//------------------------------// // Uncommon Interests // Story: Mark My Words // by Goldfur //------------------------------// “I do not know how you manage to tolerate those fools so well,” grumbled Chrysalis as she, Penny, and I headed to the family room after the latest Day Court session. My changeling wife was normally imperturbable, but the monthly meeting with the Council of Nobles was enough to make anypony tear their mane out, even if that person wasn’t a pony to start with. “We Triarchs may be the ultimate authority, but you know the nobles hold much economic power. They will always be looking out for themselves first, even if they dress it up as a benefit for the people. I came from a country and culture which makes some of those nobles look like amateurs. So I like to picture them being reamed by America’s most vicious billionaires and it makes me smile.” Chrysalis deigned to snicker. “I’ve tasted those moments where your emotions are at odds with the situation.” I angled my head up to kiss my bug wife on the cheek. “Your changeling network is instrumental in keeping those nobles more-or-less honest so I can afford thoughts like those. My thanks as always, my Queen.” “A pleasure to serve, my King.” With Chrysalis’ mood restored, we arrived at the family room and entered. I was pleasantly surprised to see a certain white alicorn there, sipping tea with Rarity and Trixie. After I kissed my wives, I asked, “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” Celestia beamed and replied, “Daring Do has a novel commitment and has gone home to write. And, after years of adventuring, I felt it was a good time to slow down for a while and do some long-overdue socializing.” After indicating to the maid Whisk Broom that I would like some tea also, I said, “Well, your timing couldn’t have been better. Rarity and I will be presenting her Summer Collection tomorrow. You’re welcome as always to come and watch.” Celestia exchanged glances with Rarity before the alicorn almost shyly replied, “Actually, I was hoping to have a more hooves-on involvement this time.” My eyebrow rose. “Oh? What did you have in mind?” “I’d like to try modeling some of the outfits rather than just looking at them. After all, you always keep them for yourself afterward.” I had to admit that I loved my collection of dresses and lingerie. I’d had to add another wardrobe to my bachelor room to store them all. Don’t look at me like that! “What does Rares think of that idea?” My unicorn wife looked as if she could barely contain her excitement. “Darling, I first made those fashions with Celestia in mind. Having you to model them has been a blessing, but to have Celestia herself wear them would be the culmination of a dream.” I looked back to the solar alicorn. “There’s your answer. This is her passion project and I would never contemplate denying her this. But perhaps we can make it interesting? How about a little friendly competition between us to see who gets the most compliments for their presentation?” Celestia’s smile grew and her eyes twinkled. “Do you think that you could do better than the pony for whom the garments are designed?” My smile grew, becoming a little predatory. “You’re asking the pony who has been professionally trained at modeling and has had years of practice.” “Then it’s game on, I suppose.” # # # Aside from my wives, we had a fairly large audience that night. Fleur de Lis and her husband were in attendance. The professional model had a permanent invitation to all these events but her schedule rarely permitted her presence. Cadance was here along with her daughters, Skyla and Flurry Heart, the latter for the first time. The young pegacorn had shown little interest in fashions up until now. Perhaps her mother had dragged her along, although the filly didn’t look too unhappy about it. Maybe she just wanted to see her Uncle Mark strut the catwalk as Marklestia. Come to think of it, she might have come just to have a dig at me for my hobby. Flurry was proving to be quite tomboyish despite her very feminine appearance and had more than once amused me by rebelling against her mother’s attempts to make her into a pretty princess. Also present were Crystal Shield and Gemini. My child was in their mare form which was expected but, surprisingly, so was the changeling alicorn. The whole reason why the two ended up engaged was that Crystal normally switched genders to the opposite of Gemini’s. Perhaps they regarded this as a girl’s night out? Come to think of it, maybe their male counterparts did the same? They were old enough to not come to me to tell me their every plan. Not that I would object – it only indicated good things if all their aspects got along together. I’d have to check with Trixie to see what she knew. At the back of the room, I spotted Nyx chatting with Luna… I blinked. Two Lunas! I suspected what was happening and trotted over to join them. “Good evening, ladies,” I said as I looked over the twins. Only one wore a crown and, since my world’s Luna was retired and forewent the bling nowadays, that meant this could only be one pony. “Time-loop Luna, I presume?” She smiled. “Indeed. I was informed of this interesting event and I admit to being very curious.” Not to mention seizing every excuse to visit me. The alicorn had not wavered in her intention to bear me foals. No amount of me telling her that she need not ‘reward’ me that way dissuaded her in the least. I had even resorted to telling her that my policy towards me giving mares a foal was that they join my herd, and that required approval from Trixie before I would even consider it. I figured that Luna would not abandon her dimension and her role as Diarch there. That hadn’t had the desired effect though. Worse yet, Trixie hadn’t said no. The best I could do in moments like these was to completely ignore the situation. “Were you hoping to have some material to tease your sister when you get back home?” I asked with a smile. “That and to see how my stallion struts his stuff as a mare.” I groaned inside. I was ‘her stallion’ now? It was definitely a mistake to tell her to ask Trixie. These mares had a one-track mind sometimes. I gave ‘my mare’ a weak smile. “I hope you enjoy the show, although you will also get to see Celestia herself model tonight. We’re having a friendly competition.” “So I was informed. I brought my camera.” She held it up and smirked. “Well, I have to get ready now. I’ll talk to you all later.” I hastily beat a retreat, well aware of the barely contained amusement of the other Luna and Nyx. It was taking a bit longer than usual for me to slip mentally into the zone for the pageant, but then I noticed that Celestia was showing signs of nervousness. Suddenly, I was a fully professional mare and I gave the alicorn tips on how to carry herself. I reassured her that this was going to be fun and to just watch me as I made the first strut down the catwalk. It was a great show. Rarity had made extra outfits especially for the occasion. The fact that she’d had time to do so should have given me a tip-off but I was too immersed in my performance by then. Anyway, with one of us out on the catwalk, it allowed the fashionista to fit the other out with the gowns or lingerie, keeping the intervals between them short. I adjusted my mane to the shorter side to help distinguish between us although Fleur de Lis would know the difference in an instant anyway. By the time we finished, Celestia was flushed with pleasure and she gave me a huge hug, thanking me profusely for letting her join in. Then Rarity, Celestia, and I went out onto the stage to take our bows to the applause of the audience. While my wife and Celestia went back behind the curtain to undress the alicorn, I changed back to my normal stallion form right there on the catwalk. I was still wearing a racy little number though, but that was intentional. I loudly said, “And now, for the after-show entertainment. For your delight, I present the latest in nightwear for your stallion!” I then pranced in an uncoordinated manner down the catwalk as the Celestia-sized garments hung off my much smaller form. The howls of laughter were music to my ears. The day I started taking myself too seriously is when I’m getting too hidebound for the job. Besides, maybe Loop Luna might find me a bit too silly for ‘her’ stallion. She certainly needed to see this side of my personality… with or without the ill-fitting dress. Eventually, I made my way to the back to disrobe. Rarity gave me a mock glare before congratulating me on a good show. Celestia was still giggling. I loved seeing that. The mare deserved every bit of enjoyment after spending over a thousand years in service to Equestria. I went to join the audience. Fleur and Fancy hung around long enough to congratulate me on another excellent show before they had to leave. Cadance sought me out to hug me and tell me which outfits she liked the most. “So, who do you think was the better model?” I asked. “Pfft! As if there was any question! Aunty Celestia might have been having fun, but you were the professional who showed the outfits in their best light.” “Do you think Celly will be disappointed?” The alicorn shook her head. “Mark, she’s not that shallow and she knew exactly what she was getting into. No, the only emotion that she will be experiencing is happiness at being able to share this with you.” I raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?” “Because, sooner or later, Aunty is going to ask to join your herd,” she said with a sly grin. I surprised her by smirking and replying, “I know.” Cadance blinked, deflated by my reply. “How?” “Celestia and I have had a very good relationship for years now. I’ve had plenty of time to find out why so many of my other-dimensional selves married her. We are good matches, and I figured that once she got the adventuring bug tamed, she would start looking for something more. Now, such things are not as simple for alicorns. The fact that we live indefinitely means that we have to be careful in our choice of mates. If we choose a normal pony, we would have to be prepared for them to die while we go on living. Celestia already went through that with Mountain Blood. That’s also why she hasn’t asked Rosa and Phil about forming a herd, despite them all getting along like gangbusters.” I could see that hit Cadance despite her calm expression. She loved her husband very much, but I knew of only one instance in all the dimensions where Shining Armor had ascended to alicornhood. The odds of that happening to her mate were very slim. I continued, “Therefore, as a fellow alicorn, I’m an obvious choice for a mate. Between our already good relationship and her long-deferred needs, I figured out long ago that she would ask me sooner or later.” “Do you know how Trixie will feel about that?” “Are you kidding? Having Celestia as her junior wife? The biggest problem will be keeping Trixie’s ego in check. I’m sure she’s already planning for the day, and I’ve had plenty of time to get used to the idea.” I sighed. “Unlike for a certain other alicorn in this room.” Cadance brightened. “You’re referring to the interdimensional Luna?” I nodded. “What’s your take on her?” “She’s a lot different from our Luna in as much that she prefers stallions while ours leans toward mares. That means that she finds you attractive for many of the same reasons that you have just espoused for Celestia.” “Yeah, but I know next to nothing about her. Her life has been different and we met only a few months ago.” “Then ask her out for a date.” I rolled my eyes. “You miss my point – I’m not trying to add to my herd beyond Celestia.” “After you married Trixie, did you intend to start a herd at all?” “Well… no,” I admitted. “Did you or did you not delight in bringing in Rarity despite that?” “You know I did.” “Did you think adding Penumbra was a mistake?” “Of course not!” “And what about Chrysalis?” “You know that was different!” Cadance gave me a flat look and I sighed. “Yeah, that turned out well too.” “And now you’ve just admitted that you’re prepared to admit Celestia to the herd. Why do you think it will end there? A six-mare herd is not common but hardly unheard of. And to put things bluntly, Rarity and Penumbra will pass on, and so will Chrysalis eventually. You will need strong mares to support you at those times.” I nodded, well aware of that. It was something that I preferred not thinking about. “So, what do you think I should do about Luna? Loop Luna, I mean.” Cadance smiled. “I would never have pushed you toward our Luna – she’s not right for you. If she hooks up with an alicorn, it will be with Twilight. However, my talent is telling me that this other Luna can be a good match.” “Can be?” “You both need to know each other better. She is smitten with you but she needs to learn more about you and vice versa. This show tonight was a good start.” A thought crossed my mind and I frowned. “How did she learn about this event anyway? Rather a coincidence that she heard about this private showing.” Cadance’s enigmatic smile gave me all the answers I needed. “Okay, okay! I’ll start with inviting Luna around for dinner with the family sometime soon. If Trixie is cool with it, we’ll see how things go from there.” “Good stallion. Now, I believe I have monopolized your time for long enough. Have a good evening, Mark.” “You too, Cady.” Flurry and Skyla departed with their mother and I noticed that several others had left the room including Nyx and our world’s Luna. I headed for the remaining Alicorn of the Night. “What did you think of the show?” I asked. “Very entertaining and enlightening – I can hardly wait to show my sister my photographs. Your final performance was amusing too.” As Cadance probably already knew, my little stunt had done nothing to deter the mare. “I’m glad that you enjoyed it. Would you like to have dinner with us tomorrow night? We can talk about other things you might enjoy.” Luna’s face lit up. “I would be delighted, although you already know what I would most enjoy.” I shook my head and chuckled. “Patience, Loopy.” She raised an eyebrow. “Art thou intending to call me that in future?” she asked sternly. “Yep. Gotta distinguish between you two Lunas if you’re going to be spending a lot more time around here.” Luna immediately understood the implication and forgave my presumption. “I’ll allow it. In private.” She didn’t know me too well, did she? Yet. I grinned. “Then I’ll see you again tomorrow. Good night, Loopy.” I then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She teleported away with a squeal of glee. Had I gone too far? Or just far enough? Time would tell. I turned to find Celestia chatting with my wives. Time to face the music. They all fell silent and turned to look at me as I approached. There was no need to ask what the topic of conversation was. They were all waiting to see what I would do. It was time for me to be proactive for a change. I faced the solar alicorn and said, “Ask!” Unlike when Penny had joined the herd, I did not have to explain. If she was ready after all this time, as I thought she was, she would know what I meant. And she did. “Prince Mark Wells – will you do me the honor of allowing me to join your herd and being my stallion?” “Princess Celestia – I would be delighted and honored to be your stallion and I welcome you into our herd.” She smiled joyfully and sank to my level to kiss me. There were cheers from my wives and they moved in to kiss their new herdmate too. Well, all except Chrysalis. She merely smiled in satisfaction as she soaked in all the love. When she noticed me looking her way, she winked and said, “I am no longer the junior wife.” I chuckled and turned back to Celestia. “What’s ours is yours. Except for the throne. I’m keeping that.” I love the sound of my wives laughing – all five of them. Trixie cheerfully forewent her nightly privilege of being the first to make love with her husband so that I could properly bed Celestia. However, although I had grown considerably over the years since ascending to alicorn status, I was still nowhere near my newest herdmate’s stature. Fortunately, she knew a size-change spell and shrank herself to much more accommodating dimensions. She was still a little bigger than me, but then, so were all my other wives. Let me tell you though, her sexual appetite was in proportion to her normal size. The mare had many centuries to catch up on and I think she must have managed at least one of them that evening. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. The human I once was had now faded to a mere memory, and the pony stallion that I was now had no doubts that this had been the right choice. My herd had grown again, and perhaps it would do so once more in the not too distant future. # # # # # # # # #