When I entered the dining room to have breakfast, I found my anthro unicorn daughter, Pearl, huddled with my changeling daughter, Diadem. After listening for a few moments, I realized that Pearl was helping her sister with her magic homework. Being further into her studies than Diadem, she was able to assist her with concepts that the unicorn had already mastered. I gave a little melancholy sigh. As a student of Twilight Sparkle, I’d helped both my daughters until they had exceeded my knowledge. Being a full-time ruler with a commercial business on the side left me very few opportunities to further my own studies. In fact, the busy schedules of all three Triarchs cut down the frequency of Twilight’s lessons for Trixie and me from weekly to monthly. I had the benefit of virtually unlimited time to keep on learning, but it would not give me back those moments with the girls. It remained to be seen if my son, Spotlight, would take an interest in the same field. Just because he had a horn didn’t mean that I expected him to do so. My children were free to follow their destinies. Not even Gemini who was technically Trixie and my heir to the throne would be forced into that role. Frankly, they spent more time in the Crystal Kingdom with their husband, Shiny Button a.k.a. Prince Crystal Shield. I saw more significance in the joining of our two families than in the political aspects. It was cool to be able to call Shining Armor my brother-in-law though. As for my young batpony son, Verdant, right now he was only interested in bolting down his breakfast and hurrying out to meet his school friends so that they could play games before class began. He certainly wasn’t concerned about his future yet.
Wednesday morning was Twilight’s turn to hold public Day Court, so that left both Trixie and me free from royal duties. I had scheduled a meeting with the branch managers of Harmonic Composites and Smolder to announce my daughter-in-law’s placement in the company and discuss how it would affect them. The second item on the agenda was our planned opening of distribution centers in Europe and Australia. While the Australian market was relatively small, it was intended to be our gateway to the Oceania region. Besides, I had an ulterior motive for establishing a presence there – but that was for the future.
Works were also well underway to build a plant in the Anthro Equestria Universe which was proving to be our best market outside of Earth and locally. Their Celestia had given her approval with the proviso that it be staffed primarily with local workers. However, they had to be trained up to be ready to get to work the moment that the factory went into operation. That meant sending over some of my staff regularly, including the ones from Earth. Most of the time, that would be Jewel Petit. She was definitely the best teacher among all my engineers, but it was putting a considerable load onto the mare, even after passing on some of her managerial tasks to her branch manager, Jolene. We were already assessing some more candidates to be introduced to Equestria because of that.
My wife had her own pet projects to attend, and today she was going to one of her favorites. When I had only very recently arrived in Equus and Trixie had placed me in the role of Grand Vizier (a very pretentious title for Advisor that still embarrasses me), one of the first triumphs I’d had was uncovering a horrible Ponzi scheme that could have bankrupted the nation. The victim was the hospital that was purportedly going to be built with the investment funds. Trixie had been bitterly disappointed that it had been a scam because she’d had her heart set on getting it built. Years later, the cost had been budgeted and the Royal Canterlot Foals’ Hospital finally was built. Now my wife was its patron and, once a month, she would visit to mingle with the staff and patients. She loved to perform illusions for the sick foals.
We parted ways with a lingering kiss, then Smolder and I headed for the portal to the Ponyville factory of Harmonic Composites. In view of the occasion, the dragoness had dressed up in a smart business jacket and skirt. Smolder rarely went unclothed nowadays, preferring to only ever do so in the privacy of the family. None of us were pretentious about clothing and she had nothing to prove to us.
The meeting with the managers was fairly brief. Aside from introducing Smolder and her new role in the company, there were only a few business matters to discuss before everyone returned to their branches except for Jewel. The unicorn mare accompanied Smolder, Penumbra, and me to Anthro Equestria to see Princess Celestia first of all, and then inspect the progress of the new factory.
While Smolder, Penny, and I retained our normal forms, Jewel always elected to use the adaptation spell to take anthro form. “It’s more comfortable working with the locals this way,” she explained. Her enchanted clothing reappeared in that form and, as always, she looked spectacular. Jewel was easily one of the most beautiful mares in two worlds and forms. Today, she was wearing a tight short skirt and a halter top that showed plenty of cleavage. It was not exactly business wear, but nobody ever complained about her outfits. Off-white hoof sandals and a small faux leather handbag completed her ensemble. The bag was deceptive in that it was enchanted to be bigger on the inside than the outside, and she carried all her needs in it including a laptop computer and high-vis safety wear.
In this world where nudity was the norm, Jewel drew admiring looks from both sexes. She enjoyed the attention, but it never went to her head. She was and always would be a self-confident mare who loved being herself and was a far cry from the male human she had once been. Motherhood had only increased her joy, and she looked forward each workday to going home to her foal and herdmates. But on the job, she was completely professional. I wished I had a few more like her in the company.
I had an appointment scheduled with the princess and we met in her office. Celestia complimented both Jewel and Smolder on their garments before we got down to business. Attending also were the project manager in charge of construction of the new factory, and the mare who would be managing the facility when it opened.
Sturdy Frame was an earth pony stallion and built like a weightlifter. While he didn’t have the jacked look of Bulk Biceps, he could lift half a ton in each hand without breaking a sweat. Despite being bipedal, the ponies of this dimension still possessed the typical abilities of their four-legged counterparts, and magically enhanced strength was Sturdy’s. He certainly wasn’t all muscle and no brain though. He impressed all of us with the depth of his knowledge and skill in his chosen field.
Precise Fit was a unicorn mare whom we poached from another company due to her reputation for managing complex manufacturing facilities. It was she and several others whom Jewel was familiarizing with our processes and equipment. After our meeting with Celestia was concluded, Jewel left with Precise to spend the rest of the day with the trainees.
Celestia invited Penny and me to have an early lunch with her before we returned to our world. I had to ensure to be back on time lest Twilight accuse me of being tardy. Today was Mad Scientist Day when I joined my co-ruler at a convocation of crackpot inventors and eager entrepreneurs. Wacky ideas abounded at this annual event, but so did some truly inspired examples of thinking outside of the box. We listened attentively to them all, giving support to some and disappointing others.
A unicorn mare talked about a novel way to mix magic potion components into thousands of combinations and test them simultaneously for different properties. She and Twilight brainstormed on that tangent for several minutes until I cleared my throat. “Couldn't that be dangerous?”
The mare laughed and gave a manic grin I recognized from seeing it on my co-ruler’s face too often. “That's why I always wear my lab goggles!”
Twilight looked a bit embarrassed. “Ah, OK. Message received, Mark.” She turned back to the supplicant. “Collateral Damage, please stop by my castle this week and ask to see my head magic researcher Bright Insight.”
The mare laughed even louder. “Oh, Collateral Damage isn’t my real name. That’s just what everyone calls me. No idea why.”
Despite my better judgment, I had to ask. “So, what is it?”
“Aerial Burst! My first foalhood experiment was super-successful! Much more exciting than even I expected!”
I believed her.
The next applicant was familiar to me. The young griffon hen Crosswind maintained the laptops across the Equestrian branches of Harmonic Composites. She proposed a virtual machine architecture for any future rollout of computers across the Equestrian government. After asking her a half-dozen questions, I realized she had studied enough new technology to be well beyond my outdated expertise on the subject. I arranged for Crosswind to meet up with Rosa the following week.
The last petitioner of interest was the minotaur scientist Steadfast Theory. His calculations showed that near-limitless energy could be derived from the splitting of atoms.
I had briefed Twilight on the worst aspects of my former world’s history. My co-ruler gave me a meaningful stare. This one was mine to tackle. “Do you think that the applications of this technology and the byproducts would be destructive?”
He scoffed. “I find the very idea to be offensive! Begging your pardon, Your Highness, but this is the future and it will come regardless of anyone’s wishes to simply ignore it.”
“That’s exactly what concerns me,” I said. “I’ll arrange for you to meet with Phil Martine next weekend. He’ll have some educational material to show you that I’m sure you will find enlightening.”
The minotaur bowed. “Thank you very much, Your Highness!”
I made a mental note to have Phil track down documentaries on the after-effects of the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After Twilight and I officially ended Mad Scientist Day for the benefit of the curious citizens who had attended the event, Penumbra and I retired to the sun room before dinner. I was pleasantly surprised to find Loop Luna there, chatting with Trixie, Chrysalis, and Celestia. Unusually, Rarity was also in attendance. Either it was a relatively quiet day for the businessmare or she had an ulterior motive. I gave her and my other mares a kiss before turning to the Alicorn of the Night.
“It’s nice to see you during the week, Loopy. I thought you were usually too busy at this time though?”
While the time differential between our universes was minuscule and thus the length of a day was virtually identical between our worlds, hers was nevertheless a bit out of step with mine inasmuch that Luna was normally about to begin Night Court just as Day Court finished here. At least, the days of the week coincided which was pure luck considering that we had a one in seven chance of breaking the time-loop cycle on the same day – something we had not considered at all at the time. Fortunately for the infatuated alicorn, that gave her lots of opportunities to spend weekends with me and my herd.
“Nay, I exchanged Court sessions with my sister. Although this was in the manner of a favor, we occasionally do so anyway to ensure we doth both be familiar with our citizens’ needs, whether they be nocturnal or diurnal.” She grinned. “And ‘tis amusing to behold our little ponies’ expressions when they find the wrong alicorn awaiting their petitions.”
I chuckled in appreciation of that. “So – not that I’m unhappy to see you, but why did you ask that favor tonight?”
Luna glanced at my wives who nodded. She turned back to me and almost shyly replied, “Mating Season is almost upon us in my realm. In accordance with my long-held desire to have foals with thee, I believe the time is right to make a commitment. I have already gained the approval of your wife and herdmates, so I ask thee, Prince Mark Wells – wilt thou do me the honor of taking me as thy mare and allowing me to join thy herd? Wilt thou be my stallion and sire our foals?”
The formal wording may have differed between our dimensions, or perhaps Loopy used a more archaic form of the proposal, but the principle remained the same. “Princess Luna Selene – I would be delighted and honored to be your stallion and I welcome you into our herd.”
The alicorn did not quite squeal in joy, but the ensuing hug was fervent. My herdmates came over to give their hugs and congratulations too.
When the hugfest finally broke apart, I said, “I hope somepony ordered a special feast. I have a feeling I’m going to need the energy tonight.”
There were a lot of knowing chuckles.
Trixie had, in fact, ordered something special for dinner. After months of finagling, Trixie had convinced Coriander Cumin to allow takeout from the Tasty Treat. She had sealed the agreement by threatening to never have another argument session with the proprietor. The portly stallion so enjoyed bickering and debating with my wife that he agreed under two conditions: our family alone would have this privilege and Trixie had to return at least monthly for verbal jousting sessions. Once again, my beautiful lead mare recognized all aspects of the situation, applied her special genius to it, and found a solution that was win-win for everypony involved.
Tonight, there was much conversation centered around the new member of the herd. Luna and I took our time to savor the occasion before we bade our herdmates a good evening. While we usually did everything as a herd, there was one exception that I have always made since Rarity became my second wife. All mares added to the herd had their first mating night with me in the privacy of my old suite. When we consummated our union, I wanted them to know that I was focused on them and them alone for that night. Luna proved to be every bit as passionate as I thought she would be. Making love to her was both delightful and energetic. I was glad to have fueled up well!
When Loopy and I finally cuddled together to get some sleep, I briefly mused on having six wives now. That would have shocked my old human self, and even surprised the younger me back when I dared to take Rarity into my herd. Now, however, it seemed exactly right. My mares all had a good relationship, and although we had our occasional disagreements, our herd was a generally harmonious and happy one. Luna had learned how to fit in and bringing her into our family had been the right thing for all of us. I was a very content stallion.
Loopy is a dreamwalker too. Oh, what we got up to that night in the realm of imagination!
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