CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence, Book 3

by GanonFLCL

Epilogue: Resolution

Canterlot's Royal Palace had such an abundance of rooms that Twilight was still learning that more of them existed years after she'd taken the throne. She'd never explored the entire palace even when she was younger, but nowadays she needed to know where every single room was and what purpose it served just in case she needed it for some unforeseen reason.

This small meeting chamber was one of the rooms she'd not known about until roughly three or four years ago, as for the most part her meetings until that point were all conducted publicly or with the Friendship Council; she had very little need for private meetings, and when she usually partook in them, she could just clear out the throne room and engage in conversation there. As far as she knew, that was how Princess Celestia had always done it.

However, having seen the value of having smaller rooms for such conversations, where one could use a table or other accoutrements to present information, she had to admit that they were worthwhile. There weren't a lot of things that Twilight could realistically learn from Queen Blackburn—they had completely different styles of ruling their respective countries—but this was one thing she'd taken to heart.

At the moment Twilight was seated in a raised chair meant specifically for her; on the opposite side of the table in the only other chair at the moment was Raven Inkwell, her personal assistant; on the table itself were a number of documents that Twilight knew needed overview and signing. The room was otherwise sparsely decorated just to give it a somewhat personable-yet-businesslike atmosphere.

"As you can see, Your Highness," Raven said, gesturing over all of the paperwork, "Hope's Point's trade agreements are rather… robust. I'll be honest, I've looked over a number of trade negotiation documents over the past several years, but I've never seen any as tightly-wound as these."

Twilight hummed and looked over one such document, which was detailing a tremendous amount of detail for the exportation of Hope's Point's technology. Every trade document was expected to have at most a few pages detailing the shipping arrangements necessary for a product or resource, but this document here was seven pages long, and that was just on the safety conditions for storing the product in question, in this case, pressurized air canisters for filling airship balloons.

Hope's Point itself was now situated in what was once the "Undiscovered West" to the west of the nation of Equestria. They'd expanded further west over the past few years and were slowly but surely redeveloping their technological marvels, though from Twilight's understanding, the sudden sharp downgrade in their formerly superior technology was… quite jarring, to say the least.

"Well, to be fair, Hope's Point is the first nation we've ever dealt with that has these sorts of products," Twilight admitted with a small grin. "We don't know all of the particulars for how to transport them, store them, price them, display them, and so on. It's helpful information, even if it is a little… wordy. Not that I mind a little wordiness, of course."

Raven grunted. "Of course. However, after reviewing each and every one of these documents myself, I've come to the conclusion that they're all sound as far as the technical particulars. I'm not sure if I completely understand everything printed here—I'm a secretary, not an engineer—but I didn't see anything wrong.

"Now, while it's not my place to argue it with you, I would like to bring up the pricing arrangements. I think the taxes we're placing on these products are much too low. That's just my personal opinion, of course."

"Which you no doubt formulated after hearing a few members of the court chatting about it," Twilight quipped with a little smirk. At Raven's nervous shrug, she added, "Don't worry, Raven, I understand completely, and I agree to a point. I think that another round of negotiations are in order to ensure that everypony's getting a fair shake here."

"Shall I begin making arrangements for a meeting with Secretary Virtuoso?"

"I think that'd be for the best. I'd like to hammer out these trade negotiations with him before he retires. Preferably in person, if we can? I know that we all like using these fancy new telephones, but they just feel so… impersonal. They seem more appropriate for a short conversation, not a big meeting."

"My sentiments exactly, Your Highness," Raven said with a smile and a nod. "Now, we have a few other details to discuss insofar as—"

"Ahem?" coughed Winter Glow from the doorway.

Twilight smiled and turned to Winter. "Oh, Winter, hello. Let me guess: I'm going over time again?"

Winter nodded. "Yup. You've got a meetin' in the throne room in five minutes and I know ya don't like to keep anypony waitin' if you can help it, and you can definitely help it in this case."

Twilight nodded firmly. "Of course. I think we're all finished up here anyway, right Raven?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Raven said with a nod as she started gathering the documents together. "After your meeting, I have some other documents to bring to your attention regarding negotiations with the Utopian government regarding their oceanic borders. I think they want to expand them a little further northeast."

"Aha. Hmm. Well, I'll discuss it with you later, then, so that we can arrange a meeting. Who's in charge of that for Utopia these days, anyway?"

"Lord Deepwater of Seaside, officially as of last week. His firstborn daughter, Lady Highwater, will be arriving tomorrow morning to begin the discussions in his stead and with his blessings."

The former southern continent of Equestria-V had been molded into an island continent and placed out in the South Luna Sea, though it had kept most of its landmass and terrain features, minus its former south pole. That was its own complicated situation, of course, but what made the arrangement so fascinating was how quickly the nobles of Utopia—as their nation was now officially called—were adapting.

"Excellent, then you and I will go over the details later so that we're prepared for… let's make it a lunch meeting, I think. And while you're at it, Raven, could you inform the castle chef to have some sushi prepared for said meeting? It'll go a long way in impressing her."

"Will do. I'll forward the meeting arrangements to Miss Winter."

Winter cleared her throat and tapped her pocket watch—her perfectly normal, albeit exquisite, pocket watch—with a little bit of annoyance. "Time's tickin', Princess."

"Oh! Right, sorry," Twilight chuckled.

She followed Winter out of the meeting room and down the hall towards the throne room; she'd learned enough about the palace's passages to know that there was a route from this chamber that would take her to the throne room in less than three minutes.

Twilight still had to marvel at the size difference between herself and Winter nowadays. She'd had gone through another growth spurt last year, hopefully the last one she'd ever have to deal with, and now stood as tall as Princess Celestia herself. Considering that Winter was still shorter now than Twilight had been as a unicorn, this put them in rather stark comparison to one another.

Not that Winter seemed to mind. If anything, she enjoyed it, perhaps a little too much.

"What do we have scheduled after this again?" Twilight asked absently as she looked out a nearby window on their way by.

Winter didn't even need to look at any sort of scheduling book: she had the entire thing memorized down to the minute:

"Assumin' that ya take the maximum allotted time for this meetin', you've got a lunch meetin' afterwards with Fancy Pants to discuss arrangements for this years' Grand Galloping Gala, followed by an open audience in the throne room for three hours, then a thirty-minute break to walk the gardens, a short meeting with Ambassador Zultan from Zeb'ra'den, your meeting with Raven regarding the oceanic routes as discussed, then dinner with me, followed by another meeting with Raven over the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. After that, you're free until tomorrow."

"Woof, I've really got a jam-packed day today, don't I?" Twilight muttered. "Is there a reason you and Raven have me working so hard this week?"

"Of course: so that you don't forget your parents' anniversary this weekend. Again."

Twilight balked. "That's this weekend?! How did it sneak up on me so fast?!"

"Because you're always a very busy mare, Twilight, that's why," Winter quipped. "And ya have nopony to blame but yourself for it. You and Spike had a very well-made schedulin' system, I'll admit, but there was always room for improvement. Now, I could have adjusted your schedule so that ya had more free time, but you wanted to get more work done."

"Ugh. Please tell me I'm catching up with everything soon, though?"

"At the rate you're plowin' through things, you'll be all caught up on things by the time the Gala comes around this year. Smooth sailin' from then on it, eh? A lot more time to yourself."

Twilight grinned and hoisted Winter up with her magic and nuzzled Winter's nose with her own; Winter yelped in the process, but only because of the suddenness of it. "And a lot more time for you. Are you sure that you can't adjust a few things so that I have a little more private time with my Royal Timekeeper?"

Winter smirked and tapped her chin. "Wellll, I suppose if I made a little modification to your meetin' with Raven later, we might be able to sneak off for twenty minutes somewhere more private."

"Do it. Make it happen."

"Hooly dooly, Princess, taking advantage of your personal schedule keeper like that? What a scandalous thing to do. What would the nobles say?"

"I don't care," Twilight giggled.

As the two passed through the throne room doors, Twilight's eyes widened with delight; she knew who her meeting was scheduled with, of course, but that didn't make it any less delightful to see her: "Aculeata!" she greeted, stepped forward more quickly as she gently set Winter back down.

Aculeata hasn't changed much over the intervening years, with a few notable exceptions: her mane had grown longer and more luxurious as well as more hair-like in texture and appearance; her mandibles had shrunk tremendously in size to the point that they were hardly noticeable; her tail was slowly shedding its carapace and becoming thinner and more filament-like, and had long since lost its stinger.

"Friend Twilight!" Aculeata greeted back, clearing the distance between her and her friend in less than a second to give Twilight a big, friendly hug; Twilight couldn't help but notice how swollen the changeling queen's abdomen was. "It is so good to see you!"

Twilight smiled and broke the hug apart. "It's good to see you too, Aculeata." She gestured at the queen's swollen belly. "What's all this? You don't usually visit me when you're so far along… ahem, gestating."

Aculeata nodded as well. "Oh yes, but I collected from a donor much earlier on this trip than usual, and I did not want to head back to the hive so soon after leaving." She patted her belly happily. "I will say that it has been a treat to travel in this state, as I cannot hide it even in different forms, and ponies are quite polite and pleasant around an expectant mother.

"So, with that in mind, I decided to do a little exploring before returning home, which was a lovely experience. I think I know where I plan to take my next trip, actually, in keeping with my desire for diversity." She paused and looked about the room. "I don't suppose that Spike will be present during my next trip?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Aculeata, I already told you, Spike is still too young for all that."

"He is of proper breeding age for his species."

"Maybe so, but if you want to… 'collect' from a dragon, the Dragon Lands will be more than accommodating. Besides, Spike is busy in the Crystal Empire at the moment on a very important assignment. Princess Cadance has some concerns about Zeb'ra'den viewing her as a physical aspect of their fertility goddess."

"She needed a foalsitter for Flurry," Winter clarified with a grin.

"Ahh, drat, then I must have just missed him," Aculeata pouted.

"Aculeata…" Twilight warned.

The changeling queen held up her hooves. "Fine, fine, but you know I will likely ask again next time. He is quite the specimen."

"Whatever. Now, where were you actually planning to visit?"

"There is a small town in the western desert called 'Appaloosa'. I found it wonderfully quaint and quiet, and the townsfolk were very friendly, particularly one stallion who greeted me with such high spirits and enthusiasm that I felt welcome immediately. Quite a friendly fellow."

Twilight chuckled. "I'm willing to bet that's Applejack's cousin, Braeburn. He's definitely a spirited pony." She paused, tilting her head. "Are you planning to… y'know…? With him? On your next expedition?"

Aculeata shook her head. "Oh, no. I do not think he and I are compatible. A shame, as he is a lively sort that would surely lend that liveliness to my next clutch, but I refuse to manipulate his tastes in such a way. Something about taking on a stallion's form to coerce him seems… deplorable, I suppose?"

"Ah. But you're still planning on visiting there?"

"Oh yes. The ponies themselves aren't of a particular interest to me, but the buffalo tribes who live nearby are quite intriguing. Adding a donor from their race will help improve my brood's diversity and my own constitution, much as I have collected traits from the native griffins, the kirins of both our worlds, and the native yaks."

Twilight smiled and shook her head. "It still amazes me how different you and your children are from King Thorax and the native changelings. His people don't quite, ah… breed the way you do."

"Yes, I have discussed this with him at length," Aculeata said with a sagely nod. "He and I are quite interested in the differences between him and myself, particularly that I adopt traits from my mates and not only incorporate them into myself, but pass them down to my clutches. Soon, I will have collected from each race of our new world."

Winter eyed the matriarch's swollen belly. "So I don't suppose it was a pony who, er… 'donated' to this one?"

"Ah, no. The father of this clutch was a zebra from up north, in Zeb'ra'den."

"Really? You traveled that far for this trip? 'Cause that's quite a journey by train from Hope's Point."

Zeb'ra'den, incidentally, had been transferred far to the north of Equestria, situated even further north than the Crystal Empire, where it was cold far more often and where the zebras of Zeb'ra'den would feel right at home. Frostburg, the seat of power of House Snow, had somehow transitioned with them and served as a delightful middle ground between the Crystal Empire and Zeb'ra'den, just as it once had between Utopia and Zeb'ra'den.

"Maybe, but it was a fun trip. As for the zebra, once I saw him, I did not need to search any further for a prospective mate. He was a rather large specimen even amongst his own people, so there was no question that he would father a mighty clutch."

"Warlord Ziggurat, no doubt," Twilight noted with a chuckle. She set her hoof on Aculeata's stomach and smiled. "I hope that I can find some time for a proper visit to Hope's Point soon. I'd love to see how your children have been growing up."

"Yeah, particularly that first 'batch'," Winter chortled, giving Twilight a knowing nudge to the side.

"Oh yes, Friend Pewter's children are growing quite well," Aculeata said with a smile and a nod. "He sometimes comes into the city from his station to visit, though I have expressed that he has no obligation to do so. He may have donated to the clutch—"fathered" them in a sense—but he doesn't need to consider himself a parental figure."

"Yeah, well, he's a nice guy like that. Not really the 'love 'em and leave 'em' type, eh?" Winter then suddenly stood at attention and tugged on Twilight's leg. "Oh, we're gonna run late if we keep this going much longer, Princess. That lunch meeting of yours is waiting for you."

"Oh wow, is it that time already? Sheesh, time sure flies, doesn't it?" Twilight turned to Aculeata. "I'm sorry, Aculeata, but duty calls. I bet you're glad that you don't have to deal with all this royal business and stuff despite being a queen and all that."

"I understand, Friend Twilight," Aculeata said with a grin as she shifted form into that of a beautiful pegasus mare with a heavily-pregnant belly. "I will let you return to your duties. I look forward to my next visit!" She gave Twilight a hug, who of course returned it, then took her leave out of the throne room.

As Twilight watched her go, she let out a little sigh and shook her head. "Sometimes I wish that I had it so easy to be a leader of my people as she does these days. No politics, no economics, no legislature, no galas to plan. I know it hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbows with her, but nowadays she's got it pretty nice, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure there are plenty of folks who would love to be in her position," Winter scoffed. "Travel the world, shack up with the best-looking blokes or sheilas you can find, and all of it on somepony else's dime. I could never do what she does, though, not the other half of all that, eh?"

"You mean being responsible for repopulating your entire species?"

"Yeah, that. Yuck." Winter shivered. "Don't get me wrong, the rest of it sounds great, but spending most of the year pregnant sounds like a bloody nightmare. Not my cup of rice, I tell ya. How 'bout you, you think you could do it? I'm picturing it now: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Mother of All Ponies. Heh."

Twilight reddened and turned away, then made for the throne room doors as fast as her hooves could carry her. "I, uh, think it's time I get to that lunch with Fancy Pants, right? Yup! No time to talk now! Gotta go, bye!"

Winter chuckled. "Oh yeah, sure, run away! If ya think I'm gonna forget the question, Princess, you're dead wrong! I'm gettin' an answer out of ya one way or another!"

Below the city of Cloudsdale, there were plenty of hills tall and clear enough that a pony could make themselves a comfortable home if they had the drive and the know-how.

While neither Pinkie Pie nor Rainbow Dash had the know-how needed to make a house for themselves, they did have the know-how to find somepony who did, and that somepony had done a terrific job of putting together a cozy, comfortable cabin on top of the highest hill beneath the pegasus city, more than big enough for two.

Pinkie set out late that morning from her and Rainbow's home up to Cloudsdale, as she did every late morning for the past three years; she only missed out on holidays and special occasions, but otherwise she was as reliable as any postpony.

How did she get up to Cloudsdale, you ask? Why, on a hot air balloon, of course! What, you didn't think Pinkie had suddenly learned to fly, did you?

And this was no regular hot air balloon, either, no sir. A plain-and-simple, run-of-the-mill, standard-issue hot air balloon just wouldn't do for Pinkie Pie, not at all, and shame on anypony who thought otherwise. This was a special hot air balloon that she'd commissioned with so many special requests that at this point it was more of a tiny airship than a hot air balloon, but Pinkie preferred to call it a hot air balloon and so that was what it was.

By special, of course, that meant that it was bigger, capable of carrying both herself and a miniature bakery on board without issue. What was a miniature bakery, you ask? Why, it was a bakery just like any other, but smaller, more compact, and all-around less spacious than a normal bakery, hence why it was called a miniature bakery. This deserved clarification, because initially there had been some confusion; the bakery wasn't designed to make miniature versions of treats.

It still could of course, but that's another story.

So, Pinkie and her hot air balloon miniature bakery lifted their way up to Cloudsdale late that morning, just before lunch hours would normally come about for most working-class pegasi. She floated along until she found a keen little spot just outside a busy construction district where pegasi workers were busy using fresh, hard clouds and metal to put together a new addition to the city's skyline: a radio tower.

Off in the distance, she could just make out another new addition to the city: the airport. It exclusively serviced zeppelins and airships, obviously, and right now there was a large airship from Hope's Point docked there, floating along with the help of a dozen or so blimp-like attachments to the side. Cloudsdale was something of a tourist attraction to the pegasi of Hope's Point; a city made of clouds just appealed to their senses.

Just as Pinkie set up shop, just as she finished up her last batch of sweet and savory treats—today's special was hoof-sized apple pies—she heard the telltale steam whistle that indicated the workers were now officially on lunch break. Most of the workers already had routines of their own and several even had their own lunches from home, so very few of them even came over to Pinkie's mobile bakery.

This was despite the advertising board she set up by her stand, which read that she was selling "Hoof-Sized Apple Pies (They're better because they rhyme!)"

But Pinkie wasn't worried. She just glanced at her little watch around her hoof and counted off the seconds until the clock ticked to exactly five minutes past noon. As soon as it did, there was a loud boom in the skies above Cloudsdale, accompanied by a tremendous rainbow-colored ring that could be seen for miles around. Pinkie counted off another few seconds, double-checking that her balloon was well-fastened to the nearest cloudbank that she could.

Rainbow came in like a rocket, screeching to a halt just a few feet away from Pinkie's balloon. The sheer force of her entry knocked away loose cloud fluff in the area and startled dozens of nearby pegasi, who all looked at the sudden arrival in shock and awe. Pinkie could even hear the murmur going through the crowd; some of them were unsure:

"Is that Captain Rainbow of the Wonderbolts?!"

"Wow, what's she doing all the way out here?"

"Outta the way, I wanna get a picture!"

"I want her autograph!"

Rainbow ignored the crowd's clamor behind her, just trotting over nonchalantly to Pinkie's bakery and giving Pinkie a winning smile, like she always did. "Hey good-lookin', what's cookin'?" she asked with a waggle of eyebrows.

"Just some hoof-sized apple pies, Captain Rainbow!" Pinkie replied with a warm smile. "Would you like to try one? They rhyme!"

"Heck yeah! I sure am hungry after a long morning of captaining the world-famous Wonderbolts, let me tell ya." She held out her hoof. "Lay one on me."

Pinkie set one pie into a small paper cup, then passed it over along with a napkin. "Here you go! That'll be one bit, please!"

"One bit?! Holy cow, what a steal!" she exclaimed as she made a big show of passing the bit over. "Ahh, but there's no way that this little sweet treat could possibly be good for only a single bit!"

"Try it and find out!"

Rainbow took a big bite, made all the requisite yummy sounds, licked her lips, then stamped her hoof onto the cloud below her. "Hot dang! That's the best apple pie I've ever had!" She leaned in to whisper, "No really, this pie is bomb, Pinks. What'd you add to it? They're better than the last time you made 'em."

"I got a few bottles of hard cider from AJ in our last delivery," Pinkie whispered back. "Just a little bit in the filling goes a long way."

Rainbow nodded and took another bite, then turned and returned to the show. "Boy, that pie sure did hit the spot! I wish I could stick around, but I've gotta get back to Wonderbolts headquarters and start training all the new recruits. So long, baker mare!"

And off Rainbow went, blasting off into another Sonic Rainboom once she was a safe distance away.

Where before there was only a line of three ponies—they'd all stepped aside to let Rainbow cut to the front of the line—there was now a steadily growing line of five, eight, twelve, twenty, no thirty ponies all waiting to try one of Pinkie's apple pies. It certainly didn't hurt that the sign that Pinkie had put up to advertise them now had an addendum at the top: "Wonderbolts-Approved!"

The Haywaiian Islands were considered one of the most beautiful travel destinations in the world. The warm, tropical climate was perfect all year round; even now, at the beginning of the winter season, it was pleasantly warm and sunny, and in the summer there were perfect ocean breezes to keep it from getting too hot. The white sandy beaches and the clean blue water didn't hurt, either.

The island chain consisted mostly of eight larger islands where all of the tourist resorts and residential or commercial areas could be found, but that wasn't all of the islands in the chain. One of the larger, unpopulated islands didn't have much tourist interest, as it was mostly mountainous; the center of the island was taken up by an old, inactive volcano that hadn't erupted in over two hundred years.

Which was why Fluttershy felt that it was the perfect home for Makuahine, the giant phoenix from the Otherworld that had migrated here with all of the other ponies and other creatures. The name meant "mother" in the native Haywaiian language, which Fluttershy felt was more than appropriate given that that had been the kirins' name for her in their world; Fluttershy felt it only right to exclude the "Calamity" part.

The kirin themselves, incidentally, had mostly chosen to either stay in Hope's Point, or had sought out new volcanic territories to live in, including the Haywaiian Islands. The Dragon Lands were also considered prime real estate, apparently, and the Otherworld kirin had made quick allies with the dragons.

They didn't interact all that much with the native kirin, oddly enough, which was a shame, since Fluttershy figured that Autumn Blaze would probably get a kick out of making new kirin friends.

Fluttershy walked along the thin, sandy beach near the small one-boat harbor that had been established on the island, scanning the sky for any sign of Makuahine, but at the moment there was nothing to see. Behind her, where the beach met the pier, was a large cart with a tarp over it that she had brought along, hence the need for a boat

Resting against the cart were Fluttershy's two companions for this journey: Celestia's phoenix companion Philomena, and Discord. Discord had dressed himself in all of the typical tourist apparel that was expected of a Haywaiian vacation: a floral Haywaiian shirt, a bright pink lei, a beach straw hat made of palm fronds, a ridiculously oversized pair of sunglasses, and a halved coconut with a big swirly straw and three drink umbrellas.

He was loudly slurping from the coconut, too, and somehow there was the distinct sound of a steel guitar playing a relaxing tune just like a typical native Haywaiian band.

"Discord, not so loud, please?" Fluttershy asked, bringing her wing to her lips in a shushing motion. "I can't hear if Makuahine's around if you're slurping your drink like that and playing that music."

Discord paused his slurping to lower his glasses and give her an incredulous look as he snapped his fingers and turned off the music. "Fluttershy, you're talking about a bird larger than any building in Ponyville. If you can't hear her flying about, I really do fear for your sense of hearing."

With a snap of fingers, a much smaller Discord—less than a foot tall—appeared on her shoulder dressed in a doctor's coat and wielding an otoscope as large as he was. "Not to worry, though!" the small Discord said, his voice comically high-pitched. "I can give you an examination right here and now. And you can relax: I am a doctor."

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the little Discord. "You told me that you had your medical license revoked in Equestria."

"Not all of them, dear, not yet anyway, and especially not my otolaryngology license. Once again, that's 'otolaryngology'. Say that three times fast."

Fluttershy batted the little Discord away; he disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Discord, please, can you just help me keep an eye out for her? This is important."

Discord rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, and lounged back in the deck chair that had just appeared in mid-air. "I know, I know, you don't have to remind me. I just wish that we could have saved this until after our romantic Haywaiian getaway, maybe? It's a bit of a buzzkill, to be honest; most couples would kill to have a vacation like this."

At Fluttershy's indignant frown, he rolled his eyes again and held up his paws. "Alright, alright, don't give me that look. You know that I hate it when you give me that look. Let me just work a little magic and we can bring the mother of all mothers to us rather than waiting around, hmm? I do speak phoenix after all."

Philomena gave a little trill and puffed up her plumage.

Discord gasped. "Really, Phil, that's utterly inappropriate language for such polite company. And here I thought that Celestia had taught you better manners than that."

He snapped his fingers again, and a megaphone appeared in his paw, which he lifted up to his mouth before letting out a shrill, piercing screech, loud enough that Fluttershy stumbled back a few steps in surprise. Seconds later, another shrill screech came from over the other side of the volcano, and Fluttershy saw Makuahine circle around and fly towards them.

She flew slowly enough that she didn't rip up the trees on the coast or disturb anyone on the beach, and especially didn't damage the pier or the small boat docked there. She then came to a landing a dozen yards away from Fluttershy, landing with such force that the ground shook underneath Fluttershy's hooves.

Fluttershy gave her a big, friendly wave. "Hello, Makuahine! How are you? Are you settled into your new home now?"

The giant phoenix let out a low trill and tilted her head, stepping towards Fluttershy and her companions. She seemed particularly interested in Philomena and not Discord.

"Oh, that's my friend Philomena," Fluttershy explained with a smile. "The phoenixes of our world are a lot smaller than you are."

"Obviously," Discord muttered, lowering his glasses to look up at the huge avian. "A part of me really wants to make a mother-in-law joke right now, but another part of me isn't ready for Haywaiian barbeque right this minute."

Philomena let out a little trill, and spread her wings slowly; Makuahine tilted her head the other way and let out another low trill of her own. Fluttershy couldn't understand what they were communicating to one another—her animal "powers" were no longer super in this newly-merged world—but they didn't seem hostile towards one another.

"We're here to bring you something very important," Fluttershy said, gesturing at the tarped cart to get Makuahine's attention.

She gestured for Discord to lift the tarp, which he did with one swift motion, like somepony removing a tablecloth from a table without disturbing the settings; he did it so well that even Philomena, who was tightly gripping the tarp that was on her perch, remained exactly where she was and yet there was no longer a tarp beneath her.

Under the tarp, on the cart, were three phoenix eggs, each of them a healthy shade of orange with yellow flame-like markings; Discord was quite insistent that they were yellow with orange markings, not the other way around, but that was a debate for another time. They were all of the typical size of phoenix eggs, which of course put them at just a little smaller than a pony's head.

"Ta da!" Discord proclaimed with a flourish as confetti sprayed from behind the eggs. "Happy Easter!"

The large phoenix's eyes widened, and she stepped forward again to lean down and examine the eggs.

While Makuahine did so, Fluttershy explained: "It took me a while to make the arrangements, but I managed to find some animal sanctuaries with phoenixes that were willing to donate some eggs so that you could have a clutch of your own." She gestured at Philomena, who had shifted her perch to come behind one of the three eggs. "Philomena here even donated one."

Philomena trilled and rested her head against the side of her egg briefly, then stepped back and flourished her wings. Makuahine must have taken this as a good sign, because she leaned in further to look over the eggs here, then let out another low trill, this one noticeably more energetic.

"I saw the pain that you went through in losing everyone you had," Fluttershy said with a sad smile. "I just wanted to give you another chance— oh!"

Makuahine had surprised her by pressing her head against Fluttershy's in a tender gesture, which given the size difference between the two was quite awkward, but not unpleasant or painful. Fluttershy, in turn, lifted her hooves up to awkwardly "hug" the mother phoenix as best she could; though Makuahine's body was no longer made of fire and lava, she was still incredibly warm.

Discord let out a loud sniff and wiped a tear from his eye. "Awww."

Rarity had always hated the saying "always a bridesmaid, never a bride". She'd had it directed at her a number of times by fashion rivals over the years as she attended weddings of friends and colleagues, but until one fateful day five years ago, she'd always figured that perhaps that was to just be her lot in life. For goodness sake, Rainbow Dash had gotten married.

She still hated the saying now, of course, but for a different reason. It just seemed so foolishly childish as an insult because it implied that just because she wasn't getting married, she wasn't ever going to find love. She'd come to learn that love came in all shapes and sizes and forms, and that one didn't need to be married to the special somepony in your life to enjoy their love.

Twilight and Winter weren't married, after all, but nopony would deny that the two of them were in love, and anypony who said otherwise was a complete moron. Twilight had spent years of her life learning to tear open the fabric between worlds just to see Winter again; if that wasn't true love, Rarity didn't know what was. So no, marriage wasn't a necessary part of a loving relationship in the least.

Okay, she was never going to be a bride—she was quite happy with her arrangement with Lockwood and Blackburn—and yes, she was always destined to be a bridesmaid at these occasions, but that was hardly something to be upset about anymore. She was going to own that role; she would support her friends and family when they were married to the ponies they loved just as she knew they supported her own love, no matter how nontraditional it was.

She was slightly surprised that Insipid hadn't chosen her to be the Maid of Honor, of course, but she wasn't displeased by the decision to make it Golden Dawn instead. If anything that actually made her happy. Dawn looked beautiful in her bridesmaid dress—she damn well better considering that Rarity had made it for her—especially since it complimented her prosthetic forelimb so well.

The rest of Insipid's sisters also served as bridesmaids, naturally, with the exception of Red Velvet, who was not in attendance. That was an understandable situation and Rarity was happy for her—and not at all envious at the same time—so she hadn't commented on it beyond an "oh, that's lovely" followed by a "the poor dear". But still, it helped round out the number to an even six.

As for the other bride—Rarity's understanding was that the happy couple had planned this all out in advance in a way that they both were comfortable—Rarity had only ever seen one wedding dress better, but then that might be just a little bit of bias since she'd made Insipid's dress.

Either way, she was still stunned when the announcement had been made: New Pandemonium top model Insipid was marrying the famous Equestrian pop singer Coloratura. Oh, the tabloids had been a zoo for the past three months.

Coloratura, incidentally, didn't have any bridesmaids of her own at all. Rarity couldn't tell if she was just being different or if she legitimately didn't have anypony that would fill that role… and that could make it here. Surely Applejack wasn't still the popstar's only real friend?

Of all the rotten timing for the wedding, it had to be now, right at the tailend of harvest season and on such short notice! Rarity had only received her invitation a week ago because of all the dresses she needed to make!

At any rate, it was still a sort of formal Equestrian wedding, and yes, Rarity found a bit of amusement in the fact that Insipid's world's traditions so closely resembled those of this one. With the way the altar was arranged, the positions in which the guests were seated, the way the decorations were organized, and just the general atmosphere, everything just seemed so… familiar. It was quite nice, actually.

And then the traditional Bridal Chorus began to play, and the entire marriage hall directed their attention towards the head of the aisle just as Insipid started her way down. Oh, her dress was beautiful; Rarity had spared no expense in putting it together, spending sleepless nights for an entire week ensuring that every single inch of the thing wasn't just good, great, exceptional, or even wonderful; no no no, those wouldn't do. Rarity ensured that Insipid's wedding dress was perfect.

Of course, it had to be in order to compliment Insipid's figure so perfectly that the entire room's attention would stay on her and not her father, Lord Silvertongue himself, who walked her down the aisle like a perfectly proud father should. He was still an alicorn exactly as Rarity had remembered seeing him all those years ago shortly after she and her friends had first met him, still dressed in formal finery and still as imposing, handsome, and powerful as ever.

Rarity couldn't help but laugh inside at the sight. Insipid didn't need anypony to protect her from anything, but if anypony ever got any ideas, one look at Insipid's father would instantly dispel any notions of the sort.

The vows were surprisingly simple, but then Rarity understood why. Insipid and Coloratura had met only three months ago when the latter was on tour through New Pandemonium, and the former had been hired to model for the promotional posters. The official meeting was at the photo shoot. The rest was, as they say, history; it was exactly the sort of whirlwind romance that Rarity had always wanted for herself, and she was happy for Insipid to have her own.

It was the dinner afterwards when things mellowed out a little and everypony could relax, mingle, and chat. Some of them hadn't seen each other in quite a long time, after all, so it only followed that there was a lot of catching up to do.

At Rarity's table there was, of course, herself, and Insipid had also invited Blackburn and Lockwood without question, having been invited to their wedding after all. Since the three of them were here, Gadget, Crossfire, and Zyra were all present as well, though they didn't seat themselves at this table but at another where they had a good view of the entire venue; such was life, but if any of them ever minded, they never said anything of the sort.

The other adults at the table were Curaçao—she'd apparently requested that she be seated with them—and her wife Raspberry Jam. Not Shroud, no, as that was apparently just a codename that she adopted while working for Silvertongue and later for Dawn and then Curaçao, but she'd since retired. And good thing too; the poor dear was positively swollen. There was no way that she wasn't carrying twins.

Speaking of which, Rarity's new family had brought along their kids.

Princess Bluebolt was quite rambunctious, but that was just so like her that nopony minded or said anything so long as she wasn't bothering anypony, which she wasn't, unless coming over to the adult table and nagging Lockwood to give her his dessert was bothering anypony, of course.

Prince Fireglow was quiet as usual, though he was sitting close to Curaçao and Raspberry's daughter, Jellybean, and the two were engaged in a quiet conversation that nopony else could hear. The two were on great terms as far as Rarity knew, and reminded her an awful lot of her sister and the other Crusaders when they were younger.

Last but not least were Princesses Dreamchaser and Silver Lining. The former was a pegasus filly with a grayish-blue coat and a turquoise mane with a dark blue streak through it, her eyes a lovely gold like her father's; this was Blackburn's youngest daughter. The latter, Rarity's daughter, had her mother's luscious purple mane—though she kept it long and straight at this age—but she had her father's gray coat and gorgeous golden eyes.

The two were named similarly to Blackburn and Lockwood's other children. Bluebolt was named in memory of Blackburn's mother, Blue Blitz; Fireglow was named for Blackburn's grandfather, King Flashfire; Dreamchaser was named for Blackburn's father, Stormchaser. Rarity had given her daughter's name a lot of thought, and named her after Blackburn's stepmother, Queen Silver Glow.

And oh, those two, they were more than just precious and precocious, they were simply adorable together. If not for the obvious fact of them only being half-sisters, they might as well have been twins, and because their eyes were the same color there were few who would be able to tell the difference.

The kids, of course, were all situated at their own table, a large one indeed as it also had to incorporate Gray Skies and Flathoof's daughter Rosewater and a few other kids of some of the other guests, as well as the little "fashion clique" of Shadows that idolized Insipid, such as Razzle Dazzle. The latter group were all so cute together, and quite fashionable for fillies their age.

This gave the adults plenty of time to chat amongst themselves.

"Those two certainly are a pair these days, aren't they?" Curaçao said, glancing at the kids' table and eyeing Fireglow and Jellybean. "I imagine that they'll only grow closer as they grow older, wouldn't you agree?" she asked, looking pointedly at Blackburn.

Blackburn smiled into her glass, then took a sip before giving Curaçao a curious grin. "Planning something?"

"Planning? Me? Oh, non, you have the wrong mare, Your Majesty. I am not some devious schemer by any means," Curaçao said, returning the grin. "I am merely making an observation. Two ponies their age, being so close and friendly with one another, looking forward to their visits together which are few and far apart? Whatever would you think I'm planning?"

"Reminder: not Utopian nobles. Arranged political marriages not in our interests."

Curaçao put her hoof over her heart. "Ooh la la, an arranged marriage? Quelle surprise! Your Majesty, you wound me with your accusations. I would never dream of arranging such a thing… officially."

"Ah. Implies no problem with unofficial arrangement. Plan is ensuring they spend proper time together, grow up, fall in love. Hmm?"

"You make it sound so clinical, mon amie. Where's your sense of romance? Of passion?"

Blackburn chuckled into her drink. "Apologies. Just trying to picture it. My son, your daughter: they fall in love, marry. Unite our cities together 'by blood' as the Utopians do. More than just peace, but… what? Symbolic union?"

"Oui, of course. What better way to show our two cities that the peace is more than just what's written on paper, hmm?"

"Admirable. Will not force issue, of course, but… can see the appeal. Allow it to happen naturally, though."

"Oui, oui, cela va sans dire." Curaçao smiled, leaned back in her seat, and stirred her coffee. "I notice that you're drinking non-alcoholic wine tonight, by the way. I ensured that plenty more would be available for our table."

Blackburn didn't miss a beat. "Of course you did. Noticed that you noticed, of course, saw you flag waiter for it. Saved me the trouble."

Curaçao chuckled. "Ah, but I noticed that you noticed me noticing, but I think that you noticed that I noticed that. Where does the loop end, I wonder? C'est un mystère."

Rarity cleared her throat. "Please, if both of you try to one up one another on who's the better spy and schemer, we're going to be here all night. Can you two just agree that you're both masters of your crafts for once and let the rest of us enjoy the evening in peace?" She paused. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out so harshly."

Curaçao held up her hooves. "Non, pardonne-moi, I got carried away. It's all the excitement of the wedding." She took a sip of her wine. "And the good wine, of course. It's a little stronger than what I'm used to. And all the future excitement of my Raspberry and Blackburn being pregnant so close together."

Blackburn raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her stomach, which had no noticeable bulge. "Hardly 'close together'. Only one month in myself. Raspberry is… six months? No, six-and-a-half."

"That is exactly right, Your Majesty," Raspberry said with a grin. "I'm just glad I'm still able to move. I can't imagine what poor Velvet's going through right now. She had to miss the wedding and everything!"

Curaçao sighed and shook her head. "Ah, c'est la vie."

"How exactly did you even make this work, Curaçao?" Rarity asked pointedly, gesturing at Raspberry's belly. "I thought your shapeshifting magic didn't work anymore now that our worlds are together?"

"Oui, but I took steps to ensure it could happen if we wanted it to," Curaçao replied with a grin. "I'll spare you the details."

"Yes, ahem, much appreciated."

"Say, Curaçao, perhaps you could help Blackburn solve an issue that's bugging us, put all that cleverness to good use?" Lockwood suggested with a wide smile. "I don't suppose New Pandemonium is doing much better in diplomatic and trade relations with the Crystal Empire than we are?"

Curaçao huffed. "Oui, vous n'avez aucune idée. While I'm sure that Dawn would not want me spreading classified information around, I will say that Princess Cadance is quite the savvy sort, politically-speaking. Princess Twilight is overly friendly and welcoming of all the newcomers to this combined world of ours, but Princess Cadance is more… wary."

"Crystal ponies have bad history with outsiders; Princess Cadance serves their interests," Blackburn said with a shrug. "Understandable. Locations also make it difficult; Hope's Point in 'Undiscovered West', New Pandemonium in 'Mysterious South'. Uncharted lands before we arrived, names inherently untrustworthy. Our technology is strange to them, stranger than it is to Equestrians."

"Oui, that would certainly follow. Their city vanished for a thousand years only to reappear and immediately start dealing with threats again. This 'King Somba' sounded like quite the tormentor."

"You have no idea," Rarity muttered.

Blackburn shook her head. "Eventually will be more open with us, will have to be; world has a new order, would be unwise to be left behind."

Rarity blanched slightly. "Oh, darling, I hope you haven't said anything like that to Cadance. Believe me, I know her—I made her wedding dress, for goodness sake—and I know that she can be very open and welcoming if you give her reason to be. She's not like those Utopian nobles who would respond to that sort of thing."

"What would you suggest?" Curaçao asked.

Rarity smirked and tilted her head. "Oh, nothing that would help you of course, my dear. After all, one of your closest friends doesn't happen to be Princess Cadance's sister-in-law, hmm?"

"Aha! C'est malin, Lady Rarity. Now you're learning to play the political game as well, I see."

"Yes, well, you learn a thing or two when you spend so much time around these two," Rarity said, tilting her head towards Blackburn and Lockwood. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see you fail, but I'm a little biased in who I want to see succeed first." She then took a sip of wine—alcoholic for her—and dabbed her lips. "C'est la vie, right?"

The rest of the evening consisted of lots of little conversations here and there, mostly catching up with ponies who Rarity hadn't seen in quite some time. As Rarity left the table to go mingle, as was her desire, she did notice Dawn come over and almost immediately take Rarity's old seat to strike up a conversation with Blackburn; she looked pleasantly exuberant, as Dawn herself might say.

Rarity didn't need much catching up with Gray or Flathoof, obviously, as the two still lived comfortably in Hope's Point and the former was still New Pandemonium's Ambassador. They'd all had dinner just last week, after all. Besides, the two of them were chatting with some other guests that Rarity was certain that neither Gray nor Flathoof knew, and Rarity wasn't about to play the rescuer. They didn't need it.

Havoc was also not one who needed a lot of catching up with, though Rarity sought her out anyway, if only to have a little chat with Cotton Rose, who was, incidentally, dressed in a gorgeous dress of her own design.

Havoc herself, it was worth noting, no longer had an odd prosthetic eye, but had completely replaced it with an eyepatch at this stage. It was a nice eyepatch, of course. Apparently the eye hadn't made the transition to this world properly, and Havoc hated having a glass replacement.

"Cotton," Rarity said coolly as she approached the couple at their table.

Cotton gave Rarity an equally cool, tense reply. "Rarity."

They stared each other down for a good few seconds, then smiled and hugged one another like old friends, which of course they were by this point. "Darling, you look simply gorgeous. I love that dress. Is that… ooh! Silk and lace together? My my my, this blend is fantastic," she said as she ran her hoof along it.

"Thanks," Cotton replied with a grin. "But it's nothing compared to what you've done. You made all of the bridesmaids' dresses except Havoc's—"

"'Cause I don't wear dresses," Havoc quipped between sips of her beer; she was dressed in a dapper mare's tuxedo, very tasteful.

"—because she doesn't wear dresses, but you designed the others, and they all looked great, but then you made that wedding dress, and oh my stars, Rarity, honey, that dress is just… there aren't words for it. You're gonna draw a ton of attention once the wedding photos hit the press, girl."

Rarity fluffed her mane gently. "Oh, well thank you dear. It was nothing, really."

"Psh, don't give me that. But hey, you know what, you can keep the attention for all I care," Cotton snickered. "Once ponies see the kind of work you put out for the celebrity wedding of the decade, they're gonna be knocking down the door of every single one of your boutiques. You're gonna be so backed up with work that you can't see straight."

"Not to worry, darling, I'll send a few your way if they come to my boutique in Hope's Point. I'm certain that your Glitz 'n' Glamour will appreciate the bleedover," Rarity said with a wink. "After all, what are friends for?"

"Speaking of which, um… well, Havoc and I just got back from our vacation in Manehattan right before the wedding," Cotton said, tapping her hooves together. "I happened to visit your boutique while we were there, and we met that friend of yours, Coco Pommel?"

Rarity tilted her head. "Yes, naturally. She runs that branch of the Carousel Boutique and does just an exquisite job at it. Why, was something the matter?"

"Oh, no no no, not at all. The boutique is great, and she really seemed to have a good handle on running the place. It's just, um… well, it was sort of… awkward. Meeting her, I mean. She's awfully nice, but, uh… hmm. How to put this…"

Rarity paused, then the gears clicked. "Ahh, yes, I can imagine it was perhaps a tad strange. I believe that I mentioned once that the two of you bear more than a passing resemblance?"

"'Passing resemblance'?" Havoc scoffed, again between sips of beer. "The two of them are practically twins. If I didn't have every inch of Cotton's body memorized by now, I might've actually mixed them up and walked home with the wrong mare. Your friend's cute though, Rares, I'll give her that."

"Ha, I'll tell her that you said that," Rarity said with a grin. "How's your skyball team, by the way? I don't follow the skyball leagues much, but I figured that since we're here…?"

Havoc grinned. "The Rockets are doing great, thanks for asking. The playoffs start next week, and word on the street is that we're the team to beat this year. The whole team is stoked as hell. I'm stoked as hell. The only way it could be better is if I were on the field with 'em.

"Not only that, but the Junior Rockets start their first season in a few months, and those kids are fired up like you wouldn't believe. I'm really looking forward to seeing how well they've grown as players over the years, y'know? Didja know that Cotton made their uniforms? 'Cause Cotton made their uniforms."

"I made their uniforms," Cotton said with a nod and a smirk. "She won't let anypony forget it, as if it'll give me free advertising or something."

Havoc snorted. "Hey, if I wanna advertise that my partner made my junior team's uniforms, I'm gonna spread that shit around as much as I want."

After that, Rarity moved on to the table belonging to the brides, timing her approach just perfectly so that she didn't have to stand around waiting for her turn. Insipid greeted her with a wide smile and a hug, but they were both careful enough with it not to ruin the wedding dress. Insipid was so excited that she could hardly sit still; Coloratura was obviously the more stable of the two.

"Congratulations to you both," Rarity said with a sweet smile and a nod to the happy couple. "I hope today has been as perfect as you two hoped it would be."

"Oh. My. Stars. Better than perfect!" Insipid chirped, bouncing in her seat and tapping her hooves together. "I've always dreamed of having a big wedding, and this is the biggest wedding ever! This is the best day of my life!"

"The best day of your life so far," Coloratura said with a grin and a nudge. "We've got a lot of life left ahead of us, honey, just you wait." She then gave a little grin to Rarity. "I'm glad that you were able to make it, Rarity. I know that the timing of all this was rather sudden, but we just couldn't wait."

"Yes, and Applejack wanted me to say that she apologizes, but that she couldn't make it on such short notice," Rarity said. She hoisted up one of the two wrapped gift boxes she was holding. "She also asked that I at least bring you a wedding gift in her name since she can't be here in person, and she demanded that I, quote, 'give Rara an earful for getting married out of the blue like that'.

"She approves of the union of course, she's just very confused about how quickly this all happened, which I understand completely. Traditionally couples will date for years before they decide that marriage is the right step. But then you two are hardly traditional sorts," she added with a grin. "I doubt that things like tradition could contain either of you."

Coloratura grinned back, then worked together with Insipid to unwrap the gift. Inside was a bottle of Sweet Apple Acres apple cider. Not just any bottle, either, but the "top shelf" hard cider that Applejack specifically sold only to the most exclusive cider connoisseurs and enthusiasts, made from the absolute best apples in her harvests. The bottle was even sealed with wax, giving it a very high-class look and appeal.

"Oh wow, look at this," Coloratura said as she eyed the bottle up and down. "Did Applejack make this herself?"

"If you'll forgive the mild marketing spiel, yes," Rarity tittered. "Every bottle of Sweet Apple Acres hard apple cider is hoof-crafted at the farm, and I happen to know that that particular bottle was made by Applejack herself. It's quite an exclusive product; she only sells about ten of them a year because she ages them for a year beforehand; she made that bottle last year."

Insipid took the bottle over to herself and looked it over. "Y'know, even though it's been, like, five years since the Conjunction, I still haven't tried an apple for myself? There's just not a lot of demand for them here in New Pandemonium, I guess. Sooo, I guess this is gonna be my first try at the stuff!"

"Oh, you won't be disappointed, darling. I'm not much of a fan of the hard ciders that Applejack makes, but the non-alcoholic versions are quite delicious. If you want an opinion on that particular bottle, though, ask Blackburn; she buys one for herself every year."

"Give Applejack our thanks when you see her next, will you?" Coloratura said with a grin. "I'm going to send her a letter, of course, just in case I can't get away from the tour to visit her. We had to put the whole thing on hold for the wedding but I can't put it off forever. Ponyville's not on the list this time, so I don't know when I'll get to visit."

"I'll make sure she knows, dear. Ponyville's on my route back to Hope's Point, after all, and we'd already planned on making a stop to visit my old boutique and say hello to my sister." Rarity then hoisted another box onto the table, lighter than the other but larger. "Now, before I head off, here's my wedding gift to both of you, which I'm certain will see plenty of use over the course of your marriage, starting with tonight."

"Oooh, what is it?" Insipid asked, reaching to unwrap the box.

Rarity pulled it away from her ever-so-slightly. "Ah ah ah," she tutted. "This one's probably better to unwrap later, in a more… private space, perhaps? I think you two will enjoy the gift quite thoroughly. I made them myself."

"Ohhh. I getcha. If it's a Rarity Original, you'd better believe I'm gonna totally make use of it tonight." Insipid tilted her head towards her wife. "Right, honey? Eh? Eh?"

Coloratura, red in the face, set her hoof on Insipid's. "I'm looking forward to it."

Velvet rested in bed, staring up at the ceiling and feeling excessively disgruntled today. She'd been excessively disgruntled yesterday, too, but today she just felt particularly excessively disgruntled, to the point that every little sound, no matter how minute, no matter how distant, no matter how insignificant, was the single worst sound in all of existence. A gust of wind at the window might as well have been the apocalypse.

So when the telephone by her bed rang, she silently willed for it to just burst into flames and die. But it didn't. It just rang again. And again. And again, until she finally managed to muster up the strength to answer it. She knew who was calling, of course, so she didn't hesitate to vent all of her frustration into a single word:

"What?!" she snapped, leaving off with a little snarl.

"Vel, hey," came Pedigree's voice on the other end. "It's me, I was just—"

"I know it's you, you stupid idiot! What do you want?!"

"I was just heading out to do some shopping, and I was wondering if you wanted me to bring you the chunky peanut butter, or the smooth?"

Velvet snarled again. "Smooth! And it better be honey roasted! So help me, if you bring me regular smooth peanut butter, I'm gonna tear your fucking balls off, you hear me?!"

"Of course, smooth, honey-roasted, got it. And you wanted dark chocolate, right?"

"Damn right I want dark chocolate! And it'd better be at least ninety percent! If you bring me any of that eighty percent garbage I'm gonna shove it up your ass!"

"Right, good, dark chocolate it is, ninety precent minimum. Anything else I should get?"

"Yeah! Get me the biggest jar of hot sauce you can find, and it'd better be fucking spicy. I'm gonna mix them all together, and I want it to burn on the way down. None of that mild shit! I'll pour it into your eyes if you bring me the mild shit!"

"Gotcha, one jar of extra spicy hot sauce. Okay, I'm on my way out, but I should be back in an hour. I'll see you when I get back. Love you."

"Don't give me that 'love you' shit! You did this to me with your miracle medicine, you fucker!" Velvet snarled, and growled, then started sobbing. "Waaah ha-haaa… I love you too, Pedi. You're so good to me and I love you so much and I'm sorry I'm yelling at you but everything's just too much for me-he-heeee…"

"I know, Vel, I know. I'll be back soon with your food, okay? You'll feel better once you get something to eat. Bye for now!"

Velvet bawled as she clicked the telephone receiver down, then bawled some more, then returned to snarling as she threw her blankets off. "Why is it so fucking hot in here?! Who's been messing with the thermostat?!"

She wanted to reach out and adjust it herself, but she could hardly move, as had been the case for the last several weeks since she'd bulged out so much. Hence why she wasn't at her sister's wedding today, or why she couldn't walk around the tower freely without taking major preparatory steps. She wanted to joke that the tower elevator couldn't support her weight, but then a part of her was worried that that was true.

But that tended to happen when a mare was pregnant with triplets. She was just glad that her bed was strong enough to support her weight.

This was all Pedigree's fault, and she wanted nothing more than to strangle him until his eyes popped out of his skull and he stopped breathing, and what's worse was she knew that it was just going to get worse next month when she should be going into labor. Maybe she'd strangle him then? Nopony would blame her if she "accidentally" squeezed his hoof so hard that she ripped his whole forelimb off.

Of course she knew that if she did that then Pedigree wouldn't be able to hold their three foals together with her properly and that just wouldn't do. He was the most perfect, wonderful stallion in the whole world and he'd be a wonderful daddy and that was that, and she wanted to make sure that he knew that every chance she got.

She was not expecting a knock at her door at this time of day. She knew it wasn't Pedigree, though, so she took a deep breath to calm herself so that she didn't scare off whoever her visitor was. "Come in," she replied as coolly and calmly as she could. Her door opened and Caramel Rye poked his head inside; Velvet brightened immediately. "Caramel! Come on in, honey."

Caramel pushed the door open and entered the room, looking as nervous as she'd ever seen him. He'd grown into such a handsome young colt, bigger and stronger than any of his classmates—Green Guard didn't count since he wasn't technically in the class anymore—and so tall, and did she mention handsome? His Cutie Mark turned out to be a compass; as Velvet put it, he always had a knack for finding his way.

Marée de Rêve was with him, oddly enough, just as anxious looking but still so pretty. She'd grown into a gorgeous young filly with the most beautifully slender figure and a lovely face. Her Cutie Mark was a pair of ballerina shoes, signifying her grace and skill at dancing.

It was no wonder to Velvet at all that the two were a couple. She'd known for a long time that it would only be sooner rather than later that their friendship blossomed into something more. A lot of the Shadows had started up relationships with one another, just like kids at a regular high school would. It was cute.

And so long as they were careful, Velvet and Pedigree didn't chastise them.

"And hello to you too, Marée," Velvet said with a pleasant smile. "What's up? Why do you two look like you just wandered into a dragon's den? Don't tell me you're scared of me because of how much I've been yelling at the Overseer. I'd never yell at any of you like that, I promise."

"Oh… um… good," Caramel said, tapping his hooves together. "H-How are you feeling, Mom? Do you need anything? Another pillow maybe? Should I adjust the thermostat? Do you want me to get your blanket for you? Anything at all?"

"Yeah, like, um… d-do you want me to fluff your pillows?" Marée squeaked, her voice cracking anxiously. "Or, um… maybe I could open a window for you? Are you hungry? Do you need something to drink?"

"No no, that's fine, sweetie, I'm fine. Just a little frustrated, but it's nothing a little breathing exercise and meditation won't cure. Enough about that, though, what's going on with you two? I've never seen you acting so nervous before. Did something happen?"

Marée and Caramel shared a brief look between one another, took a deep breath each, then turned to address Velvet properly.

Pedigree was about three blocks away from Pandora Tower—he'd come to enjoy walking to the nearby grocery market lately—when he heard a sudden noise from the direction he'd just come from. It almost sounded like Velvet shouting "you're what?!" at the top of her lungs, loud enough that he could hear it from here and that it scared off a flock of pigeons. Because New Pandemonium had pigeons now, go figure.

And yet he had the strangest instinctual feeling that he needed to have a stern talking to with Caramel all of a sudden. Hmm. What a confusing notion that was.

But he just shrugged and ignored it for now, then turned his attention back to the street ahead and continued on his way. Whatever that was all about could wait until he got back home from the store, before his loving partner decided to make good on her threats of violence.

Zircon found Ponyville to be a remarkably quaint reminder of how his old world used to be. The town was pleasantly small and had a tight-knit community of ponies who knew each other well enough that most folks could tell you where anypony else lived, generally speaking. Everypony was friendly and helpful, but not so friendly and helpful that it was suspicious, and there were a robust collection of various races present.

Not to mention that the aesthetic was charming, to say the least.

He enjoyed his trips here, a lot more than he'd ever enjoyed his sojourns to the old Utopian lands back when they all lived on the same continent. Six months in Zeb'ra'den and another six in Ponyville just seemed like the ideal arrangement, a replacement for the original six months of his time spent wandering the old southern continent.

Well, technically it was less than six and six, as he spent a month on the road coming to Ponyville, so it was more five and six; he still didn't quite understand or trust these "train" contraptions yet and saw no need to use them when his hooves worked just fine in getting him from place to place, and it gave him an opportunity to try different route and see different towns and villages throughout this new world.

Though he did use the train to get home, as Applejack always came with him to deliver a cargo of apples to Zeb'ra'den, Forstburg, and the Crystal Empire. He tended to ignore most of the trip, though, and keep his focus on her instead; besides that, he only trusted these trains when she was around to put him at ease.

Flying in those old Hope's Point airships hadn't been this bad; at least those weren't rickety.

Still, every time he arrived here in Ponyville, he wasted no time whatsoever in making his way over to Sweet Apple Acres. The winter season was just beginning here in Ponyville, so a thin layer of fluffy white snow covered the ground everywhere he looked, even covered the tops of each and every apple tree. And there were always so many apple trees, too; the orchard had certainly grown since he was last here.

Zircon found Applejack in the south field, alone, currently hard at work making some repairs to a fence. She was as lovely as ever, and as strong it seemed, as it only took a single strike of her hammer each time to set the nails in just right. It was simpler work than he usually saw Applejack doing—this was normally something that Apple Bloom would do during her break time—but he didn't question it.

She was dressed particularly warmly today, too, to the point that Zircon had to pause a moment to judge the cold. It was a little colder than usual, certainly, but Applejack typically didn't mind the cold all that much. He didn't question this much either, just noted it to himself; perhaps it had been colder earlier and she just hadn't taken the jacket off yet.

She noticed him first and gave him a big smile and a wave. "Hey hey! Howdy there, Zircon. Lookit you, right on time 'n' everythang. I dunno how ya do it e'ry single time."

"A Knight of the Order dost not arrive early or late to any engagement, but precisely when they claimeth they will," Zircon replied with a grin. "'Twould be rude to arrive at any other time."

"Yeah yeah, ya say that e'ry time I bring it up."

"Aye, because it is true."

She waved that claim off with her hoof. "Psh. Hush up already, Mister Thou, and get o'er here an' gimme some sugar."

Zircon smirked, and without any hesitation stepped forward to meet her lips with his, a wooden fence the only thing between them. She tasted and smelled of apples, as she always did; he'd since gotten used to the taste and aroma just from sampling the farm's crop year after year, so there was no mistaking the flavor. Lunch had only been a few hours ago, after all.

When they separated—she lingered a little longer than usual—he gave her a pleasant smile and set his forehead against hers. "Dost thou require aid with thy chores, my fair maiden? 'Twould be rude not to offer."

"Naw, I'm doin' just fine, thanks," she replied, gesturing at the fence. "Just gotta finish hammerin' out the last few yards o' wood here an' I'm all done fer the day. We was on a roll yesterday 'n' got a few extra things done, so we figured we'd take it easy today so we could greet ya all proper-like."

"Aha, a pleasant surprise if there ever was one. Thou dost not seem particularly pleased at the notion, however, if I might say so?"

She paused, then let out a breath. "Ah, yeah, there was a bit o' rotten timin' wit' some things here 'n' there, y'know. My friend Rara's gettin' hitched today, but I couldn't make the weddin'. I only got the dang ol' invitation yesterday afternoon, an' I couldn't just up 'n' leave e'rypony here ta pick up the slack, or have y'all show up without me here ta greet ya."

Zircon nodded solemnly. "'Tis a regrettable circumstance indeed, fair Applejack. I suddenly hath dread within me that I bear some responsibility, and hope that thou didst not maketh thyself unable to venture to thy friend's wedding on mine account."

She paused again, gulped, then shook her head. "Uh, naw, that's uh… that's not it, not really, naw. Like I said, there're lots o' chores still left needin' doin' after the harvest, an' I weren't about ta leave 'em all ta Big Mac 'n' Sugar Belle. Bloom's still got another week left o' school 'fore she comes home, an' without Granny 'round no more…"

"Might I assume that Lady Belle is preparing a feast for us all to partake in?" Zircon asked, hoping to change the uncomfortable subject.

Applejack's grandmother, Granny Smith, had passed away last year, a month before he'd arrived in Ponyville that winter season. Applejack now wore her shawl to honor her memory to this day.

Zircon's question seemed to work, since Applejack perked up right away. "Yup, she's cookin' up a storm! Ya better expect some extra helpings, I tell ya what, 'cause I think she went a lil' bit overboard."

"Aye, 'twould be a shame to waste such a meal. I am glad that I hath brought mine appetite."

Applejack glanced over at the barn, which was just in sight from over here. "Hey, tell ya what, if'n you're lookin' ta lend a hoof wit' some chores, Big Mac's workin' on somethin' in the barn, probably fixin' up the plow. He tol' me ta send ya his way if ya got here 'fore dinnertime. Guess he figures he could use a strong pair o' hooves."

Zircon nodded. "Very well, then my noble deed for today will be to assist thy brother with his task. On mine honor as a Knight of the Order of the Black Flame, it shall be done posthaste."

"Pfft. You're a hoot, Mister Thou," she chuckled. "Go on, we'll get caught up over dinner, y'hear?"

He nodded, then made his way around the fence and towards the barn. He could not hear the sounds of labor from within, but that didn't necessarily mean anything; sometimes these farm tasks were quiet, sometimes loud, but they were always strenuous and tough. He respected Applejack and her brother for the work that they did; not all warriors fought on the fields of battle, after all.

When he entered the barn, he found it mostly empty save for the usual fare that the family stored within, which was to say that there was no hard labor being performed in here on any sort of plow or other farming equipment, and that Big Macintosh was oddly absent as well.

Well, the second part wasn't true. Big Mac was present, as Zircon discovered after he'd taken a few steps inside to look around. Big Mac was by the barn door, actually, and as soon as Zircon had entered into the barn fully, the large earth pony—he was one of the largest earth ponies Zircon knew—shut the door behind him.

"Ah, Lord Macintosh, thou art a quiet one for a stallion of thy stature," Zircon quipped, giving the other stallion a wide smile; he'd taken to calling Applejack's family by proper noble titles out of both respect and because it amused Applejack. "Applejack hast claimed that thou dost require mine aid with a task, perhaps fixing some accoutrement? Pray, what task hast thou in mind?"

Macintosh shook his head. "Nnnope. Nothin' like that."

"Ah… hmm. Then hast thou already completed thy task?"

"Nnnope."

Zircon tilted his head. "Then, praytell, why hast thou summoned me here?"

"Just wanted ta talk wit' ya. Stallion ta stallion if ya don't mind," the big stallion said as he circled around Zircon to step into the center of the barn. "What're yer intentions wit' AJ?"

"Mine intentions? Whatever dost thou mean?"

"I'ma get straight to it. I know you 'n' my sister are intimate together. That don't bother me none. What I don't know is if that's all ya see her as."

Zircon blinked, then scowled. "Sir, art thou accusing me of treating Applejack dishonorably? 'Tis a bold claim, good sir, one that calleth into question mine honor and integrity, and a claim that hath no basis in fact."

"Oh really?" Mac snorted. "'Cause how I see it, you're beddin' my sister but y'all ain't showin' no interest in makin' a proper mare out of 'er. I'm talkin' 'bout gettin' hitched, o' course."

"Ah, then the problem hath been made clear. 'Tis a misunderstanding on thy part, good sir, though 'tis no fault of thine own, for how couldst thou knoweth the culture of my people in such detail? Forgiveth me, for I hath not explained it before now."

"Yeah, well, ya better start explainin' good, friend."

"Aye, 'twould be wise to diffuse this quarrel and clarify the error. Fair Applejack and I hath bonded in battle. We hath spilled our blood together and spilled the blood of a shared foe; we hath stood back-to-back against oblivion, united as two warriors in body and soul. In my culture, this bond is rare amongst our people, but 'tis as true a bond as any.

"I didst explain this to fair Applejack years ago, and she didst claim to understand it, to accept it, to embrace it." Zircon smiled and nodded. "I didst formalize the bond with the courts of Zeb'ra'den. Applejack and I are Bonded; 'tis similar to marriage in that we art considered next of kin. Shouldst some ill fate befall me, she wouldst inherit my wealth and holdings, and vice versa."

"'Taint the same thing as marriage, though, an' y'all know it," Mac huffed.

Zircon nodded slowly. "Aye, 'tis similar, but not exactly the same. There is no ceremony, for one."

"So ya didn't really answer my question, 'cause I asked if ya had any intention of marryin' my sister or not. Do ya?"

"I…" Zircon paused, then took a short breath and closed his eyes. "Were Applejack to wish for that, then I wouldst gladly join in such a union. But she hath never indicated any interest in it. I believe that she dost see our current 'arrangement' as a pleasant thing, and I see no reason to alter it if she dost not."

"Hmm… how 'bout kids?" Mac asked, his eye narrowed. "That there Bond thing say anythin' 'bout kids?"

Zircon was caught off-guard, but managed to reply: "The… the Bond dost account for the Bonded individuals to sire foals together, aye."

"An' wouldja ever wanna have foals wit' AJ?"

"Yes," Zircon said without a second's hesitation. "If Applejack didst desire it, I wouldst happily sire foals with her. But only if that was her desire. Now, art thou satisfied with that answer, good sir? Or wouldst thou like to interrogate me further?"

"What in the hay is goin' on in here?" came Applejack's voice from the barn doorway. "Sure don't look like any plow fixin' I ever saw."

Big Mac's eyes shot over to her. "Oh! Uh… eyyup. All finished with the plow. We were just leavin—"

"Can it, Mac, I heard enough. What in the hay's gotten into ya, huh? Trickin' me inta sendin' Zircon in here so ya could grill 'im like you're Pa or somethin'? That ain't yer place, Mac."

Mac held up his hooves. "Now, hol' on there, sis—"

"Nuh-uh, you hold on. That there's a rotten trick and you know it. You 'n' me're gonna have a lil' chat after this, 'cause I don't much appreciate gettin' used like that." Applejack huffed, then turned to Zircon. "Sorry 'bout that, Zircon. "Tain't right fer him ta lure ya in here like that—"

"Nay, 'tis no trouble at all, fair Applejack," Zircon said with a small grin. "Thy brother merely hath concern for thee, and thou shouldst not fault him for his concerns. 'Tis only natural for siblings to care for one another so."

"That may be, but it still ain't—" Applejack then hissed in pain and held her stomach.

Zircon and Big Macintosh moved to her simultaneously and quickly. "AJ, you okay?" Mac asked, offering her his hoof.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just another cramp," Applejack grunted through clenched teeth. "Hoo doggie, that one was a doozy, I tell ya what."

Zircon's eyes widened as all the little puzzle pieces started lining up. "A… cramp? Applejack, art thou… art thou with foal?"

Applejack took a breath then lifted her head up to look at him and gave him a little, embarrassed nod. "Uh… yeah." She lifted the side of her jacket open so that Zircon could get a good look at her swollen stomach; by Zircon's guess, she was halfway along on the journey. "I was gonna tell ya later tonight, after dinner."

Zircon felt his world start swimming all around him. "But… how? 'Twas mine impression that we hath taken precautions? Sugar Belle doth provide thee with medication when I visit in Winter and Spring, and thou dost partake in the Tears of Layk when thou art in Zeb'ra'den."

"Err, yeah, 'bout that. 'Member when I went up north with ya at the end o' this last spring?"

"Aye?"

She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, well, uh… the night before I left, you 'n' me had a lil' roll in the hay and I, uh… I sorta… forgot ta take some o' that there magic tea y'all zebras brew. I was runnin' late that mornin' an' it just slipped my dang mind. I didn't even realize it 'til a few months ago when I started gettin' cramps, an' then I started showin'."

Zircon gulped. "So… thou art with foal. With my foal." he hung his head. "Forgiveth me, fair Applejack. I hath dishonored thee with mine actions and sired a foal with thee against thy wishes—"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there, buckaroo, who ever said I ain't want it?"

"What?"

Applejack stepped forward so that they were face-to-face. "Look, I know we didn't, y'know… intend fer this ta happen, but… it ain't like it's a bad thing, right? We've been together fer a long while now, Zircon, an' I'd be lyin' if I didn't say I love ya. An' I know ya love me too."

"Aye… more than anything…"

"See? So what's the problem? Not e'ry couple out there has foals on purpose, y'know? An' it ain't like we're bringin' this here colt or filly inta a home that won't give 'em all the love they deserve." She set her hooves around his neck. "I guess what I'm sayin' it, I want ta have this foal with ya. So if you want—"

He interrupted her with one of the most passionate kisses he'd ever managed. Words couldn't possibly express how he really felt right now.

There were a few odd things for Hourglass to consider now that two worlds had been merged together into one. For one thing, the world mostly used the map of what was once Equestria-IV, meaning that Equestria was just a nation, not the name of the entire world, at least as far as the denizens were concerned.

However, entire landmasses and cityscapes from Equestria-V had transferred over in the merger too, so the world was both strange and new to her as well as to the natives of both worlds. Equestria-Divergence, as the new world was called in the Chronomancer database, was just strange like that.

New Pandemonium City, for example, had been planted firmly in a region of what was known as the "Mysterious South", a region that had been mostly uncharted or forgotten for thousands of years but now was home to the largest city on the planet. However, the remaining landmass south of New Pandemonium was still mostly mysterious and strange, a wanderer's dream if there ever was one.

As such, ponies like Hourglass who wanted to explore the world and see the unseen, discovered the undiscovered, and find that which was lost, had plenty to do. This train from New Pandemonium winded through the mountainous south of the city until it reached the ancient jungles, where it would stop at a frontier town that didn't have a proper name yet, and where ponies like her could set out on a journey.

The dining car on the train served some of the best tea she'd had in ages, incidentally. And best of all… she loved being on a train. Equestria-V didn't have trains at all, but Equestria-IV did and thus this new world kept them. She loved every second that she was anywhere near one of these marvels of engineering.

They reminded her of home. Her old home.

As she left the dining car to return to her cabin, she stopped off in the cabin next to hers, giving a sharp knock at the door before opening it up and peeking inside. She wasn't alone on this journey, after all.

Accompanying her were three teenagers: Sunspire, Green Guard, and Serendipity. Yes, three teenagers who all had a love for adventure and discovering new things about the world around them.

All three of them had grown quite a bit over the years, taller mostly. Sunspire was particularly lanky for his age and no longer needed his goggles; Serendipity had spurted early in life and was roughly the same height today that she'd been when they first met, but was more athletic; Green, on the other hoof, could easily be confused for an adult stallion.

They'd all gotten their Cutie Marks too: Sunspire, a set of cartographer's tools; Serendipity, a five-leaf clover; Green Guard, a large barbell.

Now, besides being three growing teenagers, they were three hormonal teenagers that Hourglass had to constantly check up on to make sure they were behaving themselves. It was fine while they were in town or on a train, but she had to be sure that they wouldn't do something stupid like sneak off away from camp to have a snog or a shag.

The three were currently seated quite peculiarly on the cabin's couch with an oddly-placed blanket that didn't look like it was serving its intended purpose, which meant that they'd definitely been up to something before Hourglass had arrived, hence why she'd knocked. She narrowed her eyes at the three of them, and they all gave her big, innocent smiles that she didn't believe for an instant.

"H-hi, Hourglass!" Sunspire said with a little wave; he was clearly hoping that Hourglass wouldn't notice Serendipity wiping her mouth. But she did. "What's up? We thought you'd be out for tea for another twenty minutes or so."

Hourglass let out a breath. "It doesn't take an hour to drink a pot of tea. What're you three getting up to in here?"

"Nothing. Why? Does it look like we're getting up to something?" asked Serendipity with a tilt of her head. "'Cause we're not, no ma'am, not at all."

"Uh huh. Look, kids, you don't have to hide it from me. I don't care if you shag as long as you're being careful about it. I'm not your bloody mum." Hourglass then paused. "That doesn't mean I want to know about it though, but you don't need to be afraid of me punishing you for it. You're growing up. It's normal for you."

"Ah… er, r-right," Sunspire muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, um… are we going to be arriving at the station soon, Sis?"

"The conductor says we have about an hour to go. We'll take dinner in town, rest for the night, then set off on our little adventure. Sunsy, did you finish working on our map?"

"Oh, absolutely. Based on the information in the Daring Do series, I've figured out that there are a number of interesting locations that she never managed to explore in their entirety. Extrapolating the data leads me to believe that we can find one of them, the Temple of the Evening Sun, in the southeastern jungles, just a few miles inland. It should be roughly a six-day journey from the station."

"Sounds easy enough. And hey, even if we don't find anything, at least we can map out the area. Ponies are paying big bits to get all the maps updated, and the more information we have, the better."

Serendipity rolled her eyes. "As if we're not going to find anything super cool when you've got me along on the trip. We find all sorts of amazing things on these trips, Hourglass, and you know it."

"And I'm still telling you that I don't buy the idea that you're the only pony from all of Equestria-V that had superpowers and managed to keep them when the worlds merged," Hourglass grunted.

"What can I say? I was born lucky."

Hourglass shook her head, then checked her pocket watch—the same one Sunspire had given her for her birthday years ago—and gave a little nod. "Righto then, I'll give you lot thirty minutes to finish up whatever it was you weren't doing here, then I want you all to clean up and come to my room so we can make sure we've got all our things together."

"But we weren't doing anything," Green Guard muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Serendipity already said—"

"Right, sure you weren't. Thirty minutes," she said, stepping out of the room. "And do try not to be too loud, if you could." She closed the door behind her—the three were smiling at one another as she did so—shook her head, then returned to her room with the intention of having a short nap, hopefully undisturbed.

Gilderoy went to the docking platform on the Arcanium island in the early evening, just an hour or so before the sun would touch the horizon. It had been a long day—every day over the last several years had been a long day—but he didn't have much time to rest. He was never more thankful than now that his technomagic implants had mostly survived the merging of worlds, albeit mostly operating on magic alone these days.

He was just glad that out of all the things that hadn't made the transition properly, at least there was that. It had been bad enough that GAIA had barely made the transition, but she was a glorified search engine at this point, not a proper artificial intelligence. It would take him years to bring her to even one percent of her original capabilities.

A zeppelin descended to a landing with relative ease, though none of the airborne vessels of this new world were quite as graceful as those used by Hope's Point before the merger. They still had an easier time of docking than actual seafaring vessels would, of course, but that was only just so.

Incidentally, the Elysian Islands were no longer floating in the skies above the ocean, but had been reduced to a mundane island chain. "Mundane" was relative, of course, as the old gryphon-made structures were still intact and quite odd-looking compared to the aesthetics of the new world, and the islands still technically "floated" unnaturally; a creature could swim under the island if they wanted to.

But yes, a large zeppelin had arrived this evening, a few hours late unfortunately, but it was of little consequence; Gilderoy was in no position to be picky about the punctuality of others these days.

Though it had taken him some time—a week, terribly long for someone of his talents—to learn the aesthetics of the airborne vessels of the new world, he'd memorized them all by now. They were all quite different, but easily recognizable. This particular zeppelin happens to belong to the native griffons of Griffonstone, as told by the wooden make of the main craft.

After landing, a boarding platform lowered and a trio of griffons descended the ramp down to the flat dock below, just as Gilderoy himself was arriving. The vessel was much too large to be used for carrying just three griffons, though that much was obvious. It was easy to tell that two of the three were just guards or assistants, and that one, the female, was in charge.

"Greetings, friends, and welcome to the Elysian Islands," Gilderoy said, giving the trio a slight bow and a warm smile. "I have been expecting you, though I was not expecting such a tremendous arrival. Your vessel is quite large for such a small entourage."

"Huh?" the female said, tilting her head and glancing at the zeppelin. "Oh! Right. Well that's because we're not the only ones here. The rest of my… 'entourage' are getting things together before we start unloading stuff."

Gilderoy raised an eyebrow. "'Unloading'? Whatever do you mean? I was under the impression that I was expecting the arrival of an ambassador from Griffonstone and nothing more."

"Yeah, well, consider this a little surprise, then," the griffon said with a grin. "It took a little bit of convincing but the griffons are ready to help out a fellow… uh, gryphon in need. I know they're pronounced the same, but we spell it differently from you, if I remember right. Right?"

"Quite correct, my dear, quite correct. Though given that I am the undisputed leader of what's left of my people, I think that it goes without saying that I've put a lot of thought into adopting the spelling that the natives use, so as to avoid confusion."

"Oh. Well that's handy. You're sure that's alright?"

"Yes, well, I highly doubt that the other one hundred gryphons in my care are going to object. At least not to that. They do object to eating their vegetables at times, though."

She smirked. "Speaking of which, that's what all these supplies are for: helping you get those hatchlings all raised up. We heard your old caretaker isn't quite up to snuff or something like that? None of us really understood it all that well, but we got the gist of the problem."

"Indeed. GAIA, the former caretaker, did not survive the transfer into this new world quite as well as I did. She still serves as a repository of information, but cannot assist me in caring for the hatchlings directly." He glanced at the boarding ramp, where some griffons were beginning to unload large crates. "I must say, I do appreciate the assistance, if you're willing to lend it."

"And we are. You might be from another world and you might spell 'griffon' differently than we do, but you're one of us, and nowadays, us griffons stick together for the good of the kingdom."

He smiled warmly at her. "Though I suppose the other reason you're here is to negotiate terms with me to integrate the Elysian Islands into the Kingdom of Griffonstone?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Though it's more of an offering for you to join us, rather than a takeover or anything like that," she replied with a smile of her own. "Like I said, we griffons gotta stick together, right?"

"Indeed we do." Gilderoy offered his metal talon over to her to shake. "I don't believe that we've shared a proper, former greeting, however. I'm Lorekeeper Gilderoy, caretaker of the Elysian Islands and steward of all the knowledge of the former Gryphon Empire of Otherworld. And you are?"

The female took his talon in her own and gave it a firm shake. "Name's Gilda. Nice to meet you."

Pandemonia walked along the sandy beach, enjoying the cool night's breeze in her mane. It had taken some getting used to at first, but she rather enjoyed the single moon of this new world compared to the two moons of the old one; it was larger and grander than even the bigger of the two, while also being brighter and white than the smaller. From her understanding, the moonlight over the ocean like this was considered quite romantic by the natives.

As she made her way along, she caught sight of another pony here on the beach with her staring up at the moon, somepony she recognized immediately and was always pleased to see. "Sister!" she called, smiling and approaching Harmonia without a second's hesitation.

Harmonia's physical form was much like her own, tall and slender and impossibly beautiful, but where Pandemonia was dark and sultry, her sister was radiant and pure. Her white coat shone with the same white light as the moon above, her luxurious sky blue mane wreathed around her neck and flowed behind her like a magical scarf.

Harmonia turned at her approach and gave her a smile, and the two sisters met in a loving, familial embrace. "Pandemonia, sister, 'tis a blessing that thou hast come here tonight of all nights."

"I have sought you out for many moons, but only now do I find you? Why are you here? Where have you been? I have not seen you since the two worlds became one."

"Indeed we hath not. Thou hast been… searching for me?"

"Yes. I have taken to traveling this new world of ours, dear sister, seeking out new experiences and tasting local flavors whilst seeking you out. I have made many companions along the way, and visited with friends of old as well. My journey was not unpleasant, but it has driven me forward."

"Ah. Forgiveth me for mine elusive nature, for I didst not intend to hide. After much time spent tending to my former flock and ensuring that they art at peace with their new surroundings, I hath come here to this place to ponder many things."

"Then you were in Utopia all this time?"

"Aye, and nay. I didst travel the new continent that mine old flock know calleth home, but 'twas a brief venture. I hath spent the other years… elsewhere. Searching for something." Harmonia smiled and tilted her head. "But thou hast explored this new world as well? Whatever for? Surely not just for me?"

Pandemonia shook her head. "Though our old world is gone, I did not know it well, at least not what it had become in my absence from it. I regret every loss that was incurred in giving me my freedom, in bringing our worlds together, but I am glad to have a new world, a truly new world, to bombard these physical senses of mine."

"'Tis true that these new forms are quite an interesting experience," Harmonia said, glancing at her hoof. "But 'twould seem that I lacketh the wanderlust that hath taken hold of thee. I spent too long in complacency, dear sister, too long accepting the status quo. This new world hath little place for a failed goddess such as I."

"Harmonia… you did not fail me," Pandemonia said, embracing her sister again, more tightly than before. "Whyever would you think such an awful thought?"

"Because I didst accept Nihila's claims to be thee. When thou didst proclaim that thou wouldst not be called my sister any longer, that thou wouldst only be called Nihila, I accepted it and didst not fight against the change I saw in thee. Because of my cowardice, sister, I condemned thee to slavery under that vile creature's control."

"You have no need to apologize to me for that. And even if you did, I would forgive you. You are my sister. We are bonded together by the same energy, two sides of the same coin. We are as one, Harmonia."

"Thy forgiveness doth warm my heart, but it is mine own forgiveness that I cannot possess." Harmonia shook her head. "That is why I hath come to this place, dear sister. Not truly in exile, for 'tis a peaceful place of joy and serenity, but 'tis an exile nonetheless. I didst not earn the right to walk this world freely as thou hast."

Pandemonia frowned. "Oh, sister, you are wrong in that. I do not wish for you to exclude yourself from this new world so fully." She offered her sister her hoof. "Please, come with me. Partake in these newfound experiences by my side, as only my sister could. It would bring me great exuberance to have you along with me in my travels."

Harmonia considered Pandemonia's hoof for a moment, then let out a sigh. "If thou wouldst truly derive pleasure from my company, dear sister… then mayhap I wouldst consider it…"

"That is all that I ask of you, Harmonia. You and I have spent far too long apart to separate ourselves again because of perceived mistakes."

"Hmm." Harmonia stared up at the moon again, then let her lips curl in a little smile. "An amusing thought hath come to me."

Pandemonia tilted her head. "Oh?"

"I hath heard many tales from the natives of this world over these past few years. 'Tis fortuitous that, if thou hast been seeking me that thou didst finally findeth me here and now, for I hath come here for a reason. A journey of mine own, one might say, to seeketh enlightenment and advice."

"Advice, sister? On what matter?"

"On this one. One us. I seeketh the guidance of those who hath walked similar steps before us." Harmonia smiled and gestured towards the beach ahead. "Wouldst thou like to accompany me? Mayhap we might both learn from others."

Pandemonia smiled. "If it means being by your side again, then there is nothing I would not do."

As the two sisters walked together along the cool beach sands under the light of the moon, they passed by a large wooden sign bidding them welcome to this place, this "Seaward Shoals". Pandemonia wondered just who it was that her sister was seeking that would be able to advise them, but it didn't matter to her. So long as they were reunited, she was happy.

There was a lonesome mountain in the far northern region of the Crystal Empire that had not been disturbed by living creatures in thousands upon thousands of years. It did not appear on any maps and as far as the crystal ponies knew, it didn't even exist. Even the new addition of the zebras of Zeb'ra'den had not yet explored far enough to find it. It was as close to virgin territory as could be.

With a single exception. A lonely cliff on this already lonesome mountain provided a breathtakingly gorgeous view of the surrounding tundra. With a subtle flash and a pop, a pony appeared upon the cliff and gazed out upon the beautiful landscape for only a moment before his attention turned upward, to the starry nighttime sky. He stared at it for a long moment, deep in thought, then let out a quiet sigh of contentment.

Another subtle flash and a pop behind the stallion drew his attention. "I hope you can forgive me for pulling you away from whatever evening plan you might have had, Princess," he said, turning to face the newcomer. "It has certainly been some time since we've talked."

Twilight Sparkle gave him a rather flat look. "I would normally be in bed right now, actually. Sleeping."

He gave her a small grin. "Then forgive me for disturbing your rest. The point stands: we have not spoken for some years now. Even after our worlds combined, you and I have hardly shared so much as a simple conversation."

"That tends to happens when you step away from the world scene. I'm actually impressed; your reputation would lead me to believe that you'd want to have a hoof in ensuring everything is going according to plan."

"I understand that you do not have a very high opinion of me—"

"No, I don't. And I know that there are others who share my opinion," Twilight said tersely. "After everything you did to accomplish your plans in your world, I find it unfair that you get to get away with it all. You nearly destroyed an entire race of sapient beings. You murdered countless thousands of ponies over hundreds of years and ensured that the lives of so many would never grow beyond misery."

Silvertongue shook his head and sighed. "Karmic justice hardly seems your style, Princess, though you certainly possess the power needed to mete it out. Though, am I not mistaken that in the past, you have offered friendship and forgiveness to many individuals responsible for comparable atrocities?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "If you're referring to Starlight Glimmer, she—"

"Made her decisions entirely out of misguided malice and hatred, fully intending to destroy countless timelines with the sole purpose of revenge. I've done my research, Princess, so don't insult me with your own misguided favoritism. I never pegged you for a hypocrite."

Twilight snorted, then rose up tall. "What do you want, Silvertongue? Why did you call me out here in the middle of the night after years of silence?"

Silvertongue turned from her and gestured out into the empty expanse of ice and snow below the mountain. "Look out there, Princess, and tell me what you see."

Twilight glanced out over the cliff, then turned to him. "Just an empty field of snow. I don't even know where we actually are, to be honest."

Silvertongue clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk. Such a straightforward answer." He turned out and looked upon the snow himself. "I see two things: peace, and beauty. This part of your world is unexplored by any civilized race, untouched by hoof or claw or paw. Untainted by the worst parts of society: greed, hate, cruelty.

"But I also see something else: loneliness. There is no one here to experience these beautiful sights, save for us at this moment. I'd hazard a guess that you and I are the first living things to ever look upon this vista. And what a lovely sight it is, no?"

Twilight turned back to the cliff, paused, then sighed and nodded. "Yes. Yes it is." Back to him. "What's your point? You didn't just call me out here to show me a lovely vista, surely."

He smirked. "Yes, actually, I did."

"...why?"

"Because your world—ourworld—is beautiful, Princess, and yet it has not even been fully explored. There is so much beauty and splendor left for the mortal races of the world to see that they cannot even begin to understand. Not just for those who originate from this world proper, but for those from my world.

"And they would have never had the opportunity to experience such wonders if not for the involvement of you and your friends. My daughters would not even exist if not for you and your friends. I would have never been able to be with my Heart again, brief though our reunion was, if not for you and your friends." With a deep nod, he concluded: "Thank you. For all you have done."

Twilight blinked. "You... I mean... um... you're welcome?" Twilight sputtered. "I really don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this, least of all from you. I don't understand..."

"Is it truly so difficult for you to come to terms with the fact that the atrocities I committed were not done lightly? That I did not want to do them? But had I not taken those actions, not sacrificed those lives, countless more would have been lost to stop Nihila when she inevitably rose again."

"So you've said. That doesn't mean you should be forgiven."

"Do you really think that I expect forgiveness? That I even want it? You misunderstand my intention. I don't say this to excuse my actions. I say it so that you understand that you don't understand. You have never had to be in the sort of situations I have; you have never had to perform the calculus of war. And I hope that you never do. For can you really say that you wouldn't make the same decision when lives are in the balance? Innocent lives? The lives of your friends and family?"

"...no," Twilight replied, brow furrowed. "I suppose that unless I was placed in such a situation, I don't know for sure what I'd do. But I would exhaust every possibility before I even considered sacrificing a single life."

"Hmm. Perhaps." Silvertongue shook his head. "Your experience with your friend Starlight Glimmer should have taught you that even the slightest change to one's circumstances in life can have far-reaching consequences in their actions, their motives, their futures."

He looked at the stars again, then smiled and sighed. "Had even the slightest event transpired differently, Princess, who's to say what might have happened? Your dear Winter Glow could probably tell you quite a lot about such things, no doubt. I wonder... hmm..." He chuckled. "I wonder if circumstances had been different for us, would you and I be enemies? Friends? A mystery for the ages. Food for thought."

Twilight tilted her head, then sighed and nodded. "I suppose so. Lord Silvertongue... I might find your past to be despicable, but I have seen the way you treat your daughters. I don't like the idea that you've escaped punishment for the horrors you unleashed on your world... but it's not my place to enforce judgement on you. And so long as you continue to treat your daughters well, I can't bring myself to judge you either."

Silvertongue looked to her and nodded deeply again. "I accept your decision then, in good faith. Though you needn't worry about me treating my daughters with anything less than the love that they deserve."

"Good. Then I have nothing more to say. Enjoy your evening."

"And you as well, Princess."

Twilight disappeared with a flash and a pop so minute that even Silvertongue barely noticed.

Once she was gone, Silvertongue turned back towards the sight of the field of ice and snow below and smiled to himself.