“Rosewater, my dear, don’t you just look utterly lovely this evening.”

She smiled at her mother-in-law’s greeting and kissed her cheeks daintily. “Thank you, Lady Lace, and you look positively regal tonight.” Rosewater flicked a look at the circlet that was nearly a crown for its heft on her brow.

“I thought it was appropriate,” Lace replied, grinning. “It’s not every day that my son brings home a lovely young heiress with the potential to end a centuries-long war.” She winked and stepped back to let them in. “I trust there were no problems getting here?”

“Some words may have slipped out,” Collar said, flattening his ears as he gave his mother a cheek nuzzle. “But they’re words that would have been said in a few weeks in any event.”

“Oh? What kind of words?” Dapper asked, his giddy tone telling Rosewater he knew exactly which words.

“Speculating about our future children together,” Collar answered dutifully. “I’ll be letting our friend downstairs know as soon as I get the chance. A few cafes probably overheard.”

Lace chuckled. “Well. If you want to make a more overt statement at dinner tonight, it might scare up more support than you’d expect.”

“We’ve not even planned when to announce the engagement,” Rosewater said, glancing at Collar. “I was hoping we could settle that down tonight. When to make the announcement, that is.”

“Then talk about that,” Lace said, bobbing her head. “The ponies who accepted tonight are very interested in what you’re doing and going to be doing. Many of them are hoping to get ahead of the political waves you’re making in our small pond.”

“Mm.” Rosewater made a noncommittal noise. “Any you think might wish to ally with our cause?”

“Perhaps one or two. It would help to both hear and see your commitment to a path that does not lead to further conflict. What that path would take, I am honestly not sure, but I have some advice if you would like to hear it.”

“Of course, Lace,” Rosewater said. “These are your ponies.”

“You’ve already made an ally of Clipper, and he’s not been quiet in his praise of your openness. Push that advantage. Two of his allies are in attendance tonight.” Lace gave her a wan smile. “He’s been instrumental every year in making sure our shipping interests are protected against the coming storms.”

Rosewater listened as Lace kept their pace slow and described the ponies she could reasonably sway with the right words, whom to avoid offending with the wrong ones, and what the general mood of the dinner was likely to be. She had as many neutral parties visiting as she had ones at least likely to look on her actions and her courtship with Collar in a somewhat favorable light.

There was also a small contingent of Manes attending, though they were from a distant offshoot family that had received their invitations from the main branch. It was an opportunity and a trap at the same time.

It was going to be a long dinner, she was sure, but it was also surely the first of many dinners she would be having in the coming weeks and months as her and Collar’s romance grew deeper.

And she couldn’t wear her mask at all. She could be, had to be, herself.

There was no hiding behind chill indifference anymore.

Thus, of course the first pony who approached her to be introduced was Featherlock Primmane, the matron of the pegasus branch of the Primmane family, and a pony who stood opposed to Lace’s ongoing reformation of the Damme wartime economy into one of peace and trade.

Because of course the universe liked to test her resolve at the first opportunity.

“Lady Primmane,” Rosewater murmured after the introduction, tapping hooves politely with her. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. I’ve heard and seen your pegasi helping us keep our fields watered year after year, and I want to thank you personally for it. Our own pegasi can hardly keep up with the demand, as low as our population is.”

“Mmm. Yes.” Featherlock met her eyes levelly. “We do hear that you have quite the population explosion of unicorns these past few decades. The Rosewing family has fallen on unfortunately hard times of late, and it seems that most of their name is now… wingless.”

Cloudy’s wings ruffled behind Rosewater, but went no further.

“We may have fewer, but we pride ourselves on the skill and expertise of those we do have. I consider it a shame that Cloudy was driven from our fair city by my mother in a crude attempt to use my own daughter as a lever against me.” Rosewater sniffed, and she didn’t have to feign the contempt she felt. “But I am proud of her for standing up for herself and finding a new life here, a life rich in friends.”

“And a love you stole?” Featherlock smiled grimly. “I will never pretend to have been an advocate for Lady Rosewing,” she said, emphasizing Cloudy’s absent noble status, “but I will never support a usurping homewrecker!”

Well. Rosewater coughed into her ankle into the silence that followed the older mare’s brazen declaration. “I believe there is a misapprehension, Lady Primmane,” Rosewater said before either Lace or Collar could recover from their shock. “Our courtship is a mutually agreed upon romance, and I spoke extensively with both Lord Collar and Lady Cloudy before Collar and I mutually agreed to explore a relationship not only for ourselves, but for the betterment of our ponies.”

Lace cleared her throat. “Please apologize to my guest, Lady Primmane. She is here at my asking, and I trust that you don’t think that I succumbed to her mystical wiles?”

“You, Lady Lace, I would never insinuate such a thing.” Then she opened her mouth again and proved that nobility was not perfect or wise. “It is well known that the Roses have long employed methods to weaken the resolve and willpower of those they take as lovers. I simply think it too convenient that Lady Rosewing should appear and entice your son so easily, and then she just steps aside? My lady, I beg you to consider the implications of—”

She got no further, and she hadn’t noticed the way Lace’s jaw clenched or the way Dapper backed away a few steps, ears flat.

For a moment, Lace’s horn flared with a purely golden light, and Rosewater felt the pressure as it pushed back on her own natural magical expression. Unicorn lamps in the hall around them flickered, then died, and one banner that had been hanging straight, tilted as whatever magic had held it in place was dispelled. The earth ponies looked more dull, sagging in place, and the pegasi’s wings lost a luster that Rosewater hadn’t noticed until it was gone.

Then the pressure was gone, and the lamps flared back to life, ponies shook themselves and glanced nervously at the mare who’d held a bridge against an assault on her own until reinforcements arrived.

There were still ponies who talked about Lace’s talent with the hushed sort of awe they normally reserved for the Princess of the Sun, immortal goddess.

“Did you have anything more to add, Lady Primmane?” Lace asked in a perfectly crisp, cold voice.

“N-no, my Lady Lace,” Fetherlock Primmane took a step back and fled back into the dining hall without a look back.

“Heavy-hooved, mother,” Collar murmured out of the side of his mouth.

“Really? I thought I was quite gentle considering she insinuated that my son was little more than a drooling buffoon.” Lace tapped a hoof on the floor and tossed her head. “Stars, that’s more than I’ve pushed myself in a while.”

“Is… she truly going to join us for dinner after that?” Cloudy asked, voicing Rosewater’s own concern.

“And leave, losing face? She’ll retreat more gracefully than that probably just before the dessert course is served,” Lace said with a sniff. “Leaving now would make it clear she’d erred in her assessment of you, Lady Rosewater, and of my support for you and my son.” She waved her in first, and tugged lightly at Collar’s uniform. “You two in first now, let them see that I approve of you. Cloudy, Rosemary, please stay with me for the moment.”

Choreographed dinner. Rosewater held up a hoof for Collar, and walked in side by side, each on three legs and supporting each other with the fourth.

No announcement, no herald to declare them, but conversation stopped all the same and ten faces, half of whom she recognized from the gala, looked up from their high-backed chairs to look in their direction.

Some, like the stallion Featherlock had fled to and was currently whispering fiercely to, narrowed their eyes or flattened their ears. But Lord Clipper raised a stein in her direction.

“Hear hear! Lady Rosewater, and looking as ravishingly beautiful as ever. Oh, and I suppose Lord Collar looks quite handsome as well.” He laughed, and a few hearty chuckles from some other faces she didn’t recognize identified to her some of Clipper Primwave’s allies and perhaps some that she might be able to draw to her and Collar’s cause, and to that of peace. “Come! Our lady host has provided quite the feast for the senses! Some of these appetizers come from the Merrie cookbook of your aunt Carnation if I’ve heard correctly.”

“You did indeed,” Lace said brightly as she followed them in, guiding Rosewater and Collar to the two chairs to her right hoof. “Rosewater was kind enough to lend me the book on the condition I would only copy recipes for our chefs and not let a precious memento of her exiled kin out of my sight.”

“Bloemblaadjesbroodjes?” Rosewater asked, taking a breath through her nose and scenting the air, displaying her ability to all as her marks glowed stark, blood red against her white muzzle. “Where in the nine seas did you get Cardamom at this time of year? I’ve been scouring the market in Merrie for weeks.”

Clipper raised his stein again and laughed. “I have that honor, Lady Rosewater. I… found some upon an inbound shipment that one Cargo Manifest misplaced. Naturally, as it was untaxed and seized, it went up for auction just last week. En zie, lieve merrie, petal buns.”

Rosewater laughed along with him and bumped her shoulder against Collar’s. “They’re delicious, Collar. Like nothing you’ve ever tasted before, I promise.”

“They smell quite… flowery.”

“Yes!” Rosewater giggled and danced to the seat a servant held out for her. “They are, Collar. Petal buns. Bloemblaadjesbroodjes. Saying the name is half the fun of eating them.” Before she took her seat, she bowed her head to Lace, then to Clipper. “Thank you, dearly, for a taste of home tonight.”

“My dear, tonight this is your home.”

That caused some stirring even among the ponies that seemed to hang on Clipper’s words, but the stallion laughed and waggled his stein.

“Thank you,” Rosewater said in as gracious a tone as she could manage with her throat tight over the wash of joy and hopeful upwelling in her heart. Stop hiding. Let them see you. Her smile trembled as she raised a glass just as Lace took her seat beside Dapper at the head of the table, and her voice cracked. “To Lady Lace Primline, long life and health, and my everlasting thanks.”

She kept her glass high, swallowed, and added, “Liberty in love.”

Lace held her glass higher. “Family overcomes.”

The old words of two families, once called out in bloody battle now offered in peace and the hope for a new age of unity.

Other old words rang out suddenly from three throats.

The Primwave, “Justice in trade.”

The Primmane, “Against folly and fools.”

And the Rosewing, “For love and honor.”

Collar finished and tapped his glass to Rosewater’s. “A toast to all our families and our words old and new. May we come together ever in peace and prosperity for the good of all our ponies.”

Rosewater drank to the toast and felt the tingle of portent in the exchange of words. A hinge on which history might bend in one direction or another. In another age, it would have been the start of battle.

In this age…1

After Rosewater’s toast, Collar found himself settling into the dinner party more readily, the tension of being open in a relatively informal environment fading the longer Rosewater continued to show herself. The old Rosethorn family words had been a good choice. Born in blood and violence they might have been, but the core of them remained so very important to each of the families in either city.

The first course of petal buns, Collar could barely even pronounce the traditional name—though he did try—passed with the kind of light conversation he expected for breaking bread and sipping wine at the opening of a formal dinner, and none of it was so interesting as Rosewater’s opening gambit of sharing family words, though Lace did ask the question on everypony’s mind: “Why the old words of Rosethorn?”

“Because ‘Love conquers’ is not the way I want to live my life, my lady.”

And that was that, simple and direct. Rosewater had stated her position openly and everypony at the table knew it meant it put her in direct opposition to Roseate’s open goal of conquest of Damme as the preferred resolution of the treaty.

The ponies sitting near Clipper whom he’d introduced as business associates of his relaxed yet more and asked her about her own business interests and what kind of opportunities she saw in Merrie when the war was over.

Collar listened as she described the ponies whom she had once been close to and hoped to be again, tradesponies who made soaps, glass, silverware and jewelry, their friends and companions, lovers and business partners that branched out to cover a goodly portion of the economic power surrounding the Garden and its vineyards.

Her family.

The main course, a dish prepared in the Damme style to compliment the Merrie appetizer, of creamy potato-based pasta dish filled with a tangy, understated spice that lingered on the tongue and sank into the flaky bits of sauteed potato and flaky fish mixed into the lower layers, well smothered by cream, quite nearly too much butter…

Rosewater let out an appreciative moan at the first bite, expressing her pleasure in a way common in Merrie and drew the eyes and silent ire of the Manes, but Clipper laughed and drew her into a discussion of similar dishes from Merrie, and gave her a platform to launch into a story she’d promised to tell him at a later time.

The story of the fish cakes.

“Imagine,” Rosewater started, “if you will, a fish cake. Held together with sauteed mashed potatoes.” She scooped up a helping of the dish from the serving platter and, instead of adding it to the dwindling serving already on her plate, used her magic to form it into a patty, an impressive feat of finesse since most unicorns grabbed a thing and held it with their telekinetic spells.

“In the sautee…” Rosewater started to list out ingredients one at a time, spices that even Collar knew would be fragrant on their own. The more individual spices she listed, the more everyone at the table cringed and the wider Rosewater’s and Rosemary’s smiles grew. “And then,” Rosewater said, “there was the fish.”

Someone made a gagging noise down the table.

“Stars, and you fed me the result of this recipe on our third date?”

Rosewater laughed and Rosemary choked on her wine.

“Mother! I’m surprised Collar didn’t toss you in the bay! Carnation almost did.”

“I learned a lot since I was sixteen, Rosemary dear. So. Imagine all of that, and it smells divine, like a visitation from the stars themselves. Imagine it baking so sweet and deliciously and filling the house with an absolutely mind-melting aroma. I can smell all of it, every individual piece of it, a symphony of fragrance and beauty.” Then she laid out the ‘patty’ on her plate and grinned. “The first bite made my aunt reconsider whether or not taste was one of the five necessary senses.”

“I might seriously debate the necessity myself,” Lace laughed, leaning back and holding her hooves in front of her chest. “Stars, just thinking about that makes my mouth go numb.”

Collar’s attention wandered down the table as Rosewater finished the story with Carnation teaching her about cooking theory and gifting her the cookbook that had been handed down by her aunt Rosefire and had been a part of the estate she’d inherited.

It was as he expected. The Manes took it as a sign that Rosewater was and had always been malicious and a scent supremacist rather than the light-hearted story of a young mare trying to find her place in the world it was and were looking on with the thinly veiled smug satisfaction of imagining they were right.

“Interestingly,” Rosewater said as she sniffed at her spoonful. “I think both of our recipes, both the one I tried to—” She coughed delicately. “—improve upon are based on the same original on. I’d have to do some research, but I believe it was derived from an old Dammerlandic coastal recipe from the old world. Perhaps before the ice age that drove our ancestors from the plains.”

“It would explain much, absolutely,” Lace agreed.

“Rosethorn the Wise mentioned a similar dish in his journal,” Rosemary added, raising a hoof and glancing from Lace to her mother, then to Collar, her smile growing brighter. “Potatoes are easy to raise in this soil, so it was one of their primary crops and one of the most common ingredients. Fish, too, both fresh and saltwater, were common and easy to catch.”

“That makes sense,” Collar murmured, bobbing a nod to her and hoping nopony else had noticed the brightening of her smile. This wasn’t the time to flirt with him. Not in this company. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a chance to compare dishes before. At least, not from a place of peace.”

Conversation drifted then as other ponies offered their favorite dishes and a few even admitted to having enjoyed some Merrier specialties at the recent trade fair, having followed him for one reason or another, none shared, or for reasons of their own which Clipper was happy to admit and boast that he’d made no less than three new contracts with ponies willing to carry their goods on his ships.

Some, it seemed, hadn’t even known that shipping without going through Cargo Manifest’s company was even possible. One interesting tidbit he shared had Rosewater narrowing her eyes. Some of those he’d talked to had been under the impression that Manifest Destination Shipping was the only company authorized to contract international shipping through, according to elements Clipper hadn’t been able to get the names of at the time, only hints about.

“He tried to insinuate the same to me once,” Rosewater said in a voice cooler than Collar had heard all night. “Except it was my mother’s authority he appealed to. When that didn’t work… well.” Rosewater glanced at Collar. “I think you know the rest of that story. You were spying on me the entire day.”

Collar chuckled softly. “I was. I mean, you were acting under your mother’s orders at the time, so we kind of needed to.”

“What did he demand?” Rosemary asked, her voice weak, cautious. “What did you do for me, mother?”

She doesn’t know. Collar shared a look with Rosewater. He knew, she’d told him during when he’d asked, afraid of the answer and wanting to know all the same for… a tabulation of crimes against ponies. An informal one.

“What I needed to do,” Rosewater said gently. “Please let it go, Rosemary. It’s not a polite topic for the dinner table. I will promise you I didn’t compromise my morals or my body.”

Simply a piece of your sanity. Collar pressed a hoof lightly against hers under the edge of the table and leaned over to give her a swift nuzzle along the cheek. “I think it’s time we moved on to a happier topic. And I do believe that a change of course is in order to accompany it. Unless anyone objects, I would like to get dessert started before I have to house all of you tonight.”

Collar was surprised when, before dessert was able to arrive, a Dammeguard slipped into the ballroom, melting snow on his armor, and bowed briefly before rushing over to Lace and whispering in her ear.

This is it. This is what we were hoping for. Collar’s heartbeat kicked off onto a new, excited rhythm, and Rosewater glanced aside at him, her expression openly hopeful.

“I know we didn’t plan on me staying,” Rosewater said, lying through her teeth and smiling all the while. “But… I did bring some cards. Just in case.”

“Of course you hoped!” Featherlock snapped. “I’m tired of listening to you all fawn over this mare like she’s done an amazing thing by appearing to cross the river for the sake of love.” She stamped a hoof and stepped off her chair. “I was going to wait for dessert, but I’m not going to support this any longer. You’ll be hearing from us tomorrow, Baroness.”

With that, she stormed off as Collar suspected she would in any event before the final end of dinner. A rudeness after gathering as much information as she could. Tacky, but not out of character.

“I… Collar—”

“I know,” Collar murmured, leaning in close and nipping her cheek. “She and her family oppose mother in any event. You’re simply a more convenient lever for her to pull. Nothing more.”

“Rude is what she is,” Clipper declared. “Stars, she was bringing down the entire mood of the dinner, glaring at you the live-long hour when all of us are more interested in you, my dear.” He brought his stein to his lips again, paused, and grinned. “Ah. There is one more thing I meant to say, but I didn’t want to say it until I had you alone, Lady Rosewater. But now is as good a time as any since…”

He tipped his head to where Lace was conversing quietly with the Dammeguard.

“Since,” Lace said after a moment’s pause after the prompting, “the bridges have all iced over. It seems the wind is especially bitter and wild, and the waves and spray have sent ice and water enough to wash away the salt and sand and truly ice them over despite our best efforts to prepare. I’m afraid the way home is closed to you, my lady, until the ice melts, and if you suggest you can teleport, I will have you bound up in silk and sat down until you come to your senses.”

Rosewater laughed and raised both of her forehooves together, crossed as if ready to be bound. “Then bind away, for I shall suggest it, my lady, but for the sake of spending more time with you and your family, and with my daughter and her lover, I will do no more than suggest. And suggest only because it sounds like it could be the start of an entertaining evening.”

Dapper cackled beside Lace and slapped a hoof on the table. “Marvelous! Stars, I missed how open and brazen my home city can be.” He reached out and prodded his blushing wife, her jaw hanging open. “Maybe you can bind me instead tonight, eh?”

“Dapper!” Lace yelped. “Stars above, stallion. I’ll be fit to be tied if you keep bantering like that.”

Laughter broke from Rosemary and Cloudy, the latter biting her lip and glancing at Collar, the former whispering something in her ear that made Cloudy blush and nip her cheek.

Even Clipper chuckled, if a tad uncomfortably. “I know you meant it as a jest, Lady Rosewater, but it did go a scooch too far.”

“Ah.” Rosewater settled back and leaned into Collar, resting her cheek against his neck. “My apologies to all, and especially to Lady Lace. I meant no offense by my jest.”

“You had an announcement, Clipper?” Collar asked and dipped his chin to brush against Rosewater’s forehead. “For my love?”

“Aye. I’ve heard about that trial with the farmers’ family you’ve been trying to show your support for. They left their land because of an offer you made for it?”

Rosewater was silent for a moment. “Not solely myself, but yes. I’ve given money anonymously, as I doubt my reputation as The Rose Terror would do much to endear the judges towards their cause if they knew I was providing more than moral support.”

“While I don’t think you’re wrong entirely, I don’t think you have, or even have had the chance, to get a feeling for the attitude of the ponies arguing for polyamorous marriage to be recognized—so long as the marriage were officiated and recorded elsewhere.” Clipper pursed his lips. “And for ‘bastards’ to be considered legitimate.” He glanced down, then up at Collar. “I’m not married, my lord. You know that.”

“I do. I’ve always wondered why, but it’s not—”

“Not our way.” Clipper smiled bitterly. “What you don’t know is that I have a son by a mare I would have married had she not been taken from me by the same purge that took Carnation. She, too, was a spy though her bent went more towards economic rebellion than actual espionage. A bit cliche, is it not? But I have kept correspondence with her, and she let me know some years ago that our last… tryst produced a child.” His pained look went from Rosewater to Rosemary before fixing on Collar again. ‘I’m not so different from you, Lord Collar. And I don’t doubt you’ve suspected my motives from the start, Lady Rosewater. Now you know them.”

“You want to be reunited with your love and your child.”

“A sentiment you obviously share with me. The ponies I brought with me tonight are all sympathetic to my desires, some of whom have their own loves across the river, noble and not.” He waved a hoof at one of the ponies sitting next to him. “Lady Goldshine here is a moneylender and currency changer for my company. She found out about my unconventional family by the money I was sending overseas to support them and bring them some measure of comfort. She herself…”

The lady, her mane the same golden luster of a full sized bit, glanced from Rosewater to Rosemary. “I have two loves. One in Merrie, and one in Damme. If I were found out, or if it were found out that I intend to carry both of their foals at some point in my life, I would lose all of my credibility here. I love them dearly, my lady and my lord. I will support your bid for the throne in any way I can.”

“I have a wife I married in secret,” another stallion said down the line. “We have a child together, recorded in the way of Merrie, but not registered. She’s a Merrieguard, and my father is a retired Dammeguard colonel. If he knew…”

“My son is in love with a stallion in Merrie.”

“My wife and I both fell in love with a blacksmith in Merrie, and she with us. We have plans for a child with her.”

Their stories were all the same or similar, ponies who just wanted the war to end so they could love as they wished, and each of them pointedly did not look to Lace as they told their story, instead telling them to Collar, letting him know they saw him as the next leader who could help them, and a quick glance at his mother showed nothing but a smile and a nod of approval.

“Then.” Rosewater glanced at Collar. “I think our allies deserve to know. It will out soon in any case, and…”

Collar swallowed, glancing from her to Lace, then to Cloudy and Rosemary before closing his eyes and considering just how much to tell them. Anything could be too much, but hinting at the past as if it were something to happen in the future wouldn’t be as serious as telling them everything. Collar could guess at the names of maybe four other ponies besides Lady Goldshine, and he was half as certain of her given name as he was about the family names of the others.

“Rosewater and I are already discussing marriage and a child,” he said softly. “I would appreciate it if you not spread that around too widely, as we’ve only just started talking since after the Gala, but we believe it would not only be what we want for our long term life plans, but what is best for our ponies.”

“I wholly support them as well,” Lace added right on the hocks of Collar’s words. “This is a union not only between two ponies who love each other, but between our cities, and as much as I wish they could only settle into the first… they each know their duties to their ponies.”

“Good.” Clipper nodded sharply. “The faster the question of succession in Merrie is settled, the sooner we can move on.”

“A toast,” Rosemary said. “To a wonderful mother.”

“To a wonderful son,” Lace added, raising her glass of wine.

“To all of you leaving so I can go have a peaceful night with my hopefully future wife,” Collar added. “In all good fun, of course.”

Rosewater laughed and tapped her glass against his. “To a night to remember.”

“It truly is shaping up to be a nasty storm,” Rosewater murmured as they saw off the last of the ponies that wanted to get home before the storm. Clipper had been the last to leave, holding her hoof and looking into her eyes to wish her luck, and his form was just disappearing into the skirling flakes flying almost sideways in from the northeast.

The scent of cold pine and empty winterlands joined the scents of hearth fires she could see in the city, the smoke from their plumes barely leaving chimneys before being shredded into invisibility, only localized lulls in the gusting wind giving any hint that the smoke was escaping at all.

It was a good night to stay in and an even better night to spend it with a loved one.

And isn’t it a wonderful night to perhaps warm my womb? Please, stars, if you’re listening, let me be wrong about my cycle. Let Collar’s seed find life inside me.

The stars were long-since veiled from her vision, but she stared up at the sky for long seconds as Collar stood beside her, his own thoughts similarly hidden from her as he gazed out over the city.

To either side, a pace away, guardsponies watched them and the courtyard, ready to slip back inside the moment their lord decided he was tired of freezing his tail off.

“I love you,” Collar said gently. “Come. Let me treat you to a warm night of Prim hospitality, tea…” Collar glanced at the guards, then leaned in close and kissed her ear lightly. “And making love.”

Rosewater’s tail twitched up and to the side before she could stop it, but planted it back down and kissed him back lightly. “Come, then, before your low-hanging fruit freezes.”

Collar chuckled and followed her inside, the prance of his step telling his excitement. Or so she thought until she caught his silly grin and laughed.

“Out with it! What new innuendo have you to test ‘pon the tender ears of those present now?”

“Oh, but it would be grabbing at the low-hanging fruit, darling. But if you insist,” he said, taking a breath. “Worry not, fair mare, for yon twig will help set a fire.”

Rosewater tried not to laugh, ended up giggle-snorting all the way to the end of the entry hall before she caught him around the neck. “I think you are purposely botching your attempts now, my dear. That was bad in a whole new way from ‘You’re pretty.’”

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Collar murmured against her lips, shoulder to the wall, her foreleg over his shoulders and nose to his. “The fair mare has trapped me against the wall, ready to ask me to make love to her.”

Rosewater laughed and kissed him fiercely and briefly, lips to lips, teeth brazing his skin as she pulled back. “The handsome stallion makes a fair point. Upstairs with us. I do believe your mother was going to tell me which room was mine?” She didn’t bother to hide the teasing smile or try to suppress her involuntary wink as she passed by under his chin, her tail raised and trailing pink hairs against and then over his muzzle.

It was brazen out in the hallways of Prim Palace, but the servants were mostly away, and the guards would tell everypony she was being overly flirty. Expected of a Merrier courting a stallion, she hoped. But she was tired of playing it safe, and tonight of all nights…

“Stars,” Collar murmured, chasing after her as she came to the stairs, Lace and Dapper only halfway up them and talking together. “Rosewater, you are… stars.”

Rosewater grinned and glanced around, following her parents-in-law up, not trying to catch up, but following as was expected of the guest and host. At the top, Lace waited, then glanced at Collar and flicked her ears flat.

“What must be done to begin recording your attempts,” Lace asked once silence surrounded them, Rosemary and Cloudy joining a moment later. “I presume that some indication of ‘they went into the bedroom together’ must be recorded by…”

“Us,” Rosemary said before Rosewater, Cloudy, or Collar could say anything. “It’s a special time, the first time a new couple lays together after declaring for each other.”

“It is. A very special time for a family,” Rosewater murmured, sidestepping closer to Rosemary and kissed her cheek. “I wish it were more like it would have been in the Garden. I wish there was a celebration and a feasting and an orgy to celebrate fertility and invite the entire village to participate in the festivities.”

Rosemary looked hopeful for a moment before Collar cleared his throat.

“And tonight, I’d like it to be only Rosewater and I. After you confirm there’s no hidden stallions hiding in my bathroom that we have squirreled away.”

Cloudy chuckled and tapped Rosemary on the shoulder. “We can have some time to ourselves tonight.”

It wasn’t hard to miss the disappointment in her eyes. Locked away for months, given a little taste of freedom so it seemed things might go back to ‘normal’ soon, and then… Rosewater took a deep breath and nuzzled Rosemary’s cheek lightly. “It’s for Collar’s comfort, sweetheart. He’s not as comfortable as we are with open sexual displays.”

“Yet,” Collar said with an awkward laugh. “Not yet. Stars, just…” His eyes flicked between Rosewater and Rosemary, a muted ‘help me,’ in the pleading look.

“Not yet, Rosemary,” Rosewater said gently, nudging her lightly towards the edge of the bubble of silence. “That’s a discussion for another day. Collar hasn’t given his consent tonight.”

Rosemary flinched, but nodded. “I know. I’m… just being able to get out for even a few minutes.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I know. I know.” Rosewater reared up to pull her daughter closer and hug her lightly about the neck. “Say the word. Say it tonight, and you’re free. We’ll figure out the rest and we’ll make it work.”

“It’d be even easier now,” Collar said helpfully. “I have a legitimate reason to keep Rosewater coming to see me.”

“But… Roseate wouldn’t have her hooves tied anymore. I can’t.”

Rosewater kissed her forehead lightly. “She can’t keep me from pursuing a romance. Not if I reveal that we’re married.”

“But—”

“Tomorrow, sweetheart. We can talk more tomorrow. I don’t want to push you, but you don’t need to keep torturing yourself here.”

“Listen to your mother,” Lace said gently. “Your health, mental and physical, is more important than keeping a secret. Think about it tonight, and we can talk tomorrow if you want to.”

Rosemary closed her eyes, nodded slowly, and leaned into the embrace. “I’m sorry. Tonight is about you two, mother. Please, I want you to be happy. You deserve so much more than…”

“Shhh.” Rosewater rocked her slowly. “I’m your mother. I need to take care of my filly.”

“She does,” Collar said gently, sidling up on Rosemary’s other side. “And I love you too, Rosemary.” He seemed about to say more, but his jaw firmed and he met Rosewater’s gaze levelly in a ‘we need to have a talk’ way that went literally over Rosemary’s head as she stayed tucked in close.

Rosewater thought she had an inkling of what it was already, and dipped her chin minutely, then said, “Go on, Cloudy. Check and make sure there aren’t any lurkers hiding in Collar’s chambers.” She tightened her foreleg over Rosemary’s back to keep her in place. “Just relax, sweet mare. Only one pony needs to verify. More than that and it’d be an orgy every time we tried to have a child.”

“An heir,” Dapper corrected. “Very different standards.”

Lace stood and followed Cloudy in. “And one to witness. You know if there’s just one witness, Roseate’s going to harp on it.” she said. “I will be witness and provide my own record to support Cloudy’s.”

“She’ll harp anyway,” Dapper muttered. “You’ll think she took lessons her entire life, she’ll play that harp so hard.”

Rosemary huffed when they finished their documentation. “Which is why I should check, too. She’ll harp on the fact that Rosewater is actually pregnant because—”

“Tonight isn’t about her, love,” Rosewater murmured in her ear, gently quieting her with a nuzzle. “Go on and check. Collar and I will wait here.”

Rosemary snapped her tail and nodded. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t have anything to complain about.”

As soon as she was gone, Rosewater leaned in close to Collar. “What is it?” she whispered, soft enough to almost not hear herself.

“She’s my daughter-in-law,” Collar whispered back. “Not just Rosemary.”

For a heartbeat, Rosewater was prepared to argue for Rosemary’s equality in their future marriage, then stopped herself. Rosemary can’t ever be an equal part of our marriage. There’s always one pony she’ll never be able to share. She closed her eyes. “She wouldn’t be equal, ever. And… you’re not comfortable making love to her.”

Collar brushed his nose against her ear in a tiny nod. “No. I thought… I would get used to the idea. She’s beautiful, vivacious, unstoppably optimistic. But the longer she stays here, the more I see her as… as a sister. She’s like having a sister.”

“Stars.”

“Yeah. I… I don’t know how to tell her. We all agreed, and… yeah.”

Rosewater closed her eyes tight against the imagined sight of Rosemary breaking apart at being told Collar didn’t—couldn’t—see her as a lover. “Stars and stones,” she cursed under her breath, pressing her nose tighter against Collar’s ear. “We need to tell her. The longer we wait after we know, the more it will hurt her. Stars, it will already hurt her.”

Before Collar could add anything, another thought came to her.

“What about Cloudy? Rosemary wants to marry Cloudy. She wants that to be real.”

“Tartarus,” Collar groaned. “I… I love Cloudy, Rosewater. I don’t know if I can…” He cocked his head slightly. “Stars. It just gets more complicated. Could Cloudy and I have a non-monogamous, non-married steady relationship?”

“We’re making the laws,” Rosewater murmured gently. “If you think Cloudy would be okay with that…”

“I don’t know. Stars.” Collar shook his head slowly and pulled away to look her in the eyes. “But we’ll figure it out. All of us together.”

“We will.” Rosewater kissed his nose lightly. “But not tonight. It can wait one night.”

He closed his eyes and nodded, kissing her back lightly. “It can. I’ve been looking forward to tonight. To… to our foal, Rosewater.”

She could hear the almost awe in his voice. ‘Me, a father.’

Cloudy met her eyes across the small space of the bubble as Rosemary came back out of the suite, her expression serious, as if she’d heard what they were talking about, or guessed.

“We’ll figure it out,” Cloudy said, twitching her ears lightly and glancing at Lace and Dapper. “We will. Together.” All but proving she’d heard. “But I want… I hope. Stars, I hope you’re able to be with foal before the first heavy snows.”

Because then they could set aside the farce. “I hope so, too, Cloudy, but—”

“No buts. I already told you. I’m scared of being a mother, Rosewater. I’d need you by my side if I were to do it.” Cloudy’s attention shifted to Collar, and her expression softened as Rosemary ducked in close and she lifted a wing. “I love you, Collar.” Her wing tightened over Rosemary’s back.

But she came first.

Author's Note

Footnote 1:

Imagine a field of battle, two companies facing off against each other, neither particularly strong in the grander scheme of things. This far into the war, old hatreds rise. One pony shouts their family’s words, a symbol of everything that has led up to this battle, a distillation of centuries of conflict both hot and cold. Another answers from across the battle line, it springs back and forth, words coming fast and hot, spat and screamed. At some point, it’s too much, and the reminders of past atrocity and grief spur the companies to fight.

I know last chapter I said "sexytimes will be next", but... sorry. Things worked out quite a bit differently than planned in the writing. I'm out of buffer and the story has changed so much since I wrote the next 20 chapters that I _had_ that I've had to toss them out. Free flying from here on out, but not without an outline. That's still valid, and I'll still be able to pull snippets from future chapters for scenes here and there.

This time when I say sexytimes will be next, I mean that. Along with the start of a much needed conversation. Also. Next chapter is... TOMORROW. Because I did write this as one chapter, but needed to not immediately jump into sexytime after important revelation. So chapter got axed in two.

Also... footnote. Getting fancy. This might actually be the last footnote, really.

Update after queuing up this chapter. Trying not to doomscroll, I really aren't. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After months of 'no way this happens' it happened. So. Writing slowed down a bit again. But I do have a bit of a buffer again. Going to keep writing. It helps keep me sane. Take care of yourselves, y'all.

And I haven't written a word since I last updated this AN prior to publication. Basically shit blew up right as I finalized this chapter. Hope y'all are doing okay.