The Procurement

The Procurement

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One Week Later (Week 28)-

“Well, well, well,” Talia said. She hobbled into the examination room with a crooked smile. “Look who it is. I wondered when we’d finally cross paths.”

Twilight sleepily waved from her chair. “Hello, Doctor Natal! It’s—” She let out a huge yawn. “—very nice to meet you! Ugh, sorry we haven’t had the chance to meet before this...”

Gleaming snickered beside her. “You’ll have to excuse her sluggishness, Doc. Twily’s not exactly a morning pony.”

Twilight mumbled something before resting her head on Gleaming’s shoulder.

Talia shrugged. “Not exactly one, myself.” She came over and shook Twilight’s hoof. “The pleasure’s all mine, Princess. I meant to chat with ya when my team ran tests on you after your ascension, but I never got the chance. Better late than never, I suppose.”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “Tests when I first—” Her eyes lit up. “Riiiiiiiiiiight. I’d forgotten all about that! Wow, I didn’t know you were running that team.”

“Running it?! Hay, no!” Talia motioned for Gleaming to get up, leading her over to a scale in the corner. “I’m a scientist, honey, not an administrator. The gal in charge of that whole thing was the daughter of one of my old colleagues. All I did was help analyze the lab results.”

Twilight blinked several times. “...really? But, you’ve run so many other research teams in the past, haven’t you? I’d have thought with your experience, you’d want to be in charge...”

Talia shook her head. “Never cared for bein’ the head honcho. Only did it ‘cause there was no one else better suited. I mighta done an okay job back in the day, but to be honest, I prefer solo endeavors.”

Gleaming carefully stepped onto the scale, her eyes still on her sister. She hadn’t told Twilight much about Talia. Secondhoof descriptions just didn’t do the old doctor justice. “Talia was quite impressed with the spells you cast on me, Twily. Especially the modified transmogrification.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You mean the one I put together from the Aesclepius Journals?”

Gleaming nodded. “Why don’t you tell her about it?”

Twilight jolted awake. “I’d love to! It—”

“Hold on.” Talia held up a hoof. “If we get into that now, we’re gonna be sittin’ in here for hours. Trust me, I know what it’s like when ponies like us get to chattering. Twilight—can I call ya Twilight? How’s about we get coffee after this, and then we talk in my lab? That way, we won’t be holed up in this stuffy ol’ exam room.”

You may as well have told Twilight she won the lottery. She broke into a wide, gleeful smile, stars dancing in her eyes. “YES! Yes, I’d love that!”

Talia snickered. “Thought ya might. But let’s focus on the present here, shall we? I gotta run some routine tests here on your sister. I might have some questions about your spellwork as I go along, though.”

Twilight remembered herself. “Right. Of course, of course, yes. That’s what we’re here for.”

Gleaming couldn’t help but grin at the exchange. Honestly, seeing Twily smile like that alone had been worth bringing her.

“Remind me how much weight you wanted me to gain, Talia?” Gleaming asked. She eyed the metal counterweight as it moved more and more to the right, still not yet balanced. “Am I doing alright?”

Talia put on her spectacles, inspecting and fiddling with the scale. “Eh, my estimates keep changin’ as time goes on. The rule of hoof is if ya feel healthy, ya look healthy, and them babies are still growin’, you’re good to go. I can list off the hard numbers, but I guarantee they’ll change the next time I see ya.”

Gleaming mulled that over for a moment. “Weren’t you and Endo predicting estimates a few weeks back? Er... or was that more Endo?”

Talia chuckled. “Nah, we were both doin’ it. S’an old habit of mine, and Endo did his residency under me, so he likely picked up on it. It’s a by-the-books approach, but problem is, multiple pregnancies are rarely by the book. I do tend to start with some base estimates, but eventually, I just end up going with my gut.”

Gleaming laughed. “Fair enough. So what’s your gut telling you now?”

Talia balanced the counterweight and jotted the number down on a clipboard, comparing it to her earlier data. “That you’re doin’ just fine. You’ve gained eighty-three pounds so far, and based off your pre-pregnancy health, all those fancy spells on ya, and you gainin’ some height to boot, I think that’s about where you should be. If we induce you at fifty-two weeks like I want, I doubt your foals will need much time in ICU.”

Gleaming let out a relieved sigh. That’d been a very real fear of hers for some time, now. Obviously, the goal was for no ICU, but they’d just have to see.

“Fifty-two weeks?” Twilight asked. “Wow, that’s on the later end, isn’t it?”

Talia bade Gleaming stand over against the wall so she could check her height. “I feel like your transmogrification’s gonna allow for it, so I wanna go for broke. Between you 'n me, Twilight, we’re gonna make sure these buns stay in the oven until they’re well and done.”

Twilight let out a whoop. “Yeah! No premature delivery on our watch! We got this!”

Gleaming snickered. The thought of some random nurse walking in as Twily said that would’ve been great.

Talia jotted down Gleaming’s height, muttering softly to herself. “Growin’ like a weed, girl… go and lay on the exam table, would you?”

Gleaming obeyed. She waited until the table had been lowered a foot or two, then awkwardly eased herself onto her back.

“Oof…” Gleaming needed a second to adjust, as the full weight of her belly was now pressing in on her insides. She felt short of breath until Twilight’s spell kicked in, un-squishing and strengthening the smooth tissues, her womb being pushed back outwards, rising higher and higher into the air.

Talia just shook her head. “S’like a trampoline in slow motion...”

Twilight looked on with interest. “Part of the spell monitors pressure levels within the body, maintaining them when external factors are introduced. Redistribution of kinetic energy is throttled to a set point, so no matter how fast she moves, her internal systems will only reassert themselves at safe speeds.”

Talia adjusted her spectacles. “And I assume there’s another part that monitors elasticity, too... you’ll have to explain to me how that works later. I admit, ya got me right curious...”

Twilight beamed. “Sure!”

Gleaming didn’t have any worthwhile comment. The inflating sensation was nothing new to her, and about all she could say was how relieving it was. Being unable to breathe easy, having your circulation pinched, your bladder squeezed, and all manner of other unpleasantries at once did not feel good. Fortunately, when Amber or Cadance had her lay on her back so they could pamper Mount Belly, she could just relax and enjoy.

Talia flipped through some pages on her clipboard as she came over. “Gleaming, d’ya remember that super sugary stuff I had ya drink last week?”

Gleaming made a face. “The diabetes stuff?”

“Mmhmm.” Talia produced a blood pressure cuff and put it around Gleaming’s arm. “Good news: you won’t have to drink it again. I figured your results’d be clean, but I wanted to be sure. S’pretty normal to test for that in the second trimester, anyways.”

Gleaming sucked on her teeth. That news was… well, pretty neutral. She looked over at Twilight, who understandably, looked confused. “The two alicorns are starting to outgrow the other three. We wanted to rule out gestational diabetes as a possible reason.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but then closed it with a click of her teeth. “Hmm.”

Talia pumped up the blood pressure cuff, watching it take the reading. “The other three are doin’ fine, so it’s not really cause for alarm. Now, if them three were showing signs of malnourishment, or any other problems, that’d be another story, but honestly, I think it’s just cause them two are alicorns.”

Twilight screwed up her face, her eyes squinting at nothing. “That’s… possible, I suppose. It’s true that the four alicorns currently in existence are all larger than normal ponies, but that’s such a small sample size…”

“You’re the sort that likes facts and figures, aint’cha? Here, take a look.” Talia turned to a page on the clipboard and showed it to Twilight. “That there’s the breakdown of what we’ve been seeing. You can see that alicorn placentas are larger, they’re talking up more space, they’re absorbing the lion’s share of the magic infusions, all o’ that. All that stuff is resultin’ in extra mass, so it’s not surprising that the girlies themselves would be a touch on the larger side.”

Twilight took the clipboard in her magic. The page Talia had indicated was mostly medical terminology, but there were a few portions she immediately understood. Of particular interest was the portion about the alicorn infusions, which she softly read aloud to herself.

“Placental aether osmosis… Type: ambrosiac… Alicorn A absorption rate thirty-three percent, Alicorn B thirty-two, Foals C, D, and E nine, eleven, and ten… wait, that’s only ninety-five percent, isn’t it? What’s happening to the other five?”

Talia took off the blood pressure cuff, now pulling out a stethoscope and listening to Gleaming’s lungs. “No such thing as a perfectly efficient system, darlin’. The remaining five percent’s been bleedin’ into Gleaming’s magic reserves. You’ll see it on the next page, there.”

Twilight flipped the page over. Sure enough, there was a graph showing Gleaming’s magic levels, each point measured on a four-day basis.

Twilight continued to flip through the pages, looking over the data. More charts were also depicted, showing overall magic levels, height, weight, and the like. “I’ve never heard of anything like this!”

Gleaming watched her with mild interest. “Having fun over there?”

Twilight looked up. “Have you seen these charts?!”

Gleaming yawned. “It’s not even two months’ worth of data, Twily. That’s not much a sample size, either.”

Talia made a noise of agreement. “Not quite sure what’s happening yet, to be honest. I got theories, but until there’s more data points, I’m not callin’ anything out. All I know is that nothing so far’s been cause for alarm.”

Twilight reached the last few pages, which was just an outline of the pregnancy so far. The first chunk of it read like a scientific journal—dry, slow, and near-indecipherable without a medical license. But towards the later part, the writer, and thus writing style, changed: electing for more understandable terms and brevity.

As Twilight was skimming through Talia’s part of the outline, she noticed her name pop up in a passage. Curious, she went back and read it proper:

...week twenty ultrasound by Natal and Endo found that pregnancy is a case of quintuplets, NOT quadruplets. Greater Detect Life spell has since confirmed this. Initial assumption of quads made in first trimester by senior ob-gyn nurse Aquamarine via routine ultrasound. No Detect Life spell was cast at that time, although it’s understandable why, as greater versions of the spell are considerably taxing, and lower-level magical scans on the fetuses have been found to be grossly inaccurate.

This inaccuracy was first noticed by Doctor Talia when a routine chronology scan was used to determine gestational age. The results listed four of the fetuses being conceived at the same time, but the fifth registered as conceived sixteen weeks later. As all five foals can clearly be seen to be in the same stage of gestational development, this cannot be the case. The mother’s cervix is sealed tightly shut (further reinforced by the spells of Princess Twilight Sparkle), and the mother has shown no symptoms of estrus. Additionally, there is no record of superfetation or superfecundation in the family’s ancestry.

This inaccuracy is most likely due to gestative thaumic noise (multiple overlapping magic fields in a confined, organic space). Traditional methods of analysis will now be favored moving on to acquire data to compensate for this, with the exception of greater, more powerful spells and procedures. Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance have both graciously volunteered to assist with this.

Focus shall next be on the reported occurrence of the father’s sterile seminal fluid being absorbed by the mother’s vagina during intercourse. There have been repeated—

“Okaaaay!” Twilight nearly threw the clipboard away. “You know, I don’t think I’m as curious about the data as I thought! You don’t need to keep me updated on your findings, or anything, Talia. I think I’ll just stick to the spellwork.”

Talia snickered. “Sure thing, Princess.”

Gleaming at least tried not to laugh. She failed, but an attempt was made. “What’s wrong, Twily? Stumble across some squick?”

Twilight gave her a deadpan stare. “Just because I understand a thing is happening doesn’t mean I want the details.”

Something told Gleaming if Twilight knew how often said thing was happening, she’d give herself a mind wipe.

Gleaming laughed a bit longer before turning back to Talia. “So, Doc, what all did you wanna do today? I have to oversee a training exercise in a few hours, and I gotta eat before that. The sooner we can get through this, the better.”

Talia hummed to herself while checking Gleaming’s pulse. “Not too much, really. How’s the milk collection been coming along?”

“Pretty good,” Gleaming said. She retrieved the plus-sized milking machine from her pocket dimension, showing it to Talia. “My mom and Cady got me this; it’s the biggest one they had. This is the brand you recommended, right?”

Talia gave the milker a perfunctory glance. “Yup, that’s an EZ-Milk. I used to—” She did a double-take. “Wait, that was their biggest model? That thing looks like it couldn’t hold more ’n a liter!”

Gleaming rubbed the back of her neck. “My mom was surprised, too. She said the harvesting unit on her old one was twice this size. This milker would be fine otherwise, but seeing as a week ago I was filling it halfway per time, and now I’m getting closer to three-quarters…”

Talia sighed. “That’s how us mammals are wired, I’m afraid. Your body knows how many foals you’ve got in there, and so your production’s gonna be through the roof. You’re gonna be overflowin’ that thing in no time… tell ya what—I’ve got some friends at a company that used to make milkers, and theirs didn’t have piddly little harvesting units. I’ll see if I can pull some strings, get ‘em to make one I can give ya. They used to make up to five liter units, if I remember right…”

Gleaming noticed that Twilight was now interested in the milker. She gave it over for her to examine while she continued with Talia. “You... really think I’ll be putting out that much at a time? Five liters is… w-well, that’s a lot...”

“At a time? Oh, no, no, no.” Talia sidestepped past Twilight so she could get at Gleaming’s lower half. “I don’t even expect you’ll be putting out half that at a time, even at your peak! These alicorns of yours are quite the little vacuums, but even they won’t need THAT much.”

Gleaming breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay… okay. Scared me for a sec.”

Talia chuckled. “I’mma take your bra off, alright, honey?”

“Sure.”

Talia gently pulled the garment off, checking the inside pads for off-color fluids before setting it aside. Gleaming’s breasts bounded free, jiggling a bit before going still. Each one was the size of a grapefruit, the firm, warm flesh bare of fur, the nipples rosy and flushed.

“You definitely got a nice set comin’ in,” Talia observed. She looked over each breast in turn. “Size don’t indicate much, though… was it you who cast this spell, Twilight?”

“I did, yes.”

Talia nodded. “What parameters did ya set?”

Twilight tapped her chin. “Just what the spell recommended. I was tempted to hasten the ramp-up time of production, but I thought better of it. I figured it was better to just see what her natural levels were.”

“Good.” Talia poked and prodded Gleaming’s underside with magic, looking over the dual mounds with a practiced eye. “Lactation spells work by simulatin’ a localized release of the hormone that stimulates milk production, and if you mess with that too much, it can have all kinds of weird effects. It’s usually best to just kickstart the process, set the milk type, and then let the body do what it’s gonna do.”

Twilight turned her attention to the milker, lifting it and rotating it in her magic. “The right breast is already producing mature milk, but the left’s enchanted to make ten days of colostrum, thirty days of transitional milk, and mature milk from then on. It’s been twelve days, so the left should be on transitional milk.”

“It is,” Gleaming said.

Talia looked Gleaming’s breasts over for a bit longer before muttering a few spells. Gleaming felt a cool, tingling sensation in her groin, but it faded as quickly as it’d come. Talia stepped away a moment later, giving the bra back.

“I had a meeting earlier with the two ponies who’ve been handling your meals—that Cuisine gal, and some army bloke with a glossy mane… Warrant Officer Agate, think his name was. I left ‘em both instructions to give you high calorie smoothies with every meal. Drink as much as you can, alright? The more milk your body makes, the more energy you’re gonna need, on top of you already needin’ to eat for six. Whenever you’re hungry, stuff your face until you’re full. I don’t care how much it takes.”

Gleaming giggled. “That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.”

“Can say that again,” said Twilight.

Talia patted Gleaming’s belly. “That’s what I like to hear. Them babies still got lots of growin’ to do, so don’t let up. Drink lotsa fluids, keep active, and lemme know if anything weird happens, alright?”

Gleaming saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

Later-

“Lieutenant Steelwing!” A pony beside Gleaming yelled. “You’re up!”

The Crystal Military’s tertiary training grounds were nothing glamorous. Just a strip of land far outside the city, waaaaaaaaaaaaay out by the tundra barrier. It was partitioned off from the public with signs and simple fences, and within the training grounds were several dirt fields, targets of various shapes and sizes, and some cheaply-built sheds stored with spare equipment.

It barely looked like anything at all, really. Underwhelming, no actual buildings or permanent structures for miles around. Just a plain, flat slab of land on the edge of the permafrost.

Steelwing stepped into the bare dirt arena where Gleaming and the other pony stood. He was clad in full armor, his scythe-like wingblades glinting in the afternoon sun. His eyes were sharp and focused as he dropped into a combat stance.

Gleaming grinned. She’d heard rumors of his combat prowess, but had yet to see them for herself. She glanced at the pony beside her and tilted her head.

“I know we’re supposed to be taking turns, Captain Deadeye, but do you mind if I…?”

Deadeye, the rust-red unicorn mare beside her, looked up from the clipboard she was holding. “I should tell you, this is Steelwing’s first bout of anti-changeling field training. He’s been out with a nasty case of feather flu for the last three weeks.”

“Yes, that’s what the class instructor was telling me.” Gleaming looked on at Steelwing. “I’d like to ensure he catches up.”

Deadeye was about to say go for it, but before she did, a thought struck her. She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small device comprised of a rubber handle, two metal rods, and a meter displaying various numbers.

“You said every three times,” she said.

Gleaming acquiesced. “Right. Go ahead.”

Deadeye turned the device on and swept it over Gleaming. There was a sound rapid buzzing and clicking, rising higher and lower in pitch.

“Well, your magic levels weren’t even registering on this thing before. They were just making it vibrate like crazy.” Deadeye showed the meter’s reading to Gleaming. “Now, though, it's showing you at the high end of the scale. Does that seem about right?”

Gleaming squinted at the rating and did some quick math. “Yeah, I’ve got plenty left.”

Deadeye put the device down. “Then by all means.”

Gleaming’s horn flared to life. “Excellent...”

A fraction of a second was all the warning Steelwing had. It was only when the air around him grew thick with charged mana that he noticed it wasn’t the Captain’s horn glowing, but the General’s.

“Shit!” He took wing and leapt into the air, right before…

KR-CCKKK!

A magenta forcecage formed where he’d been with a sound like freezing water. Steelwing managed to get some altitude, but before he could do much else, a construct of pure magic rammed him from the side, shaped in the form of a changeling.

“Change of plans, Lieutenant,” Gleaming said through the construct’s mouth. She zipped into his blind spot as he righted himself. “I’m delivering your make-up course. Now, lesson one: changelings favor both traps, and hit-and-run tactics. They never attack head-on.”

Steelwing whipped around, his wings flared and blades ready—

—only to find seven more constructs hovering there, their faces all grim smiles.

“Eep.”

“Lesson two—changelings ALWAYS attack in groups.” The constructs fanned out, trying to surround him. “If you ever see just one, it means there’s an ambush nearby.”

Steelwing put on a burst of speed before he could be flanked. The constructs gave chase, buzzing behind him like a  glittering swarm of locusts. They began firing magic blasts at him, causing him to yelp and swerve.

“Holy—” Steelwing bit back the curse. “She’s not kidding around!”

“Lesson three—all changelings can both fly, and use magic.” Gleaming spurred the constructs on a bit faster, the foremost literally nipping at his heels. “Drones can only use basic stun spells, but the stronger ones have magic that rivals a unicorn.”

Steelwing grit his teeth. Sizzling bursts of energy lanced all around him, bouncing off his enchanted armor with metallic pings. He did an aileron roll and veered right, tucking his wings in tight to his body. The constructs moved with him, gathering up in a cluster from the unexpected turn…

Steelwing’s blades snapped out.

SHI—IIIING!

He whipped around and slingshotted himself backwards with pegasus magic, now sailing towards all of them at double speed. The metal of his weapons turned white as he struck faster than the eye could see.

VWITT-VWITT-VWITT!

Steelwing sailed past the constructs. There was a split second’s pause, then...

WUMPH

All eight of them exploded in a shower of dust, their ethereal bodies sliced to bits. The sparkling magic fluttered to the ground, leaving Steelwing alone in the chilly air.

“Ha!” He cheered. “Got ‘em!”

“Did you?”

Something large and solid smacked Steelwing between his shoulder blades.

“OOF!” He faltered, nearly falling into a nosedive. He looked up, and saw that there were three other constructs hiding amongst the clouds, these ones larger and more imposing than the drones. They had eerie white eyes, curvier horns, and long, forked tails.

“Lesson four,” Gleaming continued. “Changelings study their targets to determine strengths and weaknesses. They often employ decoys for this. Once they know you’re a melee specialist, they will try to keep you at range.”

The horns of the three constructs glowed bright, then brighter still, an ominous hum rising in pitch.

“Evasive maneuvers, Lieutenant.”

CHT-CHT-CHT-CHT-CHT! A flurry of magenta magic missiles rained down on Steelwing. They weren’t strong enough to do real damage, but still felt like being pelted with rocks.

“Fucking—” Steelwing seethed from the pain, four spots on his back and wings struck. Even with his armor, it still stung like hell. He swooped into a dive, another salvo already streaming after him. “Gonna be like that, eh? Fine, I’ll play your game…”

He flew low and fast, the missiles hot on his trail. They struck the ground like mortars, chunks of dirt bursting and spraying all around him. He serpentined across the field, steadily climbing back into the air, his ears filled with the whizzing roar of the General’s magic thudding into the earth.

Steelwing concentrated. The magic in his wings pulled in the air around him, building in pressure that focused into his blades. They began to glow white again, hot and vibrating against his skin, tickling his feathers. He waited for a pause in the General’s barrage, then, looking over his shoulder...

Three targets, three strikes.

All or nothing, baby.

“RAAAGH!” Steelwing whipped around and swung his wingblades lightning-fast, unleashing the air bursts in deadly, scything waves. The attacks were nigh-invisible, like harmless wavy mirages, but they travelled fast as cannonfire, homing in on their targets.

The first attack hit dead-on, shredding the construct like tissue paper before travelling far, far out into the sky.

The second also was a hit, neatly bisecting its target in two. It sailed out towards the tundra barrier before harmlessly dissipating.

The third, though, went wide… REALLY wide. It spun wildly towards the far edge of the field, colliding with two of the equipment sheds.

VSSHHTT! KA-RUNCH!

Suddenly, there were no more equipment sheds.

Steelwing winced. “Ah, jeez. Not again.”

A series of laughs and whistles floated up from where the rest of the Heartguard was watching.

“Oh, shaddap!” Steelwing hollered down at them. “Like you fuckers could do better!”

Back down by Gleaming, Deadeye clicked her tongue. “Looks like his aim’s still off.”

Gleaming shrugged. “Hitting two out of three after being sick for so long isn't bad in my book.”

“True.”

Gleaming cleared her throat and spoke through the remaining construct. “Lesson five, Lieutenant. Skirmishes with changelings will almost certainly be in populated areas. If you can’t execute a technique like that with pinpoint accuracy, you may as well not use it at all.”

Steelwing bowed his head. “Yes, ma’am. Understood, ma’am.”

The construct signalled for Steelwing to land. It followed soon after, and as they both touched down, the construct’s form changed shape, going from an eerie, transparent bug monster to something smaller, more compact. Its wings became feathered, its body gained fleshy colors and tones, its horn disappeared, and its mane and tail assumed an oddly familiar shape…

A second later, Steelwing was looking at a young pegasus mare with a platinum blonde mane. Her coat was the color of toffee, and her eyes were a deep, pure brown. She smiled at him in a way that made his heart skip a beat.

“What the?!” Steelwing’s eyes about bugged out of his head. “F-Frappe?!”

“Lesson five—if a changeling loses the upper hoof in a fight, they will often try to distract you by assuming the form of a loved one.” The construct of Steelwing’s marefriend spread its wings, and with a loud SNIKT, sprouted wingblades just like his. “Shock is natural, but always remember that changelings prey on the heart.”

Steelwing’s mouth was dry. The likeness was impeccable, down to the fine details. She stepped closer to him with that same soft smile, the one he could stare at all day...

CLANG!

...and clocked him straight in the jaw.

“GAH!” Steelwing went sprawling, tumbling down in the dirt. His helmet vibrated from the blow, his world swimming in pain. The taste of copper erupted in his mouth from where he’d bit his cheek, and on instinct he tried to roll away—

—something sharp pressed against his throat.

Steelwing gulped and opened his eyes. ‘Frappe’ was now standing over him, her wingblade poised for the coup de grâce. She was still wearing the same smile as before.

“This is how I was captured, Lieutenant,” Gleaming explained. “A changeling in the guise of my lover, who took advantage of my hesitation. Canterlot was nearly sacked because of my carelessness.”

The construct withdrew the wingblade, then stepped back and went still as a statue. There was a telltale FLASH, and where the construct had been, Gleaming herself now stood.

“I see much of myself in you.” Gleaming helped Steelwing up with a bit of magic. “A strong, powerful protector, eager to give his all to defend the ones they love, unaware that his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. Changelings eat ponies like us for breakfast.”

Steelwing rubbed his jaw, the sound of ringing metal still in his ears. “What do I do?”

Gleaming reached down and fixed his helmet. “Lessons six and seven—never take the enemy for granted, and if at all possible, do NOT engage them alone. There’s a reason why changelings rely on surprise and subterfuge, Lieutenant. They excel against solitary targets, but in actual, full scale battle? They get destroyed.”

Steelwing started to see where this was going. “But they know they’ll get destroyed, so they do everything they can to avoid it. And us getting overconfident is exactly what they want, because then we fall into their traps, and our commanders get frustrated because we can’t use our full strength, which leads to them making rash decisions, which are easily predictable…”

“Eventually, we’re caught like flies in a web.” Gleaming nodded. “Good. I think you get it.”

Steelwing stood up straight and saluted. “Ma’am! Thank you for the lessons, ma’am. I won’t soon forget them.”

Gleaming looked down at him for a moment, then leaned in and spoke under her breath. “Just remember, all it took for you to learn this was a few bruises. For me, it took the near-destruction of Equestria.”

The pause that followed was as pregnant as Gleaming.

Steelwing finally replied in a shaky whisper. “...u-understood, ma’am.”

“General!”

Gleaming’s ears pricked up. Now that was a voice she wasn’t expecting out here. She turned towards the edge of the field where she’d just been, and sure enough, she saw Rex standing beside Deadeye, watching with her eternal stoic gaze.

However, that wasn’t the most surprising thing. Rex was something of a trusted assistant, working closely with Gleaming and Cadance on various personal matters. She showed up in random places about as often as she was subject to anti-changeling scans.

No, what the real surprise was…

Gleaming’s left eye twitched. “At ease, Lieutenant. If you’ll excuse me...”

She teleported back over to Deadeye and Rex.

“Duke Night Light,” Gleaming said tightly. “Might I ask what you’re doing out here?”

Night Light stood between Rex and Deadeye, unkempt and nonchalant, sticking out like a sore hoof.

“I thought I’d go out for a stroll,” he said calmly. “Care to join me?”

Gleaming stared her father eye-to-eye for a moment.

“Of course, of course...” she said. “Captain Deadeye, I’m afraid you’ll need to finish the tests yourself. Good work, so far. Glad to see you’re keeping them sharp.”

Deadeye saluted. “Ma’am! Thank you, ma’am!”

“Ah, Captain?” Rex spoke up. “You appear to be... smoking.”

Deadeye blinked. She suddenly became an extreme warmth emanating from her right saddlebag… along with the smell of burning fabric.

“Jeez!” She ripped off the saddlebag and flung it to the ground. The magic reader tumbled out, vibrating and hissing like mad before bursting into flame proper.

“What the...” Deadeye stared at the device. “General, I apologize! I know I left it on, but I don’t know what—”

FLASH!

Deadeye abruptly found herself all alone.

FLASH!

“I’ll take it from here, Rex,” said Gleaming.

“Of course, General.”

FLASH!

Night and Gleaming teleported to her office, whereupon entering, she immediately shut the door and locked it.

Gleaming turned to her father. “What’s wrong?”

Night didn’t reply. He looked around the office, taking it in with the shrewd look he always had.

“I think this is my first time being in here,” he said.

Gleaming swished her tail. “You used the code phrase I gave you and Mom. What’s the matter?”

Night went over to the bookshelf in the corner, taking note of its contents. “Nothing, really. You and I just haven’t had much of a chance to talk these past few weeks. I’d hoped to fix that.”

Gleaming held back her sigh. Leave it to her father to use the secret phrase meant only for emergencies just so they could chat. She’d been afraid this would happen.

“You really couldn’t wait until I was off work?”

Night looked over his shoulder with a sheepish look. “I’m, ah... usually asleep by the time you’re off.”

As an astronomy researcher, Night’s schedule often involved being up late so he could do, well… astronomy things. Even still, though, Gleaming didn’t think he went to bed early in the evening… the only times she recalled that were when he went full nocturnal, and Mom only allowed THAT when he was working against a tight deadline—

“So that’s why I haven’t seen much of you.” Gleaming laughed. “Boy, I’ll bet Mom’s not happy.”

Night gave her a wry look. “She understands, but trust me, we’re both sick of this shit. The University’s been screwing me over like this a lot the past few years.”

Gleaming recalled her mother mentioning something about Night having some kind of issue with Canterlot University. This must’ve been it. “What’s going on?”

Night traced his hoof along one of the bookshelves. “This time? There’s a debate right now about the properties of supermassive black holes, and SOMEHOW, the notice telling me I’m expected to contribute got misplaced. I’ve been busting my ass to summarize my findings.”

Gleaming hadn’t noticed at first, but now that she got a good look, she saw how slumped his posture was, along with the circles beneath his yellow eyes. It hadn’t been this noticeable last week, but maybe he hadn’t gotten the notice before then?

“Fortunately, I don’t need to put together a whole research paper.” Night laughed bitterly. “I’d be royally fucked if that were the case. I’ve just needed to do some night-to-night observations, compare them to my earlier notes, that kind of thing. Still a lot of work, though...”

Gleaming went over behind her desk and sat down. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, I’m guessing.”

Night exhaled out his nose. “This shit’s become par for the course. My proposals get ignored, my funding keeps getting cut, my colleagues have started distancing themselves, my deadlines keep getting shorter, and now, the notices for those deadlines are getting ‘lost’. I may be dense, but even I can read the signs. This is how they get rid of somepony with tenure.”

Gleaming pursed her lips. Her father could be a little socially inept at times, but he was also the smartest pony she knew. She once saw him explain the nuances of string theory to some middle school students in under twenty minutes, and they understood it.

“Why, though?” Gleaming asked. “Why would they want to get rid of you?”

“Oh, any number of reasons,” Night grumbled. “It’s office politics, Bud. You know I’m no good at playing those kinds of games. The new dean might just have it out for reclusive blue unicorns for all I know.”

Gleaming considered that. Obviously, she didn’t know what Canterlot U’s higher-ups thought of her father, but they had to know the influence he had by proxy. They’d have to be dumb as rocks not to realize aggravating him was a bad idea, regardless of what tactics they used.

“Well, fuck ‘em!” Gleaming said. “They don’t want you there? Fine. You’re now the Crystal Empire’s Royal Astronomer. Welcome aboard.”

Now Night laughed for real. “Thanks, but I was hoping to apply at the Crystal Empire’s University once it got back up and running. You wouldn’t happen to know when that’ll be, do you?”

Gleaming sighed. “Not for a few years, at least. I can recommend you to the hiring committee if you wanna go that route, but you won’t actually do anything until we’ve sorted through all the red tape. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but if you wanna, you know… get paid, you’re gonna have to work at the castle for now.”

Night made a face, a low growl escaping him. “Arggghh, I’d really rather not…”

“You don’t have to be a Royal anything if that’s too much,” Gleaming said. “You can say you’re an independent researcher funded by the Crown, or anything else you want. You don’t even have to be in the castle! You can do your research at home for all I care.”

“Still doesn’t change that I’m working for my own kid,” Night muttered under his breath. “There’s really no other jobs up here for my special talent? What about meteorology? Aeronautical engineering? Theoretical physics?”

“Dad, the Empire’s been gone for a THOUSAND YEARS.” Gleaming pointed behind her to the sky. “The whole reason Luna lost her shit was because these ponies didn’t care about the stars.”

Night had to give her that one. “That’s… ah, a rather simplistic way of putting the Nightmare Moon incident, but not entirely incorrect… it wasn’t just the crystal ponies that ignored her, but still...”

Gleaming’s eyes fell on her father’s cutie mark—a pair of golden crescent moons, one within the other. Out of all the crystal ponies she’d seen to date, not one of them had had a night-themed mark. “Things have changed, but it hasn’t quite gotten to the job level yet. They don’t ignore her, but… yeah. I think they feel guilty more than anything else; could explain why so many of them volunteered for the batpony campaign.”

Night smirked. “Your sister was telling me about that. I’m sure that’s won you more than a few brownie points with the batpony elders.”

Gleaming smiled back, but she could see that her father’s expression remained tight and strained. “Look, I get that you don’t want to be reliant on me or Twily, but if you and Mom are gonna live up here, the only way you’ll have a job is if I make one. Once Crystal U gets going, that might change, but for now, you’re gonna have swallow your pride.”

For a moment, it looked like Night might refuse. He certainly was having a tough time of it, tossing his head and grinding his teeth.

“Grrrreehhhh, it’s not that I don’t think you’re good enough…”

“I know.”

“...you get it, right? S’just not something I ever expected to happen…”

“Dad, no one’s expected ANY of this.”

“... and I don’t want to be one of those lazy nobles that do nothing but leech off their family’s money…”

“With your work ethic? Seriously?”

“...OR piggyback off your and Twily’s successes without contributing anything myself…”

“Hey, you were pretty gung-ho when we were talking about Sombra during the Leaves feast. If you want a shot at the next Big Bad—”

“—I meant contribute academically, Shining.” Night closed his eyes, his mind running a mile a minute. “I want to make a discovery that’ll put me down in the history books! What I said at the Leaves feast was just… heat of the moment.”

Gleaming wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. She settled on a middle ground, and remained focused on the matter at hoof.

“You’ll have a hard time making discoveries without funding.”

Night hung his head. “...that’s really what it comes down to, doesn’t it? The greatest of all necessary evils. And you’re certainly able to provide that funding, aren’t you?”

“Along with anything else you need,” said Gleaming. “You want academic freedom? It’s yours. Want to set your own deadlines? Done. Need access to the castle archives? No problem. You can do whatever you want, Dad, because I know it’s gonna be amazing.”

The strain in Night’s face finally melted away. “Aw, thanks, kiddo. I appreciate that, really.”

Gleaming waggled her eyebrows. “And when you do make your revolutionary discovery, you can rub it in the faces of those pricks at Canterlot U. Make those assholes rue the day they took you for granted.”

Night grunted to that. He now properly looked Gleaming over, taking her appearance in with a critical eye. Mane and tail in tight braids, fetlocks grown all the way down to the hoof, a barrel like an over-inflated beach ball. She’d given up on wearing armor, but she was wearing a periwinkle officer’s jacket with large gold buttons, a glittering insignia on her collar.

“You look good in that,” Night said. “Real professional.”

Gleaming sat up a little straighter. “Thanks.”

Night eyes lingered on the magenta star on her chest clasp. “They let you wear the House symbol?”

“I’m the General and Princess-Consort,” Gleaming said simply. “Who’s going to stop me?”

Night snorted. “True.” He looked over at the flag of the Crystal Empire by the window, then at each of the walls in turn.

“You’ve no pictures in here,” he noted. “You should put some up.”

Gleaming followed his gaze. “Cady’s said the same thing. I keep meaning to get around to it.”

“Mmm.” Night’s hawk-like stare travelled all over, looking over every little detail. The three armor stands in the corner, the leftmost a gift from him. The full-length mirror with a tiny chip on the top-right corner. The polished mahogany desk, free of any and all scuffs. An impressively empty inbox. The slight marks on the crystal floor, set in a single, pacing line. The cold, bare fireplace, not a speck of ash to be seen.

“We don’t have to talk in here, you know,” Night said. “We can go somewhere more comfortable.”

Silence.

Gleaming examined one of her hooves. “What’s on your mind, Dad?”

Night sucked on his teeth. He looked like he was trying to swallow a lemon, but eventually, he pushed on and spoke.

“Your mother told me about the conversation you two had when we first got here.”

Gleaming cocked her head. Conversation that they had—

Oh, Luna fuck her with the moon...

Gleaming’s tense up didn’t go unnoticed. Night chose his next words carefully.

“You know we tell each other everything. She doesn’t keep things from me, any more than you keep things from Cadance. You can’t fault her for that.”

Gleaming rubbed her temples. Even fair as that was, she’d really, REALLY hoped to control how her father heard this news.

“So you know, then?”

Night sat down in front of her. “Yep.”

Gleaming waited for him to say more, but he just sat there, watching her.

“Annnnnnd…?”

Night shook his head. “I want YOU to tell me what’s going on. Tell me everything that’s led this decision. The whole story.”

Gleaming groaned and ran a hoof down her face. “Fucking-A, Dad… are you really gonna grill me about this?”

“You’re about to be a parent yourself, Bud,” Night said. “Are you not gonna grill them about things like this?"

Gleaming was quiet. She glanced down at the sensitive orb between her legs, heavy, full, and firm.

Night narrowed his eyes. “Talk to me.”

It was frustrating beyond words. Even after all these years, her father’s glare still made her squirm. Celestia forbid that edge start to creep into his voice—that’d make her crack like an egg.

“I’ve decided to remain a mare after the kids are born,” Gleaming said at last.

Night said nothing. Didn’t betray anything, either. Perfect poker face.

“Er, right… the whole story...” Gleaming looked up and twiddled her hooves. “Hrm, where to even begin? I guess it started when I noticed…”

Where Velvet had mostly been quiet throughout the explanation, Night stopped her constantly, asking for more details, have things repeated. He remained agonizingly neutral at all times, his voice never rising or accusing, letting her go at her own pace. The air between them was terse at first, but as time went on, Gleaming fell into a familiar groove, old memories and habits reminding her who was in front of her.

“And that’s pretty much it,” Gleaming finished. “I talked it over with Cady, she didn’t have any protests, I mentioned it to Spike in passing, and then it came up with Mom. Those are the only ones who know about this so far.”

Night was silent for a moment.

“...what did Spike say?”

Gleaming smiled a wistful smile. “He wants me to be happy. Doesn’t care about much else.”

Night chuckled, finally dropping the statue act. “Yeah, sounds like him. I swear, you’d never know he’s a dragon by the way he acts.”

Gleaming laughed as well. “We lucked out with him, didn’t we?”

Night’s face suddenly grew grim. He looked past Gleaming out the window, watching the sun hang lazily amongst the clouds.

“...did Velvet or I ever tell you about the fight we had over his foster care?”

The sudden change in topic made Gleaming pause. “Uh, no. You guys never say shit about your fights. I just remember getting a letter in military school saying that I had a new brother, and that I’d meet him over the holidays! Imagine my surprise when I come home and find out he’s not even a pony.”

Night let out a long, slow sigh. His eyes grew unfocused, memories of that time playing before his eyes.

“Your mother’d had a miscarriage,” Night said. “About ten weeks into it, I believe. The pregnancy hadn’t been planned, but Velvet was fine with it because she’d been wanting another baby something fierce. I’d been insisting that two was enough, but she had foal fever, and… ugh. I only found out she was pregnant about a month before she lost it, so I wasn’t too invested, but she...”

A hole appeared in Gleaming’s gut. Her mother… had been pregnant? Pregnant with a third foal?! She’d never heard once about this!

“Do… do you know why she lost it? Did she—” A terrible thought came to Gleaming. “Oh, oh jeez… please, please tell me it wasn’t because of Twily’s flare.”

“The flare was later.” Night met Gleaming’s eyes. “But only by a few weeks, mind. The loss was still pretty fresh for your mom. You follow me?”

Gleaming did. “And along comes this adorable newborn dragon, freshly hatched and bonded to Twily…”

Night looked down at the floor. “Velvet tried to hide it at first, making up excuses for why she was going to see your sister at the castle all the time. I knew the real reason, but I figured the best thing to do was to let things play out. Sure enough, we get a summons from Princess Celestia in short order, saying that she wants to ‘discuss some things.’”

Gleaming frowned. “What kind of things?”

Night rolled his shoulders. “You’ve probably gathered this, but Twily wasn’t actually supposed to hatch Spike. It was a test to see how she’d handle failure. Students have been trying to hatch that egg for ages, and the fact that Twily succeeded presented some pretty serious problems. For example, Celestia could have claimed Spike if she wanted, but since Twilight had been the hatcher, she had a claim, too. Except with Celestia running the country by herself, and Twily a filly not even in her pre-teens, that wasn’t gonna work.”

Gleaming crossed her hooves. “So, what then? Celestia sees that Mom’s completely enamored with Spike, so she calls you both up to talk about foster care?”

“...yes, and no,” Night slowly said. “We all could see that your mom and I were the best choices for Spike’s immediate caretakers; that was never really in question. But Velvet felt if Celestia wasn’t going to take responsibility for underage students attempting to hatch a dragon egg, then she didn’t deserve a say in Spike’s future. Velvet didn’t want to talk about foster care at all, she wanted to talk about adoption. I was trying to make her see reason and keep her from storming off to the castle in a rage, eventually her anger turned on me, and… yeah. It got nasty.”

Well, that was all certainly news to Gleaming. Her parents hadn’t fought a lot that she recalled, but it was hard to say with both of them being so secretive about it. To hear the specifics of an argument now was… weird.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Gleaming asked.

Night noticed a lock of Gleaming’s mane was out of place. He used a bit of magic to smooth it out. “Think about everything I just told you. With all the pressures your mom was under, emotions running high, and all that, do you think RIGHT THEN was the best time to be making such an important decision?”

And then it all clicked.

“You don’t think I should decide on being a mare right now,” Gleaming realized.

“No, I don’t,” Night said. “I think it’s okay to talk and think about it, but not actually make a decision. You’ve got a LOT running through your system right now, Bud. Hormones, foreign magic infusions, experimental spells… I can’t rule out the possibility that any or all of those things are affecting your judgment.”

Gleaming threw up her hooves. “So you think I’m just confused? Loopy in the head from a cocktail of magic and hormones! Gee, thanks, Dad. Sure glad I got that cleared up!”

“Shining, the symptoms of undiagnosed gender dysphoria are nasty,” Night said. “Social isolation, disgust with your own body, anxiety disorders, depression, attempted suicide… you’ve never shown any of those things. I get that you’ve been enjoying this experience, but the way I’m hearing you talk, the reasons I’m hearing you give? I’m not seeing it as gender dysphoria. Gender fluid, maybe, but—”

“Stop playing armchair doctor,” Gleaming snapped. “Who are you to act like you know what you’re talking about? You’re not qualified to give a mental diagnosis.”

“Neither are Spike, Velvet, or Cadance.”

That… got Gleaming good. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Well, something resembling a squeak, but we won’t count that.

“...even still,” she muttered after a time. “I’m not gonna just disregard what they’ve all said. You’re the first one who’s been opposed to this.”

“That doesn’t mean you should disregard me, either.”  Night squinted at Gleaming. “When you were talking, the uncertainty on your face was plain as day. If I had to venture a guess, you’re not sure what to think right now, are you?”

Gleaming bit her lip. She remained silent as she traced a small circle on the ground.

Night’s eyes were gentle. “Look, you’re absolutely right, I’m not qualified to diagnose you. You’re gonna need a shrink if you want that. I’m just trying to give my two cents as your father. Will you let me do that? Please?”

Gleaming folded her arms and looked away. “I think you’ve already made yourself clear.”

“No, I haven’t.” Night scooted closer to the desk. “You want to know what I see in you? I see somepony experiencing a slew of sensations unlike anything they’ve ever felt, and is struggling to understand it all. Why’s it all been so enjoyable? Is it because of the spells? The transfusions? The hormones? Your special talent? The change in societal status? Were you actually miserable as a stallion and just never realized it? Do you like being pregnant? Are you just lucky?”

The stuffy, stifling air was getting to Gleaming. Her fight-or-flight impulse was blaring, insisting she was trapped, and it was making her fidget in place.

“Twily’s shown me the whole list of enchantments she’s got on you, and honestly, if it were anypony but her, I’d question the safety of all this,” Night said. “I get you and Cadance are pretty fluid when it comes to sexuality, but I doubt you ever would’ve gone this far if she’d been able to carry the kids. Just one more thing to blame Sombra for, I suppose… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the advice the others gave you, but I’m worried that they’re not taking situational factors into account.”

Gleaming’s face was twisted into in a grimace. It felt like a volatile, bubbling mass was in her chest, ready to explode on a hair trigger. Her thoughts were caught in a jam, a pressure was building between her ears, her heart rising in her throat.

“Hey. Look at me.”

Reluctantly, Gleaming obeyed. Her father’s eyes held no shame, no judgment... just the calm look he always had.

“Here’s my advice to you, okay? Wait until those kids are out of you, let things go back to normal— including going back to being a stallion—then decide what you wanna do. If months pass and you still feel strongly about being a mare, I’ll support you all way. But right now, I think you’ve got enough big, life-changing things on your plate.”

Gleaming closed her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, then let it out nice and slow. A habit she’d picked up from Cadance, and also, kinda startling how well it worked.

“You know… I kinda feel sorry for whoever’s debating against you.”

Night chuckled.

“And… I suppose you’ve a point,” Gleaming admitted. “Now’s probably not a good time to be deciding on this. I’ve got too much going on right now.”

“Agreed.”

“But I’m not dismissing the idea entirely,” Gleaming said quickly. “I still think there’s some merit to it.”

Night’s ears twitched, but that was about all the response he gave. Whatever more he thought on the matter, he kept it to himself.

Gleaming looked around the office, her lip curling in a sneer. “You were right about going somewhere else to talk. This wasn’t the best place for this.”

Night shrugged. “We still can go somewhere else, if you’ve got somewhere in mind.”

Gleaming stretched and got to her hooves. “Anywhere’s better than here. Wanna just go back to the castle for now? I’ve gotta eat again pretty soon, anyways… maybe we can do some Hearth’s Warming shopping after that, or something.”

Night smiled. “Sure thing, Bud.”