//------------------------------// // Chapter 0: Interlude // Story: The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2: Bonded by Fire // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// A hospital waiting room was typically a place of nervous energy, and today was no different. Trinity’s Mercy Hospital was still under construction, but had been done in a way that allowed the lower two floors to be fully operational until the structure was complete. This waiting room in particular saw its first set of family members, but it would soon pick up in the weeks and months to come. It was the tenth of January and Loki and Crimson waited for their nieces to come into the world. A pegasus mare sat behind the nurse’s counter and kept a silent vigil over her domain. Crimson was already well underway with her pregnancy and was pacing in front of her green counterpart who was joyfully toiling away with a brand new computer harness. The new design was lighter and more robust to wear and tear. While Loki sat in a chair designed to be more comfortable for ponies, in that the seat was little more than a raised cushion, Crimson was radiating anxious energy. Eventually the pale yellow mare had had enough waiting and walked over to the nurse. “Are you sure I can’t go in there?” “Sorry ma’am, policy dictates only the father can be in the room.” “Oh come on. That works with monogamy, but we’re a herd. We should all be there.” The nurse remained polite, but steadfast. “I realize that ma’am, but we can’t make exceptions. More people means the doctor and nurses may not be able to move around if something goes wrong.” Anderson remembered her medical studies. Even though her clinical side was greatly assaulted by her emotional half. “R-right. Of course.” “Simmer down would ya?” Loki called out as a savage grin creased her face as the visor headset concealed most of her large eyes. “You keep that up and you’ll mess up my groove.” Crimson’s face scrunched up in irritation and she marched over to sit next to her herdmate. “You do realize this is a historic occasion right?” “Uh huh,” Loki replied absently. Anderson was having increasing difficulty in laying on her belly, so she opted to rest on her right side so she could face her green gamer. “We could be in there witnessing the birth of the first two ponies, who were born as ponies, be brought into the world.” “Uh huh.” “And they’re our alpha’s children,” the pale yellow mare added with emphasis. “Last I checked.” Crimson’s brow twitched in exasperation. “I can’t believe you’re playing…” “Half Life Three.” Anderson chaffed at the flippancy of her mate. “You know, years from now I would like to look back on this day and tell people ‘I saw history being born’. Not sitting in a waiting room playing games.” “Better than being stuck in a waiting room fussing over which room you get to sit in. Besides, its nothing we can control, so don’t worry about it.” The pregnant earth pony shook her green herdmate with frustration, nearly knocking the headset off of her. “But this is history!” Loki’s luck ran out and she lost the gnome during a jump. “Damn it all. Now I gotta go all the way back.” Crimson let go of her insufferable mate and sulked in her chair. “My sincere condolences.” Loki pulled her headset off and looked at her brooding companion. “Look girl, we’re already herdmates to probably the only alicorn Earth will ever see. We’re already historic figures. I think just being aunts to the first ponies born on Earth is enough, don’t you think?” The pale yellow mare slumped as she thought about it for a minute. “I guess you’re right. I really just want to know what to expect in nineteen weeks.” “You really don’t want to know. Sure you get a bundle of joy for your effort, but giving birth is a nasty sweaty process, and I do not want a kid badly enough to go through that. Plus they’re really ugly for like…a month or two.” A predatory gleam flashed in Crimson’s eye. “You’re scared of the act of giving birth aren’t you?” “Of course not,” The green mare said a little too quickly. Crimson had her now. “All I hear are lies and misinformation.” She got up to lean in the green mare’s ear with a spooky mocking tone. “Just the thought of it scares you.” Loki grimaced. “I wouldn’t mind having a foal. But we’re going to have three of them to take care of soon enough, and adding one more will be overkill.” Anderson had a smug expression on her face. “Its like one of those alien movies to you isn’t it? An ugly xenomorph starts growing inside you. Feeding off of you as it gets bigger and bigger.” Loki was sweating at the mental image. “Then almost ten months later they burst out of you wailing, crying, and covered in blood.” “That’s enough mind rape thank you.” Anderson wasn’t finished yet. “And they’re insidious to boot.” The pale yellow mare pulled Loki’s face over to her bulging belly while rubbing lovingly on it. “They pull on your heartstrings with those cute little faces and mind powers that enslave the parents into showering it with love. Until one day they’re strong enough to leave you behind while still sucking on you dry for college money.” “Assuming there will still be colleges the way the world’s going,” Loki cracked with grim humor. Before Crimson could become morose, Doctor Wilder exited the maternity ward. “Crimson, Loki? You may enter now.” Both mares dropped their taunting and raced inside to find Alexia and Conrad. They found the new parents in the center of the room. The silver alicorn was no longer panting from the effort, but was still physically weakened, and Conrad was propping himself up on the reclining bed Tune was resting on so he could look upon his twin daughters with pride. Alexia was beaming a brilliant smile and shifted position so she could show off her foals to the two arriving mares. Both were wrapped in pink blankets and the pegasus filly was named first. “May I present my first born, by a matter of fifteen minutes, Aurora Sky.” She turned her gaze to the newborn unicorn filly. “and Violet Spark.” Aurora Sky had alabaster fur with her mother’s azure mane, but it was in four different shades. Her mane was mostly azure, but the other three shades of blue formed down the left side of her mane as if mirroring her mother’s alpha colors. The only reason Alexia didn’t think this was a strange side effect of borrowing her mates’ colors was that Aurora’s tail also possessed the four shades, whereas the alicorn’s tail did not. Violet Spark’s fur was unsurprisingly, a rich violet, but her mane carried a similarly strange coloration like her sister. Spark’s mane was somewhere between a dark pink and a light purple, and it had streaks of pure white that was rimmed by a thin layer of pale blue which gave the illusion that her mane had arcs of electricity running through it. The illusion was foiled with the filly’s mane and tail lying still and concealed by the blanket, but if the wind was blowing through it, the optical illusion would return. The tired and exuberant silver alicorn was far too wrapped up in a mother’s love to think the colorations of her daughters anything unusual and felt only immense pride and joy for them. Conrad was equally enamored by Violet and Aurora and he gently rubbed Sky with a fetlock. “I can’t wait until she’s old enough to fly.” His heart swelled with pride as the little filly feebly attempted to ensnare his hoof with her forelegs. The herd cooed over the newborn foals for two hours until Wilder returned to stand between Loki and Conrad. “I’m very sorry, but we should begin vaccinations and other health tests before too much longer.” “What if they get hungry before you’re done?” Tune inquired with a trace of worry. “Fear not. I’ll get the most important ones out of the way first so I can return your fillies if that happens. I’m sure you already know that we currently can’t synthesize proper baby formula as of yet. So to that end, would you mind donating a few pints so I can send them down to the labs so we can discover the needed nutrients to begin making formula?” Tune didn’t need a single second to think. “I’d be honored to. I’ve been following the diet plan in one of the book’s Twilight made available, so my milk should be on par with what any foal should need.” The new mother reluctantly allowed the former veterinarian, who’s official title was now Doctor after the latest legislature that the president passed into law, to take the foals into the other part of the maternity ward. “Glad to hear it. If all goes well, all three of you should be out of here by Sunday.” Conrad wanted to follow after Wilder, but knew his daughters were in good hands. “Please take good care of them.” Wilder gave a reassuring grin at the joyful herd. “Don’t worry, they’ll be just fine.” The eighteenth day of February marked the day Alexia’s herd moved into their permanent home. It was a two story house designed specifically for ponies. The overall height of the ceiling remained the same so human guests could stand comfortably, but the door handles, tables, counters, sinks, and everything else had been lowered to shoulder height of the average mare and the doors were wide enough that a pegasus stallion could easily fly through. It had one master bedroom and four guestrooms with one being the foals’ room. The kitchen, dining room, living room, and den, occupied the first floor with the living quarters on the second and a play room was situated above the two car garage. The herd rolled up in the neon blue Volt to find the work crew of twenty nine ponies and five humans who had lent their expertise to the project. An additional three hundred ponies who had donated funds for the project stood or hovered in attendance as the royal herd arrived. All of them cheered by either clapping or stomping on the ground as Mayor East stood by the front door with a pair of giant scissors suspended in her telekinesis. A bright red ribbon was wrapped around the two roman columns in front of the windowed double doors. The black unicorn kept a professionally warm smile, but couldn’t help but let a little more friendliness slip in at the approach of her friends. “Princess Alexia,” she began loudly through a microphone so the cheering would die down for her speech. “The good citizens of Trinity are a proud people, and they have good reason to be. This fair town is not even half a year old, and it has already proven both to its citizens, and to the world at large, that we ponies have much to offer the world.” “By harnessing the innate power of all three tribes, Trinity is quickly becoming the hub of a brand new industry: magic. Even now, our small but highly productive farmlands to the east will soon start producing enough food to where we can start exporting. But magically grown plants need an exorbitant amount of water. And we have none other than the two masterminds behind our burgeoning weather control service than Conrad Lemay, and Gill Highwind.” A brief round of applause resounded for the two pegasus stallions who waved at their weather crews. A few of the more rowdy pegasi patted their work bosses heavily on the back. East let the cheering die down again. “And let us not forget everyone’s work at Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company for their exceptional merger of technological and magical innovation.” The mayor stopped when she saw Alexia quietly gesture that she wanted to add something. “And without further ado, Princess Alexia.” The silver alicorn took the microphone from Julie and stood in front of the ribbon to face the audience. Both Aurora Sky and Violet Spark sat on her back, both because their mother wanted them close and because the twins were a symbol of the ponies’ future on Earth. The princess didn’t feel the need to go out of her way to present her children as such, but felt their mere presence was sufficient. The unicorn filly was sitting on Tune’s withers as she gnawed on her mother’s mane. Aurora was nestled between Alexia’s wings and was sleeping soundly despite the noise. The princess took a moment to try and meet all of her subjects’ eyes. Much to her initial resistance, East’s role as mayor was becoming more of an advisory and stand in position and it was Alexia who was holding more and more political power within Trinity every day. The black unicorn was in full support of Tune being more than just a figurehead, even if the princess’s power meant little outside of town. “Our good Mayor brings up a good point about the BMEC.” She dearly wished she had one of their products on hand, but had to continue without the visual aid. “Magic and technology. Combined into a single machine. I love it every time I hear about it, because that is what we are all striving for isn’t it?” “Magic and technology, ponies and humans, both united in a better synergy.” “History has shown us from both Earth and from Equestria, that both of our species can stand alone. But together, we do more than just stand. We thrive. We are more than the sum of our parts and our actions in these past few months more than proves that humans and ponies can and will stand united.” She looked to the three dozen humans who joined the crowd, Wilder and some of Thompson’s men from the nearby training grounds were in the mix. “I am both happy and proud of everyone who have made Trinity the success that it is.” She paused to gesture at the house behind her. “Trinity is like this wonderful house. I didn’t build it.” She faced the crowd while focusing on the work crew. “This was not my doing, or that of any one being, but of us all.” “That is why I know we cannot possibly call ourselves a pony society nor can we call it human society either. Because our town hasn’t become what it is without the help and support of every citizen. So with all of you as witnesses to history,” she said with her wings flaring to encompass the entire crowd. “That I can honestly declare Trinity as the first true Terran community.” The renewed cheering of both species was deafening and redoubled as Tune cut the ribbon. It was loud enough to wake the sleeping Aurora Sky who started crying at the noise. Alexia took the little pegasus in her magic and levitated her over so she could see her soothing mother’s face. Tune weaved a sound damping field around the crying foal who calmed at the lack of noise and latched onto her mother’s muzzle. Aurora’s magenta eyes locked upon Alexia’s azure ones causing the filly to giggle at the close proximity. The silver alicorn was not above public displays of affection to her daughters and herdmates, but did have to reposition Sky so the princess could see more than the smiling alabaster filly’s face, and to get the repugnant stench off her snout. “Come along little one, let’s get that diaper off you.” Conrad was nearby and took the filly into wings before placing her on his back. “Let me take care of that. I’m sure the public will want to see you for a little longer.” “Thanks honey.” Sky fluttered her wings as she clung to her father’s back. Alexia released the sonic dampening field as soon as the door was shut behind Conrad. The ribbon cutting ceremony would last for a few more hours until the herd was left alone to settle in. As usual, the four adults claimed the master bedroom as their sleeping quarters. Thankfully the king sized bed was more than enough to accommodate them. The family settled in to the evening around the living where a wood burning fireplace crackled as the ponies enjoyed themselves. Crimson was continuing her medical studies, Loki was snatching funds out of an Italian politician’s bank account, while Conrad was half watching a football game on low volume and going over the latest work reports on the weather teams pulling water from the Pacific Ocean. Alexia was reading about conjuration magic while nursing her daughters. Anderson’s concentration was broken by her foal kicking. Have a hoof kicking her was much more noticeable than a hand or foot and she winced at the impact. If my kid’s old enough to kick me, then I bet I can find out what it is. She left her books open and walked over to the silver alicorn who had one alabaster and one violet leech sucking on their mother. “Hey Alex, can I ask a favor of you?” Tune put the book down while answering. “Of course, what do you need?” Anderson was glad Alexia’s chair kept them eye level so she wouldn’t need to kneel down. “My foal is kicking. Do you think you can see what tribe and gender it is?” Loki and Conrad’s ears perked up at the question and both of the eagerly walked over to hear the results. Alexia beamed a smile. “That’s hardly a favor, but I’ll be glad to check it for you.” The green and brown ponies started gently stroking the two fillies as the princess laid a hoof the pale yellow mare and used her Inner Sight to find the answer. A few moments later and Tune’s smile threatened to split her face. “You’re having an earth colt.” Anderson’s jaw dropped. “A son? I’m having a son!?” Conrad glomped the earth pony with a maniacal laugh. “YES! I have a son!” Crimson urked under his bear hug. “Thank you Alarm Clock Disease!” Anderson rolled her eyes. “So glad my lapse in mental stability makes you happy.” He kissed her to show he meant no insult. She melted into the affection and wrapped her forelegs around him. “No offense to you mares and fillies,” he said after breaking contact, “but I’m a lone island in an estrogen ocean here. The house needs more testosterone.” Loki nibbled tauntingly on the stallion’s ear. “Are you trying to say you’re not man enough to handle all of us?” “All I want is a diversion when my daughters get old enough to try and force a makeover on me,” he answered quickly to dissuade any playful retribution later. Crimson and Loki shared a conspiratory glance at each other before the pale yellow mare spoke. “Why wait for your daughters to do it? Your hair has been getting rather long as of late. Don’t you think Loki?” The green mare grinned savagely. “No doubt. Let’s try our hooves at styling it.” Conrad shook his head once. “Nope.” He took to the air and buzzed out to the front door. Both earth mares chased after him. “You’re only making it worse on yourself!” “If you fly out of grabbing range I’ll pound you!” Alexia snickered as her mates left the house to chase Conrad through the woods. Left alone with the fillies, she closed the book to lay her head down so she could look upon her children. The sight of Aurora and Violet always warmed Tune’s heart. I don’t know if it’s a natural part of motherhood or me being a bit more deviant, but I prefer nursing over bottle feeding when I can. To literally give of myself to make my daughters stronger, isn’t that what any mother should want to do? With this being her last month off from her work as a training instructor, she knew she wouldn’t be able to nurse as often as needed. Well despite Wilder’s assurances, I’m still not buying any of that formula. That sort of thing takes years if not decades to get it right, not a month. I’ll just have to fill the bottles myself, or find a sitter who can wet nurse. Casting her thoughts aside, she laid there, silently watching her suckling foals. I’m really not looking forward to breaking the news to Qubert and my folks on Thursday. At least Q knew I was a mare already, but trying to convince mom and dad their son is now a mother of two isn’t going to be fun or easy, let alone that I’m a different species. Plus we’re going to talk with Crimmy’s folks a week after that. Alexia noticed Violet was done feeding and grabbed a nearby cloth so she could burp her. “Even if you two can’t say you're blood relatives anymore, given the species difference and what not, you still deserve to know your grandparents.” “All of their grandparents?” a familiar voice called out from her right ear. Tune looked around the room, her ears swiveling to try and catch the source. “Hello?” Violet chose that moment to belch, but instead of just air, a white wispy puff of cloud came out and circled around both ponies’ heads before congealing into an ethereal version of Discord’s head. “I thought I’d stop by to see how my favorite daughter was doing.” It took the alicorn a moment to realize who was speaking, and was then unsure of how to react to his declaration. “You-you see me as a daughter?” “Is it really that big of a surprise my dear?” the disembodied head replied as it sailed lazily around her. Discord’s avatar gazed upon Alexia’s foals. Aurora was too busy nursing to notice, but Violet giggled as she tried to swipe at the flying wisp of smoke. “I never touched your soul, but the body you inhabit was of my own creation.” Alexia fought to find the right words. “I understand you turned me into a pony and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that, but that’s just it. You turned me into a pony, you didn’t create me.” Discord briefly contemplated washing her mind to make the silver mare think of him as her father. No. I have a good rapport going with these earthling ponies. Falling back into old habits would ruin it. “You can’t blame an old soul for getting sentimental.” His wispy features turning a dark grey and wrinkly, causing Spark to try even harder to swat the avatar with her hooves. Tune felt better about him giving up the claim. “I guess not. I take it you came to see me for a reason?” “Reason reason reasons,” he complained as he moved over to spy on Aurora who was finally done eating. “Must I really need a reason to visit anymore?” The cautious mother took the little pegasus to burp her as well. “Well no, its just I know it can’t be easy to keep communicating with me. Not unless you have an entangled book like the tome is.” Discord remained silent for a lengthy pause as he let Violet swat at his incorporeal face. The little unicorn laughed manically every time his long face was destroyed and reformed. Alexia was the only mother in existence who had no qualms about letting him see children up close. She knew he was powerful and knew of his past on Equestria, but with all that he had given her she felt friendship was the best response. “I’d offer you some of our scotch, but I don’t think you could drink it as a wisp.” “I’ve never heard of scotch, but in either case you’d be right.” Trinity’s ambient magic was barely strong enough to support Discord’s avatar, and trying to do anything but act like smoke would be impossible. Having satisfied his curiosity about his favorite princess’s children, he focused on her. “I did come here for a reason. To give you a warning about your fall, and how you bring Earth down with you.” The flippancy of his tone made her question his seriousness. “So the dark side is stronger after all?” “It has it perks,” he replied as he coiled around the room. “But so does the light.” He looked at her with a teasing expression. “The real problem is that good guys are too scared to use the dark, and the evil ones scoff at the light as unworthy. The tricky part is learning how to wield both.” Alexia watched the two fillies chase after Discord as he did slow laps around the alicorn, all the while making silly faces at the squealing foals. Always slow enough for one of the twins to swat or bite him before moving on. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me.” “Oh… Just musing aloud is all,” he replied cryptically. She eyed him warily. “Then what’s all this talk about me falling and taking Earth with me?” He paused near Tune’s belly with a contemplative look on his face. “Did I say something like that?” His hesitation allowed Violet to try and bite the cloudy avatar, but the taste of it soured in her mouth and she spat the wisps of cloud back out with a cough. “I suppose I did.” He reformed his avatar to look at the mare. “Do you know-“ He paused again before a sad chuckle escaped his ethereal lips. “No. I said I would help you once and leave you to your fate, and that is exactly what I’ll do. But I will give you this one piece of advice.” He flew around Alexia’s head a few times before stopping to whisper into her right ear. “When an immortal’s heart is broken, her pain becomes the world’s pain.” He pushed up and away from her, with Tune turning to face his retreating avatar. “What do you mean by that?” Discord’s voice became reedy and weak as the wisp lost cohesion. “Ask about the lunacy phenomena.” “What do you mean about an immortal?” she called out with a raised hoof, only to be met with silence as the avatar vanished. She was left with far more questions than she was comfortable with and only looked away from the spot he disappeared from when she heard Sky crying because Spark was pulling on her wing to try and eat it. Tune cooed while pulling the two infants apart. She grabbed a chew toy form the table and gave it to Violet while soothing Aurora’s over extended wing. The sniffling pegasus quieted down after receiving a pacifier and a long hug. “Alright you two, play nice.” She set the alabaster pegasus back down and the fillies started crawling over each other. Discord’s warning played through Alexia’s mind as she absently watched her daughters play. “Lunacy, and immortal… He never said anything about doing anything other than turning humans into ponies, so I doubt its something he did. Unless he actually did create something other than ponies on Earth.” Tune watched the fillies get into an argument over the squeaky yellow and black bee plush toy. “Could he have been referring to me as the immortal though?” The fillies decided to chew on the toy together. She idly recalled her gunshot wounds and studied her long since healed wing. “Immortals don’t get injured from mundane weapons.” Her eyes looked up to the right. “Well okay all I have to go on with immortals is theology and Hollywood, so maybe some do. But I can’t be one. I’ve got all three tribes’ magic in me sure, but that doesn’t make me immortal.” Violet decided Aurora’s ear looked better than the toy and let go of the plastic bee to latch onto her sister’s left ear. Sky retaliated by going after Spark’s right foreleg’s fetlock. Alexia saw they were doing no real harm to each other and let them be. “Maybe the immortality thing is a metaphor for something else. Something to do with this lunacy, and I bet it’s a reference only a native of Equis would know.” She brought the book back and opened to the Guard page. As it had been for the past seven weeks, Twilight was absent. Only a single letter detailing the lavender princess was over seeing an archeological expedition to the frozen north surrounding the Crystal Empire and a murky date of her return in roughly four months’ time was all Tune had. That was shortly before the twin’s birthday. Alexia watched the two girls fall asleep, one with drool all over her leg, with the other having it run down from her ear. The scene caused her to cringe mirthfully and pulled them apart. “We don’t need slobber pooling in your ear now.” Both fillies stretched and reached for their mother, so she stood up and placed them on her back. Before she could take them upstairs to the crib her phone rang. Grabbing it in her magic and pulling it from on top of the table, she checked the caller before answering it. “What can I do for you Director?” Thompson’s voice was curt. “Are you watching CNN?” The alicorn’s brow furrowed as she took the remote in her magic and flicked the news on and turned the volume up. A stone faced balding man appeared with a headliner that read: Botswanian Government Collapses. “Experts are saying the country of Botswana has finally collapsed as of yesterday. Widespread food poisoning, tainted drinking water, and a lethal pandemic across all major cities along with insufficient foreign relief aid have destroyed all public confidence in the local parliament.” The picture switched from the news anchor to video footage of rioting civilians with little to no police or military personnel around to keep order. While the alicorn couldn’t understand the language, it was clear that many people were ransacking Red Cross food trucks, marketplaces, and government buildings. “The UN has made it clear that it will not stop until local hysteria and civil order are back under control. However given that this situation has been progressing for four months now, it is unlikely that public unrest will be resolved any time soon.” The silver mare still had the phone up to her ear and Thompson spoke up as soon as the broadcast moved on to a different story. “Stories like that have been on the upswing for close to a month now, but the agency’s been getting similar reports from every continent except the Americas and Europe.” Feeling that the television was no longer needed, she turned the disquieting news off and made her way to the stairs to drop the foals off in their cribs. “Do you have any leads on the culprits?” “My hunch tells me it’s the Koridosonites, but enough of the brass remains unconvinced to act on it. They believe the cult is limited to the Americas and western Europe.” “Mass poisoning and starvation doesn’t seem like the same modus operandi for the same group that laid siege to the capital.” His tone was a little crestfallen with his theory finding another hole. “And the Cult did lay claim to the siege of both D.C. and Rocky Springs, but no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the poisonings.” She kissed her daughters before tucking them into bed, glad that they were safe from the world’s troubles. “Speaking of which, how much prestige did they get from the underworld for claiming responsibility for the siege?” “Between having D.C. in flames plastered over every news network in the world and with a damaged White House being the centerpiece? Incalculable. The other anti-American extremists out there won’t give a damn what the cult’s ultimate objective is, they won the hearts and minds of the underworld. Needless to say its making our job of weeding them out all the more difficult.” Tune closed the door to let her foals sleep in peace. “As much as we want to get back out there, we can’t operate in the field until Crimson’s pregnancy is over.” He paused for a bit. “I wouldn’t ask you to split the herd up for an assignment anyway.” As much I need lone operatives, I can’t argue with those four’s track record. “As far as the higher up are concerned, lending your expertise to advanced training is more crucial for the time being. But I want you to stay informed of global events from here on. There may come a time soon when I’ll need to pull you off the instructor cadre.” Alexia stared out of the window into the setting sun. Gnawing trepidation sat in her gut. Both for the declining situations abroad, and from Discord’s warning. “I wouldn’t doubt it.” The flight over to Kansas city and subsequent drive to a hotel prior to meeting with Tune’s parents was uneventful. Aside from the twins calling far more attention to themselves than human children would. As Alexia predicted, revealing the existence of adult ponies was one thing, but the presence of foals hit home to all of their fellow passengers and witnesses in the Wheeler Downtown Airport that human’s new ally was to be a permanent addition to society. Again Tune knew Violet Spark and Aurora Sky were symbols, and that she didn’t have to go out of her way, even in the slightest, to project that image. While the passing humans’ response was generally positive, her thoughts kept drifting towards Discord’s warning. It kept her mostly silent on the plane. The herd was used to her silence, but generally only because she was studying, not brooding. As the herd was walking towards the baggage claim Conrad didn’t want to see her silently brood anymore and rubbed his head against her to get Tune’s attention. “Hey sourpuss. You going to join the world of the living?” She responded to his touch with a small smile. “Sorry. Just thinking about what Discord said.” “I know. You’ve been doing that all week.” She apologized again. Violet caused the silver mare to laugh as the filly started gumming her father’s ear while she sat on his head. Sky was sleeping between his wings. “Its just I can’t help but think that he was referring to me when he said immortal’s pain.” She stopped watching her unicorn daughter’s cannibalistic habits to look at her mate. “I skimmed over Equestria’s history, Celestia and Luna have been alive for well over a thousand years. And they’re both alicorns,” she said at length. She was speaking in Equish so the passing humans wouldn’t understand, but the herd could. It was Crimson so spoke next. “So you really think you’re immortal?” “I don’t know what to think,” the azure and silver alicorn replied with a sadness at the thought of out living everyone. Loki, who had been walking behind everyone, ran to be in front and then started walking backwards. “What makes you so sure that alicornhood equals immortality? Maybe those two had to get something else done to them to go all demigod mode.” Conrad nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Besides, you were badly injured from a couple of bullets. You’d make a horrible goddess if a piece of bad cheese could counter immortality.” “Gee thanks.” The stallion’s teasing got a more genuine smile out of her. Crimson had not been looking over Equestrian history in favor of their medical knowledge, focusing more on pediatric and emergency care for her roles as future mother and medic respectively. But some of her extracurricular readings made her think of a different possibly. “Maybe he was speaking in a metaphor. Immortality and agelessness are often mixed and synonymous with each other. And given that equestrian alicorns are considered immortals thanks to the Sisters, he could have still been talking about you, but in a roundabout way.” The explanation didn’t make the silver mare feel any better. “Do you think he was foreseeing a something bad happening to us?” Loki snorted dismissively at that. “He probably saw you were becoming too much of a busybody. I think he was telling you to stop worrying and just go with the flow. Don’t fret over eventually losing something. Live in the moment and enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it.” Tune looked at her mates before resting her eyes on Violet who was starting to fall forward off of Conrad’s face. He took the giggling filly into a wing and placed her on her mother’s back. Alexia turned around to gaze lovingly at her daughters. “Yeah. I can do that.” Just beyond the security line into the baggage claim milled a very familiar face to the silver pony. She barely remembered to secure her unicorn daughter into the back mounted foal carriers she wore in lieu of saddlebags before galloping over to meet Qubert Smith. The man was standing around impatiently until he heard his name called and saw the silver mare bounding towards him. He recognized her instantly. “Alex! How’ve you uump!” he grunted as the pony bounced up on her forelegs at the last step and planted her chest into his stomach and tightly wrapped her forelegs around him. She was careful not to stab him with her horn as she buried the side of her head in his chest. “You would not believe the craziness that’s happened to me since the party.” Smith hugged his old friend back, but was rendered mute by the presence of her wings and more shockingly, the two foals strapped to her back so they wouldn’t interfere with flight. “Alex—long time no see. Are those yours?” Tune dropped back down to all fours about the time the rest of the ponies arrived and she angled her body to be perpendicular to Smith. “Yup, going on eight weeks today.” She gestured with a wing first to the green, then brown, then finally pale yellow ponies. “You’ve already met Loki and Conrad, and this is Crimson Anderson.” He shook their offered hooves one by one before settling back on his old friend. “I thought you were lying in pieces on some mad scientist’s dissection table until I saw you on the news with Prez Fizz and find out I’m best friends with royalty. You gotta tell me where you’ve been and--” he looked at the foals. “How they happened.” Director Thompson had given the herd an exhaustively thorough list of every classified piece of information she was not allowed to disclose to her human friend and family. Most of it dealt with operations conducted as members of Section Nine and the vast majority of information regarding the Mions. All four adult ponies regaled their story on the way to Qubert’s car and towards Alexia’s parents’ house. Qubert mulled over the information as lightly as possible given that he had to focus on driving in traffic in unheard of levels compared to Salina. When a few minutes had passed since Loki finished telling the tale Qubert had an idea. “Say, does Trinity have any nightlife yet?” Conrad turned away from his driver side backseat window. “Aside from a few dive bars not really. Not much a point in strip bars either since we typically don’t wear clothes.” Crimson and Alexia smacked him while Loki was filled with perverted ideas about a reinvention of that type of establishment. After pounding the snickering stallion, Tune directed a smirk at the expected question Smith was about to voice. “As much as I enjoy Salina and what not, you think a night club could make a profit in Trinity yet?” Loki filed away her new schemes in her harness to voice her opinion as she loved the idea instantly. “Oh hell yea! Our town’s only going to get bigger and we need a proper dance club-“ Among other things. “-if we’re ever going to advance to a proper city one day.” The green mare stared through the ceiling in thought. “Smog, a never sleeping city, light pollution galore, and graffiti covered walls.” She leaned against Crimson who was both amused and annoyed by the off kilter pony. “Now that would be perfect for Trinity.” Anderson rolled her eyes and spoke in a teasing fashion. “I don’t know. With all the hype around electric cars these days, by the time the town’s big enough to have smog, most cars will be nearly emission free.” Loki’s wistful expression was replaced by one of horror. “You don’t think that’ll actually happen do you? No city is complete without smoooog.” Smith parked the car in the parking lot of a whitewashed condominium. It wasn’t the most luxurious one in the city, but it held a level of class about it. “Well here we are. Home of psychopath A and megabitch nine thousand.” “Q!” Tune growled while punching the man on the shoulder. “Those are my parents you’re insulting.” He rubbed his shoulder as everyone piled out of the car. “Yeah I know exactly who I’m insulting. I can tell you right now they aren’t going to be too happy with what has become of you.” Loki and Conrad couldn’t say anything about having a good upbringing save for the stallion’s grandfather. So it was left to Crimson to make the necessary reply. “If they loved you the same way you love Sky and Spark then it won’t matter to them what you are.” That was when a very equine snort escape the stallion who grabbed the diaper bag out of the trunk. “Believe me. My father was quite happy at what I became.” Anderson didn’t have an answer to being reduced to less than a slave and sold as property as Conrad’s father did to him. She gave him a sad expression but otherwise kept her peace and let the herd alpha lead the way. Smith walked side by side with his old friend as the group made their way indoors. “So did you call them to tell them you were coming at least?” Alexia cringed in her response. “Through text and emails that I was hit by the pony pox. I was scared to reveal my soprano voice to them.” “Why? I think you have a beautiful voice,” he replied casually. She gave him a critical, if friendly, eye. “Since when did you start complementing me on my beauty?” He returned the expression as he pressed the elevator button. The rest of the herd wanted to hear the response. “Well, seeing as you speak, act, and dote on your kids as much as you do, I’d say your mind is quite firmly entrenched in being female, so I figured I would treat you like any other female friend.” Alexia leaned her head against his leg for a moment. “I knew there was a reason I ignored my parents’ demands that I stop being your friend.” Conrad didn’t feel anything more than a twinge of jealousy at the attention Qubert was receiving. She was his alpha and had shown no interest in human men. Besides, its not like a pony’s love is restricted to just one person. He pulled the two earth mares in close with his wings to whisper off to the side. “If things go south, will you two take the foals out of the room?” “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but okay.” “You got it samurai.” The group went up to the fifteenth floor with only little small talk about how Salina was doing and how the entertainment business was flagging because of recent elevations in public unease. It was Qubert’s last comment before the doors opened that bothered the ponies most. “I don’t know about the coastal states, but in and around my area, people are starting to get scared to venture too far from town or home anymore, its been killing my business.” Tune couldn’t think of a response thanks to an unsavory smell emanated from the two lumps of fur on her back who started to whimper at the feeling of it. “I need to use the washroom guys, I’ll be back.” Conrad held up a restraining hoof. “No let me do that. You need to get your parents used to the idea of having a daughter. You can drop the baby bomb later.” “That might be for the best.” She undid the harness with her telekinesis and strapped it onto the stallion. “Thanks.” “Just take it slow,” he cautioned before a wily grin came over him. “Unless you got your rapid adaption from your parents.” She playfully rubbed her daughters’ noses with her own to get them to calm down a little before stepping away. “Afraid not.” He took the added weight with ease. “I’m going to have to thank Gill for having the foresight to design the foal harness so it could be worn with normal saddlebags.” Not to mention the wing slits. With the infants secured in place he kissed his alpha, glancing at the steel colored stripe proudly displayed in her bangs. “Good luck in there. I’ll be along shortly so don’t hold off the mother reveal for too long.” “Not that you’ll give me a choice,” she stated matter-of-factly. He nodded. “Damn right. You’re terrible at beating around the bush. Now get going.” Conrad knew a slightly heavy hand was needed to get the mare to move forward. “Right, right.” She left him so he could return to the ground floor where the only public restroom was. The building was small, so each condo occupied half of each story with a small hallway separating the two. The two earth mares were waited patiently by the door with Qubert leaning against the wall closer to the elevator with a handheld game in his hands. Alexia walked up to him. “So are you coming in with us?” He didn’t look away from his handheld game. “Not unless you ask me to. And I think it would be a mistake if you did. You know they can’t stand the sight of me.” “That’s putting it a little harsh isn’t it? Surely they’ve calmed down after all these years.” “I wouldn’t bet on it. But in any event, I’ll be here if you need me to go in and save the day.” She gave him a friendly smirk. “You’re all heart Q.” Steeling herself, the silver princess adjusted the necklace to be more comfortable and walked the five steps to the door to her parents’ home. Crimson was doing a little dance. “Do you think we could hurry it up a bit, I’ve got to use the restroom.” Loki remained silent, yet the same smile that rarely left her lips anymore was comforting to see. That was until she saw the malkavian glint to it. “You’re not planning anything are you?” A short titter escaped the green mare. “Depends on what they do.” Fearing the worse, but wanting as much time as possible before Conrad returned with the infants, Alexia hit the buzzer. At least they’re already expecting a pony to greet them. A gruff older man’s voice responded after a few moments. “I thought the sign said we don’t want no damned visitors.” Tune looked at the door and a sign in even less polite language than that sat at five feet above the floor. “Its me James. I’ve come home.” Alexia didn’t like using that name, but it was her former identity. “James?” the voice queried with a warmer yet questioning tone. “Hold on.” A louder buzzer and a mechanical click signaled the door was unlatched. A weathered feminine voice called through the intercom next. “Come on in gummy bear.” Tune closed her eyes as the expected snickering from her fellow mares threated to spill into laughter. “Gummy bear? Really?!” Alexia didn’t bother answering the green pony’s taunting and stepped inside. The entry hall had a heady aged musk and was still decorated and furnished with modern styles. Alexia’s only sister, Elizabeth, was residing in a boarding school so the mare didn’t expect to see her. What she did see however, were two very familiar people who were happy, expectant, and confused by the three ponies that walked into the main living room. Alexia stepped forward to introduce herself for the first time since becoming a pony. “Mom, dad…” Tune tried to think of the right words, but they failed her as her emotions got the better of her. Mister and Misses Tune didn’t know the difference between mares and stallion and the absence of Conrad made the couple think there was no noticeable difference. As a result, they quickly assumed the lithe and high pitched ponies in front of them were male. Alexia’s mother bent down and threw her arms open. “Come on son, we still love you.” The silver mare let the male form of address go for the moment and ran into her mother’s arms. She wrapped her forelegs and wings around the woman who rubbed her daughter’s back and mane. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to see you after all this stuff happened to me.” Mister Tune was a little off put by his assumed son’s very emotional reaction, but chalked it up to not having spoken to them in nearly a year compounded with the change in species. His wife was too caught up in the reunion to care. “It’s mighty good to see you again son,” he said while bending down to pat Alexia on the back. “I’d prefer a miniature horse for a son over a corpse any day.” Crimson and Loki shared apprehensive glances with each other and Alexia was losing the moment in a bout of nervousness. She pulled herself free so she could look at both of her parents while speaking. “Umm. What do you guys know about ponies?” Her mother remained in a crouch so she could be eye level with her changed offspring. “Well like everyone else, we heard thousands of people were turned into ponies of all kinds of crazy colors.” Her father nodded sagely. “And that it was forced on them by unknown causes, turning some into pegasi and unicorns of all things.” Tune didn’t like what she was going to have to do. “Did umm. Did they say anything about the occasional forced gender change?” Her father’s voice became a little hard. “If they did, I didn’t hear it.” The silver mare heard the light clip clop of her mates closing in to lend silent support. “Well the thing is—that’s what happened to me. I got turned into a mare instead of a stallion, so I go by Alexia now.” Her voice shrank as she expected him to reject her. The alicorn’s mother saw that look in her husband’s eyes. “Harold! Its not like he-she chose that.” She turned to her daughter. “You didn’t choose it right?” Crimson was angered by the haughty and accusatory tone her voice. “No she didn’t! But what would it matter if she did? She’s your daughter.” “Keep your pets on a leash James,” Harold growled spitefully refusing to say his daughter’s chosen name. “I will not be addressed as such in my own home.” Tune knew what was coming next, but couldn’t stop Crimson in time. “We are not her pets! We are her herdmates.” Tune’s mother stood up while giving both Crimson and Alexia a puzzled glance. “What do you mean herdmate?” Anderson received a pleading face from Alexia to back down. The pale yellow mare obeyed, but it left the silver pony in a bind. She could lie about it and say the herd was simply their term for friends, or be true to her mates and speak the truth. For close to twenty seconds she looked between her mates and parents searching for what course to take. As much as she wanted to reconnect with her parents, the alicorn couldn’t betray her mates by lying. They all deserve the truth. “Mom, dad. A herd is where three or more ponies enter a polyamory relationship. Crimson, Loki, and I are in a herd together along with a stallion named Conrad who isn’t here right now.” Her mother grew silent while Harold boiled with barely contained rage. “You—you dare come into my house being guilty of destroying the sanctity of marriage? You are no son or daughter mine. As far as I’m concerned, James died last year, and that’s all there it is to it. Now get out of my house.” Alexia tried to keep tears from forming, but was failing miserably. “But dad, its normal for us because we-.” “Normal?” he roared disdainfully. “Normal is you still being a man! But no, I could look past you being a pony. I could have even accepted you marrying a stallion, or even you being a lesbian, seeing as you used to be a man. But you come in my house a polygamist!?” His rage was so loud and forceful that spittle flew from his mouth and splattered over his daughter. “Leave! And do not return until you can restrain yourself to one life-partner.” “Father please, can’t we just forget all that and be a family ag-“ “Your father’s right James.” Miss Tune interrupted harshly, following her husband’s example of not using the alicorn’s proper name. “You know polygamy is a not just moral depravity, but a grievous sin as well. We will allow you to come back once you have atoned for that.” Alexia’s lip trembled in mounting depression because she didn’t believe what she was hearing. This can’t be happening. It-it can’t be. Her ears fell along with Loki’s smile while Crimson’s aggression was bolstered. The silver mare let the tears flow. “So that’s it then? You don’t care that I’m alive? Only that I’m a polygamist even though my species has to be that way?” In a flash of anger she stared at her parents with her eyes rimmed with azure light. “Twenty seven years and that’s all it takes to throw me out?!” “Margret,” Harold said coolly to his wife. “See to it the barn animals leave, I have a teleconference I should be attending.” Harold’s complete dismissal sapped Alexia of all anger and replaced it tenfold with despair. Her mother adopted a holier-than-thou stance and tone. “I suggest you leave before I call the police and press charges for trespassing.” It was all Alexia could stand and she ran out of the condo with Crimson right after. Loki lingered just long enough to speak condescendingly to the aloof woman. “Lady, you just made the biggest mistake of your life.” “Wrong. Our biggest mistake was failing to raise him right.” You could at least use proper pronouns. The green mare huffed. “Guess there’s no point in arguing with stupidity.” And they wonder why I want to forget my folks. Loki departed while slamming the door. She saw Tune was in hysterics at the end of the windowed hallway and teleported through it so she could put some immediate distance between her and the condo. Qubert watched her go and put his game down as Crimson skidded to a halt next to him after seeing the alicorn vacate the building. “I warned you guys this would happen.” Crimson yelled in exasperation and kicked the wall, leaving cracks in the plaster. She had to heavily restrain herself from doing more than that. “How can anyone be so damned callous to their own child?” “I think a better question is how she survived them for eighteen years.” Loki joined in a moment later and rested a hoof on Crimson’s withers. “Next time Fireball, leave delicate situations to the team politician okay?” Anderson looked at her herdmate with rage. “He called us pets!” “Does Alex see us as pets?” the green mare inquired calmly. Crimson’s anger faltered. “Of course she doesn’t, but that’s not the point.” “Then don’t worry about what some jackass thinks.” “That wasn’t some jackass. That was her father. He should have treated both us and her with more respect. Alex at the very least.” Qubert sighed in irritation. “Don’t hold your breath. Those two make the Klan seem downright neighborly in Harlem.” A few seconds later, the elevator dinged and Conrad walked out with the infants. His even demeanor shifted into a grimace after seeing their faces. “I take it, it did not go well.” Crimson was too caught up between revulsion and regret to speak so it was left to Loki to do it. “No. Ma and Pa are grade-A jerks. Alex teleported out of the window and flew off.” She decided to leave out Anderson’s antagonizing them for the moment. It was the worse-case scenario he had been dreading. “She didn’t go far. We’ll catch up to you guys at the hotel later.” Qubert fished out the hotel keycard and walked over to hand it to the brown pony. “You’ll need this then.” Conrad took the card in his mouth before depositing it in the diaper saddlebag. “Thanks.” The pegasus went back into the elevator to go up to the roof. Smith turned back to the two earth ponies. “So,” he said while clapping his hands loudly. “Who’s ready to forget this place and find a bite to eat?” Conrad didn’t have to go far to find his alpha. Despite the multitude of air conditioning units on the roof threatening to drown everything out, he could still make out her sobs towards the south side near the curving front side of the building. The noise of the roof units was making the foals antsy. He found Tune curled up in a ball with her head cradled in her forelegs. Without a word, Conrad knelt down to comfort her. The foals stretched and whimpered in their restraints to reach their mother. Alexia’s top foreleg moved away from her red puffy eyes to see the three ponies who had come to help lift her spirits. “Some princess I am,” she choked out between sobs. “I can’t even han-handle-” He finished releasing the twins so all three of them could embrace the weeping mare for several minutes. The two fillies didn’t understand what was going on, but their presence was enough to resurrect their mother’s spirits. Although it didn’t take long before hunger drove the fillies towards Alexia’s abdomen. Tune finally calmed down enough to speak and reposition herself to let the foals nurse. “There’s nothing left except for Qubert.” Conrad laid down so she could use his barrel as a pillow instead of the gravel floor. “Nothing left of what?” She gratefully rested her head on him. “Things tethering me to my old self. I have James’ memories and continued friendship with Q, but that’s it. I might as well follow your lead and drop my family name. Everyone calls me Princess Alexia anyway.” “Didn’t you say you have a sister?” Her ears perked up from their flat position. “Elizabeth. That’s right.” She turned to plant a kiss on him for reminding her and a ghost of a smile found its way to her lips. “She’s in boarding school because mom couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore. I know she’d accept us.” “Because she’s a hippy?” he teased. Tune giggled. “She prefers the term eco activist. She only kowtows to the folks because she’s still financially dependent on them.” Conrad knew exactly what would make his alpha happy. “Think we could find a place for her in Trinity?” “Yeah…” Alexia’s smile returned at the prospect of holding onto her sister. “She’d drool over the chance to intern under the scientists studying the long and short term effects of earth pony farming on the environment.” He nudged the alicorn. “And I’m sure you could give a good word in for her.” Alexia’s smile weakened. “I can introduce her. But Beth will still have to prove her worth to the lead scientist to stick around. There’s an extent to how far I’ll commit nepotism.” Conrad remained positive. “Well if she’s anything like you, I bet she’ll be more than capable.” Calm Spring Louisiana was a stark contrast to Kansas City and the California Bay Area. Where before you could rarely go a mile without seeing the human touch upon the land, be it buildings or highways, Calm Spring was nothing more than the name of a large piece of property where a small log cabin sat next to a river. Trees were so dense around the two square acre clearing of the house that the road to the Anderson home was more of a tunnel with braches forming the walls and ceiling. The herd left Kansas City early the day after the debacle with Tune’s parents and had switched flights. Alexia partially blamed Crimson for forcing the herd reveal right in the middle of trying to get them to accept her being a mare. The alicorn wasn’t petty enough to stop speaking with Crimson, but it remained terse. Conrad was a slower driver than the rest of the herd, but his excuse was the uneven dirt road and not possessing the same hoof dexterity of the earth mares. Aside from the Violet and Aurora, the toned down jazz music was the only sound in the rental car. True to form, Loki kept Alexia from venting her anger on anything but the green mare’s ear the previous night. She looked at her alpha sitting across from her in the backseat feeding the twins so they wouldn’t be a bother during the meeting with the Andersons. Crimson for her part was remorseful and after a few attempts at apologizing, she let the silver mare sulk until she was willing to fully forgive. Calm Spring came into view as a few squares of light under the night sky of the heavily wooded area. As the car pulled up to the side of the house, the headlights illuminated the wooden dock and tethered airboat. Despite the house being so removed from civilization to the point where using public utilities was impossible, the home was well lit and had a generator with a large one thousand gallon red gas tank that could power the home for long periods of time. The middle aged couple was already standing by the door, having seen the headlights from quite a distance away along the straight road and watched as the quartet of ponies stepped out. The porch light was on and the prematurely grey haired couple waited patiently for their child to reveal which one of the four he was. Crimson did not make them wait long and pushed her regret over ruining Alexia’s chance to reconnect with her human family so she could put on a hopeful smile. “Momma, Paw. I’m back.” Crimson’s mother, Bella, was deathly afraid of horses. The good lord tests me, and I will not fail him nor my child. She bent down slowly on her good knee so she could wrap her arms around Crimson. She let her love, faith, and joy of reuniting overcome her phobia. “I can’t tell you how hard it was to think we lost you Miky.” The pale yellow mare’s father, Joe, wasn’t sure how he should show physical affection for his former son so he bent down next to his wife and patted Crimson on the back. “Hell of a way to come back from the dead son.” Crimson didn’t want to rush her father by hugging him yet, but she had to address the pronouns. “Paw. I know it must be hard to hear, but I’m your daughter now.” Joe searched for what to say or do in this situation as the pregnant mare pulled her head away from her mother’s shoulder to look at him. Bella was doing an admirable job keeping her fear in check for Crimson’s sake, and it was his wife’s strength in which he found the resolve to follow suite. “Are you happy with what you’ve become?” The hopeful query was all Crimson needed to hear. “More than I ever imagined.” A trace of a smile found its way on his craggy face. “Then what reason do I have to not do the same?” Crimson fully detached from Bella to, for the first time in her life, embrace her father with a chest to chest hug. Joe had always been one to strictly avoid most forms of physical affections with Michael. So when he was willing to embrace her the way he was now, Crimson knew she had nothing to fear about them rejecting her. Bella braced herself on a nearby chair to stand back up and addressed the rest of the ponies. “Well don’t just stand there, come on in. You won’t see better southern hospitality than you will from the Anderson house.” Joe stood up as well and eyed his daughter’s bulging belly as she walked inside. Given the very noticeable differences between the mares and stallion, his eyes went straight towards Conrad and he placed a restraining foot in front of pegasus as the other two mares filed into the house unaware of the exchange. “I suspect that baby in her belly is yours. Am I right?” he asked with a threatening tone. The pegasus didn’t want a second failed parent reunion so he did his best to remain civil. “It is.” Joe’s first thought was to ask if he had put a ring on her finger before the foal, but he quickly realized they didn’t have fingers. The man didn’t notice the simple bracelet on the pony’s leg thanks to the poor lighting. “Seeing as you’re by her side, I trust you did right by her.” Conrad had to respect the man. Accepts her as a daughter in one minute and then switches to protective father the next. Makes me wonder if they are Alex’s real parents. “My personal honor would demand no less of me. But it is love that binds us together.” Joe found it acceptable and thrust an open hand at him. “As long as it stays that way, then you and I won’t have any problems.” Conrad reciprocated the gesture. “I like the way you think.” “Soup's on you two!” Bella called out from inside. The two males entered the house to be hit by the rich smell of vegetable stew. Bella could be heard in the kitchen chatting up a storm. “I wasn’t sure what you could eat so I threw a bit of everything in the stew. Peas, carrots, pretty much anything that goes well together.” While she could hide it from the ponies, Joe could tell his wife was bundled in nervous fearful energy. Her phobia wanted to make her leave the room, so the aging woman was focusing intently on what differentiated ponies from horses. Just keep talking old girl. They’re a lot smaller than horses, so that’s good. Plus two of ‘ems got wings and one has a horn. Not to mention those large expressive eyes. The intelligence is a plus too. Loki was not happy about there being only two buildings within fifty miles of her current location, but the mention of food or booze could always distract her, especially carrots. “So Misses A, you should know Crimson here is still going into medicine.” Bella turned away from the cabinet where she was pulling several bowls down from to look at her nervous daughter, and ignored the new name for the moment. “That is excellent news, “ she said cheerfully. “I was afraid what with the coming baby and change in species would make you abandon renewing the family tradition.” The pale yellow mare rubbed the back of her neck to try and ease the jitters out. At least I’m authorized to tell her my occupation. “Well see. I’m sort of a medic for the CIA.” Joe stood in to speak. “The government? Bah. Do you know they told us that after you supposedly died of that super virus you talked about after being whisked away, that they cremated your body?” Conrad couldn’t keep his wings still any long and started hovering by the kitchen entrance where his downwash wouldn’t disrupt anything. “I wouldn’t put it passed them. But despite it all, they did it to protect the public.” Doesn’t excuse people like Bowler though. Bella was actually grateful that the pegasus was flying as it weakened her phobia a little. “Yes, we heard about the government and their cover story. But enough about all that. Let’s dig in.” She faced Alexia. “Darling, we still have a couple of high chairs in the closet if you want to fetch them for the youngins.” Tune kept her demeanor pleasant. “Thank you.” Joe was about to offer to do it for her, but the two foals made him think. I thought she had a thing for the green one, but they’re both women. He directed his attention to the lone stallion who was gathering filled bowls for the other two mares. So who’s their baby daddy? Once everyone was settled into dinner and the twins were gnawing on a few toys since they had already eaten, Joe ventured the question that had been bugging him towards Alexia. “That’s a nice pair of sprouts you’ve got there.” Tune beamed with pride at the two foals. “Thanks. Their names are Violet Spark an Aurora Sky.” She pointed to the purple unicorn and alabaster pegasus respectively. Joe’s original question was derailed by a new one. “If you don’t mind my askin’. Where did you get such—unusual names from?” “Dad!” Crimson said in embarrassment. Her alpha raised a restraining hoof. “No its fair question. They are unusual by human standards after all.” She redirected her focus to Joe while Crimson took a bite of stew to shut herself up. “Aside from my children here, every pony on Earth used to be human. And as far as I know, we all kept human style names. But our species originates from a different world, complete with its own culture and civilization.” Bella was aghast. “You mean you were turned into aliens? By who?” Crimson spoke next. “I guess you could put it that way. As for who or what, we can’t say.” Joe swallowed his bite. “More government cover ups?” “No…” his daughter said at length as she struggled to follow orders of nondisclosure. If word of a being as powerful as Discord got out, it would be pandemonium. “More like a mistake on the part of our species’ government.” Joe worked his jaw to buy time to think. “So you’re in contact with this other world?” “The four of us are, yes. But we received numerous books on how our species lives and functions. So there’s been a big movement by us transformees to adopt what pony customs we need to integrate in order to function effectively. The names are an elective most of us have chosen to give our children.” Bella was the next to speak. “What sort of other customs?” Crimson noticed her father’s eyes kept shifting between the twins and Conrad. Better get the big one out of the way before something goes awry. “Well, most aren’t really that big. But one of the things we found out in a hurry was the imbalanced gender ratio.” Both humans were used to the concept of double standards when it came to the sexes, but both firmly knew the ratio for man was split down the middle. “Ratio?” Bella inquired. “We’re not sure why, and not even our kind’s original civilization knows. I think that’s mostly because their medical science is nowhere near on par as Earth’s is, but for every stallion there are three mares.” Joe got an inkling of what Crimson was alluding to. “That must make to very difficult to find a husband.” He glanced at Conrad and the twins. Crimson flinched at the implied accusation that only she and Bella caught on to. Alexia hid a smug grin behind a flat expression. I think seeing her try to explain the herd on her own is revenge enough. I’m not going to be the one to weaken the herd because of a grudge. The pale yellow mare looked to Tune for assistance and received a short dismissive snort. I should have done the same. She looked to her father, whose glower was increasing by the second. “Well you see, Paw. Its that three to one ratio is why we can’t, as a species, support monogamy. Half of our population would be restricted from finding love if we did.” Both humans fell silent for a long time while the ponies fidgeted in apprehension. Joe kept working his jaw while Bella thought quietly. It was his wife that broke the long tense silence. “I take it all four of you…” All four adult ponies nodded. Bella looked to her husband who was still on the fence. “Do you hold your—union in the same sanctity as traditional marriage?” Crimson nodded eagerly. “We most certainly do.” She turned to her mates. “Right guys?” Loki’s smile grew a little. “Most def.” Conrad nodded. “Everyone one of us is united by mutual love and admiration.” Joe seemed to be relieved at little at the stallion’s words. He’s willing to put up with three women? Lord have mercy I couldn’t summon the strength to handle two Bellas let alone three. It fell to the alpha to speak last. “If there is anything such an imbalanced ratio fosters in us, it is cooperation. The four of us are united in all things. The good, the ill, and everything in between. Not because we have to, but because we want to.” Joe saw his daughter wordlessly confirm Tune’s statement and nodded lightly in approval. “Good lord knows after hearing that, what kind of father would I be if I didn’t respect my only child’s wishes?” Alexia was struck with a knife of despair and used every ounce of willpower to keep it from showing. A bad one. Bella was proud for both Crimson and her husband and reached out a hand to squeeze Crimson’s hoof and Joe’s hand. “So long as they make you happy dear, we’ll support you.” “Thanks momma,” she said with a tear losing itself in her fur. Bella let go after a few moments to keep eating. “Now, I trust the bun in the oven is our grandson.” A round of polite chuckles escaped the ponies with Crimson blushing in embarrassment. “Actually it is. His name’s going to be Dusky Tinker.” Joe wrinkled his nose at that and at the memory of the twins’ names. “What is the inspiration of these—pony style names? You get a book or something?” Conrad and Loki were kind of puzzled by that as well. Tune shrugged her wings a bit. “I can’t really explain it, but the names sort of came to me after I found out what they were going to be. They seemed to fit better in my mind then what I had originally thought of on my own.” She looked to her daughters were getting agitated for sitting too long. “If I wanted to be dramatic about it, I’d say its like they psychically told me what their names should be.” “Well I’m sure that must have something to do with that magic of yours.” Bella replied as she kept glancing at Tune’s telekinesis. “Now, I want to hear about your adventures since that dreadful day of the family reunion.” “Well like I said, I’m part of the CIA now, and you know that means I can’t tell you very much.” “I know dearie, just tell us what you can. I want to hear it all.” With her parents full, if hesitant approval, Crimson felt at home again. A broad smile creased her features. “I’d love to.”