The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Book II: Synchronicity

by Shinzakura

Day One, Evening: Science Insusceptible

Five girls ate that night in the private dining space afforded to Sunset’s tower at the castle. “This is amazing!” Octavia said, looking around the beautiful glass view of the countryside that the room had. “This beats your normal room back at home!”

“I guess,” Sunset said, munching on a burger. At the moment, she was in her human form and relaxing. She had some free time between meetings, and so now she was using it to her utmost.

“You guess?” Adagio asked her. “Sunny, I would kill—”

“She means that literally,” Sonata interjected with a grin.

“—to have a view like this!” the eldest triplet finished. “And you guess it’s okay?”

Sunset sighed. “Do you know why I have this place, as well as a new vacation home in Acapulcolt? Guilt. Aunt Luna told me that my mother felt remorseful for not treating me as she should have all these years and then went on a spending spree after she found out I survived our little ordeal in the time that never was.”

“At least you have a mother that can do that for you,” Aria pointed out, sounding a little peeved.

“Yeah, I know, Ari, I get it.” Sunset gave her cousin a sympathetic look and added, “Still, I would rather she do something for me out of love than guilt. I know she loves me, but I want her to know that she doesn’t have to make up for lost time.”

“Lucky you,” Octavia said cheerlessly.

“Look, girls, I really don’t want to get into this. I know you four haven’t had the best relationships with your mothers…or not at all, in the triplets’ case, but we’re still family. I’m here for you…even though technically you all are here for me.”

“Yeah. Tomorrow starts our fun,” Aria said gloomily.

“Tell me about it,” Octavia added. “I get to see the first of the mental therapists tomorrow, and I’m not looking forward to that at all.”

“Do you want me to go with you, or would you prefer if my parents did?” Sunset asked her.

“Actually, I got a note that the therapist wants to see me alone,” she said. “I was informed that it’s legal under Equestrian law, but that they’ll notify your parents as a courtesy.”

“Hey, at least you got it easy: Tomorrow, we have our evaluation with the REN brass,” Adagio told her. “Are you sure that there’s nothing you can tell us at all, Sunny?”

“I wish I could, but I really never knew much about the military, other than the guards assigned to me. Which, in retrospect, were probably window dressing; and my nannies, who in hindsight were probably Hooves, were the actual guards.” A thought came to her. “Have you talked to any naval personnel since you arrived?”

“Not really. From what I gather, the Navy here tends to be very insular and doesn’t work well with the other services. The Admiral wants to change that, but that is entirely dependent on what happens tomorrow. Personally, I’m looking forward to showing off our stuff. It’ll be nothing like they’ve ever seen before, and given that Equestria just went through a war a year ago, that’s saying something.”

“I’d forgotten about that,” Octavia admitted. “It doesn’t look like they were.”

“That’s because Canterlot, like a lot of capitals, tend to be isolated from the actual reality of conflict,” Aria explained. “Though for most of history – well, at least human history – conflicts have been pretty much front and center as far as the ruling seat of a nation is concerned. It’s only been in modern times that war has been a faraway and ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thing, especially given Equestria’s size and the central location of Canterlot.”

“You’re not entirely right about that,” the alicorn-as-human told her. “Though war is a rare thing, sad to say, there is a lot of internal strife. For example, prior to Tirek’s war, Canterlot was directly invaded by changelings and before that, there have been a couple of other things, like Sable Loam’s rebellion.”

“Which has given the Admiral no small amount of grief,” Adagio interjected.

“But the last major war Equestria was in, aside from this most recent one, was one against the changelings a couple of hundred years before I was born, and the military has mostly pivoted to peacekeeping now. The biggest concern the Navy has, if I recall, is keeping order in the former griffin kingdom, which broke up centuries ago and is nothing but a collection of squabbling warlords vying for power.”

“Still, I couldn’t tell that this place was at war a year ago,” Octavia said. “If anything, it seems the opposite.”

“That’s the nobility for you. Most of them are so stuck up that they’d easily rebuild everything instantly so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the reality of the situation – that’s for the poor, after all,” Sunset said with distaste. “Granted, there are some good ones, like Fancypants and Prism Chime, but most of them are like Highfalutin’ – unicorns are the only tribe that counts, and maybe even the alicorns.”

“Tribes?”

“Think the pony equivalent of race relations. Technically we’re talking subspecies rather than race, but for the most part it still rings true.” Sunset then went into a brief overview of the different pony tribes and their sometimes messy history with one another.

“Is it bad that I’m kinda glad that humanity doesn’t have the corner when it comes to bigotry, or that the first new species we meet also has the same issue?” Octavia asked with a somewhat awkward smile.

“People are people so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully?” Sonata sang. “Even though it’s a human song, it seems it’s a truism everywhere you go.”

There was a knock at the door to the room, and a page came in. “Your Highness,” she said to Sunset after giving the other ladies perfunctory nods, “Prince Fujitsu is here and he would like to see you at your earliest convenience.”

“I…wasn’t expecting any company other than who I have present,” Sunset told the page.

“I would presume not, Princess, but nonetheless, he is here and seeks an audience.”

Sunset groaned. “Did he bring an entourage?”

“No, just himself and his retainer. But…he seems pretty insistent on seeing you.”

“Fine. Find out if he’s eaten, and then if not, invite them to join us. If he has, then tell him that I am having dinner and will meet with him at first convenience tomorrow.” The page nodded, then walked off, and Sunset sighed. “Great. Sorry, girls, but you’re getting dragged into this.”

“Into what?” Octavia asked.

“Prince Fujitsu,” Sunset groaned. “He’s a kitsune; back home, the Asian nations have legends of talking upright multitailed foxes, but here, they’re real and they reside in the Empire of Inari.”

“Like Tails from the Sonic games?” Aria asked.

“Something like that, only less cute and more like actual Japanese. The kitsune are long-time allies of Equestria and actually helped in the last war. But they have the opposite problem of ponies: most of them skew male and as a result, they tend to look towards other species for mates. And the royals are particularly bad about it. Both Mother and Aunt Luna have been chased by successive generations of emperors, and so has Cadance, as I recall correctly. I don’t know if Twilight has ever had to deal with them, but apparently now it’s my turn in the wringer.”

“So this guy is going to want to woo you?” Octavia asked.

“Oh, that is not going to make Pinkie happy,” Sonata added. “The only question is: Will she neuter him with a rusty spoon or not?”

“Why a spoon?”

“Because it will hurt more.”

The page came back a second later. “His august highness Prince Fujitsu accepts your kind invitation to dine with you. Shall I notify the kitchens?”

Five girls groaned.

A bespectacled pegasus gestured to a set of stairs in the distance. “Right this way, sir. His grace is waiting for you upstairs,” she told Night.

The human nodded. “Thanks very kindly,” he said, before continuing on.

The pegasus looked at the guard that had accompanied the human. “I was told they were coming, but…how do they see with those small eyes? We had some minotaur scholars here last week and they could barely see in the dark – and minotaur eyes are bigger than those!” She shuddered. “They’re like predator eyes.”

The guard shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a human talent,” he told her. “I’m still trying to figure out how they can hear anything with those tiny ears. It’s freaky, I tell ya.”

Hearing that, Night chuckled to himself. Though he wore glasses, there was enough light available to make the stairs easy to discern. Plus, glasses or not, he’d always had good hearing. Deciding to leave the two ponies to their conversation, he walked through the door and into the Royal Astronomy Guild’s grand telescope room.

From the moment he stepped inside, he felt as though he was walking onto the set of a movie based on the novels of Voyage Extraordinaire. The room had a steampunk look to it, with lenses and gears, contraptions and brass fittings galore. Dozens of ponies fritted about, some faces buried in notebooks or scrolls, while others were focused on a great tellurium in the center of the room. And at the far side, peering through a contracting series of brass-and-steel tubes that seemed at once both massive and fragile, was the deep blue unicorn that was his counterpart.

As he approached, Night looked at Night. “Find the place okay?” the unicorn asked. “I know most folks don’t know where our offices are located, including the majority of the palace staff.”

“No, I was running late,” the human explained. “Got distracted with the time spent talking with Princess Celestia.”

“I can certainly understand that,” unicorn Night agreed. “The princess is a good friend of ours as well, and it helps that we’re all family now.”

The two males stood there, looking at each other for several minutes, as if appraising one another and trying to fashion the countless number of variables needed to create worlds so similar and yet so different. It was not lost upon the others present about how familiar the strange alien was compared to their boss.

Finally, the human spoke. “So, see anything of interest up there?”

A furry head grinned as the reply came. “Actually, before you showed up, we were looking for the Creche of Creation.”

That caught Night’s attention. “The Creche of Creation?”

“Yes, a sacred place from which all springs eternal,” a new voice said. The human turned to see another unicorn, a mare, walking towards them. She had a tan coat, with a mane of sea-blue and lime-green. She wore a cassock of white with golden embroidery, the theme clearly religious in nature. Lastly, from the way many of those present deferred to her, she was clearly of importance.

Moving to the pony Night, she said to him, “I greet you in the Name of the Divine Creator, Saintly One.” She then blinked and turned to the strange creature next to him. “Odd…I sense another saintly soul…and strangely enough, it is the same as you, Blessed One.” A curious look came over her face as she added, “Most interesting. And I have never seen a creature of your kind before. This must clearly be a sign from Our Divine Queen, may She continue to Create the cosmos.”

“Um….” human Night said, unsure of what else to voice.

Pony Night explained, “This is Prestress Sweet Pea, our liaison to the Church of the Alicorns. She’s their foremost expert on the Creche.”

The cleric bowed. “I would not be the mare I am if it were not for the diligence and wisdom of my forebears,” she said in a serene tone.

Pony Night then said as an aside to his counterpart, “That’s my niece’s way of saying that she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.”

The serene look on Sweet Pea’s face vanished so suddenly one could almost hear the metaphorical record scratch. She then gasped, “You promised me you wouldn’t bring that up, Uncle Night!”

“You’re my kid sister’s only foal, Sweets, so who else is going to be an uncle to you?” he teased. Turning to his counterpart, the unicorn added, “Sweets here is the only child of my sister Illumination. Her father passed away shortly after she was foaled, so Lumi’s mostly been a single parent. We’ve helped when we can, obviously.”

“Lucky her,” the human replied with a chuckle. “We managed to get one kid out of the house, but we still have seven more to go – and six of them are all teenage girls. That’s a handful and a half, let me tell you. You at least have an empty nest.”

“Yes, but we do miss Spike living with us,” the unicorn added.

“I’m sure we will when that time comes,” the human answered.

Prestress Pea stood there, watching the verbal tennis match and growing all the more confused. Finally, her curiosity overcame any sense of propriety. “Who are you?” she ventured.

“I’m him,” Night said, hooking a thumb at Night.

She turned to her uncle. “Seriously, though, who – and what – is he?”

“Oh, he’s me,” her uncle said with a grin.

“Divine Celestia, please give me the patience to deal with my uncle’s sense of humor,” she sighed while facehoofing. “Uncle Night, please tell me: who is this individual and what is he?”

“As I said, he’s me,” the stallion told her, “and as to what he is? He’s…well, human.”

Sweet Pea blinked. “A human?”

The human Night offered his hand. “Guilty as charged,” he said.

Prestress Sweet Pea did the only thing that made sense in the situation: she blinked, then fainted.

The look on Sunset’s face was that of a person resigned to not trying to kill the idiot seated across from her. She’d changed back into her alicorn form in order to meet with the prince, but now she was wondering if that had been a mistake.

Sonata’s look was best described as “irritated”. She’d only spent a couple of minutes so far with this prince and she already didn’t like him.

Aria, given that they were given special dispensation to have alcohol during formal dinners, was already debating whether or not she should test that rule.

Adagio looked at the prince and then to his guard, sizing the potential up. There was something about him that she didn’t like and if she had to put a finger on it, it was that he reminded her somewhat of that man she’d killed in the old reality: the one that abused his daughter.

And as for Octavia, her face was unreadable, but the girls knew their cousin-slash-sister well enough to know that this was the last place she wanted to be right now, especially since….

Prince Fujitsu took a drink from his champagne flute, then looked at the raven-haired girl as one would a selection of a trifle on display. “Such a fine bevy of fair maidens,” the five-tailed, black-furred kitsune said. “Any one of them would make for a wonderful bride.” He looked at the alicorn and intoned, “As you know, the Imperial Family has prided itself upon marrying into the other royal houses around the world, the throne of Equestria being the lone exception.” He took another appraising look around the room, then added, “And now I find five exotic beauties when I had only sought one. Tell me, ladies: Which of you would be interested in being a princess?”

“I can speak for them all: they’re not interested in the least,” Sunset told him. “They are underage.”

“Age is nothing but a number, your grace,” the prince told her. “As long as they are physically mature, it matters not.”

“It matters to us,” Octavia told him, trying to contain her irritation. She’d already felt his tail flicker against her leg, and if it was anything like when someone rubbed their leg against another’s, her urge to kill was rising. “Plus, we are not a species familiar to this world.”

“Oh?”

Octavia gave a wolfish smile that would have done the triplets proud in another situation. “Yes – we’re humans.” To ponies – and humans – the toothy rictus would have clearly displayed her irritation at the situation. But cultural mores being what they were, to kitsune, it meant something entirely different – complete with a different response.

The paw of Fujitsu’s retainer reached for her side, placing her paws on her swords, removing one just enough from its scabbard for the blade to be visible. “You will not harm a hair on the prince,” the warrior hissed.

However, Fujitsu put a paw out and stated, “Calm yourself, Kashingo. Her grace would not surround herself with such beings if she did not feel safe herself – and as an alicorn, I would think there would be nothing safer. Plus, we are her guests, and to draw your blades would be the ultimate dishonor to our fine host.”

“Yes my prince,” Kashingo, a golden-furred, two-tailed vixen, responded in shame, resheathing her sword. “I only thought of protecting you.” She then turned to Sunset bowing deeply. “I have brought dishonor upon you, your grace. I humbly apologize.”

“You may punish her as you see fit,” Fujitsu advised Sunset. “I do so wish to keep relations between us in a desired state.”

Sunset noted his choice of words. “Between us or between our nations?”

Fujitsu shrugged. “Whichever is more important to you, I suppose,” he replied lightly.

Sunset looked at the vixen, then changed back to her human form, to the surprise of the female kitsune. “I count myself as one of them, given that I have lived amongst them for years, and I know humanity to be a peaceful species, for the most part. Still, as this was a misunderstanding, I accept your apology and that will suffice.”

“As generous as you are beautiful, Baroness,” Fujitsu said in blatant flattery. “You would do, ah, both your species credit if you were to be my bride.”

Sunset tried to hide her annoyance at his tone. She then said to him, “Your highness, given that they – we – are human, I am not sure that we would fit the traditional needs of an Inarijin mate. The tales of humans abound and there is much to do to dissuade the species of our world that humanity is not what the legends say they are.”

“Oh, I quite understand,” Fujitsu stated as he leaned over the table. “We have tales in our culture of the Hōrō-sha – the one you call the Megan – and her countless kitsune lovers. I am quite sure there are texts on how to pleasure your species, are there not?”

“That’s not important!” Sonata said, blushing.

“Oh, I would think that it would be,” he told her. “Perhaps you would care to—”

“No,” Sunset said firmly. “She is one of my personal guard and thus cannot, even if she desires to.”

“Then what about—”

“I am the Guard commander,” Adagio said. “She is my second in command,” she added as she pointed to Aria. “We three thank you for the…offer, but our loyalty is to Princess Sunset.”

Fujitsu immediately laser-focused on Octavia. “Since you have not spoken up, that means that you are unaccounted for. I presume that means that you are available.” He turned to Sunset. “Your grace, I would like her paw in mine, so that she and I shall walk the ways together.”

“Huh?” Octavia asked.

The look on Sunset’s face had passed to “verge-of-offended-but-must-be-diplomatic.” In a neutral tone, she told her cousin, “He just asked for your hand in marriage.”

The response was obvious.

“Oh, hell no!”

“Your Highness,” Mayor Mare said, looking around at the large gathering. “I noticed Lady Applejack is not present. Is she ill?”

“That’s one way of saying it,” Rainbow said, ruffling her wings.

“Rainbow, will you go…uh, check on her?” Princess Twilight asked.

“Uh, her family’s here. Shouldn’t they do it?”

The alicorn tried not to roll her eyes. “Because you’re a dear friend,” she deadpanned, “and friends check on one another?”

Finally the pegasus got the message. “Oh, I get it! Sure thing; you’re the boss, Twi!” Within a second, the flyer blasted off from her location, dress and formal attire be damned.

A giggle sounded behind her. The alicorn turned to see her counterpart standing there, with a glass of non-alcoholic apple wine in her hand. “So I take it your Rainbow acts before she thinks, just like ours?”

Twilight turned to face Twilight. “That obvious?” she asked, with a twinkle in her eye. In response, the human pointed to where Rainbow’s human counterpart was showing off with a soccer ball, displaying tricks to excited fillies and colts and not caring that she was wearing a finely-made dress, much to the barely-disguised look of horror on the faces of both Raritys.

“Oh, yes, Lt. Dash is quite the diligent individual, er, Miss Sparkle? Yes, let’s go with that,” the mayor said, giving the princess an apologetic look. “She often—”

“Mayor, you don’t have to stretch when it comes to them,” the princess explained. “Our counterparts are fairly similar to us in terms of personality, so there’s no need to polish the brass further. They know their own flaws, as we do ours.”

A relieved look came over the older earth mare’s face. “Ah, good. I’d hate to say something that would eventually prove a falsehood. Not that I would intentionally lie, mind you, but Lt. Dash has a way of turning one’s words into something else when unexpected, if you understand what I mean. On the other hoof, though, she is reliable despite her faults.”

“I quite understand,” the human Twilight said. “Our Rainbow is much the same. Minus the wings, of course.”

“Of course. Well, if you’ll excuse me, there are others I must speak to. A mare’s job is never done.” With a short nod of her head, she moved on, off to schmooze with others.

“So I take it your Applejack really isn’t sick?” the human Twilight asked.

“Fortunately, Rainbow added that part,” Princess Twilight stated. “I probably would have stated a generic ‘she’s indisposed’ or something like that. I’d rather not lie and despite the situation, I suspect Applejack wouldn’t want me to either.”

The teen added, “I would say that I wish she’d snap out of it, but if she’s anything like our AJ, I know that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

“I know them both well enough to know they’re strong-willed,” the alicorn explained, “and that’s not always a good thing.”

“Unfortunately not. At least the others are having a good time, though. They seem to do okay with one another.” Both Twilights looked at the Fluttershys, where the pegasus, amongst others, was entranced by the human’s guitar performance, as the human Fluttershy offered to provide the music for the event; then the Raritys, who were unified in their mollification of the human Rainbow’s antics. And while the Applejacks weren’t together, it was clear, based on the conversation that the human one was having with several of the townsfolk, that Apples will be Apples. In fact, the princess noted, the only ones who seemed to still be nervous about the presence of the humans were the Flower Trio, who watched from the far side of the pavilion with guarded concern.

There was, however, one present exception that the two plum-follicled scholars noticed: while the pony Pinkie was currently talking animatedly with Derpy, the human listened with vague politeness. In fact, she seemed to be somewhat glum, as far as Pinkie Pies were.

“Is something wrong with your Pinkie?” Princess Twilight asked Twilight. “She seems, well, dour.”

“Let me guess: she misses Sunny, right?” Both Twilights turned to see Raspberry approaching them. The mulberry unicorn was in her formal robes as the Guild Archmagus, and carried a flute of carrot-flavored champagne in her magic field.

“Probably,” teen Twilight responded to her friend.

“I wasn’t aware they were that close,” Princess Twilight commented.

“I think you misunderstand, Twi: Pinkie is in love with Sunny. My sister doesn’t feel the same way about her, or so she says, but Pinkie’s somewhat…ardent…in her love for Sunny.”

“I see,” Princess Twilight said, surprised. “I…didn’t expect that, and Sunny didn’t mention that when she was here last.”

“This only developed over the past few weeks, though apparently from what she told me, she’s had it bad for Sunny since for at least some time,” Raspberry interjected.

“You know, I wish I could find somepony like that, but I don’t think he’s interested,” Princess Twilight noted. “A shame, because he’s cute.”

The teenage Twilight shrugged. “At least you have your eye on someone. Unfortunately, I’m not the social butterfly my sisters are, so there’s no way that I get any kind of attention at all.”

Once she revived, the two Nights explained everything to the prestress, who had a resigned look on her face.

“I know the Divine Creator – Blessed be Her ways – can be unusual,” Sweet Pea admitted, “but this is odd.”

“You get used to it,” the human said with a slight grin.

“So what brings you here tonight?” the unicorn Night asked his niece. “Didn’t you have a charity drive planned for tonight?”

“No, that’s next week,” she explained. “Actually, I came by because our librarian asked me to bring this by.” She cast a spell and summoned an ancient scroll that glowed with an inner light. “This scroll is said to have been created towards the end of the Warring States Era and reportedly contains an image of the Creche itself!” A wide smile came onto the mare’s face. “Isn’t that amazing?”

“It definitely is,” pony Night said as he took the ancient tome. Walking over to a nearby table, he spread it out, unfurling it as though it were the grandest flag in all the realm. After the third turn, an illumination of a great blast in the sky was revealed, appearing on the page as if a great sonic boom happened in the very cosmic fabric itself.

“This must be the Creche,” Sweet stated. Closing her eyes, she recalled liturgical lines from memory: “Lo, and the Divine Creator and Queen of All issued forth from the very blackness of nothing itself, bursting forth in color from the ebon ink of eternity and leaving her mark as a bright glow in the universe for all to know she exists.”

Towering over the two ponies, the human Night looked at the scroll itself. “Hrm…that looks familiar,” he said, musing upon it for a moment.

The shorter Night caught that. “Like what?” he asked.

“Hold on, give me a second.” Night reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone, dialing a number.

“What is that?” the prestress asked, looking at the black square in the human’s noodly hoof.

“As I understand it, it’s a communication device,” the stallion explained to the mare. “Twilight even has one.”

“How?”

“Your cousin visited their world and afterwards told me that since humans have no capacity for magic, they created technology that is so far beyond what we have that it may as well be magic. That device there, called a ‘phone’, is capable of reaching just about anyone in their world, even from here.”

The look on Sweet’s face went from puzzlement to utter astonishment. “But…only the Divine alicorns should have access to that level of power!” she gasped.

“Tell that to Sunset,” the stallion continued. “She apparently had one even before she ascended.”

Meanwhile, the other Night was busy talking to said former unicorn. “Sweetheart, it’s me. Do you mind running home quickly and grabbing my laptop and external hard drive? I need it for something here.”

“Sure thing, Dad. Just give me a second to prevent a political crisis and I’ll take care of it.”

“Political crisis?” Night began, but never even finished his sentence as a maize alicorn appeared in midair, with a silver slab of metal, some wires and a smaller black box.

“Sorry I took too long,” Sunset apologized, “but I had to make sure that Tavi or the triplets didn’t kill our official guest for dinner. I’ll explain at breakfast.”

“I’m sure I’ll want to hear it,” Night told her as she levitated the Macbook and HD into his hands.

“Oh, believe me, I was tempted to as well, but…well, diplomacy and all,” Sunset explained. She then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek and said, “See you tomorrow!” And with a flash of light and the popping sound of air rushing in to fill the vacuum where she’d been, Sunset teleported away.

Sweet’s jaw dropped. “Was that…?”

The man nodded. “I know she can be a showoff at times,” he told her, “but still, Sunny’s a good kid.” He turned away, just as a look came over the prestress’ face, the thousand-yard stare of a mare whose worldview was not only being shattered, but pulverized like millet under a millstone.

“Anyway, as I was saying….” Night opened his laptop and set it on the table, amazing a small crowd of ponies as the screen came to life. “That image looks a lot like NGC 6023, or as it’s called by amateur stargazers, the Paisley Park nebula. There have been a lot of studies on it as of recent, because it’s got some interesting properties, and some of the theoretical tests we’ve done show what could be unusual variations in its gravitic lensing, the kind we’ve never seen before. But since Paisley Park is about 5800 light years away from Earth, even our most advanced gear can’t get anything more than just a general view….”

One of the researchers looked away from the screen in shock. “5800 light years for a general view? We usually have to petition Princess Luna ahead of time to get her to cast her special farlight spell so we can see out to five hundred light years away!”

The human shrugged. “If we have anything more advanced, it probably either belongs to the DOD or some other nation’s military. Either way, it’s been the talk of the town in astronomy and related circles.” He then turned to his counterpart and said, “Once we get back, I’ll ask Sunset to send you over some of the astronomy books we have. Some of them are a decade or two old, since they’re out of date, but I don’t expect there to be anything new outside of a monograph or two, at least not until the IAU completes its next round of peer reviews.”

Unicorn Night nodded. “That would be helpful, thanks. I don’t know how similar this Paisley Park and the Creche are, but if they’re analogues of one another, then it’s entirely possible that both objects are tied to one another, effectively making a natural connection between your universe and ours!”

“Perhaps it’s a naturally-occurring wormhole,” the human suggested. “That, or…well, I hate to suggest it, but maybe even the Galactic Multiverse Theory at work.”

“The Galactic Multiverse Theory?”

The human tapped away at the keyboard, bringing up a Wikipedia page. “It’s more in the realm of science fiction writers at the moment as opposed to theoretical physicists, but given what I know now, I may have to revise my opinion on that.”

Afraid to look at the screen, but knowing that an answer would be forthcoming, Sweet looked at the human. “What is it?” she asked.

Night looked at her. “If I remember correctly – Twily would have a better answer, as she tends to keep up on that stuff – each galaxy in the sky is actually a ‘reality’ of its own, rather than each universe being a separate reality. So according to the theory, the galaxy that we humans live in, the Milky Way, is one such universe, while this one—”

“The Trail of Stars,” an interested batpony astronomer supplied.

“Thanks. Anyway, the Trail of Stars could be NGC 6744, which looks very much like our own galaxy.” He then went to the Wikipedia page on that. “If so, it could have formed similar stars and the like, all along the same probability tree, but with different life forms, but overall creating intelligent life similar in concept—”

The concept, unfortunately, was too much for Prestress Sweet Pea’s already destroyed worldview. It decided to check out…and a split-second later, so did she, as she fainted once again.

“I can’t believe—!” Octavia said, biting off a frustrated scream later that evening. Fujitsu had since departed, but not before having curled one of his tails around her leg and deciding that she would be best suited to bring the clouds and rain to him. Octavia had no idea what that meant, but from his tone, she knew it had to be something extremely lewd. “The nerve of that asshole!”

“You’re staying with me tonight,” Sunset told her. “No argument.”

“Sunny, I appreciate that, but I can deal with the fact that he’s a chauvinist pig even for a non-human….”

“No, I don’t think you understand,” Sunset told her. “There have been cases in Inariese culture where the ‘groom’ kidnaps the ‘bride’ from the family’s home. The moment they make it onto Inariese land – say, like the Inari embassy – then she is his, and they consider that a major point of honor.”

“What?”

“I wish I was joking,” Sunset told her. “If I remember correctly, about three hundred or so years ago, there was nearly a war between Inari and Abbysinia because one of their princes absconded with the betrothed of the Abbysinian king. My mother had to broker a peace treaty and even then there’s still some bad blood between the two nations.”

A look of horror then came onto Octavia’s face. “He wouldn’t…would he?”

“I don’t want to take the chance; the last thing I need is to explain to your parents why you’re now a kitsune bride. So until I get an agreement from the Inariese embassy that it won’t be allowed – and yes, I have to actually get that in writing – you’ll be staying with me.”

“Do you need us to stand guard?” Adagio asked Sunset.

“No. You’re going to have a long day tomorrow and besides, I can protect her easily. But if it makes you feel better….” Sunset quickly summoned a page and told her, “Contact the Castellan and tell her I have need of a small group of Hooves. Preferably ones on the overnight shift, as I don’t want to disturb anypony’s schedule.”

The page bowed. “It will be done, Your Highness.” The page departed, but no sooner had she departed, she returned. “Princess, I have someone here to see you – it’s one of the kitsunes.”

Sunset hadn’t expected that. “Is it Prince Fujitsu again?”

The page shook her head. “No, it’s his, ah…attendant. The one that was here earlier.”

“Okay, let her in.” As the page departed, Sunset immediately summoned three gunbelts with tasers in the holsters. “I take it you know what to do in case things go sideways?” she said to the triplets.

They didn’t argue, instead taking the belts immediately.

A second later, the page opened the door again and Kashingo walked in…but she looked as if she’d just been through hell. She no longer had the proud look of an Inariese swordsvixen – a kengo, to use their term – but looked closer to a beggar at the side of the road. Her yukata was in tatters and she looked as if she’d been beaten up; worse, it appeared as if that had happened without any attempt at self-defense on the kitsune’s behalf.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked. “What happened to you?”

Her voice on the verge of sobbing, the kitsune spoke. “I…am here to assure you that his highness, the august prince…will not pursue the Lady Octavia in the Manner of the Night,” she said hesitantly.

“Well, that’s a relief…I think,” Octavia stated, but then paused as she noted a bead of blood welling on the kitsune’s snout, as well as her overall condition. “Wait – did he hurt you?”

“It is unimportant, my lady,” Kashingo told her, as the drop of red fell to the floor, staining the light-colored carpet. As if to underline it, the vixen shifted slightly and nearly fell down in the process, only forcing herself back to rights. “Please do not trouble yourself over my condition.”

“Like hell I won’t!” Octavia replied, looking to the page. “Get me some bandages.”

“At once, my lady,” the page stated.

“Don’t bother,” Sunset said, immediately casting a spell. Flickers of cyan flittered all over the kitsune’s body, and a second later she looked in better condition and her yukata repaired, though she still looked cowed.

“You should not have expended such effort on me, your grace,” she told Sunset.

“My home, my prerogative,” Sunset told her in reply. “Please, continue.”

The vixen then dropped to her knees and prostrated before Sunset. “Furthermore, for my sin against Lady Octavia and thus you, your grace, I have been expelled from my clan. Therefore, I must either come to you asking that I serve you, or per tradition….”

“Per tradition…what?” Octavia asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Jigai,” Kashingo explained.

“Jigai?”

“The male term for it is seppuku, milady.”

“What?” Adagio gasped.

“Ritual suicide,” Octavia said numbly. “No. I’m not going to accept that.”

Adagio looked at her cousin. “How do you know that, Tavi?”

“Fluttershy’s not the only one that watches anime, you know.” She then turned to Kashingo. “You’re not going to do that to yourself. It’s insane.”

“It is tradition,” she replied solemnly.

Octavia turned to Sunset. “Sunny, make it so she doesn’t do that!”

Sunset sighed. She didn’t know enough about Inariese customs, and she didn’t know enough about the Japanese on Earth to guess at equivalents, especially since it probably didn’t apply to that nation any longer. Thus, she had little choice but to wing it. “Kashingo, if we accept you, what will occur?”

“I shall renounce my vows to my realm and serve you in all ways, body and soul and whatever you desire of me, I shall do it.” She removed her swords and placed them before the alicorn-as-human. “I am well versed in the ways of combat, so I may protect you. I am,” she said, also hesitantly, “also versed in the ways of bedcraft and may pillow you, if that is your desire.” She then looked at Octavia. “You as well, my lady, as I have insulted you directly.”

“Bedcraft? Pillowing?” Octavia asked, unfamiliar with the term. Adagio whispered something in her ear and the raven-haired girl’s jaw dropped. “You don’t need to go that far!” she said, blushing.

“Regardless. Those are my orders as a retainer, and I must follow them to the letter. I have already shamed myself once, and I have been sorely and rightly punished for it. It is a mistake I dare not make again.”

“Sunny, we can’t let them do this to her,” Octavia told her cousin.

“Yeah, I agree with what Tavi says,” Adagio added, and her sisters merely nodded in concurrence.

Sunset sighed. “Would it help if I talked to Prince Fujitsu or the ambassador and explained this is an unnecessary mistake?”

“It is no mistake, your grace,” Kashingo told her. “I have been sundered already. If I were to head back now, I would be considered hyōhaku-sha, and would be put to death immediately, for I would be an unwanted trespasser on Inarijin ground.”

“And there’s no changing their minds?” Sonata asked.

“Not even my family would recognize me anymore. To them, I am dead, and who I am now is nothing more than a shambling monster.”

Sunset facepalmed, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this shit. You have nowhere to turn to?”

Kashingo looked at Sunset. “If you do not wish my services, your grace, then I ask….” The vixen choked briefly and said, “I beg that you allow me the use of a courtyard so that I may honorably commit jigai.”

“No! Not happening!” Octavia told her, then looked at Sunset. “Sunny, you have to do something!”

Sunset looked back at Octavia, giving her an assuring smile. “I will, don’t worry.” She then turned back to the prostrated kitsune. “Kashingo, face me.” The kitsune did so and Sunset looked at her. “Will you vow to serve the Crowns of Equestria?”

“I will.”

“Will you vow to keep us safe?”

“I will – with my life, if need be.”

“Then I accept you. Rise and stand as a subject of Equestria.” She did so. “Welcome to Equestria, Kashingo.”

“I am sorry, your grace,” the vixen said, “but I can no longer be Kashingo. I am now Equestrian and ‘Kashingo’ is a name exclusively for kashin – retainers – of the Inarijin Imperial Family. I must take another. You may rename me as you wish.”

“No, we do not do that in Equestria,” Sunset told her. “You may choose a name of your own desire.”

“Well, whatever; I guess we’ll worry about that in the morning,” Adagio groaned. “As for now, I guess I’ll get some sleep,” she said, just as a quintet of heavily-armed Hooves arrived to take over the protection.

“The extra protection is unnecessary, my ladies,” the now-nameless vixen stated. “I shall stand the watch.”

“No, you were injured and you have been through much this evening,” Sunset told her, adding a patina of formality to her tones, as she thought it was needed. “It is my wish that you rest and we shall talk about it in the morning.” Seeing the doubt on the vixen’s face, Sunset added, “It is what I request of you.”

The kengo bowed. “Then that is what I shall do.”

Sunset turned to the nearest Hoof. “Please ensure a room is made up for her. It’s going to be a long night.”

“Thanks for helping me bring her here,” pony Night said to his counterpart twenty minutes later. They were in the former’s home, specifically in the guest bedroom. “I probably could’ve carried her myself, but these bones are getting old,” he said with a sad chuckle.

“It wasn’t a problem,” Night replied back. “Besides, I needed the workout, anyway. I just hope that she’ll survive the shock to her worldview. Culture clash can sometimes be an ugly thing.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” the stallion insisted. “Lumi did a good job with her and she knows that with a cousin that’s an alicorn and another married to a second, reality can change at any moment.” He then looked at the other Night’s second bundle and asked, “Well, care to show me more about that wonderful magic mirror device of yours?”

“The computer?” the human asked. “Sure. Got a table we can set it up on?”

“Yeah. Kitchen’s this way.” The two males of science went into the kitchen and huddled around the laptop, talking about many things for hours, learning more about what was different – and similar – about the sciences of their world. The studies of magic absolutely astounded the human, whereas several fields of human science completely amazed the unicorn.

But finally, the grandfather clock in the hallway tolled midnight and the unicorn yawned. “I hate to break off one of the most fascinating discussions I’ve ever had, but I need to get some sleep. I promised a colleague I would present a lecture on some basic material to the Magic Academy tomorrow, so I need to be up bright and early to prepare.”

“I suspect the palace staff has some plans for us tomorrow as well,” the human replied. “Plus, I’m probably going to get a lecture for ditching the escort I had.”

“His fault for not paying attention,” pony Night said, and both laughed at that. “In any case, let me summon one for you. I know it’s a trip to the palace.” With that, he sent off a magic summons for a Guard escort to arrive.

As they waited, the unicorn told his counterpart, “We should do this again.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

Pony Night paused in thought for a moment, then said, “I have always wondered what my life would have been like if things had been different. Granted, I’m a lucky enough stallion to have three wonderful foals who mean so much to me and my wife, who’ve all made their mark on the world in incredible ways, but I always figured another me wouldn’t really be that special. And now that I met you, I realize I really am nothing special to begin with. And that’s not a bad thing.”

“Oh, I disagree,” Night told him. “I think you and I are something special. We’re fathers to special individuals. Three in your case, and four in mine, with an additional four more in a sense.”

“Well,” the unicorn told the human, “you certainly have me beat in that case.”

“Yes, but it’s not the quantity or the quality. It’s that we were fathers to them…and that’s just what they needed.”

Pony Night chuckled. “Well, they do say great minds think alike, and we’re about as great as we can be, I guess.”

The escort chariot arrived, and the two hoofbumped (or fistbumped, in the human’s case) and the latter departed, getting into the chariot. The unicorn watched his counterpart vanish into the distance, and then he closed the door and got ready for bed.

But as he crawled into the sheets, he heard his wife mumble, “You’re not ordinary at all, Night. You’re beyond special to me.”

“I know,” he said, his voice soft and warm, “but I’m even more special because I have you.” Nuzzling his wife, he then turned over and closed his eyes for a much-needed sleep.

In an apartment in the northern district of Canterlot, a petite but perky unicorn did leg lifts, making sure that she was fit as a fiddle.

“21…22…23…24…25! Whew! That’s a new record!”

She had a soft white coat, a pink, teal and purple mane and tail, and at the moment, she wore a sweatband, legwarmers and a workout saddle. Her burgundy eyes gazed out at Luna’s moon as it radiated its sweet light across the city, and in the reflection of the window, she could see her cutie mark: a pink gem, encircled by a soft red heart outline.

“Gotta look my best!” she said to herself, a bright smile on her face. “Can’t afford to look bad if I’m going to meet the love of my life tomorrow!”

The door to the apartment opened and a gray earth mare with a black-and-blue mane and maize-colored eyes looked at her. She then gave her roommate a shake of her head. “You know, Jewel, if you actually went out and met somepony, you might just like them.”

Precious Jewel looked at Polished Silver; the two had been friends since forever. “But Polly,” Jewel defended, “I can’t just meet anypony – I gotta do what my cutie mark tells me!”

Silver rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I have never heard of a cutie mark that states ‘you shall marry a prince or princess’. C’mon, Jewel! When was the last time you dated anypony? Hell, do you even know if you prefer stallions or mares?”

Jewel waved it off. “So totally not important! The thing is that I’m destined to make a prince or princess happy! I mean, tomorrow I could be the fiancée of somepony like Prince Divine Right or Princess Lilac Bell. Maybe even one of the ruling ponies, like Princess Twilight!”

“The only reason you would remotely meet one is because you work for Princess Celestia's office. Hell, I’m just a waitress and I meet more nobles than you do!”

“I’ll have you know that Prince Orcasong kissed me!”

“As I recall, it’s because he’s a little foal and your office was babysitting him as a favor to Princess Aquasong since she had a speaking engagement and couldn’t find a babysitter.”

“Not the point!” Jewel insisted. “I promise you that when this is all said and done, I will be the true love of a prince or a princess, because that’s what my cutie mark is telling me!”

Silver rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Princess Clueless. I have the morning shift at the restaurant, so I’m going to bed. Good night.”

In the room assigned to her, the vixen once known as Kashingo whimpered softly. She dared not cry; she’d already humiliated herself. To her society, she was an outsider, a Forbidden One. She would never step foot on the earth of her homeland ever again, never see the beautiful cherry blossoms or to ever gain her third tail. She was forever anathema.

Worse, she now had to serve ponies and these…monstrous beings from another world. She really didn’t understand ponies and their strange ways, but it was the monsters that made even less sense. To her they seemed like some twisted cross between minotaurs and ponies and that seemed even odder. Even stranger still, the newest princess of Equestria – her new master – seemed to enjoy being around them and bizarrely even referred to them as family.

Family…I don’t have one anymore. I don’t even have a name anymore.

Despite her vows, she cried herself to sleep.

Comments

[Flynt Coal]

i.ytimg.com/vi/Da_oDtrz6oU/maxresdefault.jpg

[prism heart]

That poor vixen, I hope life turns around for her.

[ashmorningstar888]

Great Robin Hood prince of thieves reference!

[Flynt Coal]

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We made a reference? News to me

[ashmorningstar888]

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Robin Hood the prince of thieves staring Kevin Costner and Allan rickman. The whole "I'll nuter him with a spoon.

But why?

Because it will hurt more !" Is an almost direct quote. All the you need to do is replace it with cutting the heart out. Look it up. Swear to god. It's a 1991 film.

[Shinzakura]

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