mare to put the second ring onto her lover's horn. Fortune, holding the remaining piece of jewelry leaned to Leo, kissed him, and whispered something. The unicorn smiled and nodded.
Turning to Cromach, she offered the second ring to him.
"You know, over the past year, Connie sent me a ton of letters. I saw how you acted during the ceremony, and I'm not blind. Connie is looking at you the way Leo looks at me every day. We might not be the best of friends, but maybe even a runt, and I might be a single letter off with that description, like Connie deserves a shot."
The room went completely silent.
Cromach closed his eyes, remembering his brief visit to the Final Sanctuary. When he opened them, though, he took the ring from Fortune and looked trembling Connie eye to eye.
"I think Fortune is right, and this way my fear won't stop me anymore. What do you say, Connie?"
Her voice was shaky when she answered:
"No matter how this ends, I want it to begin here, with all of them watching."
Bowing her head and closing her eyes, she felt the ring slip around her horn and fit snugly at its base.
Kneeling down, Cromach took Connie's head into his talons, and kissed her.
Bubbles shuffled over to Astray and hugged his leg. Astray, in a moment of weakness, put his hand around Anvil's waist.
The minotaur growled:
"Put that thing down or I'll break it-"
Astray's hand slipped just a little lower, stopping on the rock-hard bulge of her backside.
"-I asked for it, didn't I? Well, for what it's worth I'm glad you're more alright in the head than when we met."
"I couldn't have done it without you, Anvil. Never in a million years."
***
The central nexus of mine shafts inside Canterlot mountain was deep, very deep. The darkness down there was all-consuming, and the silence was so deep it almost physically crushed.
At the bottom, however, a little dot of light started shimmering. A close observer, if there was any, would notice the light was coming from some circular amulet with a green gem in the middle.
The light grew brighter, and the silhouette of a pony formed inside it, first a shadow, then an entire walking skeleton. It picked the amulet up and hung it around its neck.
"Well played, ambassador," said the skeleton in the calm voice of Arcane Hex. The voice was however without any cracks or exhaustion caused by old age, not anymore, "Well played. I should consider myself lucky you didn't have an experienced wizard with you."
The glow around the lich form of Arcane Hex intensified, and a pulsating purple doorway appeared in front of him. He looked up through the main shaft.
"We might meet again, Cromach, and we might not. I am not a pony to hold a grudge and, after all, you gave me the means to finally defeat the pressure of time itself. There is a whole world full of knowledge to explore before I get back to you."
With quiet laughter, Arcane Hex stepped through the magical portal which closed behind him, leaving only deathly silent, inky blackness.