"How are you feeling?" I asked as I gave Ember a good morning kiss.
She gave my ass a little pinch. "Good. Sunflower introduced me to something called a 'cooler'. Apparently ponies use them when they're in season to help curb the urges. It's still not as good as the real deal, but I can wait. Of course, hearing you two going at it all night didn't help."
I gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just a pleasure machine."
"Oh, did you not want a choice in whether or not we have an egg?" Ember warned. "Then don't tempt me."
"Well, threaten me with a good time," I teased.
Ember rolled her eyes. "Let's just get some breakfast. Where is Smolder, anyway?"
Smolder stepped out with a slight limp. "I thought the whole 'giving a female a limp' thing was just talk."
Ember laughed. "It's worth it, though, right?"
Smolder laughed, "Heck yeah it is!"
"Good morning," Sunflower greeted as she came around the corner.
"Morning," Ember and Smolder said simultaneously.
"Good morning, Sunflower," I greeted. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Not much," she said. "Ember is needed for a few follow up tests to try to ascertain the nature of her connection to the magic field. The two of you, however, are free for today."
"Has Doctor Rose not contacted the pony she needed to in order to go forward with my own tests?" I asked.
Sunflower gave me an apologetic smile. "She has located him, but he no longer lives in Canterlot, so she had to leave town. Hopefully they will both be returning by tomorrow."
"Then perhaps we can tour more of the city?" I offered.
"That can be arranged," Sunflower said. "I hope you don't mind if I arrange for somepony else to escort you."
"As much as we would love your company, we understand," I said. "You're an ambassadorial aide, and Ember's the ambassador."
"Exactly," Sunflower said. "Don't worry. You'll like who I have in mind."
Smolder and I waited by the entrance for our escort, though it wasn't for long.
Soon enough, we were approached by none other than the possible anthropologist enthusiast, Lyra Heartstrings.
Yeah, even I knew her reputation in the fandom. I found something endearing about a pony in a children's show having an interest in a mythical race, that happened to be the audience.
"Sorry I'm late," she said. "I was caught up at the lab."
"Understood," I said. "We aren't exactly in a rush."
"Oh, that is so cool~" she sang. "Sorry, I just never met a creature that talked telepathically without using the psychic field.
"Anyway, I'm Lyra Heartstrings, you can call me Lyra, and I'll be your escort for today."
"Thank you Lyra," I replied, with a nod. "You may call me Luke."
"Alright, Luke," Lyra said with a smile. "So, where to first?"
"We got those bit things, right?" Smolder asked.
Lyra nodded, "Yup! Quite a bit. Those gems Ember brought were pretty good. Plus there was two sea sapphires and a fire ruby, which are all quite valuable."
"I did want to get something for the guys," I said.
Smolder scratched her chin in thought. "I like stuff as much as any dragon, but is there anything more, I don't know... I heard you guys have, like, stories that ponies actually act out. That sounds pretty cool."
Lyra's grin grew. "Oh! Canterlot has a bunch of plays, and even two movie theaters with four screens each! That's eight movie screens! Only Manehattan has more."
I had to suppress a laugh.
"What the heck is a movie?" Smolder asked.
"Well, it's like a play, but it's all done beforehoof and recorded on film," Lyra explained. "Because of that, they can do crazy stuff, like make a normal mare look like she's a hundred hooves tall."
"That sounds pretty cool," Smolder said. "Let's do that."
I thought for a moment. "That sounds like something Ember would enjoy, too. Maybe we should hold off on that until she can join us."
"Yeah, I guess," Smolder hesitantly agreed.
I looked at Smolder and had an idea. "Maybe we can go somewhere where we can see more fashion. I do like my suit and wouldn't mind seeing what else ponies can do with clothing."
I felt Smolder's excitement spike, even as she scoffed, "Fine, if you really want to do something so lame."
I was going to get her to embrace her interest. That was a promise.
The first store we stopped at was a casual wear shop.
In true tour guide fashion, Lyra lectured as she lead us inside. "Casual wear isn't very common in smaller towns, like Ponyville, but in cities it's quite common. After all, with so many ponies in one place, you need something to help you stand out."
There were a lot of hats. About half the store was hats, in fact. There was other stuff, too, of course. Shirts, ties, neckerchiefs, and shoes, among other things, filled the other half.
Smolder looked around, a bit confused. "So, where are the dresses?"
The shop keeper, obviously a bit nervous, replied, "W-well... miss, we, uh, don't have formal wear. We do casual clothing, like one would wear in everyday situations."
Smolder turned to him, eyes wide and excited. "Wait, you mean you can wear clothes just doing whatever? That's awesome! You got anything that'll fit me?"
"N-not in stock," he admitted. "We don't get enough bipeds to keep stock for them, but I do occasionally do custom work."
Meanwhile, I was looking at the jewelry. In particular, a very beautiful necklace with a large, dark blue and black gemstone pendant.
"Sir," I asked. "Sorry to interrupt, but how much is that necklace?"
The shopkeeper looked over. "Ah, that one is... two hundred and thirty bits."
I looked at Lyra, who nodded, confirming it was a fair price.
"I'll take it."
I eyed a couple other pieces.
Well, I did say I would get presents, I thought to myself.
The next place we found was, surprisingly, an electronics store.
I mean, I knew there was electricity. Twilight had it in the library, and most shops use electric lighting, but I didn't think it was something that had entire shops for it.
Maybe Ponyville was just a slow adopter?
"Let me get this straight," Smolder said, trying to wrap her head around the concept. "They basically make lightning, shoot it through wires and that's what makes this stuff work?"
"That's a gross oversimplification, but close enough," I said.
"I call minotaur crap," she replied.
"No, he's actually right," the storekeeper confirmed, a middle aged earth pony stallion. "There's two whole plants - industrial plant, not grow-from-the-ground plant - that make the electricity. One in the industrial section and one near Ponyville."
"And we could easily build geothermal plants to bring electricity to the dragon lands," I pointed out. "That's why I want to see what kind of devices Equestria has, so I know what to introduce."
"Geothermal?" the pony questioned. "Like, using the heat from a volcano? That's... pretty smart, actually. Are you an expert on electric power, or something?"
"Nah, I just know enough to get the actual experts thinking," I said with a smile.
We looked around for a bit. There were radios, record players, and even a TV that boasted six whole channels. There was even a couple arcade cabinets.
And then, I saw it. The perfect gift for Zann.
"How much for that?"
Meanwhile...
Celestia studied the readouts coming from the scanners. “This looks promising.”
“Can I stop now?” Ember asked.
“Yes, I believe we have enough,” replied the princess.
Ember let her magic go, releasing everything she was holding. “So, what’s up? What did you figure out?”
“Well, your magic seems to affect the very fabric of reality,” she explained. “Because of this, it takes much more power to do things that are considered so simple with unicorn magic. Simple levitation, for example, takes twenty-one times the amount of mana. This is mitigated by the simple fact that you have access to more raw mana than has ever been recorded, even more than my sister and myself put together.”
She studied the readouts a little more. “It seems like your magic is more suited to making slight adjustments to the laws of nature. This is likely why your ‘mage hand’, as you call it, is easier for you to use. It is simply a magical construct that still abides the laws of physics. In fact, your ‘mage hand’ only uses eight times the magic a unicorn would use casting a similar spell.”
“So... what does that mean for me?” Ember asked.
Celestia smiled and said, levitating a book to Ember, “It means this would make a better spellbook for you than anything else.”
Ember took the book, reading the name in confusion. “Physics one-oh-one. So, basically, my magic breaks physics, but the more I break the harder it is. That about right?”
“I would say it’s more accurate to say your magic rewrites physics,” Moondancer amended. “Like if you wanted to make something float, you don’t make the thing defy gravity, you make gravity ignore the the thing.”
Princess Celestia added, “Likewise, if you were to set something on fire, you don’t create fire and apply it to the thing. You simply make it so the laws of physics demand the thing burn.”
Ember grinned. “So, basically, my way can burn water.”
“Precisely,” agreed Celestia.
“Okay, that’s just obscenely awesome,” Ember said said. “When will I be able to Teach Smolder?”
Celestia looked up and grinned. “Well... let’s find out.”
"Oh, my god," I said as I walked in. "You are absolutely adorable, with the lab coat and ponytail and glasses."
Celestia giggled. “Well, thank you. It’s nice to know I can still pull off the scientist look.”
“Hitting on the princess, too, huh?” Ember asked with a smirk.
I crossed my arms, turning my nose up in mock indignation. "It’s not flirting. Ponies are just cute. Like puppies."
“Like the puppy you diddled in Ponyville?” Ember countered.
"Leo isn’t a puppy. She’s more vulpine than canine, so she’d be a kit."
Celestia just raised an eyebrow. “You two have strange conversations.”
"We’re strange creatures," I stated, with a shit-eating-grin.
"Anyway, I'm actually glad you're here," Celestia said. "I was hoping you would let me run a scan on you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of scan?"
"Ember told me a more detailed account of your meeting with this spirit dragon," Celestia explained. "Specifically the part about some kind of blessing. With your permission, I would like to see if we can't pick this blessing up and maybe learn more about it. I would look for Ember's, but she overwhelms every scanner we use."
Ember grinned, smugly at that.
"Alright, which machine are we using for it?" I asked.
"Right over here," Celestia replied, leading me toward what I could only call Merlin's CAT scanner. "You aren't claustrophobic, are you?"
I could help being a little nervous. "I wasn't before."
"I assure you, it's safe," Celestia said.
"It won't be affected by my metal bones, will it?" I asked.
Celestia blinked. "My apologies, I haven't had an opportunity to read your test results. You have... metal bones?
I nodded. "Basically. They use iron in place of calcium."
The princess closed her eyes and rubbed her temple with one hoof. "That... makes no sense. In no way could iron ever take the place of calcium. It just doesn't work that way." She groaned. "No! No. That's a problem for another time. It shouldn't affect the machine, so if you would please, just lay down on your back as flat as possible."
After dinner, I decided to go for a walk in the gardens. I told the girls I needed to think about some things, so they said they were going to hang out in mine and Ember's rooms.
Like so many things, the show failed to capture the splendor of the gardens. I mean, I only saw them in the show once, at night, but still.
There were all kinds of amazing things there. There was a shrub that had these growths on them that seemed to sing with every breeze. There was vines with glowing bulbs. There were birds that had feathers that changed colors.
And I barely noticed any of it.
My thoughts were occupied by a single question: am I ready to be a father?
I had been trying to focus on other, more immediate things, but now I could really consider it.
"You look like you have the world on your shoulders," came a light, playful voice.
I looked around, trying to see who spoke.
All I could see was a couple sleeping birds, a squirrel running around, and a cat... a light pink cat looking down at me from a tree branch with a friendly smile.
"Was that you?" I asked out loud.
The cat giggled. "I didn't startle you, did I?"
"A little," I admitted. "I can usually sense every creature around me."
"Oh? I guess I'm just really sneaky. So, why the long face?" she giggled
I sighed and took a seat on a rock. "My mate is... actually, I'm not sure what it's called when a reptile is fertile."
The cat jumped down, "So you're upset because you can't have any fun without getting stuck with a youngster?"
I gave the cat a little glare. "Actually, I'm wondering if I'm ready to be a father, yet."
"Yet?"
"Yeah," I said. "I know I want to be a father someday. I'm just not sure I'm ready for that just yet."
"Why not?" the cat asked. "What will you have later you don't have now?"
I leaned back on my paws. "I don't know. Probably nothing.
"But that's just it. I'm pretty sure I have everything I need to be a good dad, but at the same time, what if I'm wrong? What if I'm missing something crucial to being a good father? If I have a baby, I can't just take it back afterward."
The cat's gaze lingered on me, as if boring into my soul, for several seconds. "So, you really love your mate."
I looked up at the stars as I let my mind drift to thoughts of Ember. "I really do. She's amazing. She's smart, but strong, kind, but tough. She can be gentle and caring when she needs to be but knows when a firmer hand is needed."
"Then you don't have anything to worry about," the cat claimed. "I don't think anyone ever has everything they need to raise a baby. It's just something you have to learn. But if you love your mate and she loves you back, you'll figure it out. Besides, I'm sure you have friends you can rely on when you need them."
My mind filled with thoughts of me and Ember, playing with an adorable little tyke, laughing as we ran around, his little voice calling out 'I'm gonna get you, daddy.'
I smiled. "You know... I think you might be..."
I looked down again, but I was all alone.
I flung open the door to our room, stepping inside with a purpose, slamming the door behind me. Ember and Smolder jumping to their feet from where they were sitting on the bed.
"L-luke?" Ember began, uncertainty in her aura and voice.
"Smolder," I said. "You should probably go to your room... or watch. It makes no difference to me."
"Watch what?" Ember asked, a little fearful. "What are you doing?"
I strode over to her, gently cupping her cheek.
"Making you a mommy."
Ember's eye practically lit up.
"Yeah, I'll just be going," Smolder said, hurrying to the adjacent rooms as Ember and I fell to the bed in a passionate embrace.